Subject: NEWS: Christian Coalition Schoo
From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 00:29:26 EST

CITIZENS FOR JUSTICE NEWS REPORT
January, 1994
Vol. 1, #1
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CHRISTIAN COALITION OFFERS "LEADERSHIP SCHOOLS"

     The Christian Coalition is offering a "Leadership School" this
year in Columbus, on February 25-26.  It is one of more than a
dozen such events  scheduled around the country in 1994.
    The "Leadership Schools" teach extreme right wing activists how
to run for political office as "stealth candidates".  Stealth
candidates hide their true plans, ideas, and right wing affilia-
tions during the campaigns, telling the truth only after they are
elected.  Then they put their hidden agendas into action.
     Stealth candidates often run for school boards and at least
one of them has sat on the Hilliard, Ohio, school board.  In 1993,
one of the candidates for the Columbus City Council was suspected
of being a stealth candidate, as was a candidate for clerk of
court.  Stealth candidates are often, but not necessarily,
Republicans (one of the candidates in Columbus last year was a
Democrat).
     As part of the training at Leadership Schools, stealth
candidates are taught tricks on how to hide their true agendas. 
They are taught to avoid answering questions that would reveal the
truth.  Stealth candidates are taught to say things like "The
important thing about my campaign is not exactly what I want to do,
but that we have change and a new voice on the school board."  The
schools teach candidates to hide their affiliation with extreme
right and anti-gay movement.  Only very careful and persistant
questioning can lead to the truth.
     Stealth candidates are advised to avoid public campaign events
and debates.  Instead they do most of their campaigning in churches
and at house parties where only extreme right voters are invited to
attend.  
     It is important to remember that not all churches support
extreme right candidates.  In fact, one tactic used to trick people
into voting for stealth candidates is to place campaign flyers on
car windsheilds at mainstream churches during church services on
the Sunday right before the election.  This gives church members
the false impression that their church is supporting the candidate,
but it's too late for the church to do anything about it.
     The Leadership School is very effective at teaching people
with extreme right views to invade public office.  If you have any
doubt about what they're trying to do, just read their motto: 
"THINK LIKE JESUS.  LEAD LIKE MOSES.  FIGHT LIKE DAVID.  RUN LIKE
LINCOLN".

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COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST
COLORADO FOR FAMILY VALUES

    The bigots in Cincinnati spent over $500,000 on their campaign
to pass Issue 3.  Ohio law required them to file a report disclos-
ing where that money came from so the public could know who
actually paid for the campaign.  When they filed their final
report, it turned out that $390,000  came directly from Colorado
for Family Values ("CFV"), the same group that sponsored the
anti-gay Amendment 2 in Colorado.
     The question is, where did the $390,000 come from?  Was it
from business owners in Cincinnati who laundered it through CFV,
other bigots in Ohio, or other parts of  the country?  Since CFV is
no longer a Colorado PAC, it isn't required to file financial
reports in Colorado.  Since it wasn't directly involved in Issue 3,
it claims that it shouldn't have to file reports in Ohio.
Gaybeat, an Ohio gay/lesbian oriented newspaper, has filed a
complaint against CFV with the Ohio Elections Commission asking the
Commission to require CFV to file financial reports in Ohio.  The
complaint claims that CFV was attempting to influence the Issue 3
election and therefore meets the definition of an Ohio Political
Action Committee.
     Gaybeat also points out that if CFV isn't required to disclose
the source of its money, then it provides a method for laundering
political money --- and skirting the purpose of campaign disclosure
laws.  Anyone who wants to hide donations to a campaign can set up
and give money to an out of state organization, which then gives
the money to the campaign in Ohio.
     If the Board of Elections rules in favor of the complaint, CFV
will have to file a report (or face a financial penalty).  If the
Board dismisses the complaint, we'll never know who actually paid
for Issue 3.
     An initial hearing on the complaint should be scheduled for
some time in late January or February.
     Citizens for Justice will keep you up to date as this
develops.

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HOUSE BILL 442: The Anti-Gay University
Housing and Insurance Bill

     House Bill 442 has been introduced into the Ohio legislature
by Representative Michael Fox, along with 13 other Republican
co-sponsors.
     If passed, the bill will prohibit same-gender couples from
living together in university family housing.  It will also
prohibit life or health insurance benefits for same-gender partners
of university faculty and staff.
     The bill was assigned to the Colleges and Universities
Subcommittee of the House Education Committee.
     On December 28th, Jerry Bunge, Project Director of Citizens
for Justice, Susan Bader of the Ohio National Organization for
Women, and Marc Conte of the Ohio Students Association met with
Johnnie Maier, chair of the subcommittee.  The meeting had been set
up by Citizens for Justice to let Rep. Maier know that many people
are opposed to the bill and to convince him to let it die without
any hearings.
     It looks like it worked.  After listening, Rep. Maier said
that he didn’t think he would schedule the bill for any hearings. 
He said that the subcommittee has many more important issues and
that House Bill 442 would only divert attention away from those
issues.  This is good news because if there aren’t any hearings,
the bill dies.
     There isn’t any reason to be writing or calling representa-
tives -- at least for now.  Letters and phone calls would only call
attention to the bill and run the risk of bringing it back to life. 
Instead, let's just let H.B. 442 die a quiet death.
     Citizens for Justice will keep watching to make sure the bill
isn’t scheduled for hearings, but if it is, we’ll let you know
about it right away.

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CITIZENS FOR JUSTICE NEEDS YOU

We need volunteers --- lots of volunteers.  We need people who are
willing to do any (or all) of the following things:

-    Office work (typing, helping with mailings, etc.)
-    Sponsor house gatherings for your friends to help educate them
     about the threat and tactics of the extreme right in Ohio.
-    Help organize a public forum or town meeting in your area to
     help us reach out and let people know what's going on.
-    Host fundraisers so we can keep working.
-    Serve on Creative Teams to help design commercials to fight
     the extreme right and tell the truth about gay, lesbian, and
     bisexual people.
-    Help organize local groups where none exist (especially in
     rural areas).
-    Serve as regional lobbying coordinators.

If you can help, please call us at 614/224-JUST (5878) or
800/700-JUST, or fax to us at 614/224-4708, or email to us at
[email-masked].

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A NEW NATIONAL ORGANIZATION

     A new national organization, Gay & Lesbian Americans (GLA),
was formed during a summit in Washington, DC, over the weekend of
January 15-16.  About 60 activists attended and became the first
members.
     GLA is planned as a grass roots based organization with state
and local chapters.  The membership will elect both the board of
directors and the platform/priority projects each year.  There will
be four paid staff positions initially.
     The general feeling at the summit is that a new national
organization is necessary because the Human Rights Campaign Fund
and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force are not providing enough
support for the grass roots movement that GLA founders believe to
be to necessary.  GLA will concentrate on building a strong
les-bi-gay grass roots movement, but founding GLA members made it
clear that they aren’t willing to work with existing local and
state organizations.  They intend to build their own, new,
structure.
     A broad outline of the GLA structure, goals, and program were
agreed to during the weekend.  A volunteer steering committee will
develop a constitution and serve as the interim board until
elections are held.
     Intitial GLA projects will be lobbying for the Federal Gay and
Lesbian Civil Rights Bill and a "Manhattan-style" funding project
for an AIDS cure.

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JUSTICE NEEDS YOUR FINANCIAL HELP TO SURVIVE

     Whether we like it or not, it costs money to run an organiza-
tion or campaign.  If you like what Citizens for Justice is doing,
please help pay the price.
     We're reaching out to work with religious, minority, and 
les-bi-gay groups --- anyone we can find who agrees that dis-
crimination based on sexual orientation is wrong and must be
stopped.
     We're getting bids from and interviewing pro-fessional
pollsters, campaign target specialists, and media consultants.
     We're making sure that we're ready when the extreme right puts
their anti-gay initiative on the ballot -- which could be this
year.
     We're doing a massive, professionally prepared public opinion
survey to find out what Ohioans really think about gay, lesbian,
and bisexual people.
     We're putting Creative Teams together to take the information
from the survey and develop a media campaign.
     We're raising money to put the media campaign on the air.
    We're putting together an effective lobbying structure to make
sure that we all have a strong voice in the Ohio statehouse.
     This all takes money.  Lots of money.  And we need your
support.  Frankly, unless we start getting more financial support
(whether $10 donations or $1,000 donations), we're going to have to
cut back on what we're doing.
     Help us make sure that we have the strength and foundation to
fight the anti-gay initiative that the extreme right is preparing
for Ohio.  They met just last month to finish their strategic plan.
     The bigots will have all the money they need.  Of the $500,000
spent to pass Issue 3 in Cincinnati, $390,000 of it came from
out-of-state religious-based organizations.
     PLEASE DON'T CUT US SHORT .  HELP US MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE
READY.

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REGIONAL CAUCUSES TO ELECT OUTVOICE TRUSTEES 

     The parent organization of Citizens for Justice, OutVoice, is
governed by a Board of Trustees.  The trustees are elected by
OutVoice members at regional caucus meetings in February and March.
To be a member of OutVoice, you must pay the membership fee. 
     Each of the 24 elected OutVoice trustees is chosen by the
members in one of the eight OutVoice regions.  In addition to the
24 elected trustees, the board can appoint up to eight at-large
trustees who provide particular skills or contacts that strengthen
the organization.
     The OutVoice Constitution allocates the number of trustees for
each region, based on population.  Region 1 is entitled to elect up
to 3 trustees; Regions 2 and 3 are each entitled to 4 trustees;
Regions 4 and 5 may each elect up to 2 trustees; Regions 6, 7, and
8 are each entitled to 3 trustees.

CANDIDATES FOR TRUSTEE

     The OutVoice nominating committee, headed by Board Clerk, Rick
Kirk, is looking for people who want serve as trustees.  If you are
willing to work and want to have a larger voice in what OutVoice
does, then consider running for trustee.  The position involves at
least four Board meetings a year, numberous phone calls, fundrais-
ing, and serving on one of the standing committees.  If you just
want a title and aren't willing to work, this is not the job for
you.  Call Rick at 216/237-2879 if you have questions or a
nomination.

CAUCUS MEETING DATES AND LOCATIONS

Region, Date, Time, & Location

1  Weds. Feb. 2, 6:30 p.m.    Tallulah's,
                              6940 W. Central Ave, Toledo
2  Sat.  Feb. 19, 2:30 p.m.   The Center,
                              1418 W. 29th Street, Cleveland
3  Sat.  Feb. 19, 10:00 a.m.  Akron-Summit Library (2nd fl),
                              55 S. Main Street, Akron
4  To be announced.
5  Sun., Feb. 20, 3:00 p.m.   United Campus Ministry (UCM),
                              18 North College Street, Athens
6  To be announced.
7  Thurs,Feb. 17, 7:00 p.m.   Jessie's City Cafe,
                              121 N. Ludlow, Dayton
8  Tues, Feb. 1, 7:00 p.m,    Ohio Union, Conference  Theater
                              1739 N. High St., Columbus

If you have questions about what region you live in, call Citizens
for Justice at 8-00/700-JUST, or email to <[email-masked]>