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A PUBLICATION FOR THE GAY COMMUNITY SEPT. 13, 1979
INS Ignores New Policy
Lesbians Turned Back
En Masse At Borde'r
P.erslstence: Pay,S Ott
by Larry Bush
Outgoing Immigration and Naturalization
Service [INS] Commissioner Leonel Castillo
has ordered an investigation into his agency's
behavior following a three day incident that
saw scores of Lesbians turned back at U.S.
border points in direct violation of his new
INS policy directives.
A! least 55 women were turned back at
points along the _ Canadian border from
August 22 to 24 when they sought to attend
the Fourth Annual Michigan Women's
Music Festivai at Hesperin, Michigan. The
festival is a major event for women in the
United States and Canada, drawing a record
8,000 participants this year.
At Port Huron, Michigan, however, INS
officials· turned back women believed to be
Lesbians or suspected of attending the festival.
INS officers said later they had not yet
officially received word of Castillo's August
.Streei Crime Takes A Nosedive
by Don Leavitt
On August 26, 1978, a Gay man was
attacked as he left a Gay bar. Chlorine bleach
was thrown into his eyes and while he was
helpless his assailants robbed him.
This brutal incident was only one of many
- assaults, rapes, and robberies directed
against Gays during l 978's crime wave.
Police said there was little they could do since
Gays wouldn't report the crimes. The criminals
themselves realized Gays were afraid to
speak out and could be easily victimized.
When the attacks became a weekly occurence,
the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA)
decided it was time to counter the problem.
,The, C rime and Police Project was formed to . .
find. ways to reduce this threat to the Gay
community.
Larry Kamins and Tom Lowderbaugh
were set up as co-coordinators. Kamins was
known for his animated and radical style
while Lciwderbaugh was quieter yet equally
as intense, and together they formed a partnership.
With a handful of dedicated workers
they tackled the crime problem. Habits of the
Gay community made it easy prey for victimization
and it was felt that with some education
this could be changed. Gays who parked
their cars in dark alleys, left valuables under
the seat or in the trunk, walked alone, or
didn't report crime_s made robbery an easy_
profession. By passing out leaflet's with such
Once Too Often
by Steve Martz
A stranger glancing at Chrisopher
· Lloyd would probably think him an
agreeable young man. Not strikingly
handsome., but definitely agreeable: A full
crop of darkly blond hair. A ready smile.
The well-proportioned body of an athlete.
A stranger who approached Christopher
might find conversation with him
an easy affair. Like many 18 year olds,
Christopher loves to talk, especially when
the topic is himself or his opinion. He can
be engagingly forward, despite a slow southernish
drawl.
A stranger may quickly discover most
of the facts of Christopher's life. He just
graduated from Washi_ngton-Lee High
School, where· he played on the football
team. He has a dark tattoo on his right
shoulder, which he occasionally rolls up
his sleeve to display. He is engaged to be
married. He isn't planning to go to college.
This may be because he is happy
- with his new job, which pays about S4 an \.. .
-
hour and offers him overtime (although
he isn't paid time-and-a-half for it). He is
confident he will make even more money
after his boss sends him .to investigator's
school.
But a stranger must be careful not to say
or do the wrong thing around Christopher.
Christopher works for a private
security firm called Arlington Protective
Agency. The firm recently gained the
attention of local Gays when it began
using undercover officers to entrap Gay
men around the Buckingham Shopping
Center in Arlington, Va.
The shopping center has been a cruising
area for Gay men for many years,
according t~ both former and present residents
of the neighborhood. Christopher
Lloyd, by his own account, was the
undercover decoy who made the first four
arrests there, all within a two hour period
in the early morning hours of August 14.
Continued on page 18
· titles as "Queer Bashing Kills - Are You
Responsible?" and by speaking to interested
groups, project members began to get the
word out.
Cruising 9th Street
/n a squad car.
-page 18
Not leaving a bar alone was one of the
simplest steps a patron could take. Lowderbaugh
joked that people should use as a line
"I'll walk you to your car if you 'II drive me to
mine." And project members were amazed at
how many people parked in lonely areas and
then proceeded to unload expensive coats,
wallets, and C.B. radios into the trunk. Burglars
would wait in the shadows and break
into the car once the owner had left. One man
lefr his wallet in his car and when he returned
it was gone. The wallet contained $1,100.
However, project members felt that most
of the problems could be blamed on the
police. "The police were not doing their
jobs," says Kamins. Police patrols were few
and far between in the Gay business areas,
and when a crime was reported, officers were
often less than cooperative. GAA decided to
go right to the top and mandated the project
to meet with Police Chief Burtell Jefferson. A
White Paper on crime . in Gay areas was
researched so that the Chief could have background
information on the problem, and in
October 1978 the meeting was held.
In that meeting with the Chief and in a
June 1979 meeting, several substantial
accords were hashed o.ut. Where most citizen
groups simply ask .for "better police protection"
the project requested specific actions
Continued on page 18
10 'policy directive that admits "suspected"
homosexuals into the country on a
"deferred" basis and forbids border turnbacks.
The Port Huron incidents are believed to
exceed any previous INS actions to bar
homosexuals, and incidents reported by the •
Continued on page 7
March Leaders
S~y Problems
Are Resolved
by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.
Despite staff changes in the Washington,
D.C. office and the abrupt cancellation of a
nationwide travel office in Arizona that
included a toll free telephone number, leaders
of the National March on Washington for
Lesbian and. Gay Rights claim plans for the
October 14 event are on schedule.
Although they decline to predict t)e
number of persons expected to turn out,
march spokespersons say the protest will be
one of the largest Gay rights demonstrations
ever held and will have a "profound effect"
on the course of the Gay rights movement for
years to come.
A Blade spot survey of nine cities - San
Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York,
Denver, Philadelphia, Miami, Houston, and
Akron - indicates that the number of seats
reserved on buses and planes far exceeds the
actual number of tickets sold. However,
march organizers in the various cities· say
they are confident the reserved or "blocked"
seats will be sold within the next two weeks.
The Blade survey also indicates that interest
in the march and commitments to come to
the nation's capital appear to diminish in
areas west of Chicago. In some of the cities,
such as Chicago and San Francisco, disagree-
Continued on page 19
I:
INSIDE:
• Guide to Gay Baltimor~
- bars & organizations
- page 9
• Introducing a new
feature - "Capital
-_Dispatches" ~page 5
PLUS:
• Wrap Up, Disco Fever,
.Community . Focus,
Calendar,Directory -
and much more!.
Object Description
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Transcript | A PUBLICATION FOR THE GAY COMMUNITY SEPT. 13, 1979 INS Ignores New Policy Lesbians Turned Back En Masse At Borde'r P.erslstence: Pay,S Ott by Larry Bush Outgoing Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] Commissioner Leonel Castillo has ordered an investigation into his agency's behavior following a three day incident that saw scores of Lesbians turned back at U.S. border points in direct violation of his new INS policy directives. A! least 55 women were turned back at points along the _ Canadian border from August 22 to 24 when they sought to attend the Fourth Annual Michigan Women's Music Festivai at Hesperin, Michigan. The festival is a major event for women in the United States and Canada, drawing a record 8,000 participants this year. At Port Huron, Michigan, however, INS officials· turned back women believed to be Lesbians or suspected of attending the festival. INS officers said later they had not yet officially received word of Castillo's August .Streei Crime Takes A Nosedive by Don Leavitt On August 26, 1978, a Gay man was attacked as he left a Gay bar. Chlorine bleach was thrown into his eyes and while he was helpless his assailants robbed him. This brutal incident was only one of many - assaults, rapes, and robberies directed against Gays during l 978's crime wave. Police said there was little they could do since Gays wouldn't report the crimes. The criminals themselves realized Gays were afraid to speak out and could be easily victimized. When the attacks became a weekly occurence, the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) decided it was time to counter the problem. ,The, C rime and Police Project was formed to . . find. ways to reduce this threat to the Gay community. Larry Kamins and Tom Lowderbaugh were set up as co-coordinators. Kamins was known for his animated and radical style while Lciwderbaugh was quieter yet equally as intense, and together they formed a partnership. With a handful of dedicated workers they tackled the crime problem. Habits of the Gay community made it easy prey for victimization and it was felt that with some education this could be changed. Gays who parked their cars in dark alleys, left valuables under the seat or in the trunk, walked alone, or didn't report crime_s made robbery an easy_ profession. By passing out leaflet's with such Once Too Often by Steve Martz A stranger glancing at Chrisopher · Lloyd would probably think him an agreeable young man. Not strikingly handsome., but definitely agreeable: A full crop of darkly blond hair. A ready smile. The well-proportioned body of an athlete. A stranger who approached Christopher might find conversation with him an easy affair. Like many 18 year olds, Christopher loves to talk, especially when the topic is himself or his opinion. He can be engagingly forward, despite a slow southernish drawl. A stranger may quickly discover most of the facts of Christopher's life. He just graduated from Washi_ngton-Lee High School, where· he played on the football team. He has a dark tattoo on his right shoulder, which he occasionally rolls up his sleeve to display. He is engaged to be married. He isn't planning to go to college. This may be because he is happy - with his new job, which pays about S4 an \.. . - hour and offers him overtime (although he isn't paid time-and-a-half for it). He is confident he will make even more money after his boss sends him .to investigator's school. But a stranger must be careful not to say or do the wrong thing around Christopher. Christopher works for a private security firm called Arlington Protective Agency. The firm recently gained the attention of local Gays when it began using undercover officers to entrap Gay men around the Buckingham Shopping Center in Arlington, Va. The shopping center has been a cruising area for Gay men for many years, according t~ both former and present residents of the neighborhood. Christopher Lloyd, by his own account, was the undercover decoy who made the first four arrests there, all within a two hour period in the early morning hours of August 14. Continued on page 18 · titles as "Queer Bashing Kills - Are You Responsible?" and by speaking to interested groups, project members began to get the word out. Cruising 9th Street /n a squad car. -page 18 Not leaving a bar alone was one of the simplest steps a patron could take. Lowderbaugh joked that people should use as a line "I'll walk you to your car if you 'II drive me to mine." And project members were amazed at how many people parked in lonely areas and then proceeded to unload expensive coats, wallets, and C.B. radios into the trunk. Burglars would wait in the shadows and break into the car once the owner had left. One man lefr his wallet in his car and when he returned it was gone. The wallet contained $1,100. However, project members felt that most of the problems could be blamed on the police. "The police were not doing their jobs," says Kamins. Police patrols were few and far between in the Gay business areas, and when a crime was reported, officers were often less than cooperative. GAA decided to go right to the top and mandated the project to meet with Police Chief Burtell Jefferson. A White Paper on crime . in Gay areas was researched so that the Chief could have background information on the problem, and in October 1978 the meeting was held. In that meeting with the Chief and in a June 1979 meeting, several substantial accords were hashed o.ut. Where most citizen groups simply ask .for "better police protection" the project requested specific actions Continued on page 18 10 'policy directive that admits "suspected" homosexuals into the country on a "deferred" basis and forbids border turnbacks. The Port Huron incidents are believed to exceed any previous INS actions to bar homosexuals, and incidents reported by the • Continued on page 7 March Leaders S~y Problems Are Resolved by Lou Chibbaro, Jr. Despite staff changes in the Washington, D.C. office and the abrupt cancellation of a nationwide travel office in Arizona that included a toll free telephone number, leaders of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and. Gay Rights claim plans for the October 14 event are on schedule. Although they decline to predict t)e number of persons expected to turn out, march spokespersons say the protest will be one of the largest Gay rights demonstrations ever held and will have a "profound effect" on the course of the Gay rights movement for years to come. A Blade spot survey of nine cities - San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Denver, Philadelphia, Miami, Houston, and Akron - indicates that the number of seats reserved on buses and planes far exceeds the actual number of tickets sold. However, march organizers in the various cities· say they are confident the reserved or "blocked" seats will be sold within the next two weeks. The Blade survey also indicates that interest in the march and commitments to come to the nation's capital appear to diminish in areas west of Chicago. In some of the cities, such as Chicago and San Francisco, disagree- Continued on page 19 I: INSIDE: • Guide to Gay Baltimor~ - bars & organizations - page 9 • Introducing a new feature - "Capital -_Dispatches" ~page 5 PLUS: • Wrap Up, Disco Fever, .Community . Focus, Calendar,Directory - and much more!. |
