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This has been a very hectic period for
the CGIA. April 9-15 was Awareness
Week. Although some events were poorly
attended, I personally gained much from
the week and I consider it to have been
a success. One conclusion of the week
Is that CGLA needs to do more to
address racism in the gay community and
the special problems faced by black
lesbians and gay men. To show CGLA's
concern and Increase our effectiveness
In these areas I propose changing our
by-laws to create some new management
board positions. These positions will
not be exclusive of the present
positions, so one person can hold more
than one position. The new positions
will include, but will not be limited
to, CGLA representatives to the Black
Student Movement, Students for the
Advancement of Race Relations, the
Women's Forum, and the Carolina Indian
Circle. Hopefully, the management
board will vote on these positions as
soon as possible.
In other parliamentary news, we will
vote to remove the clause that states
that an individual can not be co-chair
for two consecutive years.
The day after CGLA's lavishly-
provisioned, poorly-attended party,
there was a lavishly-attended, poorly-
provisioned Castle Party (an off-campus
gay tradition). Since I wanted to know
how the CGLA could be more attractive
to lesbian and gay students, I decided
to conduct an Informal survey. There
was a large number of gay male students
who don't participate in CGLA
functions, but very few lesbians--so
this is a male perspective.
When asked why the CGLA was
unattractive to them personally, most
people said that it was too open, too
public. They were not ready or willing
to be out at this time. Many people
said the CGLA was too militant (I still
don't understand that) or too
political. A response common among
graduate students was that they did not
need the CGLA, that it was for
continued on page g
'You asked me In to dine, and now just talk
Of Hegel, Mozart, a Picasso nude.
Your learning's splendid, but It's ten o'clock
You’ve lots of food for thought, now where's the food?’
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On Thursday, April 13, there were
hearings at the Binkley Baptist Church
about gay and lesbian harassment and
discrimination. The hearing was held
by the Orange County Human Relations
Commission to determine whether the
county needs to update its
antidiscrimination statement. Past co
chairs and I were invited to speak
concerning harassment directed against
CGLA and ourselves. I spoke about the
vandalism of our door calendar, the
obsene and hateful messages left on our
answering machine, and the personal
threats directed against friends of
mine. I also talked about the postcard
sent to a man's UNC workplace from a
fictitious CGLA member thanking him for
coming to a meeting. The man had not
been to a meeting, and CGLA sends mail
only in plain envelopes; the postcard
was meant to harass and harm him. I
somehow forgot to mention that our
Christmas tree, decorated with one
ribbon for each North Carolinian who
had died from AIDS (358 at the time)
was stolen from the Pit. In mid-April,
we received more than the usual amount
of harassment because of Lesbian and
Gay Awareness Week: a caller left a
message on our answering machine
protesting Blue Jeans Day and saying he
was "sick and tired of (us) faggots."
They always say "faggot," never
noticing that lesbians are in CGLA as
well. Sexist and homophobic--nasty
combination, huh?
There were many more speakers with
horrible stories about harassment, and
I grew angry listening to them. My
resolve was hardened to work to promote
greater understanding and acceptance
among people. Please show your support
by attending these hearings or writing
to the members of the Orange County
Human Relations Commission. The next
hearing will concern harassment and
discrimination on account of race. It
will be held on May 31 in northern
Orange County. Call Town Hall for
details.
--Liz Stiles
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