Baltimore Alternative, February 1990

The NGLTF Comes of Age.. .page 18 ThE ВаЫмОНЕ Fcbmuny 1990 ALTERNATIVE ■fte JS/OotM I REAL my &:^бду! i p:ti ok ...mkw4 yANNEHEYER • National Summit ‘Against’ Homosexuality Rev. Louis Sheldon Termed ‘Falwell of the 90’s’ by Cliff O'Neill WASHINGTON— What began last fall with an obscure bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature mandating the labeling of records deemed objectionable by the state has in the opening weeks of the new year grown into a national trend, with similar bills being examined by legislators in as many as 17 states. The bills, although slightly different in each state, would order record companies to attach “parental warning” labels on all I records, tapes and compact discs judged to contain lyrics which “advocate or encour¬ age” any of the following: “suicide, sodo¬ my John Zeh WASHINGTON— At least 500 gay men, lesbians, and supporters marched and rallied January 26th against a “National Summit on Homosexuality” held here by the Rev. Louis Sheldon to form a “Nation¬ al Task Force on Preservation of the Het¬ erosexual Ethic.” A diverse, ad hoc alliance of human rights groups denounced Sheldon and his “Coalition for Traditional Values” (CTV), calling the Californian a new Jerry Falwell and a “voice of hate” attempting to resurrect the Virginia minister’s Moral Majority. “We think they’re very dangerous for all people concerned about civil liberties,” said Urvashi Vaid, head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). Sheldon’s group held a one-day meet¬ ing attended by about 70 people at the Sheraton Hotel to plan strategies to defeat lesbian and gay civil rights initiatives at all levels. Keynote speaker was Rep. William Dannemeyer (R-CA). Hotel security guards locked out activists and gay jour¬ nalists from the sessions. “We attempted a constructive, non- confrontational meeting in the morning,” said Sue Hyde of NGLTF, "but Sheldon seemed very upset and turned away.” NGLTF was one key organizer of the foiled rendezvous, press conference, rally, march, and sit-in. Clearly the Presbyterian pastor wanted to avoid a confrontation similar to last September’s festival in Orange County, California, where he said it took three cir¬ cles of supporters to “fend off the homo¬ sexuals.” He had enraged activists by of¬ fering “reparative therapy” for people with “gender-identity conflict.” And he no doubt feared a replay of protests at last October’s symposium on “Homosexuality and Public Policy” where 40 people were arrested. “We met two summit registrants who said they were once gay,” said Tracy Co- naty of OUT! (Oppression Under Target!), one of the dozen who sought out Sheldon. ‘They said they understood us. We said they wouldn’t try to change who we are if that were true. We mentioned the high sui¬ cide rate among gay and lesbian youth, but they gave no response. We just came to have dialogue, but that’s obviously not what they wanted.” Protesters marching a mile from Du¬ pont Circle were shut out of the Sheraton’s secondary entrance near the Woodley Me¬ tro Rail stop by city police. “Lesbians and gays under attack!”, they shouted. “What do we do? Stand up, fight back!” Placards they carried said “Bigotry Kills Teens Dead,” “Dannemeyer is a False Prophet,” and “Gay Hate is Un- American.” Two people held signs lit by batteries; one said, “I’m a Happy Healthy Homosexual.” Stickers cried, “CTV, Don’t You See? ‘Reparative Therapy is BIGOTRY!'” Protesters sat on the hotel’s driveway, depositing still-lit candles on the sidewalk at the doors. When police inside relayed their intent to make arrests, people picket¬ ed until they were certain Sheldon would not appear. “We’ll be stronger when we come back,” they chanted. “Act up! Fight back!” Sheldon has said out-of-the-closet ho¬ mosexuals “constitute a threat to tradition¬ al family values.” He wants to recast America as a Christian nation that forbids abortion, establishes school prayer as man¬ datory, teaches creationism in science classes, and enforce isolation of people with AIDS or HIV infection. “We’re setting the pace for the rest of the country,” he wrote in Los Angeles magazine. “We’re taking the lead on the homosexual issue, but there are really [four others]: pornography, abortion, relig¬ ious liberties, and the sanctity of authority within the family,” including spanking. Sheldon counts as key compatriots see NATIONAL SUMMIT page 16 Record Stickering Bills Making Headway Across the Nation “Sodomy" Among Activities Targeted by State Proposals my, incest, bestiality, sadomasochism, adultery, rape or sexual activity in a vio¬ lent context; involuntary deviate sexual in¬ tercourse; murder; ethnic intimidation; the use of illegal drugs; or the excessive or illegal use of alcohol.” At present, such bills have been filed, or will be filed, in the Pennsylvania, Missouri and Florida legislatures. The first such bill was sponsored in the 1988 Missouri House by state Rep. Jean Dixon, who this past fall gained notoriety for her campaign to ban the Larry Kramer play The Normal Heart from being performed at a state college on grounds that it promoted homosexuality. Although her 1988 bill died in committee, she re¬ cently introduced the bill to the 1990 legis¬ lative session. In Pennsylvania, a stringent labelling bill sponsored by state Rep. Ron Gamble, mandating everything from the color to the large size of the mandatory stickers, passed the state House as an amendment to a popular drug bill in December. The Pennsylvania bill, as do the other propo¬ sals, include the “sodomy” provision, al¬ though Pennsylvania does not itself have a sodomy law. Gamble revived the bill by successful¬ ly attaching it to the popular drug bill in December after it was initially defeated in see RECORD STICKERING page 9 In Search of Black Gay America Michelle Parkerson Photos by Jim Marks Marlon Riggs Activist Filmmakers: ALTERNATIVE LIVING , p. 25 CTV demonstrators outside Sheraton Woodly Park