257 34%

OGRC

Newsletter

20% 7640177)

HURRICANE ANITA

267

STRIKES FLORIDA COAST Thousands Flee City

"HOMOSEXUAL ACTS are not only illegal, they are immoral. Through the power of the ballot box,

I believe the parent and the straightthinking normal majority will soundly reject the attempt to legitimize homosexuals and their recruitment plans for our children. Miami's blundering 'gay' ordinance is no more a civil rights issue than is the arrest of a drunk for disturbing the peace."

Despite her compassion and love for homosexuals, Anita Bryant attacked us with ferocious zeal and has celebrated jubllantly ever since the repeal of Dade County's Gay Rights Ordinance. Bryant and her cohorts began their crusade against Gay civil rights immediately after the Miami area's Metropolitan Commission enacted an ordinance which protected Gay people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accomodation. The anti-Gay forces, many of whom had successfully campaigned against Florida's ratification of the Equal Rights Ammendment, circulated a petition demanding a referendum on the new ordinance. Thousands of signatures were collected in churches, and accounts sooon surfaced of churchgoers who signed the petition only because they feared retallation if they refused.

From the start, Bryant capitalized on the public's appalling ignorance concerning homosexuality. Her campaign exploited the still-prevalent myth that homosexuals molest children and her organization's television com-

mercials preyed on the confusion of homosexuality with Tranvestitism and 'The Decay Of Family Life". As Bryant began to hem herself into increasingly bizarre and extreme statements (such as her contention that fellatio is akin to cannibalism because "the male homosexual eats another man's sperm. Sperm is the most concentrated form of blood. The homosexual is eating life.") the national media began to publicize her freakish new brand of 'enter-

tainment'. After years of criminal negligence, the straight press suddenly broke its unofficial code of censorship; the struggle for Gay civil rights has finally been recognized (though not legitimized) as a newsworthy topic.

Until Anita Bryant stumbled onto the scene, the Gay civil rights movement was virtually unheard of. Now, at last, we have a chance to dispel some of the ignorance and hostility that surround homosexuality. The loss of the Dade County ordinance may eventually be considered something of a victory, for although two-hundred thousand Miami voters claim a 'right' to discriminate against us, a very significant ninety-thousand people took the trouble to affirm our freedom. Bryant's vows to "go nationally" (sic) have been answered with a national version of Miami's Human Rights Coalition, including a Northem Ohio affiliate. On one point we must wholeheartedly agree with Anita Bryant: the Dade County referendum may be over, but the issue of Gay rights will not die until it has been resolved.

OGRC RALLY

OGRC's May 15 rally at the State Capitol in Columbus demonstrated considerable support for the Dade County civil rights bill and for demanding Gay legislation for the state of Ohio.

Two hundred people attended the three-hour demonstration organized by the Gay Activists Alliance of Columbus, bringing