THE BODY POLITIC

PAGE 1

Paul Goodman, social philosopher and poet, has auth- ored numerous works, and is a unique figure in American letters. His most famous work, Growing Up Absurd, is standard reading in university sociology courses. Be- sides directing his attention to the multiple problems of a technological society, he has also produced a lit- erature of profound introspection. As our brother, Good- man's poetry and journals have long expressed gay consci- ousness.

"It might be useful to print thoughts of an older man. . .believe me, an oppressed class.... "

Paul Goodman/May 15,1972.

Age and Youth

Rightly he defers to me because I am royalty, he knows my ancient power and obeys and does not cower.

And he is bigger, stronger, and more skilful and younger; if he is masterful I will meekly do his will.

Freedom pours like lust out of us, for we are just. We wonder at the spite we notice left and right.

Like an angel: the piano light glinting in his aureole hair

sticking out the tip of his tongue he picks on his guitar

— one is no longer supposed to see these pre-Raphael images,

but watching him through the wondow so it is, so it is ,

He stands there like a gently taut bow

from which his anger may fly hard

or like the live strings of a violin

with many songs in it if rightly touched;

so light and straight he stands there on the corner

in the yellow afternoon, his eyes are blue,

his name is Possible. And I remember

how my lieart used to pound when I too could.

Be precise. The wonder lasts only an hour in the woe

and storm of nineteen-seventy, but it is so, it has been so.

I am pleased with myself tonight,

a veteran I am not shot, when he fucked me it felt sweet

and my own hard-on was hot.

Therefore in Victorian stanzas

riming the second with the fourth

I will praise the nature of things in my pretty home in the north.

For great pebbles the beach at Middle Cove St. John's of Newfoundland! they fit the palm like baseballs and you hurled them out to sea. Many are maroon, most are gray -- green when I wet them with my tongue crawling on hands and knees to lick the stones, and God are they smooth -- I am desperately in love with the tangible, as I grow old, belly, balls, and buttocks world, David.

That lute song of the sixteenth century though Spanish was international

like the famous fight between the fleets

--men make war too in international style.

A Plane to Pittsburgh

Thanks to a couple of rational

decisions by the Court

that struck down censorship

and -- brr -- its chilling effects.

1 get by mail a gentle stream

of booklets of poetry

by young men in love with each other

good news I read with pleasure

though naturally wistfully.

I used to write the same myself

a hundred years ago

-- my muse was always hard to chill -

but publishers and line-o-typers

wouldn't touch it with a tongs,

much less the post office.

Huge Black it was!

the champion of Cupid,

and he is dead and gone

and cannot be replaced.

The ills of this world are mathematical, as Kafka said. I notice 3 fellows boarding the plane that I'd like to sit next to me, but the 96 seats are assigned at random, and even discounting the pairs who sit together, the odds against my happiness are over- whelming. So it proves.

Oh, I keep at it. Disturbing my obnoxious seat-mate, I get up and walk the aisle and ask for a match. I beat my brain for a pretext to exchange seats, but nothing is plausible. Anyway the weather is rough and the pilot keeps flashing "Fasten seat belts."

So 1 give up and write these sentenses to pass the time, to make do. The evils of this world are mathematical, they are mathe- matical. The goods, I have found, don't fall into my lap. Some people have a lot of luck. Others, worse off than I, don't have a chance even to make an effort.

The blond with the squinty eyes was best, though not the best- looking. Blue collar class. There's quicker savvy in a boy like that. For a short flight. And there's Pittsburgh. Yes. and another thing: the lower class boy would have had less prejudice against how old I ara. He would have fewer notions.

Kafka himself was in the actuarial business. He would know.

THE BODY POLITIC

editorial page

It is only within the last week, and as a result of much prodding, that the Toronto Police Depart»ent finally took action to bring certain members of the Kestem Guard before the courts. This issue had long deserved attention but it re<)uired the co-operation of various minority groups in Toronto before any action was taken.

The June l-H issue of the Toxonfo C-cf-tzen carried a front page article condemning our "finest" for their apparent inability to locate and charge these people for their criminal acts -- acts which included the following:

1) On April 9th, members of the Western Guard sprayed a cough produc- ing gas at the audience attending a lecture entitled "Capitalism -- The Cure for Racism". The majority of the audience was Jewish.

2) Threatening letters and fires prompted representatives of the black comnunity to meet with both the Metro Police and the Premier's Office. Nothing was forthcoming, so a defense force of 100 black citizens was organized and there have been no further incidents.

3) The audience attending the St. Lawrence Centre Forum on Homosexual- ity was attacked by members of the Western Guard and sprayed with pepper gas. The OiAT Centre was fire-bombed -- though minimal damage resulted. We now guard the centre 24 hours a day.

4) A public forum sponsored by the Young Socialists to discuss the violent activities of the right-wing was disrupted.

We know that the people involved in this lunatic movement number less than 20, and that is re-assuring. We also feel they should enjoy the same riglits of free speech and organization as we do -- but to perpetrate violence in the name of "Cliristian culture" remains a contradiction so perverse as to inspire our pity.

Ke have taken steps to protect ourselves, but we feel that those appointed by society to protect minority rights have been less than ardent in the performance of their duties. The black community and the gay community have both mot with indifference from the police force, and it was only through the efforts of Jeanne Kayling, a director of the Toronto Arts Foundation, that the police of 52 Division have finally instituted proceedings.

On July 17th, Geza Matrai and Maria Bencs appeared in provincial coupt charged with "causing injury with intent to commit bodily harm" and for "aiding and abetting in the spreading of a poisonous substance in a public place." The offense is an indictable one, carrying a sentence of 14 years to life impris- onment. The case has been remanded until September,

From the point of view of our humanist social analysis, we do not feel that prison is an adequate method of dealing with people who have committed crimes. The irony is that the protectors of Western morality, the defenders of "law and order", the maintainers of the itoMii que must now face the "justice" of the very system they are trying to protect. We wish then luck.

For this Issue: Collective Members -- Gerald Hannon, Jcarld Holdenhauer, Brian Waite, Ed Jackson, Donya Peroff, Paul MacUonald, Hugh Brewstei, Alan Falconer, Peter Ukin, Herb Spiers, John Forbes, Kaihy Pickard, Bill Mitchell;

CONTRIBUTORS:

Paul Goodman Richard Gloss Adrianne H. Potts John Scythes George Hislop John Lemaire John Fritzlen Amerigo Marras Philip Cairns Randy Dowling Art Whitaker John Wilson Linda Jain David Beard Ken Nash Barry W. Gary

Cover

Michelangelo •- detail heads of Angels fro« Hddonnd, CkUd, St. John oiut KngtUj National Gallery, London.

BODi poi.iru:

OF mEN... cf

Many conversations with "liberal" straiKht people on the topic of ho- mosexuality follow 3 predictable for- mat. After declaring that they don't care what wc do in bed as long as it doesn't affect them, they express concern for the plight of children seduced and abused by a large and pathological segment of the homosex- ual population. Perhaps no other myth concerning homosexuals is so prevalent as this one, and though it has been laid to rest many times in the past, its persistence among otherwise en- lightened folk decrees that it be in- terred once more. The facts are:

1. sexual relations between adults and young people seldom involve physical or mental coercion.

2. the incidence of violent se- duction is higher among heterosexuals than among homosexuals.

When a child is violently forced into sexual compliance, the crime is one of assault and should be dealt with as such by the law. The sexual element is only of peripheral inter- est, and should be excluded from le- gal consideration .

All of this has been said many times, yet the myth persists, partly because most people are incapable of accepting the fact that children are sexual beings, l-or a variety of rea- sons, innocence is equated with purity in our culture, and purity with chastity, and it is unavoidable log- ically that if a child is to be inn- ocent, he must also be chaste. In the ■"■wQXjd's most erotophobic culture - ours - sex is still the most persis- tent example of adult depravity; a concommitant of the fall from inno- cence and tden.

- it is less easy to countenance the attitudes of the gay community. In the pecking order, "chicken hawks" are well near the bottom. They are objects of amusement and contempt, and many more responsible members of the gay community feel the need to apologize for their presence, and to declare that they are an almost non- existent minority. They fear that the whole movement may be discredited by the actions of these recalcitrant few.

The time has come to face the fact that there is a sizeable min- ority of gay men who are primarily interested in sexual relationsJiips with adolescents, and that these people, by the mere fact of their sexual preference, are working - albeit often unwittingly - towards some of the ideals of gay liberation with regard to the family.

To illustrate my point, let us examine the child in relation to the family as it exists today. The famil- ial power structure is oppressive and stultifying and based on mutual man-

and li^He boys

ipulation. The child is one of the possessions of the parents, a eun- uchoid doll that is supposed to attain to sexual awareness at 18, gleeful ly enduring celibacy thereafter until an appropriate marriage has been consumated. Anything which could free the child from this ennervating en- vironment is important . Sex is some- thing that does. A child's sexual life turns him outward from the family; by its very nature it is ex- ploratory and community oriented, and once begun the child is in the process of leaving home, psycholog- ically at least. The straight world considers us to be dangerous where children are concerned. The irony is that they are right - not to the

photo: 'loldenhauer

I have seen a Mexican peasant grandmother soothe a fretful two year -"IJW boy by cooing to him and gently kissing and licking his cock and balls. The room was full of people - there was nothing furtive about her actions, in fact they were scarcely noted by the others. 1 might add that the boy was soon peacefully;asl6ep-

1 ask you to try and imagine a suburban North American mother or babysitter doing the same thing. It is inpossible. The woman would be con- sidered depraved beyond redemption.

That the topic of child sexuality arouses such a violent reaction in the straight world is understandable

piiysic.ll well being of their off- spring Iiowever, but to the family structure that imprisons them, a structure based in part on the con- cept of possession. "In some cul- tures cliildren iiave only a very vague concept of family relationship, and the rearing of children is some- thing of a communal ef fort . . .Of ten in these cultures tlie concept of motherhood and fatherhood is very vague. T/ie^c cul'-fntci tund at&o ■io be veAy 6ex.-poH-tivz in cumpa- fUion (iJ-tt/i ouA cuttane.." (Wain- wright Churchill: Homo&e.KuaX Bziuivioui Among Mofei, Prentice Hall, Inc., page 306. The italics are mine.)

It is easy to see that this article could now move into the area of children's rights generally, but I shall content myself with saying that if the child is to 'cdase being property, if it is to attain to full civil liberties, if it is to acliieve economic independence, if it is to relate meaningfully to society as a whole, then of necessity it must move away from the family unit of the Christian West. Anyone who leads the child into sexual awareness and exploration is helping- to do Just that.

We feel that one of the most positive aspects of the sexual drive is its variety and unpredictability, and from this point of view it is hypocritical to assume that pedophiles represent a group to which one either does or does not belonfe. All gay men should face the fact that at some point in their lives they may be i captivated'by some particularly Jim- inous young man, and they should be prepared to embr^te that expcf^ience joyfully, confident that the experi- ence is poleatially an enriching one for both parties and a step towards a sex-positive culture.

Loving a child and expressing it sexually is revolutionary act- ivity. The activists of tomorrow are more than likely in someone's arms today. GERALD HANNON

THE BODY POLITIC

lOCIAI AnAlV5l5 & GAV IID

Economic necessity and the need to create a sense of mean- ing and security activated the various controls on human behav- ipur. Differentiating on the basis of origin and necessity , Herbert Marcuse has suggested two categories of repressive behav- iour; Basic repression and Surplus repression.

Basic repression refers to "the modifications of the instincts necessary for the perpetuation of the human race in civilization", while surplus repression includes all "the restrictions necessit- ated by social domination." Repression will always be necessary for the basic functioning of people in society. Behavioural po- tential curbed through instinctual restrictions would affirm survival of the species by: a) sustaining an active 'reverance' for the life of animals of the same species, and, b) promoting an overall conservative and diversified expression of the basic in- stinctual needs. "Conservative" means that behavioural expres- sions are at a level which fulfills tlie biological needs - i.e., maintains adequate nourishment and sexual release for a healthy physiology and psychology, but does not go to the extremes of starvation or gluttony, celibacy or constant insatiable sexual activity. "Diversity" is a part of the conservative tendency, which encouages a division of energy in pursuing the fulfillment of all instinctual needs, rather than excessive concentration on one at the exclusion of another. It also urges a variation {polymorphism) of object choice within the range of possibilities. I.E., no animal is going to fuck and not eat, no animal is going to ingest water and no solids, no species is going to be so ex- culsively heterosexual or homosexual as to risk annihilation either by overpopulation or by an end of the reproductive process.

Surplus repression is primarily sexual repression. Because the sexual instincts are not exclusively physiological, but also psychological, they have lent themselves more easily to the mech- anism of repression. Self-awareness produced a need for security. Human consciousness embraced dualistic reality perception as a reaction to the need for security, necessitated by self-awareness, and one of the basic reactions was a division of body-mind unity. This effectively destroyed the functioning of the human being as a unified whole, and placed mind in dominion over body.

The fact that the sexual instincts involve the need both for emotional [mind) and physical (body) satisfaction is far reaching. Not only does sexuality involve periodic genital ex- pression, it is the most basic force behind all human communica- tions. The sexual instincts; a) guarantee reproduction of the species; b) affirm individual existence; c) provide the ground work where all the rules and roles of interpersonal relations and of the institutional superstructure are laid down. I iuggei^ t\\ixZ the. icp'ic.iitciti e,5 contmpo'iaMj iocieXij -ti p'lmaAAXy i,uA.pta& iizxual) iiz,.ni:5iu'.i, and tliaX tiili (ia& iciutted ai the. pnAvQJUlon oi the KiCAij itatui cf^ t/ie baUc iyvitinctual cottOioU.

POWER SEEKING

HzAbznX AfoAcuiC, autho'i oi Eros and Civilization, qu.otzd In tltli oAXictz.

The manifestations of mind-body division and domination is the history of Homo iapicm: not only of the sublimation which is culture, but also the acts of self-destructive aggression and dehumanizing "progress" which have brought civilization to the brink of suicide. Although historically, economic necessity provides a rationale for certain repressions beyond the level of instinctual control , repres- sion in terms of its sexual political manifestations has served the cause of social domination by a powerful few. Having reached the time in social evolution when there is enough wealth and technological ability to provide every hu- man being with the basic necessitie of life, tlie oppres- sive-repressive attitudes, institutions and restrictions of contemporary society are no longer validated by eco- nomic necessity.

According to the analysis of Freud and Marcuse, to continue to embrace repression as an end in itself rather than to realize its historic relationship to the theory of economic necessity and domination, and therefore to reject the power oriented, materialistic values of the repressive society for the ascendance of more humanistic, aesthetic values, is suicidal to human freedom and to the continued existence of our species. Psychoanalysis applied to the events of history reveals a direct correlation be- tween the intensity of repression and the intensity of destructive aggressive behaviour. Guilt, hate, and violence ar^ largely the result of an internal struggle over re- pressel instinctual desires. Viewed from this perspective, the significant events of history are the wars, each more destructive than the last, reflecting the general increase of repression ni the succession of dominant cultures. The technological progress of history, while producing an af- fluence of goods and know-how capable of fulfilling humanity's basic economic needs, has served primarily to increace the efficiency of war and the domination of society by the ruling class. As is becoming ever more obvious, the direction of history points toward the behavioural domina- tion predicted by Orwell and Huxley, and/or the final war of self-annihilation.

Perhaps with the exception of a few early civilizations and a few remaining primative cultures, human history on both a personal and collective level is the activity of a constant competitive struggle. In societies where there is a dependence upon economic competition, definitions of in- dividual worth are inextricably linked with economic status. In contemporary western society, where economic necessity no longer validates the continuation of competitive struggle, the original goal of satisfying basic economic needs is sub- merged into a total materialist-consumer ethic. Quantity is valued over quality, and the goods sought are just as often objects of "luxury", appealing to the least reflective in

M'.'i vtw v;,

SOCIAL ANALYSIS con..

instincts of the huMn ■ind.

Our ■ode, iherefore, is that of co^eiitivc strufiglc, our Beaning ■nd identity l» established by who is above and beIo». us in the economic stra- tuji and by what naterial synbols of affluence we can gather in. Today, even the aost critical and reflective of human endeavors - religion, the creative arts, and psycho-analysis, are saturated by the pervasive influence of these values. Rather than joining in the struggle to preserve the right of the individual to his/her freedom fro« an oppressive situation, psycho- analysis often promotes the concept of health and "normality" as the ability to adopt to the system. To a great extent, art and religion no longer look up toward greater freedom and beauty; but rather, down into tiie abyss of con- suacrism, sharing in inducing the opiate state of allegiance to a developing social insect order.

A4 Vie. beiiaviouJtal maiu-iicAtotten oi cpmpetcUuc cxtifoicc,. thz wed to domiitcUc, tv n-xeAciii jjowei atid contAoi oviA ctiieAi, ii (.he Koot 0(5 aXZ oppxe^- Jtoii. On the international level, -it keeps the major "powers" busy channeling enormous quantities of energy both into the preparation for the nex't war and into the smaller, imperialist efforts to absorb weaker. nations via limited military conflict and through economic and cultural' take-over. IVithin individ- ual nation* wc sec multiple examples of, oppression as the various social classes (they themselves the basic maiiifestation: of economic competition at the national level) struggle for power and affluence. ' The all-pervading law of the jungle is alive and flourisliing in both the so-called Communist and Ca)iitalist worlds Their differences seem superficial, as if maintained simply for tne purpose of providing a rationale for competitive conflict. Originally, the Revolution in Russia upheld a sexual-political analysis of oppression which aimed at the abolition of the nuclear family, marriage, .ind the end of restrictions on homosexual behaviour. With the advent of Stalinism .there was a counter- revolutionary "regression to an author- itarian moralistic regulation of sex life" (Reich). Thus both Soviet and American societies uphold the base structure of the oppressive, role-indoc- trinating social order. Ironically, in rather opposite ways, both "worlds" observe certain democratic-humanistic principles. Although the communist countries have taken steps to assure a Bore equal distribution of goods and services than exists in capitalist states, they have more restrictions limiting individual autonomy, including strict censorship of speech, and printed ■atler, and greater control of public organizing and travel. The reappear- ance of the elitist beaurocratic organization reveals the continued ex- istence of class division with a per- vasive though far less brutal economic competitive life style. Froa my own experience living in Eastern Europe, I observed a genuine belief in the socialist •spccts which have done much to affira individual equality at the economic level, but a frustration and coMon intiaidation (often paranoia) because of the restrictions on indiv- idual expression and mobility. (And for those who think that these count- ries oppress howsexuals consistently ■ore than capitalist r£gi«cs, let me add that the age of consent in both th« D.D.R. (East GerMny) and in Czechoslovakia i4 lo - Canada, in denying our tcxuality, makes criaiiuls

out of us for S additional years.)

The real inhusanity of the capitilist world lies in its utter belief in - and conditioning towards - a dog-eat -dog coopetitive existence. This not only results in a perversion of values (materialist over aesthetic, domination seeking power before huaanity), But also in the promotion of greater class division. The society which eiBphasiies identity on the basis of hierarchies in the economic stratum, necessitates the promotion and exagger- ation of the differences between groups within that society. A truly humanistic society, on the contrary, would emphasize our common humanity, and individual and group differences would enhance, rather than negate our value. Capitalist society is dependant upon class divisions to sustain the vigorous competitive life-style and the domination of the - ruling class. Three significant social attitudes which help create a class structure based upon psycho- logically conditioned prejudice arc sexism .racism, and agism. By virtue of tliese attitudes and tlieir behavioural manifcsratlons, women, both gay and straight, gay men. children, old people, and racial minorities (especial ly blacks) are second-class citizens. The maintainance of the ruling classes: the male-heterosexual-whites, is depen- dant upon the existence of these atti- tudes. They are conditioned through the nuclear family and its offspring the educational, religious, industrial, and governmental institutions.

This analysis lias readied the point where we can perhaps better understand the origins and necessity for sexism within the present social structure. Lxamples of exploitation and discrimi- nation are easy to enumerate. Wlicn involving institutional and cross class manifestations, or their usual context: a class in a superior position of the social hierarchy utilizes the institution alized rules of behaviour to take advan- tage of people belonging to the psycho- logically less prestigious classes of the status quo. The most obvious dis- driminations are reflected in tlie legal system, which negates female sexuality except to oppress freedom of abortion, and oppresses both gay males and children for sexual activity.

Uithin the course of social inter- action women are exploited by men in that their class definition still pro jects them as slaves to the sexual and economic needs of the male, includ assuming the care of children(who turn are property of both, first a pets, then as slaves). Gays are exploited by a system which ac- cepts our labour and cultural contributions but denies our identity, threatening discrim- ination if we step out of line by living our homosexuality With openess and pride. Gay women are exploited by straight males who view them as a dou- ble challenge to their nacho roles. Gay males are often exploited by straight males who enjoy sexual interaction with gay males, but who hold you in contempt and nay re- ward you with an act of phy- sical violence (just to put you in your place so that there can be no mistake about class differentiation) .

The psychological reaction which is at the origin of sexist behaviour is the process of ob- jectlfication.

Objcctification is the inter- nal psychological event necessary for encouraging and rationalizing sex- ist behaviour. The process involves a coflceptualitAtion whereby a group or in

TliE BODY POLITIC dividual is viewed in such a way as to neeate his/her full and egual humanity. This usually involves a socially con- ditioned tendency to construct an ima- ge on the basis of certain distorted and exaggerated characteristics. Ef- fectively "labeled" within a cliche definition, society sanctions the next steps of oppression - exploitation and discrimination.

An example of a comnyiR^rocess rationalizing the oppression of women and homosexuality is the old "nature" explanation. "Women arc naturally inferior (passive, less intelligent)". "Homosexuality is unnatural". Such cliche responses reveal two impor- tant insights into social consciousness. First, they reveal just how removed from a realistic awareness of nature some people are. Of course everything IN nature is natural, not to mention the fact that there is a good deal of variation in the behaviour of females and males of different species - including plenty of female "dominance" and homosexuality. Secondly, these same people who invoke "nature" in the defense of oppression negate the fact that our species has the ability to evolve as a society which values equal- ity over primitive evolutionary prec- edents, variation over conformity, and which correctly views destructive ag- gression as the predominant enemy of humanity.

For gay people this is the most contentious area of discussion. The revolutionary content of gay libera- tion is largely related to our effort to deal witn botli the political and personal aspects of oppression and liberation. While being our theore- tical strongpoint, it means that we walk a tightrope of trying to deal with botli the enemy without and with- in. Despite the beauty and creative energy of gay liberation, we must acknowledge our past as conditioned by the repressive system - and strive not to reproduce the oppression as- pects in our own efforts. In the next THE BODY POLITIC, I will pre- sent my views about both oppressive and liberating interpersonal beha- viour within the gay community.

arid Moldenhauer

THE BODY POLITIC

A Court-in' We

In the last issue of Body PoLUa-C I ivrote about what happens when a person is arrested and procedures with the police. I would now like to con- tinue and explain what happens in Court and who the performers in the next stage of the proceedings are.

If you are charged with Gross Indecency, an Indecent Act in a Pub- lic Place, Counselling or Vag. "E", you will probably be ordered to appear two weeks after the date of your arrest. This usually is (in Toronto) at 2.00 p.m. in Provincial Court ^34 in the Old City Hall on Queen St. W. In cases of Indecent Assault Male, you may appear the day after you ar- rest (especially if it involves a juvenile). If you haven't contacted CHAT our representative will probably approach you and ask if you need any assistance. He is prepared to outline all the procedures that will take place and what your rights and options are. Vou are not obliged in any way for this assistance, and you are free to refuse it if you so desire. CHAT is only there to see that people accused of offenses where homosexuality is alleged are adequately protected.

The Court consists of a Provin- cial Judge (formerly called a Magis- trate) , a clerk wiio sits in front and below him and a court reporter who ts in front of the witness box and

Do you really need a lawyer? If you want to fight the accusation--yes . The results of a guilty plea and the conviction can be far-ranging and could come back to haunt you years later. Gross Indecency is an indictable of- fense (a serious charge). A. convic- tion for it could exclude you from emmigrating to another country, e.g. A man convicted of Gross Indecency over ten years ago was recently refused admission to the United States to take an important job with the com- pany he worked for. As a result of not being able to go, he was let go by the company.

Another important consideration if you are an immigrant to Canada. You might be deported as your conviction will be reported to the Immigration Dept. A good reason for becoming a citizen as soon as possible.

I Indictable offenses (Gross In- decency, Indecent Assault Male and Counselling to commit Gross Indecency) all carry the right for trial in a higher court. That is, you have a choice to either proceed at the lower level (Provincial Court) before a Provincial Judge alone or you can elect for trial in a higher court (County Court) before a Judge alone or with a Judge and Jury. We recom- mend the latter course if possible. You get a mucli better hearing

talks into a machine. The Crown-attor '^^8*'- Court and Juries "are not usual-

ney conducts the case for the police. Your lawyer of the "duty" counsel will Speak for you.

The "duty" counsel is supplied by legal aid and eacli criminal lawyer takes a turn at this. You can ask for him and seek his help if you so desire. His aid is free.

We recommend however that on your first appearance you ask for a remand to seek advice from a lawyer. We can tell you liow to go about obtaining a lawyer and also legal- aid if you need it. This remand will usually be for a further two wpeks .

Legal aid is in reality an terest free loan. If you are absolutely destitute, legal aid w pay the entire fee. However if you have some money or a job--you will be expected to pay it all back or at least part of it on the instal Iment plan.

ly sympat' Jtic toward police entrap- ment .

There is a step between lower and higher courts called the Grand Jury. This examines all cases going to high court to see if a "true bill" should be returned. Sometimes Grand Juries look upon homosexual cases as trivial and dismiss them.

If you elect for trial in the County Court a preliminary hearing is held in Provincial Court at which the police evidence is heard and the Judge decides if there is sufficient justification for sending it upstairs. Occasionally a case is discharged at the Preliminary Hearing but not often. Lower courts tend to favour police evidence. You may or may not be cal- led upon to testify at the Preliminary Hearing, in fact even police evidence may be waived, at the discretion of your lawyer. However a preliminary hearing gives your lawyer and you the opportunity to hear the evidence that is submitted against you. Remember,

police to prove your not have to go on the stand if you don't want to. You do not have to prove your innocence.

.Charges of Indecent Acts in a Public Place or Vag, "C" (being found loitering or wandering aimlessly in or oear a Park, Beach, Bathing Area, Playground, or School yard--having had a previous conviction for a sex- ual offence) are summary offenses and are tried at the lower (Provincial) court level. Again get legal advice before pleading guilty! You may not be guilty of the offense for which you are charged. Homosexuality itself ■Ui not a. cfumz.

Cases committed to high Court take anywhere up to a year to be heard j^ and the expense can be high--but then what is a conviction worth to you?

It is this fact that so infuriates me. The expense to the tax-payer and to the accused is incredible when the arresting officer--had he been doing his job properly, would liave prevented any offense occurring in the first place.

Some officers go deliberately to "catch queers" not to prevent offences and these officers will delilterately stand by until something happens. This is true in lligli Park, Philosophers Walk, and in the Subway. We seldom see heterosexuals who use the parks as much , if not more than we do, being charged with any offenses.

In any event getting arrested is going to cost you money. The fine for Gross Indecency or an Indecent Act in a Public Place can run to from $50.00 to $200.00 or 10 to 15 days in jail. Vag. "E", the same. Indecent Assault Male carries dif- ferent penalties depending on whether it's with a juvenile or with a police officer. Sometimes probation is a term of the sentence and this means being supervised for a period from six months to two years.

continued on jaige JS

•^ feJbY'WLrfVc

Becouse the following - whot?... story, I gue« ... is jomewhot out of context , token OS it is from a lorger work in progress, I felt lome explonolion would not be out of place I ottempted to create (from my own ond others' memofies) the pottern of response that could evolve in the head of a specific female cfiild, given certoin environmental conditions, during that time when she first becomes sexually awore - through self- exploration and 'touching' games with the other children she encounters - and as she discovers thot other persons (child and cdult) do not necessarily share her enthusiasm for this new physicol sensation.

This is the first of two parts. Much Is fan- tasy... a great deol is fact. Which is whic Is not relevant — to a child, it is often the same.

I remember. . .

The early-summer night wos humid ond still. The sky thick with stars without motion. She stood slightly opart from the other tvrt) girls, seeing through the darkening night the indistinct outline of Georgieos heslood hclf-framed in the doorway of the neigh- bour's coal-shed.

'Well?' Their voices trio-ed at her. Elena, and Froncie and Georgie.

'Are you going to do if?'

She'd never done anything like thot before — let a boy touch her 'there' — at leost, not with his thing. And Froncie and Elena were a lot older. Maybe 12-going-on-I3. She wos just turned 10 and they were olwoys teasing her.

'Remember what we told you! ' The two girls pushed at her. Georgie had vanished into the cooler oblivion of the coal-shed.

{i remember, why do they always pick on me? ond mostly since that time i tried to show the kids how I 'did It' to myself, that day we all went over to the park. It was maybe way lost year, we went over to the old, iron Mon, whose tail curves something like this:

i feel scored, i don't know why. froncie soys georgie can't moke me pregnant because we're not old enough, but I'm afraid tf mumma and daddy should find out would they beat me ? carl got a beating that time, right on his naked bum. with thot leather strop his father uses, i told doddy how come carl should give me money and i told him that honest, carl didn't put his thing Inside me and i told him becouse he promised me he wouldn't tell carl's father, but he did. he said i wos too young to know but that carl was old enough, carl is U. his thing is bigger than georgie's. georgie looks like he's scared too. moybe he doesn't wont to 'do' it.)

The voices hod stopped. Her parents hod gone into the house. She looked otFrancIt and nodded her head.

(maybe it will be the some as when froncie ond i touch each other, we olwoys do it in the show, with a sweoler over our legs so no one con see. i remember the first time i ever touched froncie. i felt hair on it. mine is still noked. hers felt oTTttle funny, but the other port is like mine, like o small rrwrble. and hard, and covered with some other skin, that's where it feels good, tickles, one time, way long time ogo, i was o kid, then, i

m b

dont know why but i put one of those v/ooden building blocks into my pants, and moved my bum around, it tickled, and i put more blocks, but I guess i put too many, because they started to fall out. the blocks mode my pants look funny, daddy's ponts look like that sometimes. )

Georgie hod disappeared into the shed -

to 'get reody'. The two older girls pulled

at her to hurry her toward the shed-door.

She moved as in a dream, governed by

things magical and beyond her power of

influence.

'Why didn't you ask Mory?'

'Because.'

The logic of the two older girls was unique and implocoble. And she couldn't think of ony way of getting out of this situation. '

She wondered, too, what it might be like. To feel Georgie's thing. Inside her?

(would it feel like that time with daddy's hand? or when 1 touch myself? like birth- doy things were going to happen but olso mixed up with spanking feelings too. why? because of the way mumma hits me - like I remember that time when my cousin - who is 0 big tottle-tole even if she is only 3 - told my mother about georgie being in my room, mumma said we must hove been doing bod things, she said: 'I told you! if i catch you playing with those bum-ps again, i going to give you a beating you don't forget!' and she took thot long, thin, rolling pin and storted to chose me. i ran into the bockyord, i remember, but she cought me where doddy put the swing. . . in the corner near my bedroom window and she hit me all over everywhere, my orms, my legs, my head. )

'Stephonieeeeeeeee' Her father's voice. The others held fingers to their lips, 'shushing' her. 'It's time to come In. Bed-time! '

She thought she would coll back in reply. But sold nothing and felt all her body heavy ond quite motionless. 'Don't answer! ' The girls whispered ond gripped her arm. 'They'll soon stop calling — sshhl'

it seems so funny, mumma and daddy, just on the other side of the door. I even heard one of them come to the backyard door, i thought they might open it and see me here with the kids and moke me go in, so i wouldn't hove to go with georgie.

i remember eleno and froncie and georgie, too were all there, and elena started shoving at me and saying; 'well? c'mon, show us! goon.' ond she kept pushing me. so i walked close to the lion and put my hands - one on top of the other - on the port where his toil curved near his bum. then i stood on the bottom curve, so i could lean over and press myself, between the legs, against my hands, but I had to be really careful to moke sure there were no big people around, so I didnt lift up my dress, i remember georgie started to lough, 'why you moving up and down like thot? is this what you said you were going to show us? phooey! how con that be fun?' and the others sold, yes, how could that be fun, and anyway it was bad to touch your 'thing' you could get worts on your hands, or maybe even hair could grow, and they made shame fingers at me and then they all ron owoy) 'Yeah. Remember, it's a dare . And anyway, if you don't let Georgie put his thing inside yours, Francle and I'll bold you and let him tickle you. Then he'll stop, just when you want more, ond then at night when you're asleep, you'll start to talk about it In your sleep. And your mother and father will hear you. And you'll soy things like: oh, Georgie, do It, do it, so they'll know what you're talking about! '

(my mother and totner. mumma always sponks me when she catches me touching myself 'there', so I don't do it anymore where she con see me. i remember one time, i used doddy's hand, when he was osleep, i remember t was almost 7 then. I was laying between mumma and daddy, underneoth the sheet, there wos hordly any light but when i looked up the sheet-tunnel, i could see mummo's heqd at the other end. doddy's bond was laying beside him. i remember i whispered: 'doddy?' to see how much asleep he was ond he didn't even move. so i took his hand In mine and brought It down 'there' and put it very softly between my legs, it felt really good. i remember.)

Parker Tyler's, Screening the Sexes: Homosexua 1 i ty in the Movies , (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, $11.50 pp. 567. Illustrated.) is a difficult book to take seriously. It is cletr tliat Parker -Tyler is devoted to the movies, lie loves writing about them. In his previous volumes on the movies he stated his ideas in veiled terms. Now, thanks to Gay Liberation, the veils are dropped and the truth is ^ in the open. The main ditficulty of ,« the book is in its format and its ^ personal style. It is divided into g sections with sensational headings; £ "Mother Superior of the Faggots and g Some Rival Queens" etc., hardly a serious tone. His style is a confusion of vague unsupported ideas, theories on films and sex, excursions into psychology, sociology and lubricated with camp. This is unfortunate because

What the chapter says is contained in the camp writing. Tyler has built up explanations and history into a luggling act to obscure the ab-^ence of supportable critical analysis.

PA«E 9

Beavers are not Canadian hocke; teams, but movies that are made foi voyeurs of male nudity. In Canada i might be called Hominion films.

Vou might want to take out your pencil and jot down a few titles you missed. Again Tyler covers up with his distorted theories about the beaver films. But in this case he gets to camping or to the meat of the matter rather quickly. "It is a pleasure," he writes after the di- gression, "to return to a subject I mentioned above but dropped culpably. I confess, in the interests of thorough documentation. I refer to the young man with the magnificent genital pro- portions..." Anot'her excursion into the smoke screens and then, "To get back to our superequipped male and his understandable tragedy." The tragedy of course is that the poor fellow is

Screening The Sexes

the theme of the homosexual in the movies is worth a serious study. Especially when the emphasis is on how the homosexual is presented in Establishment society. Up to a point Tyler accomplishes this, but it is not until the last pages of the book that we discover what he has been trying to do with his writing. He begins by telling us in the most ob- scure terms what his thesis will be ultimately. "This book is about an idea of sexuality; an idea of sexuality mirrored in wide variety in given specimens of certain medium. My be- lief is that an idea, any idea, is altogether a moral thing - it is an "image" with a positive, self inter- ested and self indicating shape," He ends each section by being a little clearer, "I have not meant to present this repertory here in any solemn academic way, a way lacking humor.". But for us, what is academic, humor and/or high camp is impossible to discern. It is best not to take the book too seriously, it is too incon- sistent for that. Lifting the smoke screen might be revealing so we will start with the "Mother Superior of the Faggots and some Rival Queens."

UV ULLMAN. eiBI ANDEKSSON

IN "PERSON* ■ DIflECTED BT

INGMAR BERGMAN (U A.)

Tyler sets out to enlighten his readers about the true contents of Establishment movies. As Myra Breck- enridge is a familiar film and dis- cussions on it are endless, what Tyler has to say is of little significance. There is nothing revealing in his theories about the history of homosex- uality or his theories about the film.

IVhat Tyler is best at is contained in the following quote; "The point is that in the film's context, it makes out Miss West - and to me this is all to the good - a fairy god- mother of fairy godmothers. There was never one to equal her and I am convinced there never will be. She is the White Goddess in metaphysically transsexual drag.,. Mae, kindly step up. You are the Queen." It is neither humorous, academic or enlightening, it is just plain bad.

In, "Four Homosexual Mystery Stories and a Very Queer Non-Mystery Story", the Tyler treatment is re- peated. The formula is made up of theory, a mention of the movie, more theory, a revealing pseudo-intellectual Freudian analysis of the true motives, spiced with camp comments on any and everything he can throw into the pot. The Great Escape, another well known "he-man" movie, is hardly a difficult one from which to obtain some theories about latent homosexuality in the movies. Tyler goes into his act and reveals all. The "all" turns out to be just what any aware person would conclude. That in P.O.W, camps the buddy system develops, one guy wants to take his buddy along although he is almost blind and his presence may jeopardize the escape, beneath this concern is a homosexual feeling. If one wants to carry on about the tunnel being an anus where all the prisoners play, then truly the Great Escape is a Freudian delight. But who really cares? The film is just not that im- portant in terms of cinema art or social awareness. The Establishment is hardly trying to sell disguised homosexuality as normality or norm- ality as disguised homosexuality. Fortunately the film is made to be interpreted the way you like. If you think all the characters are normal, fine; if you think they are all gay. have a ball. But Tyler would have us think that there is something mys- terious about the film. Finally the ego is revealed,". . .is (it) a homo- sexual mystery story? Well, I did not also say that the mystery could be solved by an alert critic who is en- tirely impartial and objective about sex." And that is about the finest piece of camp you will find in the book.

overendowed, but our objective critic assures us that this is quite under- standable and acceptable because it is rooted in myth and it is simply a case of, "...the sexual cannon (of) the penis as deadly weapon." At this point you might put down the pencil and take up the ruler. It is not diff- icult to take the measure of a critic when he responds to what really counts in a beaver movie.

In passing from transsexual through mystery to beavers the transvestites are considered. Tyler almost redeems himself as a critic wlien he writes about Performance. It is a clear, sensible assessment. Instead of send- ing Jagger up he indicates his dis-

like for the character he plays. The section is free from the theories and endless camping. He writes of the hippie-uni sex- transsexual -drug-rock - cult with intelligent insight and sympathy. But no sooner is he on the track than he falls into camping it up with the Womens ' Lib. "Life is a camp - and I mean your life too, lib ladies!" This is brought on by the Warhol/Morrissey film, Women in Revolt. He is trying to tell the women that as in the case of female imperson- ation so it is in the Women's Lib movement. Women in Revolt has a cast of men impersonating women. No matter how many dresses are worn the "male- ness" is more than apparent. In the lib movement the women act like men to get what they want in a male dom- inated society. By acting in the manner of the male, they reveal their "femaleness" more clearly. Hence the bitchy barb. Transvestites are not

al life,

^IW--J»*H3iij*

voliunn whjt-ti ciiiJcitvuuis lo In tastcfulnessi to the revolution... it combines the real with the surreal dopcnJing upon your approach to life ...Twilight Trails comes to you now. fresh and steaming from Vancouver.

EPHLHERAl REUNION: with Ruby Tuesday who is hot into daisy deflow- ering these days.... Rube has recent- ly organized much in the way of local festivities such as the MISS HEATLOAf CONTEST (award obviously going to the best MEATLOAF MAKER)... the winner was given and taken to an organic rice orgy as a well-deserved prize... The other day i toured our famous PANSY PLANTATION on Wreck Beach and was shown some of the more remarkable blossoms on the north american con- tinent... Two organizations have joined our vast network of madness: THE FRUIT- FLY FRO.VTILK - a western group that affronts and offends citrus grower^ - and - THE TORONTO IbHEET) TARTETTES - an eastern group of bake-off lovelies dedicated to making poignant pics and torrid tarts for RADICAL HIGil-TEAS. . . Vancouver is overblown with roses and i see* to be a bloom among many out here... the climate gives your face that essential lustre which is much sought after in protest meetings... ah, the glories of beautiful B. C... *all til the locals find out that i plan to run for mayor of Vancover on a platform of kisses - endorsed bv the dogwood society of lower kitsilano... i'll just bet that more than mayor Campbell's fancy will be tickled by that move!...

HOT LICKS: The CmIIc (local ■•" **•' •bout the saM speed as

Parkslde) went hct-trendy J * uniformed gxiard to screen f t^l's nc* heleroseiual

t*. protested, ■ 'cd ul*o getting = *"iveri. Mho refused y [I'.k yp pitr.TM in front of the -•tle(...Kowver. for the moMnt it to hr « dead issue in favor of

I I *^Tn^

Apparently GATE (gay alliance toward mquality) and CGAA (Canadian gay act- ivists* alliance) are quite 'active' in Vancouver. . .However, upon reading the CGAA newsletter 'OPEN DOORS' i got the feeling that it was more like •CAirriOUS closet' complete with art- icles on plastique 'gay weddings' and terms like 'liberated ladies' and 'the softer sex' .. .really! Gossip Gertie CQ.Q. ' who writes for Vancouver's underground - cum - estab- lishment paper the Georgia Straight) is back in his old column breathing heavily the weary worded air of bygone days and bygone people. . .after GLF Vancouver has cautiously retreated into organized liberal groups which fizzle on while i pine and mourn the hot flashes of the old GLF days. An alternative to the Georgia Straight called the CRAPE seems to have it

TWE BOOY POLITIC

NOTES yH'M aiAlk rFRSOS TWl:

(froa • '	' - lavender
hook' on
"SH Xn.	UP LUE
mr	M-UII^ *a A DUE COURSE
01	.Boni M»U F0« A VER>
TA.	- - ,LitT...
	-speech on Post Eaily
	E. Mlquette
	-serving up the guests
	page 100
SIGN	OF TllE TIH£S: An uptight

Vancouver boutique recently changed its name from the 'Drag Boutique* to the 'Boutique* .. .which i feel was a bad choice.. .should be 'I AM CURIOUS, CLOSET' boutique and kink parlour... So there!

GAY PRIDE WEEK: In name only for events that induced a token res-

together as a comnwnity paper and Stan ponse from apathetic Vancouver gays

Perskey who was in CLF continues to write interesting articles for the GRAPE from time to time...

EPHKR^ffkALHTrES: Here are some hot new nuiabers of our Vancouver Vamps... TORNA SUNDER (claims to be rip torns spiritual twin and is well versed in the art of JAGGED EDGES] . . . ROSY-FINCER-DAh'N (a veritable tone poem of tasteful lust)... AQUA VELVA (refreshingly dipped out of the twi- lit world of post macho renaissance jnd other forgotten frontiers)... F.LtCTRIC UDYLAND (frapped-out to shocking currents - wants to construct a monumental dildo in Lighthouse Park to give the masses more sexism)... IVY LEAGUE (u pin-striped confection - well tailored to all seasons - and anybody's version of androgynous learning.) t>W^ AWARD (a well deserved prijc given annually to the Canadian federation of PANSY POTTERS)... WAND

FUCA (was once a member of the MARILYN,!. ^ o t>r>c<Vi*T tn BELL and Cus Rider swin club and doc-- '' '^ '^ r^t^t^^Ull:^ lovely frogman drag)

.talks by gay ministers, dances and rallys seemed to materialize and went nowhere... we got it on by being magic, dancing and feeling that "gay is what you make it!" but sometimes i wonder how many can dig it!

NELL, that seems to be about all for this issue... hope that we have wrongly offended everyone... i try my best to do so... also that we have made your values a little more unsteady. . .we are currently drawing up a proposal to the government to fund us in our project of 'upsettins apple carts' and a beautifying project constructing 'glowing monuments' to keep the nations business decorative...

til then TENUOUS TANSY-TINGED KISSES

'^^© ROSE

KISSES ^ I TWILIGHT ROS

SUSPECT CAY OF THE MONTH:

TAE MiUTANT POftS£

utations die at every meaning)... '^^f'^,'^,'^ %? '^^J'^^'', '^a.^jhem

This ti.e its Kentucky Fried Chicken i-""* '^^^H Crocker- boVte-olfS

...with a Colonel and his boys who O THE

make it 'finger licken good' who needs^li^^''

suspicion.. .You'd be liberated too if Jf^ .^L

you were dipped in II different herbs

and deep fried... except i do think

that advertising chicken is a trifle

sexist.

SIDE ORDEBS: The Seattle WHIZ KIDS (Washington's radical dragettes) perfoTved a weekend full of stellar ■adness reports Ruby Tuesday (who covers the west coast like an ephem- eral blanket). ..audiences thrilled and freaked to five live shows of Zfc .<iivnnt.«^ ■;

""L™^ '" ='^»'°"-- P°5' ephemeral Hn f,,.^:ilJU.U .t^Sa^ Mr^.L^it^(MJu iL FLUERETTE DU MAL has decided to take 1,1.1 -^'^•'~^/« (--v.^^/..

her image seriously and become a whil -'^^^^*Y' 1'^'^'''^^ -"^ ,

kid -■itar. ..however the rest of us are '»-"^*' ^^ 'jti^ .jXcUitf Ti^ f'J'^ ,

still exDloring our myth and still A^UTyS TO VPV k)ITH THI5 OfiJE'i

believe in divine obscurity and lost ^ — - _ — _ horizons (the fallen stars of the revolution)

HOti HUCH IS TOO MUCH: (for beautitic B. C. butchies) Ah. the mountains of B. C. briaaing with lumber jacks and ski-enthusiasts... For lushious log cutters may we sug- gest a subtle burst of petulant pini facial enhance to liven up the work camps and dazzle fellow loggers... For those ski-buddies we suggest a ,v tingling dab of 'dearer-my-heart-to- l,,r^ thee' cologne and snow freshener for .r those isolated peaks of discovery... ^ ^ . ^^ A note to campers... be sure and pack ▼'^j.«eA*fw an extra supply of lipstick as the 'j^4?f W ~ods are 'rough' without It... also \,7?x.,/ ,i;2^.,,- /^^ it Will liven up a week's growth of Jf- • „,v ^^

bmmrd very nlcaly. '-^

DILDOETTE' ilf^CMIrrrA. Ct^^CnAu^ HAte-erjLA4M

©THE MAE WEST /<Jv

^.<

TMF. BODY POLITIC

On the morning of June twen- ty-second politically conscious gays in Toronto were surprised and some- what frustrated to discover through the newspapers that the Ontario Human Rights Code had been given first reading in the legislature the previous. evening, and would probably be passed through the House within the week. The ambit of the Code had been extended to Include sex, age and marital status, alongside the existing provisions of race, colour, creed and national origin. Yet nowhere was there mention of sexual orintation, nor did the term 'sex' apply to sexuality or sexual preference. The membership of Toron- to Gay Action had for some time been aware that the Code was about to come up for review, and had previously ad- ressed letters to Gordon Carton the Minister of Labour, and his successor Fernand Guindon, asking that gay rights be recognised in any re-wording of the Code. The replies were the usual diplomatic responses sent to "interes- ted constituents", which altliough paragons of politeness always seem ti.' convey veiled overtones of: "Yes we know what we're doing, thank-you very much! "

O.H.R.C

Wolfenden Report of Great Britain, and Intro 475 of New York City. The final section of the brief contained the essential demands and requests in regard to the addition of the term 'sexual orientation' within the wording of the Code so that it would truly fulfill its promise to "create a climate of un- derstanding and respect among our people so that all will be afforded the unhampered opportunity to cont- ribute their maximum to the develop- ment and enrichment of our province."

Copies of the brief plus letters of introduction and explanation were sent to the members of the Ontario legislature, and all Ontario federal M.P.'s. Press releases were delivered to the media in the city, and coverage was afforded by both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. At the regular C.H.A.T. meeting the following Tues- day, a letter writing campaign was organized among those attending the meeting, each person writing to Premier Davis, his own member, and a party leader. Tliese letters were then mailed out in groups during the next few davs ,

■'rrf' -'ft* 'f

"Mcfe'Vi

few from our group attempted to obtain tickets for the gallery, the remainder tried to speak with indi- vidual members as they passed into the House. The responses of most of the members were curt and embarassed. One allowed that our brief was "very honest." Even the people's advocate Morton Shulman was of little use. Wlien asked about the O.H.R.C. he replied: "What's that?" When infor- med he said: "Oh , well I haven't been around here for a few days." During all this we also had to contend with the fussing and protestations of an elderly retainer of the place, who kept trying to herd us up into the gallery.

As the session began this atten- dant, ( Who looked as if he belonged in an Englisli men's club, which in many ways the Legislature resembles) had succeeded in ushering us into the gallery on the promise that we could write notes to individual mem- bers. When several of us proceeded to do this, we were informed that it is forbidden to do any writhing in the gallery. Eventually however, the notes were sent and Mike Cassidy

ONTARTO HUMAN RIGHTS CODE

Toronto Gay Action had further intended to make the demands for inclusion of sexual orientation in the O.H.R.C. a major part of the Gay Pride Demonstration planned for August the twenty-sixth of this year. Thus we were annoyed to discover that the bill had been introduced with so little preliminary notice, and was being hurried through in the usual flurry of activity before the summer recess.

With full knowledge that the bill would pass regardless of our protests, members of C.H.A.T. and T.G.A. decided to institute a last minute lobbying campaign to make the legislators and the public aware of our presence.

THE BRIEF A committee was therefore quic- kly formed to set about preparing a brief that would describe the need for the protection of gay civil liberties in the Human Rights Code. I Despite the haste with which it was \ prepared, the brief materialized as a lucid and persuasive paper. For this much credit is due to the political acumen of Peter Maloney.

Although the brief was submitted on behalf of C.H.A.T. and other On- tario gay organizations, its introduc- tion stated that it spoke for "the hundreds of thousands of Ontario homo- philes, both men and women, who tliough voiceless, share in suffering the discrimination directed against them on the grounds of sexual orientation." The brief then proceeded to document the history of the gay movement in Ontario, describing the reasons for their existence-the harassment, fears, and discrimination faced by gay people, as also adequate rationale for protec- tion under the O.H.R.C. Precedents set by governing bodies in other countries with regard to sexuality were then listed, naming such documents as the

H	ffH
PH	.-^j\|H
1 VVon/i 1 ■ OiicnUMK
^^/kjJ	^■JiiEiil

IVE GO TO QUEEN'S PARK

Since the purpose of the lobbying campaign was largely to promote in- terest and attention for the cause of gay rights, the members of Toron- to Gay Action decided to take these demands directly to the legislators themselves. Thus a small demonstration was organized to coincide with the the final evening session of Tliursday June 29. A group of between twenty and twenty-five gay women and men, chanted, sang and carried pickets around the steps of Queen's Park, As with all gay demonstrations to date, the skies poured down rain, and almost led some of us to suspect that the Lord does Mind. Eventually a decision was made to leave our signs outside and enter the building so as to speak with the M.P.P's on their way into the Chamber for the evening sitting. While a

O.nlv H.eterosgxMi

r»lfm5

the i'v,U,i', member for Ottawa Centre came out of the Chamber and spent some time in discussion with us. He proved to he sympatlietic to our grievances and suggested that we come and speak with the N,D.r. caucus af- ter the summer recess. With referen- ce to tlie O.H.R.C. he informed us that the Bill had been given second reading that day, and thus further debate was not in order. He sugges- ted that we take any cases of disc- rimination we encounter to court and plead them under the ambit of 'sex.'

Mr. Cassidy also sent a note on our behalf to the Speaker of the Mouse asking that we be recognized from the floor. The speaker then stood and stated that:"a very 'special group of people is present with us this evening, members of the Community Homophile Association of Toronto, and Toronto Gay Action." For the first time then, will the words 'homophile' and 'gay' appear in the Hansard of the provincial government. The reaction from the members' desks consisted off loud guffaws accompanied by some applause and desk-thiimping, mostly fromthe N.D.P. ^

Following this, the session went into a short recess during which several members were observed deriving great pleasure from affecting swish mannerisms and mimicking effeminate gestures. Patricia Murphy, the vice-president of C.H.A.T. to express our anger at this kind of behaviour addressed let- ters to the offending members, their party leaders, and to the newspapers. The Globe and Hail subsequently pub- lished this letter undej the title "Gay Pride Hurt." Nicholas G.Leluk (Humber) one of the accused, inimediately issued a denial of his participation in these actions. "I have yet to witness antics of mimicry by a member of any individual or group present in the public gallery of the House."

conti.nu.zd on page ?S

ive Consideration

THO BODY POLITIC

CELEBRATE

(towards an all

One of the ironies of the gay liberation movement is that it seems to be spontaneously generating a nev; Puritanism among its adherents. Fear of sexism doth make cowards of us all - most of us are at least generally aware of what sexistn is, and most of us realize v(hat a corrosive influence

it has had on human dionity and the spontaneous, joyful expression oF human sexuality. The straight media - and the gay for that matter - have exploited the tcdy ruthlessly, never treating it as a joyful Object In Itself, but always as an adjunct cf or means towards something altogether Other - be it a car, a television or e joy- less, guilt ridden sexual encounter.

As gay people striving for lib- eration, we have of course reacted to this state of affairs, but so far the reaction h?s Leer, a negative cne.

Among many gay people nudity is sus- pect, pornot;rapity is dismissed out- rignt, and there is tlie debilitating feeling that EVERY sexual encounter must be non-objtctifyirg and "mean- ingful". As a result, sex is not

infrequently avoided altogether, the body's contours are lest and denied under a heap of shapeless clothing, and we move furti'er into the sterile territory of puritanism.

Why? We are still suffering u-ncer an oppressive arc bar.kropl aesthetic which basically serves the needs of a capitalist system oriented towards iTiattrial isir, and we h-ive beer, too timtd to offer an alternative. Before we do, let us examine the moribund aesthetic that is our 'eaacy.

Because it is an aesthetic which Goes r.ot treat the body in and for itseU, but rather in terms of what it car. acquire &r achieve, it is intrinsically conservative and fin- ally unadventurous - no matter how often the adjectives NEU and EXCITING are applied to it. In tli;: riay rr,edia it has two main expressions: the Monstrous Phallus; where the body is

THE «0OY POLITIC

: THE BODY!

ernate aesthetic)

reduced to 7 ir.ci'.es of deturescence, rino the Artsy/Don't Leave a Blemish on .'■'>■ Body/Look Intense/Vaguely Like Rjdolph Nureyev approactf of glossies like A_fttr V?T\. Both ccncertrate alirost exclusively on n^en between t^e ages of seventeen and thirty - they have neglected women, they have neglected the young, they have neglected the old.

The straight media are different but equally strangled. Mot since the Renaissance has the male nude been treated as an object of aesthetic contemplation. As a result, the fem- ale has borne the full weight of aesthetic oppression to the point that the few varieties that were offer- ed - the Thin Young Ethereal Thing; the Buxom Blatant Sex Machine, and the Plastic Glabrous Doll - are being compressed into one hideously neutral paradigm of pulchritude that can successfully promote anything from encyclopedias to lingerie.

We cannot simply decry this state of affairs. It is our business to boldly offer alternatives. In this case the alternative is an explor- ation, a re-examination, a re-dis- covery of the body's potential - one does not establish an aesthetic by fiat. Tentatively, we see the alter- nate aesthetic exhibiting those qualities which make the gay lib movement itself a varied and vibrant force in contemporary society - openness, honesty, joyfulness, a sense of play, a sense of brother/sisterhood, an embracing of the young, the old, the male, the female, the beautiful and the not so beautiful .

Gerald llannon

In these photographs we present the body unashamedly as object ^ a joyous, potent object.

Celebrate It.

(Patience and Sirah by Isabel HiUer, Mc/:raM-Hill. hS panes, $5.95)

This article will not only be a review o( Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller, but also a criticism of the June 7th Advocate's review of the book. The April /May issues of the Ladder coaaentcd on the book as follows: "If you have aissed this, don't go on de- priving yourself - it's a major Lesbian novel and one of the best ever issued." Yet the Advocate commented on it as "»iBplc", "innocent", and "weakened by defects".

The first criticism is that "the sex is so underplayed as to leave the reader unsure as to just who does what to *(hoa..." Yet who would expect any- thing else from .Mr. Carl Driver, the author of the review. Men including gay sen, have no conception of the love between women - so they should leave their book reviewing to things they understand. Yes, the sex was in the background, in the minds of the ri-.iJcr - it was subtle. Unlike books ■vcrwhelming majority of males jr - every page filled with de- us tid bits of porn. Instances tliji erect their little peeny. Women have feelings and emotions connected with their love - not iin obsession with sexual satisfaction. Patience and Sarah enjoyed their sexual relations yet had more important things to con-

sider in their lives.

They had serious

problems from both of their families, decisions to make as to where their future would be most free of insult and the many internal mind hassles that face any gay.

Mr. Driver also made a few points, that if he had truly digested the book he wouldn't have made. One, that the women were totally "confused about their unusual feelings for each other that they didn't know what to do." Maybe they had a few doubts (doubts caused by ISlb Connecticut morality) but they surely had no trouble fig- uring out what to do. Driver also says that Sarah «nd her younger sister were in a sexual relationship. This is completely misinterpreted - the two sisters were very close, even slept in rhr same bed, but in the words of Sarah to her sister discussing ■ Patience; "it's different."

Patience and Sarah is a book about two young t.oMn who didn't fit into toctety's .old of typical 1816 woitan. fell In love and tried to make ■ life for themselves. Both characters are very real and so are their problems, - problcu gay wown will understand.

Ahhough the author portrays Sarah •1 quite a usculine figure - each WDMn has a healthy a»ount of sale and fe«ale characteristics. They fight their adversaries with the strength of two liberated wmm who know what they want - and their phy- sical appearances are usually no in- dicator of any roles.

This story was suggested by the life of the painter Hary Nllson and her coapanion Hiss Bnindidge, who lived arid farmed together for many years on Red Hill Road, Greenville Town, Greene County, New York State, in the early part of the nineteenth century.

The novel is sincere, fast moving and very real. Each character is look ed at. developed and taken to the heart. A fine book to relax with on a Sunday afternoon.

This book is worthwhile reading for gay women, Wooen's Liberation people and conscious aen alike.

Linda Jain

HASCHICH FUDGE

(which anyone could whip up on a rainy day)

T>IE BOOY POLITIC

4 KENSINGTON AVE

TORONTO 26. CANADA GLAD DAV is a gay liberation hook store featuring newspapers from around the world, literature and works of social philosophy that pertain to the gay revolution. Special discounts on hardbounds and 10*. off on paperbacks. Phone: 364-6731

~ii-

Thl& l& the ^ood o£ PaAadi6c-~ 0^ Baudelavie.' 6 AitL^icAjU Pcuiadl&CA it mi^lU provide cut ejiteAXaitiing

Ctub on. a cixaptzfi meeting oi t/ic WR. In Motocco it i6 tiioiiQiit to be good (jot Molding o^^'the. conwnon coOi in damp uiintOA uKoXheA. and ci, iiuizzd, mote zdinctivz i^ taken icUh toAgc quantltcfLA of, hot mint tea. Euphoiia and bxiltiant itotm^ PiS laugkteA; eci>tat4.c iQvcAiei and extensions o^ om' i peJisonalcty on sevcuU sijnultaneoui pinnes a\c. to be complacenttij expected. Aimost anydUng Saatt Thcxesa rfcd, you can do beZtei i^ you can bea-i to be lavished by "un evanouisseracnt reveille."

, Tafec 1 teaspoon black peppe-t- coins, 1 whole fiuOncg, 4 aveAage sticks p|5 cinnamon, 1 teaspoon coiiandcA. These should all be puCvexiscd in a mortal. About a luxiid^ut each c^ stoned dates, dAA.ejd iigs, shelled almonds and peanuts: chop the^e and mix them together. A bunch o^ canibus sativa can be puZvCKised. This along mXh the spices should be dusted oveA the mixed IfuUt and nuts, kneaded together. About a cup 0^ sugofL dissolved in a big pat 0^ buttSA. Rolled into a cake and cut into pieces ot made Into balls I

about the size oi a walnut, it should ^ be eaten utixh cane. Two piecei ate quite su^fticient.

Obtaining ^e. canibus may pxesent certain d^^^ acuities, but thi variety known as canibus sativa glows as a cotmon weed, o^ten un^ecogntsed, evenywheAe iji Europe, Asm and pants oi Arnica; besides being cattivated aj> a cAop ion the manuiactane o^ nope. In the AmeAicas, wtiUe o^ten di^counaged, its cousin, called canibus indica, has been obsenved even in city window boxes. It should be picked rmd dAied as soon as iX lias gone to seed and while the plant is still gneen.

Taken inom The Alice 8. Toklas Cook Book, "Recipes inom Fniends", pp. 273-274

.^^

f(-

^(2)

THE BODY POLITIC

Slap: you're bom. And yes. they've confiraed it. Your'rc born a woman. Mhtle daddy is running around let- ting it be known to anything that walks that he is the proud father of a bouncing baby girl, oommy is mak- ing mental notes of the baseball gloves, hockey sticks and /ootball helmets that she will have to return since you are destined to wear pret- ty frilly clothes, play with dolls and spend your early years watching her bake cookies.

isn't that fantastic: You're ten hours old and already your life- style and sexuality has been out-_ lined for you before you can open your eyes.

And as you get older the dolls get bigger, some of them even wet their diapers and pretty soon you'll be changing them. The little boys in the neighborhood are a little row- die, you're told, and they look like they're having a good time but you are prohibited from playing with them because the frills on your dress may get tatered and torn and mommy would be sure to intervene with a bottom warming session.

After going through the whole kindergarten trip where you spend your days learning how to operate and clean a cardboard stove, in a fantastic kitchen, you will reach a higher grade level because it has been said that you have made progr- ess. The physical education teacher leaclies you how to do push-ups that you have never seen before. They arc women's push-ups that guarantee no muscles in the wrong places. And while the boys arc playing baseball in the diamond, you are inside watching a film of halt Disney's characters telling you all you need to know about menstration (with no questions asked) .

And all the time that this is taking place they are watching for the signs. Comments are made like: "she is quite the tom-boy" if she happens to enjoy team sports. Or another popular phrase is: "oh, it's just a passing pliase." Voung women are puzzled by statements such as these because they feel that as long as tliey are enjoying themselves it shouldn't matter to anyone what their mode of dress or athletical ;i^pi r.it lOiT^ arc .

BORN A

mm. WOMAN

The primary school dances are both mean and testing. They usually happen in a gjinnasium at the age of 12. "Is she showing any interest in boys?" "How many has she danced with?" "you mean to say she danced with anotlier girl???" and when she gets home she hears mom and dad snicker and say, "Mary sure is dev- eloping, isn't she."

Sleeping at .lack's place is defin- itely out but going to Kathy's paja- ma party is quite kosher. Besides, they say, "What could possibly hap- pen?" This reminds me of the Brit- ish sodomy laws, adopted under Queen Victoria wliich applied only to men because British legislators at the time found it impossible to believe that female homosexuality could ex- ist.

This conditioning continues on through- out a woman's life, dictated by society. The only time her conditioning comes to a halt is when she is oppressed to the point that no further dictatorial aid is necessary. It is made sure that a woman can carry the line on her oii'n.

GAV PRipC WCCK !

august # » 27tl>

Toronto Gay Action iias ueen urbanizing a gay pride week to be held dur- August, from Saturday the 19th to Sunday the 27th. Events have been ten- tatively scheduled as follows:

19th - Gay Festival: food, art and photo exhibits, music,

poetry, fun . . . 20th - Gay Picnic 22nd - Special CHAT meeting 23rd - Film night - First Canadian showing of Kate Millet's

Three Lives. 2Sth - Demo Eve Dance 26th - Gay Rally and Demonstration 27th - Inter-Faith Service - Unitarian Fellowship

(Anyone interested in helping us plan the events of GPW should contact T.G.A. at 922-S787.)

We plan to aake this week the finest example of gay pride and solidarity in Canada. Join us.

For aore information, call OUT at 964-06S3 T.G.A. 922-S787

Many wonen believe that becontnging gay, that they have solved the pro- blems of stereo-type role casting, however, this is not true. Being gay docs not automatically abolish role-playing and sexism. For in a society that stinks of sexism and enforced I -■:■ playing, games still take place and will continue to per- sist just as in heterosexual relat- ionships.

It is now time for all women (and men for that matter) to take an honest, and objective look at our- selves, to recogniic and determine the roles that have been instilled in our life-styles. Holes that are viciously created and pro^rammeO b> a irale oricnted-domirated ruling class. If we as gay women prac- tice the same sexist role.s th.it lake placf in heterosexual relat- ionships we are destined to end up in tlie same fucked-up situation a? they now stand.

he must relate to all our sisters in an educational manner. One way be- ing tic Women's LiI>er.ntion Mo\eraent. For all women are oppressed. Gay women are doubly oppressed because we Pie both women and gay woiren. Through the women's movment straight sisters can yain .in understanding of what Lesbianism really is. They will see it througli understanding their own personal oppression, hhen straiglit women become aware of the n.-iture of their sexuality it will become ca?ici for them to understand lesbianism and easier for them to understand why wc have chr-^tn Les- bianism as a sexual preference. We must reach out to all women. And we must must stand strong and united, Lut nest ol all we iriist stand proud.

Ad r i enn c F:. I'otts

CLASSIFIED AOS

VOUNi; MA.N IIAS CINTBAL AI'AKTMI.NI TO SIUMJI. I'HOM-: 3h8~5'.U3

THE ALTERNATE

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I 19 ST JOSEPH

<, jAT :ii';iiTs 9 pi,i-:i am

GAY

ACCOMMODATION

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T.V. LOUNGE, LAUNDRY ROOM, KITCHE'.

FACILITIES. PARKDALt AREA. PHOM S34-0831

-^^ news

Saskat ooxi

After years of silence the gay co^unity of Saskatoon has finally be- gun to organize and fight for their liberation. Within the last year, three groups have been formed to fight for equal rights for all gay people. All three groups have been working closely together and progress is being made every day.

In March of 1971 an advertisement appeared in the community page of the GzoiQia SXACugiiX advertising Gay Lib- eration in Saskatoon. A box number was included for people to write for help and information. Response was slow at first, but finally a few inquiries began to arrive asking for information about the local gay scene. Out of these few inquiries grew a small group of people who were dedicated to fighting for the freedom of all gay people. These people banded into a new group known as the Saskatoon Gay Alliance Towards Equality (GATi;). At first, GATE worked at helping new people come out and putting people in touch with the gay scene. Inquiries began to come in from the non gay comm- unity about speakers for high school classes, university classes and a T.V, interview came about as a result of the publicity GATE received in tlie community along with other liberation groups.

In the fall of 1971, a few gay students on the Saskatoon campus of the University of Saskatchewan banded to- gether to form a new group known as Gay Students Alliance (GSA) to work on the campus. Help and advice were given to a number of students doing research

TOE BODY POLITIC

on homosexuality. Articles were written for the student newspaper, and inquiries began to come in from the student body. As a result of these articles a radio hot line show was undertaken. Plans are underway for a seminar next fall on homosexuality with a well- known speaker being brought in to speak to the student body of the university.

In the fall of 1971, work was also begun by the members of GATE and GSA on a new organization that would provide much-needed social services and social activities for tlie gay community. In January of 1972, the Zodiac Friendship Society was officially registered with the Government of Saskatchewan as a non- profit organization.

The Zodiac Friendshij) Society owns and operates a weekly dance club that is open to all gay people. The dance club is operational every Saturday night from 10.00 to 2.50 at the Unit- arian Centre at 502 Main Street. The Society also operates a drop-in centre every Wednesday night from 7.30 to 11.00

gay^-'

at the same address. The drop-in centre provides an opportunity for gay people to meet and talk with one another in an atmosphere free from cruising.

The Society is also in the process of setting up free counselling services. The support of a number of good prof- essional people in the community - doctors, psychiatrists, lawyers and ministers has been secured and they are making their services available to the gay community free of charge. A gay person will be available at all times for people to talk to, and if they request additional Iielp they will be referred to one of the pro- fessional counsel lors.

The Society also publishes a mon- thly newsletter informing people about wliat is happening on the gay scene in tliis area and also throughout the country. K'crk is being done on secur- ing finances for the purchasing of the Society's own premises. Up to now, the Unitarian Fellowship of Saskatoon has made tlieir premises available for a small rental. Hopefully by the fall, Saskatoon's three groups will have their own premises which will be open seven days a week to provide a wide range of activities for the gay community.

Many plans are in the works to make Saskatoon a better place for gay people to live. Zaps of the straight comm- unity are being planned, and many extensions of the available service to the gay community are in the plann- ing stage. Saskatoon is a beautiful city, and in the future it will be even more beautiful for gay people. lUr

Vancou\ er

Tre liay Alliance lowards [.quality (GATt) boycotted the newly renovated Castle Motel pub on the 20th and 27th of May. For two decades the hotel had a 90^ gay clientel, but Mr. luele, the pub manager told the protesters that the owner's policy was to change the clientel "from gay to straight".

One of Vancouver's cah companies refused to pick up fares at the hotel as a gesture of solidarity. The taxi drivers line was hailed as a "major break through" by GATE Chairperson, Roedy Green.

Although Dick Rulens (Chairperson for Canadian Gay Activists Alliance) crossed the GATE picket line, there was co-operation from most patrons who refused to enter the pub.

The aims of the protest were four-fold: besides demanding equal treatment by the Castle Motel; GATE demanded the amendment of the B. C. Human Rights Code; the right to have gays sit on the B. C. Human Riphts CoBBission; and, finally, stiffer penalties against violators of the Act.*

Ottawa

The Gays of/d'Ottawa (GO) have put out their first newsletter. GO Jn^o, giving a history of the Ottawa move- ment and their constitution in French and English. It is officially announced that Ottawa has cone out. GO's first public dance. June 17. at Pcstalozzi College Mas a success with over 100 gays and straights in attendance. The next dance, which will be announced a week before by an ad in the personal coltan of the Caauu CcUzcn, is expec- ted to be held on July 22 or 29, at 160 Chapel at Rideau.*

A lent real

The gay political scene in M'-trUreal is virtually non-exist- eiit^dt this time. The flOfi-t dt Ubefiatton dzi Homoiexuets [FLH] underwent a one month period of reorganization in May and lias moved to new quarters at tlie corner of Sanguinet and St. Cath- erine Streets.

In mid-June, tlie new FLM centre was opened by a small in- vitation only crowd whose numbers were swelled by the sudden app- earance of the "appal I ingly boor- ish organ of lav; and order, the Montreal police. Everyone was arrested for being present in a blind pig (sic) or more coll- oquially, being in an unlicensed premise selling liquor. .Jone of the arrested has appeared in court as of yet and the consen- sus seems to be to lay low at FLU until all the cases are dealt with.

Meanwhile two new groups, both nameless, have originated out of a series of seminars at McGill devoted to gay liberation. One group is trying to ally it- self with the Quebecois gay com- munity to start a group that would involve itself in the struggle for independence in Quebec. The other will continue to work in the Lnglish gay com- munity in and around Sir George Williams and McCiU Universities. Both projects are still in the planning states and unlikely to materialize before the faW.'ir

^fVLiiJiA^on and

THE BODY POLITIC

Buffalo

The fight for acceptance and rec- ognition for Buffalo gays is a heavy one against Mafia-run bars, police- harassment, and discriminatory laws. Toronto is paradise by comparison, and Buffalonions make frequent pilgrimmages here in large numbers; but things are fast-changing for the better: the success of Buffalo's Gay Pride Week proved it.

To open the week's festivities last June 10th. the Weic Vo\k State CoatitLon 0^ Gay C^gatUiaUcfW held a public meeting attended by delegates representing 17 of the state's approx- imately 30 gay groups. The meeting dealt with plans for a demonstration at tlie Democratic Convention in Miami beach; and with proposals to start gay groups in small centres where gays are not yet organized; but primarily strategy was discussed to bring a bill out of committee in the State Legislature which would stop discrimination against gays in housing and jobs. Hopefully, the solidarity indicated by this meeting will help give New York gays the political power needed to effect real change. Their next meeting is scheduled for October at Utica, New York.

Other events during Buffalo Gay Pride Week included movies, rap sessions ranging from "Drag" to "Politics and Gays", a staged representation of Albee's loo StoitJ, poetry readings, a costume ball, as well as a talk by gay novelist Leo Skir.

The week's activities were organ- ized by members of T/ic MaXtadune. SocittiJ C'o the MiagJAJ. F'lOiitLeA, Inc., the city's original liomophile organization. MSNF, by the way, has absolutely no connection Kitli other .^nerican Mattachine groups; the name was clioseii 5 years ago because

of its the[i. oj\iy very discrete association with the homophile community at a time when apparently it was deemed "not wise" to use the term homosexual outrightly, Times have clianged; but unfortunately, altliough MSNF offers services similar to CHAT'S C24-hour crisis intervention and community centre are proposed for the future), too many of its adherents still feel the need to hide behind the safe ambiguity and indirectness of the word "Mattachine". None the less, one cannot deny the constructive nature of their work; and already MSNF's efficient counselling service is known and used by many of the city's service groups and social workers.

A few of its members, wishing to expand tlieir activities in a more pol- iticized direction, founded Buf^f^aic Gay AcXA.vU-ti; which is, ready to step in where MSNF fears to tread. Already, by confronting a downtown bar - "Stage Pigale" - where up to the present not even the most reserved expression of affection between gays has been allowed, change of policy is in the offing. Mattacliine's polite letters were to no avail.

Gaij UbeAaJU.on ffiont has a group which concentrates its activities on involving the State University at Buffalo community; and functions mainly as a social group. It meets informally every Friday evening in a cafe on campus.

bubiani UiUXA.ng is the only Buffalo group catering to the needs of women only.

An interesting organization formed in response to the Nation's political situation is called Dcmodrt-ti ^01 Caij Ziglitii [working closely with the nation- wide group Gay C^Xize.n6 ;^ot McGovsAn]. It supports Senator McGovern, who, incidentally: "Pledges the full moral and legal authority of his presidency toward restoring and guaranteeing first- class citizen richts for homosexual ly-

	PAGE 17
^	f)~^

	^^^^*
	"Uho needs Charlie Brown?"

Miami

Abus caravan bringing 6,000 gays from all parts of continental U.S.A. arrived in Mi"ami on July 10. Sponsored by tlie National Coalition of Gay Organ- izations, the group held a demonstra- tion and all-night vigil outside the convention hall. Inside the convention the gay rights proposal for the plat- form of the Democratic Party, Minority Report Number Eight was presented and defeated at five a.m. Wednesday July 12. The proposal was originally intended for presentation between nine and eleven p.m. on Tuesday July 11, along with the other minority repl

other minority reports on abortion, tax reform and a guaranteed annual income.. However the arrival of Govenor George Wallace on the convd

Wallace on the convention floor, and the presentation of his delegation's minor- ity reports on anti-busing legislation, prayer in schools etc. deliberately pushed the gay rights bill out of prime time and into the early, hours of the morning.

The first speaker in favour of the Gay Rights Proposal was James Foster, a San Francisco delegate and member of the Society for Individual Rights tS.I.R.) who eloquently expressed examples of the oppression and discrimination faced daily by gay people. He described homo- sexuals as "the minority of minorities" and stated that "a homosexual is neither allowed to push a broom in the Smith- sonian Institute nor hang a picture on its walls," Foster was followed by Madeleine Davis, a lesbian delegate from Buffalo, New York who articulated the double oppression experienced by gay women, and stated that acceptance of this plank in the Democratic platforni would give the party the support of twenty million gay citizens.

oriented individuals". Madeline Davis, the president of MSNF, was elected during state primaries as a delegate to the Deinocratic Convention; no mean acliieve- ment considering the fact that she is known publically as a Iiomosexual.

So, when in Buffalo, support and participate! Make contact through these addresses: BuiJiJa^o Gay AcjUvl6t6

Apt. 6, 34 Ashland Ave. VemocJiatJ) {^o/i Gay ZLghXA

c/o MSNF Lz6bAJin& UniXA.ng

c/o MSNF Gay Citizzn6 ^oa McGovzah

185 Elk St., Albany, NY 12210 Gay LLbeAaXA.on Fiont

c/o Don Holley, 178 Royal Ave. Mottocfu-nc Sode-ty of, -the W-iag(Wa FiontizA, Ihc.

Box 975, Ellicott Square Stn.

Buffalo 14205 phone (716)684-5315

[Meetings on alternate Sun. evenings

at the Unitarian Church at Elmwood

and West Ferry. ]^

bhe concluded her address by saying to the delegates that she was speak- ZZZ ing on behalf of "your sisters and ^^ your daughters, your sons and >cur brothers." The speaker in opposition to the Gay Rights Proposal was a 21-year old female McGovern delegate who stated that the Majority Report Platform already contained adequate protection for gay civil liberties, and that gay rights was more a state than a federal issue. When she •'' stated that the Gay Rights Proposal did not give adequate protection to children, and in effect encouraged child molesting, she was interrupted by cries of: "Lies, lies" from the gay delegation on the floor. When the proposal came to a voice vote from the delegates, it was loudly defeated by a chorus of "Nays"; while gay sisters and brothers stood to- gether with raised arms linked. Poet Allen Ginsberg, interviewed after the defeat, remarked that America's great poet Walt Whitman had been fired from his job as a government customs inspector because of the homo sexual overtones in his book Lcauci ofi'GAaiit. C.B.S. television was the only major network to give live cove- rage to the gay rights proposal. The others filled in the time with interviews regarding other issues. ■jV

photo: KlIITAKER

New yprk

Representatives of 17 New York State gay groups met on June 11 dis- cussing political strategy for the summer presidential conventions. In a position paper, it was decided not to endorse a presidential cand- idate. Despite George McGovern's favourable statements about gay rights to homophile organisations; no presidential candidate has come out publicly and openly for gay rights. T^r

Torino

Mario Mieli^

(ii ftlORV. mmbci) o^ f'UlafX d-utfUbutcng tm^tctb in San Remo,

The "FiotUe. UixltaAxo 0mo&eJ>6u.alz ZivoCuzi.cnaju.0 Itatiano" {FUORl] , liave printeil the second issue (since the first was titled Number 0, this is Num- ber 1) of their excellent gay libera- tion paper, fUCfiV. fUORV. (translated "COME OUT!"] is written by an editorial collective consisting of an almost equal number of gay women and men. The collec- tive describes the Italian atmosphere as one in whicli the only tolerance and "forgiveness" for homosexuality has been fame, such as that aciiieved by Italy's film directors and wr'ters. FUORT. invited all Italian gay sisters and brothers to COME OUT and discover the body as liberation and find free- dom from the present society which "uses the body primarily to increase production". The Issue 1 editorial (entitled "Who Speaks for the Homo- sexual?") and lead article deal with the first public gay demonstrations in Italy. Gays from Italy, Belgium, Norway, and Holland demonstrated against an International Sexology Conference in San Remo, Italy, wjiich condemned homosexuality as an "infantile regressive" expression. FUORl'. reports liiat the straiglit Italian press gave favourable coverace to tlie };ay viewpoint^

Marcuse's Visit

On the evening of May 29, Herbert Marcuse, philospher and author of several books discussing the need for social re\'olution, concluded the Tofionto Stax public lecture series witli an address on liie positive aspects of nationalism as a force against cultural-economic imperialism. During the question period, a gay brother asked Marcuse about the situation of homosexuals after a socialist revolution - expressing his apprehension when considering the reactionary macho oppression of Castro's Cuba. Marcuse explained that the true revolution will remove the restrictions of the bourge- ios state and will make way for the: emergance of biologically new women and men.

While Marcuse was being scurried off by members of the Stevi and intellec- tual elite, this reporter went up to ask about a letter and copies of T.'ic Body PoUUc which had been mailed to him three weeks earlier. Me acknow- ledged receiving the package and as- sured me that he had "even looked at them". As he was led out the door, he turned around and wished us good luck^

Ory Grant

Vancouver's GAA has been given a $9,500 OFY grant to investigate how existing social services relate to gays; and to recommend any necessary changes.^

Copenhagen

As most everyone knows, Denmark is the pornographii; capital of the world. Thus, not surprisingly, Dan- ish legislation witli respect to hom- osexuality is liberal with the age of consent being 18, and not a great deal of overt social prejudice against gays. Yet, it is certainly not a sexual Utopia. Thus, on Saturday, June 24th, about six hundred gay men and women gathered in Ftelledpark to comemorate the St. Cliristopher Street Riots of 1969. Those present repre- sented a good cross-section of Cope- cnhagen's gay community: young and old, trendy and hippy, conservative and liberal, dedicated gay liberatio- nists, conservative homophi les, and those with just a curiosity to satisfy. The odd heterosexual,, a few with their children were also present. With dogs running about, and an ice-cream vendor peddling his goods, not even the light rain dampened the enthusiasm, which is marked by a more serious demeanor and less hoopla than in North American gay gatherings. The open-air gathering was org- anized and sponsored by the 1948 Group, which is Denmark's major hom- ophile organization (although a more activist group of gays has been formedj The program consisted of a rock band which played a few songs to set the mood, before the speaker began. While, naturally, tlie speeches were in Danish, through the help of friend-translator i understood that one radical woman --straight--delivered an attack upon the social sanctification of the nuclear family, the male chauvinism of many gay males and the psychologically- individually oppressive nature of role playing. She was well-received. The speech by the president of the 1948 Group was less militant, centering

THE BODY POLITIC

WISSWO

Angelo Pezzana<

lUtk 0 5(i„ '"NOBOVV HAS THE RIGHT TC REPRESS OIR SEXIWLITy") agaJMt tlia ,)aictit ccngftcii in San Rcjtio.

of T/ie Bodij Potcttc edUcU^t CoiEccttuc.

^n the evening of May 18, The Body PoZ-

ctic sponsored a public forum with Den-

about police practices and social inequa riis Altman as the guest speaker. Over

ity confronting the homosexual as prejudicial inheritance laws. Both talks were short and to the point, so that the rock group could shortly resume with the congregation singing a song about homosexual unification, something, of course, which should not be limited by national boundaries ."i^

O.H.R.C. CONT.

Ills letter to the Globe and riail stated that members of the Legislature arc often subject to unwarranted ac- cusations and charges by individuals and groups in an attempt to arouse public controversy and sympathy to tlieir causes.

Despite Mr, Leluk's denial he and Lome MaeckCParry-Sound) , W.J. NuttalUProntenac-Addington^ and E IV.Martel (Sudbury-East) were all observed chuckling like fat Rotarians and aping 'sissy' mannerisms.' Could it be that these mannerisms then are standard behaviour for these members? If 50 Queen's Park is aptly named.

Despite the behaviour of this adolescent few, we feel that our visit to Queen's Park , and indeed the en- tire lobbying campaign succeeded insofar as our aims intended. The public and the legislators were made aware or our interest, presence, and potential political power. Mike Cassidy, the Minister of Labour, Fern Guindon, and others have shown themselves to be responsive to our requests. To others we were a diver- sion to chortle about over drinks and cigars. We shall see who shall have the last laugh in the future, both in public actions and at the polling booth. The Gay Rights Lob- by has begun, is gaining strength, and will not be silenced until we have achieved the basic rights and freedoms we deserve. Hugh Brewster

West Berlin

Homoizxadlte. Aktion WeJ-tbe^tin IHAW) hosted a weekend of film and dis- cussion on homosexuality here for 200 guests on May 19, Groups discussed the personal and political problems of gay liberation. It was decided that gays need to organize to raise the con- sciousness levels of their brothers and sisters. The conference was avoided by the more conservative gay groups

the area. HAW organizers considered the meeting a great success. tIV

Altman visits Toronto

Australian Dennis Altman, author of Homosexual : Oppression and Liberation , visited Toronto from May 16-20 as guest

150 people attended the meeting. After brief introductory remarks, Dennis init- iated a dialogue with members of the audience. The discussion related to the ideas expressed in Homosexual, and to a :omparison of the gay lib movements in Australia and Canada, Altman sees many similarities between our socio-pol itical structures, and feels more optimistically about the possibilities for social evolu- tion in our two countries than he does about the USA. He suggested that the divis- ion and violence which is so much a part of American society, is even reflected in the efforts oT the gay movement, Dennis was very complimentary of T/ie BodiJ ?oti.tic, which he feels expresses both the joy and the more serious political nature of gay' liberation.

After a few days relaxation in the city, Dennis left for New York to continue is North American tour ."jr

A COURT-IN' CONT, Criminal records can be expunged (in reality placed in storage) after five years for an indictable offense, two years for a summary. If you have an old record you should see about getting it removed. CHAT can advise you on this.

Finally, if you are arrested-- call CHAT right away! We are here to help. Do not feel guilty about bt-ing a komohZxaaZ. This is not an offense and never has been. Be care- ful how you invite someone to have sex with you and a£im//4 suggest a private place and never grope a stranger.

MB.' TGA and TBP have demanded tlie removal of the nebulous terms "gross indecency" and "indecent act" from the Criminal Code; and to change the equally nebulous term "in private'' to "a con- dition of privacy". George Hislop

Begins at Home

So»e readers of the Body Politic have questioned the excessive use of "Gay Lib Jargon" In Ihe parer. They feci (and this feeliri It shared hy scne nenhcrs of the collective] that our ability to express our Ideas re- lating to an analysis of gay oppression and a stratCK)' for the goy mo^encnl !• hnrnperpd hy the use of certain "In" terws and sociological phraseology uhlch are not understood by >any of the people that fc arc trying to

It If not possible to lolve thi; proble4D all at once because The Body Politic is attempting to satisfy a wide range of interests and varying levels of consciousness anong the thousands of gays and straights Mho read the paper.

I think tie can begin by, wherever explaining and defining cert-

Greece and Roar, there arose the opp- Tcssite poBer of the state to legallie and perpetuate the ruIeriMp of the ■ealthy class over the vorilng »asi. Co^Minal ownership of all property gave Hay to private ounershlp for the ■ealthy. and instttut tonal lied aon- ogoBous aarrlage appeared which enabli-' the individual father to hand down property through the faaily line to the son. The very ter» faaily. which caBe into eilstence along with the systcB of private property, originally signified the doaestlc slavery of »i>«en. As Engels says:

"Faaulus aeans doaestic slave.

fiBilia is the aggregate number

Ijves belonging to one Ban...

■- trxpression was invente«J by the

liocjns to designate a new social or-

^jntsB, the head of which had a wife,

thildren. and a nuabcr of slaves under

hit authority and according to Roaan

1 iv. the right of life and death over

.lU of then." (Origin of the Family.

I Tivaic Property and the St.ite)

It is not generally known that ...l Damage was originally insiit- ' J for the propertied classes alone. -orVing people, sustained by their . liultural labour, sinply mated as .' ' had in the past, since in pria- ■ e society legal marriage was neither i-^sary nor desirable. But with the f of urban life and church, oarr- .( was gradually extended to Ihe ijstnal population so that working I'l would be legally obliged to supp- ort wives and children who had no other aeuns of support. Even today this function of the family is still- most important

Us most important economic and social contribution to the maintenance of the present system. Social condition- ing which pushes men towards growing up to find a good job, and wife and raise a faaily; and which pushes women towards puiimg their dolls aside and marrying and raising real children I'CKins in the family and Is continued through the educational system within the broader guidelines of what is nniiJercd desirable and it acceptable

i which 0

all too familiar to ocabers of the collective but new to many of our readers. One such concept which I want to deal with in this article IS the term "the nuclear family". A look through back issues of the paper will reveal that the Institution of the family as we know it in this society Is a key factor in the opp- ression of not only gays, but women and straight men as well. Such a look, however, will not reveal a definition of the ters nor an explanation of wh> the family exists and how it is used

Better late than never, 1 will attcapt TO define and explain the oppressive character of the nuclear faaily by tracing its historical origins and dcvelopaent and, in a subsequent article, describe how it functions today. This analysis is of central importance to a broader un- derstanding of the roots of gay opp- ression and tasks of the gay liber-

The foBily; as we know it in aodcm capitalist society, coaposcd of a father, aolher and iheir children; has not always existed and undoubt- edly will give ^ay to other forms of social relationships and structures in the future. Contrary to popular myth. It IS not a "natural", li^t- able for« of huaon relationship destin- ed to last eternally tKrough all ctr- c^MStances and social condition*.

unnrr^ity of Toronto Bookrooa

York University Booksl

Tiaes Square Books - 169 Vonga St.

Olyapia tooks • SST Yonge St.

a Kook Cellar - 750 Yonge St. » 141 Torkvllle Ave.

g^ Lichtaon's News Depot - 111 York

^ S C M Book Rooa - 33J iloor St, ".

^ Sooper Store - 341 tloor St. ■.

@} Varsity Rooks • 324 Bloor SI. M.

^ Volume One - 417 SpadlnaAve.

^ CHAT Centre - 58 Cecil St.

Wl Glad Day • 4 Kensington Ave.

m Librar> Slcnnbath - S Nellesley K

» The Book Centre - 657 Yonge St.

g Mama Cooper's - 530 Yonge St.

m Roman Sauna Baths - 740 Bay St.

^ The Blue Jay Club - S36 Pape St.

Si Club Sll ' &11 Yonge St.

@ The Manatee - lie St. Joseph St.

Q) Minnie Price's Health Foods ^ - S55 Pallianent St.

^ Tlie Garden - 632a Vonge St.

SSj Cine Books - 692a Vonge St.

S: Lovceraft - 108 Vorlvllle Ave.

S; Yellow Ford Truck - 39 Boldwin ^ - 341 Bloor Kcst

® Vanguard Book Store - .^34 Queen K.

@l Goldbcrry's Health t-oods ^ - 14 Kcllosley St. «.

^ Spoken Cyclo Club - 19 St, Joseph

Ql Word for Word ■ 78 Cerrard St.W.

TO^ He 6 My Friends - 337 Queen St.W.

^ Pick-a-Pockct Bookshop ^ • 43 Ronccsvales Ave.

aim

Vlval

and procreation of the h b*»od on siaple hunting and fooj lathering acttvitics. Ihe econoaic unit 4-,.1-n as tK, matriarchal gens oi

•H-r-r ■rrither clan provided the livl wtiich best of that period ■^^"c., .jf ,h,,r ■■.rr -fi.ch thev

luntl.oo. u<4 all iKe

»ly perforaed father • II the (hlUrcn of tn.

an> indiviJual man for her .u^jciur:, nor was any child dependent upon any individual father or mother for its support. This was described quite eloquently by an Iroquios Indian to an early French aissionary. Father L« Jcune, when asked how he could be so fond of children adnitiedly not

his own; "Thou hast no sense. Vou

love only your own children; we love all the children of the tribe... He are all father and mother to thea."

The disintegration of this coMunal society began some six to eight thous- and years ago with the introduction of large-scale agriculture and stock raising. This brought about the aaierial surpluses required for a aore efficient econoay and a new aodc of life. Farming requires groups of people stabilized around plots of ground, tilling the sou, raising livestock, and engaging in village industries. The old sprawl- ing tribal coaaune began to break down, first into separate clans, then into separate fara families often called '-exteaded fa*ilies". and fin- ally into the individual family wtitch •e call (he ■■n».clear family".

Theie material surpluses also laid the basil (or the devclafwent of a pii' . .rtr^ .41 cr, 4 alBorlty wlw C^M

■ Ion t)M great " . people. Starting

• I kiagdoas ai^ **' ■iiriltiatloas of

t., :

lai

lords,

the family as we know it today and the social system it thrives in tend to be self-perpetuating.

Neman and children are forced into 3 situation of being economically de- pendent on the husband and father. Each family unit is expected to "make It" or end up in poverty together, essentially in coapetltion with other families, ftebcllious woaen or children arc held in check by the head of the faaily who IS held legally responsible for then by the laws of church and state. Host woaen who break away fron this situation, for one reason or another, or whose husbands leave Ihea, are forced into the position of becoa- >r._ a welfare aothor. often living .11 .1 vubxistence level until she is "I'jck " enough to find another aan.

H^ny of the basic needs of woaen wiihlng to live IndeprrJcnt lives arc denied thea, even thvufn they have been recognlied by the ri>-t«nt Federal Gov'ts own loyal CoaaisMon o«i the Status of Voaen. These Include, equal pay for equal work, repeal Of the ab- ortion laws. ade<|uaie 24 hour day care facilities, end to streoaiag in the school* etc., etc.

I will deal further with thl*

itl

Ihe (MMilf in ay next Brlam Batia

HAMILTON

McMaster University Bookstore WINDSOR

Community Resource Centre -3210 Sandwich ave. HISSISSAUGA, Ontario

Insight Book - J22S Erin Hills

Parkwoy WATERLOO

Hniversity of Waterloo Bookttore

^ OTTAWA

^ Ye Market Book Shoppe • 97 Claren<

S) The "Store", Unieentre,

^ Carleton University

Si STRATFOBll

^ News Depot - llS Downie St.

S) KlfJCSTON

ich Books - 225 frincess St.

^ SUDBURY «1

^ Bullseye Book Store - 7 Frood St. g

g LONDON gj

® University of Western Ontario §

^ Bookstore O)

Q) que BBC - MONTREAL Kj

® Sauna Aquarius - UBS Crescent ^ ^ Librairie d'Avant Carde - 226 est, ^

g) rue Ste-Cathertne ^

§) QUEBEC CITY ®

Si ^ d

» Rue Jean - 908 Rue Jean g

® . S

^ SASkATQlEWAN ^

® SASKATOON Ql

81 Bi

g Sol Store ■ 650 Broadway Ave. S;

» BRITISH COLUMBIA - VANCOUVER S ^ Vanguard Books - 120S Oranville St.Q

® USA a

Q) NEW TORt, N.Y. Mj

® Oscar Wilde Keaorlal »ook*hop B|

^ 291 Mercer St. §

® COLUMBUS. OHIO Si

^ GAA - Ita 311 ■ Ohio Union §>

S 1739 H. High St. S

® NORfOLi:. ViaclWlA Q)

^ Clear Light - 117 College Place g

^ CAHBRIDCE, MASS. »

tThc Red Book - 91 River St. Q)

_ WASMlNtTTOH. O.C. S

a ' a

g Earth Works • 1724 10th St. 1. A

S) SAW FmuClSCO. CAlltCUttA § § Modem Tiaes took Store 9 - SSOO 17th St. Ql OMAT MITJUN

iiaaxx. VKUMD Co^aadlua look shop 240 Coadea High St. IbwsamoB'i Book Shop ltd. - 5 CalodoalMi M

THE BODY POLITIC

D COMMUNITY FORUM 0

Bi uiti sifTTMS. It IS nignly unlikely trwt we One oj tlie Mst obvious renson$ "'** '* ""' ^^ Quarrel >n

BncmaRS asd sistcas.

Ii i* unfonunnte thai no one ia» brltlM 10 diicust the contents of two articles nhieh sppc«red In previoui. ir»ucs of T"/ic Bodu Potcttc. The article! were oniUled "A Pro- groB for G»y Liberation" and "A Strstvfr '^"f Cay Liberation" anJ were published in the first and third issues of the paper respective!)'.

The reason that (ni« mould r>e considered disappointing is that the ideas expressed in those articles ( whether or not you agree with them) are of fundamental inportunce to gay liberationisis. Wiat was posed was the question of program -- of what demands can rally the most signi- ficant numbers of gay people into the struggle to end our oppression and to which demands we should give priority, and what central nethods of action we should pursue in work- ing to win these demands.

Kobody who is serious about gay liberation can ignore such questions. Without a program and strategy that correspond to the ob- jective conditions with which we are confronted, the movement can- not expect to experience a rate of growth proportionate to it's pos- sibilities, or even a rate of significant, growth at all. Poli- tical and social movements do not go forward by some kind of ine- vitable process of osmosis.

And in fact the gay liberation movement in Toronto has not grown in accordance with its potential. Torontc Cay Action, which is the most explici- tly gay liberation group in this city (as contrasted with, but not opposed to, gay organiiations which predomi- nantly orient themselves to provi- ding social services) has remained relatively stagnant in terms of the number of activists in it until very recently, when we have attracted a modest number of new people, growth Joes not reflect the real po- tential, it IS sufficient to contrast it with the remarkable success of Tfte Bodi/ PoCUi.c. I have lived in Toronto something tike IJ years and never before seen a noncommercial paper, attempting to voice the needs and aspirations of an oppressed- minority achieve such instantaneous success. It is no small achieve- ment to run a self-sustaining paper of this nature, let alone to do it with the first issue.

Which leads us to the ques- tion -- why the discrepancy be- tween the response to "TllE BODY POLITIC" and the relatively slow growth of TCA?

It cannot be readily explained by simply saying that a lot of gay people will read our paper but at this time ate not will to fully come out and be active, although that is certainly true of a very large number.

For example, of the people who participated in the August 28 rally on Parltwnent liill last year, many have never attended any of our meet-

ings

The

I Ic:

ser extent of the April IS gay < tingent in the antiwar demonstra- tion. These two actions, aside from the Bcetlng for Dennii Altman, are the only major actions which were given serious advance preparation.

In this lies a good deal of the reason for the slow growth of TGA. One shot, unprepared, and unprepared, and unpubllcized actions •re simply not capable of mobil- iiing significant numbers of peo- ple. Hhot happens, of course, is that in such cases only the relativ- ely sun activist core of TGAer turn up.

In ay ostloation there are some basic reasons why TCA (and probably this Is tnie of ether gay liberation organiiations) has not developed as it Bight have during the past year.

The aaln reason U the fact that we have not developed a con- sistent campaign around any central issue. In the prevtoui articles referred to. Brian Waitc developed the concept that we should build such • /^•■P*'sn araifu) the Inclusion of "sexual orientation" in the Oitario ikmMt, (tights Coda. Mlthoui reiterating his arguaenis, the •aln point of this dcMnd it that ii bit at an ls«u« which Is of direct coiKcm to alaosi the

and ditcrimination -- alaosi the bluest club tis«d (ataln to ke«p us "In our plac*".

■"« t*r pop-

It IS nignly unlikely that we will wtn even the most modest of Dur demands without a high-powered cam- paign such as the one being carried on by women's liberation lo repeal the reactionary anti-abortion laws. In this context the concept that num- bers are somehow irrelevant IS ab- surd. The whole point of political demonstrations is to show the power of our numbers -- the only real pow- er we have at our disposal. Demonst- rations of a few dozen can be safely ignored; those of hundreds and thou- sands cannot — not in the long run anyway.

The antiwar movement is a case in point. No, it has not best succee- ded in ending the war. But what is responsible for Nixon's elaborate, pretentions of "winding down the war" including massive troop wiihdrawls, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans in the streets demanding an end to this genocidal assault? Is it not the antiwar movement that has made it impossible for the U.S. president to go anywhere in the coun- try without having to sneak in the back door to avoid confronting demon- trators-- and which forced Johnson out of the presidency? Is it not the antiwar rooveraent, both m the U.S. and around the world that has made the professional liars in the State Depart ment deathly afraid of telling even a fraction of the truth about the ob- scenities they are carrying out in Southeast Asia?

To ask these questions is to an- swer them.

Now f'm not arguing by any means that demonstrations are the only effective method of action. But they have been the central method of building the anttwar and feminist movenents and, in the U.S., the gay 1 Iberation movement. Aside from focusing public attention on our situation and demands, they are a pow- erful factor in developing the con- fidence of the movement and the pride and consciousness of, eventually, a very large sector of the entire gay population.

It we are to win greater numbers of our brothers and sisters to active participation in the movement we have to convince them that we're out to WIN. Nobody but those with an over- developed martyr compleit is interested in lost causes. As a socialist, I

do r

: bcli<

that ;

IS possible

ir us to achieve sexual liberatioi

I the fullest sense, within the

present social order, which has a i

ted intei ifestatic

all j

But I think it is pos- sible for us to win significant concessions. And dispite disagrceme - menls about that and possible other questions, we can all work together to achieve common goals. Time and experience will demonstrate who is right in the longcr-^aogc questions.

If wc are to win the demand for'' inclusion of sexual orientation In the Human Rights Code, we have to launch a campaign and consistently build it to a point where It is so large that it forces the government to cave In and concede us the right. It Is Illusory to think that we can win demands of this type with a couple of one-shot operations.

It IS equally an illusion to think that we're going to get any significii.it help from gay people in high places, in the vast majority of cases, they've got it made; they're part of the system and they couldn't give a damn about the rest of us.

One of the key reasons why this kind of discussion is vital is that, up until the present time, TGA has tacked any worked-out set of prior- ities, which has meant that we have tended, as a collective, to regard all our actions as of relatively the same importance. This really isn't true.

For example, let's compare the issue of police entrapment in the Park- Side with the case of the Hunan Rights Code. It is certainly important that we fight police entrapment, one of the most blatant examples of the oppression of gays in this society, but It has to be recognised that this issue IS of direct personal con- cern to only a small fraction of the But the question of

job dtsi

i of (

.JBCdiaie relevance to almost the entire gay population. Again we could •ake and anolofy to the antiwar aove- ■ent.

! most obvious reasons why that movement is far larger pro- portionally in tcrtas of nunbers i n the U.S. than here is that is Amer- ican GI's who arc being sacrificM as cannon fodder: it is American youth who face the draft; it is the millions of Americans living below the poverty level who are denied the most elemen- tary human needs while billions are spent on the war.

Ke cannot campaign equally on all issues. Like any other movement we have to pick and choose, to decide on what relative emphasis to give to particular questions on the basis of an assessment of what rallying power they have to build the movement and carry it forward.

The argument for making the amen- dment of the Human Rights Code our central focus now has been made. It is the responsibility of anyone who does not agree to pose an alternative.

There are other concepts put for- ward in the movement which are in rea- lity (although quite possibly not in the minds of the peopole who hold them) in contradiction to the perspec- tive of building a mass movement.

One of these is the counter- culture theory (as advocated, for ex- ample, in Charles Reith's The Greening of America). It amounts roughly to the idea that as more and more people adopt alternative lifestyles (the def-. ltc^nati^

j depending c

s) '

(ill <

Lety of

that i

• possible

personally "liberated" text of general oppression. This idea is not only a dangerous delusion in terras of a sirategc for a change, but can have other harmful consequences. Not the least of these is and elitist idea that selfstylcd "liberated" gays are somehow superior to "unliberated"

eays.

Now it IS true that the more conscious we are about the nature and origin of our oppression, we can be- gin to break through many of the fears and hangups which society has imposed on us, particularly in terms of interpersonal relationships. That is not the same thing as liberation. he can be as "liberated" as we want and still get fired from jobs, slan- dered and ridiculed, harassed by cops, beaten up. discriminated against in myriad ways. Oppression is not just In wjr heads, It is part of material reality.

: to >iuair< eryone's right to what- ever lifestyle they chose to atteapt to follow; It IS to object to the idea that those who eloct "alterna- tive" lifestyles have some right to make pretentious judgements on those who do not or cannot. Depending oq circumstances, we do not all have the same options; we do not live in an egalitarian society; such a socie- ty has yet to be created anywhere in

the t

rid.

What is perliaps most ironic about the theory of counterculture is that it is anything but new or radi- cal, as some of its proponents claim. It is in fact a variant of the trad- itional liberal concept that socie- ty's problems are more educational than political. In other words, if we had a better grade of people, we'd be doing fine.

Unfortunately, reality is far more complex than that. 1 am not saying that just in order to be po- lemical. The fairly wide popular- ity of the counterculture theory is

in la:

: becaL

up doing their own thing

and humane ways and the revolution will

have arrived. Sounds nice but it won't

work.

in the first place, in order to change the traditional value structure, . you have to destroy the foundation on which it rests. Value structures do not spontaneously generate out of thin air but are rooted in the material reality of the socio-economic system and generally reflect the needs of the small minority of extremely wealthy men who exercise decisive influence over an economy whose only, aim is profit -- at an) cost. It is false to say that it is in everyone's interest to see the system go. The system, with all its attendant evils, happens to be highly profitable to that rich minority, but not to the rest of us.

Secondly, this concept grossly unde- restimates the ability of the system to co-opt and manipulate the best of intentions and the highes of ideals. One example is the monumental refurbishing of the image of the racist bigot Lyndon Johnson into a supposed cham- pion of Black civil liberties. Another is Nixon's inanipuKition of the massive antiwar senlimtnts to get himself elected on the promise that he uas going to end the war; or McGovern's en- listadnt of thousand of radical youth in his campaign. Even before the Dem- ocratic convention he dropped several of the more progressive planks (such as gay civil liberties and the right to abortion) in the usual wheeling and dealing tp\ keep the Democratic "coal- ition" from coming apart at the seams.

Thirdly, being against racism in your own head is not in any way equi- valent to working against it. A slum dweller'? consciousness does not remove the slum; that same conscious- ness employed in collective action is what can bring about change.

Another concept, which could be said to flow from the counterculture

appeals to the clement of wishful thinking which exists in nearly all of us. After all. the concept of changing society simply through ado- pting supposedly revolutionary life- styles is, in many ways, far more attractive than the sometimes slow, frequently difficult and often tedious (but also often inspiring) task of going about building a mass

But I

allot

:eption of things

be disturbed by how we would like

Dear friends,

I've gotten the last couple of copies of your paper at the Oscar Wilde Bookshop and dig on it a whole lot. The Body PoUtic seems to w* to have a combination of sensitivity and good politics whicB"! don't find in many other gay papers.

One specific reason I'm writing Is the bit that appeared in the sec- ond to last Issue about the incident at Third World Books, I am a member of the collective that puts out the Liberated Guardian, a national left newspaper in the US, and they are one of our distributors. I'd be int- erested in getting more information on what happened, as - though I've not talked with other collective mem- bers yet - 1, personally at least, would not want a paper I worked on distributed at a place that oppresses my Gay brothers and sisters. If It seemed like that was so. I'd like to figure out with you alternate places and ways of getting the Liberated Guardian out in Toronto and how to let other American publications know to avoid a sexist distributor.

So.... write soon I hope and keep on doing your fine paper.

Much love, Richard Ruth

*«ri>€;i?<F::?«i?*c:?*Ci?*Ci?<:^i*t

Conununity Forum

The opinions ex- pressed here are those of our readers. However, if you wish to have your letter printed you must supply us with your name and address. Ke will not P'''>jish this information if you desire to remain anonymous.

Tilt BODY POllTir

f-UchclaKgclo: The Dying Captive

tXCOHHUNICATBD

John the baptist, with a long white pubic beard. walks the roads at night with his honeyed locusts yelling all the dreams yr ever gonna dream, but yr always asleep, or stoned, or fucking yx face off, you who worship scripture in the triangle/3nai Is hammered into yr he«d.sec?tooVL root in yr skull (spread out into invisible antlers, here, in my left hand, orphee, the cock, in my right .cegeste, flower of the old victroU with a lolling tongue, (in ay aouth.see.his masters voice

John Less ire

I AUL HARlAil: Pfuoiuic Hon G^atac

I an a prisoner.

You arc a prisoner;

Prisoner of the world Inside us.

Prisoner of the world outside us.

Mar i ah/ 69

Mariah is a noted San Francisco gay poet who was busted for showing love, and these prison poems arc more than symbols just as the prison is more than a symbol of the society which produced it, being more like the essence. He has tried to preserve his humanity in these poems, and has succeeded, talking of love between inmates, brute guards^ friends, the spirit of tlie river, holy communion with lizard and gravel, and, most beautiful of all. the way he does it, sacrificial electrocution:

WALLS BREATHE

It was so quiet you could hear

The walls breathe. It's almost mid

Night, I heard someone whisper

Down the galleywalk. Across were barred

Windows where you could see the licking Flames. The matches lit as candles Reflecting against the dark outside. To light 3 candle in the memory of . . .

It was so quiet you could hear

Him fry. The metal cap placed On his head. Wc were all there Invisibly we circled the chambre Where sacrament was a piece of flesh, A piece of body. Silence to a brother.

Reflecting windows and on the walls Throughout the jail. The matches burned Kc remember the silence of the walls The flame licking our fingers, our bones We have to live with : you, a candle In the window burning our minds.

We burned our fingers while they Burned you and yours. A rite Reflecting in the burning windows.

If you're getting sick of the sweet sentimental shit tossed around by certaii "gay poets", then perhaps you can renew your faith in the revolutionary voice of The PoeX. with Mariah.

John Lemaire

DELPHI

Apple me word song then, she said, I am capture to your word run. You are Poet, fish adore your bed And air is slay to you, made for you

the sun. Water is froth to you, and never wrath

to your words' wonder. Ah no, I said, under water song Am I, bubbles below air burst; Fish are cold blood - earth not cursed For my step nor blessed neither. Ah she said Master - wrong how wrong! Earth fronds carpet to you rightly so - No I think you're wrong I said no no

Settle your mind in cloves.

Cup your hand to shield your sun dense eyes.

Talk with me now. Speak to me of loaves

and the fortunate fishes, the sapient skys,

■en who read the lightnings' brief stamp,

the prescient eagles witless in their roost.

Speak of how the oidnigt ^ tousled lamp

might bode a city's ruin, a triumph, a plague loosed

upon a people not surprised, though battered,

not appalled, though broken: dull in the face

of the accomplished fact, for then what mattered

ms the vision, the knowing the right world's place.

As you speak of sacking mirrors, hunming birds,

the inflected, patterned sands. Let ■« search your eyes for eagles. Let me watch your fluttering, open hands.

Gerald Hannon

soeeninO/CDNTtl

THE BODY POLITlL

rice, "life i»^ enp..." Don't take

> tactics too seriously, 7v Hut w Bight add. also

t} t^r liM chapter it is quite evident that Tyler is a coasentator on ever.vthlnf ind an undcrstonder of nothing. His knowledge is vast, his references are all encoapassing. but his organisation is chaotic, lie scees well infonaed. on the events that arc taking place in various Boveaents around hia, but rather than using these assets to sake a considered, coherent stateacnt on the thcnc ot hOBOsexual Ity in the movies as prt- sented by the Establishoent of the BOtion picture industry, he carries on, throwing his knowledjic around, aissing the point as if he is at a ■arathon cocktail party for incur- able coBp chatters. Tlie last chapter Is an attempt to put the Liberation Bovenent into the theory. "All the Sexes: Their I'owcr and Its Possib- ilities" is a sort of stand Tyler tries to take. "Morality, in practice if not in theory, is first and last the individual's possession." This Is connected with his first state- acnt that, "An idea, any idea, is al- together a BOral thing..." It follows that,". . .there are as many sexes as there arc individuals..." and what the presence of homosexes in this showcase of movies reveals is the ab- surdity of both penis power and the power of the penis-cum-vagina in society. Finally Tyler says what he really wanted to sty all along. "Free the vaginas from their 'hot pantsV Free the pcnlscs from their jock- straps! " These twin slogans, in thi ■ place anyway, may seem like wanton camping, but camp is a satiric in- strument with inherent deftness. Its use in behalf of total sexual freedom is entirely legitimate, altogether benign."

Perhaps Parker Tyler thought he was using camping as a "satiric in- siruaenl" against the enslavement of stereotype homosexuality and its attendant aspects on the screen. His alternative to what he attacks? "The concept of unisex reflects a world intuition: the true freedom of na.tural selection." Tyler should have made ■nd developed this point much earlier in his book. Of course, as he writes. "...film art can never be a set of good or bad super illustrations of Estlblishocnl sex..." If he had sau'. this in the first place instead ot cartying on about Mae Kest as the Hother Superior of the Faggots and the "H> dears, did I tell you what the. Great Escape is really about?*' type of approach, the book could have been a serious contribution to cinema literature and an infonnative inter- pretation of hoaosexuality as proLsent Bd on the screen. Of course the teapt atlon to caap n up. send everything up and carry on like a nellie queen is the piifaM that is self defeat- ing.in sow gay writing. This is sad, — ^Parker Tylcr'j Screening of the no exception. However," 17" you are not bothered by these latter contlderations the book, as « caal outing, 15 fun to read. Just skip'the Inttllectualiriog and read the faa- I Her. but entertaining party bits

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I SM a Torontonian, bom and bred, with five gonorations of roott In this An£lo-Saxon town, and today t find dtyself a itranser here, four years ago. I left, ostensibly seeking a graduate education in the big, bad city of New Vort. What I , found there was not only a degree but By identity, - an opening out of the closet that had been ay life in Toronto. For I an gay, and to be gay in Toronto m 1968 was to be isolated from faaily and friends, as well as fron others whoo 1 readily per- ceived as gay, but whose shallow, self-denigrating life style was not for ae. At that time, there was no such thing a^ young gays getting together to talk, dance, reach out to one another, help one another. The only thing 1 knew about gay life was the Hallowe'en drag show at Letros' Tavern, and that was hardly an enticement to come out.

1 have recently returned for a short visit and I see the city as an outsider. In this role, I have watched and made observations and perceptions as to what is going on here and why. Hy com- ments may please or disturb you. How, you may ask, can I possibly make such statements when 1 have so long been absent? Is it not all bound to be superficial? To this I reply that very often a clearer view of the game may be had in the stands than down on the playing fields. . -that is where I am presently sitting, on the center line, and here t= wlut i ici.-.

SUBTLE OPPRESSION

Toronto, on first Sight, presents to the uninitiated, the appearance of style, sophistication and beauty that few American cities can rival (San Francisco perhaps) - It seems that this city has some- how managed to take the best of raodern advances, with seemingly few of the penalties or drawbacks. It IS a city where busdrtvers hait for little old ladles in lilac and

residents leave their doors open to cool their 'restored' homes at night. Clubs and bars, gay and other- wise have sprung up, and porn- ography shops abound on Yonge street. She has managed to retain a basic naivitc and innocence which can be at once refreshing and confusing, for beneath the veneer of sophisticatioi there beats as provincial a pulse as ever inspired a blue law. In such an environment of growth and apparent tolerance, it would be nossible for a gay to feel that s/he has arrived, for life has been good to Canadians, and gays have shared in the material bounty. Opression does not come in the form of a 3 a.m. knock on the door, and the city is^ more open than ever. But what a gay must realize ( or any other minority group member for that matter) is that he is living in a city where appearance and reserve still take precedence over direct emotion (1 often wonder if the purpose of hockey night in Canada is to serve as an outlet for those emotions that are so supressed in every day human inter- action). It has been said that it is often only in a struggle against something that an identity can emerge. The prevailing climate of mannered tolerance and/or intellectual acceptance can have the desultory affect of smothering such a struggle. For the foe in this city is much harder to find - far less obvious, far more subtle, than the overt hostility. oppression gays often encounter in violent-prone Aaerican culture. The fact that an organization like C.ir.A.T. is supported by government funds could lead one to erroneously believe that the systea is auio- •atically righting itself.

There is danger in this assumption, for self-delusions of e»otional acceptance are fostered by such tolerance. In my own experience ■s an upper-middle class Kasp living in this city, I was acutely aware that despite the f«ct that ethnic groups have never been cajoled into losing their language or customs and adopting Canadian ways, they also were never truly integrated into the wasp bastion of power with their heritage intact. TTicy were tolerated as "different" and kept at ar*s length. And so It is Mlih gay people. Opp- renion take* many forms and as Altman

notes of a

native

son

THE KXn TOLITIC

iniraculously free, yet, at the same time, robbed of many of out learned strengths and talents/ Having disavowed our seiisl heritage, we face the awesome, yet exciting task of creating new methods of co«»- unication.

The freedom level on which we operate implies a responsibility, "e

we are to find a new world. Understanding must be infused into our beings, the knowledge of the creativity of love must become common fare. Otherwise, we are are just trimming the branches of the old order - the roots remain the same. What we must do is more than an ephemeral cosmetic job - it is nothing less than a recreative act, a true renaissance that we can beginl Lovelessness still abounds in the counter-culture. The rhetoric that

just a pretense at reaching one another. Each one of us, as homosexuals, are potential agents of change. Acceptance and respect from a world gone mad are not what we need seek. These bear no relationship to personal growth, satisfaction or happiness. A sense of identity can only come from within, and it is not to te fouiici in taking a trip on one's nationality, or sexual predilection for that matter.

Canadian gays are in an enviable position of being able to monitor their counter-part south of the boroer and avcid their mistakes, With this advantage. I look to Toronto as providing some of the enlightened leadership and direction so sorely needed in the struggle

says, it is often at its most pernicious when internalized to the point that the individual no longer recognises it as oppress- ion. Canadians are far too self- conscious about themselves, far too careful of the appearance they are projecting to truly accept such minorities. The phobogenic qualities of being K<iy instill too many fears and anxieties for this to happen overnight. What I see, IS a simulacrum, the image of acceptance. It is deceptive in app- earance, and is not to be mistaken for the real tlungl

HUMAN LIBERATION

Hhen I left Canada, the country was beginning a national struggle against American control, something which J, Moldenhauer said

which seeks an end to the exploit- ive values and dehumanized life- styles of advanced industrial cap- italism". If this is so, good... I applaud and encourage it. But from my observations, most of the patriotic fervor I have seen is sadly misdirected, and I do not see its present emphasis as benefitting Canada as a whole and gays in part-

defensiveness, bridled hostil ity .ind general uptighlness that occur: when botli sexes get together in N'ei Vork (novement circles. Such a situation is noi apparent here, al though 1 did road of the dissatis-

experic

cha

ce with C.il.A.T, To these iirect the following: gay (lot immune from the effects C socializing [nor are gay r that matter). What n do, however, when male

ula:

: libei

1 of ^

beings in Canada will not arise solely out of Canadian nationalism and economic independence, hhat is required is a heightened consciousness of those holding power, and awareness wliich would allow them to transcend the traditional sexist political arena. Without some basic human understanding, a viable alternative is hopeless. The arbitrary veneration of real estate over principles, as George Kathan re- ferred to patriotism, will never bring any light into the dark age in

which t

lii

For while Canada may struggle for international status, respect from countries led by ego-tripping men, and technological superiority, she may possibly neglect what could be her greatest contribution yet brought to the world and that is the support of human liberation in a the many forms it manifests. All else seems to be a detraction from what Canadians truly necd-

I am uniformly impressed by what I haire seen of the Toronto gay movement here- the aversion of shibboleths, the sedulous energy of its workers, the unusual close- ness and warmth that characterizes this pioneer effort. One thing In particular 1 found gratifying was the ease with which gay

head, is to point it out, not as an attack against the individual displaying such traits, but as a constructive lesson. Make the person aware of his sexism, and how and why it affects you. In tills way. the individual is helped to move beyond it. For gay women to drop out of the movement because of male chauv- inism is to adopt a typically "female" role, and that is yield, give up to the oppressive force, and slink away licking the wounds. Iiihat would be truly revolutionary would be for Toronto gays to stand up to this divisive force, and con- quer it through communication and understanding. (Jew Vork gay organ- izations are constantly plagued wit the question "where are the women?" They are in evidence in Toronto and I hope iliey stay there, because the movement needs everyone.

COMMUNICATION

We must bring across the idea that homosexual relations are one of the greatest testaments of the strength of human feeling, for neither the binding force of pro- geny, nor the force of convention hold them together, tie need never apologize for our "condition", or try to convince someone of" its validity. And to try to counter

by BARRY

(The author's name is withcid upon rciiucst due to the rules in the U.S.

regarding the admission of horaosexu;

statii

our own, is to adopt scientific methods that can never hope to illuminate anything of the huaan heart. Indeed, statistics, ob- jectivity, control etc., never have presented ways of under- standing human life. Academe. as It presently stands, is a spiritual wasteland. Epistimologists of the future will laugh at such attempts to understand the human condition by stripping the context from life in the name of science.

So we are faced with the dilemma of any pioneering movement in moving Into virgin territory, Ke need to find new values to guide us. and leav behind antiquated platitudes. In sloughing off socialization, we are

lUMid and

pA-orniiztuXy

e/iotUtig thi moiat j*bte ai ouA. youth rruit bz STOPPED.