with them their banners and a will to be heard against Gay discrimination. Between chanting walks around the Capitol, fourteen speakers from around the state addressed the audience. Money for the Dade County Coal!tion for the Humanistic Rights of Gays, the group leading the effort to stem repeal of the Gay non-discrimination law, was donated by the assemblage. Columbus newspapers and television gave coverage to the event.

Mark Kopacz, Columbus cochairperson of the rally, opened the demonstration with informal remarks and an exploration of the occasion. An Initial group of protestors had begun marching around the Capitol's perimeter. while the majority of people were atill arriving. Marilyn Bufton of Central Ohio Lesbians prompted the growing crowd to join with the marchers and make themselves heard in the Sunday quiet of downtown Columbus.

Jason Dillon, president of GAA/Columbus, delivered the first speech, an historical outline of the controversy in Dade County. An update of recent developments was given by Christopher Morrissey of Oberlin College.

The next group of speakers, Introduced by Pat Hilliard, the Cleveland co-chairperson of the event, included an aggressive statement by Martha Grevatt, a spokesperson from Cleveland's Youth Against War and Facism, words of support from Kent State's Bill Hoover and Wendy Gaylord of the Gay Liberation Front and Young Socialist's Alliance, respectively, and a powerfully clear listing of incidences of Gay oppression delivered by Sandy Garsey of Cincinnati's Lesbian Activists Bureau.

The longest and most scholastic of the speeches came from Benson Wolman, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, who not only stressed the need for Gay activism and his support of it, but also drew a close parallel between Gay legislation today and the Magna Carta proclamation in England in 1215 A.D.

Marilyn Strayer, a Columbus psychiatrist, gave her support, a welcome one as psychiatry remains a large determinant for Gay liberation. Her speech was preceded by Craig Covey's of GAA/Columbus and was followed by John Quigley's strong personal statement of the need for more than just Gay legislation. As a

professor of law at Ohio State University and a member of the National Lawyers Guild Gay Task Force, he spoke of the ineffectuality of Gay legislation on the books if there is no community awareness and support for Gay people's rights.

Steve Lubkeman from Dayton next addressed the gathering to Introduce a new and active national chapter of Lutherans Concerned In the state of Ohio. The last speaker, Marilyn Bufton, wrapped up the afternoon's activities with a Bible reading to counter Anita Bryant's Bible-based campaign, with her own positive feelings of the demonstration, and with a constant goading to get Involved in activism, be it with OGRC or any other effort.

Marilyn compelled everyone to repeat last year's Labor Day Rally count-off with everyone holding hands in the large square in front of the Capitol, and to march again around the Capitol. The loud and fun count-off showed that 196 people were present to the end and the march brought stares from passers-by or, as in some cases, raised fists of support.

The major success of the demonstration was indicated by the number of people who showed up for a rally which was put together in a short period of time and was basically political in nature with no major national speakers present. Also, at the end of the denonstration, newspaper reporters and a TV cameraman were gathering information from hoarse demonstrators and lastly, that as a fund raising effort for Dade County, the ralliers gave $190, a creditable dollar per person.

OGRC MEETING MAY 15, 1977

COLUMBUS 3:45PM

Starting quite late due to the Rally's duration, the fourth OGRC meeting convened in a small meeting room within the Drake

Union of the Ohio State University. Fifty people from around the state, including new members from Athens, Springfield, Dayton and the immediate Columbus area, came to approve and discuss the initial moves to implement Gay legislation in the Ohio State Senate and House of Representatives.

As people arrived, mimeographed information detailing the topics of this meeting, a

history and explanation of OGRC, and a registration form were handed to each person, followed by Karla Jay and Alan Young's Gay Male or Lesbian Sexuality

Questionnaire.

The first motion to be passed after forty minutes of debate was the decision to include housing, public accomodation. employment, and child custody and visitation rights Into the first legislative bill. The question of making housing and public accomodations separate clauses was settled when it was learned that housing denotes residences and public accomodations covers restrooms, moviehouses, and the like.

Several recommendations came forth during the discussion perlod, most notably the suggestion to investigate how Gays fit in with the rest of the state structure, as NGTF has done with the federal government. Another viewpoint expressed was that Instead of following the civil rights legislation recourse, maybe OGRC should implement administrative action and incur support statements. The question of whether to cover solicitation rights as a fifth point in the legislative bill was tabled as the state criminal code is being revised and a case in Hamilton County is testing the illegality of same-sex solicitation, though. other cases have been thrown out as unconstitutional.

At the last OGRC meeting it was moved that Professor Linda Howard at OSU be contacted to go ahead and instruct her students to draft a Gay rights bill and now, according to Lee Holmer of COL, the drafting will begin when the Legislative Law Clinic commences its summer session. It was then accepted that Columbus will draft an amendment to the current state civil rights bill and will also draft a state Gay civil rights bill for this upcoming OGRC meeting. The reason for the two is that a lengthy. specific outline of Gay particularities is necessary as a separate bill while only an "affectual or sexual preference" clause is sought, for now, in the existing civil rights law. Ideally, a detailed Gay civil rights bill should be included in the current law.

A conviction firmly felt by many of the participants was that there is a need for more awareness and support from the Gay community so that, as ex-