Herlandvoice-1992-12-V9-No12 Ocr
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OKLAHOMANS . OBSERVE GooD NEws FoR THOSE WORLD Al DS DAY CONCERNED Aeou:r PRIVACY AND EQUAL PROTECTION On December 1st, World AIDS Day, a coalition of AIDS service organizations will sponsor a candlelight program and The Supreme Court of Kentucky has ruled (Kentucky v. march to the Governor's mansion. The purpose of this event is to Wasson, 1992) that the Kentucky statute criminalizing deviant remember the loved ones we have lost to AIDS and to protest the sexual intercourse between consenting adults of the same sex is decision of Governor Walters and DHS Head, Terry Childers, to a violation of that state's constitutional rights to privacy and cut off the life-savings drugs of 250 Oklahomans with AIDS. equal protection. Shirley Wiegand, one of the original litigating The event will begin at 5 :30 P.M. on the south steps of the attorneys in that case, now lives in Oklahoma. Professor Wiegand state capitol. There will be a brief program with music and teaches at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Con speakers. Those gathered will then fonn a procession and march gratulations Professor Wiegand!! to the Governor's mansion. Is it time to tackle Oklahoma's regre;,sive sodomy law? All Oklahomans who are concerned about this issue are Comment directly to Herland Sister Resources, ATIN: Jean, invited to attend. Parents, grandparents, friends, church care 2312 N.W. 39 Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73112 or leave a teams, and other loved ones are expected to be represented in the message at ( 405)521-9696. 0 gathering. This will be a peaceful, reverent protest by many individuals and groups. Sponsoring organizations include: 1 ACT-UP Oklahoma City, Herland Sister Resources, RAIN (Re FAMIL y COOK/N gional AIDS Interfaith Network), Other Options, Oklahoma City Area HIV/AIDS Coalition, and Triangle Association. Family Cookin ', the cook book benefi tting the Herland Legal Scheduled speakers include: Stephen Hardway, ACT-UP Defense Fund, will be officially offered for sale at a cookbook Oklahoma City; Mary Catherine Smothermon, Executive Direc tasting dinner on Sunday, December 6 from 5 to 7 P.M. The tor of RAIN; and Cookie Arbuckle of Other Options. cookbook features our favorite recipes and artwork by Michelle As of November 1, 1992, federal money provided by Title Dillehay. Cookbooks will be available for purchase for only II of the Ryan White Care Act for the state drug program for $7.00. persons living with AIDS ran out .. This program provided life Dinner, highlighed by the tastiest Family Cookin 'receipes, saving drugs for persons living with AIDS. These drugs (AZT, is included in the $2 cover charge. Every one there will also get DDI, Bactrim and others) are the only known treatment for the opportunity to sample the unique "Blender Blues" and even effectively battling the AIDS virus. take the recipe to try at home . The shortfall in funds from the Ryan White Act has been left The child custody case which the Legal Defense fund is up to the individual states to deal with. Terry Childers of DHS supporting is pending further action by the Oklahoma Supreme and Governor Walters are refusing to find the additional monies Court. The next action of the Court will be a decision as to needed within their budgets. Their decision will kill people. whether the case should be heard by the State Supreme Court or It would take only $250,000 to save the lives of about 250 heard by a lower appellate court. people -- $1,000 per life. Support for this case has come from all over the United The World Health Organization has designated December States. The Lambda Legal Defense fund is assisting and prepar I st as World AIDS Day. It has become an annual event to ing an amicus brief. Other support has come from the Lesbian acknowledge the devastation this epidemic is wreaking all over Mothers Defense Fund, The Gay Fathers of Los Angeles, the the world. Over 500,000 cases of AIDS have been reported Lesbian Coalition of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, other organizations, worldwide with over 325,000 deaths. Over 160,000 people in and many women and men across the country. Many contribu the United States have died and at least 1.5 million United States tions have come from lesbian/gay parents and too often the letters citizens carry the HIV virus. In Oklahoma over 742 people have tell similar stories of children denied their families. died and an estimated 7,000 people carry the HIV virus. O We still need your help to win this battle. Legal costs continue to mount. Please consider helping us to make Oklahoma safer for lesbian and gay parents. Contributions can be sent to: LegalDefenseFund,Herland, 2312 NW 39,0KC,OK 73112. 0 SILENCE DEATH Volume 9 Number l J Herland Sister Resources 2312 N.W. 39, OKC, OK 73112 and sunday school, and books, and readers, and math workbooks, and ST. SYBIL movies and comics and radio shows and television, and speeches and speakers and teachers, newspapers and advertising and bad science and Sybil Ludington, Matron Saint of First Ladies and other Forgotten worse religion, laid successive layers of self-hate and constriction on women, is an occasional contributor to this space. her soul; until the prospect of a being similar to herself, to a person of her own gender, to a woman, ascending to a holy and exalted position, Dear St. Sybil, is repellent to her. Where you are, are you glad the elections are over? We are, I'll tell Weep for Ann Widdecombe, my dear. It would be as painful for you. her soul to unfold as it ever was for a woman to unbind her feet. Wearily, Sorrowfully, Hattie Nuff Sybil Dear Hattie, Well now, where I am, we pretty well hang out anywhere wdwant AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL on the time/space/reality continuum, so if we get bored or distressed with something somewhere, we just move on along. However, if we had URGENT ACTION ALERT to spend our time in the fall 1992 USA, we would be so glad that the elections are over that we would make up a top Thirteen (we're pretty Two teenage Mayan sisters were abducted in Guatemala City, witchy here) List of reasons why: October 19, three days after the announcement of Rigoberta Menchu's receiving the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. Cristina and Matea Par are Thirteen: A 7,934% rise in the truthfulness index on Earth. members of "The New Dawn," an indigenous umbrella organization, Twelve: Seeing George Bush have to go live in Houston. and had come to Guatemala City from Solola to participate in public Eleven: Seeing Bill Clinton so happy (I'm sorry, but you've got events surrounding the 500th memorial of Columbus' landing and to be pretty hard-hearted not to like that boy). Nobel Prize Announcement. Ten: Seeing Admiral Stockdale so happy.(" " " " " " " Amnesty International has been told that shortly after the sisters " " " " " " " " too.) left the offices of"The New Dawn" they were approached by a man and Nine: Getting to watch Hillary redefine "First Lady" job. two women wearing western-style clothes who admired their indig Eight: Getting to watch Al redefine VP job. enous dress and engaged them in conversation. Suddenly the three Seven: Getting to watch Chelsea grow up - what a honey. grabbed the sisters, dragged them by the hair, and brandished weapons. Six: Not having to watch Danny grow up any more. They told Cristina and Ma tea that they had seen them at the October 17 Five: Not having to monitor Rush Limbaugh anymore. march for Rigoberta Menchu, and began to beat tl1eteenagers and to strip Four: Marilyn so furious. off their clothes, saying that their indigenous dress demonstrated that Three: Nice that Ross Perot can return to home planet Zrx Vkls they were guerrillas. and entertain the ZrxVklspods for awhile. The naked girls managed to escape and were helped by witnesses Two: Lots of good jobs for good Democrats. of the incident who gave them clothes. The girls reported that their One: A Pro-Choice, Sax-Playing, Pot-Smoking War Protester assailants had threatened to kill them. in the White House; it's just too delicious. AI is concerned that tl1e manner in which the attack was carried out may indicate that members of the Guatemalan security forces or those working with them may have been responsible. AI has documented Dear St. Sybil, many cases where armed men in plain clothes carry out similar acts of I was really happy whey I heard that the Church ofEngland decided violence against people considered to be political opponents of the to begin ordaining women. But I understand that some people, even government. In many cases, such assailants verbally link Rigoberta some women, are leaving the church in protest. For instance, I read Menchu and other indigenous leaders with the anned opposition. about a woman named Ann Widdecombe, who is a member of Parlia In the days following the 500th memorial of Columbus landing in ment - I would have thought that she would have wanted to see women tllis hemisphere and the announcement October 16 ofRigoberta Menchu achieve parity in all areas, but no , she's leaving the church in disgust: receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, tile offices of three different popular and she's not the only one. What's going on? What's wrong with people? organizations in Guatemala City, including the Mothers of the Dead and What does it mean? Disappeared, were bombed. Al is concerned for the security of all those Yours in confusion, associated with Rigoberta Menchu, and particularly the leaders and Olin A Muddle members of popular organizations and indigenous groups.