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4-THE BARB, February 1976
Gay Counseling Conferences
To Be Held In The South
Dr. Ralph Blair, Director of
the Homosexual Community
Counseling Center of New York
and Editor'ofthe Homosexual
Counseling Journal will be th<
keynote speaker ai several
conferences on Counseting and
Homosexuality to be held in
major Southern cities later this
month and in early Febrauary.
In addition to the keynote
address, a panel composed of.
professional counselors and
laypersons will share their ideas
on the counseling needs of gavs.
There will, also be several
workshops on a wide variety of
topics ranging from “What is
misunderstood about gays end
promiscuity” to ‘‘HOW TO.
DEAL WITH ROMANTIC
BREAK UPS,“
This is the second year
of Dr. diair’s nation-wide series
of counseling conferences. Last
year’s conference for this
region, held in Atlanta, was
viewed as benenicial and
stimulating by th e participants .
The conference schedule for
this area of the country is:
Chapel Hill, Jan. 31; Knoxville,
Feb. 2; Birminghm, Feb. 14:
Jacksonville, Feb 16. confer
ence were held, earlythis month
in Oklahoma City and Houston.
Conferences will also beheld in
other areas of the country
through May.
Registration fees are $20
per. person or $15 per person
when three register from the
same organization, or $10 per
student with. I.D. All con-
Con tinned Page 13
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Gay Liberation in Florida
By Joel M. Starkey
Phone s [305]-391-8693 after 6
pun.
Hollywood;, Ha. '
The Stonewall Committee is in
the process of establishing the
Gay Consumers
Union of South Florida. me
purpose of the organization is
two-fold. The first purpose is the
implementation ot< a “Gay
consumers BUI of Rights”
outlined below and the second
purpose is to contact gay people
in other areas of the country to
establish a National -Gay Con
sumers Union. For more infro on
becoming involved in this project
contact Stonewall Committee,
P.O. Box 2084, Hollywood
Hordia 33020...attn. GCU-S7F.
Miami, Fla.
A suspected gay sex offender
was shot to death by a Miami
Beach Police officer as he fled
down-a beach on December 17,
1975. The incident started when a
16 year old high school student
ran down the beach yelling he
was being assaulted. It is unclear
whether the suspect had been
armed but Florida State Law give
police officers the right to shoot
fleeing teiona whether they are
armed or not.
Pensacola
The Armed Forces Informer is
now being published by the
A.A.F.A., a gay service persons
group uased in Pensacola. It
is distributed to approximately 87
military- base libraries as well as
to individual servicemen and
servicewomen interested in how
the gay liberation
movement relates to them.
It contains up to date information
on all gay service related legal
jcases such as the Matlovich
re instalment case. A copy can be
had for a donation....no sub
scription price "has been
established yet. A.A.F.A. Box
1863, Pensacola, Florida 32589.
Miam, Fla.
“Lesbian Speaks” is now
being published by the Dade
County N.O.W. Lesbian Task
Force. For a years subscription
send this group a packet of 12 self
addressed and stamped en-.
velopes. The Current issue
contain s information on HR 5452 -
the National Gay Rights Bill, Kate
Millet’s speech giving at
lesbians. N.O.W, Lesbian Task
Force, P.O. Box 330265, Miami,
Florida 33133.
Miami H
Louise Griffin well known
lesbian feminist and leader of the
Dade County N.O.W. Task Force
on Lesbianism recently appeared
on one of th e major network T. V.
Channels with two other feminists
to discuss the recent resolutions
passed at the National N.O.W.
conference with regards to
lesbianism. The issue of
lesbianism was discussed in’ a
verv positive light on a televised
program which was aired in the
Miami area during prime time.
Hollywood, Ha
The Gay Consumers Union of
South Florida has issued the
following “Gav Consumers Bill of
Rights.......” CGay People
should not nave to pay exorbitant
prices for food, drinks, or ad
mission prices at gay establish^
ments. 2) No person Should be
prohibited from entering the gay
establishment on account of race,
sex, religion, age (if 18 or older
with valid I.D.) and - or ap
pearance. 3) The establishment
is responsible for the welfare of
it’s patrons when homophobic
individuals (such as ‘queer’
baiting youths) threaten them in
foe establishment or nearby
parking areas. 4) the establish
ment shall be responsible for it’s
patrons in the event of a police
raid in regards to bail and legal
aid. 5) A patron cannot be
banned or v ‘blacklisted; from
patronizing .a gay establishment
for the purpose of organizing gay
liberation activities.
Boca Raton, Fla.
The Southern Gay Liberator, a
gay liberation resource project
has been informed that the
Journal of Homosexuality will
resume publication as of
February, 1976. This Journal is of
a h igh quality and gays are urged
to have it subscribed to by Public
and University Libraries. For
more information on this Journal
write to: The Haworth Press, 174
Fifth Avenue, N.Y., N.Y.C. 10010
Attn: Journal of Homosexuality.
It is a must for gay counselors and
gay community service center
staff members.
CLEARWATER: The Suncoasi
Gay Community Service Center in
conjunction With the robbery
squad of the St. Petersburg Police
Department is trying to stop a
series of assaults being com
mitted against gays by
homophobic types in an area
around St. Petersburg’s Pier.
There has been at least one
person who’s throat has been cut
severely.
MiAlMI: The University ot Miam
has had success with the for
mation of the Gay alliance. The
group expected involvement of
about 50 people with it’s projects
but got response from 250 so it
has formed a formal organization.
The group hold weekly meetings
on campus and has had a suc
cessful dance-benefit.
Tampa: An active chapter of the
Daughters of Bilitis (.D.O.B.) has
Parent's Form Group
“The question of whether or
not to tell one’s parents is the
most cruicial decision a
homosexual has to make,” says a
Miami psychologist, a man whose
experiences in counseling gay
people and their parents were
diseased in a recent, Miami
Herald article on Parents of Gays
(Sept. 28, Living Today):.
As indicated by the -Herald
artide-and by “Consenting
Adult,” the best-selling novel
about a mother who is confronted'
by her sdn’s homosexuality, 1
written by Laura Z. Hobson,
whose own son is gay - parental
reaction is often strongly,
sometimes even violently,
negative. ■ ^ . f
“Parents have their own
unique problems in dealing with a
(bid’s homosexuality,” says the
psychologist, who coordinates a
Parents of Gays group in Miami.
Chapters of Parents of Gays
groups already operate in a ‘
number of cities. They offer the
kind of supportive atmosphere in
which parents can exchange ideas
and feelings comfortably.
“Like ^mapy .gay people
themselves, these parents go
through a stage of thinking that
there’s nobody, else m tne
world” With their problem.
“When they find out that’s not
the case, they can begin to relax
and learn ^hat homosexuality
actually means in terms of their
sons and daughters,” he notes.
Betty Fairchild, a Washington,
D.C. mother of a gay son, ex
plains her initial feelings during
foe course of a meeting with three
other women over a year ago.
“During the evening we talked
with each other, encouragingly or
hesitantly, with a bit of anger or
with puzzlement, and sometimes
with pain. But what was new to all
of us was this fust-time sharing of
heretofore hidden feelings and
experiences with others who had
been through the same thing.”
With seed money from two
focal businessmen and a cor
porate charter from the state of
Florida, a new service-oriented
gay 7 organization has been
established in the Miami area.
Gay Community Services of
South’Florida, Inc. (GCS), meets
every Saturday at noon in the
downtown Miami YWCA.
Membership - currently - exceeds
100, Mth a fee of only $3 per year.
'been meetmg the needs) of gayj
women for 14 months. Tne
D.O.B. group in Tampa provides
a vital organization for wotag0
struggling to come to nips wftrj
themselves and their identity, ft
is one place where a woman can
relax, be completely herself; let
her guard down* and meet people
struggling with the same op
pressions. D.O.B. conducts
monthly business meetings the
First Saturday of each month at
1208 W. Platt Street in Tampa,
Honda.
BOCA RATON: The Southern.
Gay Liberator is an activist
project and one of Florid’s oldest
existing gay liberation
organizations. One of it’s current
projects is the establishment of a
lending library’ for gay men and
-women, in the focal area. It is non- -
profit and lacks adequate funding
as do many &ay groups. It is
requesting donations of any sort
to be sent to *SGL , P.O. Box
2118, Boca Raton, Florida.
Donations should indude old or
new books witK a gay theme,
exchange subscriptions to gay
.periodicals, or related matter with
a positive gaytheme.
CLEARWATER: 'lhe 5uncoast
Gay Community Service Center
has launched a series of service-
oriented projects. They include
Gay Switchboard, Positive Gay
Literature distribution, coun
seling, social activities, com
munity service projects. For more
info on these projects call 441-
3136 in Clearwater.
MIAMI: A group of gay men and
women have formed a gay ser
vice-oriented center in Miami.
Among the projects already in
operation according to FOCUS,,
the groups newspaper, is a 24-
hour hotline-, referral service, a
childcare service for gay jparents>_
a speaker’s bureau and a weekly
informal “rap’ group. Fund
raising is being obtained from
gay business within the area. For
information on the activitid! of
this group call 445-3511 between,
7 p.m. and midnight.
Pensacola: the American Armed
Forces Association, a gay ser
viceman and woman’s group, has
published and is now distributing
a pamphlet which critiques the
Department of Defense policy on
Homosexuals. It is well written
and can be obtain by sending a
donation to — A.A.F.A., Box
1863. Pensacola, Ftorida32589.
America 1976
Billions for Defense but hardly a
‘spare dime’ for
Gay Liberation and the needs of a
gay people
1776-1976
200 years of gay peoples op
pression
GCS currently operates a 24-
hour hotline-referral service t!)05-
445-3511), child-care service,
speakers’ bureau, and weekly
informal “rap” group (Thur
sdays, 7:30 p.m., YWCA).
Serveral gay businessmen
have supported GCS, notably
Sam Morse of the Hamlet and
former Miami City Commission,
gay candidate Jack Campbell,
owner of die nation-wide Club
BathChain. %
“We have a solid base of
operations and personnel,” says
GCS founding president Bob
Baker. He adds that while south
Honda is beginnmg to see
beyond^ gay stereotypes, GCS
plans a major educational
campaign to acquaint the area
with gay community.
Several other planned projects
are a community center, VD
treatment and prevention unit,
and employment service, all gay-
oriented.