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SERVING VIRGINIA SINCE 1976 VOLUME 15 NUMBER 7 • MAY 1991 • C O M M U N I T V • P R .E S S • First National Lesbian Conference by Karen Stupski Over 2,500 attended the National Lesbian Ccnfcrence (NLC) April 24-28. The conference was held in Atlanta, Ga., and had representatives from nearly every state and nearly every culture and race imaginable. The ~LC offered workshops, showcases of various talents, a rendezvous marketplace, dances, and a haven for lesbians everywhere. The event did spark much conflict within the lesbian community. A number of special interest groups felt omitted, invisible or even oppressed. These groups demanded that their agendas take priority, and as a result special plenary sessions were held to discuss the needs of lesbians of color, Jewish lesbians, and l&.tina lesbians. Plenarys were also held to plan the agenda for another conference and to create a national lesbian organization. The sessions sparked much debate. A number of groups were not properly represented at the conference, including lesbian mothers, lesbians in recovery, young lesbians and lesbian \'Clcrans and service members. The veterans ay Rights Bill as edin Connecticut & avvaii Hawaii and Connecticut have become the third and fourth states, respectively, to pass statewide gay rights legislation: Wisconsin and Massachusetts are the other states with statewide legislation prohibiting discnmination based on sexual orientation. On March 21, Hawaii Governor John Waihee signed into law a bill prohibiting employment discrimination_ based on sexual orientation. After the Connecticut House passed a bill April 11 that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations and credit, the Senate passed the bill April 17. The bill, whtch had been periodically introduced into Connecticut's legislature since 1973, was sent to Gov. Lowell Weicker, who has promised to sign it into law. Connecticut activists claim that the coming out of Rep. Joe Grabarz (D-Bridgeport), who publicly ackowledged his homosexuality at the beginning of the 1991 legislative session, helped the bill to pass. During his "coming out" speech, Grabarz said he had received hate mail and death threats. After Republican Governor John McKernan of Maine threatened to veto a bill almost identical to the one passed in Connecticut, the Maine House voted April 16 against the bill. McKernan said he opposed the bill because it did not include a provision for a statewide referendum by which the bill could be "publicly debated, and then voted on by the people of Maine." · Similar legislation cannot be introduced again until Maine's next biennial legislative session in 1993. Tim Drake, Director of the Civil Rights Project for the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force (NGLTF), said he expects a statewide gay rights law will be passed this year in California. Republican Governor Pete Wilson and several major California newspapers have expressed support for such legislation. (The Washington Blade and Bay Windows and service members attempted to address the conference plenary sessions and seemed singularly oppressed. Poor organization added to the sense of disunity and confusion at the conference. There were numerous scheduling problems and omissions. In spite of the problems, there were many positive aspects to the conference. The dance, Saturday evening extravaganza, and the Atlanta Feminist Women's Chorus events were well attended and received. The antioppression workshops were also very successful. C~ris BurnsiOe & Dancers at Ric~monO's Em~ire T~eater RICHMOND - Chris Burnside and Dancers will perform at the newly renovated Empire Theater on Friday, May 10, at 8:00 p.m .. The company has recently incorporated and received its not-for-profit status. This concert will feature Mr. Burnside and 10 professional dancers including guest appearances by Richmond Ballet's Jon Konetski and Jacqueline Orndorff as well as VCU faculty member Martha Curtis and veteran Richmond actor Jay Lundy. This program marks the first time Mr. Burnside has presented a complete evening of work in Richmond since opening the Virginia Museum's 1987 Fast Forward Series. Since 1987, the company has been presented in Virginia Beach, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. The May l O concert will include four works: a solo, a duet, and two group pieces. Mr Burnside will perform "Oh Lucy," a monologue about the odd jobs he had to take to survive in the dance world. Also included in the concert will be a duet for Mr. Burnside and Darla Stanley. Ms. Stanley has most recently been working in Philadelphia and is planning to relocate to Japan this fall to study Butch. This duet is entitled "To Bleed Willingly and Joyfully" and features a score by composer Joseph Tornabene with costumes by Karl Green. The first group piece is a premier entitled "Dithyramb," a vocal/theater work funded in part by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. The score is by Mr. Burnside and will feature musicians Johnny Hott and Pippin Barnett. "Dithyramb" deals with the journey of the hero and features Nesbit Hatch, David Bentley, Bob Ed Pierce, and Robbie Kinter as well as Jay Lundy and Mr. Burnside. The second group piece, "Runaway Horses," is a quintet with music by Phillip Glass. The cast includes: Ms. Stanley, D.C. dancer Reginald Ellis Crump, VCU faculty member Martha Curtis, and Richmond Ballet's Jon Konetski and Jacqueline Orndorff. Costumes are also by Karl Green. Tickets are $10, $7 for students and are available at: Biffs Carytown Bookstore, 2930 W. Cary Street, 359-4831; VCU Theater Box Office, 367-6026; to charge tickets call or stop by the Theater IV Box Office, 114 W. Broad Street, 344-8040. All seats reserved. For more information contact Chris Burnside and Dancers at 232-2825. Most importantly, the conference provided opportunity for lesbians across the nation to connect and communicate. The conference planners went out of their way to meet the needs of all lesbians with disabilities, offering special access, interpreters, safe spaces to rest and cautioning all on fragrances to protect those with environmental illnesses. NLC sought out a wide diversity of the lesbian sisterhood, feeling that only if everyone's needs are included will the outcome of the conference truly reflect the issues most relevant for lesbians in the future. National Poll Shows Strong Support for Gays & Lesbians in the Milit~ry Washington, DC - A national survey released by the Human Rights Campaign Fund shows tiat 81 % of the American public opposes the current Pentagon policy. of dis charging lesbians and gays from the U.S. armed forces. The results were obtained by an omnibus telephone poll of 800 randomly selected U.S. residents conducted April 6-7 by Penn & Schoen Associates of New York and Washington. Respondents to the poll were asked, "Suppose someone in the armed forces is homosexual and is otherwise doing a good job. Do you think the government should or shouldn't discharge that person just because he or she is a homosexual?" Of the respondents, 81 % said gays and lesbians should not be discharged, 14% said they should, and 5% said they didn't know or had no opinion. Opposition to the Pentagon's current discharge policy was found to be overwhelming in every demographic category, with Americans of every age, income, race, region, sex, political party or ideology supporting the right of lesbians and gays in the armed forces to remain in their jobs. While the numbers are inexact, an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 lesbian and gay service personnel arc discharged each year. When asked, "Do you think homosexuals should or should not be admitted to the armed forces?" 65% of respondents said they should, 28% said they should not, and 7% said they didn't know or had no opinion. The survey also found that 80% of Americans believe gays and lesbians should not face discrimination in the work place, with Americans of every description agreeing that gays and lesbians should have equal rights in the job market. Currently only four states, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Hawaii, along with the District of Columbia, have laws protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The 80% figure represents a continuing increase in support for gay employment rights over the past 14 years. Gallup Polls conducted from 1977 to 1989 found support increased during that period from 56% to 71 %.
Object Description
Title | Our Own, May 1991 |
Creator | Unitarian-Universalist Gay Community; Unitarian-Universalist Gay Community |
Date | 1991-05 |
Description | May 1991 issue of Our Own Community Press. |
Number of Pages | 32 |
Subject | Gay liberation movement; Gay rights; Gay men; Lesbians; Virginia; Periodicals |
Coverage | Norfolk, Virginia; Hampton Roads, Virginia |
Publisher | Old Dominion University Libraries |
Source | Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Perry Library |
Relation | Our Own Community Press, 1976-1998 |
Language | English |
Media Type | Newspapers |
Type | Collection |
Format | Text/pdf |
Format - Digital | Item was scanned as individual tiff files at 400 dpi, 24-bit color, then converted to a PDF; archival master is tiff. |
Date Digital | 2016 |
Digitized by | Mel Frizzell |
Digital Collection | Our Own -- http://dc.lib.odu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/ourown |
Rights | Digital image copyright 2016, Old Dominion University Libraries. All rights reserved. For more information contact Special Collections and University Archives, Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529. |
File Size | 60956896 Bytes |
Identifier | ourown1991-may.pdf |
Description
Title | Our Own, May 1991, pg 1 |
Date | 1991-05 |
Description | May 1991 issue of Our Own Community Press. |
Type | Text |
Full Text | SERVING VIRGINIA SINCE 1976 VOLUME 15 NUMBER 7 • MAY 1991 • C O M M U N I T V • P R .E S S • First National Lesbian Conference by Karen Stupski Over 2,500 attended the National Lesbian Ccnfcrence (NLC) April 24-28. The conference was held in Atlanta, Ga., and had representatives from nearly every state and nearly every culture and race imaginable. The ~LC offered workshops, showcases of various talents, a rendezvous marketplace, dances, and a haven for lesbians everywhere. The event did spark much conflict within the lesbian community. A number of special interest groups felt omitted, invisible or even oppressed. These groups demanded that their agendas take priority, and as a result special plenary sessions were held to discuss the needs of lesbians of color, Jewish lesbians, and l&.tina lesbians. Plenarys were also held to plan the agenda for another conference and to create a national lesbian organization. The sessions sparked much debate. A number of groups were not properly represented at the conference, including lesbian mothers, lesbians in recovery, young lesbians and lesbian \'Clcrans and service members. The veterans ay Rights Bill as edin Connecticut & avvaii Hawaii and Connecticut have become the third and fourth states, respectively, to pass statewide gay rights legislation: Wisconsin and Massachusetts are the other states with statewide legislation prohibiting discnmination based on sexual orientation. On March 21, Hawaii Governor John Waihee signed into law a bill prohibiting employment discrimination_ based on sexual orientation. After the Connecticut House passed a bill April 11 that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations and credit, the Senate passed the bill April 17. The bill, whtch had been periodically introduced into Connecticut's legislature since 1973, was sent to Gov. Lowell Weicker, who has promised to sign it into law. Connecticut activists claim that the coming out of Rep. Joe Grabarz (D-Bridgeport), who publicly ackowledged his homosexuality at the beginning of the 1991 legislative session, helped the bill to pass. During his "coming out" speech, Grabarz said he had received hate mail and death threats. After Republican Governor John McKernan of Maine threatened to veto a bill almost identical to the one passed in Connecticut, the Maine House voted April 16 against the bill. McKernan said he opposed the bill because it did not include a provision for a statewide referendum by which the bill could be "publicly debated, and then voted on by the people of Maine." · Similar legislation cannot be introduced again until Maine's next biennial legislative session in 1993. Tim Drake, Director of the Civil Rights Project for the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force (NGLTF), said he expects a statewide gay rights law will be passed this year in California. Republican Governor Pete Wilson and several major California newspapers have expressed support for such legislation. (The Washington Blade and Bay Windows and service members attempted to address the conference plenary sessions and seemed singularly oppressed. Poor organization added to the sense of disunity and confusion at the conference. There were numerous scheduling problems and omissions. In spite of the problems, there were many positive aspects to the conference. The dance, Saturday evening extravaganza, and the Atlanta Feminist Women's Chorus events were well attended and received. The antioppression workshops were also very successful. C~ris BurnsiOe & Dancers at Ric~monO's Em~ire T~eater RICHMOND - Chris Burnside and Dancers will perform at the newly renovated Empire Theater on Friday, May 10, at 8:00 p.m .. The company has recently incorporated and received its not-for-profit status. This concert will feature Mr. Burnside and 10 professional dancers including guest appearances by Richmond Ballet's Jon Konetski and Jacqueline Orndorff as well as VCU faculty member Martha Curtis and veteran Richmond actor Jay Lundy. This program marks the first time Mr. Burnside has presented a complete evening of work in Richmond since opening the Virginia Museum's 1987 Fast Forward Series. Since 1987, the company has been presented in Virginia Beach, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. The May l O concert will include four works: a solo, a duet, and two group pieces. Mr Burnside will perform "Oh Lucy," a monologue about the odd jobs he had to take to survive in the dance world. Also included in the concert will be a duet for Mr. Burnside and Darla Stanley. Ms. Stanley has most recently been working in Philadelphia and is planning to relocate to Japan this fall to study Butch. This duet is entitled "To Bleed Willingly and Joyfully" and features a score by composer Joseph Tornabene with costumes by Karl Green. The first group piece is a premier entitled "Dithyramb," a vocal/theater work funded in part by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. The score is by Mr. Burnside and will feature musicians Johnny Hott and Pippin Barnett. "Dithyramb" deals with the journey of the hero and features Nesbit Hatch, David Bentley, Bob Ed Pierce, and Robbie Kinter as well as Jay Lundy and Mr. Burnside. The second group piece, "Runaway Horses," is a quintet with music by Phillip Glass. The cast includes: Ms. Stanley, D.C. dancer Reginald Ellis Crump, VCU faculty member Martha Curtis, and Richmond Ballet's Jon Konetski and Jacqueline Orndorff. Costumes are also by Karl Green. Tickets are $10, $7 for students and are available at: Biffs Carytown Bookstore, 2930 W. Cary Street, 359-4831; VCU Theater Box Office, 367-6026; to charge tickets call or stop by the Theater IV Box Office, 114 W. Broad Street, 344-8040. All seats reserved. For more information contact Chris Burnside and Dancers at 232-2825. Most importantly, the conference provided opportunity for lesbians across the nation to connect and communicate. The conference planners went out of their way to meet the needs of all lesbians with disabilities, offering special access, interpreters, safe spaces to rest and cautioning all on fragrances to protect those with environmental illnesses. NLC sought out a wide diversity of the lesbian sisterhood, feeling that only if everyone's needs are included will the outcome of the conference truly reflect the issues most relevant for lesbians in the future. National Poll Shows Strong Support for Gays & Lesbians in the Milit~ry Washington, DC - A national survey released by the Human Rights Campaign Fund shows tiat 81 % of the American public opposes the current Pentagon policy. of dis charging lesbians and gays from the U.S. armed forces. The results were obtained by an omnibus telephone poll of 800 randomly selected U.S. residents conducted April 6-7 by Penn & Schoen Associates of New York and Washington. Respondents to the poll were asked, "Suppose someone in the armed forces is homosexual and is otherwise doing a good job. Do you think the government should or shouldn't discharge that person just because he or she is a homosexual?" Of the respondents, 81 % said gays and lesbians should not be discharged, 14% said they should, and 5% said they didn't know or had no opinion. Opposition to the Pentagon's current discharge policy was found to be overwhelming in every demographic category, with Americans of every age, income, race, region, sex, political party or ideology supporting the right of lesbians and gays in the armed forces to remain in their jobs. While the numbers are inexact, an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 lesbian and gay service personnel arc discharged each year. When asked, "Do you think homosexuals should or should not be admitted to the armed forces?" 65% of respondents said they should, 28% said they should not, and 7% said they didn't know or had no opinion. The survey also found that 80% of Americans believe gays and lesbians should not face discrimination in the work place, with Americans of every description agreeing that gays and lesbians should have equal rights in the job market. Currently only four states, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Hawaii, along with the District of Columbia, have laws protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The 80% figure represents a continuing increase in support for gay employment rights over the past 14 years. Gallup Polls conducted from 1977 to 1989 found support increased during that period from 56% to 71 %. |
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