The Passing Of Time
by Terry Zimmerman
The old saying, "Time Flies When Your Having Fun" is very
definitive of the past year for me. Although it has certainly not been all fun,
time has sure whizzed by. At this time last year, James (my partner) and I
were putting the finishing touches on a project that we had been working
on more than six months. We were anxiously awaiting October 11th, 1996
(National Coming Out Day) so that we could start our new business,
rainbow-akron.com, an Internet service, catering to the gay community and
gay businesses. We also, shortly afterwards, had to quickly learn how to
put What's Up together for publication. Eventually, we became the writers,
editors, publishers, sales dept. and delivery persons for the publication.
What a busy and eventful year it has been. It seems like only a few
months have passed, but here we are, looking at October 11th again. And
this year we are just as excited as we were then, if not even more so. Akron
is going to have its first ever gay pride celebration centered around
National Coming Out Day and we are both looking forward to participating
in the activities. This is hopefully just the beginning of many good things to
come to our community. There have been a lot of very exciting things
happening in our area for the past several months. The first ever Gay
Comedy Jam at Hilarities hopefully set a precedent in the Akron / Canton
area and will encourage other businesses to be gay friendly.
This is a historic opportunity for all gay people in this area to show
their strength and unity to the rest of the population. We must strongly
encourage everyone that we know, who is either gay or gay friendly, to
attend these important events. We need to show as large of a presence of
support as is possible. Akron, Canton, Medina, Barberton, The Portage
Lakes, Green, Tallmadge, Kent, Mogadore and Stow, etc... should come
and join in the activities. This is an event where every single person who
attends will be able to proudly say that they helped to make a difference. I
urge anyone who reads this to come out and join in as many of the events
as possible. Some of the entertainment and activities are still not finalized
as of this writing, but by the time the next issue of What's Up is printed,
there will be a lot more information available. Don't let this one pass you
by.
Ron Woods, the Chrysler employee who has fought a valiant battle
for gay rights in the auto industry, has written us concerning his
continuing struggles.
He writes: Last weekend as we were watching Any Mothers Son on
Lifetime TV about the brutal beating death of Allan Schindler by his fellow
Navy shipmates for being gay, every time the Navy lied to Allan's mother,
we thought of the way that Chrysler Corporation has lied to us and all
sexual minorities as well as the public. Such as when they say they will not
tolerate discrimination yet do nothing to prevent it.
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