Fifth Freedom, 1977-12-01

              5th Freedom FREE Publication of the Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier DECEMBER 1977 ROCHESTER GAY GROUP FUNDING BLOCKED the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, Inc, (GAGV) in Rochester (New York) has turned into a political tug of war involving the gay organization, the Rochester City Council, the United Community Chest and dozens of other social service agencies that were to have been granted federal Com- Psive Employment and ng Act (CETA) funds. c controversy, initially by one conservative ouncil member, has placed Rochester's gay community at the center of local media and political attention In August, the GAGV applied for $35,400 in CETA funds to create "Project Equality." The project's purpose was to "ease the burden of discrimination faced by gay women and men" by identifying bias in housing and employment, upgrading mental health services for the gay community and providing educational programs to promote better understanding between gay and non-gay people« The grant request was to cover modest salaries and expenses for a three-person staff. The GAGV submitted its request to the Community Chest, which has contracted Chest then recommended 53 requests to the City Council for approval, and the GAGV application was among them. However, when Charlie Schiano,' the lone Republican on the council,' noticed that the GAGV was on the list for funding, he quickly called a press conference to denounce the inclusion of money for any gay organization. Conservative groups rallied to Schianors side and vowed to boycott the Community Chest's charitable fund-raising efforts Chest officials began hedging on their support for the GAGV request, which they originally had defended as 'Very good and well prepared." After listening to a barrage of speakers, most of them anti-gay, the city council on Sept, 27 indefinitely tabled any action on the Community Chest-s list of recommendations thus denying money, to all the organizations that had requested CETA fundine GAGV Co-President Michael Robertson, one of 75 gay supporters of the funding request to attend the council meeting and one of the few allowed to speak, pointed out, "If anyone doubts that discrimination SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS! J UST O ESSERTS The Florida Citrus Commission has unanimously voted to extend Anita Bryant's $100,000 per year contract through August 1979. Although the Commission did not specifically endorse Bryant*s position on gay rights,' it did adopt a resolution supporting her right to express her views without fear of reprisal. However reasonable this position sounds, it is doubtful whether the Commission would be as magnanimous about BryantT s views were she campaigning against marriage, the Constitution, or the nuclear family. It is clear that gay rights are, at best, a matter of indifference to the Florida Citrus Commission. The Fifth Freedom strongly gay people, and all who are concerned about the rights of gays, to support the fight for gay rights by boycotting Florida citrus. BOYCOTT FLORJDA CITRUS cleaner than jf crucifixion. . . Conference Approves Lesbian Rights By Jane R. Marlowe HOUSTON, Texas — Resolutions favoring lesbian rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, and a host of other feminist issues passed overwhelmingly at the International Women's Year Conference held the weekend of Nov. 18-20 in Houston. The conference, which was attended by more than 2,000 women, was described by National IWY Commission presiding officer Bella Abzug as "the most diverse meeting of American women ever held in this country." Although 15,000 anti-feminist women demonstrated in Houston during the weekend, there were no disruptions at the conference itself. The meeting was originally conceived in 1975, with the U.S. Congress providing $5 million in funding. Delegates to the Houston conference were elected at individual state conferences. The state conferences also drew up a 26-point National Plan of Action that would "identify the barriers that prevent women from participating fully and equally in all aspects of national life" and find ways to remove them. Lesbian rights was approved at 30 of the 50 state meetings and thus qualified to be part of the Plan of Action. Five of the 26 resolutions voted on at Houston were considered to be controversial, high-pressure issues. These included endorsement of the ERA, a proposal for federally funded child care programs, abortion rights, support of lesbian rights, and a demand that a cabinet-level women's department be established by Jimmy Carter. Because of the disturbances caused at many state conferences by rightwing groups such as the John Birch Society and the Ku Klux Klan, some dusruption at the national meeting was expected. However, there were no major altercations, and many delegates were surprised by the spirit of solidarity and sisterhood that prevailed. The main problems were a result of waiting in outrageously long lines at hotels and rest rooms, and, to some extent, the complaints of conservative factions which felt that they had not been allowed to properly air their views. All of the items in the Plan passed, except for the one recommending that the President establish a cabinet-level position to deal with women's issues. The lesbian rights issue was a highly volatile one, and it was feared that a split on this issue would detract from the support of other major issues, especially the ERA. Jean O'Leary, the only avowed lesbian on the IWY Commission, was worried about the passage of this resolution: "If it looks like we won't get to it, we may amend other resolutions, like employment, to New Mattachine Business Office Opens December 18 The Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier will officially open its new business and counseling office in two weeks at 758 Main St. north of Tupper, across Main from Mean Alice's. The office will be opened to the public at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 13th; a meeting of the Mattachine Society will be followed by a reception. This new office space will allow Mattachine to consolidate at one location several of it's activities which are currently scattered throughout the city. This consolidation should facilitate consed its doors last January. The office will also contactcontact with and service to Buffalo's gay community, and end the difficulty some have encountered trying to contact Mattachine for counseling or information since the Gay Community Services Center clotain the production shop for the Fifth Freedom; it is hoped continued on page 8 continued on 'page 8 . continued on page 10 APOLOGIES The staff of the Fifth Freadom wishes to apologize to its subscibers, advertisers, and readers for not publishing during the past three months. Lack of sufficient staff is the primary reason for this regrettable situatiot