i
Welcome to the last Issue of LAMBDA for
1988-89. I'm about to lose my soapbox,
and I may regret in later years that I
was so subtle as to restrict myself to
soliciting and shaping other people's
words and paraphrasing press releases.
So here's the beginning of a new LAMBDA
tradition--the editorial.
First, my awards. After wishing all
year that more people were active in
CGLA, I realize now that there are
people who have worked hard for us who
I never encountered. So behind-the-
scenes is some of our work. .. But Liz
and Patrick get big prizes for all
their in-front-of-the-cameras work,
flirting with the press and making us
look respectable even when we took on
commitments we regretted. Pippa took
on the unfun duty of balancing our
books and responded to uncounted
midnight calls for outreaches. Other
management board members--Greg, Keely,
JR, to name a few--made parties,
lunches, and outreaches happen, and
made sure people came to them. Many
others participated in outreaches and
awareness week events, contributed
articles to LAMBDA, and filled office
hours. Mike is probably glad to be
free of LAMBDA*s subscriptions list,
and JS is happy she won't be subjected
to any more paste-ups. We all had far
too many arguments to confirm
suspicions that at the core of CGLA
lies a clique, but having things worth
arguing about is part of what makes
working with the group rewarding.
Until the last couple of weeks, this
has been a quiet year for the gay-
bashers. It's been a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, it makes our personal
lives more pleasant and frees up our
energy for the things we' d rather be
doing--social and educational events.
On the other hand, people have a way of
rallying around when CGLA is under
attack. That means more people are
around to contribute their energy when
we have to spend all that energy on the
people who--to say the least--don't
appreciate our work. Foul weather
friends? It's great to see supporters
from all corners when things get nasty,
but we jealously eye that energy and
dream of being able to tap it for
things like outreaches and educational
programs. To all of you who have
written positive letters to the DTH
editor and defended CGLA in discussions
with your friends--Thanks--we depend on
our defenders, gay and straight alike--
and we hope you give some thought to
joining us in our more constructive and
positive work in the fall!
And a word to my special constituency:
graduate students. Man]Jr of you are
dues-paying but inactive members--you
want to support CGLA, but dances in
Craige don't seem up your alley. I'll
admit it, I skip those dances too. But
I think graduate students have a
special attachment to the idea of
education, and the fact that more of us
are out, stable, and comfortable puts
us in a special position to contribute.
Most of CGLA's money and energy goes
into educational projects like LAMBDA,
awareness week, outreaches, and talking
to people who come by or call the
office to discuss gay and lesbian
issues. Some of these activities are
rather public; others can be entirelly
anonymous. They ^ fit in with your
married or otherwise grown-up
lifestyles, they're fun, and we could
use you.
Don't forget--march in Raleigh in June-
-and we'll see you in the fall!
continued from page 10
undergraduates. Other common responses
were that the CGLA was no fun and that
it is too cliquish. It is true that
the CGLA is not always fun--it's often
a lot of work- -but I would never
characterize the active members as a
clique. Although one person didn't
like the CGLA because he said it
legitimized homosexuality, my survey
was encouraging, overall, in that most
people thought the CGLA was important
and wanted it to continue to exist.
The people who said that the CGLA was
too out were asked if occasional off-
campus meetings would be more
attractive to them. Most said that
they would consider going to an off-
campus meeting. In the future we'll
try to have off-campus meetings, in
addition to the meetings on campus.
We want your feedback as well. If you
have any comments or suggestions of
your own, please write or call us. And
if you intend to be here over the
summer and would like to be involved
with the CGLA or kept informed of
events and parties, please call or come
by the office and give us your name and
phone number.
Have a healthy and happy summer--! look
forward to seeing you in the future.
--Patrick Lamerson