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Gay and lesbian groups are jumping in bed with African-American groups to work together on the civil rights boycott of Cincinnati.
The newfound solidarity among minorities has the potential for long-term political change.
But Doreen Cudnik, board member of Stonewall Cincinnati, laughs at the irony. Joining the boycott means working for repeal of Article 12 of the city charter with members of the very community that helped pass it.
“We’re sitting down with African-American Baptist ministers, people who helped pass this thing,” Cudnik says.
Article 12, which appeared on the ballot as Issue 3 in 1993, prevents city council from passing any law forbidding discrimination because of sexual orientation.
Adding to the irony, the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati (CJC), a group whose primary purpose is fighting racism, listed repeal of Article 12 as a boycott demand last year — while Stonewall, whose primary purpose is supporting equal rights for gays, is only now getting around to endorsing the same tactic.
Stonewall joined the CJC for a press conference Feb. 11 in front of the Cincinnati Convention Center.
“We come today to urge people, business and organizations of conscience to withhold their spending from the local travel and tourism industry until Article 12 is removed from the city charter,” said Stonewall Co-Chair Roy Ford. “We stand in solidarity with the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati and with all those who demand justice — racial justice, social justice and economic justice.”
United they stand
Working together requires work.
“It’s not perfect, but the little steps we’re making are progress,” Ford says.
The united front between African Americans, gays and lesbians is important, according to Amanda Mayes, action committee chair for CJC.
“The goal is to have as much unity and equality in the community as possible,” she says. “We always had Issue 3 on the list of demands, so getting support from Stonewall didn’t add anything to our demand list — only to our list of supporters.”
CJC’s other demands include more African-American police officers, better psychological screening for police recruits, the resignation of Police Chief Thomas Streicher and the right to peaceful protest without fear of arrest or intimidation.
The repeal of Article 12 will not be lost in CJC’s list, Mayes says.
“You just give everything equal weight. … We personally feel that every issue is as important as the next,” she says.
Stonewall, too, says it is committed to solidarity for the long haul.
“What we have said, while our primary mission is gay and lesbian rights, is that we’re not a one-issue human rights organization,” Cudnik says. “We’re seeking to build lasting coalitions, not temporary ones just until we get our needs met.”
Social injustices have marked Cincinnati for decades, but now various factions have seen fit to start working together.
“This was the perfect time,” Ford says. “This was the way — to step outside the box and start building coalitions.”
After all, Cudnik says, nothing else has worked.
“(Article 12) is still on the books and it’s 2002, so maybe there’s a different tack we can take,” she says. “Maybe it’s not such a bad time to shake things up a little, to rock the boat a little.”
While CJC and Stonewall are working together, cooperation within the gay community and Stonewall itself is not so smooth. Since Stonewall endorsed the boycott Feb. 11, three board members have resigned. A fourth resignation is pending.
If Stonewall isn’t united as an organization, how can it stand in solidarity with the CJC?
“A lot of organizations haven’t endorsed the boycott,” Cudnik says. “That’s not to say their membership isn’t conflicted.”
Cudnik has worked alongside the four resigning board members — Freedom Durham, Lauren Koon, Nancy Minson and Doreen Quinn — since she first moved here from Cleveland in September 1999 to become executive director of Stonewall, a position since eliminated.
“I know them,” Cudnik says. “I’m saddened that these good people feel the need to distance themselves. They’ve done a tremendous amount of work.”
More telling is that three of the four — all members of Stonewall’s Political Action Committee — are straight allies.
“And that hurts, because we do have to have broad-based support,” Cudnik says.
Stonewall’s internal struggle has not gone unnoticed (see Under the Rainbow issue of Jan. 31-Feb. 6).
“I wish all of us would stop talking through the media,” Ford says.
Cudnik agrees. “I think, in hindsight, we all could have done a better job communicating our intentions,” she says. “It became that we’re talking to each other through the press.”
Despite differing viewpoints within Stonewall, publicly endorsing the boycott should be a positive step, Cudnik says.
“I hope it doesn’t hurt,” she says. “I hope it turns out being a good thing. We brought something out of the shadows and into the light.”
Ford acknowledges that Durham, Koon, Minson and Quinn are still needed in the organization. But his attitude seems to be if you’re queer, don’t come here, get used to it.
“We’ve been called radical street fairies,” Ford says. “We’ve been called this. We’ve been called that. We’ve got to come out. We cannot hide. The closet is not big enough — especially for me.”
Using the ‘B’ word
Stonewall has been firmly in the closet since Issue 3 passed in 1993. It was a given the gay and lesbian rights group opposed the charter amendment. But what actions Stonewall wanted to take were far from clear.
Many believed Stonewall called for a boycott of the city, but the organization had never said so. Behind closed doors, Stonewall sent a statement to various organizations considering conventions in Cincinnati.
“It is up to each organization and business to decide for itself what it wishes to do in light of the discriminatory nature of Article 12,” the letter says. “We expect that people of good conscience will not want to do business here.”
But that’s not a boycott. “The press has constantly used that word,” Cudnik says.
In fact, the wording on the statement, first drafted after the passage of Issue 3, is particularly vague.
“Stonewall will continue to contact organizations about the negative impact of Article 12, and ask those who believe that discrimination is bad business to join with us in our efforts to make Cincinnati’s charter fair and just,” the letter says, never explaining how to join with Stonewall.
Not once does the statement use the word “boycott,” opting instead for a do-what’s-in-your-heart approach.
In 1997 a former Stonewall member wrote a letter offering to help conferences meet near — but not in — Cincinnati.
“As with many other convention and meeting planners, I would be happy to recommend looking to the neighboring community of Sharonville, OH, or Northern Kentucky,” the letter said.
Although even then Stonewall did not call for a boycott, never using what Cudnik jokingly refers to as “the B word,” the approach worked.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), representing 44,000 attendants, had scheduled its annual meeting at the Westin Hotel in downtown Cincinnati in November 1999. But the AFA cancelled, explaining the decision in a letter to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
“Instead of Cincinnati, we are moving our 1999 meeting to a community that actively supports and promotes human rights and equal protection for all,” the letter said. “It is our hope that the citizens of Cincinnati will right this terrible injustice and repeal Issue 3.”
When the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries was planning to hold its 2002 annual conference in Cincinnati, it heard from Cudnik. The conference will meet in September at Clarion Hotel and Suites in Blue Ash.
“What they decided to do was make sure they held their conference outside of city limits,” Cudnik says. “I worked with them on this. Did I call it a boycott? Probably not. Whether the board called it a boycott, the board members were working to move convention business out of Cincinnati.”
Last October, the Out and Equal Workplace Summit met at the Holiday Inn near the Greater Cincinnati Airport in Kentucky. Heidi Bruins served as the national co-chair for the event before becoming co-chair of Stonewall Cincinnati.
“There was a strong position from Stonewall,” Bruins says. “If you’re thinking of having a conference here, here are some things you should be aware of. Their request was basically, ‘Think about it and be conscious of what your choice is.’ ”
At the same time, the planning committee wanted to show support to Cincinnati’s gay and lesbian community.
“In San Francisco and Seattle, it’s like preaching to the choir,” Bruins says. “Here is where people are really hurting. Because we were outside of the city but still coming to the area, we were in a position to say we support the people who are working against racism in the city as well as the people who are working against homophobia.”
Everyone concerned about Article 12 was saying a lot of things — except the dreaded “B” word. Why does the word “boycott” make people so nervous?
Cudnik is at a loss for an explanation.
“I’m still trying to figure out the answer to that question,” she says. “Why does that word make people so nervous?”
The word clearly rattles Mayor Charlie Luken, who has called the boycott “economic terrorism.” The description angered members of the CJC and Stonewall.
“Would he call Martin Luther King Jr. an economic terrorist?” Cudnik says. “Would he call Gandhi a terrorist?”
Gays and lesbians, like African Americans, have been called names before, and will be again. But for Stonewall and the CJC, that is more reason to stand together.
“My perception is that the city — sometimes we don’t like to see the reality of how many people in this city are hurting,” Cudnik says. “Hopefully at Stonewall, we’ve taken the blinders off and made a decision.” ©
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2002.