Bits and Pieces

By Diane Frank

Not Family Fare!

I attended the Wild Plum Theaters evening of Three One Act plays on GLBT themes. The fun part was that Mary, who I’d met at the Ohio Independent Film Festival greeted me with a big smile, and impulsively took me to the seats she had saved up front so she could see her girlfriend’s performance better. She also introduced me to three of her friends, and the directors of the show. The directors were pleased to meet me because they’d been unable to find any transgender related scripts to work with. I offered to be their guide to some of the themes and conflicts that could be of use, and to introduce them to some of the colorful characters in the Cleveland area. But that was also the bad news: The bisexual and the gay plays were so overtly sexual that I can’t bring myself to report on them here. The two character lesbian play that Mary’s girlfriend Mary was performing in was a nice character study of people trying to break down barriers in a relationship. Unlike the bi and gay plays it would make sense between any two people.

Legal Issues, Again

Randi Barnabee spoke on a number of legal cases she is handling in the trans community at the February meeting of Akron Transpride.. While most of the issues Randi addressed were of concern to transsexuals, I did ask Randi’s comments on the Peter Oiler case. Randi had sent a briefing to the attorneys in New Orleans, but didn’t hear back from them. She thought Oiler’s decision not to pursue the lawsuit was disappointing, and felt that there was legal basis for hope.

Randi has also been trying to find out exactly what provisions are being drafted for the GLBT civil rights legislation to be proposed by two state legislators. Unfortunately, she hasn’t heard back here either.

Something Different

Friday March 7th is Shabbat across America. Chevrei Tikva has asked its members to bring family or friends to services that night, starting with a potluck meal (Kosher-no dairy). Anyone interested in sharing the experience with me should get in touch. Rabbi Rembrandt is wonderful and I’ve found the congregation a warm and welcoming place.

Breaking News, Cleveland GLBT Leadership Summit

One of the first questions a spouse is likely to ask on learning her husband is a crossdresser is, "is he gay?" Given that concern, what was I doing at a Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Leadership Summit? What could we possibly have in common, what could we talk about? Given the ground rules for the meetings, I can’t repeat what other’s said there. But I can say that I see some things where we share common ground. First is the issue of employment security. We are all concerned that about losing jobs because an employer doesn’t like our off-the-job activities. Second, we share a concern for our public image. We all want people to see us as the people next door with a well tended yard and a mortgage to pay. Personally, I intend to support the center in its effort on these issues. I’d like the members of the Alpha Omega Society to consider whether they’d personally like to lend their support and also whether Alpha Omega as an organization should lend support.

The meeting itself featured county Supervisor Peter Lawson Jones as a speaker and was attended to two Cleveland city councilmen. Another speaker was from the Cleveland Foundation. Speaking with someone afterwards it was pointed out to me that if we achieved 501c3 status, we might get funding for printing a decent sized run of our brochure and thus have something for helping our outreach efforts into the African American, Hispanic and other minority communities. The luncheon speaker was Dr. Gary Gates from the Population Studies Center and The Urban Institute. Gates has collaborated on with Richard Florida of Carnegie Mellon on understanding why some cities succeed, and some flounder. A change in the methods used by the US Census Bureau allowed Gates to see where centers of gay populations were. Curiously these overlapped with Florida’s studies on technology innovation and urban economic success. They collaborated and refined the statistics to show that the same tolerant diverse environments that attracted gay populations also attracted technological innovators. The hypothesis remains controversial to say the least, but Gates proved an able lecturer to spell bound audience.

It was a long day. After nine hours in pumps I can certainly wish for better shoes.

-Diane