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NEWS IN BRIEF
Freedom Ride Rolls
Through South, Again
Af/anfa-Northem gay and lesbian activists have
targeted Southern and Southeastern states in a re
enactment of the 1960's Freedom Ride. The South,
which has payed a pivotal role in presidential
politics this year, continues to attract activists'
attention with the drama of this summer's
Republican and Democrauc Conventions scheduled
for New Orleans and Atlanta.
The Gay and Lesbian Freedom Ride, as
conceived by Michael Petrelis, a gay man and
activist for people with AIDS (PWAs), moved
through the first of its several-leg journey prior to
the March 8 "Super Tuesday" primary.
Long regarded as the last bastion of legalized
discrimination, the South put forward both its best
and worst faces as the demonstrators drove through
theCarolinas. Using a pick-up truck loaned by
Charlotte, North Carolina activist Robert Sheets, the
group of gay men, lesbians and PWAs announced
their presence to locals by staging "kiss-ins" and
vocal demonstrations including a stop at Senator
Jesse Helms' (R-NC) Raleigh office and Jim and
Tammy Faye Bakker's multi-million dollar Heritage
U.SA. theme park.
Local communities welcomed the tour with
"Southern hospitality" at every stopover,
encouraging tire Freedom Riders onward. The
group gave lectures, encouraged voter registration,
and displayed a 25-panel quilt sewn by residents of
the New York City Bailey House - a home for
PWAs.
"People are fearful of coming out of the closet.
Two people told me that they would wear face
masks at demonsrations and would be afraid to start
a phone tree because the list of names might get
out," said Petrelis. Even the traveling activists were
wary of unlimited exposure, as they canceled an
appearance in Wilmington, North Carolina, due to
rumors of an ambush there by hate groups including
the White Patriot's Party and the Ku Klux Klan
(KKK).
The next leg of the journey will meander through
Southern cities between Atlanta and New Orleans.
Petrelis plans to attend the Southeastern Conference
for Lesbians and Gay Men (SECLGM) in Atlanta
April 14-18 to further organize the event.
The most lasting reason for the journey,
according to Petrelis, is to reach out to Southern
lesbians and gay men from the areas more
experienced in gay/lesbian activism. "When black
people struggled for their rights, civil rights leaders
went to Alabama," said Petrelis. "They did not stay
in New York City. We are going South to make
our point."
Houston Rallies Behind
Musician With AIDS
Houston- Officials of Houston's Second Baptist
Church met with strong opposition from the gay
and lesbian community after banning a musician
with AIDS from participating in its Palm Sunday
performance.
The incident started after the church hired a
group of professional musicians to perform in the
event When the church discovered among those
hired was a young man with AIDS, he was asked to
withdraw from the service. Initially, the French
Horn player planned to go along with the request
but when he decided to participate, the church
banned him. About fifteen of the hired union
musicians walked out in protest many with tears in
their eyes.
After the outcry throughout Houston, the church
denied AIDS was the reason the musician had been
banned, saying they had health concerns stemming
from him having tuberculosis. However, medical
experts agreed his tuberculosis was riot contagious.
Activists from the gay community and AIDS
advocacy groups quickly decided they would attend
Easter Sunday services at Second Baptist along
with several PWA's. Said activist Ray Hill," We
don't intend to disrupt services. We're just going to
see how 'Christian' Second Baptist will be."
Several dozen people, some wearing pink and
yellow ribbons, buttons with pink triangles, and
other symbols of support for the rights of gays and
lesbians and PWA's, attended the service. Hill told
Southern Voice some church members were
friendly and came to greet the visitors. But the
overall attitude of the regulars at the wealthy Baptist
Church was one of hostility without open
confrontation. The minister opened his sermon with
no direct reference to the controversy involving the
church, or the presence of the visitors. He talked at
length about the Black Plague that devestated
European populations during the Middle Ages.
Media coverage in Houston was intense with
lead stories in all the major papers and in every
television newscast. According to Hill there was
general disapproval of Second Baptist's actions.
Said Hill, "The church Is by itself on this issue." He
explained that many churches in the Houston area
have moved to fill the gap left by the lack of
constructive government involvement in the AIDS
crisis. "Second Baptist stands alone in its non
involvement We have seen no interest by them in
facing up to the needs of dying people", Hill
continued.
The church bills itself as one of the fastest
growing Baptist congregations in the area. But says
Hill, it is now one of the fastest diminishing, as
many members leave, horrified by the lack of
sensitivity.
Following the negative publicity received by the
church, Hill met with officials of Second Baptist
and asked them if, in retrospect they would do
anything differently. Their response was that they
wouldn't hire union musicians. "They completely
missed the point", commented Hill.
Lesbian Co-parent
Denied Visitation
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-A lesbian co-parent's suit to
establish her parental rights to a child she and an ex
lover conceived through artificial insemination was
denied March 22 by county court Judge James
Benson. The biological parent began restricting,
and then halted, all contact between the 6-year-old
child and his co-parent two years after his 1981
birth.
Neither women or the child were identified in
Court documents in order to protect the child.
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
attorney Paula Ettelbrick represented the non-
biological co-parent in the unsuccessful suit The
Lambda suit claimed that the women "agreed to
jointly share all rights and responsibilities for any
child they would have together as co-parents." The
two women combined their surnames when they
gave the child a name, and shared all financial
expenses involved in the pregnancy and birth of the
boy.
The biological parent claimed in briefs filed with
the Court that although the child's co-parent has not
abused him, it Ls healthier for him to be "raised in a
traditional environment."
Claiming that the judge's decision could have
"revolutionary implications" for lesbian and gay
parenting, Ettelbrick vowed to appeal the case on
behalf of her client
$290 Million AIDS
Package Gathers
Momentum
Washington, DC-Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-
CA) introduced the AIDS Health Care Financing
Act of 1988 on March 10th. The $290 million
attempt to place the federal government in the
middle of the fight against AIDS/ARC has as its
goal to "establish a rational, orderly approach to
financing AIDS health care and patient care."
Pclosi's bill drew forty-one original co-sponsors
in the House of Representatives. Nine other
representatives have since joined the effort John
Lewis (D-GA), from the metropolitan Atlanta 5th
Congressional district, was an original co-sponsor
with Pelosi.
No Senator has yet stepped forward to introduce
a similar Senate bill.
According to Pelosi aide Phil DeAndradi, the bill
"reflects the belief that the cost of AIDS health care
must be shared among the individual, private
insurers, and the local, state and federal
governments."
The bill is intended to shore-up local
communities financial efforts to deal with the
disease. It will provide $75 million to cities with a
large population of persons with AIDS (PWAs) to
assist with the local expenditures for projects and
services.
In addition to providing education on AIDS to
PWAs, the bill will defray hospital costs, insurance
costs and use of federal matching funds to
encourage use of home health care instead of
hospitalization.
The bill was jointly reported to the House
Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and
Education and Labor Committees according to
DeAndradi. He had no estimation of the length of
time before the bill would be reported out of
committee.
The AIDS Action Council, Human Rights
Campaign Fund (HRCF) and the National Lesbian
and Gay Task Force (NGLTF) have all gone on
record supporting Pelosi's legislation. DeAndradi
urged people to contact their Representatives and
Senators to push for passage of the bill.
More Gay Catholics
Arrested
New York- Another eighteen Roman Catholics
were arrested following an Easter Sunday protest
Mass outside New York’s Si Patrick's
Cathedral.The demonstration was part of ongoing
action by members of Dignity, the gay Catholic
group, which has vowed to hold its own Mass
outside the chuch on the first Sunday of every
month when Cardinal O'Connor conducts the
service. Dignity is protesting against the church's
stand on homosexuality and the Cardinal's actions
against the Catholic group.
The Easter Sunday demonstration started only
moments berfore the Cardinal began Mass. To the
astonishment of most of those gathered in the
church, about sixty people suddenly clasped hands
and started singing, leaving the church in the
direction of the alternative Mass held outside on
Fifth Avenue.
The service, across the street from St Patrick's,
was attended by more than 150 people. The
protesters ended their services by following a
lavender cross with pink triangles and singing the
civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome" before
dumbfounded Easter crowds.
When the Cardinal left the church after services
he was met with cries of "Shame!" from the
demonstrators, eighteen of whom were aiTcsted on
charges of disorderly conduct for blocking the
sidewalk outside the cathedral.
Singapore Cracks
Down On Gays
Singapore- Police have told bar and nightclub
owners to keep gays out of their establishments or
risk losing their licenses. In the latest government
action, the government is refusing to allow a play
about AIDS to go on unless it changes its
sympathetic treatment of gays. The play, Safe Sex,
has been in rehearsal for over a year with support
from the Ministry of Community Development. But
now officials say the problem with the play is that
"homosexuality is portrayed as a natural and
acceptable form of sexuality," according to Ng Yew
Kang, the ministry's cultural affairs director.
"Homosexuality is one of its main causes;
homosexuality in Singapore is objectionable."
The artists have refused to make any changes to
the play and remain deadlocked with the
government.. Lim Siaw Chong of the Theatre
Works Drama Company said, "Banning the play
sends out a clear message that nothing will be
tolerated here except what the government views as
normal."
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