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NATIONAL NOTES
New Yock - Kenneth Sheri)I, 34-year-old political science
professor at Hunter College has become the first openly gay
candidate elected in New York City. Sherill will represent the
69th Assembly District Part A oh the New York City
Democratic Committee. As a holder of this post, Sherrill will
be the channel for neighborhood concerns of his district.
Sherrill has announced his intention to name the Gay
Independent Democrats his official “clubhouse” making it
the first gay political club in that city to have a representative
on the Democratic Committee. ? ,
San Francisco - The Gay Law Students Association here has
presented oral arguementsbefore the California Supreme
'Court in its long running suit to force the state’s Fair
Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) to recognize
the illegality of job discrimination against gay people. The
FEPC has refused to consider claims of arbitrary
discrimination filed by four men who allegedly lost their jobs
or were refused employment by Pacific Telephone &
Telegraph Co. because of their sexual orientation. The
FEPC has argued that it lacks power to act in such cases.
Port Lucie, FL - The Bishops of the Episcopal Church,
meeting here, has adopted overwhelmingly a theological
-statement that condemns homosexuality as unbiblical, bars
ordination of gays to the priesthood and forbids priests of
the church from blessing a gay marriage. But they
sidestepped a proposal to censure one of their number,
Bishop Paul Moore, Jr. of New York, for ordaining a gay
woman last January. In their statement, the Bishops
asserted that the Bible “rejects homosexual practice” and
therefore the church “is right to confine its nuptial blessing
exclusively to heterosexual marriage.
Hillbum, N.Y. - The landmark, Motel-on-the-Mountain
embarked on a new policy of catering to gays recently and
irate local residents said they feared it would change their
community. A demonstration by 35 local people against the
motel’s policy change was met by a counter demonstration
of New York City gays who chanted militant slogans and
carried signs reading “Gays Are Here To Stay."
Approximately 1,000 gays traveled to the motel for the grand
re-opening. There were no attempts by their opponents to
stop them.
Sacramento, CA - Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill into law
that would give transsexuals the right to get a re-written
birth certificate. The new birth certificate would take note of
the person’s sex change. The bill, which was sponsored by
Assembly-person Willie Brown (who also led the fight for the
state’s recently enacted “consenting adults law”) is
expected to affect about 100 people.
Washington - The Advocate recently gave a luncheon for
eight individuals “who have demonstrated a concern toward
enlightening society to the humanity of gay women and
men." It is not known at press time, how many of the
individuals selected attended the luncheon. They are: Rep.
Edward Koch, democratic mayoral candidate, John Askew
of Mutual Black Network, Joseph Lovett, a CBS-TV
producer, Rod McKuen, the entertainer and author, Elaine
Noble, Mass. State Sentator, James Landis, editorial
director and vice-president of William Morrow Publishing
Co., U.S. Senator Alan Cranston (D-Cal.) and Midge
Costanza, in assistant to President Carter.
Denver - An ordained minister with a Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago’s Divinity School has written a full-
length manuscript in which he argues that Jesus was gay.
According to an article in New Times Magazine, the book,
written by Denver artist Gary Michael, states that there was
no theological basis for Christ to have surrounded himself
with males. There are only two instances throughout the
gospels in which Jesus touches a woman and both
encounters, asserts the author, are awkward. Michael, who
is not gay, says thaj he sent a copy of the manuscript to Anita
Bryant.
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Edward Koch has agreed to
amend the national gay rights bill, HR 2998, to prohibit the
"fashioning of any remedy requiring any sort of quota”
based on affectatiqnal or sexual preference. The bill remains
in a judiciary subcommittee and the Koch amendment is
designed tp counteract arguements by the bill’s opponents
that its enactment would lead to quotas for gay people in
different jobs.
Berkley, CA -The directors of the 2,400 member Association
for Humanistic Psychology (AHP) has come out in favor of
gay rights. The executive board of the AHPcalledfor federal
legislation to ban all discrimination based on a person’s
sexual orientation. Meanwhile, in nearby San Francisco, a
record crowd of about 300 gay psychologists participated in
a series of seminars and social events sponsored by the
Association of Gay Psychologists. The program was held in
conjunction with the annual convention of the American
Psychological Association.
Delinquent Sentenced to Football Therapy
by H.Michael Bardin; Trustee,D.C.C.H.R.
Miami — a 16-year-old juvenile
was declared a delinquent by
Judge Seymour Gelbert of
Juvenile Court after pleading
'no contest to charges Of
aggravated battery and the use
of a weapon in the BB-gun
t shooting of John Ward onJune27.
Ward, 27, a bartender at a local
gay bar, suffered a collapsed lung
iafter he was shot while waiting for
a taxi in Coconut Grove. He had
just left a street dance sponsored
by the Miami Victory Campaign.
Before the trial leaders of the
Dade County Coalition .for
Human Rights appeared 'before
Judge Dixie Chastain asking
permission for members of the
Coalition to attend the trial and
that their official photographer be
allowd to take pictures during
■court.
After testimony from John
Ward, the defense called Dr.,
Ronald Shellow, a Miami
' psychiatrist who specializes in
adolescent behavior, to the witness
stand.
He testified that the tall-broad
shouldered youth, who looks
much older than 16, “has a great
deal of anxiety and feelings of
inadequacy about his manliness.
He exerts macho behavior which
responds in hare-brained and
destructive ways.”
Shellow said that he has seen him
three times since July. Although
psychiatric tests showed he has
“serious emotional difficulties,”
Shellow said, it would be as
theraputic for him to participate in
the football program at the high
school he attends as it would be to
continue psychotherapy.
I Football would let him vent his
' agressive feelings, Shellow said.
I Gelber asked the psychiatrist if
I people were safe from the youth
i now. Shellow answered yes,
j because “he’s in an intense athletic
i program.”
: The judge asked if society would
' have to watch out for him during
the off-season and Shellow
' responded, “Yes, but we plan to
pick up psychiatric treatment after
football season.”
The youth testified that on the
night of the shooting he and some
friends had gone out to get
something to eat and went to get
some ice cream.
“We were riding around the Grove
and we just wanted to shoot out a
sign or at a garbage can as a joke,”
. he said. “We didn’t have any idea
the gun was that powerful. We
: had no idea it would harm Mr.
Ward.”
i More than 40 members of the
j Dade County Coalition for
Human Rights stood outside the
' small courtroom while a doxen
! members were inside. Jack
j Campbell, President of the
Coalition, said he didn’t favor ajail
j term for the youth.
.“That would not help anything,”
j he said. “I am very interested to see
if the judge feels having this young
man vent his -aggressions on the
football field is the best way to deal
with the problem.”
! Gelber, in setting sentencing for
October 18, stated that any group
of concerned citizens or citizen
could have their opinions on the
case expressed at that time
through a deposition.
The Coalition plans to file one.
Encore Owner Indicted in Garden Fire
Ron Zappi and Bill Smith Survey Garden Arson
Atlanta — Frank Cashman and
Keith,Langdonwere indicted by
the Fulton County Grand Jury
for the September 4 fire at the
Magic Garden. Cashman and
Langdonwho are connected with
the Encore Lounge in Atlanta
were charged with 2nd degree
arson.
The Atlanta Constitution, in a
front page article by Jim
Steward and" Paul Lieberman,
virtually convicted Cashman
and iLangdon'of the fires and
indicted the gay business
community in general for being
involved in organized crime and
“a vindictive struggle for
Atlanta’s increasingly profit
able homosexual market.”
The Constitution bases their
story on District Attorney
Louis Slaton’s ‘Gay Bar War’
allegations advanced during the
Robbie Llewellyn trial They
proceed to document this
theory with a series of charges
and statements that leave the
reader to believe that gay bars
and organized crime are.
virtually synoymous.
According to the article
Atlanta’s ‘Gay Bar War/Feud’
was thought to be ended with
the conviction of and
sentencing of Robbie Llewellyn
to life imprisonment. Their
investigation alledges to reveal
that the ‘War/Feud,’ rather
than ending, has merely
changed principals.
Stewart and Liberman raise,
; once again, the charges that the"
Magic Garden owner, Ron
Zappi, is tied-in with the Carlo
Gambino organized crime
family via a connection with
Ettore Zappi of Miami. Ronald
Zappi has repeatedly denied
any relation to Ettore Zappi
and has offered to bring his
mother to Atlanta to testify to
' his family tree.
The article also raises the
charge that one of the principals
in The Magic Garden is “a
California gay club operator
denied a license here two years
ago.” That, license was denied
largely due to a police report
issued by the Los Angeles police
department which is headed by
the notoriously homophobic
Ed Davis.
The Constitution charges that
Encore owners Frank Cashman
and the Vara family operated
bars in Boston that were fiercely
opposed by community groups.
The article fails to note that
much of the opposition to these
'“gay” bars came after property
I adjacent to the them (Jacques
land the Otherside) had
! undergone renovation. The
new neighbors found these
relics of the old neighborhood a
nuisance. Boston gay activists
considered the bars marginally
gay with a mixture of people
ifrom various street lifestyles,
i The fourth charge was that
still another group of gays,
I possibly two separate groups,
1 were trying to open an all gay
hotel in Atlanta. Both Man’s
World and Parliment House
i investors in Florida haver
explored the Atlanta market
recently. It may surprise the
Constitution to learn that the
majority of Atlanta’s hotels
have non-resident investors.
The fifth major charge
concerned threats received by
two gay business owners out of
the over forty “gay businesses
that operate here. The article
leaves the distinct impression
that the threats are from other
bar owners. No mention is
made of the bomb and other
type threats received by
Atlanta’s gay oriented church
MCC or other gay
businesses and organizations
such as this newspaper that
were definately not made by
other gays.
Fire has plagued many gay
businesses and organizations.
Some have proven to be arson.
The idea that these arsons could
only have been committed by
other gays is patently absurd.
Minority groups have
■ historically been the victim of
the anonymous arsonist. The
rash of fires that hit the
Lauderdale Beach Hotel where
Magic Garden’s Ron Zappi was
Food and Beverage Manager
came about shortly after the
: Mayor of Ft. Lauderdale called
for the elimination of the
i growing gay population of that
city. The article also failed to
I note that the Vara/Cashman
managed bars in and around
I Boston have generally been well
i run and only their gay bar
j operations have brought
' “community opposition.”
i It is unfortunate that the
i Constitution devoted over a
half page of copy to the
Cashman/Langdon 'indictment
without any information on the
actual facts leading up to their
indictment. It will be
interesting to see whether Mr.
Cashman or Mr.'Langdonjcan
, receive a fair trial in an area
j where many potential jurors
i minds have been affected by the
.reportage of the Constitution.
Who Is This Man?
An unidentified man found
'beaten to death September 25
may have been gay, Atlanta
Police informed The Barb. The
body was found in the Howard
Johnson’s Motor Lodge at 1-75
land Northside Drive, bound
(with torn bedsheets and gagged.
!The man’s jaw had been
Crushed and he had been pistol-
whipped to the extent that all
his lower teeth were knocked
out.
Homocide detectives are
asking for the help of the gay
community in identifying the
corpse and gave the following
description: White male, early
to middle 20’s, 1.29 lbs., 6' tall,
brown hair and eyes, scar on
iright arm and shoulder, scar on
left knee (could be an injury
from football or some similar
isport). He had been wearing
'navy blue pants, black patent;
leather loafers, a white long-
jsleeved shirt, red crushed velour
.vest, with a silver pocket watch.
\on a chain. (May have been a
'waiter’s or bartender’s
'uniform.)
; Anyone with any information
{concerning this case should
(contact Det. Genson at 658-
{6654, or if you wish, The Barb
office can relay your"
(information during the week
{between 12 noon and 4 pm. ;