10 T f* b ru a r y 4. 1 0 0 4 ▼
jw t out
national news
GLA starts off
A new national organization fo r gay men and lesbians
has come together
▼
by Bob Roehr
ay and Lesbian Americans was only a
few hours old and already its phone
was ringing off the hook.
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This happened because the kick
off news conference brilliantly stated
the organization’s case, because it was tape re
corded and later broadcast nationally on the cable
television network C-SPAN, and because it was
combined with an 800 number so that viewers
could contact the new organization.
GLA announced its official formation at a
news conference on Monday, Jan. 17. C-SPAN
began broadcasting the 45-minule event about 10
pm Eastern time that evening. Within the hour
over 120 phone calls had registered on the 800
number. It was an impressive culmination to a
busy weekend.
Seventy-five activists from 25 states attended
part or all of the two-day marathon of meetings
which prccceded the announcement.
The most contentious debate during the two
days centered around the proposal for fixed posi
tions to ensure diversity in
leadership. All those attend
ing supported the concept
of diversity. Those arguing
for reliance upon commit
ment and dedication as the
principle criteria for leader
ship carried the vote by a
wide margin. All factions
seemed pleased with the in
terim leadership chosen.
The group hammered
out structure, priorities and
a course of action that be
gins immediately. In addi
tion to the 800 number
which had been suggested
only the day before, a na
tional E-mail link is cur
rently in place and the first
“action” was agreed upon.
“Queers Across Ameri
ca” had the ambitious goal
of staging coordinated news
conferences on the same day
in the legislative buildings of every one of the fifty
state capitals. The day is Feb. 14.
GLA hopes that each news conference will
focus on a local or state gay or lesbian issue such
as the queer specific sodomy law in Arkansas or
demanding recognition of same-sex marriages in
Hawaii. The purpose is educational and organiza
tional as much as political.
“We have come together, activists from the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communi
ties, because we cannot sit still any longer,” said
respected New York activist Ann Northrop in the
opening news conference. “We cannot settle for
passive leadership in Washington. We want to link
activists around the country to make a difference.”
Founding member Michael Petrelis read the
mission statement of Gay and Lesbian Americans.
It emphasizes grassroots organizing and empow
erment at the local level. Members will vote to
choose both leaders and issue priorities at local,
regional and federal levels.
The four interim leaders of GLA will serve in
a volunteer capacity in positions that will eventu
ally become elective and paid.
Stephen Reichert is national coordinator. He
has worked locally in Washington, D.C., with
Queer Nation and in achieving a repeal of the D.C.
sodomy statute.
He chastised the existing national organiza
tions for locking most members of the community
out of the decision-making process and failing to
empower grassroots activists. The goal of Gay and
Lesbian Americans will be to “challenge and
empower people to speak for themselves, to have
a voice in their own liberation.”
Reichert outlined the two national planks of
the group: to press for a federal gay and lesbian
civil rights bill and to press for an intense “Man
hattan-style” Project to find a cure for AIDS.
Local priorities will be sodomy repeal and the
creation of state and local civil rights protections.
Chapters will be encouraged to adopt other issues
as locally appropriate.
Mickey Wheatley is secretary-treasurer. He
was formerly an attorney with the Lambda Legal
Defense and Education Fund and now resides in
Washington.
He described the structure of GLA as “from the
bottom up, giving our people control of their own
civil rights struggle for the first time.. .by majority
vote.” All levels of leadership will be elected by
GLA members.
iatley, “It
i balance of
/een the na-
lp and the in-
chapters by
»platform and
guidelines at
ional level, but
allow plenty
>m for local pri
ces, strategies and
ig of resources.”
Kim Edwards hails
jFom East Orange, N.J.
>he has participated in
FACT UP/New York
and worked on gaining
passage of gay and les-
^ bian civil rights pro
tections in New Jersey.
She will spearhead out
reach and membership.
_
Her goal is to em-
f i brace the diversity of
the gay and lesbian community in all of its aspects.
She welcomed both those who are currently mem
bers of other organizations as well as those “who
feel disenfranchised and left out of gay and lesbian
organizations.”
John Carl Lewis is communications coordina
tor. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, he
works in the Clinton administration.
“We have been an integral part of the history,
the culture and the future of America,” he said. He
went on to explain how GLA would harness elec
tronic technology to link together and share infor
mation between the disparate parts of the gay and
lesbian communities.
“I want to announce that in 1994 the time for
the isolated, fearful, powerless homosexual is
over,” said Lewis. “It is done. Now. We are going
to take our place at the American table. We are not
coming through insidious means. We are going to
walk right in the front door. And we are going to
sit down. And we are going to be American."
To reach Gay and Lesbian Americans, write PO
Box 77533, Washington, DC 20013-7533.
Voice!Fax (202) 232-1773 or call (800) 889-
5111. Videotape copies o f the C-SPAN
broadcast will be available on loan and for
airing on cable public access.