Newspapers / The Front Page (Raleigh, … / May 21, 1980, edition 1 / Page 6
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Gay Paper Removed VIRGINIA BEACH, VA—Following a long controversy, the Virginia Beach Library Board voted last month to reccommend to the City Council that distribution of Our Own, the gay newspaper out of Norfolk, be halted in the public libraries. They also voted, however, that a single copy of the paper remain available in the periodicals section of each the system’s five branches. Our Own had been available at the main desk of the city’s libraries for about 14 months. During that time, several complaints about the paper were made to the city manager’s office. The real controversy began, however, March 18 when the Virginia Beach Beacon published an article stating that “sexually explicit” cartoons (actually, reprinted from National Lampoon) had appeared in the March issue. Following complaints from two city council members, the city manager had the paper removed the next day. The Library Board decision caused expression of disappointment on both sides. One speaker of behalf of the paper was Mary Reed Barrow, President of the Friends of the Virginia Beach Library, who, though offended by the March issue, opposed the ban of Our Own as the first step in politicizing the library’s materials selection process. Picnic Planned A potluck picnic for gay/ lesbian people and their friends is scheduled for June 22nd, 1980 from 3:00 until 8:00 p.m. at the Dorothea Dix Hospital Activity Center, Mid Pines Road, South of Raleigh. It will be an afternoon of planned self-generated recreation and plenty of lazy relaxation around the recreation building and lake. The picnic is a fund raising event for the Triangle Gay Communication and Planning Committee and a minimum contribution of $2.00 is requested. The money will be used to continue the community projects already in the making. For the picnic T.G.C.P.C. will provide the location, grills, ice, plates, cups, eating utensils, music, and a clean-up crew. The guest (you) will bring a potluck dish arid beverage, so come out meet us and enjoy the event. Directions to the Dorothea Dix Activity Center are as follows: turn south off Western Blvd. onto Avent Ferry Rd., go past Lake Johnson to where Avent Ferry Rd. dead ends at Holly Springs Rd. (SR. No. 1009) turn left. Go one mile on Holly Springs Rd. and turn right at the sign, (the sign is the I.D. sign for i—— A COMMUNITY SERVICE CORPORATION Working With Gays WILMINGTON—A short course for social workers, nurses and other human service workers on counseling gay clients will be presented Saturday, June 7, 1980, at the Church of the Servant, 4925 Oriole Drive. The program, sponsored by GROW, will be led by Lou Sawyer and Janet Palladi of Raleigh's Androgyny Center. The workshop is designed to help human service workers develop the awareness, knowledge and skills necessary for working effectively with clients for whom sexuality and lifestyle are issues. The program will include such topics as “First facts about homosexuality,” “Homophobia and the Development of Sexual Preference,” “Key Issues in Counseling Gay Clients,” and “Use and Development of Community Resources for Gay Clients and their Families.” For more information call 763-3695 or write GROW, P.O. Box 4535, Wilmington, NC 28406. the center), go half mile and turn right at the entrance drive. For information call or write T.G.C.P.C. 2727 N. Mayview Rd., Raleigh, North Carolina (919) 834-3302. Summer Games RALEIGH—Talk-Time, the weekly gay/lesbian rap group of St. John's Metropolitan Community Church, has adopted a new format of alternate Thursdays of games and informal discussions. Talk-Time, a free, non-membership program, meets at 8 p.m. at the Community United Church of Christ, Dixie Trail at Wade Avenue. Both indoor and outdoor games are planned. Scheduling will be determined by the players involved. A spokesperson said the new format is part of St. John’s ongoing efforts to meet a wide range of community needs. Last summer the regular informal discussions gave way to alternate Thursdays of gay literature reviews. St. John’s Sunday worship services will move for the summer from their usual time to 7:30 p.m. each Sunday. The summer schedule will remain in effect from June 1 through August 31. The worship service will continue at its usual location, Wade Avenue at Dixie Trail. Gay Democrats RALEIGH—The newly-formed Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club will have a party at the Mousetrap, 1622 Glenwood Avenue, beginning 4 p.m. Saturday, June 14. The club is composed of persons desiring to work within the North Carolina Democratic Party for human rights and individual liberties. Anyone interested in joining the club or helping further its purposes is encouraged to attend. The group is seeking funds for its campaign in support of a gay civil rights plank at the state Democratic convention June 21. Raleigh Gays Meet With State Officials Raleigh—-In its effort to open a continuing dialogue between the Gay Community and state and local officials, four representatives from the Triangle Gay Communications and Planning Committee (T.G.C.P.C.) met with Citizen’s Advocate Floyd Craig of the Office of Citizen’s Affairs in the Governor’s office. The purpose of the meeting with Mr. Craig was “to request national, state and local governments assistance in solving problems of discrimination against gay people of all sex, race, social standing, employment or marital status.” The representatives presented Mr. Craig with an educational packet of material on gay issues, local and national. Seven specific issues were presented: 1) End job discrimination in state hiring practices; 2) Assist in educating the general public concerning the problems faced by gay people; 3) Appoint a person to the Department of Human Resources to serve as a focal point for gay problems and concerns; 4) Consider funding programs to help gay people to deal with societal discrimination; 5) Amend or repeal all laws which discriminated on the basis of sexual preference, ie housing, employment, adoption, sodomy laws, etc.; 6) Provide protection for gays in prison and mental health institutions who are frequently harassed; 7) Insure that university funding is a as equally available to gay student organizations as to other student groups. After the meeting, which lasted over an hour, Mr. Craig said he could only deal with specific cases of discrimination or problems. He requested T.G.C.P.C. and the gay community as a whole inform him of any specific cases of job discrimination based on sexual preference. (Anyone who feels that he or she has been discriminated against is urgently requested to contact T.G.C.P.C. at 2727 Mayview Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27607, or call (919) 834-3302. The direct result of the meeting was to gain assistance from the Citizen Advocate’s office in scheduling appointments with various department heads within the state government, and ultimately to present this information directly to Governor Jim Hunt. Investigation of Scorpio Blaze Continues CHARLOTTE—Shortly after the fire that gutted the Scorpio, activist Don King and his lifepartner Mike Cogdell announced the start of a Scorpio Reward Fund, to be used as reward money for “anyone who steps forward with information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyyone who may have set the Scorpio fire.’' News of the fund appeared in the Charlotte Observer I News. Whatever, and The Front Page. Response, to date, has been good, although - King is quick to add • not as good as it might be. Shortly after the announcements appeared, King reports, five letters were in the post office box and four of them contained checks totaling S80. The fifth letter wasa piece of hate mail. “The only way to discourage antigay activity, " commented King, speaking of the possible origins of the fire, “is by a show of unity and force. And the only legal and respectable way to show such unity and force is to gather together enough money to bring someone out of the closet long enough to point an accusing finger. Friends, $80 isn't going to do it. “Maybe some of you never went to the Scorpio," King said, “Maybe some of you consider this an isolated incident in no way threatening to you favorite bar. Perhaps, then, you might benifit from talking to those who know how loyal to Charlotte’s gay community the Tysons have been, ever since they opened the doors of the first Scorpio on South Boulevard. Perhaps you would benefit by talking to people who believe that this might just be the beginning of a wave of violence against gays in Charlotte.” In response to a mention of the reward fund in the Observer, Delores Johnson of Matthews wrote to the editor: “I am shocked and downright outraged that the paper and police force would ask people to send money to help the owners. . . I will not send one cent to help ruin someone else’s child.” In a more positive vien, M. Green of Charlotte commented: “I hope the fire was not started as a strike against gays, particularly since the people who were hurt most are a straight couple who happpen not to be prejudiced against homosexuals. “Now is the time for us not to forget our loyalties and head off to the next nearest bar. forgetting that Scorpio ever existed. . . Let’s let the Tysons know we care about them as much as they have cared about us.” The address for the Scorpio Reward Fund is P.O. Box 220125, Charlotte, N.C. 28222. Cause Still Unknown To date, authorites have not ruled out the possibility of arson. There are, however, several disturbing bits of information that lend credence to the theory that the fire was deliberately set. A set of wooden stairs, usually situated in the front parking lot to help partons climb down a steep hill, was found after the fire propped against the rear wall. Also, a panel of plywood had been pried off the back of the building just under the eves. It was near this exposed area, that fire investigators found the charred remains of a bird’s nest. Fire investigator David Lowrey said that is was possible that someone, unable to break into the building, might have found the bird’s nest and set fire to it. It was also possible, he speculated, that a bird carrying a smoldering cigarette back to it’s nest might have been the cause. This latter supposition seemed to most of the gay community to be highly implausible. An article which appeared in the Raleigh News & Observer, describing an unrelated incident, seems to give some weight to Lowrey’s theory: Firebird HONOLULU (UPI) — A bird carried a smould ering cigarette into its nest under the eave of a two-story duplex on Waikiki and touched off a $20,000 blaze, firefighters say. Residents of the duplex escaped injury after a passersby pounded on the door to alert them of the flames. (5/18/80) The Tysons plan to rebuild and reopen their building, and to continue to operate the Scorpio Disco for the gay community. Bob Jones on Gays continued from page 2 the authority to carry out the sentence. . . “Sentamentality such as yours only contributes to the flourishing of sin, a horrible thing when religion and perverts conspire together to make the sinner feel respectable.” Archbishop Hyde is the founder of The Church of the Holy Eucharist, which held its first mass for and with gay people near midnight on December 24th, 1946. Raleigh N.O.W. Endorses Gay Rights continued from page 2 to go on working to protect those rights. We must remind ourselves that civil rights are human rights—for all of us. “Raleigh N.O.W., in endorsing the Gay Rights platform plank, has made a signifigant contribution to the advancement of human rights in the Triangle area. Furthermore, our Chapter has moved to send a protest letter to the CBS network for its slanted, biased special, “Gay Power, Gay Politics,” aired earlier this month. , . National N.O.W., too, in accord with its long-standing policy of supporting gay rights, will vigorously protest this CBS distortion of the truth. “Finally, I applaud the work and dedication of the Triangle Gay Communications and Planning Committee — in fact, they continue to work for us in trying to ratify the ERA, to ensure our civil rights. And, as they struggle to secure their civil rights, let us continue to join with them in the struggle to secure those civil rights — which are, in fact, human rights.” Sustar Cancelled continued from page 2 WSOC pre-empted Sustar’s “Flames of Revivial” program twice in March: once, to allow Rev. Nancy Radcliff of the Charlotte MCC time to respond to his anti-gay attacks; and again, a few weeks later, when his controversial remarks about homosexuals continued. Then, WSOC issued a news release saying that it would begin airing children's shows beginning June 1, and although it wasn’t mentioned in the release, cancelled Sustar’s program, and the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s “Old Time Gospel Hour.” Both had contracts with the station allowing cancellation with four weeks’ notice. Activist Don King told the press that the gay community couldn't take credit for the cancellations. Since the requested equal time was granted on March 2, King said, “we had more or less forgotten about this thing.” Rev. Faw, speaking at his press conference, declared that the cancellation of the shows was related to the Sustar controversy. Faw further said that he felt WSOCs actions were “anti-God, anti-Christ, anti Bible and anti-preacher.” Take Back the Night CHAPEL HILL— The “Take Back tfre Night” rally and march held in Chapel Hill April 18th produced about 400 woifteit^men and children, both straight and gay. The purpose of the event was to make the community aware of nighttime sexual crimes and harassment. Following the march, there was a rally at Carr Mill Mall with Alix Dobkin. There was also a workshop held at the Orange County Women’s Center on related topics.
The Front Page (Raleigh, N.C.)
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May 21, 1980, edition 1
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