JULY 1986
ШгхГ
Reflections on
Pride Week
The NGLTF's Anti-Gay
Violence Report: Part II
Pride Week is very important to our
community because there is so much
internalized homophobia and self hatred
that Gay and Lesbian people have taken
on in response to the homophobia in our
culture. It's very important to have a day
when we come together and celebrate who
we are. I have known many people for
whom Pride Day has been the first time
that they have taken the a step out of
their closets and allowed themselves to
publicly identify with others as Gay or
Lesbian. That's a moment of lots of self
healing, strength, and joy. I love Pride
Day because it's always lots of fun. I'll
never forget when we first had the parade
the feeling of excitement walking down
the street with other people knowing that
we were a strong community. It's
important for us to all, as many diverse
groups as possible, to come together and
celebrate. So that we can see some of the
diversity of who we are and some of the
numbers of who we are. To know that for
every person who's out there, there are at
least twenty others who don't dare to
come but who are given courage by our
being out, open, and excited about the
love we share. It's appropriate at that time
to recognize leaders who have committed
their life to working in the community in
various ways.
Pride in traditional Christianity has been
seen as sin. Pride is probably interpreted
as meaning self love. I believe that the
great commandment is to love God with
all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
And love our neighbor as ourself. That
includes loving thyself. I think one of the
greatest sins many Gay and Lesbian
people commit is not loving ourselves.
We have to start with loving ourselves if
we're going to love other people or love
God. I interpret pride as self love.
Rev. Jennie Boyd Bull, Pastor,
Metropolitan Community Church
of Baltimore
Pride Week means to me what an ethnic
week would mean to me. It's important
for people to recognize their roots,
persons, personality and celebrate it. It is
a group of Marylanders, who are Gay,
celebrating their togetherness. In order to
make out in life everybody has to fee’
good about themselves. To have innr
peace is very important. Sj know
one’s self you are able to have prid
yourself. That is the case with Gay J ae
Week. The Gay community in Bal' .ore
is a very important community, just like
ethnic and other groups have carnivals and
festivals to celebrate their pride and what
they are. That’s the same with the Gay
community and Gay Pride Week.
Anthony Ambridge, Councilman
It means affirming the self worth of
Gay men and Lesbian women in all walks
of life. It’s recognizing past, present, and
In addition to incidents reported to
NGLTF, surveys released by seven organ¬
izations in 1985 further demonstrated the
pervasiveness of anti-gay violence.
Organizations conducting surveys are the
Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force,
the Maine Lesbian and Gay Political
Alliance and the Maine Civil Liberties
Union, the Richmond (Virginia) Human
Relations Commission, the New York
McKenny Trial
Postponed for
3rd Time
A series of legal maneuvers by defense
attorney Christina Gutierrez, and being
placed on a move list, has once again
delayed the murder trial of Shawn Patrick
McKenny. McKenny is accused of killing
Coppin State professor Sam Jones in his
Mount Vernon apartment last fall.
Originally schedule for trial May 15,
the case had been moved to June 13, then
to June 17, and has now been rescheduled
for July 15. McKenny remains in jail in
lieu of $500,000 bail. Both prosecutor
Don Giblin and defense counsel remain
silent about the case.
This case is, however, being carefully
monitored by at least one gay activist
group. The outcome of this trial and that
of the Jennings murder will send a clear
message to the community as to how gay
State Lesbian and Gay Lobby, the Des
Moines (Iowa) Gay and Lesbian
Democratic Club, the Wisconsin
Governor's Council on Lesbian and Gay
Issues, and the University of Massa¬
chusetts at Amherst Although the gender
composition and sampling strategies of
these studies varied considerably, all
studies showed high rates of victim-
Continued on page 6
killings will be handled and what
cooperation and support we can expect
from law enforcement agencies and our
legal institutions in the future.
Anyone interested in reviewing the
proceedings may go to Room 202
(Criminal Assignment) at the Mitchell
Courthouse on the morning of the trial
and ask for Case #18605148.
In This Issue
Page
MBA Welcomes Tom
Migliaccio
8
S'a B'mott
14
Special Interview with
Mother Margaret (The
Bitch is Back)
IS
Special - Pride in Photos
19
Mr Gay Maryland •
Exclusive Interview
10
Wyman Park
For the third time in less than a month,
Wyman Park has been the scene of
robberies not reported to police. Men who
are picked up and later robbed are
embarrassed or frightened to report such
incidents to police officials. This lack of
action enables the robber to operate with
impunity.
Two people have contacted this
newspaper in an effort to warn potential
victims. The suspect is a Caucasian in
his mid to late 20's. Approximately 6'
and about 185 pounds, husky build. He
has medium length brown hair and grey
or green eyes. He was last seen wearing
blue jeans, light blue t-shirt and green
army jacket. This man carries a knife and
is to be considered dangerous. Normally
this man preys on older (wealthy looking)
men. If anyone has any information
regarding this individual or other incidents
in Wyman Park please contact Northern
District police officials at 396-2525.
They are there to help you. If you feel
uncomfortable, call this paper (during
business hours 235-3401) and we will
relay all pertinent information, keeping
you anonymous. This individual cannot
be apprehended without your help.
Gentlemen, please, if you enjoy the use
of city paiklands, you can continue to
enjoy them by co-operating with the
police in keeping these areas as trouble
free as possible. Unreported and
unprosecuted crimes and rumors of
'trouble' frustrate the police and lead to
everyone in the area being asked to ’move
along’.
PRIDE WEEK
PHOTOS ON
PAGES 18 AND 19
