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NOW's Lesbian Agenda Conference Fails to Heal Old Wounds
Hopes for recognition of lesbians and their
issues by the National Organization for
Women (NOW) were dashed for many
attending the recent National Lesbian Agenda
Conference. Over one thousand women were
in attendcnce at the NOW-sponsorcd San
Diego gathering, held October 7-10.
Many of this year's conference attendees
were former NOW members who came ready
once again to support the organization after a
ten-year hiatus. The break followed a lesbian
walkout at the 1978 Los Angeles NOV/
conference. Those who left the 1978 caucus
were once again outraged when they learned
that NOW President Molly Yard failed to
utilize mainstream media lime to promote this
year's conference. Instead, Yard chose only
to respond to questions about the Equal
Rights Amendment (ERA).
NOW Board Member Rosemary
Dempsey remembers the L.A. walkout as
"not being over substantive issues, but over
an election contest." Lesbian civil rights
activist Martha Jones was one of those who
"walked" a decade ago. "It took a lot for me
to attend this year," Jones said. "It was clear
to those of us who were listening then, that
NOW was homophobic and did not want
lesbians in leadership roles. Here we are, ten
years later, and nothing has changed. It's a
shame, because I don't believe NOW can
survive without lesbian energy."
The conference, which appeared to be well
planned and organized, intended to prepare
positive goals for change. Instead, it ended
on a sour note. Many conferees fell that it
wasn't the content, but rather tone of the
conference which dissatisfied attendees.
Many were disappointed that an organization
which purports to represent all women
presented leadership which finds it difficult to
acknowledge lesbians publicly. There was
an undertone of discontent even before it
was learned that Yard had neglected to
inform the mainstream press about why she
was in San Diego.
It seemed, from the first rap of the gavel,
that Yard and members of her staff had
positioned themselves to control the podium
throughout the conference. A number of the
conferees felt that NOW Lesbian Rights
Project Director Nancy Buermcycr and San
Diego Conference Coordinator Gloria
Johnson would have belter represented the
interests of the attendees, had they been
given the opportunity to co-chair the
meeting.
The three-day conference was filled with
workshops, meeting and speeches. Topics
included Learning to Love Ourselves, The
Politics of AIDS, Surviving Childhood
Sexual Abuse, Alcohol and Drug Abuse and
some thirty other workshops of particular
interest to lesbians.
Of great importance to many women
attending the conference was the opportunity
to network, speak and interact with one
thousand other women who share a unique
sisterhood. For Fran, a San Diego resident
and first-time conference attendee, the
weekend almost erased thirty years of self
hatred. "Just sitting here in the lobby of the
Holiday Inn, watching women holding
hands and being publicly affectionate, gives
me courage. This is the first time in my
life," she continued, "that I'm not ashamed of
what I am."
At the opening session, Jean O'Leary,
Executive Director of the National Gay
Rights Advocates, rallied the audience.
"Know that you are being called upon," she
said, "to create a difference. We will not
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turn back. We will not retreat to the closcL"
Robin Tyler, feminist comedian, producer
and activist, delivered a moment of passion
when she stated,"Let us, if we do nothing else,
call an end to trashing. We're here," she
reminded her audience, "fighting for our right
to love. Let's not destroy each other in the
process." Tyler brought the audience to its
feet when she clarified the purpose of the
conference: "We're not here talking about our
lifestyles - we're talking about our lives."
Although performers Dicdre McCalla,
Lucie Blue Tremblay and Marga Gomes
provided the audience with well-received
entertainment, any momentum to enact the
agenda was lost due to poor scheduling of the
plenary. Hundreds of attendees didn't return
for the plenary, which was scheduled after a
concert and dinner break. With only sixty
women in atlendence at the Sunday meting,
discussion on the multi-item agenda and
agreement on the preamble were not
completed.
Another Lesbian Agenda Conference,
scheduled for the fall of 1989, is now being
planned and organized by lesbians from
across the nation. Dr. Carol Cohan, an
organizer of the 1989 conference said
"(Yard's oversight with the media) tells me
that NOW still does not want to address
lesbian issues. We will do it ourselves."
Michelle Crone, who coordinated civil
disobedience at the Supreme Court during the
National March on Washington, felt that Yard
succumbed to the dictates of the mainstream
media and, by doing so, was instrumental in
reinforcing inherent homophobia.
Mizzetle Fuenzalida felt that the NOW
conference was a step in the right directing.
"But," she added, "I still think NOW is paying
lip service to us. It certainly brought home
the fact that we, as lesbians, have to bring our
own agenda to the forefront."
Activist Ivy Botiine summed up the
FDA Protests
From Page 3
the follow-up on toxicity and dosage efficacy
independently.
Jeff Levi, executive director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
pointed out, however, that while Young
advocates an active role for the FDA in the
drug approval process, he did not ask for the
money to hire the additional personnel needed
to undertake such a project
Meredith joined Levi in labeling the plan
as ineffectual, and stated she did not believe
that the FDA had the staff to "bird dog" the
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"We're not here talking about our
lifestyles - we're talking about our
lives," said feminist activist and
comedian, Robin Tyler.
feelings of a number of women when she
stated, "To me this has been a closet
conference. NOW has the power to create all
sorts of publicity. I'm staggered by the fact
that the mainstream press wasn't here."
Activist-writer Margaret Sloan-Huntcr,
who has been involved in the feminist
movement for a number of years, thought it
was significant and historical that NOW
sponsored this conference. "I didn't have any
great illusions about what would be
accomplished here, given NOW's history with
lesbians," she explained. "Recognition is the
first step toward change. This was a
beginning."
For information about the 1989 Lesbian
Rights Conference, write to: National
Lesbian Conference, P.O. Box 3057, Albany,
NY 12203
-Gerrie Mayer-Gibbons
GLPA News Service
(Commissioned by the Gay and Lesbian
Press Association through a funding grant
from the Media Fund for Human Rights.)
drug companies to insure that they were
doing the research correctly.
What worries Levi the most however, is
that the FDA is not making a distinction
between PWAs and people infected with
HIV.
"If I was a PWA with only six months to
live, I might not worry about taking a drug
with toxic side-affects that might pop up one
year later," Levi said. "If I was HIV-positive,
however, and had not developed AIDS yet, I
would not want to be taking such a drug.
"Unfortunately, the new FDA plan will not
be making those distinctions," he said
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