Faith in the Struggle for Justice

Matt Borgerding XU sophomore Christian Sese tends to his hovel.

A year has already passed since Cincinnati freed itself from Article 12, the anti-gay provision of the city charter, and since Ohio, moving in the opposite direction, saddled itself with a state constitutional amendment forbidding same-sex marriages. The future of the equality struggle in Greater Cincinnati is the topic of two programs in the next few weeks. From 6-7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Contemporary Arts Center, Equality Cincinnati hosts the discussion "Moving Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Ahead: What's Next for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Our Region." One hot topic will be whether Cincinnati will finally move to catch up with the city of Covington, which two years ago forbade housing and job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Then at 3 p.m. Nov. 13, Gary Wright, who masterminded the grassroots effort to repeal Article 12, speaks at Northern Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on the theme "Gay Marriage: One Year After Issue 1." Wright's lecture is part of the Voices of Justice Speaker Series, a quarterly event sponsored by the church.

"Northern Hills Fellowship is a suburban Cincinnati church with a passion for social justice," says the Rev. Annie Foerster. "Because of this, we are in a unique position to bring social justice issues of the metropolitan area to the suburban community, on their own turf, so to speak.

We hope to awaken more people to these issues and inspire them to action."

For more information on the Nov. 13 event, call 513-931-6651 or visit uunhf.org.

Xavier University students interested in social justice couldn't have picked a more apt time to try to experience something of what it is to be homeless. The school's 16th annual shantytown went up in the cold rain Oct. 23 and will stay up through Friday.

With a theme of Children Shan't be Homeless, the students are trying to educate people about the plight of the homeless and raise money for Project Connect and the Race Street Tenant Organizing Cooperative (ReStoc). Project Connect, which works closely with Cincinnati Public Schools, is the only program in Greater Cincinnati exclusively serving homeless children. ReStoc provides affordable housing to low-income families in Over-the-Rhine.

Meanwhile, progressives seem to have learned from the 2004 presidential election that religious values can work for them, too. On Oct. 24 three prominent Ohio Democrats signed on to the Higher Ground Promise, a campaign to urge public leaders to focus on the needs of children, elderly, disabled and the poor. Giving the effort their support are congressional representatives Ted Strickland, candidate for governor in 2006; Sherrod Brown, who's running for U.S. Senate; and Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

The organizations that helped to create the Higher Ground Promise are Catholic Alliance for the Common Good, Faithful America, Faith and Public Life Resource Center, National Council of Churches and Protestants for the Common Good. For more information, visit highergroundpromise.org.

Practical Politics
The Hamilton County Board of Elections is in desperate need of poll workers for the Nov. 8 election. Poll workers earn $125, and presiding judges make $145. The time commitment includes 7-7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 to set up and 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Nov. 8. Poll workers must be registered to vote in Hamilton County. To apply, Democrats can call 513-632-7041. Republicans are also needed, but they can look up the number themselves.

An informal survey of city council candidates by Glenn Ray, a member of the city's Arts Allocation Committee, revealed one glaring fact.

"The arts are not on the radar screen of most of the candidates," he says.

This year city council reduced the usual arts allocation of 0.14 percent of the general fund by 48 percent. Ray asked candidates if they support restoration of full funding. The survey, sent to all 31 candidates, garnered only seven responses. Six — Gerry Kraus, Eve Bolton, Bennie Green, Wendell Young and incumbents Laketa Cole and David Crowley — said they support restoration of full funding of the arts. The other respondent, William S. Mathews II, indicated support "only if funds exist over and above those needed to provide basic, essential, required city services, and such a situation does not seem likely to me to be on the horizon."

Meanwhile, the Queen City Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed City Councilman Sam Malone for re-election in spite of his arrest on a charge of domestic violence. Malone is awaiting trial for allegedly beating his 14-year-old son.

His endorsement shows just what the FOP leadership means when it calls on council to "support the police." The mantra isn't about support for law and order; it's about uncritical acceptance of, and funding for, whatever the cops do. His own allegedly criminal conduct aside, Malone thus passes the FOP's test — he's one of the biggest cheerleaders the police have.