Baltimore Alternative, September 1991

BALT W MORE ALTERNATIVE September 1991 ▼ Volume 6, Number 9 T Serving The Baltimore /Washington Community Since 1986 SOVIET GAYS AND LESBIANS FOUGHT IN COUP BY REX WOCKNER _ THE ALTERNATIVE he faces of gays and lesbians were repeated¬ ly visible in the televi¬ sion footage of the grassroots uprising against the failed Communist coup in the Soviet Union, say American activists back from this summer’s groundbreaking gay-pride cel¬ ebrations in Leningrad and Moscow. Nearly 20,000 Soviet gays and lesbians took part in one aspect or another of the two weeks of film festivals, confer¬ ences and demonstrations, organizers say. Soviet gay movement founder Roman Kalinin and many other Russian gay activists cut their teeth in the democracy movement. “The two [movements] have been unified — to help the other,” explained Tom Boellstorff, an American who staffs the new Moscow office of the San Francisco-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which co-organized the pride events. Also, new alliances were forged between Soviet gay activists and pro-democracy forces during the days of the coup, said IGLHRC co¬ founder Julie Dorf. “If anything, the Soviet gay movement is now in a better position than before,” Dorf said. During the coup, Boellstorff and Kalinin ran off 4,000 extra See COUP, page 14 Zolst - a Hungarian/U.S. (left) violin player meets his Russian counterpart in Moscow RATSY LYNCH/AUERNATIVE UNUSUAL VISIT TO SOVIET WHITE NIGHTS, SIBERIAN PRISON AND AIDS WARDS LESBIANS AND ICE CREAM BY CHRISTINE H. STOCKTON SPECIAL TO THE ALTERNATIVE uring this summer's extraordinary Interna¬ tional Gay and Lesbian Symposium and Film Festival, a number of western delegtes got a chance to view the two still-secret and repressed aspects of Soviet life Soviet prison and the AIDS wards of Leningrad and Moscow. About 12 of us delegates pulled up to Prison 20-7, a minimum-security facility on the outskirts of Leningrad. The place looked like a rundown warehouse in inner-city Cleveland. A liberal Leningrad City Councilman had arranged for our visit; however, our leaders disappeared inside for See PRISONS, page 15 BY BILL STRUBBE _ SPECIAL TO THE ALTERNATIVE wilight lingers on end¬ lessly in the white nights of summer sil¬ houetting the onion-domed churches, reflecting in the canals and casting its soft light of the statue of Catherine the Great dominating the park in the center of St. Petersburg. As the arts and crafts ven¬ dors pack away their goods, and the black marketeers hustle one last sale, gays stroll through the park amid men playing chess and drunkards lolling on benches. All ages and types wander through the paths: a cocky, bleach-blond male, sporting a denim jacket and chic knee-length shorts; a See WHITE NIGHTS, page 14 The Mayor’s Race The Alternative talks with Mayor Schmoke and challenger Bums BY GAREY LAMBERT _ THE ALTERNATIVE As the race for the Primary Election on September 12 heats up, gay and lesbian voters have interests that dif¬ fer somewhat from those of other con¬ stituent groups. Domestic partnership legis¬ lation. AIDS and the city health department The implementation of the Baltimore Gay Rights Law. Because voters in Baltimore City are reg¬ istered overwhelmingly Democratic (10:1), the September 12 primary is the most important election, and will, in all likeli¬ hood, determine the city’s next mayor. The Alternative spoke with the two leading can¬ didates for the Democratic nomination for Mayor. We did not speak with William Swisher, nor did we talk with the Republican contenders. Incumbent Mayor Schmoke is well- versed in the issues that affect gay and les¬ bian people in Baltimore. During a short telephone interview with him, he answered questions readily and quickly. The hottest issue for gay people this elec¬ tion year has become “domestic partner¬ ship.” The possibility that domestic partner¬ ship legislation might be introduced in the city council was raised in a questionnaire sent to the mayoral candidates by the Baltimore Justice Campaign. Mayor Schmoke responded positively to the ques¬ tions put forth. However, he did not say that he would initiate domestic partnership legis¬ lation. The Mayor said that he would be willing to discuss the necessity for a domes- See MAYOR. page20