1 Jeff Arnold

Lavender Starship/Page 13/May 10, 1972

Can Gay Lib Survive in the All-America City?

A small group of about 20 people began to meet in January '71 to discuss the possibilities of starting a G.L.F. in Columbus.

That small group grew into C-R and business meetings; articles began to appear occasionally in the Columbus Free Press. In March of 1971 four students. and a professor agreed to put their names on a constitution and submit it to the Undergraduate Student Government at Ohio State. Recognition was granted and that small group of people now had the avenues of a student organization opened up to them. It was now possible to throw a dance on campus, use the ditto machines, apply for an office, meet on campus, get a mail box, sponsor forums and panel discussions, and apply for funding from Council of Student Affairs. Only one of those things happened on campus from March to September....a mail box was opened by Pat Miller. The rest has happened nov--and even more, but let me recount some of our history.

Two poorly attended (poorly publicized and organized) dances vere held over the summer of '71 under the name of G.L.F. at the First Unitarian Church. Meetings were held off campus at St. Stephen's and dealt mostly with self-awareness and education. The G.L.F. banner protesting the Viet Nam War was carried in the Fourth of July Parade in Upper Arlington, much to the dismay of residents of that suburb.

When September '71 came around, the few people who still wanted to try to get a more effective group going met and decided to make an allout effort (well, as much as four people can) to get people together. They wanted an active G.L.F....one that would protest the war, black oppression, women's oppression, prisons, gay oppression, the oppression of the poor in other words a gay movement that was totally involved in human liberation as possible. A room was arranged, a leaflet was drawn up and distributed saying: "There are at least 6,000 Lesbians and Homosexuels at Ohio State. Where are we? We're meeting Wednesday night in Hagerty Hall. The response was great over 100 people most of whom were gay; a few non-gays came to ask questions about homosexuality: "How do homosexuals have sex?" After some verbal hassles on why various people had come to the meeting, the large group was divided into two groups: B an educational one for the non-gays and one that discussed a list of demands that was to be presented to the University. (The entire list was never presented.)

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well

Meetings started happening every Wednesday in Hagerty Hall. At the second meetin in October the name of G.L.F. was dropped and G.A.A. started with the adoption of the New York preamble and constitution. This was done to gain a semblance of gay solidarity specifically on "homosexual issues. Mark Brock and Pat Miller served most of Fall Quarter as Co-coordinators of the new G.A.A.

An office was opened at St. Stephen's that fall and a phone was installed (paid for out of Ed Schofield's

pocket). The office was open most weekdays for phone calls and visits. Winter Quarter sav a move into the Ohio Union, room 311, one of the student offices on 0.S.U. 's campus. Elections that quarter brought new energies from David Treadwell and Sue. Vasbinder, Co-coordinators.

G.A.A. had sponsored four dances in the student union by February. Two of them were under the Fall administration; the December dance met with police provocateurs and the arrest of 3 members on "improper dress" charges. The January dance came and went with a fairly well received audience. But ther came February and the Mardi Gras dance (which was described in one gay column as the Mardi Cross Ball). It was the one that met with a lot of hostility and the thief who got $181 of the gate. Somehow G.A.A. survived but no more dances were scheduled, partly because of the hassles, partly because G.A.A. people were tired of planning dances, and partly because of devoting the energies of the group toward Gay Pride Week and the hundreds OD

of details that needed to be taken care of.

Mem-

This year G.A.A. has zapped the Mayor and Channel 10 TV, the police, the bridal fair, the municipal courtroom of Judge Stark, City Hall, and the Chio Union Activities Board. bers of the organization, plus members of Radicalesbians, Cay Revolution and the Ga Bail Fund have spoken to a wide audience through radio, T.V., public forums, high school and college classes. It's office has received. literally thousands of calls since it opened. One of the finest projects G.A.A. has is its newsletter, the

Columbus Gay Activist; each issue gets better due to the leadership of the editor, David Treadwell.

And now Columbus will be treated to not only Gay Pride Week at O.S.U., but also an All-Ohio Gay Conference and Weekend. Can Gay Liberation survive in the All-American City? Honey, it's grown, we've grown, and we'll continue to grow and struggle and work until we're free. SURVIVE? We are committed to stop the discrimination and prejudice against gays. NO-Gay thought survive in the AllAmerican City?

Can

GAY COUNSELING (Continued from page 4)

ienced in a number of practical experiences. 3) that there is a genuine desire to be able to help someone to set their mind to a more comfortable state; this does mean to be able to sympathize. 4) (most important) that the counselor have a positive image that he can be able to project at all times. In dealing with a number of people that have come for counseling for different reasons, I have found that no one type of training can be useful, but that it takes more of a broad range of techniques, ideas, and experiences than any other type of counseling. For example, the most recent case involved someone who had been looking for a rationalization for his being Gay and he attempted to resolve this by turning to Jesus. I am not a religious counselor, but I was able to tell him with no uncertainty that if the people who were counseling him could come up with one definite quote from the concepts of Jesus' teachings condemning Homosexuality that then and only then would they have the right to tell him that Jesus said he was sinning by being a homosexual. Too often people are placed in a position of being able to influence a person's moral attitudes under the guise of authority. The attitude of the Gay counselor has to be one of a positive nature; otherwise the entire purpose is defeated.

In Akron a boy's best friend is his

MOTHER'

The fabulous MOTHER'S opens June 1! You'll have to see it to believe it!

Mother's, 16 S. High St.

We'll be at our old address 53 1⁄2 E. Mill St. til June 1