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VOL 12, - NO.2 • JANUARY 23, 1981- • IN TWO SECTIONS 5Oe OUTSIDE OF aCJBALTIMORE AREAS
"el
THE GAY NEWSPAPER OF THE NATIONS CAPITAL
IF //// I gill Ili 111 AI 11 alkWt1IMW T
V II V TAW 111\.1 MI I I Ell 11 I MI =II MI I Tim IIIII I T.NEr
Private Stories and Public Issues
Part One: Private Stories
by Scott Sublett
So many Gays anticipate a squalid,
nightmarish old age. Their American
disgust at physical imperfection is
compounded with their homosexual self-hatred
into an imaginary vision of
rejection, uselessness, and decrepitude.
Such a vision could easily be countered by
the press and television if they would
honestly observe life successfully lived by
older Lesbians and homosexual men, but,
like most other minority groups, older
people are portrayed, with dishonest,.
diched cuteness — or, worse yet, with the
condescension of sob sister sociology.
Older homosexuals are not portrayed at
all, with the exception of lurid reports on
the physical victimization of Tennessee
Williams at Key West, The continued
creativity of this greatest living American
playwright is ignored. We must learn to
reali7e that there are indeed lonely, sad,
older homosexuals, but there are also
lonely, sad, 29 year old heterosexual
bachelor stockbrokers. The latter merely
suffer more tastefully.
Of course;some of the blame must be
placed on the older Gays thernselves . Too
few successful, fulfilled older Lesbians
and homosexual men are willing to rock-their
lollipop ships- by publicly avowing
their sexual orientation and thereby
offering themselves up as role models to
those less young and less wise. These "in-the-
closet" success stories, many of them
quite famous, do not seem to ralize that
even childless Gays owe a debt of service
to subsequent generations. Yet, even as I
say this I hear its undertones of
presumptuousness; who am I to say what
others do and do not owe society, or to say
what is honest?
Still, older homosexuals, isolated from
their younger counterparts by choice or
circumstance, have so much to tell us
about our own futures. We are eager to
hear it, and - with that in mind I have
interviewed three older Gays and a
younger man whose lover was old. Betty,
William, Russ and Bob — I have changed,
their names and certain identifying details
because of the intimate nature of their
revelations — painted unique oral
pictures of old age and homosexuality.
* * *
BETTY; 77 YEARS OLD
I talked to Betty by telephone, so I do
not know what she looks like. She
volunteered that she was "decidedly
feminine in appearance," though I did not
ask. Formerly a librarian and still a writer,
Betty lives in a retirement community
between D.C. and Baltimore. Despite a
slight speech impediment, her conversa-tion
is bright, clear, and engaging. he is
cheerful and laughs even when she -says
something sad. Betty walks with "a
Continued on page A-12
mills._ it:
Says Betty, "In spite of my age, the potential to love is still there...1 want to
touch, to caress, to kiss." And the photo above, of Kady and Pagan, portrays
yet more eloquently than the written word that the capacity to love does not
diminish with age. (Cover photo from Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians,
photographs by OB. Reprinted with permission, Glad Hag Books, Box 2934,
D.C. 20013.)
Military Tightens
Discharge Rules
by Lou Chibbaro, jr.
The Defense Department last week issued
a revised regulation that. both tightens the
military's long standing policy of preventing
Gays from staying in the service and helps
prevent straights from using homosexuality
as an excuse forgetting out.
A Defense Department spokesman said
the regulation, which went into effect
January 16, is intended to eliminate
ambiguities in previous regulations dealing
with homosexuality. The ambiguities, the
spokesman said, have resulted in a growing
number of civil suits against the military by
Gays who have fought clirharge proceedings.
Unlike previous regulations, the five-page
revision for the first time requires military
officials to determine whether a service
person is claiming to be Gay as a ploy to leave
the service.
A section of the regulation rails for the
discharge of a member of the military who
admits he or she is homosexual or bisexual
"unless there is a further finding that the
member is not a homosexual or bisexual."
In another section, the revised regulation
calls for discharge if a "member has married
or attempted to marry a person known to be
of the same biological sex (as evidenced by
the external anatomy of the persons involved)
unless there are further findings that the
member is not a homosexual or bisexual and
that the purpose of the marriage or attempt
was the avoidance or term*nation of military
service."
Lt. Col. Robert F. Baker, associate
director of the Defense Department's
personnel administration and services
division, said the regulation's major effect is
to eliminate almost all circumstances under
which a Gay person call be retained in the
Continued on page A-4
Job Openings Create
Chance for Gay Cops
by Don Leavitt
Washington has a chance for its first
openly Gay police officers as a result of a
planned increase of the Metropolitan Police
force. The Department announced plans
January 12 to hire 220 new officers, and Gay
leaders are hoping that openly Gay men and
women will apply. However, some concern
has been raised because the employment
announcement omitted sexual orientation
from a required non-discrimination state-ment.
It is an omission that is in violation of a
directive issued last year by Mayor Marion
Barry.
"We should have openly Gay police
officers," says Scott Robinson, head of the
Gay Activists Alliance Public Safety Project.
"They have them in San Francisco, and in a
city with as large a Lesbian and Gay
CRIME LINE
332-5676,
See Page A-3
community as Washington there is no reason
why we shouldn't have them too."
San Francisco's hiring of openly Gay
police caused national controversy several
years ago. The Department advertised in
Gay San Francisco publications for
applicants.
D.C. police chief Burtell Jefferson had
stated to GAA members in past meetings that
any future openings in the force would be
advertised in The Washington Blade. So far
the newspaper has not been contacted. GAA
will urge the police to place ads in the Blade
and other Gay publications.
The official job announcement omits
sexual orientation as well as several other
required categories from its statement of
non-discrimination. The statement listed
race, creed, color, sex, national origin, and
political affiliation. According to GAA
member Craig Howell, the announcement
should have included marital status, personal
appearance, family responsibility, matricula-
Continued on page A-3
4.
Object Description
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Transcript | VOL 12, - NO.2 • JANUARY 23, 1981- • IN TWO SECTIONS 5Oe OUTSIDE OF aCJBALTIMORE AREAS "el THE GAY NEWSPAPER OF THE NATIONS CAPITAL IF //// I gill Ili 111 AI 11 alkWt1IMW T V II V TAW 111\.1 MI I I Ell 11 I MI =II MI I Tim IIIII I T.NEr Private Stories and Public Issues Part One: Private Stories by Scott Sublett So many Gays anticipate a squalid, nightmarish old age. Their American disgust at physical imperfection is compounded with their homosexual self-hatred into an imaginary vision of rejection, uselessness, and decrepitude. Such a vision could easily be countered by the press and television if they would honestly observe life successfully lived by older Lesbians and homosexual men, but, like most other minority groups, older people are portrayed, with dishonest,. diched cuteness — or, worse yet, with the condescension of sob sister sociology. Older homosexuals are not portrayed at all, with the exception of lurid reports on the physical victimization of Tennessee Williams at Key West, The continued creativity of this greatest living American playwright is ignored. We must learn to reali7e that there are indeed lonely, sad, older homosexuals, but there are also lonely, sad, 29 year old heterosexual bachelor stockbrokers. The latter merely suffer more tastefully. Of course;some of the blame must be placed on the older Gays thernselves . Too few successful, fulfilled older Lesbians and homosexual men are willing to rock-their lollipop ships- by publicly avowing their sexual orientation and thereby offering themselves up as role models to those less young and less wise. These "in-the- closet" success stories, many of them quite famous, do not seem to ralize that even childless Gays owe a debt of service to subsequent generations. Yet, even as I say this I hear its undertones of presumptuousness; who am I to say what others do and do not owe society, or to say what is honest? Still, older homosexuals, isolated from their younger counterparts by choice or circumstance, have so much to tell us about our own futures. We are eager to hear it, and - with that in mind I have interviewed three older Gays and a younger man whose lover was old. Betty, William, Russ and Bob — I have changed, their names and certain identifying details because of the intimate nature of their revelations — painted unique oral pictures of old age and homosexuality. * * * BETTY; 77 YEARS OLD I talked to Betty by telephone, so I do not know what she looks like. She volunteered that she was "decidedly feminine in appearance," though I did not ask. Formerly a librarian and still a writer, Betty lives in a retirement community between D.C. and Baltimore. Despite a slight speech impediment, her conversa-tion is bright, clear, and engaging. he is cheerful and laughs even when she -says something sad. Betty walks with "a Continued on page A-12 mills._ it: Says Betty, "In spite of my age, the potential to love is still there...1 want to touch, to caress, to kiss." And the photo above, of Kady and Pagan, portrays yet more eloquently than the written word that the capacity to love does not diminish with age. (Cover photo from Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, photographs by OB. Reprinted with permission, Glad Hag Books, Box 2934, D.C. 20013.) Military Tightens Discharge Rules by Lou Chibbaro, jr. The Defense Department last week issued a revised regulation that. both tightens the military's long standing policy of preventing Gays from staying in the service and helps prevent straights from using homosexuality as an excuse forgetting out. A Defense Department spokesman said the regulation, which went into effect January 16, is intended to eliminate ambiguities in previous regulations dealing with homosexuality. The ambiguities, the spokesman said, have resulted in a growing number of civil suits against the military by Gays who have fought clirharge proceedings. Unlike previous regulations, the five-page revision for the first time requires military officials to determine whether a service person is claiming to be Gay as a ploy to leave the service. A section of the regulation rails for the discharge of a member of the military who admits he or she is homosexual or bisexual "unless there is a further finding that the member is not a homosexual or bisexual." In another section, the revised regulation calls for discharge if a "member has married or attempted to marry a person known to be of the same biological sex (as evidenced by the external anatomy of the persons involved) unless there are further findings that the member is not a homosexual or bisexual and that the purpose of the marriage or attempt was the avoidance or term*nation of military service." Lt. Col. Robert F. Baker, associate director of the Defense Department's personnel administration and services division, said the regulation's major effect is to eliminate almost all circumstances under which a Gay person call be retained in the Continued on page A-4 Job Openings Create Chance for Gay Cops by Don Leavitt Washington has a chance for its first openly Gay police officers as a result of a planned increase of the Metropolitan Police force. The Department announced plans January 12 to hire 220 new officers, and Gay leaders are hoping that openly Gay men and women will apply. However, some concern has been raised because the employment announcement omitted sexual orientation from a required non-discrimination state-ment. It is an omission that is in violation of a directive issued last year by Mayor Marion Barry. "We should have openly Gay police officers," says Scott Robinson, head of the Gay Activists Alliance Public Safety Project. "They have them in San Francisco, and in a city with as large a Lesbian and Gay CRIME LINE 332-5676, See Page A-3 community as Washington there is no reason why we shouldn't have them too." San Francisco's hiring of openly Gay police caused national controversy several years ago. The Department advertised in Gay San Francisco publications for applicants. D.C. police chief Burtell Jefferson had stated to GAA members in past meetings that any future openings in the force would be advertised in The Washington Blade. So far the newspaper has not been contacted. GAA will urge the police to place ads in the Blade and other Gay publications. The official job announcement omits sexual orientation as well as several other required categories from its statement of non-discrimination. The statement listed race, creed, color, sex, national origin, and political affiliation. According to GAA member Craig Howell, the announcement should have included marital status, personal appearance, family responsibility, matricula- Continued on page A-3 4. |
