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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
LOVE AND RAGE
Electronic Edition
APRIL/MAY 1993
Part 1
Love and Rage is created by the Love and Rage Network, a group of
people from across North America who find themselves in general
political agreement. Love and Rage is one of the many projects of
the Network to which supporters contribute time, money and energy.
Major decisions and overall policies are set by the Network.
Individuals and supporting groups who participate in the Network
gather in an annual conference, at which most major decisions are
made. The Network Council, comprised of up to two delegates from
each supporting group, meet at least once between conferences to
make interim decisions. A popularly elected Coordinating Group
makes urgent decisions. Ongoing debates take place in our
Discussion Bulletin (Disco Bull), out every six to eight weeks.
More timely information goes out bi-weekly in the Network Bulletin.
Day to day editorial decisions about the paper are made by the
volunteer Production Group (PG). A group of elected Coordinators
shares responsibility for the general work of the Network. Two of
these Coordinators, the Co-Facilitators, work with the PG on
production of the paper and help coordinate the projects of the
Network. In an effort to further democratize and strengthen the
Network, temporary Regional Organizing Contacts volunteer to be a
contact for their local areas.
The Love and Rage Network is not a closed circle of friends. You
can become part of the Network and participate fully in the
decision-making process. Ask the person who sold or gave you this
paper, or write to one of the many Love and Rage contacts listed in
this paper.
Coordinating Group
Erric, Atlanta, GA
Liz, Boston, MA
Paul, Berkeley, CA
Ana, Mexico City
Terry, New York, NY
Crystal, Chicago, IL
Jodi, Columbus, OH
Jean-Marc, Minneapolis, MN
Fur, Atlanta GA
Gene, Newark, NJ
Ojore Lutalo, Trenton, NJ
Coordinators List
Regions Coordinator
Britt, 702 S. Illinois Ave. Apt. 115
Carbondale, IL 62901
Network Coordinator
Shannon c/o Love and Rage
Interorganizational Coordinator
Phillip, 27 School Street
Sommerville, MA 02143
International Coordinator
Todd c/o Love and Rage
Finance Coordinator
Matt c/o Love and Rage
Fundraising Coordinator
Rick c/o Love and Rage
Info-Share Coordinator
Jodi c/o AA, PO Box 10007
Columbus OH 43201
Discussion Bulletin Coordinators
Jean-Marc and Nikolas
PO Box 581354, Minneapolis, MN 55458-1354
Co-Facilitators
Dema Crassy and Ms. Tommy Lawless
c/o Love and Rage
Production Group: Gene, Christopher, Bob, Matt L, Rick, Sara, Matt
B*, Shannon, Todd, ommy, Pablo, Dema, Greg, Beth, Paul, Dave
[PG Members who didn't work on this issue are marked with an "*"]
Translators
Eugenio, Todd, Ana*, Gustavo*, Pablo
Love and Rage is printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks.
Love and Rage is printed by a union printer. ISSN # 1065-2000.
Submission deadlines for the next two issues: April 15, and June
15. When we don't have the money to produce our regular twenty page
full-size edition, we produce an eight page "Broadsheet" edition.
If you're having trouble getting the paper, please call (212)
569-0989 or (201) 344-3397.
Boring Disclaimer
Look. Articles, Letters, Notes of Revolt, and other things printed
in Love and Rage do not necessarily represent the opinions or views
of the Love and Rage Network or of any person involved therein. We
print a variety of articles for a variety of reasons, including
articles we don't agree with, because we believe that they are
interesting or provocative. So there.
Love And Rage
PO Box 3
Prince Street Station
New York, NY 10012
(212) 569 0989 or (201) 344 3397
e-mail: lnr%nyxfer@igc.apc.org
loveandrage@igc.apc.org
-30-
LOVE AND RAGE
Electronic Edition
APRIL/MAY 1993
In this Issue
Part 1: North American News
The Klan in Simi Valley
Klan on the Run
Anarchists Named in McLibel Suit
Short Takes
Correction
Queer News Spread:
Queer Killings Expose Left Hypocrisy
My Own Private Islam
Questioning (Queer) Authority
The Right to Love, The Right to Kill
Part 2: International News
Abortion Access Erodes in East Bloc
Fiery Viruses Communique
Anti-Fascist Action, Edinburgh
Asian Student Movements of the '90s
Moldavia: Repression of Anarcho-Syndicalists
Cuban Activists Can't Go Home
Irish Border Protests
Parcel Bomb Kills German Activist
Repression in Greece Continues
Partial Victory for Nigerian Anarchists
InfoShops: The Medium is the Message
International News Roundup
Mexico: Amor y Rabia en Espanol
Part 3: Prison News/ABC Page
Rita Bo Brown on Solidarity with Political Prisoners
League of Lesbian and Gay Prisoners
Panthers Up for Parole
Kenny Tolia Freed
Shocking Statistics: Political Prisoners in the USA
Current Campaigns for Political Prisoners
New Campaign: Poles in Prison
The Anarchist Black Cross
Part 4: Letters to the Editor, Notices
A Few Words About Politics
Where's AYF?
Writers Wanted!
New Journal on Childhood Sexual Abuse
Spanish Section Synopsis
Letters to Love and Rage
Part 5: Resources
Upcoming Events
Supporting Groups & Regional Contacts
Other Anarchist Contacts
New Directory of Radical Resources
Resources for Women's Rights
Running of the Bulls
..................................................................
LOVE AND RAGE
Electronic Edition
APRIL/MAY 1993
THE KLAN IN SIMI VALLEY
by Chris Crass
SIMI VALLEY, Calif -- ANTI-racist activists kept the Klan away on Jan
30, 1993 in Simi Valley. The K.K.K. had planned to demonstrate in
front of the Simi Valley Courthouse in support of the police
officers who beat Rodney King. When news of this demonstration
spread, Neighbors Against Nazis organized a counter-demonstration.
The rally against racism began in the morning with music and
speakers. Information tables were set up by such organizations as
People Against Racist Terror, Committee for the Impeachment of
(California Governor) Pete Wilson, and the (anarchist) Southern
California Web Collective.
Over 150 people came out for the rally to show opposition to racism
and police brutality. The largest faction of activists at the
protest was the anarchists. With more than 60 of us there, mainly
dressed in black, we were also the greatest concern to the police.
The K.K.K. never showed up, apparently in fear of the anti-racists!
-30-
KLAN ON THE RUN:
ANTI-RACIST ACTION ON THE PROWL
TORONTO -- ANTI-RACIST ACTION (A.R.A.) came together to bring people
out onto the streets to show the strength of our opposition to
fascism as well as our commitment to a multi-racial,
multi-cultural, sexually diverse, equal and fun society. A.R.A. is
an open group. Our meetings are wheelchair accessible, and
childcare is provided. Born in late Sept 1992, A.R.A. has already
mounted several successful actions and will build on our successes
with increased participation.
THE FASCIST THREAT TODAY?
The experience of the Holocaust and the defeat of Hitler's Nazi
Germany led many to believe that the world had learned its lesson
and fascism was dead. But in 1992 we witnessed once again an
alarming resurgence of fascism throughout Europe. In Germany we
have seen racist assaults, firebombings of refugee hostels, mass
fascist rallies and riots, and an increasing identification with
fascist ideology among young people. The popularity of fascism has
spread through France, Italy, Greece, Belgium, England, Austria,
Spain, Poland and other European countries. It is happening here
too.
Fascist groups have also been growing across Canada. Now, spurred
by the "successes" of their European counterparts, they feel strong
enough to begin to organize publicly. Toronto's own fascist
movement is the "nerve center" for Canadian white supremacists of
all stripes. The Heritage Front, the Church of the Creator, the
Aryan Resistance Movement and the Ku Klux Klan (K.K.K.) are
networking and building their ranks in this city. The Heritage
Front, which acts as the main recruiting front for Toronto's
neo-nazi/white supremacist movement, has been leafletting
neighbourhoods, postering and recruiting in high schools, hosting
international neo-nazi speakers, holding rallies, making bomb
threats, vandalizing community centres, and promoting their
particular brand of hate. They have also been linked to the bombing
of the Morgentaler abortion clinic. Heritage Front leader Wolfgang
Droege is a former leader of the Canadian Knights of the K.K.K. He
was convicted by a U.S. court of an attempted armed invasion of the
Caribbean island of Dominica (as well as cocaine trafficking) for
which he served two years in prison. Despite their infamous leader
and explicitly racist platform, the Heritage Front have attempted
to present themselves as a legitimate political movement, committed
to "equal rights for whites."
We have seen the brutal results of fascist ideology. We have seen
millions executed at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust.
We cannot plead ignorance. Called "fascism," "neo- nazism" or
"white supremacy" these ideas equal racism, hatred and violence.
We have learned from history that fascism doesn't disappear by just
wishing it away. It must be confronted by an overwhelming majority
of people standing up and refusing to allow it to grow. We can
prevent the far-right from taking root in this country, but we must
act before it's too late.
The rise of fascism relies on our fear and our silence. We cannot
turn a blind eye while they poison our youth with their lies and
hatred, instill fear in our communities, assault and murder our
brothers and sisters. We cannot allow them to organize in our city
and march on our streets. We must act up and fight back. The power
to defeat fascism lies in our hands. We will educate and mobilize
our communities, stop their organizing in our schools and take back
our streets!
The Heritage Front has singled out Toronto's high schools for
intensive recruitment drives through leafletting, postering and an
increasing presence. This attempt to peddle their racism and lies
to our youth is outrageous, offensive and will not be tolerated.
A.R.A. has been meeting with students, community leaders, teachers
and the Toronto Board of Education. A.R.A. has launched a campaign
of counter-leafletting and counter-postering in schools targeted by
the Heritage Front. We have been organizing in the schools,
supporting and developing anti-racist initiatives to raise
awareness and develop strategies to drive the nazis out of our
schools and streets.
ON THE PROWL
Sept 29, 1992: The Heritage Front organized a march on the
courthouse to defend their operation of a telephone hateline. With
40 hours notice, a counter-demonstration was organized, far
outnumbering the racists, many of whom fled the scene in panic.
A.R.A. was born.
Week of Nov 9, 1992: On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, A.R.A.
protested against the German government's inaction against the
rising tide of neo-fascism there. Similar actions took place around
the world, responding to a call by Germany's anti-fascist movement.
Nov 13, 1992: The Heritage Front sponsored a secret rally in
Toronto, hosting several prominent international neo-nazi speakers.
But A.R.A. was there to shut 'em down! Their meeting hall was
surrounded and pelted with eggs by an angry crowd demanding an end
to racist organizing in our city. Over a hundred humiliated racists
were forced to slink out of the building under police escort.
Dec 19, 1992: A.R.A. responded to the rise in queer-bashings
carried out by young K.K.K. and Heritage Front thugs in Toronto and
Montreal. Hundreds of people marched in Toronto's gay neighbourhood
to show our defiance: We will not be intimidated by fascist
homophobes.
Jan 19, 1993: A.R.A. launched its campaign in Toronto high schools
with a mass rally and march beginning at Riverdale High School in
the east end of Toronto. Young anti-racists joined forces to show
fascist organizers that they have a bigger fight on their hands
than they anticipated.
When they come for our brothers and sisters, A.R.A. will be there.
Your involvement is the key to A.R.A.'s success! Whether in
educational campaigns, "Rock Against Racism" gigs or out in the
street, A.R.A. needs you!
A.R.A. has been helping high school students to build their own
independent A.R.A. groups in their schools. A.R.A. also meets as a
large body to coordinate actions and campaigns that bring together
concerns from various schools and communities.
*
If you want to join Anti-Racist Action, start an A.R.A. group in
your school or just get more information, contact us.
Anti-Racist Action
P.O. Box 664, Stn. C Toronto, Ont. M6J 3S1 Canada
Klanbusters Hotline: (416) 968-2127
-30-
ANARCHISTS NAMED IN MCLIBEL SUIT
LONDON -- HELEN STEEL AND Dave Morris, two supporters of the
anarchist collective London Greenpeace, are named in a libel suit
brought on by McDonalds. The hamburger giant is angry about the
increasing visibility and success of anti-McDonalds activism in the
U.K. and everywhere.
McDonalds is the worlds largest retail property owner and food
service organization, with annual profits of billions of dollars
from exploiting workers, murdering animals, destroying the
environment, pushing unhealthy food, and indoctrinating children.
Over the years many people and groups have campaigned against
Mickey D's. In 1985 London Greenpeace, a small independent
collective since 1970, launched a general anti-McDonalds campaign
to try to coordinate and strengthen opposition. A special detailed
factsheet titled "What's wrong with McDonalds: Everything they
don't want you to know" was produced, translated and taken to
scores of countries.
Feeling the heat, McDonalds has responded with a two fisted attack.
On the one hand they have stepped up propaganda efforts, trying to
portray themselves as friends to the environment and community. On
the other hand they are using the legal system to harass and
silence activists.
Libel laws are stacked in favor of the rich and powerful, and the
court proceedings can be extremely expensive and lengthy. A range
of organizations and media bodies were forced to apologize or
face libel suits for daring to criticize the transnational
corporation. (This has included the British newspaper the Guardian,
Britain's Channel 4, Scottish Trade Unions Council, vegetarian and
green groups, labor research institutes and many more.) Despite
these attempts to intimidate activists, grassroots opposition
continued to grow, and so in September 1990 McDirtball filed a
libel suit against two individuals connected with London
Greenpeace.
Rather than halting protests, this threat to free speech has served
to further damage McDonalds reputation and to strengthen the
resolve of its critics. The defendants, Helen Steel and Dave
Morris, backed by London Greenpeace and the McLibel Support
Campaign, have resolved to fight this major libel case to show that
intimidation must never be allowed to succeed.
McDonalds has tried to drag out the proceedings to drain the
resources of the defense, but it looks like they are going to try
and rush through the second phase of the proceedings -- the
interrogatories -- where the real details and evidence will be
aired. Among the evidence they have so far successfully repressed
are details of Helen and Dave's involvement: All they were doing
was handing out the leaflets! They aren't even charged with writing
the anti-McD material. This evidence would expose McDonalds' spying
on activists, including using an infiltrator.
Funds are desperately needed. Support for Helen and Dave is being
organized by:
London Greenpeace
5 Caledonia Road
London N1, England
Tel (01) (081) 837 7557
Copies of the allegedly libelous leaflet are available from:
Veggies
180 Mansfield Road
Nottingham, England
-30-
Short Takes:
ANOTHER RACIST POLICE MURDER
HAYWARD, Calif. -- JERROLD HALL, A 19-YEAR-OLD African-American male,
was shot in the head and killed by Bay Area Rapid Transit
(B.A.R.T.) Police Officer Fred Crabtree on Nov 15, 1992. Crabtree
was responding to a third-hand description of an "armed robbery" on
the train, based on an anonymous complaint by an alleged victim.
The complaining party claimed his Walkman radio had been stolen by
two African-American men with a gun. No gun was ever found. Hall is
dead: a racist police murder. John Owens, his suspected
"accomplice," is in jail on felony robbery charges. Officer
Crabtree is armed again on active duty. The community is outraged.
COPWATCH and Roots Against War have organized several demos. Send
funds and letters of support to:
John Henry Owens Fund
c/o COPWATCH
2022 Blake Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
-30-
KICKING THE KLAN'S KABOODLE
FOUR HUNDRED ANTI-RACIST DEMONSTRATORS CONfronted 30 nazis on
University Ave. on Jan 25, 1993. The demonstrators were attacked
and arrested by Metro Police Officers on horseback with clubs. The
Metro Police then cleared a corridor to allow the 30 nazis access
to the courthouse. The nazis turned out in support of the Heritage
Front, a white supremacist group, for the Canadian Human Rights
Commission Hearing. Heritage Front leader, Wolfgang Droege,
commented: "I wish the police were not there so we could take care
of this once and for all." Yeah, right! The police attacked the
mildly-behaved crowd for no apparant reason, except to create a
deliberate diversion to allow nazis into the courthouse. This is
the second time this has happened at a Heritage Front hearing.
Klanbusters joins with Anti-Racist Action in calling for all
charges to be dropped against anti-racists!
Klanbusters, P.O. Box 146, Station P, Toronto, ONT
M5S 2S6, Canada, Tel (416) 968-2127, Fax (416) 964-2111
-30-
THREE THOUSAND ANTI-FASCIST DEMONSTRATORS took to the streets in
protest of a visit by Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan
Resistance, on Jan 22, 1993. Four hundred action-oriented
protesters discovered Metzger's real location, a nearby hotel, and
gained entrance. The speech was disrupted shortly after it began,
and police escorted the nazis safely out the back. A few protesters
were arrested. Gord H., who puts out OH-Toh-Kin, is facing serious
felonies, including concealed weapons, explosives, masked and
mischief charges. To express support, contact:
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 57584, Jackson Station
Hamilton, ONT L8P 4X3, Canada
-30-
THE MINNESOTA EIGHT
MINNEAPOLIS -- THE MINNESOTA EIGHT NEED YOUR SUPPORT. A COP WAS shot
in Sept 1992, amid a tense gang-phobic atmosphere. In the weeks
following the shooting, the police terrorized Black youth in south
Minneapolis. Eight African-American men will stand trial: four
charged with killing a police officer, three with killing an
African-American man (whom the mainstream press suggested was a
police informer), and one youth charged with both shootings.
Together these young men are popularly called the Minnesota Eight.
Pre-trial hearings did not go well, and the Committee Seeking Equal
Justice for the Minnesota Eight desperately needs funds. Write to
them to offer support at:
P.O. Box 40355
St. Paul, MN 55104
-30-
TIMMMBER!
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- SEVERAL electrical utility poles in five Vermont
locations have been sabotaged since April 1992. The utility poles
have been notched, cut or drilled in a way that makes them fall
down in strong winds or heavy snowfall. The Central Vermont Public
Service Corporation has received a letter saying that three utility
poles needed to be replaced and that there could be other
consequences unless they dropped their contract with Hydro-Quebec.
This contract, which is between Hydro-Quebec and 17 Vermont
utilities, has been the subject of controversy for several years
because Hydro-Quebec is planning to expand to provide extra,
unneeded power to these companies. These plans threaten the
indigenous lifestyles of the Cree, Innuit and Innu peoples of
Northern Quebec. The plans threaten fragile habitats and the future
of several species that live in them.
-30-
Scene News
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- THE LAB IS a collective house that sponsors shows
every weekend in their basement. Visit them at 144 Hill. Zip is
48104.
AUSTIN, Texas -- FOR ALL OF y'all unfamiliar with the anarchist
milieu in Slackerland, the Atatl Collective sends a report. Last
year the Students for a Classless University Movement (S.C.U.M.)
was created to give the U. of Texas community a kick in the ass.
Anarchist activity here has been riding a real rollercoaster. Highs
have included protest around the Republikkkan Convention in
Houston, a very fun anti-Labor-Day march, and anti-Columbus-Day
actions which featured a Columbus pi<70>ata bash complete with
gratuitous scramble for bloody-eyeball-shaped candy! The new year
has seen anti-Klan actions (see Page 11) and the second Circle A
Roundup/Gathering.
Contact us at:
504 West 24th Street, Box 81, Austin, Tx 78705
BOSTON -- THE TOOLS COLLECtive holds weekly meetings and forums,
distributes literature and organizes shows. Stop by their space at
107 Brighton Ave., or contact them at the same address, 02134.
DETROIT -- CHECK OUT 404 WILLIS, an @ space that offers a community
meal every Sunday and hosts workshops, meetings, shows, a
coffeehouse, poetry readings, films and Pandora's Box " a wimmins
art display/performance. Men often provide childcare and meet in an
anti-sexist group and produce the zine, Out Male, as a reflection
of gained awareness. Zip is 48201.
KINGSTON, Ontario -- MEMBERS of the Class War Mountain Bike Club
protested the Ottawa/Hull Auto Show, passing out leaflets on the
true costs of our oil-based society and displaying a banner that
read "Destroy the Auto-Culture." @utonomous Green Action helped to
organize anarchists from Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston and Toronto to
protest the ARMX Armaments Trade Show March 17 in Ottawa.
Contact @utonomous Green Action, P.O. Box 4721, Station E, Ottawa,
Ontario K15 5H9, Canada
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- THERE IS A new @ community center in San Diego
that's open 3:00-8:00 p.m., seven days a week, with free food every
Thursday at 7:30p.m. Food Not Bombs! (F.N.B!) meets on Sundays and
Love and Rage Conference Organizing Meetings are Sundays 6:00 p.m.
915 E Street, San Diego, CA 8722 Tel.(619) 239-8722
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- LAST FALL A local F.N.B! started. We are now
serving two days a week. Although not all members are anarchists,
F.N.B! has offered us space to work together sharing anarchist
ideals. Initially centered around the food issue, the group is now
developing plans for a collective, affinity actions and squats. We
also support local protests, strikes and political events. An
Anarchist Youth Federation (A.Y.F.) chapter has also recently been
born.
Contact F.N.B! c/o 520 Kingsland Ave. Apt. 1N, St. Louis, MO 63130
Contact A.Y.F. c/o P.O. Box 5202, St. Louis, MO 63139
VICTORIA, British Columbia -- Greetings from the Hairy Ass Commune!
In the past two years Victoria has become a bevy of anarchist
activity! Womyn here are producing an anarcha-feminist zine, H.A.G.
Also active: a new A.B.C. chapter, Terra Prima! (the local Earth
First! group), an anti-authoritarian theatre group, Anti-Nazi
Alliance, F.N.B! Victoria and Earth Liberation Front, a new Love
and Rage supporting group who works in solidarity with sovereign
First Nations. Committed activists are invited up for the summer to
protest logging on First Nation lands. Bring your hemmorhoids.
Contact us c/o A-5 1720, Douglas Street, Victoria, B.C. V8W 2G7,
Canada
-30-
OOPS!
The name of the Lakota band resisting nuclear waste storage was
misspelled on Page 15 of Vol. 3, No. 7. The correct spelling is
Mdewakanton. Our apologies.
In the last issue (Vol. 4, No. 1) we reported that the police drove
the attacking fascists away from Casa la Paz (Page 5). After going
to print, we received a report from the squatters that they drove
the nazis away themselves.
Also in the last issue, on the ABC page readers were asked to
contact Amor y Rabia support groups for information on the
Campaign in Spain. Readers should contact the other addresses
listed instead.
-30-
Special Queer Newspread:
QUEER KILLINGS EXPOSE LEFT HYPOCRISY
by K. Small
MONTREAL -- ON THE NIGHT OF Sunday Nov 29, 1992 Yves Lalonde was
beaten to death in Angrignon Park, Montreal. The next day police
received an anonymous tip which led to the arrest of six neo-nazi
skinheads, all of them minors. Although at first they did not seem
to have been associated with any formal organization, later a
membership card to the N.S.D.A.P./A.O. was found amongst their
belongings.
The N.S.D.A.P./A.O. claims to be the heir to Hitler's N.S.D.A.P.
(Nazi Party). It is based in Nebraska, having been outlawed in
Germany.
Because the aggressors were neo-nazis and skinheads, the murder
received a lot more attention than is usual for a homophobic
killing. The next Sunday about thirty people held a vigil in the
park. During the ceremony a statue of two clasped hands was
unveiled, supposedly symbolizing tolerance. (So much for overt
queer content.) The vigil was organized by the World Anti-Fascist
League and featured speakers from the Canadian Jewish Congress, the
Black Community Coalition and one representative of the Lesbian and
Gay community.
Responding to Lalonde's murder also became a priority for the Table
de concertation des lesbiennes et gaies du Grand Montreal,
Montreal's new lesbian and gay network, which sent a letter to the
Quebec Human Rights Commission on Dec 9, 1992 demanding a public
inquiry into homophobic violence. The letter stated that "this last
murder is too much. We hope that it will be the last one caused by
this senseless and hateful violence."
Unfortunately, although the murder of Lalonde was indeed "too much"
(as was every such murder which preceded it), it was not to be the
last resulting from homophobic violence. On Saturday, Dec 12, 1992,
Daniel Lacombe, an allegedly heterosexual man, was murdered by a
group of young men by a roadstop near Joliette because they thought
he was gay.
This murder did not receive nearly as much attention from the left
as had the death of Lalonde, probably because none of the murderers
turned out to be skinheads. Nevertheless, it seems that these
"apolitical" killers were much more dangerous and effective than
the nazis who had killed Lalonde. During their career as almost
professional fagbashers, the group managed to beat up about sixty
men.
Four of the accused are free. Three of them did not even have to
post bail, supposedly because they're minors. Only Patrick Paquette
(18-years-old) has not been released: he is charged with
manslaughter.
The left has, of course, paid much more attention to Lalonde's
demise than it has to Lacombe's, and the reason is most probably a
case of pure homophobia. The former is also a neo-nazi hate crime,
and thus gives us all an occasion to discuss the extreme right,
skinheads and the like. This is an example of homophobia on the
left.
The homophobia of the right serves to strengthen its ranks, and the
homophobia of the mainstream often attracts these "normal
apoliticals" to the right. Homophobia on the left does nothing but
weaken the overall fight for liberation and turn good activists
into monsters closely resembling the "enemy." A case in point: the
latest issue of No KKK, No Fascist USA!, an American anti-fascist
newspaper, has a letter describing a fagbashing in which a member
of Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice and a nazi skin, along with
many "non-politicals," cooperated in terrorizing some queer high
school students.
The social cleansing (my term, not theirs) carried out by Sendero
Luminoso in Peru certainly resembles what in recent European
history is associated with the extreme right (executions of
homosexuals, prostitutes and all others who are deemed to be under
the influence of "alien ideology," in this case European cultural
imperialism).
The Sept 19 attack on a gay club in Belfast last year is another
example. Someone is reported to have shouted, "We have a bomb for
this queer pub," as a fuel canister and explosive device were
hurled into the bar. the Irish People's Liberation Organization
(I.P.L.O. " a splinter off of the Irish National Liberation Army)
later claimed responsibility for the firebombing.
Homophobia is not the only hate ideology to infect the Left, and
national liberation movements are not the only movements which
succumb to hate mongering. Last spring l'Androgyne (Montreal's best
gay, lesbian and feminist bookstore) decided to start selling Gaie
France Magazine, a gay male magazine put out by a bunch of
gay...nazis! With the exception of a small squeak of protest from
certain anti-fascist and progressive elements of the feminist and
queer communities in Montreal, most members of those communities
supported the decision to stock the magazine, some even taking pen
to paper in what at times resembled a smear campaign against the
anti-fascists.
Although unpleasant to mention, any discussion of right wing
violence without acknowledgment of this kind of rot within our own
movements can lead to nothing but hollow victories and bitter
defeat.
(This article was not printed in a local Montreal anti-imperialist
anti-authoritarian newsletter due to its heavy criticism of the
left).
-30-
MY OWN PRIVATE ISLAM
by Yusuf Al-Hallaj
AS I WRITE THIS ARTICLE, THE majority of my one billion fellow
Muslims are fasting from dawn to dusk in this, the holy month of
Ramadan. In the past, I have fasted myself and have felt an
extraordinary sense of self-purification as well as a strangely
transcendent identification with Muslims all over the world. But as
I began to question certain precepts of orthodox Islam, my
commitment to fasting dwindled. Today, the fourth day of the ninth
month of the 1413th year of Islam, I will indulge in three square
meals, and I will not feel guilty for a very simple reason: I am
gay, and my religion, or more particularly, my co-religionists, say
that I have sinned. And not only will I be punished in the
afterlife, but I should be punished in this world too: lashing,
imprisonment or death, depending on the discretion of the state
ruler, in accordance with Islamic law.
I feel no compulsion to identify, transcendently or otherwise, with
my fellow Muslims, my brothers and sisters who would condemn me for
loving a man. Islam's condemnation of homosexuality has not
precluded homosexuality in Islamic societies, past or present. Iran
in particular has had a long history of male-male sex and love
(less is known about lesbianism in Muslim nations). Nineteenth
century Egypt saw European travellers visiting not just to see the
Pyramids and the Nile, but to look for pretty Egyptian boys too.
Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, has a history of toleration of
homosexuality, and in Pakistan there is a province where they say
all men are fags, a stereotype not entirely devoid of factual
basis. Needless to say, gays and lesbians "out of the closet" are
unheard of in Muslim countries. In places like these, closets are
for clothes, and then some.
To be a Muslim in the U.S., irrespective of sexuality, is to
confront a daily assault of ignorance with respect to Islam. In the
media, in the classroom and in people's minds persist some of the
most inaccurate and utterly stupid notions of Islam. I often feel
like Islam's most ardent defender, a religious vanguard writing to
newspapers with tallies of the number of times they have used
"Muslim" and "fundamentalist" and "extremist" and "terrorist"
interchangeably in a given week; correcting professors on the
meaning of the word <MI>jihad<D>; explaining why <MI>Aladdin<D> is
grossly offensive. I sometimes forget that the majority of the
people I am so often defending would think me an abomination if
they knew about my orientation and would even want me killed. As
harsh as the West is to Islam, Muslims are by and large ten times
so toward gays and lesbians. These are my people.
Of course I am among Islam's strongest critics as well, or more
precisely, I am among the strongest critics of Muslims,
particularly those who start every other sentence with "The Quaran
says ..." or "The prophet said ... ." In general, I know better
than they what the Quaran says or what the prophet did. The
dissident always knows the history of his or her people better than
do others, if only by necessity. And yet, these are dangerous
times. Too harsh a criticism of a Muslim is often taken as an
attack on Islam, and one need only recall the furor provoked by
Salman Rushdie to realize the peril in this.
For most, coming out of the closet is difficult enough without the
threat of religiously sanctioned bodily harm. I greet my fellow
Muslims with the same hand with which I stroke my lover's penis,
but they will never know it. Nor will they ever know the joy I feel
or the love that I share with my man. For my part, I will never
know what it is to be accepted by the only community I have ever
really known. There is a profound cowardice inherent to my closeted
way of life, but ultimately I am more comfortable defending Islam
than myself. Rushdie is not the only one driven into hiding by
Islam.
-30-
QUESTIONING (QUEER) AUTHORITY
by Paul Dalton
NINETEEN NINETY THREE HAS BEEN called the "Year of the Queer."
Many, both inside and outside of the queer community are talking
about the great victories of the past year. (By queer I mean
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.) They cite the defeat of
the viciously anti-queer initiative in Oregon, the election of a
president who says, however quietly, that we deserve human rights,
and the imminent end to the ban on queers in the military as
pointing toward a new, stronger, more visible role for us in every
level of society. The 1993 March on Washington is looked to by many
as our collective "coming out" to America, where we show our
numbers, our strength and our power.
There is no doubt that we are more visible, and potentially more
powerful than ever. This new found visibility has sharpened the
attacks from our enemies. On the same day the Oregon measure was
defeated, Colorado voters amended the state's constitution to
prevent civil rights protection for queers. Throughout North
America queer bashing has increased.
But our struggles are not confined to the "straight" world. Racism,
sexism and classism are very pervasive within queer culture and
institutions. An increasingly powerful and reactionary queer " if
you will excuse the term " bourgeoisie has sprung up in San
Francisco, New York and other large cities. This class of
capitalists, politicians and cops are the same as any bourgeoisie;
they live parasitically off our work, our culture, and of course
our bodies. Not surprisingly they are mostly male and mostly white.
We also struggle amongst ourselves over our most basic unifying
issue: sexuality. Slow to learn from our collective experience,
large sections of the queer community actively fight to further
marginalize bisexuals and transgendered people. The fact that the
March on Washington refused to include any reference to
transgendered people, and almost did the same with bisexuals, is
outrageous. If we are truly struggling for a world free of
predjudice and oppression based on sexuality, then we must be
inclusive of all queer people.
These struggles represent larger debates within the queer
communities over both politics and tactics, a debate that reveals
much about our strengths and weaknesses. On one hand we created
some of the most effective and vital direct-action oriented groups
in recent memory. Many young queers have grown up in a sort of
culture of resistance " learning early on to directly confront
their enemies and, importantly, knowing that they can win.
On the other hand, the links between our struggle and the struggles
of oppressed people everywhere have not been made effectively. We
have allowed ourselves to fall into the trap of ghettoizing our
struggles. We can only succeed if we make those links and we
struggle together.
Clinton's election poses a new set of problems for radicals within
the queer community. Clinton's willingness to include some of our
issues in the public debate has led many to see him as an ally.
This is a dangerous misconception that has the potential of setting
queer activism back: out of the streets and into the Capitol, the
boardrooms, and, gulp, the military.
If our goals are to assimilate into the mainstream of American
economic, social and political life, then it makes sense to seize
this opportunity and work to get our leaders accepted within the
centers of power. If we are successful we can expect some
legislative protection and the emergence of a strong queer power
structure at every level within the government and economy.
Where would that leave us? It would mean the rich, educated, white
and male among us would all have the power of their straight
counterparts. It would mean that we would become another microcosm
of American society, complete with its racism, sexism, classism and
so on.
We already have the embryonic structures of such a world. We have
union-busting businesses owned by queers. We have misogynist
harassment of women in the Castro and on Christopher Street. We
have an economy run by white men. We even have openly right wing
queers supporting police crackdowns on our demonstrations and
rallying behind "our troops" throughout the world. If this is the
world you are struggling for, get out the vote, support queer owned
businesses, and join the Log Cabin Club.
If, however, we are struggling to end the oppression of all queers,
women, people of color, youth, P.W.A.s..., then we must take a
different approach. We need to take the direct action and militancy
from ACT UP and Queer Nation and add it to a broader political
perspective that sees the many layers of oppression that confront
us and works to link our struggles together.
We need to confront the inequalities and power games in our own
communities. We need to respect picket lines at queer businesses.
We need to recognize and support the battles that queer women and
people of color are fighting within our own movements. We have to
fight against the bi- and trans-phobia. We must realize that
liberation is born out of struggle, not legislation or negotiation.
We have revolutionary potential, but we are not inherently
revolutionary. Yes, our very existence challenges the norms of
patriarchy, but the power structures that run this country have
shown a remarkable ability to assimilate sectors they had formerly
shut out, when faced with the possibility of radical change. Was it
really a victory for us to have Pete Williams, a gay man, as the
Pentagon spokesman for the Gulf slaughter?
As anarchists we struggle against all forms of domination. As
queers we live the daily reality of that domination. Together we
offer a radical, street-based, direct-action approach to political
struggle. We fight to defend our communities from attack and to
confront those who seek to destroy or control us. We struggle
against the emerging queer bourgeoisie with the same vigor we fight
the straight bourgeoisie. We will attempt to be part of making the
connections between heterosexism and other forms of domination. Our
goal is nothing short of revolution based not in a vanguard party,
but in the communities, in the streets and in our bedrooms.
-30-
THE RIGHT TO LOVE, THE RIGHT TO KILL
by Liz A. Highleyman
THE GAY, LESBIAN AND BISEXUAL MOVEment has shifted from a
broad liberation focus to a conservative, assimilationist course.
Nowhere is this more evident than the focus on gay inclusion in the
military.
In this article I often use "gay" as shorthand for "gay,
lesbian and bisexual." I usually prefer "queer" as an inclusive
term, but since the essence of the military is obedience and
conformity, I think that association with the military is the very
antithesis of "queer."
Some claim that the focus is not on the military itself, but
on the "larger issue" of discrimination. This argument rings
hollow. Same-sex erotic expression is illegal in most states and
age of consent laws are considerably higher for same-sex
relationships. The criminalization of sexual relationships affects
far more gay, lesbian and bisexual people than exclusion from the
military. Why then is the movement focusing on military exclusion
instead of, say, repealing sodomy laws? It seems the movement
wants to appeal to the "general public," and since the mainstream
thinks that patriotism is good and sex is evil, the movement is
emphasizing the patriotism of gays and keeping their sex lives in
the closet.
The military ban on non-heterosexuals is wrong, and it's
absurd that the government spends time and resources hounding gay
people out of the service. But it's a mistake to focus the energies
of the gay movement on this issue, especially since many gay,
lesbian and bisexual people think the military is a reprehensible
institution.
All gays, lesbians and bisexuals do not share the same
political leanings " our opinions range from radical left to
reactionary right. Yes, there are nationalistic and war mongering
gay, lesbian and bisexual people. There are also those who cheat,
rape and kill; these actions do not become acceptable when done by
non-heterosexuals. Just because some heterosexuals are sanctioned
to kill in the name of the state does not make it right. No one
should be pressured to support actions they believe are wrong
simply because they share a sexual orientation. The gay movement's
current party line is that we are "obligated" to put aside our
moral qualms and political convictions and rally around the
"larger issue" of discrimination. Yet for some of us, opposing
militarism and its associated values is as important as struggling
for equality.
One expects gung-ho rhetoric from conservative gays, but it's
surprising to hear it from self-identified progressives, who claim
they do not support the military itself, but do support those gays
who choose to be in the military. ("Love the sinner, hate the
sin?") Yet the current rhetoric does in fact support militarism.
We've been hearing a great deal about the "right to serve one's
country," but no examination of the fact that in the U.S. today
"serving one's country" means carrying out the whims of the
politicians in power. We hear about how "bravely" and "honorably"
gay soldiers served in the Persian Gulf. How "brave" and
"honorable" is it to drop high-tech bombs on helpless civilians in
an attempt to prop up a president's macho image and his cronie's
bank accounts? I acknowledge the need for self-defense, but the
U.S. military's engagements have not been anything like defense of
the country since World War II. By parroting the conservative line
about the glories of war and military service, the "gay leadership"
is endorsing militarism, whether it wants to or not.
The platform of the March on Washington expresses an
opposition to all forms of oppression. How can this be reconciled
with the oppression that the U.S. State, using its military tool,
perpetrates against less powerful people around the globe? The U.S.
has propped up numerous genocidal regimes and supports governments
that brutally oppress gay people, women and indigenous people. It
is more than ironic that a movement that claims to struggle for
human rights can at the same time embrace the "right" to
participate in an institution that denies the human rights of
others. One would hope that gay, lesbian and bisexual people,
having experienced oppression themselves, would be less willing to
act as a finger of the iron fist of the U.S. power elite. Sadly,
this does not seem to be the case.
It is true that low-level military personnel do not make
policies, but they are trained to obey and conform, to kill and die
without question. They are trained to ignore their conscience and
not think about what is right or wrong (or to believe that the U.S.
and its allies are always right), thus behaving more like robots
than thinking human beings. I can only laugh at Orwellian names
like the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's "Military Freedom
Project;" the only "freedom" associated with the military is the
freedom to consign oneself to slavery.
The military helps to promote the dominant ideologies of our
culture, ideologies that are homophobic, sexist, racist and
capitalistic. Discipline is maintained by playing on men's
insecurities about their masculinity. Militarism and masculinity
are closely associated in U.S. culture. Anti-war demonstrators are
regularly referred to as "pussies" and "faggots." A man who prefers
negotiation to violence is being "soft" (impotent?). Military
officials are probably correct that acceptance of homosexuals would
disrupt military discipline " they would have to find other means
of control besides exploiting men's terror of being seen as less
than "real men." This same terror is at the root of gay bashing and
misogyny. Macho aggression is so strongly reinforced by the
institution of militarism that it is hard to imagine one without
the other. Militarism and homohatred/misogyny are two sides of the
same coin.
Some have asserted that the inclusion of gay, lesbian and
bisexual people will change the character of the military for the
better. Is the military (or society) no longer sexist because women
are allowed to participate? The Tailhook scandal shows that this is
clearly not the case. It is much more likely that participation in
the military will change the character of the participants. Will
gay soldiers strive to be especially obedient and brutal in an
effort to prove that they are "real men?" How will gay soldiers
react when they are called upon to prop up repressively homophobic
regimes (as women soldiers were forced to do in support of the
misogynist regime in Saudi Arabia)? What about the future
generations of gay, lesbian and bisexual youth who will be forced
into the oppressive military system if a draft is reinstated?
Many argue that the fight for military inclusion is about
equal economic opportunity. There is no denying that many people
enter the military because they have few options for education or
employment. But if this is our concern, we should focus on changing
society so that people's choices are not so limited. Despite its
recruiting advertisements, the military is not an employment agency
or a job training service. Its purpose is to enforce the will of
the U.S. Government domestically and abroad, using violence or the
threat of violence.
The gay movement is mistaken to focus more energy on the
"right" of gay, lesbian and bisexual people to kill and die than on
our right to love. Is the "right" of a small segment of gay people
to participate in the military more important than the right of all
gay, lesbian and bisexual people to teach, to parent children, to
be secure in our homes and on the streets, and to have our
relationships recognized? In the quest for gay equal rights, we
cannot sacrifice the important human values that are at odds with
a militaristic society.
-30-
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