L.I.D. has endorsed long time district leader Joan Millman in the February 18th special election to succeed Eileen Dugan in the New York State Assembly. Dugan, who represented the sprawling 52nd district for 15 years, succumbed to breast cancer last November. A retired elementary school teacher, Millman will face Republican John Johnston and Green candidate Craig Seeman.
Millman's history of support for the lesbian and gay community dates back to 1972, when she backed LID board member Renee Cafiero's race to be elected the first lesbian or gay delegate to the Democratic Convention. Millman later supported former LID President Peter Vogel in his successful election as Chair of the 52nd Assembly District County Committee. In her most recent role as female District Leader in the 52nd AD, Millman has encouraged LID members to join the County Committee and has been a strong advocate for lesbian and gay interests in her district and in such city-wide conflicts such as that over the Children of the Rainbow Curriculum in city schools.
Local Democratic Committee members nominated Millman at a January 23rd meeting, where Millman garnered 61% of the vote against Annette Scala, Ralph Perfetto and Elizabeth Rose Daly. Through the hospitality of members Ken Diamand-stone and Joe Kopitz, L.I.D. hosted a special candidate's night so that lesbian and gay county committee members had the chance to question the contenders prior to the vote..
The 52nd Assembly District comprises all or parts of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Park Slope and Boerum Hill. If you live in this district, you can vote at your normal polling place between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm. If you have any questions, contact L.I.D. or the call 212-VOTE-NYC.
L.I.D. Elects 1997 Board
At its January general meeting, LID elected new officers and board members for 1997:
Board members for the year are: Melissa Cook, Alan Fleishman, Peter Fleming, Tom Flood, Lisa King, Kay Mackey, Joe Presley, Liz Schalet, David Shanton, Stacia Thompson and George Waffle.
The entire board would like to extend our thanks to George Waffle for his exemplary service as president of LID for the last two years. We all wish himwell in his personal and professional pursuits and look forward to his continuing involvement on the Board. In addition, we would like to thank Phil Saperiaand Eileen Foley, who did not seek re-election, but have both served LID for many years in countless ways.
Additional board members are wanted. If you or anyone you know is interested in serving, please contact Rodrick Dial at 718-499-8712.
Mayoral Hopeful Sharpton Packs the House
A capacity crowd packed the January L.I.D. meeting on January 27th to hear mayoral candidate Rev. Al Sharpton. Amidst a horde of local print and video media, Sharpton stressed that his decision to run as a Democratic candidate comes from a fervent desire to defeat Rudolph Guiliani.
According to Sharpton, Mayor Guiliani cannot be defeated by any single candidate, but must be met by a unified political movement among Democrats. He also pledged to support the victor in the Democratic primary and urged that he will not cooperate with “zip code politics” that pit one community against another. Much of his speech dealt with the need for those in the civil rights, African American, religious, and lesbian and gay communities to forge bonds to create a formidable political alliance.
Sharpton was the last of the Democratic mayoral candidates to visit us, . L.I.D. having previously hosted Councilman Sal Albanese and Borough Presidents Fernando Ferrer and Ruth Messinger.
Hundreds Protest Hynes
in Bay Ridge
L.I.D. members were numerous among the hundred or so protestors at a January 12th demonstration held at the Bay Ridge home of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes. The protest, organized by the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti- Violence Project and co-sponsored by L.I.D., centered around Hynes’ recent decision to seek the death penalty against Michael Shane Hale, a 24-year-old gay man from Kentucky who has been charged with the 1995 murder of his partner in a domestic dispute. The case was the first announced death penalty case in New York City under the State’s newly reborn capital punishment law.
Particularly surprising is the fact that Hynes has now chosen to prosecute several capital punishment cases, despite his longstanding contention that he opposes the death penalty. He will personally prosecute the Hale case. Under the current law, District Attorneys are given discretion to seek the death penalty in cases they decide merit such a prosecution.
The demonstration began on 95th Street in Bay Ridge with a half mile march from a small park to Hynes’ new residence. Once outside his apartment building, protestors stood behind police barricades chanting and listening to speeches. AVP Executive Director Chris Quinn spoke as well as LID former president, George Waffle, Cary Johnson, the Executive Director of Gay Men of African Descent, and Tony Glover, past president of Men of All Colors Together.
All the speakers stressed the homophobic nature of the Hale case, asserting that Hynes chose a gay defendent because he believes he can easily turn a Brooklyn jury against such a person. As well, several pointed out the fact that the death penalty is an issue of civil rights, since it is so disproportionately applied to defendants of color or low income. Waffle also made the prediction that the Hale case will lead to increased violence against lesbians and gay men in New York City.
In his comments to gay and local press, Hynes expressed astonishment at the outrage among lesbians and gay men to this case calling it “uncharitable and unfair.” In a particularly backhanded comment he stated, “it is a pity that the
demonstrators expressed no sorrow for the victims of these crimes. Such knee-jerk reactions are surprising from a man who once purported to oppose the deathpenalty. Hynes’ inability to understand the legitimate fear among lesbians and
gay men that such cases will be used to further demonize us or to sanction anti-gay violence is equally disappointing.
Audre Lorde Project Launches Senior Center
At its meeting on February 3rd, the L.I.D. Board was joined by Regina Shavers and Diane Hunte, who are in the process of creating the Griot Circle, a senior center under the auspices of the recently opened Audre Lorde Project in Fort Green. The Griot Circle, a gathering of Elders, is intended as an intergenerational and culturally diverse community-based service organization responsive to the realities of the lives of older lesbians, bisexuals, gay men, two- spirit and transgendered persons of color.
Already the Circle has planned gatherings for the first Saturday of each month at their location on 85 South Oxford Street. (Check Lambda Line for monthly details.) They are in the formative stages of planning services and obtaining the critical funding needed to become a full-time senior center.
They have outlined their goals to include education, recreation, telephone reassurance, therapeutic intervention, a newsletter, case management assistance, visits, referral services, and outreach.
The LID board offered to help the Griot Circle by lending technical support and by contacting local elected officials through letters of support, in person or by phone. If you would like to learn more about the Circle, contact them at their new phone number 718-596-0343 ext. 20. We hope to bring you much news about our future cooperation with the Project.
Dyke-TV and MTA Victories!
Good news on two fronts we reported in recent issues of Lambda Line.
In November, we were hopping mad that Dyke-TV, a fixture on Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT) since 1993, had been moved from a weekly prime time slot to a monthly airing at midnight. Your calls and letters made a difference and BCAT Director Onida Coward informed L.I.D. in a January 7th letter that Dyke-TV is back to a weekly time slot, airing Wednesdays at 11:30 pm.
In December, we urged you to join us in pressing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to extend domestic partnership benefits to their non-unionized employees. Another victory! The MTA benefits office began stocking domestic partnership applications in January, after implementing a program modeled on the those offered by the City and State.
News In Brief
Steven Rosen, a long time LID member, has volunteered to represent us on the Mayor’s City-wide Police Advisory Council which convenes regularly with the New York City Police Department to discuss issues of concern to the lesbian and gay community. Rosen brings with him a history of work as a board member with the New York Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. We look forward to working with Steven and having a voice on this important council.
The 1997 Lunch with Lambda has now been set for Sunday, May 18th from 1-5pm at the Montauk Club in Park Slope. Please save the date on your calendars. We are grateful that LID Board Member, Peter Fleming, has once again volunteered to oversee the planning and publicity for our most important fundraising event of the year.
Be on the look-out for our as yet to be scheduled March general meeting. In addition to our planned program to celebrate Women’s History Month, the club will also consider an endorsement in LID member Deborah Silber’s race for civil court. Silber will be running in 1997 for one of at least two open, county-wide civil court positions.