The Herland Voice : v.9: no.5(1992)
- Title
- The Herland Voice : v.9: no.5(1992)
- Description
- The Herland Voice is the monthly publication of Herland Sister Resources, a womanist organization with a strong lesbian focus based in Oklahoma City.
- Publisher
- en_US Herland Sister Resources
- Date Issued
- 1992-05
- Rights
- All rights reserved by Herland Sister Resources. Contact UCO Archives & Special Collections for the permission policy on the use, reproduction or distribution of these materials.
- Is Part Of
- Herland Voice
- Creator
- Herland Sister Resources
- Date
- 2017-09-02T17:02:59Z
- Date Available
- 2017-09-02T17:02:59Z
- Subject
- Oklahoma
- Type
- application/pdf
- extracted text
-
A MILLION WOMEN MARCH
By Brenda Sandburg
Nearly a million people, mostly women, marched on Washington
April 5 to demand full reproductive rights for all women. It was the
most massive pro-choice demonstration ever, a nd one of the biggest
civil rights marches in U .S. history.
The participation of young women was especia lly noteworthy.
They came from communities and campuses across the country, in
buses and cars, by the. dozens and hundreds. Clearly angry at the
threat to their right to control their own bodies, they infused the
huge protest with a sense of urgency and militancy .
The lesbian and gay community was also well represented. When
a speaker asked lesbians and gay men to identify themselves , a sea
of hands was raised.
Although the crowd was predominantly white, there were
contingents from communities of color. These included a busload
of African American welfare recipients from Michigan and a group
of Black and Latino students from York College in Queens, N .Y.
The Ladies Garment Workers union sent several buses filled with
Black, Latina and Asian women workers.
_The National Organization for Women and the National
Abortion Rights Action League sponsored the protest, spurred by
the intensifying attack on women's rights . Marchers said they were
there to let the Bush administration, Congress, the Supreme Court
and state legislatures know that women won't go back to fear,
humiliation and brutalization.
(continued on page J) =-
ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON:
THE ROLLING RETREAT.
(All praise to Wanda who had the vision and the determination
and the fundraising skills to make it a reality.)
Space was tight on that little sleeper bus: four people with 24
square feet to share; at night when the top bunk came down, two
people got 24 square feet to sleep on; most chose the head-to-toe
style popularized in the movie My Left Foot. The bottom bunk,
familiarly known as the Bunk from Hell or The Pit, had a full three
foot vertical clearance. It was without a doubt the most
uncomfortable fifty-two hours of my life (twenty-six hours each
way) .
It was fifty-two of the most enjoyable hours of my life, also .
Thinking back on it, I would say it was a little like .feasting on
Mom's melt-in-your-mouth fudge while getting whipped with a cato 'nine tails. Whatever, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
The Bus began its journey in Norman with about a third of us; it
picked up five more in a church parking lot in Oklahoma City, and
hurried on to Tulsa .
We made another pickup in TtJlsa, and with a full bus were really
on the way at 10:00 p .m ., Friday April 3, 1992. By 10:30 Peggy was
singing, and we were all relaxing as best we could.
... Overheard Wanda speaking: People have suffered a lot worse
than this to do things a lot less important. This is the H'omen sissue
of the nineties...
(continued on p age 4) =>
READY, SET, RETREAT!
Robber's Cave State Park is the place to be May 15-17 for Herland's annual Spring Retreat for Women.
This year the Herland Spring Retreat will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler. Erica
will also collaborate with Oklahoma's own Peggy Johnson to present a song-writing workshop. Other highlights
include a Friday evening dance with Cindy Bookout as D.J., open mike, sing-along campfires with Peggy
Johnson and friends, a raffle for woman-made crafts, and the famous pot-luck supper.
A wide variety of workshops will provide opportunities for dialogue and education on diverse topics. The
park setting offers various recreational activities including hiking, swimming, fossil hunting and more. Most
importandy, the retreat offers the company of women and plenty of good times.
Registration is on a sliding scale of $15 -- $40 and includes a cabin bunk and three meals (Friday P.M.,
Saturday A.M., and Sunday A.M.). On-site registration will be $40. Please pre-register by May 10 so we will
have an accurate count for meal planning. A registration form can be found on page 8 of this issue of The Voice.
For more infom1ation, call Herland, (405)521 -9696. Messages will be answered daily.
See you at the Retreatl
VOLU ME 9 NUMBER 5
HERLAN D SISTER RESOURCES
2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112
A MILLION WOMEN MARCH
By Brenda Sandburg
Nearly a million people, mostly women, marched on Washington
April 5 to demand full reproductive rights for all women. It was the
most massive pro-choice demonstration ever, and one of the biggest
civil rights marches in U.S. history .
The participation of young women was especially noteworthy.
They came from communities and campuses across the country, in
buses and cars, by the. dozens and hundreds. Clearly angry at the
threat to their right to control their own bodies, they infused the
huge protest with a sense of urgency and militancy.
The lesbian and gay community was also well represented. When
a speaker asked lesbians and gay men to identify themselves, a sea
of hands was raised.
Although the crowd was predominantly white, there were
contingents from communities of color. These included a busload
of African American welfare recipients from Michigan and a group
of Black and Latino students from York College in Queens, N.Y .
The Ladies Garment Workers union sent several buses filled with
Black, Latina and Asian women workers.
_The National Organization for Women and the National
Abortion Rights Action League sponsored the protest, spurred by
the intensifying attack on women's rights . Marchers said they were
there to let the Bush administration, Congress, the Supreme Court
and state legislatures know that women won't go back to fear,
(continued on page J) =humiliation and brutalization .
ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON:
THE ROLLING RETREAT.
(All praise to Wanda who had the vision and the determination
and the fundraising skills to make it a reality.)
Space was tight on that little sleeper bus: four people with 24
square feet to share; at night when the top bunk came down, two
people got 24 square feet to sleep on; most chose the head-to-toe
style popularized in the movie My Left Foot. The bottom bunk,
familiarly known as the Bunk from Hell or The Pit, had a full three
foot vertical clearance. It was without a doubt the most
uncomfortable fifty-two hours of my life (twenty-six hours each
way).
It was fifty-two of the most enjoyable hours of my life, also.
Thinking back on it, I would say it was a little like .feasting on
Mom's melt-in-your-mouth fudge while getting whipped with a cato' nine tails. Whatever, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
The Bus began its journey in Norman with about a third of us; it
picked up five more in a church parking lot in Oklahoma City, and
hurried on to Tulsa.
We made another pickup in T1.1lsa, and with a full bus were really
on the way at 10:00 p.m. , Friday April 3, 1992. By 10:30 Peggy was
singing, and we were all relaxing as best we could.
... Overheard. Wanda speaking: People have suffered a lot worse
than this to do things a lot Jess important. This is the womens issue
of the nineties.. .
(continued on page 4) =-
READY, SET, RETREAT!
Robber's Cave State Park is the place to be May 15-17 for Herland's annual Spring Retreat for Women.
This year the Herland Spring Retreat will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler. Erica
will also collaborate with Oklahoma's own Peggy Johnson to present a song-writing workshop. Other highlights
include a Friday evening dance with Cindy Bookout as D.J., open mike, sing-along campfires with Peggy
Johnson and friends, a raffle for woman-made crafts, and the famous pot-luck supper.
A wide variety of workshops will provide opportunities for dialogue and education on diverse topics . The
park setting ·offers various recreational activities including hiking, swimming, fossil hunting and more. Most
importa.ndy, the retreat offers the company of women and plenty of good times.
Registration is on a sliding scale of $15 -- $40 and includes a cabin bunk and three meals (Friday P.M.,
Saturday A.M., and Sunday A.M .). On-site registration will be $40. Please pre-register by May 10 so we will
have an accurate count for meal planning. A registration form can be found on page 8 of this issue of The Voice.
For more infomrntion, call Herland, (405)521-9696. Messages will be answered daily.
See you at the Retreat!
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 5
HERLAND SISTER RESOURCES
2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112
St. Sybil
St. Sybil is an occasional contributor to "The Voice''.
Dear St. Sybil,
I'm sorry, but I'm getting tired of all this talk about
abortion rights and reproductive freedom. I don't sleep with
men, so why is this my issue, why is "Choice" a lesbian issue?
Sincerely,
A. Gaye Gal
Dear A .,
Well, why not? Something most pregnant people and most
lesbians have in common is being women; and either women control
their own bodies, or they don't. If women don't control their own
bodies, who does? The government does, or men do which of
course leads to the question, what's the diff? Not much, these days.
But obviously gay men aren' t women, and reproductive rights is
a gay man's issue also (as Act-Up knows; they are always
delightfully visible and audible at pro-choice events). Why?
Because the issue is one of protecting personal freedom and bodily
integrity, setting limits and defining rights. Once government gets
control over a person's private life, it nibbles away until the person
is consumed. Remember one of the three most common lies in the
world is ''I'm from the government and I'm here to help you ... "
When a woman is in control of her reproductive life, she decides
when she will be pregnant, how many children she will have, and
when she will have them. When government is in control,
~ovemment decides when she will be pregnant and how many
children she will have. Is the population too small, or not enough
little white babies to adopt? Criminalize abortion. Too many
babies for the economy to absorb? Mandatory abortion. Too many
little black babies? Tie those tu bes. Can't assimilate all those pesky
lnjuns? Sterilize every Native American woman unfortunate
enough to be admitted to the hospital for whatever reason.
Those are not imaginary scenarios; they are real, have happened ,
are happening now. Government is not, let us remember, moral or
ethical - it is entirely goal oriented, and it sets its own goals.
So it is not hard to extrapolate from those scenarios to the
following: A gay woman and her lover decide to have a child to
shower with their love and affection? Huh un, no way, unfit
mother, abort that babe - or maybe take it away at birth, if it's
healthy and white. Gay mother wants to keep the children she has
nurtured and loved all their lives? Huh uh, unfit mother, give them
to their Dad. (Happens all too often today). Gay guys want to
share their love with a little foster baby? Huh uh, against the law.
gays can't be foster parents (currently being considered as law in the
Oklahoma lege). Sodomy laws unjust, stupid and out of date? Oh
no, we don't think so; let's keep them and go further, making it
illegal for hand-genital contact between same-sex partners (Yup, it's
true; thank Missouri for that one.)
So there it is, A. The choice issue is a freedom issue, and freedom
is especially important to women, to gays, to blacks - to all of those
out of power. Remember Pastor Niemoller's famous lines: "In
Germany they first came for the communists and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and
I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the
trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade
unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up
because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me - and by that
time no one was left to speak up."
Yours for speaking up and circling the wagons early,
Fondly,
Sybil
2 Herland Voice, May, 1992
Dear St. Sybil:
Do you think that gay marriages will ever be legalized? It
doesn't seem right that they are not.
Sorrowfully,
Morgana and Goen
Dear Morgana and Guenivere,
Picture this; when a good friend of mine came through your state
in 1968 on her honeymoon, her "mixed -race" marriage was illegal
there - in Oklahoma. In 1968. Less than 25 years ago. Can't
believe it? Well, you keep giving a little time and energy to gay
rights work and before you know it gay marriages will be legal
everywhere; and in 25 years it will be just as unimaginable that gay
marriages were ever unsanctioned.
Keep the faith,
Love,
Sybil
•
Ann Reed To Appear In Tulsa
Her voice has been described as husky, sultry, dusty, and even
creamy-chocolate, but whatever adjective is used. all agree that once
heard, Ann Reed's voice keeps bringing you back for more. Ann,
a Minnesota native, has made professional music her career for the
past 15 years. Her forte is the acoustic magic of the 12 string guitar.
Her talents also include the ability to weave humor in and around
her music. The end result is a funny, talented, dynamic singer who
gives a great concert.
Ann's music is a powerful combination of blues, jazz, folk and
pop. She sings of relationships and experiences that capture
emotions so close to the soul that listeners completely surrender
themselves to it becoming totally involved with the warmth and
depth of songs such as "Road of the Heart: or "Every Long
Journey". Then Ann pulls the listener into the comic antics that
went into the making of some of her jazzy tunes such as her
"ecology" song "Styrofoam" about a cockroach fami ly.
Ann will be performing in Tulsa, Saturday, May 30, 1992 at 8:00
P.M. The concert will be held at the University of Tulsa, Kendall
Hall/Chapman Theatre. Tickets are $10.00 in advance, $12.00 at
the door. Advance tickets can be purchased by contacting Step
Forward Productions, P.O. Box 700333, Tulsa , OK 74170 or
phoning (918) 481-0261.
•
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Marchers Gather
Photo by Peggy J.
A Million Women March
(continued from page 1)
The action came just as the Supreme Court is about to hear oral
arguments on a Pennsylvania law. The case could result in a ruling
to overturn the High Court's 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade that
established abortion as a "fundamental" constitutional right.
As it is, years of attacks have already whittled away at the right
to choice . Poor women in 30 states are blocked from Medicaid
payment for abortion. Abortion services are medically unavailable
in 83 percent of U.S. counties. Several states require parental or
husband notification. Third World wome n continue to be subjected
to forced sterilization, welfare mothers are losing their state
benefits, and lesbians are faced with ongoing violence and
discrimin ation .
'We won't go back!'
Over 60 speakers addressed rallies at the beginning and end of the
march. They included representatives from women's, students', civil
rights, lesbian and gay, and religious groups. Thirty-eight capitalist
politicians--members of and candidates for the House and Senate-spoke.
Ginny Montes, NOW national secretary, chaired the rally. NOW
President Patricia Ireland and several other officials of the group
also spoke.
Other speakers included Marian Kramer of the N a tional Welfare
Rights Union; Faye Wattleton and Dr. Kenneth Edelin, former and
current presidents of Planned Parenthood; and United Farm
Workers Vice President Dolores Huerta.
Also speaking were Leona Smith, president of the National
Union of the Homeless; Coalition of Labor Union Wo men
President Joyce Miller; Urvashi Vaid of the National Gay a nd
Lesbian Task Force; Tajel Shah, president of the United States
Student Association; Rev. Ignacio Castuera; "Thelma and Louise"
screenwriter Callie Khouri; and several well-known actors .
Jewell Jackson McCabe of the National Coalition of 100 Black
Women addressed the racist assault on reproductive rights. Third
World and poor women bear the brunt of restricted access to
abortion and other services. In 1969 alone, 75 percent of deaths
from illegal abortions were women of colo r.
Dr. Susan Wic klund was one of several physicians who spoke.
After she a tt ended the 1989 pro-choice rally in Washington,
W icklund said. she decided to commit herself to providing services
for women. She rearranged her medical practice and now spends
every week flying amo ng th ree rural M idwest states where she is
the only doctor performing ;:ibortions. Anti-a bortion reactionaries
ha ve attacked her, harassed he r young daughter and threatened
their lives. But she said she will never stop providing reproductive
medical services to women.
Rev. Jesse Jackson ·g alvanized the crowd with a fiery talk that
linked the issue of choice to the struggle against racism, the fight to
defend welfare rights and the needs of women workers . He also
called on everyone to support the Haitian people and demand an
end to deportations of Haitian refugees.
Sus an F alud i, author of"Backlash--The Undeclared War Against
American Women," viv idly described what women endured before
1973. Her mother suffered and survived an illegal abortion. Faludi
sa id her mother fin ally ended up in a hospital hemorrhaging, went
into labo r and gave birth to a fetus that had been rotting inside her
fo r six months.
Carol Moseley Braun, an African American running for the
Senate from Illinois, also spoke. She upset Democratic incumbent
Alan Dixon in the primary last month. If elected she will be the first
Black woman to be a member of the Senate. Braun paid tribute to
Anita Hill, saying Hill's stand against sexual harassment motivated
her to run for the Senate.
Bill Bell Jr. pledged his family's commitment to the struggle. His
sister Becky Bell was a teenager who died from a botched abortion
last year. Indiana law requires minors to get their parents'
pe1mission for an abortion. Because she was afraid to tell her
parents she was pregnant, Becky Bell got a back-alley abortion that
killed her. The Bells now travel the country warning that parental
notification laws kill young women.
Buffalo, N.Y., next battleground
Many speakers and protesters referred to "Operation Rescue" and
its in1pending assault on women's clinics in Buffalo, N .Y. The
upc oming Supreme Court decision in the case of Planned
Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey was also a
major focus.
The S upreme Court will hear arguments in the Pennsylvania case
on April 22 . The case involves a state law that prohibits married
women from obtaining an abortion without first notifying the
husband , and requires all women to delay having an abortion until
24 hours after receiving an anti-choice lecture.
The day after almost a million people marched for choice, the
Bush administration filed a friend-of-the-court brief calling for the
court to overturn Roe vs. Wade. "In our view, a state's interest in
protecting fetal life throughout pregna ncy, as a general matter,
outweighs a woman's liberty interest in an abortion," read the brief.
R~printed with pem1issio11 from J.J·'i.1rkers Wor/dnewspaper. A JO-week trial subscription is avai lable
for$:!. A ye" r's subscription cosLs $15. Makes checks payable to Work~rs Wor ld, and send to 46 W .
"I St.. N<w York. NY IUO IO.Phone t21") 2'5-035".
•
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Berland Voice, May, 1992 3
On the Road to Washington
(continued from page 1)
The first plain ti ve cry of "Are we there yet?" was heard as we rolled into the
largest McDonald 's in the World: it was 11:00 p.m, and we were still in Oklahoma .
Changing the seats fr om upright to bunks was something any four year old or
PH.D could do; unfo rtuna tely we had few of either on the bus, but we did manage
to get them all ready for a miserable night's sleep befo re I a.m .
By 9 Saturday morning we were in Ind ianapolis, and stopped at a Shoney's for
toothbrushing and other necessities, and breakfast . There being thirty-six of us all
told , we made our presence felt wherever we stopped. The waitress at my table was
reserved but friendly, and gave great service. On a hunch we offered her a "Choice"
button. She looked at it questioningly, and asked what it meant. When we told her
it meant "P ro-Choice" , and stood for reproductive rights, she still was not sure .
When we quit pussyfooting around and told her that it stood for a woma n's right
to choose an abort ion when she needed one, she took the button, pinned it on, and
......... a~modations?.
began to talk. She told us that she once thought that abortion was an option only
1
._.._ J n&ANIH
Photo by Pal R.
in cases of rape, incest, or to sa ve the life of the mother; but the time came that she
got pregnant with someone she didn' t care for, and she rethought the question, and
knew that abortion was the only choice fo r her at that time. "I always knew", she said, "that it was not a fetus right away ." She talked on and
on, possibly, we felt, for the first time. She and her husband now have six children between them.
We suggested that it might not be good for her job security to wear the button at work; we called her "sister" and knew it was true; and left
Indianapolis at 9:45 sure of our selves and our journey.
Back on the bus Peggy made sure we all knew Holly Near's Mountain Song. W<! sang it over and over, then we helped Peggy write the T'wa nda
Blues, and then we wrote a new verse for her song "Tin1e to D o It." We were more than a little fired up a nd having a ball.
.. .Somt: ofthe women who p aved the way !br us: Elizabeth Cady Stanton. M arg aret Sanger. Sojournr:r Truth, Harriet Tubman. Lucy Stone.
R osa Parks. Emma Goldman, Del Martin & Phyllis Ly on, Betty Friedan, Shirley Cbislw lm , l\I arie Curie .. .
We rolled into Washington and got hopelessly lost aro und the Pentagon, where we were supposed to park. Most people slept o n the bus;
a few with family in the area headed off to stay with them. A couple of us Metroed in to DC to have a great shower and spend a wonderfui night
in a comfo rtable bed at my brother's.
THE MARCH
The next morning we hoped to J Olll the
He1land and Oklahoma N OW contingent.
and positioned ourselves along Pennsylvania
Avenue watching the throngs pass by. They
passed by, forty to sixty abreast, fo r more
than five hours . There were Dykes for
Choice, Act-U p with their whistles, Freaks
for Choice, (with shaved heads and pink
topnotches, my niece among them), Tired
Old Feminists for Choice, dogs (Bitches for
Choice?), rollerbladers, wheelchairs, even
R epublicans fo r Choice (and yes, their
banners were the most elegant and
expensive) . Occasionally a group would start
a weird, high-pitched reverberating kind of
keening, as if electricity were surging through
them; they would crescendo to a deafening
pitch and break into loud applause and
laughter. It was an exhilarating, crazy, Oklahoma Marchers
Photo by Pal R.
irresistible sound, and everyone joined in
with them.
The crowd was frequently so thick that it was impossible to see to the other side of the street, so from time to time, in hopes of fi nding o ur
group, I would shout out "O klahoma?" or "T'wanda?". The crowd loved it, and frequently broke into strains from the song; the folk who had
seen or read Fried Green Tomatoes would usually throw a happ y fist into the air and shout back, "Yeah, T'wa nda !" Once, an attempt to call
out "Is the Oklahoma group out there?" came out as "Is Oklahoma?" and the crowd passing by roa red; thei r comml': nt back to me was, basically,
"W ow, man, heavy question; I!? Oklahoma????"
Even in the immense crowd we managed to find two separate groups from our bus , and two of my nieces; we never found the Herl and banner
group, who had evidently staked thei r place at the very front of the march while I was still sawing wood. Oh sloth, oh indolence, oh well. I had
a great day checking out all the folks having their own great day.
4 Berland Voice, May, 1992
TARGETING THE SENATE, 1992
In the next few months The Voice will bring you profiles of
l'c:rninist, pro-choice women running for the U.S. Senate. If you are
moved to send fina ncia l support for any of these women, you might
send a donation to the Women's Campaign Fund , 120 Maryland
Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; or the Emily Fund, 1112
16th Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20036. "Emily" is an
acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast", referring to the almost
magical effect of abundant money early in a campaign.
BARBARA BOXER - California:
Oklahomans Wait to Join the March
Photo by Peggy J.
My family got us back to the bus with a good fifteen minutes to
spare. Our scheduled departure tin1e was 10 pm, and amazingly, we
left on the dot, with everyone safely on board. We all thought Pat
R eaves was just too cool for words, sitting around in her dark
glasses on the d ark bus; but it turned out that she had broken her
regular glasses earlier in the day, and that she needed the
prescription shades to see anything at all .
I soon learned that it was my turn in the lower bunk, and all I will
say about that night from hell is this : if you ever find yourself on a
sleeper bus, this is what you say, over and over and over again: I'm
not afraid of falling to the floor, I'll take the top bunk . Say it until
you get the top bunk.
Monday morning was pretty much a blur, and then a wonderful
thing happened: Laura had a copy of Fried Green Tomatoes, and
we persuaded Peggy to read it aloud to us. Oh sweet childhood
revisited, hunkered down in that rocking bus, cozy, shoulder to
shoulder, feet every which way, transported to magical land s and
heroic doings, transported. Peggy read half the book to us, her
Georgia accent deepening with every mile; only once was she forced
by tears to pass the book to another reader.
Laura and her book were getting off at Tulsa, so we stoppeu
reading shortly before we got there, to give the Tulsa/Enid/
Stillwater/Muskogee folk time to look for their things in the
incredible messible bus.
As the bus pulled off the highway and began its search through
the dark city for the designated dropoff point, another wonderful
thing happened. From the front of the bus came the soft strains of
The Mountain Song, affirming the trip. We all joined in, singing
softly along .
...I have dreamed on this mountain,
since first I was my mother's daughter,
and you can'tjust take my dreams away,
not with me watching,
no you can'tjust take my dreams away,
without me fighting,
no you can'tjust take my dreams away..
•
Remember the $400 hammers? ... the $7,600 coffee pots? ...the waste;
the fraud, the procurement ripoffs which plagued the Pentagon in
the l 980's? ... It was California Congresswoman Barbara Boxer who
exposed this fraud to the public and wrote the legislation that ·
reformed the purchasing practices at the U.S. Department of
Defense.
Ever since coming to congress in 1983, Barbara Boxer has been
rocking the boat; which may be why The Congressional Ouarterly
named her "One of the Most Effective Freshmen in the House of
Representatives."
Last session, this Bay Area Congresswoman introduced the
"Boxer Amendment" which provided federal funding for abortion
for the victims of rape or incest. Boxer has vowed to pursue this
important measure - passed by the House and the Senate, but
vetoed by President Bush - until it becomes law.
Boxer is the only woma n in a crowded primary field for the seat
of retiring Alan Cranston.
CAROL MOSELY BRAUN - Illinois:
The primary election upset of incumbent U.S. Senator Alan
Dixon . D -Ill, by Carol Moseley Braun, who is expected to win the
general election and become the Senate's first Black woman, is
widely considered to be the first victory attributable in main to a
backlash against a judicial subcommittee member's vote against
Anita Hill. T he major factor in Braun's victory over the incumbent
Dixon is believed to have been Dixon's vote against Anita Hill and
for Clarence Thomas in the nomination hearings last fall.
Brnun's win is a victory for gays and lesbians too . Gay activists in
Chicago say that they expect Braun to be a dynamic and strongly
progressive senator, and that during her ten years in the Illinois
legislature, Braun was so pro-gay that they rarely had to lobby her.
She has promised that she will co-sponsor the federal gay-rights bill
her first day in Washington.
Braun faces a Reagan-style Republican in November, and
although she is favored to win, she needs large infusions of cash to
avoid a dangerously close race .
•
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Herland Voice, May, 1992 5
Custody Update
As The V.:>icc goes to print, the custody case first mentioned in
the March, 1992 Voice is being heard in district court in Cleveland
County.
Contributions to the defense fund to-date have totaled more than
$600. Thanks to Shatzy and C.B. at the Porthole for hosting an
open mike which raised over $200 for the fund.
Your contributions are still needed. Case preparation has been
quite expensive with depositions of the parties and expert witness
testimony . Please consider sending a donation to Herland c/o Legal
Defense Fund, 2312 N.W. 39. Oklahoma City, OK 73112. Iftl1is
case reaches the Oklahoma Supreme Court, it will set a precedent
which affects all lesbian and gay parents in Oklahoma.
PUBLISHED BY: Herland Sister Resources. Inc .. 2.112 N.W. 39.
Oklahoma City. OK 73112
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE: Margaret Cox. Deborah Fox.
Pat Reaves
CIRCULATION: 950
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The· Vo1(·e is offered as an open forum for community discourse.
Signed articles r<:tlect the opinion of the author and not necessarily
those ofHerland Sister Resources. Unsolicited articles and letters to
the <:ditor are welcomed and must be signed by the writer with full
name and address. Upon request. letters or articles may be printed
under a pseudonym.
Subscriptions to The V01ceare free upon request.
Letters to the Editor
Friends,
The Paula Rae story began in 1984 when Paula started 8 seriesol
surgeries. The first surgery w<1s 8 disc repl<1ceme11t in both 1;11v
joints. The second was a totaljoint replacement also 011 both s1de:;
ofherjaw. The third surgery 1vas to replace the nuts and bolls due
to irritation olthe lacial muscles.
Eight years went by with constant pain and numerous health
problt:ms of unknown on'gin. Testing lor lupus. leukemia. AIDS.
rheumat01d arthritis, bone marrow testing. constant blood tests fin·
the anemia, extreme pressure in her head headaches olunbearable
tolerance, and yet, she stood and laced the world.
In October. 1992, I took her lo another doctor. Alter beine told
by so many other physicians that her pain was all in her ~head:
indeed it was. We then fi.wnd out that her inJp/<1nts had been
recalled by the FDA two years befi>re. The maten~1Js that the
prosthesis had been made out olwas not compatible with bone.
The materialis calledprop/a st. It ejects fibers into the bones <1nd
soft tissue and literally eats it. In layman s terms, these fibers cal
bone like rust on a car.
On November4, 1991, once ag<1li1, Paula unden:vent yet another
surgery -- this tinw to remove the discs and j;n.v joints. The
destruction was devr.stating. The proplast material <1nd fibers lwd
eaten the bone inside her lace. On the felt side she has a very small
amount ol bone Jeff. and on the right side she has none. She noH·
has no jawjoints.
If all goes well, she will return to the operating room sometin1e
this May. This reconstruction will utilize her ribs as newjm-vjoints
and the tissue from around her skull as the discs. lJ: howe1-er. the
fibers are stillpresent. they will have to just scrape her out again.
The company who made these parts has gone totally bankrupt.
Paula is under constant medical care and testing and w1JI have to be
.for the rest of her life. There is no insurance: only a bankrupt
company and the next surgery is $50,000 alone.
I'm asking you .. .those ofyou who would or could help, ple<1se do.
Everything will count. Send donations to: Paula Rae Powers, 1 J.l3
W Main St., Jenks, OK 74037
God Bless You.
Brandy Lee Powers
The Vo1£-e is printed on recycled paper.
National Lesbian and Gay Health
Conference
The impact of age, gender, race and sexual orientation on the
delivery of health care will be discussed by Lesbian and Gay care
providers at the 14th National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference
and 10th Annual AIDS Fonun, July 8 - 12, 1992, in Los Angeles.
Ellen F. Ratner, Program Co-Chair, said, "Health care delivery
to Lesbians by mainstream providers has always been poor. That's
why a major portion of this year's program is devoted to finding out
what the Lesbian community needs in terms of health care systems,
and we'll look at some model systems that are delivering it." The
health conference features a full-day institute on Lesbian health and
a 2 112 hour update on "Lesbians and Cancer."
"The past 10 years the Gay and Lesbian community has had to
rely a great deal on itself to provide care for Gays and Lesbians,"
said Program Co-Chair Greg P . Thomas, "but with hysteria
mounting from situations like the HIV transmission cases in Florida
event that resource is being threatened."
That issue will be
addressed in 3 session titled, "Crisis Confronting HIV+ Health Care
Workers." An AIDS/HIV medical update for physicians and other
;.tdvanced AIDS care providers also is on the program as well as an
"AIDS 101" update for a more general audience.
Ten pre-conference institutes and more than 220 workshops
focused on Lesbian and Gay health, mental health, substance abuse
and AIDS/HIV will be presented. The health conference is
sponsored by the National Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation
and the George Washington University Medical Center. For
registratio n infom1ation and a program brochure contact Daniel E .
Reichard at 202-994-4285 .
•
Quality Service With That Personal Touch'"
I
p
Ink Well Printing
Free to good home: Neutered male. Duffy. black & white c<1t. Left
when fi.>rmer owners moved away. Ginger, 942-508.l.
6 Herland Voice, May, 1992
FOR ALL YOUR PRINTING NEEDS
Teri Hoeltzel
Susan Brooks
942-5693
A Different View
JR's Report from "Over There"
The following is a list of 221 differences between my American
life and life over here in the United(?) Queendom.
l. A 180° View of"My Part" of North Wales
I never tire of looking out my window: in the right foreground
the mountain of The Vardre rises, covered with blackthorn in
flower, yellow gorse blooms, veridian grass, off-white sheep,
massive stones, and the ruins of Deganwy Castle; to the left and
farthe r away the Conwy Mountains climb through shades of green
to brown, bare tops; in front , far away over chimney pots, the Irish
Sea gives way to the humped shape of the Isle of Anglesey.
2. High Days and Holy Days
Sure, I missed President's Day . BUT I got in on, for example, the
Feast of Saint D orothy, Patron Saint of gardeners; Pancake Day;
Mothering Sunday; my neighbor's 89th birthday; and the General
Election (stay tuned fo r politically incorrect comment).
3. The Radio
There's such a lot going on (with no commercials!) that often I'm
listening to one program and taping another. On the day I received
my April Jl(1ice, a gun debate was on "Women's Hour"!. I always
try to catch that program, which airs every morning M-F with a
slightly abridged repeat in the evening. It features information or
debate about what is happening with/because of/to women, a short
story or serial (Jane Austin's North anger Abbey just ended), and
two or three interviews or reviews (such as the recent double
appearance of Marilyn French, discussing The War Against
Wl1men). A few weeks ago, a feature on sexual abuse of children by
women followed up with some of the horrified, confessional, or
disbelieving listener-response. That broadcast broke through the
"taboo barrier."
I don't think the British realize how much they use the media as
therapy, a distanced involvement leading to private recognition.
Here, although there are branches of AA in larger towns, group
therapy such as the various 12-Step programs is just too ... overt to
catch on.
The important role public radio is able to play is due partly to the
size of Britain. It's a country with great geographic, dialectic,
cultural, political, socio-economic, etc. variety; but the entire area
of England, Scotland, and Wales would fit into one-third of Texas.
This gives a "local" flavor to national issues; and when, from time
to time, the public is jolted into action, the whole country is
involved . I remember this happening in 1987, when Britain
discovered child abuse--"discovered" in the sense that, literally
overnight, the subject moved from virtually total unspokenness into
a piercing outcry . The problem hasn't been "solved" over here , any
more or better than in America; but public awareness and the
machinery of prevention went from near-zilch to par in a matter of
weeks .
Last month I mentioned "Fem Radio FM". I've learned that t11e
24-hour station was a week-long celebration of women launched on
International Women' s Day. Response was positive, although
occasionally sort of backhanded. One reviewer was amazed that the
late-night/early-morning music programs were NOT boring; and
several others fastened on the excellence of small technical touches,
jingles, and signature tunes. Why was anyone surprised that a
station programmed and presented by women and featuring women
was of such high quality and interest?'
4. The Gardens
Pictures, songs, poetry, and prose have already glorified these
gardens. [One of the language differences is that the word for a
Brit's yard is "garden." A "yard" is "an enclosed place," but the
word has negative connotations, traditionally referring to the small
area behind the house where the coal shed and clot hes line and privy
were (are) located.]
Life and Emerson have made me a firm
believer in Compensa tion; and , if anything can compensate for
British wea ther, it must be the gardens and (in most places) the yearround blossom and green grass.
They are big on barriers here: walls, fences, and hedges protect
the gardens just as the "stiff upper lip" protects emotions. That
leads me to the next difference.
5. Subtlety As a Way of Life and Government
I'm not sure I ever understood one of the Election posters. It was
a huge thing, a blown up photograph of a battered black box with
a slit in the top and "Ballot Box" lettered on the front. At the top
was the caption, "IT IS. ARE YOU?"
Am I what? Black? Battered? A box? Subtle, huh?
T he British Prime Minister is subtle--almost an understatement
as politicians go. He is also a very nice man . That combination
worried his campaign organizers--they were a little worried that he
wouldn't "come across". When he entered a room the Press would
hiss, "Grey Alert!" Even the John Major puppet on the TV program
"Spitting Image" was grey--all over.
I'll tell you why John Major won, against the odds and ·
predictions. Grey men are reassuring in a subtle way, but many
Brits were fed up enough to risk change and grey might not have
held them. HOWEVER, just before the Election, someone hit John
Major with an egg. Camera zoomed in on the cut cheek and
millions stared at that thin red line of blood--of COLOR. It was
like Electric Shock Therapy, and the after-effect was a Conservative
victory.
Also in Major's favor was a joke that lodged somewhere in the
subtle halls of the British subconscious. On Election Eve, the
political-analyst puppet on "Spitting Image" observed, "Never mind
Neil K innock's political stance. The real question "is whether this
nation is ready for a Prime Minister with red pubes."
The country chose grey.
6. Subtlety As Response
During the campaign Neil Kennock said that the Jack of women
in the previous Cabinet showed that John Major wasn't good to
women. After his re-election, the Prime Minister hugged his wife in
public and put two women in the Cabinet.
(The Editor lias cut the remaining 216 points.)
•
OKLAHOMA NOW OFFICER ELECTIONS
The next Oklahoma NOW State Council meeting will be held
Saturday, May 23rd, at 11:00 o'clock a .m. , at the Tiger Gallery in
Muskogee, 2110 E. Shawnee, Muskogee . In addition to a program
coordinated by M uskogee NOW and other agenda items, elections
to fill the following offices will be held: Coordinator, Vice.
Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, and R egional
Coordinators. There is no pre-arranged slate; nominations,
including self-nominations, will be accepted from the floor.. All
Oklahoma NOW members in good standing may vote, and all
feminists are welcome and invited to attend the meeting. For
d irections to the Tiger Gallery in Muskogee, call 918/687-7006. •
Gnrage Apartment For Rent. $150.00 a month; water & garbage
paid. 525-852-l
Herland Voice, May, 1992 7
Oklahomans For Choice will meet Saturday. May 9th at l P.M. al the First Unitarian Church, 600 N.W. 13, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.
Writillg concerning women's experiences as psychiatric survivors and critical writing on the theories and practices of the psychiatric
institution, the concept of "mental illness" and the alternatives is heing sought for Loose Screl·J-:5 jn the Mental Instjtutjou: JVdtings
of Women lWw 've Been There. Suhmissions may be sent to: Jennie Lind. P.O. Box 6337 , Fall River, MA 02724.
The first annual Women's Empowerment Weekend, a celebration of feminist spirituality, will be held in Palm Springs, California , June
12-14. Ruth Rhiannon Barrett, Billie Potts and Jane Goldberg will facilitate a Full Moon ceremony, a medicine wheel ceremony, and
workshops on Dianic Witchcraft, healing with herbs, Yoga, Tai Chi. body awareness and spirit guides. Contact Alice Nygard, 619/3218231.
Compete in the first annual Lesbian Playwriting Competition of leshian full-length plays. one-acts, and small musicals with all -women
roles. Winner receives $200 and production of the play. Submit script and resume by November 1 to Tiana Lee, Tribad Productions,
P.O. Box 1745, Guerneville, CA 95446; or call 707-869-0155 for further information .
"Lesbian Spring Fling Prom", sponsored by "The Lesbian Celebration" of Wichita, Kansas, June 19, 1992, 7 - 12 p.m, at the Century
2 Expo Hall, 225 W. Douglas, Wichita. Tickets are $6 per person in advance, $7 at the door. Send for tickets to Orchid Productions,
P.O. Box 20284, Wichita Kansas 67208. There will be a live band. "Red Hot"; a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, door prizes, and a Prom
Picture Photographer. Formal dress is not required.
WOMONWRITES 1992: The 14th Annual Southeastern Lesbian Writers' Conference. June 3-7 in Central Georgia. Workshops, open
readings, affinity groups, discussion and recreation ... to inspire and stimulate creativity among Lesbian writers in all stages of
development. $60 (more or less), limited registration. For more information and/or registration, send S.A.S .E. to: Womonwrites 1992,
c/o Katy Wildsister, 440 60th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33705.
First person expressions of feelings and memories of experiences of sexual harassment are being sought for We Believe You. Anita:
Women Speak Out About Sexual Harassment. For information contact Jane Berry Marcellus, 117 E. 2nd St., Tucson, AZ 85705.
Herland Spring Retreat
May 15 - 17, 1992
Robber's Cave State Park
Single Person's
Annual Income
Retreat Preregistration fee
under $ 6,500
$ 6,500-$13,250
$13,250-$19,500
over $19,500
$15
$25
$35
$40
Household Annual Income
(2 or more persons)
under $13,300
$13,300-$18,000
$18,000-$26,000
over $26,000
Please choose the registration fee most appropriate for you based on these suggested income
guidelines. Complete and return the preregistration form to Herland, 2312 N.W. 39th,
Oklahoma City, OK 73112.
HSR SPRING RETREAT REGISTRATION
NAME: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~
PHONE:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
ADDRESS: _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
CITY: _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __
STATE _ _ _ __ __ ZIP _ _ _ _ _ __
Registration fee enclosed: D $15 D $25
D I'm enclosing an additional $
D I need a scholarship to attend.
D I would like to ride with someone.
D I can help provide rides to the retreat.
D $35 D $40
to provide retreat scholarships.
Return to:
HERLAND
2312 N.W. 39th
Oklahoma City, OK 73112
-
A MILLION WOMEN MARCH
By Brenda Sandburg
Nearly a million people, mostly women, marched on Washington
April 5 to demand full reproductive rights for all women. It was the
most massive pro-choice demonstration ever, a nd one of the biggest
civil rights marches in U .S. history.
The participation of young women was especia lly noteworthy.
They came from communities and campuses across the country, in
buses and cars, by the. dozens and hundreds. Clearly angry at the
threat to their right to control their own bodies, they infused the
huge protest with a sense of urgency and militancy .
The lesbian and gay community was also well represented. When
a speaker asked lesbians and gay men to identify themselves , a sea
of hands was raised.
Although the crowd was predominantly white, there were
contingents from communities of color. These included a busload
of African American welfare recipients from Michigan and a group
of Black and Latino students from York College in Queens, N .Y.
The Ladies Garment Workers union sent several buses filled with
Black, Latina and Asian women workers.
_The National Organization for Women and the National
Abortion Rights Action League sponsored the protest, spurred by
the intensifying attack on women's rights . Marchers said they were
there to let the Bush administration, Congress, the Supreme Court
and state legislatures know that women won't go back to fear,
humiliation and brutalization.
(continued on page J) =-
ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON:
THE ROLLING RETREAT.
(All praise to Wanda who had the vision and the determination
and the fundraising skills to make it a reality.)
Space was tight on that little sleeper bus: four people with 24
square feet to share; at night when the top bunk came down, two
people got 24 square feet to sleep on; most chose the head-to-toe
style popularized in the movie My Left Foot. The bottom bunk,
familiarly known as the Bunk from Hell or The Pit, had a full three
foot vertical clearance. It was without a doubt the most
uncomfortable fifty-two hours of my life (twenty-six hours each
way) .
It was fifty-two of the most enjoyable hours of my life, also .
Thinking back on it, I would say it was a little like .feasting on
Mom's melt-in-your-mouth fudge while getting whipped with a cato 'nine tails. Whatever, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
The Bus began its journey in Norman with about a third of us; it
picked up five more in a church parking lot in Oklahoma City, and
hurried on to Tulsa .
We made another pickup in TtJlsa, and with a full bus were really
on the way at 10:00 p .m ., Friday April 3, 1992. By 10:30 Peggy was
singing, and we were all relaxing as best we could.
... Overheard Wanda speaking: People have suffered a lot worse
than this to do things a lot less important. This is the H'omen sissue
of the nineties...
(continued on p age 4) =>
READY, SET, RETREAT!
Robber's Cave State Park is the place to be May 15-17 for Herland's annual Spring Retreat for Women.
This year the Herland Spring Retreat will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler. Erica
will also collaborate with Oklahoma's own Peggy Johnson to present a song-writing workshop. Other highlights
include a Friday evening dance with Cindy Bookout as D.J., open mike, sing-along campfires with Peggy
Johnson and friends, a raffle for woman-made crafts, and the famous pot-luck supper.
A wide variety of workshops will provide opportunities for dialogue and education on diverse topics. The
park setting offers various recreational activities including hiking, swimming, fossil hunting and more. Most
importandy, the retreat offers the company of women and plenty of good times.
Registration is on a sliding scale of $15 -- $40 and includes a cabin bunk and three meals (Friday P.M.,
Saturday A.M., and Sunday A.M.). On-site registration will be $40. Please pre-register by May 10 so we will
have an accurate count for meal planning. A registration form can be found on page 8 of this issue of The Voice.
For more infom1ation, call Herland, (405)521 -9696. Messages will be answered daily.
See you at the Retreatl
VOLU ME 9 NUMBER 5
HERLAN D SISTER RESOURCES
2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112
A MILLION WOMEN MARCH
By Brenda Sandburg
Nearly a million people, mostly women, marched on Washington
April 5 to demand full reproductive rights for all women. It was the
most massive pro-choice demonstration ever, and one of the biggest
civil rights marches in U.S. history .
The participation of young women was especially noteworthy.
They came from communities and campuses across the country, in
buses and cars, by the. dozens and hundreds. Clearly angry at the
threat to their right to control their own bodies, they infused the
huge protest with a sense of urgency and militancy.
The lesbian and gay community was also well represented. When
a speaker asked lesbians and gay men to identify themselves, a sea
of hands was raised.
Although the crowd was predominantly white, there were
contingents from communities of color. These included a busload
of African American welfare recipients from Michigan and a group
of Black and Latino students from York College in Queens, N.Y .
The Ladies Garment Workers union sent several buses filled with
Black, Latina and Asian women workers.
_The National Organization for Women and the National
Abortion Rights Action League sponsored the protest, spurred by
the intensifying attack on women's rights . Marchers said they were
there to let the Bush administration, Congress, the Supreme Court
and state legislatures know that women won't go back to fear,
(continued on page J) =humiliation and brutalization .
ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON:
THE ROLLING RETREAT.
(All praise to Wanda who had the vision and the determination
and the fundraising skills to make it a reality.)
Space was tight on that little sleeper bus: four people with 24
square feet to share; at night when the top bunk came down, two
people got 24 square feet to sleep on; most chose the head-to-toe
style popularized in the movie My Left Foot. The bottom bunk,
familiarly known as the Bunk from Hell or The Pit, had a full three
foot vertical clearance. It was without a doubt the most
uncomfortable fifty-two hours of my life (twenty-six hours each
way).
It was fifty-two of the most enjoyable hours of my life, also.
Thinking back on it, I would say it was a little like .feasting on
Mom's melt-in-your-mouth fudge while getting whipped with a cato' nine tails. Whatever, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
The Bus began its journey in Norman with about a third of us; it
picked up five more in a church parking lot in Oklahoma City, and
hurried on to Tulsa.
We made another pickup in T1.1lsa, and with a full bus were really
on the way at 10:00 p.m. , Friday April 3, 1992. By 10:30 Peggy was
singing, and we were all relaxing as best we could.
... Overheard. Wanda speaking: People have suffered a lot worse
than this to do things a lot Jess important. This is the womens issue
of the nineties.. .
(continued on page 4) =-
READY, SET, RETREAT!
Robber's Cave State Park is the place to be May 15-17 for Herland's annual Spring Retreat for Women.
This year the Herland Spring Retreat will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler. Erica
will also collaborate with Oklahoma's own Peggy Johnson to present a song-writing workshop. Other highlights
include a Friday evening dance with Cindy Bookout as D.J., open mike, sing-along campfires with Peggy
Johnson and friends, a raffle for woman-made crafts, and the famous pot-luck supper.
A wide variety of workshops will provide opportunities for dialogue and education on diverse topics . The
park setting ·offers various recreational activities including hiking, swimming, fossil hunting and more. Most
importa.ndy, the retreat offers the company of women and plenty of good times.
Registration is on a sliding scale of $15 -- $40 and includes a cabin bunk and three meals (Friday P.M.,
Saturday A.M., and Sunday A.M .). On-site registration will be $40. Please pre-register by May 10 so we will
have an accurate count for meal planning. A registration form can be found on page 8 of this issue of The Voice.
For more infomrntion, call Herland, (405)521-9696. Messages will be answered daily.
See you at the Retreat!
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 5
HERLAND SISTER RESOURCES
2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112
St. Sybil
St. Sybil is an occasional contributor to "The Voice''.
Dear St. Sybil,
I'm sorry, but I'm getting tired of all this talk about
abortion rights and reproductive freedom. I don't sleep with
men, so why is this my issue, why is "Choice" a lesbian issue?
Sincerely,
A. Gaye Gal
Dear A .,
Well, why not? Something most pregnant people and most
lesbians have in common is being women; and either women control
their own bodies, or they don't. If women don't control their own
bodies, who does? The government does, or men do which of
course leads to the question, what's the diff? Not much, these days.
But obviously gay men aren' t women, and reproductive rights is
a gay man's issue also (as Act-Up knows; they are always
delightfully visible and audible at pro-choice events). Why?
Because the issue is one of protecting personal freedom and bodily
integrity, setting limits and defining rights. Once government gets
control over a person's private life, it nibbles away until the person
is consumed. Remember one of the three most common lies in the
world is ''I'm from the government and I'm here to help you ... "
When a woman is in control of her reproductive life, she decides
when she will be pregnant, how many children she will have, and
when she will have them. When government is in control,
~ovemment decides when she will be pregnant and how many
children she will have. Is the population too small, or not enough
little white babies to adopt? Criminalize abortion. Too many
babies for the economy to absorb? Mandatory abortion. Too many
little black babies? Tie those tu bes. Can't assimilate all those pesky
lnjuns? Sterilize every Native American woman unfortunate
enough to be admitted to the hospital for whatever reason.
Those are not imaginary scenarios; they are real, have happened ,
are happening now. Government is not, let us remember, moral or
ethical - it is entirely goal oriented, and it sets its own goals.
So it is not hard to extrapolate from those scenarios to the
following: A gay woman and her lover decide to have a child to
shower with their love and affection? Huh un, no way, unfit
mother, abort that babe - or maybe take it away at birth, if it's
healthy and white. Gay mother wants to keep the children she has
nurtured and loved all their lives? Huh uh, unfit mother, give them
to their Dad. (Happens all too often today). Gay guys want to
share their love with a little foster baby? Huh uh, against the law.
gays can't be foster parents (currently being considered as law in the
Oklahoma lege). Sodomy laws unjust, stupid and out of date? Oh
no, we don't think so; let's keep them and go further, making it
illegal for hand-genital contact between same-sex partners (Yup, it's
true; thank Missouri for that one.)
So there it is, A. The choice issue is a freedom issue, and freedom
is especially important to women, to gays, to blacks - to all of those
out of power. Remember Pastor Niemoller's famous lines: "In
Germany they first came for the communists and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and
I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the
trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade
unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up
because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me - and by that
time no one was left to speak up."
Yours for speaking up and circling the wagons early,
Fondly,
Sybil
2 Herland Voice, May, 1992
Dear St. Sybil:
Do you think that gay marriages will ever be legalized? It
doesn't seem right that they are not.
Sorrowfully,
Morgana and Goen
Dear Morgana and Guenivere,
Picture this; when a good friend of mine came through your state
in 1968 on her honeymoon, her "mixed -race" marriage was illegal
there - in Oklahoma. In 1968. Less than 25 years ago. Can't
believe it? Well, you keep giving a little time and energy to gay
rights work and before you know it gay marriages will be legal
everywhere; and in 25 years it will be just as unimaginable that gay
marriages were ever unsanctioned.
Keep the faith,
Love,
Sybil
•
Ann Reed To Appear In Tulsa
Her voice has been described as husky, sultry, dusty, and even
creamy-chocolate, but whatever adjective is used. all agree that once
heard, Ann Reed's voice keeps bringing you back for more. Ann,
a Minnesota native, has made professional music her career for the
past 15 years. Her forte is the acoustic magic of the 12 string guitar.
Her talents also include the ability to weave humor in and around
her music. The end result is a funny, talented, dynamic singer who
gives a great concert.
Ann's music is a powerful combination of blues, jazz, folk and
pop. She sings of relationships and experiences that capture
emotions so close to the soul that listeners completely surrender
themselves to it becoming totally involved with the warmth and
depth of songs such as "Road of the Heart: or "Every Long
Journey". Then Ann pulls the listener into the comic antics that
went into the making of some of her jazzy tunes such as her
"ecology" song "Styrofoam" about a cockroach fami ly.
Ann will be performing in Tulsa, Saturday, May 30, 1992 at 8:00
P.M. The concert will be held at the University of Tulsa, Kendall
Hall/Chapman Theatre. Tickets are $10.00 in advance, $12.00 at
the door. Advance tickets can be purchased by contacting Step
Forward Productions, P.O. Box 700333, Tulsa , OK 74170 or
phoning (918) 481-0261.
•
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Photo by Peggy J.
A Million Women March
(continued from page 1)
The action came just as the Supreme Court is about to hear oral
arguments on a Pennsylvania law. The case could result in a ruling
to overturn the High Court's 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade that
established abortion as a "fundamental" constitutional right.
As it is, years of attacks have already whittled away at the right
to choice . Poor women in 30 states are blocked from Medicaid
payment for abortion. Abortion services are medically unavailable
in 83 percent of U.S. counties. Several states require parental or
husband notification. Third World wome n continue to be subjected
to forced sterilization, welfare mothers are losing their state
benefits, and lesbians are faced with ongoing violence and
discrimin ation .
'We won't go back!'
Over 60 speakers addressed rallies at the beginning and end of the
march. They included representatives from women's, students', civil
rights, lesbian and gay, and religious groups. Thirty-eight capitalist
politicians--members of and candidates for the House and Senate-spoke.
Ginny Montes, NOW national secretary, chaired the rally. NOW
President Patricia Ireland and several other officials of the group
also spoke.
Other speakers included Marian Kramer of the N a tional Welfare
Rights Union; Faye Wattleton and Dr. Kenneth Edelin, former and
current presidents of Planned Parenthood; and United Farm
Workers Vice President Dolores Huerta.
Also speaking were Leona Smith, president of the National
Union of the Homeless; Coalition of Labor Union Wo men
President Joyce Miller; Urvashi Vaid of the National Gay a nd
Lesbian Task Force; Tajel Shah, president of the United States
Student Association; Rev. Ignacio Castuera; "Thelma and Louise"
screenwriter Callie Khouri; and several well-known actors .
Jewell Jackson McCabe of the National Coalition of 100 Black
Women addressed the racist assault on reproductive rights. Third
World and poor women bear the brunt of restricted access to
abortion and other services. In 1969 alone, 75 percent of deaths
from illegal abortions were women of colo r.
Dr. Susan Wic klund was one of several physicians who spoke.
After she a tt ended the 1989 pro-choice rally in Washington,
W icklund said. she decided to commit herself to providing services
for women. She rearranged her medical practice and now spends
every week flying amo ng th ree rural M idwest states where she is
the only doctor performing ;:ibortions. Anti-a bortion reactionaries
ha ve attacked her, harassed he r young daughter and threatened
their lives. But she said she will never stop providing reproductive
medical services to women.
Rev. Jesse Jackson ·g alvanized the crowd with a fiery talk that
linked the issue of choice to the struggle against racism, the fight to
defend welfare rights and the needs of women workers . He also
called on everyone to support the Haitian people and demand an
end to deportations of Haitian refugees.
Sus an F alud i, author of"Backlash--The Undeclared War Against
American Women," viv idly described what women endured before
1973. Her mother suffered and survived an illegal abortion. Faludi
sa id her mother fin ally ended up in a hospital hemorrhaging, went
into labo r and gave birth to a fetus that had been rotting inside her
fo r six months.
Carol Moseley Braun, an African American running for the
Senate from Illinois, also spoke. She upset Democratic incumbent
Alan Dixon in the primary last month. If elected she will be the first
Black woman to be a member of the Senate. Braun paid tribute to
Anita Hill, saying Hill's stand against sexual harassment motivated
her to run for the Senate.
Bill Bell Jr. pledged his family's commitment to the struggle. His
sister Becky Bell was a teenager who died from a botched abortion
last year. Indiana law requires minors to get their parents'
pe1mission for an abortion. Because she was afraid to tell her
parents she was pregnant, Becky Bell got a back-alley abortion that
killed her. The Bells now travel the country warning that parental
notification laws kill young women.
Buffalo, N.Y., next battleground
Many speakers and protesters referred to "Operation Rescue" and
its in1pending assault on women's clinics in Buffalo, N .Y. The
upc oming Supreme Court decision in the case of Planned
Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey was also a
major focus.
The S upreme Court will hear arguments in the Pennsylvania case
on April 22 . The case involves a state law that prohibits married
women from obtaining an abortion without first notifying the
husband , and requires all women to delay having an abortion until
24 hours after receiving an anti-choice lecture.
The day after almost a million people marched for choice, the
Bush administration filed a friend-of-the-court brief calling for the
court to overturn Roe vs. Wade. "In our view, a state's interest in
protecting fetal life throughout pregna ncy, as a general matter,
outweighs a woman's liberty interest in an abortion," read the brief.
R~printed with pem1issio11 from J.J·'i.1rkers Wor/dnewspaper. A JO-week trial subscription is avai lable
for$:!. A ye" r's subscription cosLs $15. Makes checks payable to Work~rs Wor ld, and send to 46 W .
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•
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Berland Voice, May, 1992 3
On the Road to Washington
(continued from page 1)
The first plain ti ve cry of "Are we there yet?" was heard as we rolled into the
largest McDonald 's in the World: it was 11:00 p.m, and we were still in Oklahoma .
Changing the seats fr om upright to bunks was something any four year old or
PH.D could do; unfo rtuna tely we had few of either on the bus, but we did manage
to get them all ready for a miserable night's sleep befo re I a.m .
By 9 Saturday morning we were in Ind ianapolis, and stopped at a Shoney's for
toothbrushing and other necessities, and breakfast . There being thirty-six of us all
told , we made our presence felt wherever we stopped. The waitress at my table was
reserved but friendly, and gave great service. On a hunch we offered her a "Choice"
button. She looked at it questioningly, and asked what it meant. When we told her
it meant "P ro-Choice" , and stood for reproductive rights, she still was not sure .
When we quit pussyfooting around and told her that it stood for a woma n's right
to choose an abort ion when she needed one, she took the button, pinned it on, and
......... a~modations?.
began to talk. She told us that she once thought that abortion was an option only
1
._.._ J n&ANIH
Photo by Pal R.
in cases of rape, incest, or to sa ve the life of the mother; but the time came that she
got pregnant with someone she didn' t care for, and she rethought the question, and
knew that abortion was the only choice fo r her at that time. "I always knew", she said, "that it was not a fetus right away ." She talked on and
on, possibly, we felt, for the first time. She and her husband now have six children between them.
We suggested that it might not be good for her job security to wear the button at work; we called her "sister" and knew it was true; and left
Indianapolis at 9:45 sure of our selves and our journey.
Back on the bus Peggy made sure we all knew Holly Near's Mountain Song. W<! sang it over and over, then we helped Peggy write the T'wa nda
Blues, and then we wrote a new verse for her song "Tin1e to D o It." We were more than a little fired up a nd having a ball.
.. .Somt: ofthe women who p aved the way !br us: Elizabeth Cady Stanton. M arg aret Sanger. Sojournr:r Truth, Harriet Tubman. Lucy Stone.
R osa Parks. Emma Goldman, Del Martin & Phyllis Ly on, Betty Friedan, Shirley Cbislw lm , l\I arie Curie .. .
We rolled into Washington and got hopelessly lost aro und the Pentagon, where we were supposed to park. Most people slept o n the bus;
a few with family in the area headed off to stay with them. A couple of us Metroed in to DC to have a great shower and spend a wonderfui night
in a comfo rtable bed at my brother's.
THE MARCH
The next morning we hoped to J Olll the
He1land and Oklahoma N OW contingent.
and positioned ourselves along Pennsylvania
Avenue watching the throngs pass by. They
passed by, forty to sixty abreast, fo r more
than five hours . There were Dykes for
Choice, Act-U p with their whistles, Freaks
for Choice, (with shaved heads and pink
topnotches, my niece among them), Tired
Old Feminists for Choice, dogs (Bitches for
Choice?), rollerbladers, wheelchairs, even
R epublicans fo r Choice (and yes, their
banners were the most elegant and
expensive) . Occasionally a group would start
a weird, high-pitched reverberating kind of
keening, as if electricity were surging through
them; they would crescendo to a deafening
pitch and break into loud applause and
laughter. It was an exhilarating, crazy, Oklahoma Marchers
Photo by Pal R.
irresistible sound, and everyone joined in
with them.
The crowd was frequently so thick that it was impossible to see to the other side of the street, so from time to time, in hopes of fi nding o ur
group, I would shout out "O klahoma?" or "T'wanda?". The crowd loved it, and frequently broke into strains from the song; the folk who had
seen or read Fried Green Tomatoes would usually throw a happ y fist into the air and shout back, "Yeah, T'wa nda !" Once, an attempt to call
out "Is the Oklahoma group out there?" came out as "Is Oklahoma?" and the crowd passing by roa red; thei r comml': nt back to me was, basically,
"W ow, man, heavy question; I!? Oklahoma????"
Even in the immense crowd we managed to find two separate groups from our bus , and two of my nieces; we never found the Herl and banner
group, who had evidently staked thei r place at the very front of the march while I was still sawing wood. Oh sloth, oh indolence, oh well. I had
a great day checking out all the folks having their own great day.
4 Berland Voice, May, 1992
TARGETING THE SENATE, 1992
In the next few months The Voice will bring you profiles of
l'c:rninist, pro-choice women running for the U.S. Senate. If you are
moved to send fina ncia l support for any of these women, you might
send a donation to the Women's Campaign Fund , 120 Maryland
Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; or the Emily Fund, 1112
16th Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20036. "Emily" is an
acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast", referring to the almost
magical effect of abundant money early in a campaign.
BARBARA BOXER - California:
Oklahomans Wait to Join the March
Photo by Peggy J.
My family got us back to the bus with a good fifteen minutes to
spare. Our scheduled departure tin1e was 10 pm, and amazingly, we
left on the dot, with everyone safely on board. We all thought Pat
R eaves was just too cool for words, sitting around in her dark
glasses on the d ark bus; but it turned out that she had broken her
regular glasses earlier in the day, and that she needed the
prescription shades to see anything at all .
I soon learned that it was my turn in the lower bunk, and all I will
say about that night from hell is this : if you ever find yourself on a
sleeper bus, this is what you say, over and over and over again: I'm
not afraid of falling to the floor, I'll take the top bunk . Say it until
you get the top bunk.
Monday morning was pretty much a blur, and then a wonderful
thing happened: Laura had a copy of Fried Green Tomatoes, and
we persuaded Peggy to read it aloud to us. Oh sweet childhood
revisited, hunkered down in that rocking bus, cozy, shoulder to
shoulder, feet every which way, transported to magical land s and
heroic doings, transported. Peggy read half the book to us, her
Georgia accent deepening with every mile; only once was she forced
by tears to pass the book to another reader.
Laura and her book were getting off at Tulsa, so we stoppeu
reading shortly before we got there, to give the Tulsa/Enid/
Stillwater/Muskogee folk time to look for their things in the
incredible messible bus.
As the bus pulled off the highway and began its search through
the dark city for the designated dropoff point, another wonderful
thing happened. From the front of the bus came the soft strains of
The Mountain Song, affirming the trip. We all joined in, singing
softly along .
...I have dreamed on this mountain,
since first I was my mother's daughter,
and you can'tjust take my dreams away,
not with me watching,
no you can'tjust take my dreams away,
without me fighting,
no you can'tjust take my dreams away..
•
Remember the $400 hammers? ... the $7,600 coffee pots? ...the waste;
the fraud, the procurement ripoffs which plagued the Pentagon in
the l 980's? ... It was California Congresswoman Barbara Boxer who
exposed this fraud to the public and wrote the legislation that ·
reformed the purchasing practices at the U.S. Department of
Defense.
Ever since coming to congress in 1983, Barbara Boxer has been
rocking the boat; which may be why The Congressional Ouarterly
named her "One of the Most Effective Freshmen in the House of
Representatives."
Last session, this Bay Area Congresswoman introduced the
"Boxer Amendment" which provided federal funding for abortion
for the victims of rape or incest. Boxer has vowed to pursue this
important measure - passed by the House and the Senate, but
vetoed by President Bush - until it becomes law.
Boxer is the only woma n in a crowded primary field for the seat
of retiring Alan Cranston.
CAROL MOSELY BRAUN - Illinois:
The primary election upset of incumbent U.S. Senator Alan
Dixon . D -Ill, by Carol Moseley Braun, who is expected to win the
general election and become the Senate's first Black woman, is
widely considered to be the first victory attributable in main to a
backlash against a judicial subcommittee member's vote against
Anita Hill. T he major factor in Braun's victory over the incumbent
Dixon is believed to have been Dixon's vote against Anita Hill and
for Clarence Thomas in the nomination hearings last fall.
Brnun's win is a victory for gays and lesbians too . Gay activists in
Chicago say that they expect Braun to be a dynamic and strongly
progressive senator, and that during her ten years in the Illinois
legislature, Braun was so pro-gay that they rarely had to lobby her.
She has promised that she will co-sponsor the federal gay-rights bill
her first day in Washington.
Braun faces a Reagan-style Republican in November, and
although she is favored to win, she needs large infusions of cash to
avoid a dangerously close race .
•
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Herland Voice, May, 1992 5
Custody Update
As The V.:>icc goes to print, the custody case first mentioned in
the March, 1992 Voice is being heard in district court in Cleveland
County.
Contributions to the defense fund to-date have totaled more than
$600. Thanks to Shatzy and C.B. at the Porthole for hosting an
open mike which raised over $200 for the fund.
Your contributions are still needed. Case preparation has been
quite expensive with depositions of the parties and expert witness
testimony . Please consider sending a donation to Herland c/o Legal
Defense Fund, 2312 N.W. 39. Oklahoma City, OK 73112. Iftl1is
case reaches the Oklahoma Supreme Court, it will set a precedent
which affects all lesbian and gay parents in Oklahoma.
PUBLISHED BY: Herland Sister Resources. Inc .. 2.112 N.W. 39.
Oklahoma City. OK 73112
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE: Margaret Cox. Deborah Fox.
Pat Reaves
CIRCULATION: 950
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The· Vo1(·e is offered as an open forum for community discourse.
Signed articles r<:tlect the opinion of the author and not necessarily
those ofHerland Sister Resources. Unsolicited articles and letters to
the <:ditor are welcomed and must be signed by the writer with full
name and address. Upon request. letters or articles may be printed
under a pseudonym.
Subscriptions to The V01ceare free upon request.
Letters to the Editor
Friends,
The Paula Rae story began in 1984 when Paula started 8 seriesol
surgeries. The first surgery w<1s 8 disc repl<1ceme11t in both 1;11v
joints. The second was a totaljoint replacement also 011 both s1de:;
ofherjaw. The third surgery 1vas to replace the nuts and bolls due
to irritation olthe lacial muscles.
Eight years went by with constant pain and numerous health
problt:ms of unknown on'gin. Testing lor lupus. leukemia. AIDS.
rheumat01d arthritis, bone marrow testing. constant blood tests fin·
the anemia, extreme pressure in her head headaches olunbearable
tolerance, and yet, she stood and laced the world.
In October. 1992, I took her lo another doctor. Alter beine told
by so many other physicians that her pain was all in her ~head:
indeed it was. We then fi.wnd out that her inJp/<1nts had been
recalled by the FDA two years befi>re. The maten~1Js that the
prosthesis had been made out olwas not compatible with bone.
The materialis calledprop/a st. It ejects fibers into the bones <1nd
soft tissue and literally eats it. In layman s terms, these fibers cal
bone like rust on a car.
On November4, 1991, once ag<1li1, Paula unden:vent yet another
surgery -- this tinw to remove the discs and j;n.v joints. The
destruction was devr.stating. The proplast material <1nd fibers lwd
eaten the bone inside her lace. On the felt side she has a very small
amount ol bone Jeff. and on the right side she has none. She noH·
has no jawjoints.
If all goes well, she will return to the operating room sometin1e
this May. This reconstruction will utilize her ribs as newjm-vjoints
and the tissue from around her skull as the discs. lJ: howe1-er. the
fibers are stillpresent. they will have to just scrape her out again.
The company who made these parts has gone totally bankrupt.
Paula is under constant medical care and testing and w1JI have to be
.for the rest of her life. There is no insurance: only a bankrupt
company and the next surgery is $50,000 alone.
I'm asking you .. .those ofyou who would or could help, ple<1se do.
Everything will count. Send donations to: Paula Rae Powers, 1 J.l3
W Main St., Jenks, OK 74037
God Bless You.
Brandy Lee Powers
The Vo1£-e is printed on recycled paper.
National Lesbian and Gay Health
Conference
The impact of age, gender, race and sexual orientation on the
delivery of health care will be discussed by Lesbian and Gay care
providers at the 14th National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference
and 10th Annual AIDS Fonun, July 8 - 12, 1992, in Los Angeles.
Ellen F. Ratner, Program Co-Chair, said, "Health care delivery
to Lesbians by mainstream providers has always been poor. That's
why a major portion of this year's program is devoted to finding out
what the Lesbian community needs in terms of health care systems,
and we'll look at some model systems that are delivering it." The
health conference features a full-day institute on Lesbian health and
a 2 112 hour update on "Lesbians and Cancer."
"The past 10 years the Gay and Lesbian community has had to
rely a great deal on itself to provide care for Gays and Lesbians,"
said Program Co-Chair Greg P . Thomas, "but with hysteria
mounting from situations like the HIV transmission cases in Florida
event that resource is being threatened."
That issue will be
addressed in 3 session titled, "Crisis Confronting HIV+ Health Care
Workers." An AIDS/HIV medical update for physicians and other
;.tdvanced AIDS care providers also is on the program as well as an
"AIDS 101" update for a more general audience.
Ten pre-conference institutes and more than 220 workshops
focused on Lesbian and Gay health, mental health, substance abuse
and AIDS/HIV will be presented. The health conference is
sponsored by the National Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation
and the George Washington University Medical Center. For
registratio n infom1ation and a program brochure contact Daniel E .
Reichard at 202-994-4285 .
•
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6 Herland Voice, May, 1992
FOR ALL YOUR PRINTING NEEDS
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A Different View
JR's Report from "Over There"
The following is a list of 221 differences between my American
life and life over here in the United(?) Queendom.
l. A 180° View of"My Part" of North Wales
I never tire of looking out my window: in the right foreground
the mountain of The Vardre rises, covered with blackthorn in
flower, yellow gorse blooms, veridian grass, off-white sheep,
massive stones, and the ruins of Deganwy Castle; to the left and
farthe r away the Conwy Mountains climb through shades of green
to brown, bare tops; in front , far away over chimney pots, the Irish
Sea gives way to the humped shape of the Isle of Anglesey.
2. High Days and Holy Days
Sure, I missed President's Day . BUT I got in on, for example, the
Feast of Saint D orothy, Patron Saint of gardeners; Pancake Day;
Mothering Sunday; my neighbor's 89th birthday; and the General
Election (stay tuned fo r politically incorrect comment).
3. The Radio
There's such a lot going on (with no commercials!) that often I'm
listening to one program and taping another. On the day I received
my April Jl(1ice, a gun debate was on "Women's Hour"!. I always
try to catch that program, which airs every morning M-F with a
slightly abridged repeat in the evening. It features information or
debate about what is happening with/because of/to women, a short
story or serial (Jane Austin's North anger Abbey just ended), and
two or three interviews or reviews (such as the recent double
appearance of Marilyn French, discussing The War Against
Wl1men). A few weeks ago, a feature on sexual abuse of children by
women followed up with some of the horrified, confessional, or
disbelieving listener-response. That broadcast broke through the
"taboo barrier."
I don't think the British realize how much they use the media as
therapy, a distanced involvement leading to private recognition.
Here, although there are branches of AA in larger towns, group
therapy such as the various 12-Step programs is just too ... overt to
catch on.
The important role public radio is able to play is due partly to the
size of Britain. It's a country with great geographic, dialectic,
cultural, political, socio-economic, etc. variety; but the entire area
of England, Scotland, and Wales would fit into one-third of Texas.
This gives a "local" flavor to national issues; and when, from time
to time, the public is jolted into action, the whole country is
involved . I remember this happening in 1987, when Britain
discovered child abuse--"discovered" in the sense that, literally
overnight, the subject moved from virtually total unspokenness into
a piercing outcry . The problem hasn't been "solved" over here , any
more or better than in America; but public awareness and the
machinery of prevention went from near-zilch to par in a matter of
weeks .
Last month I mentioned "Fem Radio FM". I've learned that t11e
24-hour station was a week-long celebration of women launched on
International Women' s Day. Response was positive, although
occasionally sort of backhanded. One reviewer was amazed that the
late-night/early-morning music programs were NOT boring; and
several others fastened on the excellence of small technical touches,
jingles, and signature tunes. Why was anyone surprised that a
station programmed and presented by women and featuring women
was of such high quality and interest?'
4. The Gardens
Pictures, songs, poetry, and prose have already glorified these
gardens. [One of the language differences is that the word for a
Brit's yard is "garden." A "yard" is "an enclosed place," but the
word has negative connotations, traditionally referring to the small
area behind the house where the coal shed and clot hes line and privy
were (are) located.]
Life and Emerson have made me a firm
believer in Compensa tion; and , if anything can compensate for
British wea ther, it must be the gardens and (in most places) the yearround blossom and green grass.
They are big on barriers here: walls, fences, and hedges protect
the gardens just as the "stiff upper lip" protects emotions. That
leads me to the next difference.
5. Subtlety As a Way of Life and Government
I'm not sure I ever understood one of the Election posters. It was
a huge thing, a blown up photograph of a battered black box with
a slit in the top and "Ballot Box" lettered on the front. At the top
was the caption, "IT IS. ARE YOU?"
Am I what? Black? Battered? A box? Subtle, huh?
T he British Prime Minister is subtle--almost an understatement
as politicians go. He is also a very nice man . That combination
worried his campaign organizers--they were a little worried that he
wouldn't "come across". When he entered a room the Press would
hiss, "Grey Alert!" Even the John Major puppet on the TV program
"Spitting Image" was grey--all over.
I'll tell you why John Major won, against the odds and ·
predictions. Grey men are reassuring in a subtle way, but many
Brits were fed up enough to risk change and grey might not have
held them. HOWEVER, just before the Election, someone hit John
Major with an egg. Camera zoomed in on the cut cheek and
millions stared at that thin red line of blood--of COLOR. It was
like Electric Shock Therapy, and the after-effect was a Conservative
victory.
Also in Major's favor was a joke that lodged somewhere in the
subtle halls of the British subconscious. On Election Eve, the
political-analyst puppet on "Spitting Image" observed, "Never mind
Neil K innock's political stance. The real question "is whether this
nation is ready for a Prime Minister with red pubes."
The country chose grey.
6. Subtlety As Response
During the campaign Neil Kennock said that the Jack of women
in the previous Cabinet showed that John Major wasn't good to
women. After his re-election, the Prime Minister hugged his wife in
public and put two women in the Cabinet.
(The Editor lias cut the remaining 216 points.)
•
OKLAHOMA NOW OFFICER ELECTIONS
The next Oklahoma NOW State Council meeting will be held
Saturday, May 23rd, at 11:00 o'clock a .m. , at the Tiger Gallery in
Muskogee, 2110 E. Shawnee, Muskogee . In addition to a program
coordinated by M uskogee NOW and other agenda items, elections
to fill the following offices will be held: Coordinator, Vice.
Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, and R egional
Coordinators. There is no pre-arranged slate; nominations,
including self-nominations, will be accepted from the floor.. All
Oklahoma NOW members in good standing may vote, and all
feminists are welcome and invited to attend the meeting. For
d irections to the Tiger Gallery in Muskogee, call 918/687-7006. •
Gnrage Apartment For Rent. $150.00 a month; water & garbage
paid. 525-852-l
Herland Voice, May, 1992 7
Oklahomans For Choice will meet Saturday. May 9th at l P.M. al the First Unitarian Church, 600 N.W. 13, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.
Writillg concerning women's experiences as psychiatric survivors and critical writing on the theories and practices of the psychiatric
institution, the concept of "mental illness" and the alternatives is heing sought for Loose Screl·J-:5 jn the Mental Instjtutjou: JVdtings
of Women lWw 've Been There. Suhmissions may be sent to: Jennie Lind. P.O. Box 6337 , Fall River, MA 02724.
The first annual Women's Empowerment Weekend, a celebration of feminist spirituality, will be held in Palm Springs, California , June
12-14. Ruth Rhiannon Barrett, Billie Potts and Jane Goldberg will facilitate a Full Moon ceremony, a medicine wheel ceremony, and
workshops on Dianic Witchcraft, healing with herbs, Yoga, Tai Chi. body awareness and spirit guides. Contact Alice Nygard, 619/3218231.
Compete in the first annual Lesbian Playwriting Competition of leshian full-length plays. one-acts, and small musicals with all -women
roles. Winner receives $200 and production of the play. Submit script and resume by November 1 to Tiana Lee, Tribad Productions,
P.O. Box 1745, Guerneville, CA 95446; or call 707-869-0155 for further information .
"Lesbian Spring Fling Prom", sponsored by "The Lesbian Celebration" of Wichita, Kansas, June 19, 1992, 7 - 12 p.m, at the Century
2 Expo Hall, 225 W. Douglas, Wichita. Tickets are $6 per person in advance, $7 at the door. Send for tickets to Orchid Productions,
P.O. Box 20284, Wichita Kansas 67208. There will be a live band. "Red Hot"; a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, door prizes, and a Prom
Picture Photographer. Formal dress is not required.
WOMONWRITES 1992: The 14th Annual Southeastern Lesbian Writers' Conference. June 3-7 in Central Georgia. Workshops, open
readings, affinity groups, discussion and recreation ... to inspire and stimulate creativity among Lesbian writers in all stages of
development. $60 (more or less), limited registration. For more information and/or registration, send S.A.S .E. to: Womonwrites 1992,
c/o Katy Wildsister, 440 60th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33705.
First person expressions of feelings and memories of experiences of sexual harassment are being sought for We Believe You. Anita:
Women Speak Out About Sexual Harassment. For information contact Jane Berry Marcellus, 117 E. 2nd St., Tucson, AZ 85705.
Herland Spring Retreat
May 15 - 17, 1992
Robber's Cave State Park
Single Person's
Annual Income
Retreat Preregistration fee
under $ 6,500
$ 6,500-$13,250
$13,250-$19,500
over $19,500
$15
$25
$35
$40
Household Annual Income
(2 or more persons)
under $13,300
$13,300-$18,000
$18,000-$26,000
over $26,000
Please choose the registration fee most appropriate for you based on these suggested income
guidelines. Complete and return the preregistration form to Herland, 2312 N.W. 39th,
Oklahoma City, OK 73112.
HSR SPRING RETREAT REGISTRATION
NAME: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~
PHONE:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
ADDRESS: _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
CITY: _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __
STATE _ _ _ __ __ ZIP _ _ _ _ _ __
Registration fee enclosed: D $15 D $25
D I'm enclosing an additional $
D I need a scholarship to attend.
D I would like to ride with someone.
D I can help provide rides to the retreat.
D $35 D $40
to provide retreat scholarships.
Return to:
HERLAND
2312 N.W. 39th
Oklahoma City, OK 73112
-
A MILLION WOMEN MARCH
By Brenda Sandburg
Nearly a million people, mostly women, marched on Washington
April 5 to demand full reproductive rights for all women. It was the
most massive pro-choice demonstration ever, a nd one of the biggest
civil rights marches in U .S. history.
The participation of young women was especia lly noteworthy.
They came from communities and campuses across the country, in
buses and cars, by the. dozens and hundreds. Clearly angry at the
threat to their right to control their own bodies, they infused the
huge protest with a sense of urgency and militancy .
The lesbian and gay community was also well represented. When
a speaker asked lesbians and gay men to identify themselves , a sea
of hands was raised.
Although the crowd was predominantly white, there were
contingents from communities of color. These included a busload
of African American welfare recipients from Michigan and a group
of Black and Latino students from York College in Queens, N .Y.
The Ladies Garment Workers union sent several buses filled with
Black, Latina and Asian women workers.
_The National Organization for Women and the National
Abortion Rights Action League sponsored the protest, spurred by
the intensifying attack on women's rights . Marchers said they were
there to let the Bush administration, Congress, the Supreme Court
and state legislatures know that women won't go back to fear,
humiliation and brutalization.
(continued on page J) =-
ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON:
THE ROLLING RETREAT.
(All praise to Wanda who had the vision and the determination
and the fundraising skills to make it a reality.)
Space was tight on that little sleeper bus: four people with 24
square feet to share; at night when the top bunk came down, two
people got 24 square feet to sleep on; most chose the head-to-toe
style popularized in the movie My Left Foot. The bottom bunk,
familiarly known as the Bunk from Hell or The Pit, had a full three
foot vertical clearance. It was without a doubt the most
uncomfortable fifty-two hours of my life (twenty-six hours each
way) .
It was fifty-two of the most enjoyable hours of my life, also .
Thinking back on it, I would say it was a little like .feasting on
Mom's melt-in-your-mouth fudge while getting whipped with a cato 'nine tails. Whatever, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
The Bus began its journey in Norman with about a third of us; it
picked up five more in a church parking lot in Oklahoma City, and
hurried on to Tulsa .
We made another pickup in TtJlsa, and with a full bus were really
on the way at 10:00 p .m ., Friday April 3, 1992. By 10:30 Peggy was
singing, and we were all relaxing as best we could.
... Overheard Wanda speaking: People have suffered a lot worse
than this to do things a lot less important. This is the H'omen sissue
of the nineties...
(continued on p age 4) =>
READY, SET, RETREAT!
Robber's Cave State Park is the place to be May 15-17 for Herland's annual Spring Retreat for Women.
This year the Herland Spring Retreat will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler. Erica
will also collaborate with Oklahoma's own Peggy Johnson to present a song-writing workshop. Other highlights
include a Friday evening dance with Cindy Bookout as D.J., open mike, sing-along campfires with Peggy
Johnson and friends, a raffle for woman-made crafts, and the famous pot-luck supper.
A wide variety of workshops will provide opportunities for dialogue and education on diverse topics. The
park setting offers various recreational activities including hiking, swimming, fossil hunting and more. Most
importandy, the retreat offers the company of women and plenty of good times.
Registration is on a sliding scale of $15 -- $40 and includes a cabin bunk and three meals (Friday P.M.,
Saturday A.M., and Sunday A.M.). On-site registration will be $40. Please pre-register by May 10 so we will
have an accurate count for meal planning. A registration form can be found on page 8 of this issue of The Voice.
For more infom1ation, call Herland, (405)521 -9696. Messages will be answered daily.
See you at the Retreatl
VOLU ME 9 NUMBER 5
HERLAN D SISTER RESOURCES
2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112
A MILLION WOMEN MARCH
By Brenda Sandburg
Nearly a million people, mostly women, marched on Washington
April 5 to demand full reproductive rights for all women. It was the
most massive pro-choice demonstration ever, and one of the biggest
civil rights marches in U.S. history .
The participation of young women was especially noteworthy.
They came from communities and campuses across the country, in
buses and cars, by the. dozens and hundreds. Clearly angry at the
threat to their right to control their own bodies, they infused the
huge protest with a sense of urgency and militancy.
The lesbian and gay community was also well represented. When
a speaker asked lesbians and gay men to identify themselves, a sea
of hands was raised.
Although the crowd was predominantly white, there were
contingents from communities of color. These included a busload
of African American welfare recipients from Michigan and a group
of Black and Latino students from York College in Queens, N.Y .
The Ladies Garment Workers union sent several buses filled with
Black, Latina and Asian women workers.
_The National Organization for Women and the National
Abortion Rights Action League sponsored the protest, spurred by
the intensifying attack on women's rights . Marchers said they were
there to let the Bush administration, Congress, the Supreme Court
and state legislatures know that women won't go back to fear,
(continued on page J) =humiliation and brutalization .
ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON:
THE ROLLING RETREAT.
(All praise to Wanda who had the vision and the determination
and the fundraising skills to make it a reality.)
Space was tight on that little sleeper bus: four people with 24
square feet to share; at night when the top bunk came down, two
people got 24 square feet to sleep on; most chose the head-to-toe
style popularized in the movie My Left Foot. The bottom bunk,
familiarly known as the Bunk from Hell or The Pit, had a full three
foot vertical clearance. It was without a doubt the most
uncomfortable fifty-two hours of my life (twenty-six hours each
way).
It was fifty-two of the most enjoyable hours of my life, also.
Thinking back on it, I would say it was a little like .feasting on
Mom's melt-in-your-mouth fudge while getting whipped with a cato' nine tails. Whatever, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
The Bus began its journey in Norman with about a third of us; it
picked up five more in a church parking lot in Oklahoma City, and
hurried on to Tulsa.
We made another pickup in T1.1lsa, and with a full bus were really
on the way at 10:00 p.m. , Friday April 3, 1992. By 10:30 Peggy was
singing, and we were all relaxing as best we could.
... Overheard. Wanda speaking: People have suffered a lot worse
than this to do things a lot Jess important. This is the womens issue
of the nineties.. .
(continued on page 4) =-
READY, SET, RETREAT!
Robber's Cave State Park is the place to be May 15-17 for Herland's annual Spring Retreat for Women.
This year the Herland Spring Retreat will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Erica Wheeler. Erica
will also collaborate with Oklahoma's own Peggy Johnson to present a song-writing workshop. Other highlights
include a Friday evening dance with Cindy Bookout as D.J., open mike, sing-along campfires with Peggy
Johnson and friends, a raffle for woman-made crafts, and the famous pot-luck supper.
A wide variety of workshops will provide opportunities for dialogue and education on diverse topics . The
park setting ·offers various recreational activities including hiking, swimming, fossil hunting and more. Most
importa.ndy, the retreat offers the company of women and plenty of good times.
Registration is on a sliding scale of $15 -- $40 and includes a cabin bunk and three meals (Friday P.M.,
Saturday A.M., and Sunday A.M .). On-site registration will be $40. Please pre-register by May 10 so we will
have an accurate count for meal planning. A registration form can be found on page 8 of this issue of The Voice.
For more infomrntion, call Herland, (405)521-9696. Messages will be answered daily.
See you at the Retreat!
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 5
HERLAND SISTER RESOURCES
2312 N.W. 39th, OKC, OK 73112
St. Sybil
St. Sybil is an occasional contributor to "The Voice''.
Dear St. Sybil,
I'm sorry, but I'm getting tired of all this talk about
abortion rights and reproductive freedom. I don't sleep with
men, so why is this my issue, why is "Choice" a lesbian issue?
Sincerely,
A. Gaye Gal
Dear A .,
Well, why not? Something most pregnant people and most
lesbians have in common is being women; and either women control
their own bodies, or they don't. If women don't control their own
bodies, who does? The government does, or men do which of
course leads to the question, what's the diff? Not much, these days.
But obviously gay men aren' t women, and reproductive rights is
a gay man's issue also (as Act-Up knows; they are always
delightfully visible and audible at pro-choice events). Why?
Because the issue is one of protecting personal freedom and bodily
integrity, setting limits and defining rights. Once government gets
control over a person's private life, it nibbles away until the person
is consumed. Remember one of the three most common lies in the
world is ''I'm from the government and I'm here to help you ... "
When a woman is in control of her reproductive life, she decides
when she will be pregnant, how many children she will have, and
when she will have them. When government is in control,
~ovemment decides when she will be pregnant and how many
children she will have. Is the population too small, or not enough
little white babies to adopt? Criminalize abortion. Too many
babies for the economy to absorb? Mandatory abortion. Too many
little black babies? Tie those tu bes. Can't assimilate all those pesky
lnjuns? Sterilize every Native American woman unfortunate
enough to be admitted to the hospital for whatever reason.
Those are not imaginary scenarios; they are real, have happened ,
are happening now. Government is not, let us remember, moral or
ethical - it is entirely goal oriented, and it sets its own goals.
So it is not hard to extrapolate from those scenarios to the
following: A gay woman and her lover decide to have a child to
shower with their love and affection? Huh un, no way, unfit
mother, abort that babe - or maybe take it away at birth, if it's
healthy and white. Gay mother wants to keep the children she has
nurtured and loved all their lives? Huh uh, unfit mother, give them
to their Dad. (Happens all too often today). Gay guys want to
share their love with a little foster baby? Huh uh, against the law.
gays can't be foster parents (currently being considered as law in the
Oklahoma lege). Sodomy laws unjust, stupid and out of date? Oh
no, we don't think so; let's keep them and go further, making it
illegal for hand-genital contact between same-sex partners (Yup, it's
true; thank Missouri for that one.)
So there it is, A. The choice issue is a freedom issue, and freedom
is especially important to women, to gays, to blacks - to all of those
out of power. Remember Pastor Niemoller's famous lines: "In
Germany they first came for the communists and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and
I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the
trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade
unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up
because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me - and by that
time no one was left to speak up."
Yours for speaking up and circling the wagons early,
Fondly,
Sybil
2 Herland Voice, May, 1992
Dear St. Sybil:
Do you think that gay marriages will ever be legalized? It
doesn't seem right that they are not.
Sorrowfully,
Morgana and Goen
Dear Morgana and Guenivere,
Picture this; when a good friend of mine came through your state
in 1968 on her honeymoon, her "mixed -race" marriage was illegal
there - in Oklahoma. In 1968. Less than 25 years ago. Can't
believe it? Well, you keep giving a little time and energy to gay
rights work and before you know it gay marriages will be legal
everywhere; and in 25 years it will be just as unimaginable that gay
marriages were ever unsanctioned.
Keep the faith,
Love,
Sybil
•
Ann Reed To Appear In Tulsa
Her voice has been described as husky, sultry, dusty, and even
creamy-chocolate, but whatever adjective is used. all agree that once
heard, Ann Reed's voice keeps bringing you back for more. Ann,
a Minnesota native, has made professional music her career for the
past 15 years. Her forte is the acoustic magic of the 12 string guitar.
Her talents also include the ability to weave humor in and around
her music. The end result is a funny, talented, dynamic singer who
gives a great concert.
Ann's music is a powerful combination of blues, jazz, folk and
pop. She sings of relationships and experiences that capture
emotions so close to the soul that listeners completely surrender
themselves to it becoming totally involved with the warmth and
depth of songs such as "Road of the Heart: or "Every Long
Journey". Then Ann pulls the listener into the comic antics that
went into the making of some of her jazzy tunes such as her
"ecology" song "Styrofoam" about a cockroach fami ly.
Ann will be performing in Tulsa, Saturday, May 30, 1992 at 8:00
P.M. The concert will be held at the University of Tulsa, Kendall
Hall/Chapman Theatre. Tickets are $10.00 in advance, $12.00 at
the door. Advance tickets can be purchased by contacting Step
Forward Productions, P.O. Box 700333, Tulsa , OK 74170 or
phoning (918) 481-0261.
•
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Marchers Gather
Photo by Peggy J.
A Million Women March
(continued from page 1)
The action came just as the Supreme Court is about to hear oral
arguments on a Pennsylvania law. The case could result in a ruling
to overturn the High Court's 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade that
established abortion as a "fundamental" constitutional right.
As it is, years of attacks have already whittled away at the right
to choice . Poor women in 30 states are blocked from Medicaid
payment for abortion. Abortion services are medically unavailable
in 83 percent of U.S. counties. Several states require parental or
husband notification. Third World wome n continue to be subjected
to forced sterilization, welfare mothers are losing their state
benefits, and lesbians are faced with ongoing violence and
discrimin ation .
'We won't go back!'
Over 60 speakers addressed rallies at the beginning and end of the
march. They included representatives from women's, students', civil
rights, lesbian and gay, and religious groups. Thirty-eight capitalist
politicians--members of and candidates for the House and Senate-spoke.
Ginny Montes, NOW national secretary, chaired the rally. NOW
President Patricia Ireland and several other officials of the group
also spoke.
Other speakers included Marian Kramer of the N a tional Welfare
Rights Union; Faye Wattleton and Dr. Kenneth Edelin, former and
current presidents of Planned Parenthood; and United Farm
Workers Vice President Dolores Huerta.
Also speaking were Leona Smith, president of the National
Union of the Homeless; Coalition of Labor Union Wo men
President Joyce Miller; Urvashi Vaid of the National Gay a nd
Lesbian Task Force; Tajel Shah, president of the United States
Student Association; Rev. Ignacio Castuera; "Thelma and Louise"
screenwriter Callie Khouri; and several well-known actors .
Jewell Jackson McCabe of the National Coalition of 100 Black
Women addressed the racist assault on reproductive rights. Third
World and poor women bear the brunt of restricted access to
abortion and other services. In 1969 alone, 75 percent of deaths
from illegal abortions were women of colo r.
Dr. Susan Wic klund was one of several physicians who spoke.
After she a tt ended the 1989 pro-choice rally in Washington,
W icklund said. she decided to commit herself to providing services
for women. She rearranged her medical practice and now spends
every week flying amo ng th ree rural M idwest states where she is
the only doctor performing ;:ibortions. Anti-a bortion reactionaries
ha ve attacked her, harassed he r young daughter and threatened
their lives. But she said she will never stop providing reproductive
medical services to women.
Rev. Jesse Jackson ·g alvanized the crowd with a fiery talk that
linked the issue of choice to the struggle against racism, the fight to
defend welfare rights and the needs of women workers . He also
called on everyone to support the Haitian people and demand an
end to deportations of Haitian refugees.
Sus an F alud i, author of"Backlash--The Undeclared War Against
American Women," viv idly described what women endured before
1973. Her mother suffered and survived an illegal abortion. Faludi
sa id her mother fin ally ended up in a hospital hemorrhaging, went
into labo r and gave birth to a fetus that had been rotting inside her
fo r six months.
Carol Moseley Braun, an African American running for the
Senate from Illinois, also spoke. She upset Democratic incumbent
Alan Dixon in the primary last month. If elected she will be the first
Black woman to be a member of the Senate. Braun paid tribute to
Anita Hill, saying Hill's stand against sexual harassment motivated
her to run for the Senate.
Bill Bell Jr. pledged his family's commitment to the struggle. His
sister Becky Bell was a teenager who died from a botched abortion
last year. Indiana law requires minors to get their parents'
pe1mission for an abortion. Because she was afraid to tell her
parents she was pregnant, Becky Bell got a back-alley abortion that
killed her. The Bells now travel the country warning that parental
notification laws kill young women.
Buffalo, N.Y., next battleground
Many speakers and protesters referred to "Operation Rescue" and
its in1pending assault on women's clinics in Buffalo, N .Y. The
upc oming Supreme Court decision in the case of Planned
Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey was also a
major focus.
The S upreme Court will hear arguments in the Pennsylvania case
on April 22 . The case involves a state law that prohibits married
women from obtaining an abortion without first notifying the
husband , and requires all women to delay having an abortion until
24 hours after receiving an anti-choice lecture.
The day after almost a million people marched for choice, the
Bush administration filed a friend-of-the-court brief calling for the
court to overturn Roe vs. Wade. "In our view, a state's interest in
protecting fetal life throughout pregna ncy, as a general matter,
outweighs a woman's liberty interest in an abortion," read the brief.
R~printed with pem1issio11 from J.J·'i.1rkers Wor/dnewspaper. A JO-week trial subscription is avai lable
for$:!. A ye" r's subscription cosLs $15. Makes checks payable to Work~rs Wor ld, and send to 46 W .
"I St.. N<w York. NY IUO IO.Phone t21") 2'5-035".
•
Mowing • Fertlllzlng • Trimming
•Light Haullng •
"We Al8 Insured"
Nancy
794-6884
Laura
943-4070
Berland Voice, May, 1992 3
On the Road to Washington
(continued from page 1)
The first plain ti ve cry of "Are we there yet?" was heard as we rolled into the
largest McDonald 's in the World: it was 11:00 p.m, and we were still in Oklahoma .
Changing the seats fr om upright to bunks was something any four year old or
PH.D could do; unfo rtuna tely we had few of either on the bus, but we did manage
to get them all ready for a miserable night's sleep befo re I a.m .
By 9 Saturday morning we were in Ind ianapolis, and stopped at a Shoney's for
toothbrushing and other necessities, and breakfast . There being thirty-six of us all
told , we made our presence felt wherever we stopped. The waitress at my table was
reserved but friendly, and gave great service. On a hunch we offered her a "Choice"
button. She looked at it questioningly, and asked what it meant. When we told her
it meant "P ro-Choice" , and stood for reproductive rights, she still was not sure .
When we quit pussyfooting around and told her that it stood for a woma n's right
to choose an abort ion when she needed one, she took the button, pinned it on, and
......... a~modations?.
began to talk. She told us that she once thought that abortion was an option only
1
._.._ J n&ANIH
Photo by Pal R.
in cases of rape, incest, or to sa ve the life of the mother; but the time came that she
got pregnant with someone she didn' t care for, and she rethought the question, and
knew that abortion was the only choice fo r her at that time. "I always knew", she said, "that it was not a fetus right away ." She talked on and
on, possibly, we felt, for the first time. She and her husband now have six children between them.
We suggested that it might not be good for her job security to wear the button at work; we called her "sister" and knew it was true; and left
Indianapolis at 9:45 sure of our selves and our journey.
Back on the bus Peggy made sure we all knew Holly Near's Mountain Song. W<! sang it over and over, then we helped Peggy write the T'wa nda
Blues, and then we wrote a new verse for her song "Tin1e to D o It." We were more than a little fired up a nd having a ball.
.. .Somt: ofthe women who p aved the way !br us: Elizabeth Cady Stanton. M arg aret Sanger. Sojournr:r Truth, Harriet Tubman. Lucy Stone.
R osa Parks. Emma Goldman, Del Martin & Phyllis Ly on, Betty Friedan, Shirley Cbislw lm , l\I arie Curie .. .
We rolled into Washington and got hopelessly lost aro und the Pentagon, where we were supposed to park. Most people slept o n the bus;
a few with family in the area headed off to stay with them. A couple of us Metroed in to DC to have a great shower and spend a wonderfui night
in a comfo rtable bed at my brother's.
THE MARCH
The next morning we hoped to J Olll the
He1land and Oklahoma N OW contingent.
and positioned ourselves along Pennsylvania
Avenue watching the throngs pass by. They
passed by, forty to sixty abreast, fo r more
than five hours . There were Dykes for
Choice, Act-U p with their whistles, Freaks
for Choice, (with shaved heads and pink
topnotches, my niece among them), Tired
Old Feminists for Choice, dogs (Bitches for
Choice?), rollerbladers, wheelchairs, even
R epublicans fo r Choice (and yes, their
banners were the most elegant and
expensive) . Occasionally a group would start
a weird, high-pitched reverberating kind of
keening, as if electricity were surging through
them; they would crescendo to a deafening
pitch and break into loud applause and
laughter. It was an exhilarating, crazy, Oklahoma Marchers
Photo by Pal R.
irresistible sound, and everyone joined in
with them.
The crowd was frequently so thick that it was impossible to see to the other side of the street, so from time to time, in hopes of fi nding o ur
group, I would shout out "O klahoma?" or "T'wanda?". The crowd loved it, and frequently broke into strains from the song; the folk who had
seen or read Fried Green Tomatoes would usually throw a happ y fist into the air and shout back, "Yeah, T'wa nda !" Once, an attempt to call
out "Is the Oklahoma group out there?" came out as "Is Oklahoma?" and the crowd passing by roa red; thei r comml': nt back to me was, basically,
"W ow, man, heavy question; I!? Oklahoma????"
Even in the immense crowd we managed to find two separate groups from our bus , and two of my nieces; we never found the Herl and banner
group, who had evidently staked thei r place at the very front of the march while I was still sawing wood. Oh sloth, oh indolence, oh well. I had
a great day checking out all the folks having their own great day.
4 Berland Voice, May, 1992
TARGETING THE SENATE, 1992
In the next few months The Voice will bring you profiles of
l'c:rninist, pro-choice women running for the U.S. Senate. If you are
moved to send fina ncia l support for any of these women, you might
send a donation to the Women's Campaign Fund , 120 Maryland
Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; or the Emily Fund, 1112
16th Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20036. "Emily" is an
acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast", referring to the almost
magical effect of abundant money early in a campaign.
BARBARA BOXER - California:
Oklahomans Wait to Join the March
Photo by Peggy J.
My family got us back to the bus with a good fifteen minutes to
spare. Our scheduled departure tin1e was 10 pm, and amazingly, we
left on the dot, with everyone safely on board. We all thought Pat
R eaves was just too cool for words, sitting around in her dark
glasses on the d ark bus; but it turned out that she had broken her
regular glasses earlier in the day, and that she needed the
prescription shades to see anything at all .
I soon learned that it was my turn in the lower bunk, and all I will
say about that night from hell is this : if you ever find yourself on a
sleeper bus, this is what you say, over and over and over again: I'm
not afraid of falling to the floor, I'll take the top bunk . Say it until
you get the top bunk.
Monday morning was pretty much a blur, and then a wonderful
thing happened: Laura had a copy of Fried Green Tomatoes, and
we persuaded Peggy to read it aloud to us. Oh sweet childhood
revisited, hunkered down in that rocking bus, cozy, shoulder to
shoulder, feet every which way, transported to magical land s and
heroic doings, transported. Peggy read half the book to us, her
Georgia accent deepening with every mile; only once was she forced
by tears to pass the book to another reader.
Laura and her book were getting off at Tulsa, so we stoppeu
reading shortly before we got there, to give the Tulsa/Enid/
Stillwater/Muskogee folk time to look for their things in the
incredible messible bus.
As the bus pulled off the highway and began its search through
the dark city for the designated dropoff point, another wonderful
thing happened. From the front of the bus came the soft strains of
The Mountain Song, affirming the trip. We all joined in, singing
softly along .
...I have dreamed on this mountain,
since first I was my mother's daughter,
and you can'tjust take my dreams away,
not with me watching,
no you can'tjust take my dreams away,
without me fighting,
no you can'tjust take my dreams away..
•
Remember the $400 hammers? ... the $7,600 coffee pots? ...the waste;
the fraud, the procurement ripoffs which plagued the Pentagon in
the l 980's? ... It was California Congresswoman Barbara Boxer who
exposed this fraud to the public and wrote the legislation that ·
reformed the purchasing practices at the U.S. Department of
Defense.
Ever since coming to congress in 1983, Barbara Boxer has been
rocking the boat; which may be why The Congressional Ouarterly
named her "One of the Most Effective Freshmen in the House of
Representatives."
Last session, this Bay Area Congresswoman introduced the
"Boxer Amendment" which provided federal funding for abortion
for the victims of rape or incest. Boxer has vowed to pursue this
important measure - passed by the House and the Senate, but
vetoed by President Bush - until it becomes law.
Boxer is the only woma n in a crowded primary field for the seat
of retiring Alan Cranston.
CAROL MOSELY BRAUN - Illinois:
The primary election upset of incumbent U.S. Senator Alan
Dixon . D -Ill, by Carol Moseley Braun, who is expected to win the
general election and become the Senate's first Black woman, is
widely considered to be the first victory attributable in main to a
backlash against a judicial subcommittee member's vote against
Anita Hill. T he major factor in Braun's victory over the incumbent
Dixon is believed to have been Dixon's vote against Anita Hill and
for Clarence Thomas in the nomination hearings last fall.
Brnun's win is a victory for gays and lesbians too . Gay activists in
Chicago say that they expect Braun to be a dynamic and strongly
progressive senator, and that during her ten years in the Illinois
legislature, Braun was so pro-gay that they rarely had to lobby her.
She has promised that she will co-sponsor the federal gay-rights bill
her first day in Washington.
Braun faces a Reagan-style Republican in November, and
although she is favored to win, she needs large infusions of cash to
avoid a dangerously close race .
•
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Herland Voice, May, 1992 5
Custody Update
As The V.:>icc goes to print, the custody case first mentioned in
the March, 1992 Voice is being heard in district court in Cleveland
County.
Contributions to the defense fund to-date have totaled more than
$600. Thanks to Shatzy and C.B. at the Porthole for hosting an
open mike which raised over $200 for the fund.
Your contributions are still needed. Case preparation has been
quite expensive with depositions of the parties and expert witness
testimony . Please consider sending a donation to Herland c/o Legal
Defense Fund, 2312 N.W. 39. Oklahoma City, OK 73112. Iftl1is
case reaches the Oklahoma Supreme Court, it will set a precedent
which affects all lesbian and gay parents in Oklahoma.
PUBLISHED BY: Herland Sister Resources. Inc .. 2.112 N.W. 39.
Oklahoma City. OK 73112
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE: Margaret Cox. Deborah Fox.
Pat Reaves
CIRCULATION: 950
ADVERTISING RATES:
Business card $15.00; 114 page $35.00;
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The· Vo1(·e is offered as an open forum for community discourse.
Signed articles r<:tlect the opinion of the author and not necessarily
those ofHerland Sister Resources. Unsolicited articles and letters to
the <:ditor are welcomed and must be signed by the writer with full
name and address. Upon request. letters or articles may be printed
under a pseudonym.
Subscriptions to The V01ceare free upon request.
Letters to the Editor
Friends,
The Paula Rae story began in 1984 when Paula started 8 seriesol
surgeries. The first surgery w<1s 8 disc repl<1ceme11t in both 1;11v
joints. The second was a totaljoint replacement also 011 both s1de:;
ofherjaw. The third surgery 1vas to replace the nuts and bolls due
to irritation olthe lacial muscles.
Eight years went by with constant pain and numerous health
problt:ms of unknown on'gin. Testing lor lupus. leukemia. AIDS.
rheumat01d arthritis, bone marrow testing. constant blood tests fin·
the anemia, extreme pressure in her head headaches olunbearable
tolerance, and yet, she stood and laced the world.
In October. 1992, I took her lo another doctor. Alter beine told
by so many other physicians that her pain was all in her ~head:
indeed it was. We then fi.wnd out that her inJp/<1nts had been
recalled by the FDA two years befi>re. The maten~1Js that the
prosthesis had been made out olwas not compatible with bone.
The materialis calledprop/a st. It ejects fibers into the bones <1nd
soft tissue and literally eats it. In layman s terms, these fibers cal
bone like rust on a car.
On November4, 1991, once ag<1li1, Paula unden:vent yet another
surgery -- this tinw to remove the discs and j;n.v joints. The
destruction was devr.stating. The proplast material <1nd fibers lwd
eaten the bone inside her lace. On the felt side she has a very small
amount ol bone Jeff. and on the right side she has none. She noH·
has no jawjoints.
If all goes well, she will return to the operating room sometin1e
this May. This reconstruction will utilize her ribs as newjm-vjoints
and the tissue from around her skull as the discs. lJ: howe1-er. the
fibers are stillpresent. they will have to just scrape her out again.
The company who made these parts has gone totally bankrupt.
Paula is under constant medical care and testing and w1JI have to be
.for the rest of her life. There is no insurance: only a bankrupt
company and the next surgery is $50,000 alone.
I'm asking you .. .those ofyou who would or could help, ple<1se do.
Everything will count. Send donations to: Paula Rae Powers, 1 J.l3
W Main St., Jenks, OK 74037
God Bless You.
Brandy Lee Powers
The Vo1£-e is printed on recycled paper.
National Lesbian and Gay Health
Conference
The impact of age, gender, race and sexual orientation on the
delivery of health care will be discussed by Lesbian and Gay care
providers at the 14th National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference
and 10th Annual AIDS Fonun, July 8 - 12, 1992, in Los Angeles.
Ellen F. Ratner, Program Co-Chair, said, "Health care delivery
to Lesbians by mainstream providers has always been poor. That's
why a major portion of this year's program is devoted to finding out
what the Lesbian community needs in terms of health care systems,
and we'll look at some model systems that are delivering it." The
health conference features a full-day institute on Lesbian health and
a 2 112 hour update on "Lesbians and Cancer."
"The past 10 years the Gay and Lesbian community has had to
rely a great deal on itself to provide care for Gays and Lesbians,"
said Program Co-Chair Greg P . Thomas, "but with hysteria
mounting from situations like the HIV transmission cases in Florida
event that resource is being threatened."
That issue will be
addressed in 3 session titled, "Crisis Confronting HIV+ Health Care
Workers." An AIDS/HIV medical update for physicians and other
;.tdvanced AIDS care providers also is on the program as well as an
"AIDS 101" update for a more general audience.
Ten pre-conference institutes and more than 220 workshops
focused on Lesbian and Gay health, mental health, substance abuse
and AIDS/HIV will be presented. The health conference is
sponsored by the National Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation
and the George Washington University Medical Center. For
registratio n infom1ation and a program brochure contact Daniel E .
Reichard at 202-994-4285 .
•
Quality Service With That Personal Touch'"
I
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Ink Well Printing
Free to good home: Neutered male. Duffy. black & white c<1t. Left
when fi.>rmer owners moved away. Ginger, 942-508.l.
6 Herland Voice, May, 1992
FOR ALL YOUR PRINTING NEEDS
Teri Hoeltzel
Susan Brooks
942-5693
A Different View
JR's Report from "Over There"
The following is a list of 221 differences between my American
life and life over here in the United(?) Queendom.
l. A 180° View of"My Part" of North Wales
I never tire of looking out my window: in the right foreground
the mountain of The Vardre rises, covered with blackthorn in
flower, yellow gorse blooms, veridian grass, off-white sheep,
massive stones, and the ruins of Deganwy Castle; to the left and
farthe r away the Conwy Mountains climb through shades of green
to brown, bare tops; in front , far away over chimney pots, the Irish
Sea gives way to the humped shape of the Isle of Anglesey.
2. High Days and Holy Days
Sure, I missed President's Day . BUT I got in on, for example, the
Feast of Saint D orothy, Patron Saint of gardeners; Pancake Day;
Mothering Sunday; my neighbor's 89th birthday; and the General
Election (stay tuned fo r politically incorrect comment).
3. The Radio
There's such a lot going on (with no commercials!) that often I'm
listening to one program and taping another. On the day I received
my April Jl(1ice, a gun debate was on "Women's Hour"!. I always
try to catch that program, which airs every morning M-F with a
slightly abridged repeat in the evening. It features information or
debate about what is happening with/because of/to women, a short
story or serial (Jane Austin's North anger Abbey just ended), and
two or three interviews or reviews (such as the recent double
appearance of Marilyn French, discussing The War Against
Wl1men). A few weeks ago, a feature on sexual abuse of children by
women followed up with some of the horrified, confessional, or
disbelieving listener-response. That broadcast broke through the
"taboo barrier."
I don't think the British realize how much they use the media as
therapy, a distanced involvement leading to private recognition.
Here, although there are branches of AA in larger towns, group
therapy such as the various 12-Step programs is just too ... overt to
catch on.
The important role public radio is able to play is due partly to the
size of Britain. It's a country with great geographic, dialectic,
cultural, political, socio-economic, etc. variety; but the entire area
of England, Scotland, and Wales would fit into one-third of Texas.
This gives a "local" flavor to national issues; and when, from time
to time, the public is jolted into action, the whole country is
involved . I remember this happening in 1987, when Britain
discovered child abuse--"discovered" in the sense that, literally
overnight, the subject moved from virtually total unspokenness into
a piercing outcry . The problem hasn't been "solved" over here , any
more or better than in America; but public awareness and the
machinery of prevention went from near-zilch to par in a matter of
weeks .
Last month I mentioned "Fem Radio FM". I've learned that t11e
24-hour station was a week-long celebration of women launched on
International Women' s Day. Response was positive, although
occasionally sort of backhanded. One reviewer was amazed that the
late-night/early-morning music programs were NOT boring; and
several others fastened on the excellence of small technical touches,
jingles, and signature tunes. Why was anyone surprised that a
station programmed and presented by women and featuring women
was of such high quality and interest?'
4. The Gardens
Pictures, songs, poetry, and prose have already glorified these
gardens. [One of the language differences is that the word for a
Brit's yard is "garden." A "yard" is "an enclosed place," but the
word has negative connotations, traditionally referring to the small
area behind the house where the coal shed and clot hes line and privy
were (are) located.]
Life and Emerson have made me a firm
believer in Compensa tion; and , if anything can compensate for
British wea ther, it must be the gardens and (in most places) the yearround blossom and green grass.
They are big on barriers here: walls, fences, and hedges protect
the gardens just as the "stiff upper lip" protects emotions. That
leads me to the next difference.
5. Subtlety As a Way of Life and Government
I'm not sure I ever understood one of the Election posters. It was
a huge thing, a blown up photograph of a battered black box with
a slit in the top and "Ballot Box" lettered on the front. At the top
was the caption, "IT IS. ARE YOU?"
Am I what? Black? Battered? A box? Subtle, huh?
T he British Prime Minister is subtle--almost an understatement
as politicians go. He is also a very nice man . That combination
worried his campaign organizers--they were a little worried that he
wouldn't "come across". When he entered a room the Press would
hiss, "Grey Alert!" Even the John Major puppet on the TV program
"Spitting Image" was grey--all over.
I'll tell you why John Major won, against the odds and ·
predictions. Grey men are reassuring in a subtle way, but many
Brits were fed up enough to risk change and grey might not have
held them. HOWEVER, just before the Election, someone hit John
Major with an egg. Camera zoomed in on the cut cheek and
millions stared at that thin red line of blood--of COLOR. It was
like Electric Shock Therapy, and the after-effect was a Conservative
victory.
Also in Major's favor was a joke that lodged somewhere in the
subtle halls of the British subconscious. On Election Eve, the
political-analyst puppet on "Spitting Image" observed, "Never mind
Neil K innock's political stance. The real question "is whether this
nation is ready for a Prime Minister with red pubes."
The country chose grey.
6. Subtlety As Response
During the campaign Neil Kennock said that the Jack of women
in the previous Cabinet showed that John Major wasn't good to
women. After his re-election, the Prime Minister hugged his wife in
public and put two women in the Cabinet.
(The Editor lias cut the remaining 216 points.)
•
OKLAHOMA NOW OFFICER ELECTIONS
The next Oklahoma NOW State Council meeting will be held
Saturday, May 23rd, at 11:00 o'clock a .m. , at the Tiger Gallery in
Muskogee, 2110 E. Shawnee, Muskogee . In addition to a program
coordinated by M uskogee NOW and other agenda items, elections
to fill the following offices will be held: Coordinator, Vice.
Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, and R egional
Coordinators. There is no pre-arranged slate; nominations,
including self-nominations, will be accepted from the floor.. All
Oklahoma NOW members in good standing may vote, and all
feminists are welcome and invited to attend the meeting. For
d irections to the Tiger Gallery in Muskogee, call 918/687-7006. •
Gnrage Apartment For Rent. $150.00 a month; water & garbage
paid. 525-852-l
Herland Voice, May, 1992 7
Oklahomans For Choice will meet Saturday. May 9th at l P.M. al the First Unitarian Church, 600 N.W. 13, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.
Writillg concerning women's experiences as psychiatric survivors and critical writing on the theories and practices of the psychiatric
institution, the concept of "mental illness" and the alternatives is heing sought for Loose Screl·J-:5 jn the Mental Instjtutjou: JVdtings
of Women lWw 've Been There. Suhmissions may be sent to: Jennie Lind. P.O. Box 6337 , Fall River, MA 02724.
The first annual Women's Empowerment Weekend, a celebration of feminist spirituality, will be held in Palm Springs, California , June
12-14. Ruth Rhiannon Barrett, Billie Potts and Jane Goldberg will facilitate a Full Moon ceremony, a medicine wheel ceremony, and
workshops on Dianic Witchcraft, healing with herbs, Yoga, Tai Chi. body awareness and spirit guides. Contact Alice Nygard, 619/3218231.
Compete in the first annual Lesbian Playwriting Competition of leshian full-length plays. one-acts, and small musicals with all -women
roles. Winner receives $200 and production of the play. Submit script and resume by November 1 to Tiana Lee, Tribad Productions,
P.O. Box 1745, Guerneville, CA 95446; or call 707-869-0155 for further information .
"Lesbian Spring Fling Prom", sponsored by "The Lesbian Celebration" of Wichita, Kansas, June 19, 1992, 7 - 12 p.m, at the Century
2 Expo Hall, 225 W. Douglas, Wichita. Tickets are $6 per person in advance, $7 at the door. Send for tickets to Orchid Productions,
P.O. Box 20284, Wichita Kansas 67208. There will be a live band. "Red Hot"; a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, door prizes, and a Prom
Picture Photographer. Formal dress is not required.
WOMONWRITES 1992: The 14th Annual Southeastern Lesbian Writers' Conference. June 3-7 in Central Georgia. Workshops, open
readings, affinity groups, discussion and recreation ... to inspire and stimulate creativity among Lesbian writers in all stages of
development. $60 (more or less), limited registration. For more information and/or registration, send S.A.S .E. to: Womonwrites 1992,
c/o Katy Wildsister, 440 60th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33705.
First person expressions of feelings and memories of experiences of sexual harassment are being sought for We Believe You. Anita:
Women Speak Out About Sexual Harassment. For information contact Jane Berry Marcellus, 117 E. 2nd St., Tucson, AZ 85705.
Herland Spring Retreat
May 15 - 17, 1992
Robber's Cave State Park
Single Person's
Annual Income
Retreat Preregistration fee
under $ 6,500
$ 6,500-$13,250
$13,250-$19,500
over $19,500
$15
$25
$35
$40
Household Annual Income
(2 or more persons)
under $13,300
$13,300-$18,000
$18,000-$26,000
over $26,000
Please choose the registration fee most appropriate for you based on these suggested income
guidelines. Complete and return the preregistration form to Herland, 2312 N.W. 39th,
Oklahoma City, OK 73112.
HSR SPRING RETREAT REGISTRATION
NAME: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~
PHONE:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
ADDRESS: _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
CITY: _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __
STATE _ _ _ __ __ ZIP _ _ _ _ _ __
Registration fee enclosed: D $15 D $25
D I'm enclosing an additional $
D I need a scholarship to attend.
D I would like to ride with someone.
D I can help provide rides to the retreat.
D $35 D $40
to provide retreat scholarships.
Return to:
HERLAND
2312 N.W. 39th
Oklahoma City, OK 73112
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