Monday, June 12, 2000
Marchers assert rights
Issue 3 on minds of many at gathering
By Reid Forgrave
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Shannon Darrow, a student at Xavier University, decorated her Jeep Wrangler in a rainbow motif for Sunday's gay pride parade.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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Cincinnati's first gay pride parade in five years had a distinctly proud and celebratory tone as hundreds of people marched Sunday from Clifton to Northside.
The parade and rally, underscored by the controver sy surrounding Issue 3, signified a turning point in the city's often rocky relationship with the gay community, participants said.
For Dee Rockwood, Sunday made a strong state ment for gays and lesbians who have been snubbed by society.
Ms. Rockwood said she was once pressured to leave an apartment after two letters of complaint were sent to her. One letter complained she had sunbathed nude, and the other said she had blasted her stereo.
She denied she had ever sunbathed nude, and said she did not even own a stereo. She believes the issue was that she was a lesbian.
When a mayoral proclamation was read at the Burnet Woods rally declaring Sunday “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender
Pride Day,” cheers were interrupted by scattered scoffs from people in the audience who remembered the city's past politics. Gays and lesbians consider Issue 3, the 1993 Cincinnati charter amendment that prohibits the city from adopting any laws protecting gays and lesbians, to be an insult to their lifestyle.
“Any time a city votes 60 percent to 40 percent in favor of a law that basically outlaws being gay, there's a problem,” said Jan Scholler of Northside, former president of the Greater Cincinnati Gay and Lesbian Coalition. “I don't know of any other city that would vote that way. Cincinnati is still kind of backward when it comes to our rights.”
Decorated cars and trucks joined marchers in the nearly two-mile parade to Northside's Hoffner Park.
Symbols thought of as gay, such as rainbows and leather, were everywhere — on shirts, hats, bal loons and stickers. Passers-by honked and marchers whooped. One group chanted, in reference to the gay population by some estimates, “10 percent is not enough, recruit, recruit, recruit!” then gave high-fives and laughed. Paraders guzzled water to beat back the summer heat and hugged each other. A few dressed in drag. One tall cross-dresser, sporting a blue-sequined dress and giving the name Rhonda Flaming, said exuberantly, “I am proud to be gay,” then turned to apply more lipstick.
Four teen-agers carried signs reading, “I'm not gay but my moms are.” The Mayes-Springer family of Elsmere, Ky., says it has not experienced prejudice since Janet Springer and Kim Mayes got together last year. One of their children, Steven, 15, said he hated his mom at first when she told him she was a lesbian. But with time, he said, he just doesn't think of it as much. “It's just like having two regular parents,” he said.
Gay activists said they were most impressed by the parade's diversity and said it signifies a turning point for the city. Many of the more than 1,000 paraders and onlookers were not gay or lesbian, and gay community members recognized the importance of non-gay support.
At the gathering at Hoffner Park, one man wearing a black cowboy hat, leather boots and a T-shirt, refused to give his name because of his job as a plumber. He said he is not gay but was at the parade to support his many gay friends.
“Being here could affect my job,” he said. “Most people still have that stereotype that if you're with gay people, you are gay yourself. And plumbing is a fairly macho-oriented profession.”
Many said Cincinnati is a city tough on gays.
“You don't see people walking down the street holding hands with their partners like they do in other cities,” said Tom Jones of Mount Adams, who said he has been “out” since 1970.
Doreen Cudnik, executive director of Stonewall Cincinnati, the area's leading gay-rights group, said she found her tires slashed after a speaking engagement a few months ago. She hopes it was random and not a hate crime. Ms. Cudnik said many members of Cincinnati's gay community are careful about being visible. Sunday's parade was a chance to bring recognition to the gay community.
“Today shows the city of Cincinnati that we're your neighbors, your co-workers, and we don't have equal rights,” she said.
Ms. Cudnik added that the city is getting better in its relations with gays, and she believes that most Cincinnatians are appalled by Issue 3.
“We want people to recognize that we're here, we're valuable, and we're not at odds with straight people,” said Patrick Quealy, 19, of Delhi. “If we can win hearts and minds, it's better than telling people how to think.”
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