extracted text

NOVEMBER, 1989

FATAL
CONSEQUENCES
by Sondra Metzger
It all began with a verbal argument. It
became a physical argument. There was
a gun. Then, death.
On the morning of October 1, Ruby
Todd died from a .22 caliber bullet that
entered her shoulder, bounced off her
shoulder blade and went into her heart.
Ruby Todd was 32 years old.
I didn't know Ruby Todd. She
attended the Fall Retreat at Lake Wister, but I don't remember ever meeting
her. But, she was there, and she was a
part of this community, for which she
might or might not have paid a fatal
price.
I'm not sure now, as I look back on
the days following her death, what
angered me more: her death, or the fact
that a 16-year-old was on the streets
at 2 a.m. with a gun . I believe I've heard
all the rumors and stories that have
made their way through the community.
The daily paper gave literally no information, suprisingly, since they seem to
take great pride in blaming the gay
community for incidents near the Strip.
Someone has talked to someone else
who's talked to someone else, and all we
still have are stories. The only one who
really knows what happened that night is
Ruby Todd. And a kid with a gun.
Councilman Mark Schwartz and the
OKC Police Department have provided
sketchy information. This is because
the shooting is considered an ongoing
investigation and will be until the teenager is tried. Until then, the police can
only release just so much information.
However, according to the official
investigation report, Ruby argued with
the teenager before the shooting. Somewhere along the way, the argument
turned into a fist fight. She left and
came back with some friends. While

VOLUME 6 NUMBER 11

•

she sat in a car, he was in a car that
drove past the car she was in. He fired
the gun at the car. You know the rest of
the story.
The teenager has been charged with
second degree murder because he fired
at the car she was in and not directly at
her. The pistol he used was reported
stolen the day before. The police are
not regarding this as a hate crime. In
fact, the lieutenant I spoke to was not
aware of Ruby's choice of lifestyles. He
said it was never considered and never
entered into the investigation.
It's not my place to sit here in judgment of anyone: Ruby, the teenager, the
police. It's my place to inform you. You
have just been informed of what I know
from official sources, not from hearsay.
But, I would like to remind all of you
of the phrase "passive restraint" when
going to the Strip. We need to remind
ourselves that we are supposed to be
responsible adults. We are supposed to
maintain control over ourselves. We
are also supposed to know what the
consequences could be in certain situations. Wherever she is now, Ruby
knows.
There a re a lot of things to be said
about this incident. Something could be
said about gun control, about parents
letting their kids hang out on the streets
at 2 a.m., about the police not patrolling
known problem areas, about too much
alcohol and lack of better judgment.
No matter what is said, we can't bring
back Ruby Todd. We can do something about some of the items in the
above paragraph. If you don't want her
death to be in vain, then pick one and
work towards making a change in that
area.
I'm sure you've heard the phrase
"ignorance is bliss." Ignoring those who
have made it their life's ambition to
harass people who patronize the bars on
the Strip is more blissful than the pain of
death, for the pain of death strikes r,1ore

HERLAND SISTER RESOURCES

•

than one individual. It hits us all.

•

(The above editorial is solely the opinion of the writer
and not necessarily that of the board of Her land Sister
Resources. Anyone wishing to comment on the article or
the incident itself may do so by writing to: The Her land
Voice, 2312 N.W. 39th St., OKC, OK 73112 .

WOMAN IN TULSA
SUES AIRLINES
In March 1984, Lillian Graham joined
an aircraft overhaul crew working on
DC- lOs. She had been a mechanic with
American Airlines for 16 year~ i The
ll
move made her the only woman mechanic actually working on the company's
planes out of 8,000 mechanics. Approximately 24 other women mechanics were
employed by American during the same
1
time, but all in the less-prestigious components shops, away from plane maintenance.
When she reported to her new supervisor, Carl Johnson, Johnson stated for
all to hear, "She is not going to work on
my crew." On October 31, 1985, Graham was fired from Arrierican Airlines
for "insubordination, loafing on the job,
and failure to cooperate with other
employees."
Graham's lawyer contends a plan was
put into action to remove her from the
crew and from American's employment
by stacking infractions against her, trying to make an example of her to other
women mechanics whose ambitions
might lead them to consider aircraft
overhaul. The union did not stand
behind her with a firm stance, her allegations of discrimination because of sex
falling on deaf ears. During arbitration
hearings, the issue was sidestepped and
not allowed on record when they merely
mentioned that she may have been
treated "unjustly."

2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112

Continued on next page

•

(405) 521-9696

HSR-CALENDAR OF
EVENTS- NOVEMBER
Nov. 4 - Garage Sale, 2024 NW 20th, 8
a.m. -6p.m.
Nov. 5 - Garage Sale, 2024 NW 20th, 8
a.m. -4 p.m.
Nov. 5 - Metro OKC NOW sign-painting
party, Resource Center, 2 p.m.
Nov. 8 - Meeting of OSU gay & lesbian
student organization at OSU, Home
Economics West, Room 230, 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 9 - Incest Survivors Anonymous - A
12-step recovery program (womyn's
group). 7:30 - 9 p.m. Will meet every
Thursday.
Nov. 10 - Friday Night Video, "Lesbian
Tongues," Resource Center, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 11 - Fall Peace Fest, First Christian
Church, NW 36th & Walker, 10 a.m.
-5 p.m.
Nov. 11 - Fall Peace Fest Concert, First
Christian Church, NW 36th & Walker;
Larry Long & Mary Reynolds, with
Peggy Johnson opening. $5 admission,
8p.m.
Nov. 12 - Campaign for Choice rally,
south steps of state capitol, 2 p.m.
Nov. 14 - Oklahoma Gay/Lesbian Political Caucus meeting, 1133 NW 32, 7
p.m.
Nov. 15 - Deadline for submissions to
newsletter.
Nov. 16 - Incest Survivors Anonymous
12-step meeting (womyn's group),
7:30-9 p.m.

continued from previous page

After exhausting the company/union
arbitration process, Graham filed a Title
VII discrimination suit in May 1986.
One frustration after another produced
a succession of lawyers. Records requested from American Airlines were
never delivered . These records were
needed to ensure a jury trial. Without
the records, her case was heard on a
non-jury basis. When final judgment
was handed down on August 10, 1989
by H . Dale Cook, Chief Judge of the
U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of Oklahoma, he found in favor
of American Airlines. With 30 days
to appeal the decision with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Graham has exhausted her resources. Although she had another job at a fraction
of the pay she was getting at American,
she was not able to keep up payments on
her home and eventually lost it along
with her credit rating.
Rhonda Ferguson, Coordinator for
Tulsa NOW, contacted others to get half
of the approximate $4100 necessary to
file the appeal, which was filed September 11, 1989. Her case is on the
docket for March 1990, when she will
need to have the other half of the filing
fee.
If you would like to help Lillian Graham, send contributions made payable to
Tulsa NOW (noting the contribution is
for Lillian Graham), to: Tulsa NOW, P.O.
Box 471902, Tulsa, OK 47147-1902.
Donations are not tax-deductible.
•

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If you are plan ning to move, and you don 't
want to miss any issues of the HSR Newsletter, please let us know you new address
BEFORE you move. For your protection the
Post Office wil not forward the Newsletter, and
Herland will not change your address without
your authorization. Therefore, to ensure
receipt of the Newsletter, fill out and mail us
this change-of-address form BEFORE you
move. The form may also be used to add your
name to the mailing list.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS FORM

Name(s) - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Old Address - - - - - - - - - - City - -- - - - - - - - - - State_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ZIP _ _ _ _ __
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Herland Sister Resources, Inc.
2312 N.W. 39th
Oklahoma City, OK 73112

PUBLISHED BY: Herland Sister Resources, Inc.
2312 NW 39th, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR:
Sondra Metzger
NATIONAL NEWS EDITOR:
Karen Lewis
CITY NEWS EDITOR
Sondra Metzger

Nov. 17 - Oklahoma NOW State Council
Meeting, Martin East Regional Library,
2601 S. Garnett Rd., Tulsa, noon.

TYPESETTING: Rhonda S.

Nov. 19 - HSR board meeting, Resource
Center, 4:30 p.m.

ADVERTISING: 521-9696

Nov. 23 - Incest Survivors Anonymous
12-step meeting (womyn's group),
7:30- 9 p.m.
Nov. 24 - Friday Night Video, "The Life
and Times of Harvey Milk," Resource
Center, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 29 - Meeting of OSU gay & lesbian
student organization at OSU, Home
Economics ~est, Room 230, 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 30 - Incest Survivors Anonymous
12-step meeting (womyn's group),
7:30-9 p.m.

2

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

CIRCULATION: 700
GENERAL INFO: (405) 521-9696

DEADLINE on all advertising and submissions is
the 15th of each month.

EDITORIAL POLICY!
The HERLAND VOICE is offered as an
open forum for community discourse. Materials
printed herein reflect the beliefs and opinions of
the authors of the articles or letters, and not
necessarily those of the News letter or the
Herland Board.
Letters to the editor must be signed by the
writer with full name. Letters w ill not be
printed with name unless writer requests it.
Editing may be necessary for space or to avoid
obscenity, libel, or invasion of privacy, but ideas
will not be altered. Publication of all materials
is at the discretion of the editors. Anyone
having a complaint about the content of this
newsletter may contact the editors at 521-9696.

SUBSCRIPTIONS to the HERLAND VOICE are
free upon request.

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~

PRINT1NG INC.
340-4301

1601 S. Broadway, Unit D
Edmond, Okla. 73013

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t i'

NATIONAL BRIEFS
The new code of ethics for judges will
include a ban against discrimination based
on sexual orientation if the National Gay
and Lesbian Law Association has its way.
Last February the American Bar Association passed a resolution supporting legislation prohibiting discrimination based on
sexual orientation in employment, housmg, and public accommodations. Now,
the ABA is revising the Model Code of
Judicial Conduct which serves as ethical
guidance for judges throughout the country. The draft revised code prohibits bias
based on race, sex, religion, and national
origin, but fails to mention sexual orientation.
Remarks by several judges during trials
involving homosexuals have implied that
gay people are fair game. If the Code of
Judicial Conduct is revised to include a ban
against judicial discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation, judges will be accountable and may think twice before they fail to
provide equal justice under the law. For
more information, you can contact Suzanne
Bryant at (202) 234-0342 .. . . .
Health and Human Services Secretary
Louis Sullivan, M.D., announced the establishment of 18 AIDS treatment research
programs based in the communities where
people with AIDS live and receive their
medical care.
The new Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS , which will receive a
total of $9 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will
enlist many community-based physicians
and their patients in studies of AIDS drugs.
The programs will be located in: Brooklyn,
New York, the Bronx, Atlanta, Chicago,
Newark, Detroit, Dover (Del), New Haven
(CT), New Orleans, Phoenix, Denver,
Portland (Ore), Richmond (VA), San
Francisco, and Washington, D .C. For
more information, contact Elaine Baldwin,
at (301) 496-5717 . .. . .
A National Lesbian Conference moved
one step closer to becoming a reality when
more than 160 lesbians gathered at Portland State University July 21 - 23 for a
second planning meeting. The three-day
session resulted in an interim task committee that will begin the work necessary to
make the conference a reality for all lesbians in this country. The task force will
manage daily tasks and operations until the

full steering committee takes over in January 1990. A third national meeting is scheduled for April 27 - 29, 1990, in Kansas
City, Missouri.
The conference is scheduled for April
24 -28, 1991 in Atlanta, GA. Conference
planners expect more than 5,000 lesbians
to converge on Atlanta for workshops and
other related events such as a business and
trade exposition or a national lesbian softball tournament. Interested lesbians may
write to the NLC at P.O. Box 3057,
Albany, N.Y., 12203 or call (518) 4631051 for more information about the conference and regional or constituency contacts (please enclose a SASE). Coordinators are planning to relocate the office in
Atlanta this spring. . ...
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's (NGLTF) Creating Change Conference
will be held on November 10 - 12 at the
Bethesda Holiday Inn outside Washington,
D.C.
For more information, call (202)
332-6483 .. ...

Lambda Rising

BOOK REPORT,,.

A Contemporary Review
of Gay & Lesbian Literature

---------

[ ) 12 lssu es - $18.00 l ) 24 lssueo - $28.00
( ) Check/M.O . ( ) AmEx. ( ) VISA ( ) MCaro

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Mail to: BOOK REPORT DEF'f #257
1625 Conn . Ave. NW. Wash. DC 20009
PHONE ORDERS: 1-202-462-6969

Tim Mcfeeley, Executive Directory of
the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF)
announced that Gregory J. King, a former
Congressional aide and a Washingtonbased political consultant, has been appointed as Communications Director at
HRCF .....
BLK Publishing Company has announced
plans to publish a quarterly poetry journal
to be called Kuumba . The initial release will
be in the first quarter of 1990. Kuumba is
dedicated to the celebration of the lives and
experiences of black gay men and lesbians.
Kuumba is a Swahili word meaning
"creativity" and is one of the Nguyo Saba
(Seven Principles) which governs African
communities.
Submissions of poetry on all subjects
reflecting the experience of black gay men
and lesbians are being sought. Among the
experiences are: coming out, interactions
with family, interactions with our communities, oral histories, AIDS, and intimate relationships. Preference is given to
previously unpublished authors. All submissions should be accompanied by a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. Send submissions to: Editor, Kuumba, Box 83912,
Los Angeles, CA 90083-0912. Call 213•
410-0808 for more information.

r: - - - - - - - - --- -

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donation of $12 allows me use of the Herland Library and
a 10% discount on store purchases over the next 12
months. !My $12 is enclosed.)
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Oklahoma City, OK 73112

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

3

BATTLING TO SERVE
IN MILITARY
When Miriam Ben-Shalom finished training in 1975 as one of the first two women
drill sergeants in the Army Reserve's 84th
Division, her graduation attracted Milwaukee rt.porters. Her answer to one of
their questions changed her life, and potentially the military as well:
How did it feel to be an openly gay
woman in the armed forces?
Ben-Shalom, divorced and raising a
daughter, had been a lesbian activist for
four years. But she had answered "no" to
an enlistment questionnaire asking if she
practiced homosexuality.
"I wasn't practicing," she jokes now. "I
knew how to do it."
She had wanted the extra pay, the medical benefits and the life insurance as well as
the discipline, self-respect and independence she knew the Army could instill.
Suddenly all that was in jeopardy.
"But a good NCO is supposed to tell the
truth, so I did," Ben-Shalom remembers,
her voice forceful and proud. "I told
(reporters) I didn't see any problem.
Since then, the Pentagon has spent, by
her account, $3 million trying to oust BenShalom. The effort is part of a military
campaign that gay activists say costs taxpayers millions of dollars every year and
has intensified during the 1980s, particularly against women.
Ben-Shalom fought back in court and is
the only openly gay soldier to be reinstated
to her job. Her landmark case is among
several that have made the U .S. military a
key legal battleground for gays.
According to the Defense Department,
about 20,000 soldiers and sailors have
been "separated" since 1973 because they
are gay. Pentagon policy says their gayness
impairs the military's ability to "foster
mutual trust and confidence among the
members," and to maintain "discipline,
good order and morale" and "the public
acceptability of military service."
Few legal observers think gays will soon
sway the Supreme Court's conservative
majority, but the effort is seen as crucial to
the movement's civil rights agenda.
"The military is the most intransigently
and virulently homophobic institution in
the country," says Sue Hyde of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in
Washington, D.C. "It is the only legal
jurisdiction in which gay people are routinely hunted down . .. "

4

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

If gay men and lesbians prevail, it will be
because plaintiffs like Ben-Shalom are
exemplary soldiers. Often their biggest
boosters are the very co-workers whose
morale and trust their presence is supposed to threaten.
That does not surprise Joe Steffan, who
was in the top 10 in his class at the U .S.
Naval Academy and two months shy of
graduation when he was forced to resign in
1987 after telling close friends he thought
he was gay.
"So many gays are driven to prove to
themselves they aren't second-class citizens and are driven to serve,'' he says. Last
year Steffan, now living in Minnesota,
became the first gay to sue a military
academy. His case is pending.
Asks Chuck Schoen, 64, dishonorably
discharged in 1963 after 19 years in the
Navy, one year short of his pension: "If
200,000 gay people are serving now and
they're not upsetting the balance, what's
the sense of trying to find out who they are
and firing them?"
Responds Maj . David Super, a Pentagon
spokesman: "Duty performance of an
individual is not the sole determinant of
what makes a good service member."
The policy is expensive. The U .S.
comptroller-general estimates it now costs
a minimum of $15,000 to train and discharge the lowest grade of soldier. A conservative estimate is that the government
has spent $250 million in the last 16 years
training and then ousting gays and lesbians, not counting the cost of training officers like Steffan.
Adding legal fees , the cost of investigations and finding and training replacements boosts the costs far higher.
The targeted soldiers pay a high price,
too. Ben-Shalom, a Milwaukee schoolteacher when she is not on reserve duty,
has had to sell everything but her clothes
and books to finance her 14-year fight. She
lost custody of her daughter during the
leanest years, and the case has taken a huge
toll on her personal relationships. She
dreams of a future lover, a garden, a house
and a used car that works.
Perry Watkins, 40, of Tacoma, Wash.,
calls the Pentagon's policy toward gays
"crazy."
He should know. He told Army officials
in 1967. During the Vietnam War, that he
was gay. He was drafted anyway. Twice he
unsuccessfully sought discharge, once after
five soldiers beat him up.
After choosing an Army career, he was
repeatedly investigated and allowed to re-

enlist. For 12 years he even did a drag act at
gay clubs. If he had an early show, his
military bosses would let him dress up
during lunch and then work in women's
clothing the rest of his shift.
But he was forced out in 1984- after he
sued the Army for denying him a higher
security clearance. Appellate courts have
twice ordered his reinstatement, but the
Army has yet to comply.
His story, though unusual, highlights
the military's inconsistent application of
anti-gay rules. Enforcement varies from
year to year, from peacetime to war, from
Army to Navy to Air Force to Marines and
even from soldier to soldier.
Sometimes, expediency prevails. During World War II and the Korean War,
many gays were tolerated. Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower said he wouldn't force out
lesbians because he'd lose all his best
WACs.
During the postwar McCarthy era,
"witch hunts" of gays became common,
but by the 1960s, because of Vieljnam and
the gay rights movement, official"attitudes
changed again. By 1978 the Navy allowed
honorable discharges for gays with good
service records.
A notable example of dual policy came
in 1981, when the rules were revised to
target people with a "homosexual orientation" - those who have engaged in, solicited or attempted "homosexual acts" or
who have said they are gay or bisexual.
Under these rules, celibate soldiers can
be kicked out. "There's no way to verify
that [celibacy]," says •Marine spokesman
Ron Stokes. "It's based on your statement."
But the same policy allows for retaining
soldiers who actually engage in gay sex if
they can show that such conduct "is a
departure from ... usual and customary
behavior,'' is unaccompanied by force, is
undesired and unlikely to recur and that
their "continued presence in the service is
consistent with the interest ... in proper
good order and morale."
Gay activists say that women have it
even worse.
Women make up about 10 percent of
the armed forces, but they make up 25%
to 33% of those discharged for homosexuality, Pentagon data show. The Marine
Corps ousted about eight times as many
suspected lesbians as gay men in 1987.
"They live in a hostile environment in
which they're unwelcome and subject to a
kind of scrutiny that male Marines are
never subject to," says the Task Force's
Hyde. "Once the word is out and the
continued on next page

Continued from previous page

rumor mill says a woman is lesbian, she
can kiss her career goodbye. She is either
investigated by the Naval Intelligence Service or the people at work will freeze her
out because they don't want to be associated with her."
In one recent Marine probe of dozens of
women, 11 were discharged and three were
jailed.
Those kicked out included Judy Meade,
a well-regarded military policewoman
accused of "conduct unbecoming to an
officer" and failing to tell officials that her
best friend was gay; and Mary Kyle, a married sergeant named "Marine of the
Month" for six months running.
"I thank God every day that I'm a male
Marine ... and I say that because of what I
know to be the reality in the Marine
Corps,'' Capt. Guy Richardson testified in
Kyle's hearing, according to a transcript
quoted in Progressive magazine. "If a
woman is a little too friendly, she's a slut. If
she doesn't smile at all, she's a dyke."
Lt. Col. Fred Peck, a Marine spokesman, denies women are a special target.•
San Francisco Examiner
Reprinted with Permission

ED. NOTE: At the time this article was written,
Miriam Ben-Shalom had been reinstated. Since then,
the court has reversed its decision. Capt. Judy Meade,
USMC, was reinstated after a review board determined the evidence against her was "insufficient to
justify an involuntary separation from the Marine
Corps ." We do not at chis time have information
regarding other court cases mentioned within this
article.

SPOTLIGHT ON:
MARY REYNOLDS
One of the few entertainers in our
area who puts everything she has into
her music is Mary Reynolds. Mary has
contributed her gift of song time and
time again for causes and organizations
such as Peace Fest, Herland, and the
Winds tape.
"I feel like I've been given gifts to
make a better place for us," she said. "If
I was going to do things for my own
gratification, I'd do things a lot differently. I'd make money. But I want to
help people with my music and I want
to make it accessible. I want to separate
my music from a profit motive. I seem
to have done that well, since I'm broke."
Herland has benefited time and again
from Mary's presence in our area,

thanks, in part, to her sister. Mary was
born in Fort Meade, MD, but moved to
Oklahoma with her family because her
sister wanted to go to college here.
Mary could sing before she could
talk. Her family remembers her actually
singing for the first time when she was
18 months old. But it took her until the
ripe old age of 10 to talk her parents
into getting her a guitar. Her favorite
music is folk and traditional music. She
considers her theme song to be "Don't
Fence Me in." .
Crediting a great voice teacher who
was always there for her, Mary's decision to go into music was influenced by
a Joni Mitchell concert in 1975, while a
Willie Nelson album sparked her interest in traditional music.
"There are a lot of people who have
helped me personally and some who
have inspired me," she said. "But the
Joni M itchell concert was something
that really made me want to perform.
Up to that point, I wasn't sure it was
what I wanted to do. Then, Willie Nelson sang some of Bob Wills' traditional
music on his 'Redheaded Stranger'
album. But, the biggest influence was
Louis Armstrong.''
Mary plays a variety of instruments.
Her favorite is the saxophone, but she
also plays guitar, electric bass, and the
fiddle . Another favorite "instrument"
is her voice. At present, she is considering recording an album in the distant
future with a country flavor but with
some rhythm and blues and traditional
music.
Mary enjoys performing solo, but she
also enjoys being part of.a band. While
part of the Sisters of Swing, Mary wrote
all the arrangements for the group.
" There's something about a band
that I like," she said. "When you're a
solo performer, you have a lot more
pressure on you. As part of a band, the
pressure is different, and I've found
that I just have a knack for bands."
In case you're wondering where the
Sisters of Swing are, they are on hiatus.
I guess opening for the Shartels one too
many times took its toll.
"Opening for the Shartels is demeaning and low," Mary said. "Our integrity
is compromised in the worst way .
Although we did show them up one
time . W e opened for t hem at the
Second Fret in drag. Called ourselves
the 'Fashion Risks .' The Sisters will be
back and will be better than ever."

Mary occassionally gets on her "soapbox" and preaches to other solo performers that they haven' t paiJ their dues
until they've had something thrown at
them, which happened to her twice. The
first time was in Tulsa when the crowd
threw things because they liked the
music. The second time was on the
streets of New York when they wanted
her group to stop. An egg hit the sax
player.
Mary recently became a member of
Herland's board, taking over as chair of
the program committee. She would like
to see Herland's concert situation on
firmer footing.
"I would like to see an independent
budget for concerts," she said. "Mainly
so we don't drain Herland's operating
funds. Hopefully, we'll get to a point
where concerts will make money for
Herland."
Mary sees Herland as a growing
entity. A lot of what Herland means to
her is what it means to people sh~'has a
lot of respect for, like Barbara Cleveland.
"Herland is real important to Barbara," she said. "I agree with her, and
because I care about her (Barbara), I
want to help as much as I can. A lot of
people have worked hard to keep 'Herland going."
.
Like all performers, Mary has some
good advice for aspiring performers:
"You need to do your homework.
Everybody in the world in a few years is
going to expect to be o~ MTV. We're
getting to where everybody wants to
play guitar and be a star. The amazing
thing is, they don't want to do it for
their own satisfaction. If you think
you're going to do it, you need to find
out something about music and something about business. Unless you're
extremely fortunate, it's going to be a
long, slow haul. You never stop paying
your dues."
•

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

5

Outdoor Woman, P.O. Box 834, Nyack,
NY 10960 . . . .

Welcome to Robin P. who became a board
member at the last board meeting . ...
if anyone is interested in organizing a consciousness raising group, call Margaret at
528-0604. Please leave a message with
your name, phone number, and the evening that would be best for you to attend ....
if you haven't noticed in the Calendar for
November on Page 2, Herland is donating
space for an Incest Survisors Anonymous
(ISA) 12-step womyn's group. The group
will meet every Thursday from 7:30 p.m.
to 9 p.m. beginning Nov. 9 ....
along those same lines, HSR now has a
small stock of books on rape and incest.
Stop by the store during the hours of operation and see what's available. In the future
we are going to list all new titles and any
other reading material in a separate
column ....
while we're talking about books, HSR has
a used book bin. Books to be traded must
be in resellable condition with no torn or
missing pages or bindings. If you bring in
two books, you can get another used book
for free. If you wish to trade two of your
books for a new book, you will receive a
15% discount on the purchase of a new
book. Books must be feminist or lesbian
oriented, with no more than three copies
of the same title being traded in. Used
paperbacks are $3, hardbacks are $5 . . ..
the Oasis Community Center has changed
its name. It is now Oasis Resource Center.
They are restructuring to be a resource
center for all gays and lesbians and are
looking for womyn interested in serving
on their board . .. .
let's talk about serving on boards and
committees. If anyone out there would
like to get involved with one of Herland's
committees, we'd be more than happy to
have you. You don't have to join the board
to serve on a committee. Our committees
do a variety of things. We have a Resource
Center Committee, which is broken into
two subcommittees: building and merchandise. The other committees are: fundraising, volunteer, programming, retreat,
and newsletter. Anyone interested in joining any of these committees, call HSR at
521-9696 ... .

6

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

a reminder about our garage sale November 4 - 5. lf you have anything you would
like to donate, drop it off at the Resource
Center during our hours of operation. If
you need to have your donation picked up,
call HSR at 5 21-9696 and we will arrange
for it to be picked up ....
Pam T., coordinator of the Volunteer
Committee, is looking for a few good
womyn to volunteer a few hours of their
time to staff the Resource Center. Shifts
run from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. - 6
p.m. on Saturdays, and 1 p .m. - 6 p.m. on
Sundays. She's willing to break the shifts
up into two-hour shifts instead of four or
five hours if that better suits your needs.
Our problem is we do not have enough
volunteers to keep your Resource Center
open on weekends. If we don't have
anyone to staff the center, it will be closed
during that shift. We do not want the
Resource Center closed! Across this country, from Berkeley, California to New York
City, womyn are losing their bookstores
and resource centers. Let's show the city
folks how it's done. If you have a few
hours to spare on weekends, give Pam a
call at 631 -3573 and leave a message. (P.S.
It's fun to work the store!) . . ..
the Oklahoma Gay/Lesbian Political Caucus has changed their meeting date and
location. They now meet the second Tuesda y of each month at 1133 N.W. 32nd. I
believe the meetings start at 7 p.m. They
are looking for politically aware womyn to
join their organization ....
the HSR Fundraising Committee will meet
the second Thursday of each month at
7:30 p .m. If you would like to attend a
meeting, call HSR, 5 21-9696 for information on the location ....
there will be a newsletter for all women on
the market beginning in January 1990
called Outdoor Woman. The newsletter will
be for women who love the outdoors and
will include articles by experts on equipment, networking opportunities, and
how-to's. The newsletter will be published
by and for women only, and will be $30
for 10 issues. For more information or a
subscription, write: Patricia Hubbard,

if you're into cruising the high seas, Robin
Tyler Productions is sponsoring a sevennight Thanksgiving cruise to the Mexican
Riviera in 1990. The cruise will be from
Nov. 17 to Nov. 24. Cost of the cruise
ranges from $795 - $1595. A payment
plan is set up, but a deposit of $250 is
required by Nov. 17, 1989. For more
information, stop at the Resource Center
and pick up an order form . ...
the Fall Peace Fest will be held on Nov. 11
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the First Christian Church, NW 36th and Walker. Larry
Long and Mary Reynolds will perform in
concert at 8 p .m., with Peggy Johnson
opening. Admission to the festival is free,
but admission to the concert is $5. The
Peace Fest is comprised of 50 Oklahoma
groups for peace, justice, human' service,
and environmental protection. Crafts,
materials, clothing, food, workshops and
entertainment are provided throughout
the day, along with a Children's Corner.
HSR will be there, sharing a table with
Metro OKC NOW. . . .
the Campaign for Choice rally will be held
on the south steps of the state capitol on
Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. NOW is anticipating
this to be the largest rally in OKC history
and is hoping to make it clear to the legislature that Oklahoma is pro-choice. To prepare for the rally, NOW has organized a
sign painting party to be held on Nov. 5 at
the Resource Center at 2 p.m. They will be
painting signs and planning final strategy
for the rally on the 12th. Campaign for
Choice is also in need of volunteers to staff
their phone bank, do data entry on computers and prepare mailings. To volunteer,
call 842-3791 ... .
Sharon S. and Martha T . would like to
start a lesbian mother's support group.
Sharon is a midwife, emergency medical
technician, childbirth educator and lactation counselor. She is the mother of four,
two girls and two boys, ranging in age from
7 to 16.
Martha is a security guard and emergency medical technician. She is the
mother of a girl, age 13 and a boy, age 8.
Sharon and Marty are homesteading on

a small acreage in Noble, raising their six
children together. They would like to start
a support group to discuss issues of raising
children. Some topics they would like to
discuss are "coming out to your child when and where," "dealing with teenage
sexuality," "raising boys in a lesbian
household," "planning a child - what are
the options" and much, much more.
If you are interested in attending, please
call 872-9732 or write Rt. 1, Box 338-10,
Noble, OK 73068 ....
our last entry comes from Volunteers for
Animal Welfare. They are planning an
anti-fur rally. YAW says the rally will
either be Nov. 24 or 25, and will not
release the location, although I have heard
rumor it will be Penn Square Mall. This is
supposed to be a "surprise attack" on
those who still insist on selling and wearing
animals who have suffered severe, brutal
deaths just because their skin covering is a
great comfort to someone's vanity. If you
would like to be a part of this rally, call
their office at 842-6772 after October 24,
between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
and maybe you'll have better luck thaa I
did on getting the straight scoop.
•

ANNOUNCES
GARAGE SALE
Nov. 4, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Nov. 5, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m., 2024 NW
20th. If you would like to donate items, please drop them
off at the Resource Center, or call 521-9696 if the items
need to be picked up.

INCEST SURVIVORS ANONYMOUS A 12-STEP PROGRAM (womyn's group)
Starting Nov. 9, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. - Resource Center; meets
every Thursday

FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEO
November 10, 7:30 p.m. - "Lesbian Tongues"
Interviews with famous and not-so-famous lesbians

I

•v

I

BOARD MEETING
November 19, 4:30 p.m. - Resource Center

FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEO
November 24, 7:30 p.m. - "The Life and Times of Harvey
Milk"

HERLAND HOURS
Sat.: 10 - 6; Sun.: 1 - 6; Wed. Evening: 6:30 - ~

~llllllDll\I\\~

HERLAND IS ...

DISPLAY ADS:

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A non-profit corporation composed of a collective of wimmin - open to any womyn who
wants to be a part of it - which works to maintain a feminist library and bookstore, sponsors
workshops, retreats, concerts and other events for YOU. Herland's reason for being is to
provide a framework for a variety of projects for the support and enjoyment of the area
wimmin's community. It is a place to learn and grow, meet other wimmin, develop lasting
friendships, receive support and nurture the positive self-image that societal attitudes
sometimes make illusive to us. Herland exists to serve YOU .
Your donations are used to pay the mortgage and utilities on the resource center, and
printing and postage for the monthly HSR Newsletter and Friend of Herland cards.
All of Herland's services are free, including the Newsletter. This is why your donation is so
important. It is Herland's lifeblood.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be a minimal
charge for typesetting done to any
advertising.
Leave message for Ginger at HSR,
{521-WMYN) top/ace an ad.

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

7

HERLAND NEEDS YOU!
What does Herland Sister Resources
mean to you? Many of you have passed
through the doors of both our old
location and now our new home on
39th Street.HSR has affected all of us in
one way or another: through new friendships, sisterhood, love, caring and support. We've grown through the years
and will continue to do so with support
from all of you.
We always are in need of volunteers
to either staff the center or work on the
building. We have several committees
that need volunteers, including the
Resource Center committee, Fundraising, Programming, Library, Newsletter
and Volunteer Committee. The continued success of HSR depends on
people getting involved and making a
difference in our community. We must
all work together to ensure our place in
society.
Think about this and your involvement with HSR, because without your
help we could be another statistic like
the Bookstore in San Antonio and
Several others across the United States.
ln these depressed economic times in
Oklahoma it is difficult to make ends
meet and HSR fully understands that.
Many of you see us in a new location,
but we too have needs .
We know many of you give faithfully
of your time, talent and money, and we
are very appreciative of your continued
support. We cannot survive without
you.
•

HELP!!!
Herland needs you now more than ever. Herland's monthly bills:
Mortgage
Utilities
Gas
Sewage
Electric
Insurance
Newsletter printing & postage
(This cost is defrayed somewhat
by paid advertising)

$260

$
$
$
$

40

38

25
75

$200

TOTAL EXPENSES

$638

Herland extends sincere thanks to those precious few who have sustained
her through regular donations.
Herland's new location has caused her expenses to almost triple. With fewer
donations coming in due to difficult economic times for everyone Herland is
left perched precariously close to extinction. This potentially disasterous
financial situation can be alleviated if Herland's 700+ newsletter subscribers
donated just $1 a month. Please ask yourself if Herland is worth the price of 2
Cokes or a pack of cigarettes a month to you. lf so, please let us hear from you
via the form below.
~v'
PLEASE HELP!
Thank you!

YES! I WILL HELP. I AM SENDING MY DONATION OF$_ _ __ _
NAME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ADDRESS - - CITY
-- - - - - - -- -- - -------ZIP
STATE

I

848-5429

FOR SALE: Brand new, double-size mattress for Japanese
bed. $80 or best offer. 789-1824.

SHIRLEY M. HUNTER, M.A.
LICENSED PROF f-.SSIONAI COlJNSELOR

Emphasis on the problems of gay people.
PENN PAF\K OFFICE COMPLEX o SUITE 102
5009 N PENNSY L VAN IA• OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73112

TREAT YOURSEL T TO THE "TOUCH OF GOLD."

Treat your special someone, too, for $10 off her massage!

oouch of Qold
HEALTHFUL • STRESS RELIEVING MASSAGE

Special
discounts

available
to all
Herland
readers'

8

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

6y

Melanie ~- McKiddy
MASSAGE THERAPIST

360-6945

"Portable"
massage
rah le
available
for your
convenience.



NOVEMBER, 1989

FATAL
CONSEQUENCES
by Sondra Metzger
It all began with a verbal argument. It
became a physical argument. There was
a gun. Then, death.
On the morning of October 1, Ruby
Todd died from a .22 caliber bullet that
entered her shoulder, bounced off her
shoulder blade and went into her heart.
Ruby Todd was 32 years old.
I didn't know Ruby Todd. She
attended the Fall Retreat at Lake Wister, but I don't remember ever meeting
her. But, she was there, and she was a
part of this community, for which she
might or might not have paid a fatal
price.
I'm not sure now, as I look back on
the days following her death, what
angered me more: her death, or the fact
that a 16-year-old was on the streets
at 2 a.m. with a gun . I believe I've heard
all the rumors and stories that have
made their way through the community.
The daily paper gave literally no information, suprisingly, since they seem to
take great pride in blaming the gay
community for incidents near the Strip.
Someone has talked to someone else
who's talked to someone else, and all we
still have are stories. The only one who
really knows what happened that night is
Ruby Todd. And a kid with a gun.
Councilman Mark Schwartz and the
OKC Police Department have provided
sketchy information. This is because
the shooting is considered an ongoing
investigation and will be until the teenager is tried. Until then, the police can
only release just so much information.
However, according to the official
investigation report, Ruby argued with
the teenager before the shooting. Somewhere along the way, the argument
turned into a fist fight. She left and
came back with some friends. While

VOLUME 6 NUMBER 11

•

she sat in a car, he was in a car that
drove past the car she was in. He fired
the gun at the car. You know the rest of
the story.
The teenager has been charged with
second degree murder because he fired
at the car she was in and not directly at
her. The pistol he used was reported
stolen the day before. The police are
not regarding this as a hate crime. In
fact, the lieutenant I spoke to was not
aware of Ruby's choice of lifestyles. He
said it was never considered and never
entered into the investigation.
It's not my place to sit here in judgment of anyone: Ruby, the teenager, the
police. It's my place to inform you. You
have just been informed of what I know
from official sources, not from hearsay.
But, I would like to remind all of you
of the phrase "passive restraint" when
going to the Strip. We need to remind
ourselves that we are supposed to be
responsible adults. We are supposed to
maintain control over ourselves. We
are also supposed to know what the
consequences could be in certain situations. Wherever she is now, Ruby
knows.
There a re a lot of things to be said
about this incident. Something could be
said about gun control, about parents
letting their kids hang out on the streets
at 2 a.m., about the police not patrolling
known problem areas, about too much
alcohol and lack of better judgment.
No matter what is said, we can't bring
back Ruby Todd. We can do something about some of the items in the
above paragraph. If you don't want her
death to be in vain, then pick one and
work towards making a change in that
area.
I'm sure you've heard the phrase
"ignorance is bliss." Ignoring those who
have made it their life's ambition to
harass people who patronize the bars on
the Strip is more blissful than the pain of
death, for the pain of death strikes r,1ore

HERLAND SISTER RESOURCES

•

than one individual. It hits us all.

•

(The above editorial is solely the opinion of the writer
and not necessarily that of the board of Her land Sister
Resources. Anyone wishing to comment on the article or
the incident itself may do so by writing to: The Her land
Voice, 2312 N.W. 39th St., OKC, OK 73112 .

WOMAN IN TULSA
SUES AIRLINES
In March 1984, Lillian Graham joined
an aircraft overhaul crew working on
DC- lOs. She had been a mechanic with
American Airlines for 16 year~ i The
ll
move made her the only woman mechanic actually working on the company's
planes out of 8,000 mechanics. Approximately 24 other women mechanics were
employed by American during the same
1
time, but all in the less-prestigious components shops, away from plane maintenance.
When she reported to her new supervisor, Carl Johnson, Johnson stated for
all to hear, "She is not going to work on
my crew." On October 31, 1985, Graham was fired from Arrierican Airlines
for "insubordination, loafing on the job,
and failure to cooperate with other
employees."
Graham's lawyer contends a plan was
put into action to remove her from the
crew and from American's employment
by stacking infractions against her, trying to make an example of her to other
women mechanics whose ambitions
might lead them to consider aircraft
overhaul. The union did not stand
behind her with a firm stance, her allegations of discrimination because of sex
falling on deaf ears. During arbitration
hearings, the issue was sidestepped and
not allowed on record when they merely
mentioned that she may have been
treated "unjustly."

2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112

Continued on next page

•

(405) 521-9696

HSR-CALENDAR OF
EVENTS- NOVEMBER
Nov. 4 - Garage Sale, 2024 NW 20th, 8
a.m. -6p.m.
Nov. 5 - Garage Sale, 2024 NW 20th, 8
a.m. -4 p.m.
Nov. 5 - Metro OKC NOW sign-painting
party, Resource Center, 2 p.m.
Nov. 8 - Meeting of OSU gay & lesbian
student organization at OSU, Home
Economics West, Room 230, 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 9 - Incest Survivors Anonymous - A
12-step recovery program (womyn's
group). 7:30 - 9 p.m. Will meet every
Thursday.
Nov. 10 - Friday Night Video, "Lesbian
Tongues," Resource Center, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 11 - Fall Peace Fest, First Christian
Church, NW 36th & Walker, 10 a.m.
-5 p.m.
Nov. 11 - Fall Peace Fest Concert, First
Christian Church, NW 36th & Walker;
Larry Long & Mary Reynolds, with
Peggy Johnson opening. $5 admission,
8p.m.
Nov. 12 - Campaign for Choice rally,
south steps of state capitol, 2 p.m.
Nov. 14 - Oklahoma Gay/Lesbian Political Caucus meeting, 1133 NW 32, 7
p.m.
Nov. 15 - Deadline for submissions to
newsletter.
Nov. 16 - Incest Survivors Anonymous
12-step meeting (womyn's group),
7:30-9 p.m.

continued from previous page

After exhausting the company/union
arbitration process, Graham filed a Title
VII discrimination suit in May 1986.
One frustration after another produced
a succession of lawyers. Records requested from American Airlines were
never delivered . These records were
needed to ensure a jury trial. Without
the records, her case was heard on a
non-jury basis. When final judgment
was handed down on August 10, 1989
by H . Dale Cook, Chief Judge of the
U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of Oklahoma, he found in favor
of American Airlines. With 30 days
to appeal the decision with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Graham has exhausted her resources. Although she had another job at a fraction
of the pay she was getting at American,
she was not able to keep up payments on
her home and eventually lost it along
with her credit rating.
Rhonda Ferguson, Coordinator for
Tulsa NOW, contacted others to get half
of the approximate $4100 necessary to
file the appeal, which was filed September 11, 1989. Her case is on the
docket for March 1990, when she will
need to have the other half of the filing
fee.
If you would like to help Lillian Graham, send contributions made payable to
Tulsa NOW (noting the contribution is
for Lillian Graham), to: Tulsa NOW, P.O.
Box 471902, Tulsa, OK 47147-1902.
Donations are not tax-deductible.
•

CHANGE OF ADDRESS?
If you are plan ning to move, and you don 't
want to miss any issues of the HSR Newsletter, please let us know you new address
BEFORE you move. For your protection the
Post Office wil not forward the Newsletter, and
Herland will not change your address without
your authorization. Therefore, to ensure
receipt of the Newsletter, fill out and mail us
this change-of-address form BEFORE you
move. The form may also be used to add your
name to the mailing list.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS FORM

Name(s) - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Old Address - - - - - - - - - - City - -- - - - - - - - - - State_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ZIP _ _ _ _ __
New Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
v --City -----------,,~

State_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ZIP _ _ _ _ __
Mail to:

Herland Sister Resources, Inc.
2312 N.W. 39th
Oklahoma City, OK 73112

PUBLISHED BY: Herland Sister Resources, Inc.
2312 NW 39th, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR:
Sondra Metzger
NATIONAL NEWS EDITOR:
Karen Lewis
CITY NEWS EDITOR
Sondra Metzger

Nov. 17 - Oklahoma NOW State Council
Meeting, Martin East Regional Library,
2601 S. Garnett Rd., Tulsa, noon.

TYPESETTING: Rhonda S.

Nov. 19 - HSR board meeting, Resource
Center, 4:30 p.m.

ADVERTISING: 521-9696

Nov. 23 - Incest Survivors Anonymous
12-step meeting (womyn's group),
7:30- 9 p.m.
Nov. 24 - Friday Night Video, "The Life
and Times of Harvey Milk," Resource
Center, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 29 - Meeting of OSU gay & lesbian
student organization at OSU, Home
Economics ~est, Room 230, 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 30 - Incest Survivors Anonymous
12-step meeting (womyn's group),
7:30-9 p.m.

2

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

CIRCULATION: 700
GENERAL INFO: (405) 521-9696

DEADLINE on all advertising and submissions is
the 15th of each month.

EDITORIAL POLICY!
The HERLAND VOICE is offered as an
open forum for community discourse. Materials
printed herein reflect the beliefs and opinions of
the authors of the articles or letters, and not
necessarily those of the News letter or the
Herland Board.
Letters to the editor must be signed by the
writer with full name. Letters w ill not be
printed with name unless writer requests it.
Editing may be necessary for space or to avoid
obscenity, libel, or invasion of privacy, but ideas
will not be altered. Publication of all materials
is at the discretion of the editors. Anyone
having a complaint about the content of this
newsletter may contact the editors at 521-9696.

SUBSCRIPTIONS to the HERLAND VOICE are
free upon request.

riiiil KcMCO
~

PRINT1NG INC.
340-4301

1601 S. Broadway, Unit D
Edmond, Okla. 73013

-

t i'

NATIONAL BRIEFS
The new code of ethics for judges will
include a ban against discrimination based
on sexual orientation if the National Gay
and Lesbian Law Association has its way.
Last February the American Bar Association passed a resolution supporting legislation prohibiting discrimination based on
sexual orientation in employment, housmg, and public accommodations. Now,
the ABA is revising the Model Code of
Judicial Conduct which serves as ethical
guidance for judges throughout the country. The draft revised code prohibits bias
based on race, sex, religion, and national
origin, but fails to mention sexual orientation.
Remarks by several judges during trials
involving homosexuals have implied that
gay people are fair game. If the Code of
Judicial Conduct is revised to include a ban
against judicial discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation, judges will be accountable and may think twice before they fail to
provide equal justice under the law. For
more information, you can contact Suzanne
Bryant at (202) 234-0342 .. . . .
Health and Human Services Secretary
Louis Sullivan, M.D., announced the establishment of 18 AIDS treatment research
programs based in the communities where
people with AIDS live and receive their
medical care.
The new Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS , which will receive a
total of $9 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will
enlist many community-based physicians
and their patients in studies of AIDS drugs.
The programs will be located in: Brooklyn,
New York, the Bronx, Atlanta, Chicago,
Newark, Detroit, Dover (Del), New Haven
(CT), New Orleans, Phoenix, Denver,
Portland (Ore), Richmond (VA), San
Francisco, and Washington, D .C. For
more information, contact Elaine Baldwin,
at (301) 496-5717 . .. . .
A National Lesbian Conference moved
one step closer to becoming a reality when
more than 160 lesbians gathered at Portland State University July 21 - 23 for a
second planning meeting. The three-day
session resulted in an interim task committee that will begin the work necessary to
make the conference a reality for all lesbians in this country. The task force will
manage daily tasks and operations until the

full steering committee takes over in January 1990. A third national meeting is scheduled for April 27 - 29, 1990, in Kansas
City, Missouri.
The conference is scheduled for April
24 -28, 1991 in Atlanta, GA. Conference
planners expect more than 5,000 lesbians
to converge on Atlanta for workshops and
other related events such as a business and
trade exposition or a national lesbian softball tournament. Interested lesbians may
write to the NLC at P.O. Box 3057,
Albany, N.Y., 12203 or call (518) 4631051 for more information about the conference and regional or constituency contacts (please enclose a SASE). Coordinators are planning to relocate the office in
Atlanta this spring. . ...
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's (NGLTF) Creating Change Conference
will be held on November 10 - 12 at the
Bethesda Holiday Inn outside Washington,
D.C.
For more information, call (202)
332-6483 .. ...

Lambda Rising

BOOK REPORT,,.

A Contemporary Review
of Gay & Lesbian Literature

---------

[ ) 12 lssu es - $18.00 l ) 24 lssueo - $28.00
( ) Check/M.O . ( ) AmEx. ( ) VISA ( ) MCaro

Card#

Expires _ __ _

Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Signature _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _
City

State _ _ Zip _

_

_

Mail to: BOOK REPORT DEF'f #257
1625 Conn . Ave. NW. Wash. DC 20009
PHONE ORDERS: 1-202-462-6969

Tim Mcfeeley, Executive Directory of
the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF)
announced that Gregory J. King, a former
Congressional aide and a Washingtonbased political consultant, has been appointed as Communications Director at
HRCF .....
BLK Publishing Company has announced
plans to publish a quarterly poetry journal
to be called Kuumba . The initial release will
be in the first quarter of 1990. Kuumba is
dedicated to the celebration of the lives and
experiences of black gay men and lesbians.
Kuumba is a Swahili word meaning
"creativity" and is one of the Nguyo Saba
(Seven Principles) which governs African
communities.
Submissions of poetry on all subjects
reflecting the experience of black gay men
and lesbians are being sought. Among the
experiences are: coming out, interactions
with family, interactions with our communities, oral histories, AIDS, and intimate relationships. Preference is given to
previously unpublished authors. All submissions should be accompanied by a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. Send submissions to: Editor, Kuumba, Box 83912,
Los Angeles, CA 90083-0912. Call 213•
410-0808 for more information.

r: - - - - - - - - --- -

l

D YES! I want to be a Friend of Herland. My min imum
donation of $12 allows me use of the Herland Library and
a 10% discount on store purchases over the next 12
months. !My $12 is enclosed.)
D YES! I want to help Herland with a donation to the
New Building Fund.
D $15
D $20
D $25
D $50
D $100
D $_ _
D Bookstore volunteer

D Buildi ng volunteer

Name - - - - -- - - -- - - Add ress _ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ __
City _ _ _ _ _ __
Telephone Num ber:

Mail to:

SL___ ZIP_ _

I

Herland Sister Resources, Inc.
2312 N.W. 39th
Oklahoma City, OK 73112

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

3

BATTLING TO SERVE
IN MILITARY
When Miriam Ben-Shalom finished training in 1975 as one of the first two women
drill sergeants in the Army Reserve's 84th
Division, her graduation attracted Milwaukee rt.porters. Her answer to one of
their questions changed her life, and potentially the military as well:
How did it feel to be an openly gay
woman in the armed forces?
Ben-Shalom, divorced and raising a
daughter, had been a lesbian activist for
four years. But she had answered "no" to
an enlistment questionnaire asking if she
practiced homosexuality.
"I wasn't practicing," she jokes now. "I
knew how to do it."
She had wanted the extra pay, the medical benefits and the life insurance as well as
the discipline, self-respect and independence she knew the Army could instill.
Suddenly all that was in jeopardy.
"But a good NCO is supposed to tell the
truth, so I did," Ben-Shalom remembers,
her voice forceful and proud. "I told
(reporters) I didn't see any problem.
Since then, the Pentagon has spent, by
her account, $3 million trying to oust BenShalom. The effort is part of a military
campaign that gay activists say costs taxpayers millions of dollars every year and
has intensified during the 1980s, particularly against women.
Ben-Shalom fought back in court and is
the only openly gay soldier to be reinstated
to her job. Her landmark case is among
several that have made the U .S. military a
key legal battleground for gays.
According to the Defense Department,
about 20,000 soldiers and sailors have
been "separated" since 1973 because they
are gay. Pentagon policy says their gayness
impairs the military's ability to "foster
mutual trust and confidence among the
members," and to maintain "discipline,
good order and morale" and "the public
acceptability of military service."
Few legal observers think gays will soon
sway the Supreme Court's conservative
majority, but the effort is seen as crucial to
the movement's civil rights agenda.
"The military is the most intransigently
and virulently homophobic institution in
the country," says Sue Hyde of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in
Washington, D.C. "It is the only legal
jurisdiction in which gay people are routinely hunted down . .. "

4

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

If gay men and lesbians prevail, it will be
because plaintiffs like Ben-Shalom are
exemplary soldiers. Often their biggest
boosters are the very co-workers whose
morale and trust their presence is supposed to threaten.
That does not surprise Joe Steffan, who
was in the top 10 in his class at the U .S.
Naval Academy and two months shy of
graduation when he was forced to resign in
1987 after telling close friends he thought
he was gay.
"So many gays are driven to prove to
themselves they aren't second-class citizens and are driven to serve,'' he says. Last
year Steffan, now living in Minnesota,
became the first gay to sue a military
academy. His case is pending.
Asks Chuck Schoen, 64, dishonorably
discharged in 1963 after 19 years in the
Navy, one year short of his pension: "If
200,000 gay people are serving now and
they're not upsetting the balance, what's
the sense of trying to find out who they are
and firing them?"
Responds Maj . David Super, a Pentagon
spokesman: "Duty performance of an
individual is not the sole determinant of
what makes a good service member."
The policy is expensive. The U .S.
comptroller-general estimates it now costs
a minimum of $15,000 to train and discharge the lowest grade of soldier. A conservative estimate is that the government
has spent $250 million in the last 16 years
training and then ousting gays and lesbians, not counting the cost of training officers like Steffan.
Adding legal fees , the cost of investigations and finding and training replacements boosts the costs far higher.
The targeted soldiers pay a high price,
too. Ben-Shalom, a Milwaukee schoolteacher when she is not on reserve duty,
has had to sell everything but her clothes
and books to finance her 14-year fight. She
lost custody of her daughter during the
leanest years, and the case has taken a huge
toll on her personal relationships. She
dreams of a future lover, a garden, a house
and a used car that works.
Perry Watkins, 40, of Tacoma, Wash.,
calls the Pentagon's policy toward gays
"crazy."
He should know. He told Army officials
in 1967. During the Vietnam War, that he
was gay. He was drafted anyway. Twice he
unsuccessfully sought discharge, once after
five soldiers beat him up.
After choosing an Army career, he was
repeatedly investigated and allowed to re-

enlist. For 12 years he even did a drag act at
gay clubs. If he had an early show, his
military bosses would let him dress up
during lunch and then work in women's
clothing the rest of his shift.
But he was forced out in 1984- after he
sued the Army for denying him a higher
security clearance. Appellate courts have
twice ordered his reinstatement, but the
Army has yet to comply.
His story, though unusual, highlights
the military's inconsistent application of
anti-gay rules. Enforcement varies from
year to year, from peacetime to war, from
Army to Navy to Air Force to Marines and
even from soldier to soldier.
Sometimes, expediency prevails. During World War II and the Korean War,
many gays were tolerated. Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower said he wouldn't force out
lesbians because he'd lose all his best
WACs.
During the postwar McCarthy era,
"witch hunts" of gays became common,
but by the 1960s, because of Vieljnam and
the gay rights movement, official"attitudes
changed again. By 1978 the Navy allowed
honorable discharges for gays with good
service records.
A notable example of dual policy came
in 1981, when the rules were revised to
target people with a "homosexual orientation" - those who have engaged in, solicited or attempted "homosexual acts" or
who have said they are gay or bisexual.
Under these rules, celibate soldiers can
be kicked out. "There's no way to verify
that [celibacy]," says •Marine spokesman
Ron Stokes. "It's based on your statement."
But the same policy allows for retaining
soldiers who actually engage in gay sex if
they can show that such conduct "is a
departure from ... usual and customary
behavior,'' is unaccompanied by force, is
undesired and unlikely to recur and that
their "continued presence in the service is
consistent with the interest ... in proper
good order and morale."
Gay activists say that women have it
even worse.
Women make up about 10 percent of
the armed forces, but they make up 25%
to 33% of those discharged for homosexuality, Pentagon data show. The Marine
Corps ousted about eight times as many
suspected lesbians as gay men in 1987.
"They live in a hostile environment in
which they're unwelcome and subject to a
kind of scrutiny that male Marines are
never subject to," says the Task Force's
Hyde. "Once the word is out and the
continued on next page

Continued from previous page

rumor mill says a woman is lesbian, she
can kiss her career goodbye. She is either
investigated by the Naval Intelligence Service or the people at work will freeze her
out because they don't want to be associated with her."
In one recent Marine probe of dozens of
women, 11 were discharged and three were
jailed.
Those kicked out included Judy Meade,
a well-regarded military policewoman
accused of "conduct unbecoming to an
officer" and failing to tell officials that her
best friend was gay; and Mary Kyle, a married sergeant named "Marine of the
Month" for six months running.
"I thank God every day that I'm a male
Marine ... and I say that because of what I
know to be the reality in the Marine
Corps,'' Capt. Guy Richardson testified in
Kyle's hearing, according to a transcript
quoted in Progressive magazine. "If a
woman is a little too friendly, she's a slut. If
she doesn't smile at all, she's a dyke."
Lt. Col. Fred Peck, a Marine spokesman, denies women are a special target.•
San Francisco Examiner
Reprinted with Permission

ED. NOTE: At the time this article was written,
Miriam Ben-Shalom had been reinstated. Since then,
the court has reversed its decision. Capt. Judy Meade,
USMC, was reinstated after a review board determined the evidence against her was "insufficient to
justify an involuntary separation from the Marine
Corps ." We do not at chis time have information
regarding other court cases mentioned within this
article.

SPOTLIGHT ON:
MARY REYNOLDS
One of the few entertainers in our
area who puts everything she has into
her music is Mary Reynolds. Mary has
contributed her gift of song time and
time again for causes and organizations
such as Peace Fest, Herland, and the
Winds tape.
"I feel like I've been given gifts to
make a better place for us," she said. "If
I was going to do things for my own
gratification, I'd do things a lot differently. I'd make money. But I want to
help people with my music and I want
to make it accessible. I want to separate
my music from a profit motive. I seem
to have done that well, since I'm broke."
Herland has benefited time and again
from Mary's presence in our area,

thanks, in part, to her sister. Mary was
born in Fort Meade, MD, but moved to
Oklahoma with her family because her
sister wanted to go to college here.
Mary could sing before she could
talk. Her family remembers her actually
singing for the first time when she was
18 months old. But it took her until the
ripe old age of 10 to talk her parents
into getting her a guitar. Her favorite
music is folk and traditional music. She
considers her theme song to be "Don't
Fence Me in." .
Crediting a great voice teacher who
was always there for her, Mary's decision to go into music was influenced by
a Joni Mitchell concert in 1975, while a
Willie Nelson album sparked her interest in traditional music.
"There are a lot of people who have
helped me personally and some who
have inspired me," she said. "But the
Joni M itchell concert was something
that really made me want to perform.
Up to that point, I wasn't sure it was
what I wanted to do. Then, Willie Nelson sang some of Bob Wills' traditional
music on his 'Redheaded Stranger'
album. But, the biggest influence was
Louis Armstrong.''
Mary plays a variety of instruments.
Her favorite is the saxophone, but she
also plays guitar, electric bass, and the
fiddle . Another favorite "instrument"
is her voice. At present, she is considering recording an album in the distant
future with a country flavor but with
some rhythm and blues and traditional
music.
Mary enjoys performing solo, but she
also enjoys being part of.a band. While
part of the Sisters of Swing, Mary wrote
all the arrangements for the group.
" There's something about a band
that I like," she said. "When you're a
solo performer, you have a lot more
pressure on you. As part of a band, the
pressure is different, and I've found
that I just have a knack for bands."
In case you're wondering where the
Sisters of Swing are, they are on hiatus.
I guess opening for the Shartels one too
many times took its toll.
"Opening for the Shartels is demeaning and low," Mary said. "Our integrity
is compromised in the worst way .
Although we did show them up one
time . W e opened for t hem at the
Second Fret in drag. Called ourselves
the 'Fashion Risks .' The Sisters will be
back and will be better than ever."

Mary occassionally gets on her "soapbox" and preaches to other solo performers that they haven' t paiJ their dues
until they've had something thrown at
them, which happened to her twice. The
first time was in Tulsa when the crowd
threw things because they liked the
music. The second time was on the
streets of New York when they wanted
her group to stop. An egg hit the sax
player.
Mary recently became a member of
Herland's board, taking over as chair of
the program committee. She would like
to see Herland's concert situation on
firmer footing.
"I would like to see an independent
budget for concerts," she said. "Mainly
so we don't drain Herland's operating
funds. Hopefully, we'll get to a point
where concerts will make money for
Herland."
Mary sees Herland as a growing
entity. A lot of what Herland means to
her is what it means to people sh~'has a
lot of respect for, like Barbara Cleveland.
"Herland is real important to Barbara," she said. "I agree with her, and
because I care about her (Barbara), I
want to help as much as I can. A lot of
people have worked hard to keep 'Herland going."
.
Like all performers, Mary has some
good advice for aspiring performers:
"You need to do your homework.
Everybody in the world in a few years is
going to expect to be o~ MTV. We're
getting to where everybody wants to
play guitar and be a star. The amazing
thing is, they don't want to do it for
their own satisfaction. If you think
you're going to do it, you need to find
out something about music and something about business. Unless you're
extremely fortunate, it's going to be a
long, slow haul. You never stop paying
your dues."
•

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

5

Outdoor Woman, P.O. Box 834, Nyack,
NY 10960 . . . .

Welcome to Robin P. who became a board
member at the last board meeting . ...
if anyone is interested in organizing a consciousness raising group, call Margaret at
528-0604. Please leave a message with
your name, phone number, and the evening that would be best for you to attend ....
if you haven't noticed in the Calendar for
November on Page 2, Herland is donating
space for an Incest Survisors Anonymous
(ISA) 12-step womyn's group. The group
will meet every Thursday from 7:30 p.m.
to 9 p.m. beginning Nov. 9 ....
along those same lines, HSR now has a
small stock of books on rape and incest.
Stop by the store during the hours of operation and see what's available. In the future
we are going to list all new titles and any
other reading material in a separate
column ....
while we're talking about books, HSR has
a used book bin. Books to be traded must
be in resellable condition with no torn or
missing pages or bindings. If you bring in
two books, you can get another used book
for free. If you wish to trade two of your
books for a new book, you will receive a
15% discount on the purchase of a new
book. Books must be feminist or lesbian
oriented, with no more than three copies
of the same title being traded in. Used
paperbacks are $3, hardbacks are $5 . . ..
the Oasis Community Center has changed
its name. It is now Oasis Resource Center.
They are restructuring to be a resource
center for all gays and lesbians and are
looking for womyn interested in serving
on their board . .. .
let's talk about serving on boards and
committees. If anyone out there would
like to get involved with one of Herland's
committees, we'd be more than happy to
have you. You don't have to join the board
to serve on a committee. Our committees
do a variety of things. We have a Resource
Center Committee, which is broken into
two subcommittees: building and merchandise. The other committees are: fundraising, volunteer, programming, retreat,
and newsletter. Anyone interested in joining any of these committees, call HSR at
521-9696 ... .

6

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

a reminder about our garage sale November 4 - 5. lf you have anything you would
like to donate, drop it off at the Resource
Center during our hours of operation. If
you need to have your donation picked up,
call HSR at 5 21-9696 and we will arrange
for it to be picked up ....
Pam T., coordinator of the Volunteer
Committee, is looking for a few good
womyn to volunteer a few hours of their
time to staff the Resource Center. Shifts
run from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. - 6
p.m. on Saturdays, and 1 p .m. - 6 p.m. on
Sundays. She's willing to break the shifts
up into two-hour shifts instead of four or
five hours if that better suits your needs.
Our problem is we do not have enough
volunteers to keep your Resource Center
open on weekends. If we don't have
anyone to staff the center, it will be closed
during that shift. We do not want the
Resource Center closed! Across this country, from Berkeley, California to New York
City, womyn are losing their bookstores
and resource centers. Let's show the city
folks how it's done. If you have a few
hours to spare on weekends, give Pam a
call at 631 -3573 and leave a message. (P.S.
It's fun to work the store!) . . ..
the Oklahoma Gay/Lesbian Political Caucus has changed their meeting date and
location. They now meet the second Tuesda y of each month at 1133 N.W. 32nd. I
believe the meetings start at 7 p.m. They
are looking for politically aware womyn to
join their organization ....
the HSR Fundraising Committee will meet
the second Thursday of each month at
7:30 p .m. If you would like to attend a
meeting, call HSR, 5 21-9696 for information on the location ....
there will be a newsletter for all women on
the market beginning in January 1990
called Outdoor Woman. The newsletter will
be for women who love the outdoors and
will include articles by experts on equipment, networking opportunities, and
how-to's. The newsletter will be published
by and for women only, and will be $30
for 10 issues. For more information or a
subscription, write: Patricia Hubbard,

if you're into cruising the high seas, Robin
Tyler Productions is sponsoring a sevennight Thanksgiving cruise to the Mexican
Riviera in 1990. The cruise will be from
Nov. 17 to Nov. 24. Cost of the cruise
ranges from $795 - $1595. A payment
plan is set up, but a deposit of $250 is
required by Nov. 17, 1989. For more
information, stop at the Resource Center
and pick up an order form . ...
the Fall Peace Fest will be held on Nov. 11
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the First Christian Church, NW 36th and Walker. Larry
Long and Mary Reynolds will perform in
concert at 8 p .m., with Peggy Johnson
opening. Admission to the festival is free,
but admission to the concert is $5. The
Peace Fest is comprised of 50 Oklahoma
groups for peace, justice, human' service,
and environmental protection. Crafts,
materials, clothing, food, workshops and
entertainment are provided throughout
the day, along with a Children's Corner.
HSR will be there, sharing a table with
Metro OKC NOW. . . .
the Campaign for Choice rally will be held
on the south steps of the state capitol on
Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. NOW is anticipating
this to be the largest rally in OKC history
and is hoping to make it clear to the legislature that Oklahoma is pro-choice. To prepare for the rally, NOW has organized a
sign painting party to be held on Nov. 5 at
the Resource Center at 2 p.m. They will be
painting signs and planning final strategy
for the rally on the 12th. Campaign for
Choice is also in need of volunteers to staff
their phone bank, do data entry on computers and prepare mailings. To volunteer,
call 842-3791 ... .
Sharon S. and Martha T . would like to
start a lesbian mother's support group.
Sharon is a midwife, emergency medical
technician, childbirth educator and lactation counselor. She is the mother of four,
two girls and two boys, ranging in age from
7 to 16.
Martha is a security guard and emergency medical technician. She is the
mother of a girl, age 13 and a boy, age 8.
Sharon and Marty are homesteading on

a small acreage in Noble, raising their six
children together. They would like to start
a support group to discuss issues of raising
children. Some topics they would like to
discuss are "coming out to your child when and where," "dealing with teenage
sexuality," "raising boys in a lesbian
household," "planning a child - what are
the options" and much, much more.
If you are interested in attending, please
call 872-9732 or write Rt. 1, Box 338-10,
Noble, OK 73068 ....
our last entry comes from Volunteers for
Animal Welfare. They are planning an
anti-fur rally. YAW says the rally will
either be Nov. 24 or 25, and will not
release the location, although I have heard
rumor it will be Penn Square Mall. This is
supposed to be a "surprise attack" on
those who still insist on selling and wearing
animals who have suffered severe, brutal
deaths just because their skin covering is a
great comfort to someone's vanity. If you
would like to be a part of this rally, call
their office at 842-6772 after October 24,
between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
and maybe you'll have better luck thaa I
did on getting the straight scoop.
•

ANNOUNCES
GARAGE SALE
Nov. 4, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Nov. 5, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m., 2024 NW
20th. If you would like to donate items, please drop them
off at the Resource Center, or call 521-9696 if the items
need to be picked up.

INCEST SURVIVORS ANONYMOUS A 12-STEP PROGRAM (womyn's group)
Starting Nov. 9, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. - Resource Center; meets
every Thursday

FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEO
November 10, 7:30 p.m. - "Lesbian Tongues"
Interviews with famous and not-so-famous lesbians

I

•v

I

BOARD MEETING
November 19, 4:30 p.m. - Resource Center

FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEO
November 24, 7:30 p.m. - "The Life and Times of Harvey
Milk"

HERLAND HOURS
Sat.: 10 - 6; Sun.: 1 - 6; Wed. Evening: 6:30 - ~

~llllllDll\I\\~

HERLAND IS ...

DISPLAY ADS:

business card or 1/ 10 page ...
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A non-profit corporation composed of a collective of wimmin - open to any womyn who
wants to be a part of it - which works to maintain a feminist library and bookstore, sponsors
workshops, retreats, concerts and other events for YOU. Herland's reason for being is to
provide a framework for a variety of projects for the support and enjoyment of the area
wimmin's community. It is a place to learn and grow, meet other wimmin, develop lasting
friendships, receive support and nurture the positive self-image that societal attitudes
sometimes make illusive to us. Herland exists to serve YOU .
Your donations are used to pay the mortgage and utilities on the resource center, and
printing and postage for the monthly HSR Newsletter and Friend of Herland cards.
All of Herland's services are free, including the Newsletter. This is why your donation is so
important. It is Herland's lifeblood.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be a minimal
charge for typesetting done to any
advertising.
Leave message for Ginger at HSR,
{521-WMYN) top/ace an ad.

HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

7

HERLAND NEEDS YOU!
What does Herland Sister Resources
mean to you? Many of you have passed
through the doors of both our old
location and now our new home on
39th Street.HSR has affected all of us in
one way or another: through new friendships, sisterhood, love, caring and support. We've grown through the years
and will continue to do so with support
from all of you.
We always are in need of volunteers
to either staff the center or work on the
building. We have several committees
that need volunteers, including the
Resource Center committee, Fundraising, Programming, Library, Newsletter
and Volunteer Committee. The continued success of HSR depends on
people getting involved and making a
difference in our community. We must
all work together to ensure our place in
society.
Think about this and your involvement with HSR, because without your
help we could be another statistic like
the Bookstore in San Antonio and
Several others across the United States.
ln these depressed economic times in
Oklahoma it is difficult to make ends
meet and HSR fully understands that.
Many of you see us in a new location,
but we too have needs .
We know many of you give faithfully
of your time, talent and money, and we
are very appreciative of your continued
support. We cannot survive without
you.
•

HELP!!!
Herland needs you now more than ever. Herland's monthly bills:
Mortgage
Utilities
Gas
Sewage
Electric
Insurance
Newsletter printing & postage
(This cost is defrayed somewhat
by paid advertising)

$260

$
$
$
$

40

38

25
75

$200

TOTAL EXPENSES

$638

Herland extends sincere thanks to those precious few who have sustained
her through regular donations.
Herland's new location has caused her expenses to almost triple. With fewer
donations coming in due to difficult economic times for everyone Herland is
left perched precariously close to extinction. This potentially disasterous
financial situation can be alleviated if Herland's 700+ newsletter subscribers
donated just $1 a month. Please ask yourself if Herland is worth the price of 2
Cokes or a pack of cigarettes a month to you. lf so, please let us hear from you
via the form below.
~v'
PLEASE HELP!
Thank you!

YES! I WILL HELP. I AM SENDING MY DONATION OF$_ _ __ _
NAME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ADDRESS - - CITY
-- - - - - - -- -- - -------ZIP
STATE

I

848-5429

FOR SALE: Brand new, double-size mattress for Japanese
bed. $80 or best offer. 789-1824.

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HSR, NOVEMBER, 1989

6y

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360-6945

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