Via The NY Transfer News Service ^ All the News that Doesn't Fit


               Lesbian/Gay labor conference a first

                       By Shelley Ettinger
                             New York

Evelyn Lopez of the Civil Service Employees union, which
represents New York State workers, stepped to the podium and said,
"This is history."

With that, she opened Pride At Work--The East Coast Lesbian and
Gay Labor Conference, held June 6 at the downtown New York
headquarters of District Council 37 of the State, County and
Municipal Employees. Some 200 lesbian and gay trade unionists were
there.

The first such event of its kind, the conference was filled with
an atmosphere of excitement and pride as unionists came together
to discuss how to build the struggle for lesbian and gay workers'
rights.

Most of those present were from New York. Many were members of
D.C. 37. A majority of the delegates were Black, Latino and Asian;
some 40 percent were white.  Along with AFSCME, unions represented
included the Postal Workers, Communications Workers, Musicians,
Auto Workers, Ladies Garment Workers, Clothing and Textile
Workers, Federation of Teachers, 1199 Health and Hospital Union,
Electrical Workers and others. Organizers from Boston's Gay and
Lesbian Labor Activists Network and from New York's Lesbian and
Gay Labor Network were also there. Retirees sat side by side with
young workers.

The conference started with a stirring, beautiful song, "Here I
Am, I Wouldn't Change a Thing," sung by Nathaniel Keitt, a Black
gay man who co-chairs AFSCME Local 1930's Lesbian and Gay Issues
Committee. That set the tone. For the rest of the day, in plenary
sessions and small workshops, the focus was on how to build labor
unity to advance the struggle for lesbian and gay liberation.

In her talk, Julie Schwartzberg, co-chair of D.C. 37's Lesbian and
Gay Issues Committee, noted that some people were here at their
first gay meeting ever, and for some it was their first union
meeting. "This is an historic juncture for the gay pride
movement," she said. "We deserve equity and equality in the work
place. Coming out in the work place is the last frontier.

"Twenty-three years after Stonewall, we've come a long way but we
still have a long way to go. There is a movement starting and it
will continue," she said.

Schwartzberg commented on the beautiful lesbian/gay pride exhibit
in the D.C.  37 building's lobby. Then she introduced the union's
executive director, Stanley Hill.

Hill said: "We congratulate the D.C. 37 lesbian and gay committee
and the Lesbian and Gay Labor Coalition for organizing this
conference ... and for their leadership roles throughout the city.
The lesbian and gay committee is a vital and ongoing part of our
union family."

Hill reported that D.C. 37 is lobbying for passage of a statewide
lesbian and gay civil rights bill, domestic partner rights and
universal health care. He concluded: "All of us here at D.C. 37
are proud to be part of this landmark conference. I love you."

In her keynote address, Sandra Lowe of the Governor's Office of
Gay and Lesbian Concerns said: "This is a hard time. The
government has tried to shut unions down ... so that we go
backwards. You're saying not only are we not going to give up what
we've worked for and earned, but we want more. And we're going to
do it.

"We are very strong and we fight very hard. We know as lesbian and
gay workers what oppression has tried to do to us. It has not
succeeded. After the darkest 12 years in our history we have come
out stronger."

Lowe said lesbian and gay unionists are telling the right wing,
"We are not going to let you tell us no--not with your bosses, or
troops, or S&L thievery." Instead, she told the delegates: "It is
your power, your courage that's going to make the difference. You
are the hammer. Strike."

                               ###

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source is cited. For more info contact Workers World,46 W. 21 St.,
New York, NY 10010. Phone (212) 206-8222. On NY Transfer or PeaceNet,
write "workers".)

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