COMMUNITY NEWS  Volume 1, Number 1  September 1993

        A Newsletter for the lesbian, bisexual, and gay community
          and supporters at Columbia University and Affiliates


   WELCOME TO "COMMUNITY NEWS"

      This first issue of "Community News" has grown out of an earlier 
      newsletter issued last spring by a group of faculty and staff. It 
      is hoped that this new newsletter will represent all the Columbia 
      University lesbian, bisexual, and gay (lesbigay) community in all 
      its diversity. By "community" we mean all affiliate institutions 
      of Columbia. We welcome suggestions and comments, as well as 
      articles, news items, and events that we can include in what we 
      hope will be a monthly newsletter, at least during the school 
      year. See page 4 for our list of contacts. "Community News" should 
      be available at various campus locations such as Earl Hall, FBH, 
      Barnard, and so forth, around the third week of each month.

   GABLES IS GROWING


      Faculty and staff are invited to join GABLES, which usually meets 
      on the third Thursday of each month (but this September the 
      meeting is on the fourth Thursday). GABLES is a faculty and staff 
      organization that seeks to improve the life of the University by 
      making it as hospitable as possible to gay, lesbian, and bisexual 
      people. It does this by 
      
      (1) defining and advocating the interests 
      of gay, lesbian, and bisexual members of the Columbia community; 
      
      (2) fostering a supportive and welcoming community for new 
      faculty, staff, and students as they enter Columbia; and

      
      (3) informing the Columbia community of social, cultural, educational, 
      and political issues of interest and importance to gays, lesbians, 
      and bisexuals.

      Begun in February 1993, GABLES holds regular monthly meetings and 
      currently has a publicity/newsletter committee, a domestic partner 
      and benefits committee, and an AIDS/HIV support task force. 

      GABLES-CU also attempts to foster cooperation among campus 
      lesbigay groups generally and to facilitate communication between 
      the Columbia lesbigay community and the University administration.
         

   LBGC HAS A NEW LOOK!


      The student organization LBGC (Columbia-Barnard Lesbian Bisexual 
      Gay Coalition) is about to change its face--with the influx of new 
      members and a new board. The young blood has adopted a theme for 
      the '93-'94 school year: Pride=Unity=Power. They want to broaden 
      the scope of the group's activities and membership and to sustain 
      and improve what's already present. To make sure everybody, 
      especially the new students, knows of all the changes, LBGC is 
      planning a campuswide mailing to the undergraduate residence 
      halls.


      First, those awful business meetings had to go--but business still 
      has to get done. So, weekly meetings will now have two parts: an 
      hour for business followed by co-ed discussions with food and 
      drink. Some new events were held last year, and the successful 
      ones will be repeated. Tina's Valentine's Day Homosekshul Kiss-In 
      will be a must, as well as other small social/political events. 
      Then the mainstays will keep on going: dances every first Friday 
      and floor raps will stride on, with Kim coordinating CC and SEAS 
      floor raps and extending them to include BC first-year residence 
      halls as well.


      LBGC is also working with the New Student Orientation Program to 
      make sure there is no lesbigay under-representation during the 
      program this year. See the calendar on page 2 for a list of 
      orientation events.

      General Studies students and everybody else should know that 
      they're welcome to join in. Anyone who wants more information or 
      to get on the distribution lists should call the LBGC Infoline at 
      854-1488. Good luck to you and LBGC, and have a great year!

                                                        Catina Alexander
                                                        Shannon Halkyard

   EVENTS CALENDAR


      SEPTEMBER

         1 (Wednesday) Movie Night
            10:30 pm-1 am in 304 Barnard Hall (Barnard College)

         3 (Friday) First Friday Dance
            10 pm-2 am in Earl Hall. Admission charge.
            This dance has been held regularly since March 1973!

         9 (Thursday) University-wide Reception for Lesbian/Bisexual/Gay 
            Students, Staff, and Faculty
            6-8 pm in 9B Hartley Hall. Refreshments will be served.

         10 (Friday) Activities Day
            11 am-4 pm on College Walk. Stop by the table.

            7:30 pm Pizza Party (before Club night) in Dodge Room, Earl 
            Hall, followed by Lesbigay & Homofriendly Nite OutTrip down 
            to Pyramid, 101 Avenue A in the East Village. Saturday 
            nights are The Ball at Pyramid, featuring shows with drag 
            queens and kings, with house and disco music after. Cover 
            normally $5, but could be group discount.

         13 (Monday) Field Trip
            Time to be announced. Meet at subway station entrance for 
            group trip to Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center, 208 
            West 13th Street, Manhattan. Introduction to queer New York; 
            maybe a walk down Christopher Street later (call the LBGC 
            Infoline at 854-1488).

         23 (Thursday) Community Meeting and Social
            5:30-7 pm in 308 Lewisohn Inner Lounge. All lesbigay 
            faculty, staff, and students (and supporters) of the 
            Columbia community are invited to attend. Network, build 
            bridges, discuss our lives together. Find out about events 
            on campus, hear about domestic-partner benefits, campus 
            lesbigay groups, mentoring programs, curriculum review, AIDS 
            awareness, homophobia and civility issues, etc. After 
            discussions, a social. Refreshments provided.

         30 (Thursday) GABLES Meeting
            5:30-7 PM, location to be announced. See lesbigay notesfile 
            on CUNIX or watch for posters around campus.

            LBGTC Fall Reception
            8:30-11:30 pm in 179 Grace Dodge (Teachers College, 525 West 
            120th Street). All CU community welcome.

      OCTOBER

         7 (Thursday) LBGTC General Membership Meeting
            9 pm at TC location to be announced.

         9 (Saturday) Start of Lesbian and Gay Awareness Week
            Lesbian and Gay Awareness Week events are still being 
            planned. At least one event is expected to be offered on 
            each day between Saturday, October 9th and the following 
            Sunday, October 17th. Look for definitive times and places 
            in the next issue!

            Opening ceremony: A Queer Carnival
            12 noon on Low Plaza.

         10 (Sunday) Lesbigay Brunch
            12 noon in Earl Hall

         10 (Sunday) Interfaith Panel
            (Co-sponsored with CU Department of Religion). 2-3 pm in 
            Earl Hall.

         11 (Monday) Being Queer at Columbia
            8 pm in Earl Hall. Co-sponsored with GHAP. Laura Pinsky will 
            moderate a panel including members of campus lesbigay groups 
            and representative(s) from PFLAG.

         12 (Tuesday) "Straight Night Out" Discussion
            8 pm at location to be announced. Talk with Marsha Wagner, 
            CU Ombuds Officer, followed by a sensitivity session led by 
            Shannon Halkyard.

         14 (Thursday) Coffeehouse
            9 pm-1 am in McIntosh lower level (Barnard)

         KEY:  GABLES - Gay, Bisexual, & Lesbian Employees & Supporters
               GHAP - Columbia Gay Health Advocacy Project
               LBGC - Columbia-Barnard Lesbian Bisexual Gay Coalition
               LBGTC - Lesbians, Bisexual, & Gays at Teachers College
               PFLAG - Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

   LOVE DELIVERED FROM AMSTERDAM AVE

      It was a bittersweet event last January when God's Love We Deliver 
      (GLWD) prepared its 500,000th hot meal for homebound people with 
      AIDS. This landmark meant that the organization had endured, but 
      that so, too, had the AIDS epidemic. Indeed, over the eight long 
      years since its founding in 1985, GLWD's growth has paralleled 
      that of the epidemic itself, expanding to include an ever-larger 
      and evermore diverse population.

      In describing itself, GLWD says it's "a not-for-profit, 
      nonsectarian organization that makes sure no homebound person with 
      HIV/AIDS goes hungry [by bringing] meals to ... all five boroughs 
      of New York City and in Hudson County, N.J., Monday through 
      Friday." This simple description, however, belies the complexity 
      of the task of delivering 1,200 meals daily to 600 clients, many 
      with special nutritional needs, scattered throughout the nation's 
      largest and densest Metropolitan area--and all free of charge!

      In order to do this, GLWD (which despite its name is not a 
      religious organization per se) depends upon a network of 
      volunteers, donors, and supporters. According to Monica Kaiser, 
      the director of volunteers, help is needed in every phase of 
      production: in the kitchen, in the administrative offices, on 
      delivery routes, and during special events. Much of this help is 
      needed right at the organization's headquarters, a few minutes 
      from Columbia's Morningside campus in the American Youth Hostel 
      building at 803 Amsterdam Avenue (at 103rd Street).

      Kitchen volunteers, with or without previous food preparation 
      experience, are needed for once-a-week, three-hour shifts at any 
      time of the day or night (the kitchen is open 23 hours a day, five 
      days a week). Likewise, administrative offices handling 
      fundraising, development, volunteers, client services, data entry, 
      and other areas also need help with staffing phones, operating 
      computers, and taking care of other light office work; office 
      volunteers are also asked to commit to one three-hour shift a 
      week.

      One of GLWD's most pressing needs is help with meal delivery to 
      clients, either by foot for routes on the Upper West Side and in 
      Morningside Heights (about one hour at midday at least one day a 
      week) or on day-long routes with van drivers who bring meals to 
      distribution centers. Help is also occasionally needed with 
      nutritional counseling, collection of donation cans, moving heavy 
      equipment and supplies, and organizing special events.

      Volunteer orientations are held periodically throughout the year. 
      For further information about volunteering, or if you know someone 
      who could use help from GLWD, please call 865-6500 and ask for the 
      Volunteer Office.
                                            Ray Smith

   TO BOYCOTT OR NOT TO BOYCOTT IS STILL THE QUESTION


      Now that the summer is all but over, you have just packed away 
      that Samsonite luggage, and before browsing through this 
      newsletter, you pour yourself a refreshing cup of Celestial 
      Seasonings tea, which, for some reason, you insist on sweetening 
      with Holly Sugar.

      S T O P !!!

      All these products--with the exception of "Community News," of 
      course--are on the list that New York Boycott Colorado is asking 
      the lesbigay community and its supporters to avoid. The local 
      group, along with more than 120 organizations and individual 
      celebrities, is supporting the repeal of Amendment 2, a law 
      enacted in Colorado last November to deny civil-rights protections 
      to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. New York City is one of 26 
      municipalities to support the boycott against traveling to 
      Colorado or doing business with companies that have a connection 
      to that state. Others who have endorsed the effort include ACT UP, 
      the American Civil Liberties Union, Gay Games IV, the National Gay 
      and Lesbian Task Force, the National Organization for Women, and 
      the "Village Voice." In academe, supporters include the Student 
      Association at Columbia's School of International and Public 
      Affairs, the Columbia University Libraries, and the law schools at 
      N.Y.U. and Rutgers.

      But even at the epicenter of this maelstrom--Colorado--there is no 
      consensus within the lesbigay community over whether the boycott 
      makes sense, particularly because it is doing harm to businesses 
      in three cities--Denver, Boulder and Aspen--where ordinances 
      protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in housing and 
      employment.

      "There is a lot of dissension here," says Lawrence Pacheco, the 
      director of public relations for Equality Colorado, a lesbigay 
      civil-rights organization.

      That is particularly so since a ruling by the Colorado Supreme 
      Court in July appeared to strike a death blow to the law. In a 6-
      to-1 decision in "Evans v. Romer"--a case in which Martina 
      Navratilova is a plaintiff--the court said that Amendment 2 
      appeared to violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. 
      Constitution. It upheld an injunction that prevents Amendment 2 
      from taking effect until its constitutionality has been fully 
      litigated.

      While many gay-rights advocates say the boycott is now clearly 
      pointless, Boycott Colorado Inc. has vowed to "keep the pressure 
      on." And here, Duncan Osborne, a spokesperson for New York Boycott 
      Colorado, told the "New York Times": "The boycott continues until 
      Amendment 2 is overturned or repealed." His group meets weekly. 
      For information, call 239-1451, ext. NYBC.

                                                              E.R. Shipp

   "CALIPSO"--A RESOURCE GUIDE

      "CALIPSO" (Columbia ALmanac of Information Pertaining to Sexual 
      Orientation) is a resource guide to issues on sexual orientation 
      for students, administrators, faculty, and staff of Columbia 
      University, Barnard College, Teachers College, and Union 
      Theological Seminary. The idea for the guide came out of the 
      lesbigay community meetings first held during this last spring 
      semester. "CALIPSO" should be ready by the beginning of September, 
      in time for registration and new student orientation. Copies will 
      also be available in various campus locations such as Earl Hall, 
      FBH Information Desk, Health Services, Library Information Office, 
      Institute for Research on Women and Gender, etc. It will also be 
      on ColumbiaNet. Thanks to everyone who helped put this valuable 
      resource together!

   CUNIX LESBIGAY NOTESFILE


      The CUNIX lesbigay electronic bulletin board (notesfile) was 
      established in February 1993. This file is for all kinds of 
      information and discussion of interest to the CU lesbigay 
      community. For those with e-mail accounts on any CUNIX machine, it 
      can be accessed by typing "notes lesbigay" at the UNIX $ prompt. 
      Postings may be sent electronically to "lesbigay@columbia.edu." 
      For those on other campus e-mail systems, direct receipt of 
      lesbigay messages in digest form can also be arranged. For 
      information on getting an e-mail account or for any questions 
      relating to using the CUNIX Cluster, contact the Academic 
      Information Systems (AcIS) Help Line, 854-4854.

           COMMUNITY NEWS  Volume 1, Number 1  September 1993

        A Newsletter for the lesbian, bisexual, and gay community
          and supporters at Columbia University and Affiliates


   CONTACTS

      "COMMUNITY NEWS"
         To list events: John Rash, 678-3779 (jprash@cutcv2)
         To suggest features: E.R. Shipp (ers9@columbia.edu)
         To be on mailing list: Steve van Leeuwen, 854-3078 
            (svl2@columbia.edu)

      GABLES CONVENORS
         Annie Barry, 854-3219 (ab14@columbia.edu)
         Stephen Davis, 854-8584 (daviss@columbia.edu)
         Jim Hoover, 854-2635 (hoover@columbia.edu)

      OutReach hotline for general info, support, etc. 854-3091
      LBGC Infoline: 854-1488
      Notesfile information: Stephen Davis, 854-8584