From The Vault

Racial Discrimination Still Plagues Gay and Lesbian Community

Art Guerrero — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:47:00 GMT

During the 1960s, oppressed groups in the United States had a clear cut enemy, the Establishment. The Establishment was responsible for racial discrimination. Women were kept down by the Establishment. The Vietnam War was started by the Establishment. The environment was being destroyed by the Establishment. Gays and lesbians were victimized by the Establishment.

The Establishment made an ideal target, although the different interests had their own definition of who constituted the Establishment. For some blacks, the Establishment meant all whites. For women, men were the Establishment. For anti-war protesters, the military and all those in favor of the war were the Establishment. For environmentalists, industrial corporate America and the government were the Establishment. And for gays and lesbians, non-gays were the Establishment.

So the Establishment was, in total, white male corporate and official war-loving heterosexist America.

By 1970 the Establishment had been thoroughly rocked to its foundation by the civil rights, women's liberation, anti-war, pro-environment and gay and lesbian rights movements. Jolted first by the powerful leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Establishment was then rattled by Malcolm X., badgered by Bella Abzug, taunted by Timothy Leary and finally traitorized by Robert F. Kennedy.

But the end-all assault on the Establishment's portals came with the Stonewall riots, when homosexuals demanded equal rights and finally marched out of the closet.

Although people of color, women and gays united under the anti-war banner led by brilliant leaders like Shirley Chisolm of New York, when the Vietnam War ended the sharing of oppression seemed to fade as a new, white male corporate and official heterosexist America emerged. The new Establishment (the word is now politically incorrect) provides structures for people of color, women, environmentalists, even gays and lesbians. But today's activists are quick to point out that structure is not synonymous with freedom from oppression.

In a very large sense, gays and lesbians were able to emerge from the closet because of the work of blacks and the leadership of King. Without King's courageous steps, gays could still be hiding amidst the mothballs, tie racks and shoe bags.

If King should be as much a hero to gays and lesbians as he is to blacks, and if the black struggle in recent history was also a struggle to ensure rights for all—including homosexuals—the presence of racism and discrimination within the gay community is seen by many as both a contradiction and an embarassment.

The very existence of one organization Black and White Men Together (BWMT) has helped serve as a deterrent to racial discrimination in the gay community.

"Therre is much work to be done," says Robaire Hunter, who is serving his second term as co-chair of BWMT Los Angeles. "The gay and lesbian community needs to look at itself, and it needs to unify. Gays who discriminate must realize that they are stepping on their own civil rights as well."

Co-Chair Dan Duncan adds, "We need to put in a major effort to bring our community together and help each other." Duncan says that BWMT is setting an example through its many programs and by its members "living in an integrated environment."

According to Charles Stewart, the first national co-chair of BWMT, and the co-chair of the organization's Equal Access Committee, racism among gays and lesbians comes in many forms, ranging from the overt to subtle varieties.

One of the most obvious forms of discrimination in the community is the nagging problem of carding—the practice used to keep people of color from gaining entry to gay and lesbian establishments.

"To put this issue in perspective," says Stewart, "you have to start by dealing with the importance of the bar as a social institution. Most gays come out in bars—it is their first contact with the gay world. So the bar plays a big role for many people. This is not the case with non-gays—bars don't have the same importance for them. Carding really is a gay issue."

Blatant discrimination that takes place at the doors of bars and discos, if it is a gay issue, was dealt with forcefully by the gay majority on the West Hollywood City Council, and by the non-gay councilmembers as well, who worked along with BWMT to draft and adopt an anti-carding and uniform treatment ordinance. The law was introduced Feb. 8 by Councilman Stephen Schulte and it was approved by a vote of 5-0 by the City Council. It went into effect 30 days later.

The West Hollywood law, although partially modeled on an anti-carding ordinance in Atlanta, goes well beyond Atlanta's provisions by also specifying that there must be uniform treatment at the door of a bar or disco. Stewart says, "The reason for the uniform treatment provision is to avoid having situations where, although multiple pieces of ID are no longer required, some persons may be admitted with no ID while others may be stopped and asked to produce ID." The law also offers protection for women, who in the past have been barred from establishments on the premise of shoes or clothing being inappropriate.

"For several years BWMT has investigated complaints of carding discrimination in West Hollywood and Los Angeles," says Hunter. "We have carefully and methodically followed through. Our objective has never been to make life difficult for bar owners or anyone, but rather, to end the problem. So we work quietly unless we see there is no willingness to cooperate."

BWMT is also trying to bring about a carding ordinance in the city of Los Angeles, which, since the incorporation of West Hollywood, has lagged far behind in dealing with social and gay and lesbian issues. "We have discussed the prospects of a carding law with Los Angeles City Council President Pat Russell, and she has pledged to support such a law," says Stewart.

Carding is not the only glaring form of racial discrimination in the gay and lesbian community, says Co-Chair Robaire Hunter. "Another major area of concern is employment discrimination," says Hunter, "particularly with bars, but with all other gay and lesbian businesses as well."

"The bar owners should think about only one color," says Hunter, "and that is green. Otherwise they shouldn't be in business. We need to see more black bartenders and waiters and other employees in the bars and discos."

Stewart says that employment discrimination in the gay and lesbian community has been extensively documented in San Francisco, where a study of 90 bars was made, then followed-up one year later. "There was a clear indication of discrimination by gay bars against people of color," says Stewart, "so they took the results of the study to the Human Rights Commission, which ruled that a pattern of discrimination existed." Stewart says a similar study may be conducted in Los Angeles County.

Another persistent form of discrimination in the gay and lesbian community may actually be exercised by gay rights organizations. "Although most of our organizations have opened their doors wide to minorities," says Stewart, "there are some unfortunate and outrageous exceptions."

Stewart is especially critical of the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA). "There has never been a gay man or lesbian of color on MECLA's board in all the years of its existence," says Stewart. "MECLA says that it is an economic issue, that its board members must be fund-raisers and that minorities have yet to demonstrate their ability to raise money, but I say this is racial exclusion." Stewart says that the only affirmative action programs being conducted by MECLA is to bring in Republicans and Republican money.

Stewart is angry at the way MECLA handled the commission appointment process when Mayor Bradley replaced virtually all of the commissioners in the City of Los Angeles in 1984. "Bradley turned to MECLA as the voice of our community and MECLA blew it," says Stewart. "The absence of more openly gay and lesbian commissioners is due to the shortsightedness of our own community, particularly on the art of MECLA." Stewart says that MECLA failed to include any people of color. "As a black man I would be angrier at MECLA's hypocrisy, but as a gay man I am embarrassed at their political ineptitude," says Stewart.

BWMT's equal Access Committee has also singled out another major gay and lesbian organization for failure to include people of color on its board, the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center (GLCSC). "They have also kept minorities off their board, and for the same reason as MECLA, money—they say that people of color can't raise funds among the center's traditional donors, but one wonders, are these the only sources of money and is that the only function of the board?" asks Stewart. "One of the ironies of this situation," says Stewart, "is, here are two all-white boards, going to the black mayor of the city with predominantly people of color as its population, and complaining about discrimination. Well!"

"The center's board first voted to make it a priority to get people of color as members, but they never did, and as a result—another irony—they lost one of their largest contributors because of their failure to integrate," says Stewart. According to Stewart GLCSC finally voted down a motion to set aside a new board seat for a person of color.

BWMT had identified other forms of discrimination in the gay and lesbian community. "On an interpersonal level," says Stewart, "there is far more integration with gays than there is in larger society, but that does not mean that racism does not exist."

One of the more subtle forms he identifies is "aesthetic racism." He says, "There is a unique pattern seen among gay males. Many men select friends from former sex partners, and since people's personal and aesthetic preferences tend to be narrower than their other interests, they find themselves in all-white social circles. Then, you have white men who are afraid of breaking an unwritten taboo, which for instance, keeps them from approaching black men to whom they may be attracted."

Working to end discrimination is only one of the areas of focus of Black and White Men Together. "We serve as an umbrella organization in a way," says Robaire Hunter, "and our members, both black and white, can work together on that which interests them. For our members who are couples, about a third, BWMT gives them an environment to work in, and at our rap sessions, a way to deal with problems and issues. For some of our members we are a civil rights group. And for many of our members we are a social group. One thing we are not is a sex club."

The organization was founded by Michael J. Smith in 1980 in San Francisco. Smith recently edited an anthology "Black Men, White Men" which includes short stories, interviews and articles that offer insight into the black and interracial gay experience.

There are BWMT chapters in the major cities of California, Seattle, Denver, Dallas, New York, Washington, D.C., and other urban centers. Members from all of the chapters will meet in Los Angeles July 14-21 for the group's 1985 convention.

"The different chapters have their own unique styles and ways of dealing with issues," says Stewart. "Some are confrontational in their approach. In Los Angeles, we think it is more effective to negotiate and resolve problems--after all, the solutions are what we're after."

BWMT has a long list of co-chairs of its various committees (all committees have black and white co-chairs). There are Education, Equal Access, Cultural Affairs, Consciousness Raising and Convention Committees, among others.

"Black and White Men Together serves as a model of integration in the gay and lesbian community," says Stewart. "We show that it is possible, and that it works."

One of BWMT's most popular functions is its weekly Saturday night rap session. Rap topics are selected by a vote of members who are present, and cover a range of interests. Subjects that have been discussed include the love/hate nature of some interracial relationships; confronting racism in the gay and lesbian community; homophobia and heterosexism; classism; role models for gay men; the media and racism; exclusive sexual attraction to a single race; subconscious racism and guilt; and institutional racism.

"Many interracial relationships have love/hate dynamics," says Stewart, "and those individuals must work at validating the relationship while purging the racism. One discovers that cross-racial attraction is not a legitimate reason for forming a relationship."

Stewart says, "What this organization is about the most, in my opinion, is living civil rights out of love, not intellectual conviction, and that is why we're so successful," says Stewart.

The group splits into black and white caucuses once each month. There has been disagreement in the organization about the value of the caucuses, which some members say help develop closer ties between black and black, and white and white members. Others say that since BWMT is an interracial group, the caucuses should not be held.

While some members of BWMT are frantically working on preparing for the national convention which the Los Angeles chapter will host this summer, others are working on the lighter side of the group's activities—the social events. One such event is a rooftop party set for May 18 in Silver Lake.

"Our job is to balance all of the diversity of the club," says co-chair Dan Duncan. "We have to make sure that one member constituency doesn't infringe on another."

Another of BWMT's stated purposes is to "reduce homophobia in the black community" says Charles Stewart. He cites an example of a problem that the group helped diffuse in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. Late night cruising in a park in the area had been upsetting surrounding black middle-class neighbors; to further inflame the situation the neighborhood patrol service told the residents that the gay men were responsible for the crime in the area. BWMT members met with representatives of the neighborhood, and worked with the patrol "to provide educational assistance, and help them learn distinctions between criminals and people who were just out cruising," says Stewart.

Stewart sees coalition-building as a major direction to be pursued. "When gays need the support of other groups, and we find that we haven't developed any coalitions, we have a problem. Gays in Houston failed to work with the black community. The failed to make it clear that the anti-discrimination measure there was a civil rights issue." He says that he plans to start participating in a predominantly black group, the New Frontier Democratic Club. "I feel compelled to work in cross-over politics. Someone has to go to this group, and in effect, say, "I'm here, I'm gay—now deal with it."

"A great deal of progress is being made in a lot of directions," says co-chair Robaire Hunter. "Some of our members get really enthusiastic on a project they're working on, and are gung-ho. Often those people burn out, though. We try to encourage our members to go easy, and take one step at a time. To establish a pattern of contributing."

What are the major concerns that black and white men together will address in the near future? "We plan to re-examine and redefine the issues that confront America as a racially diverse place at our 1985 convention," says Stewart, "and then determine what kind of agendas and actions are appropriate for this second period of Reagan's America."

..Eight Is Enough! A Shameful Human Rights Legacy

Timothy Stirton — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 00:14:00 GMT

(Originally printed in Frontiers, Sept. 7, 1988)

Whether they quietly lobby legislators in our nation's capital, challenge the government inside court rooms or express their righteous anger on the streets, the verdict of gay and lesbian activists from around the nation is that the policies and performance of the Reagan/Bush administration has been an unmitigated disaster for the gay and lesbian community.

Descriptions of the Reagan/Bush legacy come quickly, emotionally. Says Jean O'Leary, Executive Director of the National Gay Rights Advocates. "It's a legacy of death and destruction." "It's between disappointing and dismal," says Steven Schwadron, aide to U.S. Representative Gerry Studds. Says Bill Rubenstein, staff counsel of New York City's American Civil Liberties Union AIDS Project, "Their record is atrocious." And says Robert Bray of the New York-based Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF), "It's an eight-year legacy of shame."

Granted, few involved in the gay and lesbian movement had high hopes for the Reagan/Bush administration when they captured the White House in 1980, in a campaign that fused Reagan's economic conservatism with the social agenda of the Religious Right. In the days before the 1980 GOP convention, Ronald Reagan was honored by a group of fundamentalists in Dallas. With Reagan looking on, James Robison waved a Bible overhead, and told the roaring crowd, "Commit yourself to the principles of God, and demand that those parties and politicians align themselves with the eternal values in this book."

With Ronald Reagan at the party's helm, many believed the GOP had done just that. The party unveiled a platform which they touted as "pro-family"; it included a ringing condemnation of abortion and equal rights for women. And there was little doubt about the party's stand on homosexuality. It was articulated time and time again by the leaders of the Religious Right that had helped Reagan clench the nomination. Said Jerry Falwell, "God abhors the sin of homosexuality, and it will not go unpunished."

Under the Carter administration, the gay and lesbian community had begun to make progress on a variety of fronts, including migration and military service. Eric Rosenthal of the HRCF says the new administration did an immediate about-face--Reagan orchestrated a policy of "gay bashing" from the White House. Gays and lesbians were routed out of the military and blocked from jobs in federal agencies like FBI and CIA. In addition, the opening in immigration policy during the Carter yeas closed. Bray, who blames Reagan for the dismissal of Sgt. Perry Watkins on grounds of homosexuality, says, "Immigration and military policies are executive branch decisions. And the Pentagon is controlled by the executive branch..."

Appointments—from the Supreme Court to the cabinet, from mid-level bureaucrats to federal judges—have been a major failing of the Reagan/Bush administration, say gay activists.

Gay organizations joined with labor, women and minority groups, to defeat the Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork. While on the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court, the nation's second most powerful court, Bork rendered "horrible opinions," according to T.J. Anthony, who heads the Judiciary Project in San Francisco. In Padula v. the FBI, for instance, Bork supported the FBI's right to bar a lesbian from service based on her sexual orientation. In his opinion, Bork wrote that the discrimination was justified because homosexuals generate "dislike and disapproval."

Even without Bork on the Supreme Court, many feel that Reagan's appointees have, and will continue to stall gay and lesbian rights. Bray characterizes Reagan's court appointees as "your basic catastrophe." He notes that Sandra Day O'Conner, the much heralded "moderate," cast a deciding vote against the community on the Hardwick decision, upholding the Georgia sodomy laws. "It was our best chance," he says.

Anthony believes that the margin in favor of the majority has increased with subsequent Reagan appointees. Before being named to the court, another so-called moderate, Justice Anthony Kennedy, ruled against Tony Sullivan in his battle to stay in the US. Sullivan, an Australian, based his claim to citizenship on the fact that he had married an American man in a ceremony in Boulder, Colo. During the proceeding, Kennedy actually coached the INS attorney from the bench, and then ruled against Sullivan.

Anthony says that aside from the highly publicized Supreme Court appointees, Reagan has also appointed a host of homophobic judges to the federal bench. "What people forget is when you elect a President, you elect a party. It's the party in power that decides who those federal judges will be." Among the offenders Anthony lists is Judge John P. Vukasin, who, as a California Public Utility Commissioner, upheld the phone company's refusal to accept a yellow page ad from a gay group because "homosexuals are perverts, and homosexuality is a perversion."

On a Federal Court Vukasin once referred to a litigant as "that faggot," and ruled against the Gay Olympics in their battle against the US Olympic Committee over the word "olympic." Anthony says that in Texas, Reagan appointees to the Federal Court overturned an early decision by Carter appointees and reinstated the Texas sodomy laws.

"Ronald Reagan has left a legacy of injustice and violence on the Federal Court," says Anthony and it will be a lasting legacy to boot. Anthony says that federal judges are lifetime appointees, and Reagan has appointed almost half of the sitting federal judges. Of those 360 federal judges, only 28 are women, five are black, and none are openly gay.

The Reagan cabinet has been a disaster, says Tom Stoddard, who heads the Lambda Legal Defense Fund. Cabinet appointees, like Secretary of Education William Bennett, and Attorney General Ed Meese have championed the social agenda of the Right. Before resigning under a cloud of scandal, Meese earned the special ire of gay activists and civil libertarians, for his crusade against pornography. After holding much publicized hearing in a half dozen cities, listening to testimony from witnesses, and even visiting porno shops, the commission concluded that there was a link between pornography and aggression. Its findings were diametrically opposed to those of a 1970 report of the Presidential Commission on Obscenity, and two members wrote dissenting opinions. Many, like the ACLU's Rubenstein, charged the commission had a double agenda: "It was an attack on sexuality. And its mere existence, and how it was staffed had a chilling effect on the First Amendment."

Indeed it did. More than 10,000 stores around the country, including 7-11 convenience stores, removed Playboy and Penthouse from their shelves, many after receiving a letter from the commission suggesting they might be cited for distribution of pornography.

On the legislative front, bills most important to the gay community have been stalled in Congress with opposition for the most part coming from the GOP. US Rep. Anthony Beilenson, co-sponsor of the Civil Rights Amendment Act and other gay rights legislation, says that he doubts real progress can be made legislatively while Reagan is in office: "We're all waiting for him to leave."

Also stalled in the House is Barney Frank's Immigration Reform Bill, and waiting passage in the Senate are two bills dealing with "hate crimes" against gays. Many note that a president more disposed toward gay rights could not only rally his forces in Congress behind such legislation, but could issue an executive order banning discrimination in Federal jobs. Instead, Reagan remained silent as most Senate Republicans voted to weaken the Washington DC Human Rights Ordinance which extended protection to lesbians and gays, and a Republican Senator Jesse Helms promoted his homophobic amendments to an AIDS appropriations bill. Says Ivy Bottini, co-chair of March On, it is "passive encouragement" for the President to remain silent.

The refusal to support the "Hate Crimes Bill" or condemn escalating violence directed toward gays is another failure of the Reagan/Bush administration. Eric Rosenthal said a Justice Department study showed that the gay community is the one most subject to violent attack. "By being silent in the face of so much violence [the White House] is, in effect, giving permission for it to take place." Adds Bottini, "How can he not know our community is involved in a life and death struggle?"

The chorus of condemnation of the Reagan/Bush administration is not confined to the gay and lesbian communities. Says Congressman Anthony Beilenson, "Gay people have to understand that we've all been disadvantaged; they've been a disastrous eight years, in many respects, for all kinds of people, and decent human interests."

Dady Blake, president of the L.A. Chapter of the National Organization for Women, says that the end of the Reagan era is "a cause for celebration." On a host of issues NOW has defined as important, Blake says, they have butted heads with the Reagan/Bush administration. "Reagan constantly and consistently assaulted women's reproductive rights. He appeared to take abortion on as a personal goal of his administration." Blake says that the GOP's support of the Equal Rights Amendment, which had been in the party's platform since 1940, was abandoned with the ascendancy of Reagan and the Religious Right.

NOW, like most gay organizations, came out strongly against the nomination of Bork to the Supreme court, says Blake. Furthermore, Blake says, that Kennedy, Scalia and Rehnquist, who the President elevated to Chief Justice, have "poor records on women's issues."

Another less visible way the administration has moved against women's rights was by instructing the Justice Department to stop filing class action suits challenging discrimination based on race or sex. "It's an atmosphere that is promoting discrimination," Blake says.

And as a part of the President's much-heralded effort to "streamline government and eliminate paperwork," Blake says Reagan examined 75 percent of the companies that have federal contracts from affirmative action requirements.

As an example of the administration's relationship with the black community, US Representative Mervyn Dymally says that during the last seven-and-a-half years the President has met only once with the Congressional Black Caucus, "and that was for a photo opportunity ... Reagan has taken the political position that blacks are not an asset to the Republican party, so we don't need to spend any time with them." On a list of a few administration-sponsored "disasters," Dymally cites the administration's opposition to the Voting Rights Extension Act, and its attempt to grant tax exempt status to all white schools.

So how do those who have levied so many serious charges against the administration see George Bush now that he, as the GOP standard bearer, is attempting to define his concerns and issues. Says Dymally, noting that Bush helped orchestrate some of the administration's initiatives, "It's impossible to separate George Bush from the Reagan/Bush legacy."

Tom Stoddard of Lambda Legal Defense says, "Bush's selection of Quayle as a running mate belies the suggestion that Bush will be better." And, says Bottini, noting that the pair again endorse the social agenda of the Right, "Just look at their platform." Adds HRCF's Lois Reckitt, "Many have told me to take a leap of faith and trust that Bush will be better. I don't know if I have that much faith."

An Interview with New West Hollywood Mayor

Jon Robbins — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Cityhood has brought a multitude of changes to the one square mile of county retainment known as West Hollywood: a new government, a new city hall and more recently, a new mayor.

Presiding over only his second Thursday Council meeting at Plummer Park, Mayor John Heilman was more soft spoken than his predecessor, Valerie Terrigno, but firmly in control of the lengthy agenda the Council had before them. Adjourning after almost four hours of work study session dealing with the tedious provision of an Interim Zoning Ordinance, Mayor Heilman was understandably weary as he tackled the pile of official business that lay in front of him. Still wearing the parliamentarian mantle of his responsibilities, the Mayor was preoccupied with signing checks as our interview began. But, after I informed him that I had no intention of asking him what kind of tree he thought he would be, he laughed, leaned back in his upholstered chair and relaxed.

Mayor John Heilman, you are quite young, by political standards. A year ago, you were a private citizen with a demanding law practice, a volunteer ACLU attorney and active in many other political organizations. Then came cityhood, the election to City Council and most recently, the mayorship. What motivated you to embark on the road to public life at this time in your career?
That's a question I ask myself all the time. I think that what motivated me was the concern about the community and a desire to make sure that what I believe the citizens want to see happen to the community is implemented. And the people here have some real concerns about development, certainly about the housing situation, and if I can help the citizens get what they want for the community, then I will feel I have done my job. That's why I became active, because I felt I was able to help people in the community.

Has the Council been finding themselves getting the input they need from the community?
I would like to see a lot more public input. Part of the problem is the process of setting up. It was difficult to get the decisions made that we needed to make, and at the same time have a lot of public input. It was a problem because we didn't have the staff.

Certainly the process of incorporation and cityhood was a tremendous job and the burden has obviously fallen on five sets of very strong shoulders. Has it been an enjoyable process or a frustrating one?
It has its moments of both. I couldn't honestly tell you that this has been the most enjoyable experience in my life. I also couldn't honestly tell you that it has been total frustration. There are elements of both in the job. Overall it has been a very exciting experience.

Well now, you have the media prying into your private life and trying to pigeonhole you on the issues. Has the transition from private life to public life been difficult for you?
To some extent, yes. All of us on the Council have had to give up a lot of our private lives. Because of the Brown Act, we have had to do a lot of the decision making right out in front of the public. I have no problems with the concept, but it's difficult to make mistakes, and we have made mistakes in front of people—and then had to go back and correct them. It's difficult to do the job that we have to do with the intense amount of scrutiny that we have had, not only from the local citizens, but scrutiny from the international media as well. It's difficult to learn, as we have all had to learn, with everyone watching you.

Could you explain more about what the Brown Act requires of you?
The Brown Act is a state law that requires that all public bodies, such as the City Council, conduct its business in public. So whenever more than two of us meet together, we have to meet together in public at a regular scheduled meeting. We can not meet together privately to discuss issues.

I think the public in general is more than a bit confused as to why there was a change of mayors after only eight months and perhaps has the impression that this was a result of "smoke-filled room politics." As I understand it, this was more a requirement of the incorporation process.
Well, most small cities such as ours almost always rotate their mayors on an annual basis. They usually do that in April, when they have their municipal elections. We incorporated in November. Our next municipal election will be in April of 1986. That gave us a 16-month period starting off and the decision the Council made when we took office in November was that we wanted to be on that "every April" rotation pattern. We had to make a decision between having somebody serve for 16 months or two people serve eight month terms. In terms of who the people would be, Valerie [Terrigno] clearly wanted to do it and since she was the top vote-getter, it was the Council's decision that she serve first. And it was an important statement also, that she was elected the first lesbian mayor. Alan [Viterbi] was the second largest vote-getter and he decided that he did not want to do it. I think I was chosen Mayor Pro Tem in recognition of the role CES [Coalition for Economic Survival] played in helping to elect four out of five councilmembers. This was a decision that was publicly announced in November of '84. The rotation has occurred. It is history. To say that there were any "smoke-filled room politics" involved suggests something sleazy, and that simply is not true.

So this means that in April we can expect to have municipal elections?
Yes, in April Steve Schulte, Helen Albert and I will all be up for reelection. Alan and Valerie's terms end in April of 1988, and so after those elections in April, there will be an election amongst the Council as to who will take over as mayor.

Under Valerie's administration there have been several landmark gay rights ordinances that have been adopted that have put West Hollywood on the map and in the news. Do you feel the city government will differ under your guidance?
Well, you have to keep in mind that all I do is preside over the meetings and try to facilitate the decision process. I could say I want us to do X, Y and Z, but unless I can convince two of my colleagues to go along, it doesn't mean anything. In small city government, the mayor doesn't have veto power, just one vote like the rest of the councilmembers. One of the problems we had was that we have not been able to adopt any bold long-term goals for the city and prioritize them. We have been popping from one crisis to another or one crucial issue to another without any perception of what overall direction we want to be heading. I have a list of ideas and goals that I'm hoping I can get the Council to agree to adopt, and then we can be heading in those directions. I think at one point we appeared rudderless. We have been doing some very good things, but we still have been missing the very big picture.

During the Council meeting there was a suggestion to postpone the long-term goal study session and I saw you shaking your head vigorously no!
That's something we had discussed a long time ago and has been put off time and time again, and it would really solve a lot of problems if we knew what our goals were for the city.

You mentioned that you had some priority issues that you would like to see the Council concentrate on. Would you mind commenting on this?
No, not at all. In the first eight months we adopted a flurry of legislation and a lot of it has symbolic importance. What we need to start focusing on are projects to follow the long-range planning. One of the big issues for me is affordable housing. I think there is a big fear among seniors—and among gays and lesbians—that they will be pushed out. They are being pushed out. This community is becoming less and less affordable for either the young people or the seniors. You can see it on King's Road where a lot of units were torn down or converted into condos. The community recognizes that we need to get the development process under control and that we need to be actively promoting affordable housing opportunities. We need to begin addressing the issues that affect the entire community. The Neighborhood Watch program has been funded, but the city needs to help develop those programs, because they do help reduce crime and they do help to increase the perception of safety and security. We need to talk about some self defense programs for seniors and young people. Seniosr particularly, because they are such a vulnerable age group. There are programs around bus stops, because they seem to be high area for crime. I think we really need to roll up our sleeves, like we did with rent control.

Since we're talking about issues, let me mention a few and if you could give your evaluation as to where the city government has been or is going with these issues.

Rent control. It is in place. I basically think it is a very good law, overall. There are hardships on both sides. There are some landlords who are hurt by it, and there are some tenants who are not completely protected. It's impossible to draft an ordinance that protects everyone, but doesn't hurt anyone. It just isn't going to happen. I do think that there is a commitment on the part of the Council to make sure that the administration of the law and to making changes that are necessary. I wasn't completely satisfied with the law, but overall I think it is a good law for the tenants.

Senior citizens. I think there is a perception among the seniors that the city has been concentrating more on the gay and lesbian issues and has been ignoring their concerns. There may be some validity to the perception, but it is not correct overall. If you look at the programs we've funded, a lot of them deal with senior citizens, it's just that the media has only concentrated on what we have done with respect to gay rights. When RTD said that they would no longer provide subsidies to senior and disabled persons, we stepped in and said we were going to do it. The media ignored all the money that we awarded to Jewish Family Services to provide programs for seniors, and the media ignored what we did for alternative living for the aged. We're now submitting applications for funds for a multi-purpose senior center.

Gay and lesbian rights. The Council has done a great deal; the AIDS discrimination ordinance, the sexual orientation ordinance and the domestic partnership issues. It is amazing, for a Council that is so new, to be recognized as one of the leaders in the area of human rights, gay and lesbian rights—and civil rights in general. That in itself is an accomplishment and I'm sure that we will continue to lay that role. But, there comes a point where there is little more the city can do, other than enforce those ordinances. We have made it clear that we will. There will always be issues in that area that will come up. I think it is now time to focus on issues that affect gays and lesbians as people. We can enact all the progressive legislation we want, but if we are not providing the basic services then we are not doing our job.

Land development. People talk about rent control as being the big dividing point in the community. I think that land development is probably more serious. A lot of people are very insular. Once their particular problem, their apartment and their rent is solved, they shut out of the process. That is something we have to prevent. As I see the development process, we're not doing a general plan so the developers are going to be happy. We are doing a general plan to project the needs of residents and the business community. There are a lot of people who have different views as to where they want the community to go. There are powerful people in the community who would like to see West Hollywood turned into another Westwood, and I don't think I want that to happen. What I want to happen is for the citizens to devise what the general plan is going to be. Overall the people in this community are a little tired of development. I think they want to control the development. Cityhood has given the residents the opportunity to have the control, and that is one of the real victories.

Is the process of land development going to be an ongoing process?
In terms of the planning process, the general plan that we are going to adopt is going to be just that—the general plan for the city. It can be revised periodically, but it is devised to be the Bible, in a sense, for development in the city. That is why it is so important that the people get involved in the planning process now. It will become late in the game to come to the Council and say, why is that four-story building going up down the street. At that point, it's too late to stop it. We are going to have public hearings, a community workshop and the Council is having another work study session and the public needs to participate now.

Crime. We have already begun addressing crime. Since cityhood, there has already been a reduction of crime in West Hollywood. We've already approved the budget for the Sheriff's Department. Because we do contract out for law enforcement, we tend to forget that it is something that we need to be concerned with on a daily basis. The Council needs to take on a whole range of issues relating to crime. A lot of victims of crimes feel even more victimized by the system.

We now have foot patrols on Santa Monica Boulevard. Is it too soon to know whether they have made an impact on crime in West Hollywood?
In terms of their impact on West Hollywood, it is too soon to know. The research I have seen shows that they do have an impact on reducing certain types of crime and they also have an impact on increasing the preception of safety, and that's important. They have been making arrests, that is for sure.

At the onset, certain people wanted to see West Hollywood have their own police department. Do you think that was an issue that was bound to come up?
I think it is a dead issue. At least for the next five years, it's just not economically feasible. There is no way we could start up our own police department, as I see it. In terms of desire, I don't think there is much desire on the part of the community to get rid of the Sheriffs. In general, the Sheriffs are respectful of the differences in the community. Certainly, they are better than our neighbors in Los Angeles city. There have been problems. There are bound to be problems when you have a force of that size, but you don't just throw them out. We have worked with Capt. Cook and he has agreed to do some training programs sensitizing the force to the concerns of the gay and lesbian community, to everyone in the community. Whenever there is an incident, we definitely instigate an investigation and try to follow up on what happened. In terms of switching, I think it would be political suicide for anyone to suggest it. It's just not going to happen, and I don't want to see it happen.

In the past eight months since cityhood, all eyes have been on West Hollywood as you have indicated. During the debate for cityhood, opponents heated the issue with horror stories of rampant sex in the parks, higher city taxes and rent control abuse. Obviously, none of those things have happened. Can you divorce yourself from what the Council has accomplished and give yourselves a report card on your performance so far?
I'd like to say that we deserve an A for doing all that we have done, given the intense media attention, given the difficulties in finding adequate office space and the intensity of some of the issues we have had to deal with. I'd like to say that we deserve an A, but if I were being objective, I would give us a B+—with the potential for an A+—as we resolve some of the issues that we have not been able to up to this point.

West Hollywood has seen some important physical changes such as the median strip beautification program and the ramping of the street corners for disabled persons. Are there any other important physical changes that the citizens can look forward to in the near future?
We also began tree trimming and we expanded street cleaning along the major arteries. We're also committed to restoring Plummer Park and West Hollywood Park to their original design and condition. We've done what we can, in terms of getting the physical condition of the city to its original condition. In terms of long-term changes to the physical environment, that will have to come out of the planning process and what the citizens want. The median strip, providing we can obtain ownership of it, can really be a showcase in terms of representing West Hollywood, but it takes planning. The flowers are nice. The grass is nice. It's a nice temporary improvement. We need to decide what we want in the long-term. Do we want shade trees? Do we want arches? Do we want fountains? I'm sure there are artists out there, just licking their lips to design something. Given the fact that we have money and a real creative community, it could be something that could really be the envy of the entire world, but it will take time. You don't do that sort of thing overnight, especially if you want it to last.

Is there any one thing you would like to say to the citizens of West Hollywood?
The one thing that I would like to say is that the level of sophistication and intelligence among the people of West Hollywood has made this job so much more enjoyable when the people know what's happening. And we are still not near our potential in that area. The one great thing about doing this is that the people are so great. The seniors for instance. You have this stereotypical view of them, but most of the ones that come to our meetings are extremely aware. They want to remain active in the process, and it makes it a real delight to work with them. They can't be fooled and they can't be manipulated. It makes it easier to deal with people when you know they are politically astute. They care about the community and not just about themselves. The younger people are worried about having a place to live when they are 65 and the seniors are saying, we have to do something about AIDS. They understand the suffering. That's what is wonderful. They care about the community and each other. That makes the job worthwhile.

Ending on the appropriate bright note, I switched off the tape machine. The mayor was gratefully surprised that I had not bombarded him with the irritating personal questions that so often become the norm of public life. The graciousness turned to candor as he withdrew a department store catalog from his briefcase, turned to the section of sheets and pillowcases, and proceeded to ask my opinion between the teddy bear or bunny rabbit designs. Having four felines at home, I told him I would have to opt for the pussycats. As I packed up my things to go, I wondered to myself if someone like Mayor Bradley would be as self-effacing. It was nice to know, that even after eight months of the glare of media attention, our councilmembers were still, just folks.

Friends in High Places

Karen Ocamb — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:28:00 GMT

It’s Good Friday, hardly a day of rest for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who just four days from now in his State of the City address will call for “shared responsibility” to save jobs and programs in this deep recession. He also spells out plans to create jobs while greening the city.

Openly gay City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl would later tell Frontiers in L.A. that Villaraigosa’s speech was “well done. He has the right approach.”

On the mayor’s schedule this April 10 is the annual serving of Easter meals at the Los Angeles Mission Easter Meals for the Homeless and meeting privately with constituencies such as the LGBT community, represented by Frontiers.

Actually, Villaraigosa is constantly surrounded by LGBT people—including his personal aide and his senior press secretary, Matt Szabo. Since his election to mayor in 2005, Villaraigosa has appointed seven LGBT senior staff and general managers and 30 LGBT commissioners (including two to the police commission), in a city with a total of 294 commissioners. Nineteen are currently serving.

Villaraigosa’s relationship with the state’s LGBT community has been much-lauded since 1994 when he arrived in the Assembly. And the LGBT community notably backed him in both races for mayor.

But relations grew strained in the two years after he took office, with his once warm accessibility seemingly limited to a few handpicked representatives and his unrepentant skipping out on LGBT events where he was a headliner, as IN Los Angeles magazine reported. Other communities had difficulty with him, too, especially after his affair with a Spanish-language television reporter was exposed.

Villaraigosa’s mea culpa seemed to win him back some friends, though openly gay reporter Patrick Range McDonald in a Sept. 11, 2008, cover story for the LA Weekly challenged how effectively he managed the city given his constant travel.

Villaraigosa’s recent trips to Sacramento and Washington, however, are being looked at with almost breathless expectation as frightened Angelenos hope the mayor’s old charisma and energy plans will bring state and federal dollars and jobs to the city.

Frontiers’ first official sit-down with Villaraigosa in four years was unexpectedly comfortable, a result of his strong efforts to try to defeat Prop. 8 and his return to the forefront of LGBT politics. He contributed $25,000 of his own money, raised thousands more, spoke at post-Prop. 8 rallies and monitored the LAPD response to protest, and he headlined the recent Human Rights Campaign gala.

Villaraigosa seemed to relish playing the part of “Equality Man” during a photo shoot for Frontiers, sporting Shephard Fairey’s original “Equality” T-shirt contributed to the marriage equality movement. The interview was wide-ranging but the focus here, now, is on Prop. 8.

Villaraigosa, who was co-chair of the No on Prop. 22 campaign in 2000, was reluctant to discuss what went wrong with the campaign.

“Let me talk about what went right,” Villaraigosa says. “When you look at [Prop. 8] and at the Knight Initiative [2000’s Prop. 22], a lot more people are beginning to realize this issue of equality—and in this case, marriage equality—is a fundamental right. It’s an issue that goes to the heart of who we are as a state and a country and what our values are. And for someone who’s been in these battles for years now, it was good to see that.

“It’s clear we still have a lot of work to do,” he continues. “We need to reach out to a broader community. We need to talk to our families. We’ve got to have a serious conversation about the pain that we feel. … We need to reach out to people who don’t agree with us and have serious conversations about the effect of denying someone the fundamental right to liberty and happiness and the right to marry—and the second-class citizenship it denotes …

“Many of us are faithful people, too. I believe in God,” says Villaraigosa. “I have a deep and abiding love for God. And I believe that Jesus was a shepherd, and the role of the shepherd is to bring the flock in—not some of the flock, all of the flock. And [in] virtually every religion that I’ve ever read about, the human race is depicted as the children of God. I don’t believe that God would want us to discriminate in that way.

“But I do think we have to have those conversations, and we have to be respectful. Sometimes people feel so strongly about their views that they don’t listen to people who disagree … That doesn’t mean we are not strongly advocating for our view; but often times, when you’re talking and listening and not screaming, you lower the volume. You’d be surprised the common ground that you can find.

“I was with someone recently for dinner who strongly believed that Prop. 8 was right,” he continues. “We talked and talked, and I listened and she listened. By the end of the dinner, she’d gotten herself to the point where—while she couldn’t believe in gay marriage—she knew she couldn’t deny that marriage to someone who did. There’s a power that comes in listening, in reaching out, in trying to find that common ground that’s so necessary for the change we want.”

Suddenly, Villaraigosa gets animated as he remembers the massive nighttime re-commitment ceremony he conducted in front of City Hall.

“I did the re-commitment ceremonies in the pouring rain. We were in the pouring rain!” Villaraigosa says, his voice rising, pounding the conference table for emphasis. “Hundreds and hundreds of people were there, re-committing themselves to their love—and it was one of the most beautiful things. Wasn’t it powerful?” he asks Szabo.

“I thought it was one of the most powerful moments of this entire process because you were able to see exactly what this means in real terms,” Szabo says.

“Yeah,” says Villaraigosa. “I think what we’re doing now, that’s important and different. We’re talking about families. Before everybody said you shouldn’t do that; the talking points were, ‘Don’t talk about families.’ And the polls said that.

“And you know what? He (pointing to Szabo) can tell you. As soon as they told me that, I said, ‘That doesn’t make any sense!’” Villaraigosa gets louder, his voice almost hitting a falsetto as he expresses disbelief. “You know how I came by these views! I supported gay marriage in 1994 when they first asked me! I’m not going to tell you I had thought about it. I’d never thought about it, really. But when they asked me, I stopped for a moment, and I thought about my cousin [openly gay Assemblymember John A. Perez]. How good he is to our kids. I thought about my family—my nephews—and I said, ‘Who are we to deny somebody that right to love, to have a family? I think that’s always been fundamental to this. Those who talk about family values? What is more family-like than wanting to have a union of love and commitment with somebody? To have a family? I love the commercials that are coming out now that emphasize that.”

Going Gaga in Palm Springs

Jamie Wetherbe — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:26:00 GMT

Lady Gaga—artist, exhibitionist and multi-talented singer-songwriter—is, well, famous. Her debut album, The Fame, released last year, topped the Billboard charts. And she’s since launched her first headlining tour—plus, the paparazzi often catch her in flesh-flaunting outfits (she cites Peggy Bundy and Donatella Versace as her fashion icons).

But she’s no celebrity. Lady Gaga, who nicked her name from Queen’s song “Radio Gaga,” is an artist.

In addition to penning songs for Fergie, Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears and New Kids on the Block, Gaga wrote all of the lyrics, melodies and played most of the synth work for the Fame, best described as a mix of dance, pop, disco and burlesque.

And the 22-year-old has been in the music biz for a while: At 14, she played open-mic nights at clubs like New York’s the Bitter End and later made a name for herself on the Lower East Side club scene with dance-pop party songs and shock art performances where Gaga—who designs and makes many of her stage outfits—would strip down to her hand-crafted hot pants and bikini top, light cans of hairspray on fire as a disco ball lowered from the ceiling to the orchestral sounds of A Clockwork Orange.

If that doesn’t sound perfect for Palm Springs—she’ll be playing Dinah Shore and the White Party in April—consider that Gaga’s Grammy-nominated lead single “Just Dance” is about “being totally wasted at a party,” but “we never really want to stop the party, so we just dance through it."

Taking time out from her tour—a 26-date run through the U.S. she’s dubbed the “Fame Ball” that kicked off in March in San Diego—Gaga talks fashion, fame, her run-in with the law and why she loves the gays.

What kind of performance do you have in store for Dinah?
Actually, what I’m mostly working on right now is trying to make sure I can get as much of the Fame Ball show to Dinah. If I can get all of my technology and props to Dinah, it will be spectacular.

What will that be like?
We’ll have to wait and see. I don’t want to talk too much about the creative in the tour, but it’s a completely different show from what I’ve been doing. It’s really, really amazing, and I’m kind of sleepless and mental planning and designing everything. It’s the kind of thing I want everyone to see. So even if I’m on the East Coast the night before [Dinah], I’m going to try to fly everything the next day and pay tons of money.

And you’re playing the White Party soon after Dinah—that’s one gay week.
It’s going to be so gay, and I’m really in the mood for it … I’ve just been so excited and thrilled. Anytime I’m asked to do an event like this I’m always doing back-flips … I’ve been playing these shows around Europe for the past two months at very few gay clubs and I’m so, so excited to be home, so that I can get back to really what I love, which is playing gay clubs and getting back in the gay community who have been so kind to me.

How did it feel to be nominated for a Grammy for “Just Dance”?
Very exciting, I really couldn’t believe it … It’s quite unexpected actually. I was very honored, and everybody’s been very kind to me. I just want to keep working hard and making great music and shows.

I read that you wrote the song in 10 minutes—is that true?
Yes, it was very fast.

Do you write most of your songs that quickly?
I hate to say it, but a hit record doesn’t take very long to write because it’s usually in the form of a vision. And it’s a very fast, creative moment where the vision funnels through your body and becomes a song. Some of the songs that have taken me a little bit longer to write weren’t my most successful. Not to say I didn’t spend time on all the songs, it’s just that pop albums tend to be a bit more like orgasms when they’re hits.

Your debut album is called The Fame—do you feel famous?
I’ve always felt famous. Fame doesn’t come from everybody else it comes from inside … But I’m not a celebrity, I’m an artist.

How did the Lower East Side club scene prepare you for what you’re doing now?
Well, if you can’t play to a crowd of 35 kids in a club that smells like urine, you can’t play [Madison Square] Garden. Starting small and working hard and also the community in the Lower East Side, there’s such a strong sense of artistry. That part of New York taught me to say, “I’m an artist and I am great.” Plus, all my gay friends, of course.

How would you describe your fashion style?
I would say New York, pop art, futuristic.

I heard that your fashion got you into trouble and you were fined for indecent exposure—is that true?
Yes, that’s true. It happened at Lollapalooza a couple of years ago. I was wearing some very short shorts, and a police officer told me to put my ass up against the fence because I was offending young children and their mothers. It was funny; I was screaming in the streets, “I’m an artist! It’s fashion!” It was an amazing moment.

A.I.D.S. 3,775 and Still Counting...

Ernie Potvin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:20:00 GMT

There's more to combating an illness than applied medical techniques when the illness you're fighting is a mysterious, debilitating disease that is generally fatal, considered contagious, spreading rapidly and surrounded by an atmosphere of hysteria, ignorance and fear. That disease, of course, is AIDS—Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Last spring and summer big-city newspapers and television networks were running feature pieces on AIDS on a daily basis. Many cried out about a national blood crisis, while others expressed concern of a 'gay plague' overrunning the country. Ignorance about AIDS was rampant, and the growing number of persons with AIDS (PWA's) were being subjected to the treatment of modern-day lepers. Such were the results of the myths about gay people and the lack of information about AIDS. Regretfully the slings and arrows of fear and ignorance were coming from within the gay community as well. Fortunately, that situation has changed considerably as organizations like AIDS Project/Los Angeles (AP/LA) have undertaken the job of educating the public.

AP/LA was founded by Nancy Cole and a group of her friends in October of 1982. Initially they set up an AIDS information hotline in Hollywood which operated out of the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. Then, in February of 1983, AP/LA opened its own Hollywood office on Cole Avenue where they expanded their program of assistance to people with AIDS, adding counseling and social services. The staff remained a voluntary one until government grants started arriving for salaried positions last October. Today they are providing food and housing for those who need it, a program of one-on-one buddy support, and within a matter of days a van will be available to take them to and from doctors and hospital.

Frontiers visited the AP/LA office for three days recently, talked with several program directors, sat with volunteers taking calls on the hotline and visited the AIDS Project house in Hancock Park where several PWA's are now residing. Our overriding impression of AP/LA was one of a family of friends who are combating AIDS with deep-felt caring and love.

For all the stories we heard of job firings by employers, evictions from apartments, insensitivity of relatives and friends, or mistreatment by health care professionals, we heard another one of new found friendships and unquestioned love.

A Sensitive Hotline

Gary is one of a hundred AP/LA volunteers. Several evenings a week he answers hotline calls in a small, closed room. He's an excellent listener. This evening he takes a call from a woman whose boyfriend is just out of jail where he had a "punk" (gay) lover. He's also an IV drug user and she's concerned about the risks. Two crank calls come in from teen boys who talk about the "fags" in their school. These are Gary's first crank calls in four months of working the hotline. Another concerned caller says a sex partner has come down with AIDS and wants to know his chances of getting it.

After a brief lull, the phone rings again. The man tells Gary that he has just been diagnosed with AIDS. Gary's friendly concern shines through to the listener at the other end. He refers the caller to a doctor at a hospital in his area and recommends an appointment with Coleen Johnson, AP/LA's psycho-social counselor, adding "whom you'll love, as we all do." Gary discovers their mutual interest in opera and comments for the fourth time, "I can't wait to meet you."

Gary lost his own lover to AIDS only three months after diagnosis. "I wasn't going to pull away," confided Gary, "If anything we became more loving...more hugging, more kissing."

Last Christmas Gary's lover Ron was in the hospital with pneumocystic pneumonia and gravely ill. Close by another friend was struggling against an advanced case of Kaposi's sarcoma. The man died on Christmas Day. His young lover, who had been sitting by him for lengthy 12-hour shifts, was completely devastated. Transferring his love and concern, the 24-year-old then moved his vigil down the hall to be with Gary and Ron. He stayed with them, holding Gary's hand until Ron died a week later. That same evening the young man walked into the hospital room of another AIDS patient he hadn't known. He carried with him a bottle of sparkling cider and, when the man in the bed looked up, he announced, "I want to spend this special evening with you. Let's toast each other and ring in the New Year together. I don't think you should be here on your own."

Still another story was unfolding at UCLA Hospital last Christmas when the mother of another AIDS patient arrived from out of state. Lenny lay perfectly still in his bed with a serious case of pneumocystis. She came bounding through the door with a small tree which she proceeded to decorate and light. Lenny's mom stayed with him throughout the three-week bout, sleeping in the room and pulling him through with her love. Lenny, who also is under treatment for Kaposi's, is now back at work as an entertainer.

These are the stories that warm the heart. They contrast greatly with the mother who offered to put a plate of Christmas dinner out on the porch for the man whose family didn't want him around their children. Such incidents still occur, but they have diminished considerably as the family, friends, and co-workers of people with AIDS learn about the disease.

The Truth About AIDS

The most virulent complaints of ill treatment from persons with AIDS appear to be directed at health-care professionals. It is also the area AP/LA, the UCLA AIDS Center, and others have been concentrating their efforts to correct. Reports have been documented of hospital personnel refusing to bring food trays into a room, change bedding, or clean up after patients who no longer had control of their bowel movements. Added to that are private ambulance services which won't take AIDS patients to hospitals and morticians who refuse to handle their bodies. All of this is based on a fear of contagion from the PWA's bodily fluids or the air AIDS patients breathe. Much of it is unfounded, and adequate precautions can be taken with the rest. Fortunately the situation is improving daily as a result of educational materials and seminars.

One such event was held on March 16, when 1,800 nurses, physicians, paramedics, dentists, social workers, police, firemen, and morticians gathered at the Los Angeles Convention Center to participate in a conference on AIDS. AP/LA was one of the five sponsoring agencies. In other areas of education, AP/LA conducts internal training programs for its volunteers, maintains a speaker's bureau, conducts workshops, and participates in an AIDS Nursing Task Force with the Los Angeles County Hospital.

Number of AIDS Cases Climbing

Although uninformed and bigoted attitudes toward people with AIDS are being challenged and changed, the tide of gay men coming down with the disease continues to escalate. When Frontiers began this coverage of AP/LA two weeks ago, they reported an active client roster of 82. Slightly more than a week later it was approaching 100. Five more cases had been reported for intake within two days.

What does it all mean? Acting Executive Director Bill Misenhimer believes Los Angeles may now be developing new cases at a quicker pace than either New York or San Francisco. Tears began building in Bill's eyes when we delved into the subject. "It hurts us when a client gets very sick and dies," said Bill, "I sobbed last night, went to the home of a friend of mine and cried for a half hour."

Misenhimer questions why more gay men are not taking safe sex practices more seriously. Next he segues into other AP/LA concerns, the need to get extensions on some government grants, and the revitalizing of individual giving from the community.

All AP/LA staff salaries are funded by grants except Misenhimer's. He is on loan from the Xerox Corporation, which is picking up the tab. In 1983 AP/LA raised $137,000 through community fundraising and $69,000 through government grants. This year the case load is expected to double and the need for funds will double accordingly.

Joan Rivers Raises Big Bucks

Max Drew heads up AP/LA's fundraising efforts. Drew says the community has slacked off with its response to the need from last summer's peak period when the AIDS scare was making national headlines. Many people today are trying to ignore it and go back to dancing. Still, some successful fundraisers have already been held this year and a number of others are in the works. Two weeks ago Joan Rivers raised $45,000 with a Studio One benefit that will be split three ways with AP/LA, Aid For AIDS (which furnishes direct grants to PWA's), and the Shanti Project (a hospice organization offering comfort with death and dying).

In early April, the Strike Out AIDS bowling tournament at Hollywood Legion Lanes will try to surpass last year's successful $15,000 event. Then in May, Probe will host a first-ever fundraiser featuring headliner entertainment.

Another of Drew's fundraising efforts has resulted in the recent gift of a wheelchair accessible van from Christopher Street West Association. Now he's working on getting the van insured plus providing it with a salaried driver to transport AIDS patients to medical appointments and other rounds. Transportation remains a critical problem for many PWA'S, as has emergency housing, pharmaceutical expenses, and food.

In Need of a Home

In the early development of AIDS Project/Los Angeles it became apparent that some people with AIDS would be unable to maintain their own housing needs, and would be requiring like assistance. AP/LA secured a government grant to provide such a facility, and last October Patrick became its first resident.

Situated on the edge of Hancock Park, the Project house is a lovely big three-bedroom residence with separate bathrooms for people with AIDS and those with ARC, or AIDS-Related Complex.

Patrick had been a barback in Palm Springs and a ticket agent at the Pantages Theatre before being hospitalized with pneumocystis in September and diagnosed with AIDS. He could hardly walk at the time, had a terrible rash, candida in the mouth and was reeling from the trauma of being kicked out of an apartment by his roommates.

When we visited Patrick two weeks ago he was back in the hospital with yet another bout of pneumonia. An avid student of astrology, Patrick asked for our birthdate before the interview and came forth with a reading during the visit which seemed right on the button. Also visiting him that day were his father and mother whom he had not seen in six years.

Patrick shared how he had been beaten badly by his dad many years earlier when he told them of his gayness. It's something his father continues to blame on his mom. Patrick told us his father had trouble looking him in the eye earlier that afternoon.

Patrick has lost a lot of weight: down to 112 pounds from his youthful top weight of 138. His spirits are high, however, and he says he is grateful to AP/LA for the space they have provided for him. He looks forward to returning to the Project house and acquiring a bicycle to help him get around. In the meantime he has checked his astrology charts and says, "I think this is my turning point year."

Back at the Project house three other AP/LA clients are awaiting Patrick's return. Joey and Tom have AIDS-Related Complex with Len, the newest arrival at Project house, has already been diagnosed as having AIDS.

Joey, at 23, is the youngest. When he was hospitalized last December, no reason could be found as to why he was vomiting blood. A repeated battery of tests proved nothing. He was having night sweats, however, and generalized lymphodenopathy was apparent. "Those have been my only symptoms," said Joey as he reached to touch the swollen neck glands. To his delighted surprise he noted they had shrunken since last he checked.

Joey had been a waiter at Elks Lodge, working long hours, before he started to become sick with ARC (see related story). At Project house he loves to clean and cook for the others, but sometimes he becomes too tired and wears down. "I used to average two or three sex partners a week, but I don't consider that promiscuous," says Joey. "Some people do that every night." Following his release from the hospital, Joey joined his ex-roommates who were living at the Hudson House on Franklin Place. Within a couple of days word had spread among the other boarders that he might have AIDS and pressure mounted to have him removed.

Joey's bitter now about not being allowed to return to the Hudson House to visit his friends. The good news is they've checked his T-cell ratio and it seems to have stabilized.

Tom believes he has more than just ARC. He feels the doctors are not telling him all they know. Still, 34-year-old Tom has not come down with any of the major opportunistic illnesses that attack people with AID. His T-cell ratio has shown some slight improvement and with a special macrobiotic diet several minor maladies have disappeared. Tom feels his three-year battle with ARC may have peaked eight months ago.

Before coming to the AP/LA house Tom had worked in construction. For a while he lived with a brother who was quite supportive but moved out under pressure from his sister-in-law who feared he might infect her children.

Tom spoke highly of AP/LA and Aid for AIDS, a non-profit community-based organization which offers direct financial assistance to AIDS patients in need. Aid for AIDS had helped Tom with some medical bills and prevented the loss of his car. Joey chimed in on how the people at Aid for AIDS telephone them often to see how they're doing and are taking care of all their prescription needs at a pharmacy near by.

Len was diagnosed with AIDS less than a week before we talked to him. He was carried into the AP/LA office on a stretcher because of his weakened condition. Len is only beginning to learn about the illness that confronts him. Unemployed for many months and homeless, 45-year-old Len has already lost 40 pounds, Joey, who's at home in the kitchen, will be working at fattening him up.

The Cupboard's Not Bare

Joey had nothing but praise for his sponsors at AP/LA. "Those people really care about us," he said. "They've provided us with a home atmosphere that's pleasant and clean, not some little dump. And there's always plenty of good food. They keep telling us, eat, eat, eat! Patrick and I love Yoplait yogurt, and you know what they said? Do it!"

AP/LA's food support program has two arms. One is funded through a government grant and involved food voucher coupons redeemable at local markets, and the other is an emergency pantry-type program supported by individual food donations from the community. Fifty ARC and AIDS clients on AP/LA's roster are receiving the $35-weekly vouchers honored by Ralph's and a health food store. Those who wish additional canned items or dry goods can pick up a bag from the AP/LA's pantry located at Ken Hollywood's Melrose Avenue shop.

These and other AP/LA support services can be arranged through contact with Coleen Johnson, the Project's psycho-social counselor. Like several others on AP/LA's staff, Coleen's heavy client roster keeps her anchored to her desk for long hours.

She conducts the initial intake interviews, evaluates the client's social and psychological needs, arranges for individual or group counseling, and expedites the process of qualifying the person with AIDS for the available government assistance programs.

In her own counseling sessions Coleen may help the client with problems of depression, adjustments of sexual lifestyle, understanding the illness, or coping with the many pressures brought to bare by lovers ad friends, relatives and employers.

The Need For Good Buddies

Of equal importance to securing grants and raising funds for the continued operation of AP/LA's programs is the ongoing need for recruiting volunteers. Dan Morin heads up the program that coordinates the activities of the Project's two hundred-plus volunteers. All new candidates are required to take an initial 3-hour medical and psycho-social briefing, and later whatever additional seminars designated to prepare them for the varied tasks.

One of the greatest needs at present is more candidates for AP/LA's highly touted 'Buddies' program. Buddies are those people who make a commitment to become a supportive friend, on a one-to-one basis, with an individual person with AIDS for a period of one year. It takes a very special kind of volunteer because buddies are asked to drop in on their friend at least a few times a week. They help with the shopping or laundry, or go out to a movie together or, when a friend is ill, prepare meals or drive him to a hospital for medical care. They may spend from two to ten hours a week together, not counting their chats on the phone.

Buddies and their friends with AIDS may become very attached, and the emotional impact on both can be great if and when the PWA gets very sick. At present there are 40 active buddies with AP/LA. Many more are needed, especially those that can be available during daytime hours.

AP/LA conducts a two-day training program for new buddies. On occasion they even secure dinner and theatre tickets for the buddy and the friend to enjoy an evening out. During our interviews for this article, several people with AIDS said they wished AP/LA could arrange to find a buddy for them.

When Intensive Care Is Needed

Buddies are not asked to be nurses, but there may come a time when a person with AIDS will begin to require intensive care. A time when they are too weak to be cared for at home and not sick enough to be hospitalized. Unfortunately, no convalescent home in Los Angeles County is willing to accept AIDS patients into their care. It is a problem that AP/LA has not been able to resolve. At present they are working with the County Health Department to establish a facility for that precise need.

We were very impressed with what AIDS Project Los Angeles and Aid for AIDS are doing and we strongly urge everyone to muster whatever support they can.

Quarantine: Rumor, Threat or Reality?
By Sallie Fiske

A proposed quarantine for AIDS patients who fail to abide by the restrictions of their physicians and health department officials has been outlined by Dr. James Chin, chief of the state health department's Infectious Disease Section. But, despite cursory and alarming reports in major media, it is improbable that such a quarantine will be put into effect. The state health department's authority to post warning signs was repealed 20 years ago. California's legislative bodies would have to write a new law to permit it again, in the case of AIDS or any other communicable disease.

However, county health departments do have the authority to post warnings and demand isolation for patients. But it remains unlikely that health departments in counties most affected by AIDS will resort to such a measure. Dr. Shirley Fannin, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Health Department's Communicable Disease Control Programs, told Frontiers that she cannot imagine any such posted quarantine being put into effect here. Fannin added, "I don't believe there is any serious consideration of trying to apply such a quarantine within the state. Dr. Chin sent a memo to the state health department's legal division to establish what authority for quarantines existed. That memo became part of a report which began to be debated. The matter came under question because of reports from San Francisco clinics that a few AIDS patients were openly hostile to recommendations to abstain from sexual contact.

"Certainly we can't consider using such a quarantine here. We don't know enough about the disease. If it is viral, we don't know its incubation period. We don't have a precise list of symptoms to determine who has AIDS. We are not certain who are AIDS carriers. Because of all the unknown quantities, a quarantine would be like issuing an indeterminate sentence," Fannin stated.

She went on to emphasize that the greatest majority of AIDS patients are acting in a responsible manner. "Just like you and me, they do not want to act in a criminal way to hurt another. Their first instinct has been to not want someone else to be in the same predicament."

Fannin concluded with emphasis, "If an AIDS patient gives blood, that act already is punishable by law. Beyond that, we have too little information. If we don't understand, we can't act. Any quarantine would be unenforceable."

Only A Contingency Plan

Beyond Fannin's assurances, the California Department of Health Services seems to think it has egg on its face. An attorney for the department, who earlier has commented on the proposed quarantine's threat to the patients' right to due process, confidentially and privacy, this week told Frontiers he had been asked to refer all questions to the Department's press office. The press office contends that the quarantine is "only under consideration as part of a contingency plan." Chin has not been available for questions.

Bill Kraus, an aide to Salah Burton, Congresswoman from San Francisco's 5th District, has worked closely on programs to find Federal funding for AIDS-related research. He has dealt with Federal health officials from the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta. He's certain that no federal health officers have even considered the idea of a quarantine. Krause remarked, "they have been surprisingly good about that kind of thing. They are aware of the special difficulties surrounding the disease because of homophobia and, consequently, have made real efforts to educate the public at large without bias."

Despite the improbability of a posted quarantine order becoming a reality, even the possibility is chilling to civil libertarians, as well as those who work with AIDS patients. There seems within such a possibility an inherent cruelty, an official imprimatur for fag-hating and queer-bashing. Consequently, the response from concerned members of the gay community has shown a consistent opposition to any such actions, as well as a readiness to challenge such an order.

Government Should Concentrate On A Cure

John Heilman, co-chair of the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter, and an attorney, is angry. "The government should be concentrating all its efforts on finding a cure for AIDS and not on isolating and harassing those people afflicted with this terrible disease. Should a quarantine be put into effect, it would immediately be challenged. It would impinge on the patient-doctor relationship. People with symptoms would be less likely to go to doctors to seek out treatment. And it's unenforceable. We know AIDS is transmitted by sexual contact and needles. What is the next step? A posted quarantine is, first, ineffective, and second, cruel!"

Marc Bliefield, co-chair of the California Gay Democratic Caucus, political action chair of Harvey Milk Democratic Club, and an attorney, also believes the quarantine would be unenforceable and clearly open to challenge. But he also calls for an increased awareness of responsible rules of behavior among gay men. Bliefield remarked, "That this is happening is no surprise. It is really pointing to the need for the community to spend more time and energy educating itself about AIDS and the precautions which should be taken. While AIDS is not strictly a gay disease, our community has had a preponderance of victims. It is incumbent upon us to learn all we can about AIDS and how to live full lives with it in our midst."

Robert Switzer, president of Lawyers for Human Rights, expressed concern and noted that his organization is taking the matter under study. "There's a precedent for such a quarantine. It's troubling. Certainly any kind of blanket quarantine would not be fair. Authorities would have to establish some compelling standard which would make it absolutely clear that a deadly risk to the community existed before such a sign could be posted."

Perhaps the gravest concern about a possible quarantine comes from the men and women who are working with AIDS patients. It seems unenforceable to them. But more than that, it seems excruciatingly cruel, one more burden to be carried by the patient. Although a quarantine has been proposed only for those recalcitrant individuals who would refuse to abide by any precautionary measures after repeated requests, merely the idea of legalized isolation carries an onus. And somehow, the idea prevails that if a severely limited quarantine exists, a more general and broadly punitive one could be developed.

Psychotherapist Jack Hamilton is a member of the board of directors of AIDS Project Los Angeles. He has worked with gay men who have AIDS for more than two and a half years and also does couple counseling where one of the two men has AIDS, as well as group therapy with AIDS patients. The anger he expressed was typical of that heard from other professionals.

Quarantine Would Serve No Purpose

"A quarantine would serve no purpose. Who will the health department appoint to be a monitoring guide? Who will be in the bedroom watching? It punishes the patient and punishes whoever is living with him. Such a regulation would serve to alienate the patient at a time when he needs contact with other people."

Hamilton went on to say, "AIDS patients need friends; they need a social life. If they want safe, masturbatory sex, they should have it. By the time AIDS is diagnosed, the individual who has it may not be contagious—if he ever was. We don't know who carries the disease, its incubation period if there is one, or even who gets it. Some individuals may be more prone than others to the affliction."

Hamilton has watched the deaths of five patients to AIDS. His deep concern and anger sounded again as he remarked, "So few, so very few, act with less than total responsibility and concern. I have learned how strong true commitment, love and respect can be between friends and lovers at this time. I have seen such a quality of nurturing and sharing. To create an unenforceable quarantine that isolates people when they need loving human contact more than ever is absurd."

Valerie Terrigno, president of Stonewall Democratic Club, member of the board of the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter, and director of a social service agency, expressed other concerns. She also felt it was unenforceable and remarked further, "It seems a quarantine would serve only to create a stigma and engender fear. Can you imagine six homes in one block being posted and the panic which would ensue among neighbors? At a time when the religious right is being goaded into working against us at every turn, it seems like one more step towards a prejudicial climate."

She went on to suggest, "Perhaps a panel of gay attorneys, therapists and physicians should join together to talk through the problems and devise a workable plan where we can develop even more responsibility within the community itself."

Should any health departments succumb to fear, the quarantine notice authored by Chin which they would post reads:
"A person with a communicable disease which can be transmitted by intimate contact resides in this household."

Should even one such notice be tacked onto the door of an AIDS patient in Los Angeles County, it is clear that gay and lesbian activities are ready to move to the courts to see that it is removed. It seems to be an issue that taps deeper into the consciousness than civil rights, however much those matter. Now it is a case of the right to live, to try to heal, to die perhaps, in peace and privacy. It does not do to be branched too late for a crime never committed.

Passion Play

Alexander Cho — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:16:00 GMT

George Takei is recognized around the world as Mr. Hikaru Sulu, a character he played on three seasons of the TV show Star Trek and in six subsequent films. Takei’s portrayal of Sulu is a watershed moment in television history—never had an Asian-American actor played such a prominent role in the national media, certainly not without a marginalizing accent or stereotypical job as a chef or servant or cook. In fact, Takei’s clear, booming voice and perfectly enunciated English as he helmed the U.S.S. Enterprise, flew in the face of traditional Asian male stereotypes prevalent even up to that time on TV and in film.

What many may not know is that Takei, 68, has been a passionate activist for civil rights and a community leader for many years. He is chairman emeritus of the board of trustees of the Japanese American National Museum, is on the advisory committee of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, and even ran for L.A. City Council in 1973, losing by only a small margin. An L.A. native, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District by former L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley, and to the board of the Japan–United States Friendship Commission by President Bill Clinton.

Takei’s next challenge is taking on the complex and demanding role of psychiatrist Martin Dysart in the classic Tony Award–winning play Equus, running Oct. 26 through Nov. 20 at East West Players. The play, about a deeply troubled teenage boy who systematically blinds six horses with a metal spike, is an intense examination of the ideas of normality, society, and sexuality. In this production, which continues the minimalist tradition of the play’s run in London and on Broadway, action is almost continuous, set pieces are spare, and the horses are portrayed by muscular, half-naked men with ornate headdresses—this time, accompanied by taiko drums.

We sat down with Takei in his Hancock Park home recently and talked about his role, the idea of claiming one’s voice publicly and why activism is as important now as ever.

Let’s talk about the character Dysart and the play, Equus. It’s an amazingly meaty, compelling role, but was there anything personally that drew you to it?
I first saw it in London at the National Theatre and I was blown away. I’m an anglophile. I visit England regularly, sometimes three or four times a year, at least once a year. I was roaming around England and I was in Leicester, subsequently, and I saw a small production there, with a different set of actors playing it; it still blew me away. And then I saw Anthony Hopkins in it.

Wow.
Yes, I was so impressed by the play, and then I saw Tony Perkins [in the lead role]. I never did see Richard Burton play it on stage. And then finally, it was my Star Trek colleague Leonard Nimoy,who played Dysart on Broadway. And then I saw Burton’s movie, and I was just so disappointed by that. And Burton’s one of my heroes. My very first film that I got, while I was still a student at UCLA, I was seen in a theatre-arts department production by a casting director from Warner Brothers, plucked out of this student production, and put in my first feature film, starring Robert Ryan and Richard Burton [the film was Ice Palace]. It was two weeks on location in a small fishing village in Alaska and then two months back at the studio. Burton and I were a perfect fit, because here’s this star-struck, stage-struck young actor, full of questions, and here’s this legendary figure who loved to talk about himself. I would pose a question, and he would carry on, you know, holding court, and the assistant would come and say, “Mr. Burton, we’re ready for you on the set now,” and then he’d say, “Hang on, George, hang on,” then go on the set and tear your heart out with a wonderfully performed scene, and when the director said, “Cut,” he would come back—“Now George, as I was telling you …” I mean, it was amazing. And here I am now, playing the role that he played on Broadway and in the movie version. There’s kind of a circularity about Dysart for me.

Tell me more about what resonates with you with this character.
Well, he’s got a lot of demons that he’s fighting. It’s been festering in him for a long time. And then this boy explodes on him. I mean, obviously, clearly deranged, but that fire that he sees in him, that burning passion, and focused on creating his own worship, that’s been missing in [Dysart]. And that’s what’s been gnawing at him. He’s a bright guy, he’s an outstanding psychiatrist, and yet he talks about his “eternal timidity.” He’s a guy who’s got all of this churning, not able to do anything about it. And then he has coming in front of him this 17-year-old who’s doing so much, outside the frameworks of normal society. There’s something in him that connects with—I mean, he’s sick, but he connects with that boy. So, there’s all this kind of him having something that Dysart doesn’t have. But Dysart has something that he clearly needs. It’s that dramatic tension that Shaffer’s created. He’s an amazing playwright.

There definitely is something that gets challenged within Dysart—he grows, although I’m not sure he goes through a complete arc, because the end is quite somber. How is the end, for you? Is it negative or is it positive?
It’s very sad. You know, when Dysart addresses the audience, in my mind, to create my reality: I’m a psychiatrist. And I’m on the psychiatrist’s couch. When I’m talking to the audience, I’m talking to another psychiatrist, and I’m sharing with him my story, which is played out, my experience with the boy, Alan Strang. So the opening speech is really the same speech as the ending speech. He’s telling this story on the psychiatrist’s couch. He’s had this turbulent experience, and now he has more understanding of himself and what he does, and he’s still troubled, and so he’s talking to a psychiatrist. “There is now in my mouth this sharp chain, and it never comes out.” That’s his last line. He’s not that wild spirit, that wild, crazy spirit that Alan is. He’s still got the chain in his mouth. And he’s aware of it. See, before, he was frustrated, and it was churning in him, but he didn’t really understand where this doubt and unease and distress is coming from. Now he knows, and at least he’s gotten to the point where he can talk it out.

So maybe that’s his arc. But it doesn’t exactly end on the sunniest of notes.
You can’t make a musical out of it, no. [Laughs] Although some of the horses try, of course, when they come stomping in.

What makes you want to come out, publicly?
You know, it’s not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It’s more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen. And then some doors are open and light comes in, and there are skylights and it widens. Brad’s my partner, we’ve been together for 18 years. So, I’ve been “open,” but I have not talked to the press. In that sense, maybe that’s another opening of the corridor there.

Since this interview was coming up, I’ve been thinking on that. I’ve been thinking of my childhood. You know, I grew up in two American internment camps, and at that time I was very young. My memories of camp—I was four years old to eight years old—they’re fond memories. We were first sent to a camp in Arkansas. I remember catching pollywogs and seeing them sprout legs, and then it snowed one winter in Arkansas, and for a Southern California kid, to discover snow was magical. Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in normal times became my normality in camp. We had to line up three times a day, and take our meal in a noisy mess hall—normal for me to go to school in a black tarpaper barracks, and I used to begin school every morning pledging allegiance to the flag, and I could see the barbed-wire fence out there, and the guard towers, saying, “With liberty and justice for all,” without being aware of the irony of those words. But when we came out of camp, that’s when I first realized that being in camp, that being Japanese-American, was something shameful. That camp was sort of like jail, and bad people go to jail. So, when you’re eight, nine … I didn’t want to talk about being in an internment camp. They would ask me, where was I? I would say I was far away … Arkansas. But I never went into details. And there’s a sense of some shame being Japanese-American.

I would imagine so, if you have to basically disavow or pretend away four years of your life just because of that fact.
And I can never forget that teacher, Mrs. Rugen—I hated that woman. She would refer to me as “that little Jap boy,” and that stung. But I didn’t even tell my parents about it, at home, because I thought, you know, it would hurt them to know that there was a teacher that was calling me “little jap boy.” So I just swallowed the pain. I mean, everytime she said that—she wouldn’t say it to me, but I would hear her talking to other people about “that little Jap boy.” It stung. But I just swallowed it. And you grow up like that, feeling ashamed of who you are, and having to swallow pain like that. And then when you get this realization that you have a different focus in life, you know, that other boys are interesting to you—I remember certain boys, you know, who when they would hunker down their pants would go up and I would see their ankles, and that was exciting. At that time, that was exciting, but then you start realizing, that’s not “normal.” And so you start kind of hiding that as well. So [there’s] that duality—of feeling ashamed because you’re Japanese-American, and feeling like you’re different because of your [homosexuality]. And then [as you grow older], with reading, and talking to other people, your understanding of the situation starts to grow. And you think, “It’s wrong, this [shame] is not right.” And you start sharing it with more people, and you find other friends and organizations. As a matter of fact, I met Brad through Front Runners [an L.A.-based gay running club]. I was a runner from my junior-high-school days. And at a bar, you see a paper, and you see a gay running club. “Oh, I’ll show up,” you think. People would see me and they were kind of astounded, but I ran with them, they saw that I’m George, not Sulu. So your frame of reference, your community broadens. And as I said, that corridor that was narrow becomes wider and brighter. And you start realizing that this is “normal.” For me. There’s a lot of talk of normality. Equus talks about this, too. The large popular normality is that rigid, constrained normality. But there’s another natural normality. And you come to realize, “This is who I am. And by gum, I’m not going to let it be a constraint!” In the same way that I’m not going to let the fact that I am a Japanese-American, who was unjustly incarcerated and grew up with that, be a constraint.

Tell me more about how you met Brad.
We were runners. He was an outstanding runner; he’s stopped running now. He’s done more than me; I’ve done six marathons. We’d train together. And we were with the Front Runners, and there would be a lot of Front Runners that were planning on doing a particular marathon, training together. And then, you know, we discovered that we had common interests in the theatre—he was a journalist—we’d go to plays together and, you know, things happen. [Laughs]

Are you out to your family and friends?
You know, I’ve not had a good experience with one sibling. And I won’t be specific because it’s still a problem. My mother, initially, had some adjustments to make, but she got to like Brad very much. She got Alzheimer’s, and it got very difficult for her, so we moved her in with us. Brad was wonderful. He was a saint. It’s very difficult when you’re dealing with someone with Alzheimer’s. And some of the stages were … horrific. And Brad helped throughout that. She was with us for the last four years of her life. And I owe so much to him.

There definitely is a huge degree of introspection that goes along with this character, Dysart, that you’re currently inhabiting. Has that influenced your life, or your decision to come out?
This is something that I’ve mused on for a long time. I’ve been thinking on sharing it with the media, but the media is an ungovernable creature. [But] it’s still a constraint in life, [and] you want to act on those constraints, like the marriage bill [AB 849]. Arnold Schwarzenegger is like some of those duplicitous Southern politicians who would say one thing and yet maintain segregation in the South. And that’s what he’s doing here. He’s a dangerous politician, in the same way that Strom Thurmond or other politicians who say one thing in order to try to curry a broad base of support, and then when push comes to shove, they act in a segregationist way. You know, that’s what Arnold Schwarzenegger is. When he first was mouthing the words he was mouthing I thought, “Hmmm, alright, let’s see.” And then this bill was passed, which was landmark, and it hung on him. And he failed utterly. When you see things like that, you say, “I can play a part in trying to change some of those constraints that we have to struggle with.” We talk about diversity, ethnic diversity, but there’s another kind of diversity [sexual orientation] that we haven’t really come to grips with as a society. And the segregationist mentality is so strong, but it’s as destructive as racial segregation was in the South, or incarceration on the basis of looking like the enemy, as in the case of Japanese-Americans during the second World War—you know, it’s that same mentality, and in order to be vocal on those issues, I think I need to address those issues as who I am.

I was in the march from the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center the day after Arnold vetoed the bill. We stopped Hollywood Boulevard. It was quite a thing to feel, walking down the middle of the street.
You’re much too young to have been in the civil rights movement. I marched back then—I was in a civil rights musical, Fly Blackbird, and we met Martin Luther King. What a profoundly, both uplifting and empowering thing that was. He shook my hand! [With] certain people, you feel a charge through their hand. It was a fantastic experience. It was a big rally at the Sports Arena. And you know, the gay marriage movement has to get that kind of numbers. I mean, today, this week—who would have thought—Time magazine’s cover story is on gay teens. And the commentary is that it’s a whole different mentality with the young generation. I do think society will eventually change. I mean, it’s changed incredibly from the time I was a teenager to today, both in terms of Asian-Americans in the theater and television and films, but also for gays and our self-image, and the ability to move in our society. We still have the archreactionary conservatives. It’s that mentality, the Bible-thumpers, “We have the whole truth, and by gum we’re going to impose it on everybody.” It’s that same mentality that had segregation in the South: Blacks and whites can never mix. And the segregationists had the truth. The Bible-thumping religiosos are not the holders of the truth, and yet they are the ones who want to impose their truth—and I respect their truth, if they find it for their strength and their guidance through life—but for them to impose that on the rest of society, the rest of America, I think is just as corrupt as the segregationists trying to impose racial segregation in the South.

Flip-Side On Bisexuality

Ivy Bottini — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:12:00 GMT

A new frontier is being openly explored within our gay/lesbian movement, perhaps at the expense of the gay/lesbian people.

For about a year now, usually within the context of a question and answer session (either in a college sexuality or human behavior class, a women's study group or a gay and lesbian student union meeting), I have been asked what I think about bisexuality and do I believe there is a bisexual person.

Actually, I never used to think about bisexuality at all, but since I have been forced to think about it, by an increase in frequency of the question, I have come to believe that we will never know if true bisexuality exists, as long as heterosexuality and homosexuality are not equally respected in society. When society no longer discriminates against or condemns gay and lesbian people, perhaps the question can be seriously considered. In the meantime, our movement is facing danger from within.

Our gay/lesbian community has many enemies, but none so insidious and treacherous as the "closet." For us to nurture within our ranks a new form of the closet is an insanity.

Personally, I do not care who a person relates to from one moment to another. I am not judging on a personal level. But from a political point of view, I am deeply concerned. Being a gay/lesbian person is so much more than an act of sex. It is a way of life, a culture, a determination to live with pride that life which the world hates. Homosexual people threaten the very order of society—the Tarzan and Jane syndrome.

Society perceives bisexuals as half "normal," obviously confused, and they will hopefully "see the error of their ways" and choose to be completely "normal."

This kind of thinking keeps the possibility of a homosexual "cure" alive in the heterosexual mind. Since society perceives homosexuality as a matter of choice, it must make our lives so uncomfortable and dangerous that we will go back to being exclusively heterosexual and be "normal" and stop "choosing" to be gay/lesbian.

From the point of view of those in the closet, bisexuality is a perfect cover, a way out of ever being honest. It's the reason not to identify oneself or take responsibility for being a proud, open gay/lesbian person.

Throughout history the "closet" dweller has enjoyed the benefits and joy of being a gay/lesbian but has been terrified of the responsibility. I believe the only way we will ever be accepted in the world is to accept ourselves first and live an honest, open existence. To do otherwise is destructive and oppressive to all and should not be encouraged. Therefore anything that nurtures, protects or allows the "closet" to evade coming out and filling the ranks of the gay/lesbian movement should not be encouraged within our organizations and our political social structures.

Some gay/lesbian people pledge a silent protection to our biggest oppressor—the closet. Let's not now give people in the closet a new way to hide and avoid their responsibility of honesty to themselves and our proud community.