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New Alliance Party/Questions Still Linger
The New Alliance Party (NAP) was
founded in New York City in 1979, and
on August 21,1988, in Atlanta, Georgia,
declared its "birthing" as America's third
independent party. The black-led,
multi-racial party boasts of a first in
history. Lenora B. Fulani, Ph.D., NAP's
presidential candidate for the 1988
general elections, is the first independent
African-American woman certified to
receive federal primary matching funds
by the Federal Elections Committee.
Although this party's for-the-people
philosophy seems theoretically sound
and what some lesbians and gay men
want to hear, there has been much
controversy surrounding the NAP's
views on homosexuality and it's alleged
neo-fascist connections. This
controversy prompted a desire to speak
with progressive people in the Atlanta
community to assess seme of the
concerns and to take these issues to the
NAP for clarification. There were two
major concerns: 1) NAP's social
therapeutic approach to homosexuality,
and 2) NAP's connection with Lyndon
LaRouche.
The spokesperson for the NAP, Tammy
Weinstein, the Georgia State Coordinator,
assessed the party's platform on homosexuality.
"The NAP, regardless of whether or not the
individual members are gay or straight, is for
the protection of the civil and democratic rights
of lesbians and gay men. We see that gay
people, along with other members of the
Rainbow Movement, must fight against the
assault on gay people by the far right. We need
to understand that it's not just black people's job
to stand up for black people nor is it just gay
people's job to stand up for gay people."
The major concern for most individuals is
the NAP's social therapeutic viewpoint cm
homosexuality. In an article written by Mary
Fridley, NAP's Director of the Bronx Institute
for Social Therapy and Research and National
Chairperson of NAP’s Lesbian and Gay
Caucus, entitled "Homophobia and the Rise of
Neo-Fascism in the United States," it is stated
"social-therapeutic practice understands
homosexuality as rooted in the specific social
conditions under which people live. Thus,
homosexuality is a protest (whether conscious
in the minds of individuals or not) against the
organized repression and oppression of human
beings." An interpretation of this statement by
many lesbians and gay men is that erne's
Lenora Fulani, Ph.D, 1988 Presidential Candidate
gayness is a lifestyle that could easily be
changed if social conditions improved, thus
making being lesbian or gay a diseased state of
heterosexuality.
Weinstein believes that this is one of the
ways the NAP's philosophy is misinterpreted.
The position of the NAP, according to
Weinstein, is that "if society were not so
oppressive and repressive to gay people; which
it is, in fact, there would be many, many more
gay people. It's the repressiveness and
oppression of the society that inhibits gay
people from living our lives, from coming out."
The philosophy seems to imply that the
social surroundings caused homosexuality,
making gayness acquired rather than inherited.
In defense, Weinstein stated that "I don't think
we take a posidon that it's inherited: I don't
think we take a posidon it's acquired. I think
we take a posidon that it's a choice. A radical
choice to do something different with one's life.
It's a protest against the tradidonal roles that
men and women are taught." Recalling the
social movement of the 60's and 70's,
Weinstein pointed out that people were coming
out proudly and they didn't separate coming
out, as people do today, from politics, but
indeed it was a movement to refute the
tradidonal societal roles placed on individuals.
It's not a free personal choice to be gay, but it's
a choice to come out since homosexuality in
America is not the disease, but
homophobia. As Fulani noted in her
keynote speech in Adanta at the party's
incepdon "...gayness is a protest against
the inhumanity of social roles in a society
that also says black folks aren't human -
that we're niggers - and that gays are
faggots, and that Jews are kikes...."
Weinstein understands that this is a
controversial posidon to take, and that
some lesbians and gay men disagree (as
was evidenced when NAP was denied
seating on the Steering Committee for the
March on Washington for Lesbian and
Gay Rights for this posidon) and that "on
one hand this important issue needs
discussion, but on the other hand, to get
bogged down over this and to overlook
what we should be doing in protest of the
far right's growth and brutality against
lesbians and gay men is another issue."
To address lesbians and gay civil rights
from the polidcal platform, Weinstein
stated the NAP is working to introduce an
ADS Bill of Rights to the Adanta City
Council and, hopefully, next year to the
Georgia General Assembly. Many people have
been receptive.
The other major issue of controversy is
NAP's connection with Lyndon LaRouche who
endorses quarantining PWA's and people with
ARC. Weinstein pointed that if people would
listen to what Fulani and the NAP are saying,
people would know that there is no connection.
"The NAP is pro-gay," she affirmed. Sane
individuals remember that Dr. Fred Newman,
Executive Board member of NAP, and
campaign manager for Fulani's Conmittee for
Fair Elections, was a member of LaRouche's
National Caucus of Labor Committee.
Weinstein stressed that in 1974 LaRouche was
considered to be left-wing by many individuals.
Newman's association for two months in 1974
(five years before the NAP was formed) ended
after evidence of neo-fascism.
In conclusion, it is evident from favorable
media coverage by Jet, CNN, and the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution that although there are
controversial issues surrounding this party,
many people are listening and supporting it
Since January 28,1988, $300,000 dollars has
been contributed by 17,000 individuals, which
has been matched by the federal government in
support of Fulani's campaign for democracy
and fair elections.
-Patricia A. Jackson
Number of Gay
Cuban Detainees
Questionable
The plight of the Cuban entrants from the
"Freedom Flotilla" during the spring and summer
of 1980 remains a sore point in the sullied
reputation of the Reagan administration s
Department of Justice. Administration officials
are quick to defend any apparent injustice
committed against the Marielitos, by reminding
the American public that Cuban President Fidel
Castro "dumped his prisons and mental hospitals
into the boats, while soldiers pulled innocent
refugees back to shore."
The number of gay men among the Marielitos
has been a point of contention between all of the
parties involved in the process of finding homes
for the immigrants. Early estimates of the
number of gay men involved in the boatlift range
as high as 25 percent by national gay activists.
That figure, however, has long been denounced
by officials of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, who claim that such numbers are
"inflated (and) irresponsible, (and) are further
hindering efforts to find sponsors for the Cubans."
Few lesbians ever identified themselves among
the entrants, and none are now known to be
detained.
The question of who among the Marielitos is
gay revolves not around simple head-counjs, but
the basic terms gay and homosexual, whicn must
clearly be redefined and set in the Latin American
culture before the true numbers begin to emerge.
The problem is further exacerbated by the
deception of the Marielitos themselves. In their
desperate attempt to flee Cuba, many confessed to
homosexuality in order to be certified by the
Cuban government and authorized to enter the
port city of Mariel, where the exodus was taking
place. Upon reaching the United States, many
feared renouncing their confessed sexuality
because they believed their Cuban records would
follow them to the States.
Once in the American refugee camps, the
Marielitos began to perform a variety of different
religious beliefs and sexual morals for the various
relief agencies in camp to interview and resettle
entrants. According to psychiatrist Dr. Peter
Valerio, until recently of the Public Health
Service's National Institute of Mental Health,
"When the Jewish relief agencies came into camp,
suddenly there were thousands of Jews, when the
Seventh Day Adventists were there, everyone was
Continued on Page 13
At Odds
At Odds is a regular feature describing public homophobic statements. Columnist, Peter
Dakutis, responds.
We encourage you to add your support.
Jasper Dorsey, a columnist fa Neighbor Newspapers, recently wrote a column entitled "Truth
Not Changed by Euphemisms," which I read in the Feb. 10th issue of the Northside Neighbor.
After bashing feminists, and affirmative action, Mr. Dorsey concluded his column with the
following paragraph:
"Perhaps the euphemism which demands the most imagination is this one: Those who
perform the unnatural acts of honosexual sodomy, sexual perversion, bestiality, and child
molestation are, of all things, called: 'gay.'"
Dear Mr. Dorsey,
Have you ever been acquainted with gay people? I'm sure that you've known quite a few
lesbians and gays in your life but our invisibility and pressures to stay invisible create problems.
You might not have noticed that these are the same people you have admired and respected,
people you've shared a laugh with, people you've bone sorrows with, people you're glad are a
part of your life are gay.
The question is: are you sincerely misinformed, a are you willfully blind? Fa in a recent
column on euphemisms, you have viciously condemned us as a group for highly outrageous and
insubstantial reasons. Are you listening to your own heart, your experiences and observations, or
are you replaying mean-spirited messages programmed into your head?
You present as "truth” that homosexuality is unnatural and perverse. You are woefully out of
line with the opinion of medical and mental health professionals, who maintain that
homosexuality has existed throughout history and throughout all types and cultures.
I don't suggest what your motives are, Mr. Dorsey. I do believe, however, that in acting with
those who would persecute a legitimate minority you are acting against common sense in
perpetuating dishonest and inflammatoy rhetoric.
Are you aware that data show that heterosexuals commit 95% of child molestation? If 10%
of the population is homosexual, then gays not ally molest children in much smaller numbers,
but also in much smaller percentages. What are the sources for your charges of bestiality? Or
are you making gross assumptions without any thought at all?
You might be right that "gay" is an odd word choice. No one is sure of its origin in this sense,
and certainly no one who chooses to be defined or is defined as mostly homosexual is
necessarily happier than people who are mostly heterosexual.
People who define themselves as gay or lesbian communicate to society that they have pride
and dignity, that they will not be mistreated by society for unwarranted reasons, and that they
want others to know that they are humans who love and care and are defined by their own
worth, not their sexual practices.
Wouldn’t you feel the same way, Mr. Dorsey? I urge you to start looking at lesbians and
gays carefully, honestly, and sincerely, instead of being led through hateful propaganda.
Sincerely yours,
Peter Dakutis
I am sending copies of this letter to Mr. Dorsey and to William Reynolds, Executive Editor
of the Northside Neighbor at: 120 Copeland Road N.E. Atlanata Ga 30342. I will also send a
copy to Otis A. Brumby Jr., Marietta Ga 30060.
You would be surprised at what a few letters could accomplish. Please take a few minutes,
to clip the letter and fill out the information below. Send to Jasper Dorsey at the address listed
above. I would also suggest that you speak to businesses that advertise in Neighbor
newspapers. And heaven help us if there are lesbian and gay businesspeople who "silently"
advertise in Neighbor newspapers and yet don't make their views known, even if "discreetly."
NAME
ADDRESS.
CITY
0 I agree with Mr. Dakutis and wish to register my complaint.