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Pen Points
Letters to Gay Today |
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Of course the voting 'standard' had been set during November by Broward County and Katherine Harris had officially accepted it. If the other counties had been allowed to use this accepted standard, Gore would have won as the Palm Beach Post had demonstrated over a month ago. With national criticism of the Herald growing because of its whirling dervish behavior—changing its winners so often-- their credibility has been shot, but it shows what the New York Times, the Washington Post and others may do in their expected reports. So far the Bushit Media has focused only on blaming the voter and the machines but not the (Bush-Harris-LePore et al) conspiracy to steal the Florida vote, a conspiracy that's been the Oral Majority's focus. Meanwhile, while driving to our 111th protest, with Katherine Harris expected to show at a gathering of symphony supporters in Ft. Lauderdale on Pier 66, I listen to NPR, hearing that Walter Mondale is encouraging Gore to speak out NOW, while a radical right-wing revolution is taking place in Washington, D.C. There's a need for leadership NOW, while Gore's campaign manager Donna Brazil excuses Gore's silence, speculating that the right wing would chew him up if he showed his face. I see Walter Mondale's request to Gore as a strategic back-up inasmuch as our Oral Majority was first to publicly make this demand. On Wednesday we'd demonstrated in Orlando asking Gore to come out of hiding. I keep asking myself why Gore's afraid of these loonies anyway, and if he can't handle them, then how can he handle any real threats on a foreign or domestic level? So by this time we are nine protesters in number and our signs speak out about: "Katherine Harris--Traitor and Thief". And what's this? Lord have mercy, the Republicans are showing up to oppose us and to support
The Hispanics are part of a GOP that went ballistic against immigrants and yet remain in bed with this party, because it's anti-Castro. The Blacks there were chiming in, saying that we Oral Majority members should be getting jobs, that we are all communists and should go back to Cuba. These Republicans also adopted one of our great ideas, flying an aerial banner with which to welcome Katherine Harris. Meanwhile we're chanting "Republicans are Nazis and Thieves" and "No More Bushit" and "1, 2, 3, 4--Bush is a Corporate Whore." And so it goes. This is the first time we've had Republicans come forth and counter-protest us. The Creepers did twice when Clinton was down here, but this is a first, indicating that when we protested Jeb four times last week, and they weren't visible, now, they'd figured, they'd have to counter us. This, we see as a great victory, coming right on the heels of our Wednesday demonstration in Orlando asking Gore to come out of hiding and our protest too at Democratic National Committee meeting in Riviera Beach. Walter Mondale's back-up comments asking for the same we see as invaluable. All this, of course, is only a prelude to our protest on Tuesday when Supreme Court Injustice Scalia comes to Fort Lauderdale at the same location, and then next weekend when we're at VoterMarch in Washington D.C. with a leading role there. Finally, on May 21st, we'll protest Bushit himself at Yale. Meanwhile, Katherine didn't show, but we did and all those thousands driving by the locale saw how the election theft issue remains alive and kicking and that we had even provoked opposition this time around. A sign of the times. Yours Faithfully,
Reporting about One Institute's Archives' Move I want to make a few points about the good article by Michael Quintanilla in the April 29th issue (of the L.A. Times), on ONE Institute and Archives' move to the University of Southern California. First, the article and event was so important that it should have been on the first page of the paper, since it is more than a local issue. And I would hope that this paper will eventually do an article on the fact that most major cities now do have a gay library/archive, such as Gerber/Hart in Chicago, Stonewall in Fort Lauderdale, and the historical group in San Francisco and in the new and expanded gay/lesbian center in New York plus the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York and the June Mazer Collection in West Hollywood. There is a new one starting in Kansas, called Sunflower Archives. On the article itself, since I don't want to be a critic that only talks about what was NOT in the article, I am curious why Lisa Ben's name was not used, it has been in print in other places. As to Dale Jennings, whose death you covered well, as did most major news media publication, Dale was a co-founder with Harry Hay of the early secret Mattachine foundation, and was one of the people that formed the part of Mattachine that went public as ONE, Inc., along with Don Slater, Dorr Legg, Tony Reyes, and, I am sure even though it was not said, that Fred Frisbie was a co-founder of ONE lives a few blocks from the new location.
The article also takes the position that the division in the organization caused it to be less effective in service and in raising funds. This is not true. To their credit, the three main people even when divided kept working, they did not quit and fuss and find excuses to not give time, energy and money to the cause. But specifically when we left Legg's ONE, we knew that Dorr would havae income, since just prior to the division, with the coming forth of LA person Reed Erickson, ONE had set up a non-profit, tax-exempt foundation to fund ONE, called then and now The Institute for the Study of Human Resources. So he and his ONE had funding. Don Slater and those of us who moved to Cahuenga Blvd West in a building that reflected our truly gay view of life. But what is not really important to your purpose but must be pointed out for future historians is that there was a legal dispute and that the settlement was that Slater et al took all of the ONE material, which we had taken from the Venice Blvd address as the majority of legally elected board members went with Slater as did this writer and the editors of the magazine, most library volunteers, etc., and Legg got the name, since we intended to do work that did not involve the need for the name. However, we did NOT give up the name, as Legg immediately violated the agreement by sending out a newsletter which claimed victory and that we had been branded crooks, and so attorneys realized that ruined the agreement. We only used the name sub rosa as a tax issue, for the book service, but the state and county knew there were two ONE's and in fact later three (the Long Beach group, now just called the Center I think), and no problem resulted. But this division can be looked at, as it was in 1965, as both a funny event or as evidence of the growth of a movement where we were free to start disagreeing on issues and priorities, and now everyone can go to the new location, with the material from both factions and compare them and see what vitality we all had and still have, even after the three pioneers are not with us. ONE itself did not, and does not, have tax-exemption, thus the need for ISHR. So The Tangent Group of ONE, the Slater group, incorporated as the Homosexual Information Center and gained tax-exemption, probably the first to be openly homosexual and get the exemption, since others had hidden their purpose in geting exemption--I think the Daughters of Bilites and perhaps teh start of the L.A. gay center also had another name for the exemption. By the way, Harry Hay and John Burnside met at a ONE committee meeting, so that is something that should be used to promote young people going to gay centers and libraries since many don't like bars and bathhouses. And a final thought on the "competition for funding" that the L.A. Times worries about. Does that mean we should not ever have more than one group? We fund the large gay/lesbian centers in major cities, we fund (we meaning the movement/community) legal groups such as Lambda Legal Defense, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, some would say this is duplication, but it isn't and you can't have too much of a good thing, adn we fund both the Human Rgihts Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and they differ on emphasis. And GLAAD is funded to do a different part of our battle for equal/civil rights for homosexual citizens. And non-gay publication, groups and people do us and the nation a great service by working with us, as the Times does, as the P-FLAG people do, as the ACLU has often done, as many individuals do, including attorneys who are not homosexual but were willing to work with us when gay attorneys were afraid to do so, such as Herbert Selwyn and Eric Julber (who took the ONE Magazine case to the U. S. Supreme Court) both of whom are alive and thriving. And you must know that even with all of the fine gay glossy magazines and great local gay papers, many homosexuals still do not have contact with the community and thus your paper reaches people that would not otherwise get balanced material on homosexuality and any other subject. And this includes letting educators, politicians, law enforcement agents, etc that they need to know facts about sexuality and not judge people by what they believe based on their religious biases or what the majority thinks is best. Thanks to the L.A. Times for the article and here's to more in the future, as it pioneered such in the past, including articles by Don Slater. Hopefully there are many young unknown-as-yet Don Slaters, male and female, whose thinking will help America become even more like the founders hoped for.
Sincerely, |
Activist Bob Kunst (left) leads a protest against Mr. Bush at the Oscars in March 
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris 
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