HIGH TECH GAZETTE - September 1996 (a publication of High Tech
Gays)
Newsletter Editor: Mike Bromberg
On-Line Formatting: Dale Benjamin
== IN THIS ISSUE ==
á Torie Osborn to Speak at the DeFrank Center
á Support Lesbian and Gay Parents
á Calendar
Torie
Osborn to Speak at the DeFrank Center
Torie
Osborn, lesbian and gay activist, former executive director of the Los Angeles
Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, and former executive director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will be visiting San Jose in November (see
ad below). Her book, Coming Home To America: a roadmap to gay and lesbian empowerment, is due out this month. She will be talking and
signing books at the Billy DeFrank Lesbian and Gay
Community Center November 16th. Osborn is a firm believer that lesbian and gay
community centers are crucial in creating social change. We need to have a safe
space we can call 'ours'. In San Jose we are fortunate to have a large
functioning center where we can meet for social, political, and educational
purposes.
We
will be welcoming Torie Osborn for our Saturday
afternoon at the Center to hear her talk about organizing politically. She
organized the first gathering of lesbian and gay activists to meet with the
President. She has broken new ground politically throughout her career. She is
an inspiring speaker, so if you want that extra push to get you involved in gay
activism, make a point to be there.
Osborn
was the co-founder/producer of the legendary West Coast Women's Music Festival
held in Yosemite every Labor Day. Her experience in seeing the women's music
movement blossom from a relatively small beginning to big business is worth
hearing. Osborn has raised millions of dollars through fund
raisers and grants: she has a talent for turning big ideas into big
projects.
Her
book inspires everyone to better understand lesbian and gay struggle as a
personal journey, and lesbian and gay struggle as a movement. She moves people
to go beyond the struggle, the infighting, and doubts experienced personally
and politically. She takes us to the next stage: empowerment.
-- by Gabrielle Antolovich
Words from the Prez
Work demands have caused Derrick Benn to seek
someone to complete his term as secretary. Fred has stepped forward to help us,
and he has already been quite helpful.
Plans
are proceeding for the Sept & Oct political forums. We do not have absolute
concrete commitments in time for the newsletter deadline. The Republicans are
very nervous about talking to us. They tell me that they get far more
negativity from the gay community than they do from even the far right. I've
had to promise that I m not suckering them into an ambush, so there will be
some rules about just how nasty the questions will be allowed. We are inviting
the Democrat, Republican, Libertarian and Green parties for our September and
October meetings (for more details on which party is at which meeting, check
the HTG voicemail. I will say the Republicans are better at returning calls
than the others.
I am
still not getting very much input from the membership about program. The only
real input on programming has been a few people asking for more technical
programs. So far, I ve held off on this, concerned
that I was going to scare off the non-techies. I m very
interested in any other ideas for speakers and programs for meetings.
It is
very important to learn the question to this question. "Why are we a corporation ?" The state corp
fees took a significant bite out of out treasury this month. Rick Rudy must
have done this for a reason, no?
We
moved the board meetings out of Hamburger Mary s because of the hub bub around us. Unfortunately, Wed night Bingo is also
noisy at DeFrank, so we are looking for yet another
place. HTG board meetings (I d like to rename them planning meetings) are open
to the public. PLEASE come ! Give us your input ! An organization can only survive as long as it
serves the needs of its membership and we need to learn what the needs of our ARE !
The
voicemail system is again being maintained regularly. More up to date info will
be posted there as well as our web site.
-- by Texx
On the 31st of July, a group of eight HTGers met at Johnny, Frankie and Luigi s (an Italian
restaurant on the El Camino in Mountain View) for dinner and conversation as
arranged by Gene. Gene is chairman of the Activities Committee and has arranged
many such affair. As far as the restaurant is
concerned, the ambiance was pleasant and the restaurant was quiet enough that
conversation could take place without yelling. the
food ranges from pizza, in the usual price range of 10 to 20 bucks depending on
the usual choices, to higher class Italian fare with entrees ranging in the 6
to 20 bucks. The food quality - in my opinion - would rate about 7 on a scale
of 1 to 10. The quantity rates a full 10. No one need go away hungry. The
traditional Caeser salad was excellent for only
$2.95. One diner ordered pasta just tossed with olive oil and garlic. Smelled
delightful and there wasn t a vampire within 10
miles. The company was congenial and that made the evening. If you want a very
pleasant experience with friendly, gay company, trust Gene to provide it.
-- by The Masked Party
Guy
Support Lesbian and Gay Parents
The State of California wants to change the
Adoption regulations so that they are perfectly clear in banning adoption by
lesbian and gay couples, as well as banning limited consent adoptions (where
one partners adopts the others child, giving the child 2 legal parents)!
What
can you do?
Write
a letter to the below address and express support for Lesbian and gay parents,
urging no change to change to sections 35124, 35184 and 35258 of the California
Code of Regulations. Love makes a Family!!
Mail/fax
to:
Frank R. Vitulli, CDSS
Office of Regulations Development
744 "P" Street, MS 7-192
Sacramento, CA 95814
fax (916) 654-3286
also send a copy to:
National Center for Lesbian Rights
870 Market St, Suite 570
SF, CA 94102
fax (415) 392-8442
NCLRSF@aol.com
The weather was really hot, but the picnic was
still pretty cool (even though we didn t get a chance
to ride the train which goes from one end of Kelly Park to the other). The park
is nice, food was good, turn-out wasn
t too shabby. Best part was trying to get the fire to start without matches. We
certainly proved how resourceful (?) a group of techies really can be when the necessity arises. Anyway, a
fun time was had by all.
-- by Mike Bromberg
4 september
- HTG board meeting
7:30 at the Center in the Lavendar Liquids
area. Please come!
8 september - HTG meeting-potluck
6:30 at the DeFrank Center. Several political parties
will be on hand to discuss with you all the virtues of their particular party.
Watch the Web page and HTG voicemail for more info as it becomes available. (and don t forget the potluck dish)
16 september - newsletter deadline
Best have any articles and pictures and such for the October issue in to Mike
by 10AM , or else!
18 september - dinner at The Cats
Dinner at one of HTG s favortie restaurant s, The
Cats in Los Gatos. Cocktails at 7:30, dinner at 8:00 PM. Sign
ups and deposit due at the September 8th meeting. Info: Gene at (408)289-1484.
19 september - newsletter collating
The place to see and be seen! Come on down to the DeFrank
Center and help fold, lick and stuff (newsletters, that is...). Doesn t take much time at all, and
your work sure is appreciated! 6:30 sharp, or miss the best part.
-- by Gene
HTG
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Provider, 421 Castro Street, Mountain View (415) 964-BEST (2378) URL:http://www.best.com/
HIGH TECH GAYS -- professionals in high
technology industry
Contributors
Gabrielle Antolovich
Bill Weaver
Party Guy
Gene Smith
Texx
HTG Officers
President: Texx Woodward (408) 289-1484
Secretary: Fred (408)
289-1484
Treasurer: Dean Denison (408)
289-1484
Other HTG Contacts
HTG Voicemail recording &
messages: (408) 289-1484
e-mail:
info@htg.org
HTG/Outreach BBS (300 bps -
14.4kbps/v.32bis/V.42bis/MNP, calendar, jobs, messages, & more!) Allan
Hurst, Sysop
- - (415) 572-9594 (public
line)
- - (408) 374-6608
(contributor line)
Newsletter Editor: Bruce
Hopkins (408) 289-1484
Women's Caucus: Gabrielle Antolovich (408) 289-1484
Activities Committee: Gene
Smith (408) 289-1484
Copyright and published monthly by:
High Tech Gays
P.O.BOX 6777
San Jose, CA 95150
Phone: (408) 289-1484
(AUX-1-HTG)
Membership and Newsletters
Anyone interested in HTG may sign up to receive the newsletter free for three
months. To become a member of HTG, send a check with your name and address for
one of the amounts below to the above address.
Yearly Membership Rates:
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Tech Gays is a Cooperating Organization Member of NGLTF