1102 lines
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1102 lines
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Plaintext
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
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LOVE AND RAGE
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Electronic Edition
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APRIL/MAY 1993
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Part 1
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Love and Rage is created by the Love and Rage Network, a group of
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people from across North America who find themselves in general
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political agreement. Love and Rage is one of the many projects of
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the Network to which supporters contribute time, money and energy.
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Major decisions and overall policies are set by the Network.
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Individuals and supporting groups who participate in the Network
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gather in an annual conference, at which most major decisions are
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made. The Network Council, comprised of up to two delegates from
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each supporting group, meet at least once between conferences to
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make interim decisions. A popularly elected Coordinating Group
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makes urgent decisions. Ongoing debates take place in our
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Discussion Bulletin (Disco Bull), out every six to eight weeks.
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More timely information goes out bi-weekly in the Network Bulletin.
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Day to day editorial decisions about the paper are made by the
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volunteer Production Group (PG). A group of elected Coordinators
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shares responsibility for the general work of the Network. Two of
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these Coordinators, the Co-Facilitators, work with the PG on
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production of the paper and help coordinate the projects of the
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Network. In an effort to further democratize and strengthen the
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Network, temporary Regional Organizing Contacts volunteer to be a
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contact for their local areas.
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The Love and Rage Network is not a closed circle of friends. You
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can become part of the Network and participate fully in the
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decision-making process. Ask the person who sold or gave you this
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paper, or write to one of the many Love and Rage contacts listed in
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this paper.
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Coordinating Group
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Erric, Atlanta, GA
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Liz, Boston, MA
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Paul, Berkeley, CA
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Ana, Mexico City
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Terry, New York, NY
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Crystal, Chicago, IL
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Jodi, Columbus, OH
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Jean-Marc, Minneapolis, MN
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Fur, Atlanta GA
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Gene, Newark, NJ
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Ojore Lutalo, Trenton, NJ
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Coordinators List
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Regions Coordinator
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Britt, 702 S. Illinois Ave. Apt. 115
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Carbondale, IL 62901
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Network Coordinator
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Shannon c/o Love and Rage
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Interorganizational Coordinator
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Phillip, 27 School Street
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Sommerville, MA 02143
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International Coordinator
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Todd c/o Love and Rage
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Finance Coordinator
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Matt c/o Love and Rage
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Fundraising Coordinator
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Rick c/o Love and Rage
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Info-Share Coordinator
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Jodi c/o AA, PO Box 10007
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Columbus OH 43201
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Discussion Bulletin Coordinators
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Jean-Marc and Nikolas
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PO Box 581354, Minneapolis, MN 55458-1354
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Co-Facilitators
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Dema Crassy and Ms. Tommy Lawless
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c/o Love and Rage
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Production Group: Gene, Christopher, Bob, Matt L, Rick, Sara, Matt
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B*, Shannon, Todd, ommy, Pablo, Dema, Greg, Beth, Paul, Dave
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[PG Members who didn't work on this issue are marked with an "*"]
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Translators
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Eugenio, Todd, Ana*, Gustavo*, Pablo
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Love and Rage is printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks.
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Love and Rage is printed by a union printer. ISSN # 1065-2000.
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Submission deadlines for the next two issues: April 15, and June
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15. When we don't have the money to produce our regular twenty page
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full-size edition, we produce an eight page "Broadsheet" edition.
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If you're having trouble getting the paper, please call (212)
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569-0989 or (201) 344-3397.
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Boring Disclaimer
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Look. Articles, Letters, Notes of Revolt, and other things printed
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in Love and Rage do not necessarily represent the opinions or views
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of the Love and Rage Network or of any person involved therein. We
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print a variety of articles for a variety of reasons, including
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articles we don't agree with, because we believe that they are
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interesting or provocative. So there.
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Love And Rage
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PO Box 3
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Prince Street Station
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New York, NY 10012
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(212) 569 0989 or (201) 344 3397
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e-mail: lnr%nyxfer@igc.apc.org
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loveandrage@igc.apc.org
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LOVE AND RAGE
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Electronic Edition
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APRIL/MAY 1993
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In this Issue
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Part 1: North American News
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The Klan in Simi Valley
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Klan on the Run
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Anarchists Named in McLibel Suit
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Short Takes
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Correction
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Queer News Spread:
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Queer Killings Expose Left Hypocrisy
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My Own Private Islam
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Questioning (Queer) Authority
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The Right to Love, The Right to Kill
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Part 2: International News
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Abortion Access Erodes in East Bloc
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Fiery Viruses Communique
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Anti-Fascist Action, Edinburgh
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Asian Student Movements of the '90s
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Moldavia: Repression of Anarcho-Syndicalists
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Cuban Activists Can't Go Home
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Irish Border Protests
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Parcel Bomb Kills German Activist
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Repression in Greece Continues
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Partial Victory for Nigerian Anarchists
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InfoShops: The Medium is the Message
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International News Roundup
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Mexico: Amor y Rabia en Espanol
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Part 3: Prison News/ABC Page
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Rita Bo Brown on Solidarity with Political Prisoners
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League of Lesbian and Gay Prisoners
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Panthers Up for Parole
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Kenny Tolia Freed
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Shocking Statistics: Political Prisoners in the USA
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Current Campaigns for Political Prisoners
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New Campaign: Poles in Prison
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The Anarchist Black Cross
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Part 4: Letters to the Editor, Notices
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A Few Words About Politics
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Where's AYF?
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Writers Wanted!
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New Journal on Childhood Sexual Abuse
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Spanish Section Synopsis
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Letters to Love and Rage
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Part 5: Resources
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Upcoming Events
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Supporting Groups & Regional Contacts
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Other Anarchist Contacts
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New Directory of Radical Resources
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Resources for Women's Rights
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Running of the Bulls
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..................................................................
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LOVE AND RAGE
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Electronic Edition
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APRIL/MAY 1993
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THE KLAN IN SIMI VALLEY
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by Chris Crass
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SIMI VALLEY, Calif -- ANTI-racist activists kept the Klan away on Jan
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30, 1993 in Simi Valley. The K.K.K. had planned to demonstrate in
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front of the Simi Valley Courthouse in support of the police
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officers who beat Rodney King. When news of this demonstration
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spread, Neighbors Against Nazis organized a counter-demonstration.
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The rally against racism began in the morning with music and
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speakers. Information tables were set up by such organizations as
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People Against Racist Terror, Committee for the Impeachment of
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(California Governor) Pete Wilson, and the (anarchist) Southern
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California Web Collective.
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Over 150 people came out for the rally to show opposition to racism
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and police brutality. The largest faction of activists at the
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protest was the anarchists. With more than 60 of us there, mainly
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dressed in black, we were also the greatest concern to the police.
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The K.K.K. never showed up, apparently in fear of the anti-racists!
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KLAN ON THE RUN:
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ANTI-RACIST ACTION ON THE PROWL
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TORONTO -- ANTI-RACIST ACTION (A.R.A.) came together to bring people
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out onto the streets to show the strength of our opposition to
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fascism as well as our commitment to a multi-racial,
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multi-cultural, sexually diverse, equal and fun society. A.R.A. is
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an open group. Our meetings are wheelchair accessible, and
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childcare is provided. Born in late Sept 1992, A.R.A. has already
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mounted several successful actions and will build on our successes
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with increased participation.
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THE FASCIST THREAT TODAY?
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The experience of the Holocaust and the defeat of Hitler's Nazi
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Germany led many to believe that the world had learned its lesson
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and fascism was dead. But in 1992 we witnessed once again an
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alarming resurgence of fascism throughout Europe. In Germany we
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have seen racist assaults, firebombings of refugee hostels, mass
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fascist rallies and riots, and an increasing identification with
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fascist ideology among young people. The popularity of fascism has
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spread through France, Italy, Greece, Belgium, England, Austria,
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Spain, Poland and other European countries. It is happening here
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too.
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Fascist groups have also been growing across Canada. Now, spurred
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by the "successes" of their European counterparts, they feel strong
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enough to begin to organize publicly. Toronto's own fascist
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movement is the "nerve center" for Canadian white supremacists of
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all stripes. The Heritage Front, the Church of the Creator, the
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Aryan Resistance Movement and the Ku Klux Klan (K.K.K.) are
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networking and building their ranks in this city. The Heritage
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Front, which acts as the main recruiting front for Toronto's
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neo-nazi/white supremacist movement, has been leafletting
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neighbourhoods, postering and recruiting in high schools, hosting
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international neo-nazi speakers, holding rallies, making bomb
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threats, vandalizing community centres, and promoting their
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particular brand of hate. They have also been linked to the bombing
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of the Morgentaler abortion clinic. Heritage Front leader Wolfgang
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Droege is a former leader of the Canadian Knights of the K.K.K. He
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was convicted by a U.S. court of an attempted armed invasion of the
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Caribbean island of Dominica (as well as cocaine trafficking) for
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which he served two years in prison. Despite their infamous leader
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and explicitly racist platform, the Heritage Front have attempted
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to present themselves as a legitimate political movement, committed
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to "equal rights for whites."
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We have seen the brutal results of fascist ideology. We have seen
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millions executed at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust.
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We cannot plead ignorance. Called "fascism," "neo- nazism" or
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"white supremacy" these ideas equal racism, hatred and violence.
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We have learned from history that fascism doesn't disappear by just
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wishing it away. It must be confronted by an overwhelming majority
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of people standing up and refusing to allow it to grow. We can
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prevent the far-right from taking root in this country, but we must
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act before it's too late.
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The rise of fascism relies on our fear and our silence. We cannot
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turn a blind eye while they poison our youth with their lies and
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hatred, instill fear in our communities, assault and murder our
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brothers and sisters. We cannot allow them to organize in our city
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and march on our streets. We must act up and fight back. The power
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to defeat fascism lies in our hands. We will educate and mobilize
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our communities, stop their organizing in our schools and take back
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our streets!
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The Heritage Front has singled out Toronto's high schools for
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intensive recruitment drives through leafletting, postering and an
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increasing presence. This attempt to peddle their racism and lies
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to our youth is outrageous, offensive and will not be tolerated.
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A.R.A. has been meeting with students, community leaders, teachers
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and the Toronto Board of Education. A.R.A. has launched a campaign
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of counter-leafletting and counter-postering in schools targeted by
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the Heritage Front. We have been organizing in the schools,
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supporting and developing anti-racist initiatives to raise
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awareness and develop strategies to drive the nazis out of our
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schools and streets.
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ON THE PROWL
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Sept 29, 1992: The Heritage Front organized a march on the
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courthouse to defend their operation of a telephone hateline. With
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40 hours notice, a counter-demonstration was organized, far
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outnumbering the racists, many of whom fled the scene in panic.
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A.R.A. was born.
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Week of Nov 9, 1992: On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, A.R.A.
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protested against the German government's inaction against the
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rising tide of neo-fascism there. Similar actions took place around
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the world, responding to a call by Germany's anti-fascist movement.
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Nov 13, 1992: The Heritage Front sponsored a secret rally in
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Toronto, hosting several prominent international neo-nazi speakers.
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But A.R.A. was there to shut 'em down! Their meeting hall was
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surrounded and pelted with eggs by an angry crowd demanding an end
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to racist organizing in our city. Over a hundred humiliated racists
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were forced to slink out of the building under police escort.
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Dec 19, 1992: A.R.A. responded to the rise in queer-bashings
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carried out by young K.K.K. and Heritage Front thugs in Toronto and
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Montreal. Hundreds of people marched in Toronto's gay neighbourhood
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to show our defiance: We will not be intimidated by fascist
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homophobes.
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Jan 19, 1993: A.R.A. launched its campaign in Toronto high schools
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with a mass rally and march beginning at Riverdale High School in
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the east end of Toronto. Young anti-racists joined forces to show
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fascist organizers that they have a bigger fight on their hands
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than they anticipated.
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When they come for our brothers and sisters, A.R.A. will be there.
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Your involvement is the key to A.R.A.'s success! Whether in
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educational campaigns, "Rock Against Racism" gigs or out in the
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street, A.R.A. needs you!
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A.R.A. has been helping high school students to build their own
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independent A.R.A. groups in their schools. A.R.A. also meets as a
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large body to coordinate actions and campaigns that bring together
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concerns from various schools and communities.
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*
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If you want to join Anti-Racist Action, start an A.R.A. group in
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your school or just get more information, contact us.
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Anti-Racist Action
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P.O. Box 664, Stn. C Toronto, Ont. M6J 3S1 Canada
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Klanbusters Hotline: (416) 968-2127
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ANARCHISTS NAMED IN MCLIBEL SUIT
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LONDON -- HELEN STEEL AND Dave Morris, two supporters of the
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anarchist collective London Greenpeace, are named in a libel suit
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brought on by McDonalds. The hamburger giant is angry about the
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increasing visibility and success of anti-McDonalds activism in the
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U.K. and everywhere.
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McDonalds is the worlds largest retail property owner and food
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service organization, with annual profits of billions of dollars
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from exploiting workers, murdering animals, destroying the
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environment, pushing unhealthy food, and indoctrinating children.
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Over the years many people and groups have campaigned against
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Mickey D's. In 1985 London Greenpeace, a small independent
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collective since 1970, launched a general anti-McDonalds campaign
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to try to coordinate and strengthen opposition. A special detailed
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factsheet titled "What's wrong with McDonalds: Everything they
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don't want you to know" was produced, translated and taken to
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scores of countries.
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Feeling the heat, McDonalds has responded with a two fisted attack.
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On the one hand they have stepped up propaganda efforts, trying to
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portray themselves as friends to the environment and community. On
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the other hand they are using the legal system to harass and
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silence activists.
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Libel laws are stacked in favor of the rich and powerful, and the
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court proceedings can be extremely expensive and lengthy. A range
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of organizations and media bodies were forced to apologize or
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face libel suits for daring to criticize the transnational
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corporation. (This has included the British newspaper the Guardian,
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Britain's Channel 4, Scottish Trade Unions Council, vegetarian and
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green groups, labor research institutes and many more.) Despite
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these attempts to intimidate activists, grassroots opposition
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continued to grow, and so in September 1990 McDirtball filed a
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libel suit against two individuals connected with London
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Greenpeace.
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Rather than halting protests, this threat to free speech has served
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to further damage McDonalds reputation and to strengthen the
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resolve of its critics. The defendants, Helen Steel and Dave
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Morris, backed by London Greenpeace and the McLibel Support
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Campaign, have resolved to fight this major libel case to show that
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intimidation must never be allowed to succeed.
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McDonalds has tried to drag out the proceedings to drain the
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resources of the defense, but it looks like they are going to try
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and rush through the second phase of the proceedings -- the
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interrogatories -- where the real details and evidence will be
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aired. Among the evidence they have so far successfully repressed
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are details of Helen and Dave's involvement: All they were doing
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was handing out the leaflets! They aren't even charged with writing
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the anti-McD material. This evidence would expose McDonalds' spying
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on activists, including using an infiltrator.
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Funds are desperately needed. Support for Helen and Dave is being
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organized by:
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London Greenpeace
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5 Caledonia Road
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London N1, England
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Tel (01) (081) 837 7557
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Copies of the allegedly libelous leaflet are available from:
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Veggies
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180 Mansfield Road
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Nottingham, England
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Short Takes:
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ANOTHER RACIST POLICE MURDER
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HAYWARD, Calif. -- JERROLD HALL, A 19-YEAR-OLD African-American male,
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was shot in the head and killed by Bay Area Rapid Transit
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(B.A.R.T.) Police Officer Fred Crabtree on Nov 15, 1992. Crabtree
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was responding to a third-hand description of an "armed robbery" on
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the train, based on an anonymous complaint by an alleged victim.
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The complaining party claimed his Walkman radio had been stolen by
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two African-American men with a gun. No gun was ever found. Hall is
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dead: a racist police murder. John Owens, his suspected
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"accomplice," is in jail on felony robbery charges. Officer
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Crabtree is armed again on active duty. The community is outraged.
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COPWATCH and Roots Against War have organized several demos. Send
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funds and letters of support to:
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John Henry Owens Fund
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c/o COPWATCH
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2022 Blake Street
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Berkeley, CA 94704
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-30-
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KICKING THE KLAN'S KABOODLE
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FOUR HUNDRED ANTI-RACIST DEMONSTRATORS CONfronted 30 nazis on
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University Ave. on Jan 25, 1993. The demonstrators were attacked
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and arrested by Metro Police Officers on horseback with clubs. The
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Metro Police then cleared a corridor to allow the 30 nazis access
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to the courthouse. The nazis turned out in support of the Heritage
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Front, a white supremacist group, for the Canadian Human Rights
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Commission Hearing. Heritage Front leader, Wolfgang Droege,
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commented: "I wish the police were not there so we could take care
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of this once and for all." Yeah, right! The police attacked the
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mildly-behaved crowd for no apparant reason, except to create a
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deliberate diversion to allow nazis into the courthouse. This is
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the second time this has happened at a Heritage Front hearing.
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Klanbusters joins with Anti-Racist Action in calling for all
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charges to be dropped against anti-racists!
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Klanbusters, P.O. Box 146, Station P, Toronto, ONT
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M5S 2S6, Canada, Tel (416) 968-2127, Fax (416) 964-2111
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-30-
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THREE THOUSAND ANTI-FASCIST DEMONSTRATORS took to the streets in
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protest of a visit by Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan
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Resistance, on Jan 22, 1993. Four hundred action-oriented
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protesters discovered Metzger's real location, a nearby hotel, and
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gained entrance. The speech was disrupted shortly after it began,
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and police escorted the nazis safely out the back. A few protesters
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were arrested. Gord H., who puts out OH-Toh-Kin, is facing serious
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felonies, including concealed weapons, explosives, masked and
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mischief charges. To express support, contact:
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Arm The Spirit
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P.O. Box 57584, Jackson Station
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Hamilton, ONT L8P 4X3, Canada
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-30-
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THE MINNESOTA EIGHT
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MINNEAPOLIS -- THE MINNESOTA EIGHT NEED YOUR SUPPORT. A COP WAS shot
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in Sept 1992, amid a tense gang-phobic atmosphere. In the weeks
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following the shooting, the police terrorized Black youth in south
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Minneapolis. Eight African-American men will stand trial: four
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charged with killing a police officer, three with killing an
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African-American man (whom the mainstream press suggested was a
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|
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�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
|
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conformity, I think that association with the military is the very
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antithesis of "queer."
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Some claim that the focus is not on the military itself, but
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on the "larger issue" of discrimination. This argument rings
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hollow. Same-sex erotic expression is illegal in most states and
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age of consent laws are considerably higher for same-sex
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relationships. The criminalization of sexual relationships affects
|
|
far more gay, lesbian and bisexual people than exclusion from the
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|
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.
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The military ban on non-heterosexuals is wrong, and it's
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absurd that the government spends time and resources hounding gay
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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,
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|
lesbian and bisexual people think the military is a reprehensible
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|
institution.
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All gays, lesbians and bisexuals do not share the same
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political leanings " our opinions range from radical left to
|
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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
|
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militarism and its associated values is as important as struggling
|
|
for equality.
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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
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"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
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|
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.
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|
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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.
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|
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|
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.
|
|
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|
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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@ _Love & Rage_ is a Revolutionary Anarchist newspaper produced
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@ by the Love and Rage Network. The Love and Rage Network is a
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@ continental network of groups and individuals in Canada, Mexico,
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@ and the United States. Subscriptions to the newspaper cost:
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@
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-end Part 1 of 5-
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