The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 849

LOSANGELES TIMES VC SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1991 B9 LOS ANGELES COUNTY GAYS: Wilson's Veto Energizes Efforts of Activists 25 fj Continuous Years of. Exceptional Quality and Innovation L.A.'s Gay Rights Movement Here are some of the major organizations involved in fighting discrimination against gays and lesbians: ACT UPLA A militant organization that plans protests and seeks political action through lobbying and letter-writing campaigns. Founded in 1987, ACT UPLA is part of an international network of ACT UP groups involved in dealing with AIDS and gay-bashing issues. The group, which meets weekly in West Hollywood, has a local mailing list of 2,000 members. Ad Hoc Committee for Gay Lesbian Equality A coordinating group formed after (Jov.

1VU' Wilson's veto nf gay rights job legislation. The committee represents a varirry of and lesbian organization" and coordinate, tho planning of protects and boycotts aimed at Wilson. Colors United Action Coalition Newly formed, the coalition meets weekly in Hollywood to draw attention to tho concerns of gays and lesbians of all races. MP Gay Asian Pacific Support Notwork An organization to further the imprest'! of and lesbians in I.ps Angeles' Asian community. Crcalrd 1981.

it holds monthly meetings in Chin.Uown and Is involved in organizing social l-tier-writnif, campaigns ond protests, in addition to doing AlDS-eihira'ioii work. Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unldos A social agency offering AIDS support groups and other services for Latinos. Members have taken part in anti-Wilson protests in Los Angeles and Sacramento. hbw ra rar bhibshb GLAAD Los Angolas One of a dozen nationwide chapters of the Giiy Lesbian Alliance Ag.iiiipr Defamation. I'oi med in 1988, the chapter runs and letter-writing and take- part in political demonstrations.

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund The nation's oldest legal advocate for gays, lesbians and people with HIV infection. Created in 1973, the organization has offices in Los Angeles and New York. In addition to providing legal help, the fund sponsors protests and educational forums. exact some measure of revenge against Wilson. 1 There is also talk of expanding the movement to address anti-gay bias in the military and in college ROTC programs.

Members of the ad hoc committee in Los Angeles are weighing a possible boycott of the California grape and wine industries, which have donated to Wilson's political campaigns. Organizers say the proposed boycott might single out Ernest Julio Gallo, whose owners and their families have given at least $9,000 to Wilson since 1987, according to campaign statements. "Focusing on Gallo and possibly a few other offending labels can hurt Wilson's backers and soften up legislators who opposed Assembly Bill 101 this year," says a boycott flyer that is being circulated. A Gallo spokesman declined to comment. Yet another possible boycott under discussion would be directed at Target department stores, if the chain challenges a California appeals court ruling involving psychological testing of job applicants.

The court on Oct. 28 ordered Target to cease psychological screenings based on sexual orientationa decision that appeared to guarantee gays the same job rights protection that they had sought through legislation. Nonetheless, the ruling is unlikely to slow the movement, said Life Lobby's Duran. He insisted that the "legal murkiness" of the court ruling would be best cleared up by the law that gays seek. "We still see a need for some good, sound public policy in this area," Duran said.

Among many gays, the attitude is to build on what they have managed to achieve by going much further. "Now, there's more of a desire to take hold of the future to organize and strategize," said Osborn of the gay and lesbian center. New groups and coalitions are forming, she said, because the movement has gained more energy than existing organizations can handle. Recently, protest leaders have begun offering advice and safety tips for those who may want to take part in civil disobedience, she said. "Hundreds, if not thousands, of people in our community have been in the streets for the first time," Osborn said.

"If some subset of those people are ready to make a deeper commitment i.e., to get arrested we as a community have a responsibility to provide some training." Anderson, of the ad hoc committee, acknowledged that there are potential drawbacks in taking an aggressive approach. But an increasingly large number of activists consider it well worth the risk if they can prove that their movement is not going to go away. "There is always a risk of alienating people," Anderson said. "We know that our very existence alienates people. There are people out there who advocate the death penalty for homosexuality." Continued from B7 cal power of gay demonstrators, he is not ready to concede such epochal significance to his veto, his press.deputy, James Lee, said.

"History will be the judge of that," Lee said. "Obviously, it's a strong movement. We've witnessed throughout the '80s that the gay rights movement is a potent political force, especially in drawing; to the AIDS crisis. They1 are a well-engineered and effeclive lobbying force." TKeiespecially strong reaction to thereto in Los Angeles seems to have marked a shift in gay political SppWeif. which traditionally has been centered in San Francisco's smaller but more concentrated gay community, some activists said.

"Los Angeles has, for the first time in history, really been out front" in the gay movement, said Torie Osborn, executive director of the Gay Lesbian, Community Services Center. Though a social services agency, it has become a communications hub for activists, who see signs that the movement may be gaining outside California as well. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force met last weekend in Washington, D.C., and California was a prominent topic of discussion. Meanwhile, the movement fjws shown signs of picking up in Atlanta, Denver and parts of Flori-' "da, Michigan and Wisconsin, said Carol Anderson, co-chair of the ad committee. "The more you see attempts to force us back into the closet," "Anderson said, "the more we fight 1 Cooperation among groups is informal but rigorously maintained, Differing opinions about how the movement should be run are being concealed and debated behind the scenes in the name of show-' ing a united front.

There is a shared reluctance to develop any cult of i leadership. "Everybody looks for a Martin Luther King leader in the gay "and lesbian civil rights movement," said Joe Robbe of Queer Nation. "The fact is, we have probably 100 of that type of gay rights groups are nonviolence while agreeing to hound Wilson "with vociferous protests at the governor's every public appearance. At the same time, a groundswell has grown in support of civil disobedience, portending a higher profile for future demonstrations. That, in turn, may create strain between militants and others in the movement who prefer less defiant action.

At a Republican fund-raising dinner in Woodland Hills on Friday night the first target of planned civil disobedience 36 protesters were arrested for allegedly block-. ing traffic and demonstrating at the Marriott Warner Center hotel, Wilson was the featured speaker. Police estimated the crowd of demonstrators at 250, and organizers said it was closer to 500. The shift in tactics anguishes members of the Log Cabin Repub- a Longue America A nationwide group whose largctt chapter is in I Angeles The politically moderate organization was established to seek minority ntatus for gays and lcsliins and Is involved in planning protest;) and boycotts. Life Lobby The statewide lobbying organization that sponsored the gay rights job bill.

Formed in 1986 to deal with gay and AIDS issues, the group maintains two full-time lobbyists in Sacramento. a Log Cabin Republican Club A gay arid lesbian political organization I with 1,000 members in California. Its Los Angeles chapter was formed in 1977, 1 National Gay and Lesbian Task Force A group, formed in 1973, which claims to be the nation's oldest gay civil rights organization. From headquarters in Washington, it lobbies Congress and state legislatures and runs political protests. Queer Nation One of the more militant protest groupsj Queer Nation's goal in In Los Angeles and other cities nationwide Is to "bring power to gay and lesbian individuals." L.A.

members meet weekly in i West Hollywood, where they plan protests and letter-writing Stonewall Democratic Club A gay and lesbian political group formed in 1971. With about 300 members in Los Angeles, the club lobbies on gay and AIDS issues, endorses candidates and participates in protest marches. This oKvring our 2U. IHtlicl Chocolates SHEP Deluxe Assortment arc oven more irresisi at a Sluippe, listed lielaw. Now until Nov.

28, we're lican Club, a statewide gay political organization, which has denounced the veto but tried to maintain what it calls a working relationship with the governor. Conservative members, who anticipate trying to win support from Wilson and other Republicans for bills dealing with AIDS and gay rights issues, already are concerned by the way protesters shouted down Wilson during a recent speech at UCLA, said Ted Knoll, a former vice president of the group. "Our fear is that the continued demonstrations will just alienate the support we've built" in Sacramento, Knoll said. Even as further protests are some leaders of the movement are hoping to harness community outrage to accelerate and expand the gay political agenda. Campaigns are taking shape to try to recall Wilson and to draft an initiative and new legislation aimed at guaranteeing the job rights that Wilson vetoed Sept.

29. Life Lobby, a gay rights lobbying group, has identified a number of on-the-fence lawmakers whom it will try to sway in months ahead to shore up a slim margin of support for a job rights bill. To encourage support, the bill may be broadened to address women and ethnic minorities as well as gays, said John J. Duran, the lobby's co-chairman for Southern California. As another part of the developing strategy, many California gay rights groups plan to fight the 1992 reelection bid of Republican U.S.

Sen. John Seymour, Wilson's handpicked successor for his vacated U.S. Senate seat. Attacking Seymour is seen as one way to 1311. AMO HON CliNTIiR DliSliKT l-'ASMION I'ljVA 1.11-1.

ON MAKKIiTfMAKlNA DIM TIM: SIIOI'S AT TOWN Cl-N NOKTIIKIIkll MAMMON CRYSTAL COURT AT SOI Til COAST I'l-AZA TACHION INLAND NliWI'OKTCMNTIIK Fur mail order, information and pricing, cull I -HtHM-fcTHEL-M I -HiKM 3H-4 356 1 GET A RUSH SKILES: Picnic Held to Support Officer Accused in Shooting of the police officers' group, said he is confident that Skiles will be found innocent. "It's a tragic situation. But there's a third victim the officer," he said. 'they' and Correa said. "The community has to get together and talk this thing out, no matter which way the trial goes.

We've got to do it together." Michael Sean Markey, president ONTHE HOLIDAYS i3 OFF ALL XMAS ITEMS STOP! appropriate ways to show support." "From the Samoan community 1 standpoint," he said, "I'm sure it will be considered in bad taste. But they've had to endure police brutality for a good many years." Compton Police Chief Terry Eb-ert said the shooting was an isolated incident for a department that "has always gotten along well with the Samoan community." Since the shooting, Ebert said, Compton officials have used a mediation service provided by the U.S. Justice Department during! meetings with Samoan leaders. More such dialogue is needed, said picnic-goer Manny Correa, a Compton school board member: who served 32 years on the city's police force before retiring. "There's been too much Continued from B7 The Compton police officers' group sold ballpoint pens, pencils, buttons and key chains reading VWe Support Alfred Skiles" during the six-hour picnic.

The money will be donated to Skiles' family. picnic angered some, how- ever. "What they do is their own business," said Carson resident Ar-. ieta Meni, the Tualauleleis' aunt. "But as far as our family is con-; jcernedi two lives are lost.

It takes 49. -bullets for two boys? I don't it." San Francisco lawyer Kevin McLean," who with partner Melvin Belli has filed a $100-million civil lawsuftagainst Skiles and police on behalf the Tualaulelei "suggested that there were "more The Dream KITCHEN To Fit Your Budget WREATHS AND GARLANDS ORNAMENTS TREES NOVELTIES HOLIDAY ARRANGEMENTS Net Items and Custom Work Not Included Not Good With any Other Offer 'WE HAVE OVER 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE CutM-BUhutlMtt, vmdir HrWM-MMMiHM. rhnMri KhMmI wllilta. RtfttlM MltlUHJ CltlMll, WMd wMrHtt-MWjWI. EI(IMHKfc.

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