NEWS Of the Columbus (^^^LcsbtanGmirnunity MARCH, 1978 ISSUE 2 Y Ohio Gay Rights Coalition... .DATES TO REMEMBER * The Lady Eve (Paramount) lt'« About: A man-hunter who gets March 4th caught in her own trap. Eyent Postponed/OGRC'a lobbying workshop sche­ duled for Saturday, March 4th has been post­ RIGHT as a silver dollar, gay as a poned until early April due to the coal strike B Christmas tree and funnier than and energy crunch. The workshop was to hare a cageful of monkeys is this latest been held at the OSU Student Union in Columbus, Preston Sturges story. Both written but that facility is new temporarily unavail­ and directed by him, it fairly oozes able on weekends. The date and location will freshness and charm. be announced as seon as a date acceptible te Adam Debaugh of GRHL (Gay Rights National Lobby Now take the idea of casting earthy, and MCC/Washington, D.C.) can be determined. country-boyish Henry Fonda as a por those whe missed the February newsletter.. millionaire's son given to dressing in ...This workshep is designed for politically the smartest men's fashions. Who but serious gay and lesbian activists (including Sturges would think of that one? And the novice) who wish to become mere skilled in maybe you think Henry, as the lad lobbying for gay/lesbian rights. Por more in­ who is almost hooked by card sharker formation please call 291-9114. Barbara Stanwyck and her father, Charles Coburn, isn't terrific? Bar­ March 5th bara herself is different and excit­ The OGRC meeting scheduled for March 5th at ingly glamorous and—er delightfully noon will be held as planned. The meeting will naughty. The way she gets her man oe held at Open Door Clinic, 237 E. 17th Ave., Columbus. —twice—is a scream. Coburn is marvelous. Eugene Pal- April 21st - 23rd lette, William Demarest and Eric Kent Gay Liberation Front will be sponsoring Blore are three brilliant assets to Mr. its annual Gay Conference at Kent State Uni­ Sturges' fine banquet of nonsensical versity. The OGRC meeting will be held there entertainment. Here's a motion pic­ on Sunday (the 23rd) at noen. ture that is really entertainment. ******* CLASSIC TO BE SHOWN Your Reviewer Says: Yield to the ****** temptation of Lady Eve. The film classic "Till, LADY EVE" will bo shown Thursday, //••«/ 1. lUii Inn a March 2nd at 144 Ilevis Hall \*esl Campus. Times arc 7:30 (Sninwrtk). mill and 10:00 p.m. Admission is $1.50. For more information I'II \lini mi ihc call 2913388. llll 1.41)) I \ I . a I1/111 1 Villi /I . llL.llllll movie review (next column, upper right) and picture (next column, lower right) are Irom a 1941 PhotopU)/Mo*ie Mirror Maga/iue. ******** THE METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH The first service of the Metropolitan Community Church of Columbus will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 5th at the Twilight Lounge, 2467 Cleveland Avenue. For more information please call 291-0230. BETTE THAWS OUT CLEVELAND Bette Midler finally opened at the Front Row Theater, Clev eland, Ohio on January 28th after a two day de lay due to our great blizzard. The sold out show got off to a hot start with the Harlettes .appearing in black sa tin dresses split up to here and down to ther e, s ing ing Dance,Dance,D ance, the single cut from there first ColumbT a album. The ladies the n charged ahead with A in't No Man rforth J_t. Phey kept the,pace wit h songs like Mister 3 andman, We Got It and a fantastic send up of t he Supremes with Chariot Crossley (hottest o f the trio) taking on Di ana Ross. The ladies exited to long and dese rving applause. The lights dim and a voice from the back of the theater sings "And I am all alone", sud­ denly Ms. Midler runs down the center ailse, and the theater is never quite the same. Her hair is a shade away from blonde and her garb is a glittering thirties blouse with black satin peddle-pushers. She sings her theme song, Friends while strutting, stamping and skittering about as much as the small theater- in-the-round stage will alLow. She procedes to give her audience a high that no amount of booze, pot or pills could. Looking over her domain, she launches into many superbly de­ livered comic dialogues during which she zings PEOPLE magazine, Englands Royal Family ("Prin­ cess Anne, a girl who loves nature in spite of what it did to her"), Roman Polanski and even the audience ("Vogue on the outside and vague on the inside"). She also had a first rate batch of new Sophie Tucker jokes. Her versa­ tility was evident throughout the evening from her comedy patter to the handling of many musi­ cal styles. She really heats the place up with Empty Bed Blues and Dr. LongJohn then moves from a fast and furious Leader of the Pack to a beautiful rendition of La Vie En Rose. Her voice handles the swing of In the Mood as easily as the rock of Red. Bette simply has one of the most expressive voices in pop music today. She capped off the evening with part of a Carl Sandburg piece about a woman who had lost all she had in life, but held on to her dreams. Then lit only by a single spot above her head she sang a brilliant version of I Shall Be Re­ leased. She brought the audience to a genu- ine emotional peak and reafirmed her place as a genius of the concert stage. Her nanaimg of this number was electrifying. The audi­ ence response was equally so, the thunderous applause and standing ovation was truly de­ served. Bette did her traditional Friends, thanked us for coming and was gone. As Sophie Tucker herself might have said I shall never forget it. A gay bar in the Ohio State campus area has WILL COLUMBUS EVER PROTECT OUR EMPLOYMENT been a goal long desired by local gay people. Now that goal is finally being reached. The RIGHTS? It May Be Up To You Bombay Yaught Club on North High Street (be­ tween Tenth and Eleventh Avenues) has been COGC and GMLA may soon face a major political attracting a gay crowd since it opened last hurdle in the form of a city ordinance prohib- year. While the bar is not exclusively gay, iting discrimination on the basis of sexual or the clientele is of an open-minded liberal New affectional preference, marital status, handi- York style. Generally the crowd is straight cap and age. We are in desperate need of com- or bi, but on Tuesdays the bar is definitely muni ty-wide support for this measure, and need gay. The management cind of era tors of Bombay your HELP. iVe are looking for non-gay organi­ enthusiastically welcome gay men and women, zations 'in 1 ividuals who are supportive of this and Tuesday has unofficially become gay night. legislation who are willing either to contact city council or to appear at public hearings anJ forums where this measure will be discuss­ ed. We can find an abundance of social ser­ vice organizations designed to aid the aged/ youth and the handicapped, but are having dif­ ********** ficulty discovering who/which organizations are the poli tical advocates for the handi­ capped and aged/youth. If you know of contacts who are interested in legislation or protect­ ing the rights of any of these groups of people PLEASE CONTACT Central Ohio Gay Coali­ tion at 291-911^. All information will be Speaking Engagements/Public Forums kept in confidence. Our major task is to con­ vince members of council that the discrimina­ The Blizzard of '78 put a damper on everything tion against each of these categories of including requests for speakers from the Gay/ people represents a major problem in the Co­ Lesbian Community (COGC and GMLA), but of late lumbus community and that there is broad- both organizations have received a rash of re­ based support for this ordinance. quests for speakers for February and lMarch. While speaking engagements for college classes and community organizations may lack the drama and excitement of rallies and public confron­ tations, they represent a crucial aspect of »*»»»**»#• the Columbus gay community's efforts to des­ troy the mythology surrounding Gay/Lesbian lifestyles and to de-fuse intolerance and fear. Realizing that mo3t of our society is still A BAR, A BAR, A BAR, vicitimized by ignorance about jay men and lesbians, these free forums of discussion where will be a continuing feature of our newsletter questions and issues can be raised without spot-lighting a different bar each month. ostracism and intimidation provide a vital service to the Columbus community. Here is a As we enter TYS from the rear non-neon doorway partial list of where we've been and plan to be you know you're not in just another gay bar. The feeling is more of an off-broadway bar with January 10th Capital University, Human Sex­ its rich brown wall3, highly buffed wood floors uality Clas3, 10-11 a.m. and broadway billboards on the walls. January 19th Alumni Scholarship House, 7»30 to 10»30 p.m. TYS has also used lighting techniques February 14th Summit United i.lethodist Church which not only impr( es, but help them interview with Pastor Dickhout to adjust to the d e/ " to discuss use of Campus Cen­ ter for C0GC/0GRC events.