UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Fridav. April 11. 1997
5A
Poet praises new queer generation
By Umut Bayramoglu
Kansan staff writer
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people's movement still is in motion, 30 years after the Stonewall movement.
Last night, Minnie Bruce Pratt,
a lesbian poet and author, spoke
to 60 people at the Big 8 Room in
the Kansas Union as the keynoter
speaker of Pride Week 1997.
The theme of Pride
Week,
which is
organized by KU
Queers &
Allies,
it titled
Focused On
Minnie Pratt
Our Families, and Pratt began her speech talking about her own family.
"Nothing prepares you to have your children taken away from you because you are a lesbian," she said.
Pratt said she was engaged in a heterosexual marriage and had had two sons aged four and five when she came out as a lesbian.
During her address, Pratt noted the difference between acceptance of queers in the workplace and in the family.
"It's ironic to be here and talk about family," she said. "Because studies show that the mainstream no longer wants us to be fired because we are queer, but they don't want us to have children."
Queers, Pratt said, still had not made custody a key issue for
many reasons.
"We know people are still losing custody because there is no unified struggle around it." she said.
Pratt said that larger economic and political forces affected the custody issue.
"We live in a system that controls human love and affection," she said. "It's not only the LGBTs that are under attack."
Pratt said queer struggles were tied to women's liberation issues and rights to an abortion.
But Pratt said she saw a lot of hope in the younger generation of queers who showed leadership in high school.
"There's a level we haven't taken our struggle to," she said. "We have a lot of work to do to maintain our families."
Pratt's work includes the Lamont Poetry Award-winning Crime Against Nature, Rebellion:Essays 1980-91 and a nonfiction book, S/HE, a collection of stories about crossing gender boundaries.
Before Pratt began her speech, Queers & Allies presented its first scholarship in LesBiGayTransgendered Community Leadership in honor of Patti Doria and David Stout to two KU students, Christine Robinson, Lawrence doctoral student, and Bekki Ow, Lawrence senior.
Aniko Adany, Overland Park freshman, said she thought Pratt's speech had raised important issues.
Attorneys for state gather 100 witnesses
"When she talked about losing the custody of her children, I realized once again what a prejudiced and ignorant society we live in," she said. "There was a lot of peace and love in that room."
DENVER — Prosecutors in the Oklahoma City bombing case have
The Associated Press
ned up about 100 witnesses to testify about telephone records that allegedly tie Tit o th y McVeigh to the Ryder truck, bomb components and other parts of the plot.
Timothv McVelgh
The phone-record witnesses are among 327 people on the prosecution's final witness list, which was made available to The Associated Press. Other witnesses include MeeShi's sister and several friends.
Notably missing from the list: four FBI agents under investigation because of allegations that evidence was mishandled at the FBI lab.
The prosecution's star witness is expected to be Michael Fortier, a former Army buddy of McVeigh's who has agreed to testify that McVeigh planned to blow up the building. Fortier faces a prison term after pleading guilty to weapons charges.
McVeigh's sister, Jennifer, has told authorities that her brother enjoyed The Turner Diaries, a novel that describes a plot similar to the Oklahoma City bombing.
Meanwhile, jury selection continued yesterday. Among the prospective jurors questioned: an airline pilot who lost a friend in a terrorist attack.
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4.00 P.M. + Impressed Sheet
Hollywood Theaters
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3110/QIZA 811-5191
$1.25
DANIELS PIME PE13 5:08,7:29,9:55
CORN RUNES PE13 4:05,7:10,9:45
SHOWTIMES FOR IODAX ONLY
8:00PM Friday, April 11
Wooldruff Auditorium
Fifth Floor, Kansas Union
FREE FREE FREE FREE
Director Alan Greenberg will be in attendance.
THE LIEB CENTER
ALL TICKETS 1/2 PRICE FOR STUDENTS
Tickets on sale at the Lied Center Box Office at
(913)864-ARTS; Murphy Hall Box Office
(864-3982); SUA Box Office (864-3477
or Ticketmaster (913)234-4545
International Awareness Week, April 11-20 Sponsored By
Cyprus Forum @ 7:30-9:30 Frontier RM, Burge Union
All students are invited to join us at the following events
International Student Services & ISA
Israeli Movie #3 - My Michael @ 7:00 pm, 308 Dyche Hall
ISA Meeting @ 6:00, International Rm, Kansas Union ISA display case at the library
Cyprus-EU relations Speaker @ 7:00 p, Pine Rm, Burge Union World Europe alliance on Staffing Plnts
Festival of Nations @ 7:00 pm, Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union ISA party @ 10:00-9:00 am Liberty Hall
Indian Classical music Concert by Shivkumar Sharma @ 6:30 pm, Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
World Expo, all day on Stauffer-Flint lawn
ISA party @ 10:00-2:00 am, Liberty Hall
International Olimpiad @ 1:00-5:00 pm behind Robinson Gym.
Dutch Novelist and Journalist Daphne Meijers speaks on Jewish
Office of International Student Association, 864-4848
Buteh Novelist and Journalist Daphne Meijers speaks on *Science* in the Netherlands @ 7:30 p.m. Max Kade Center
Folk Singer: Christopher Grundy  Poetry: Carlos Zeisel
Guitarist: Gone Writer; Martín Lima Fiesta
And you? Bring your talent or just your ears.
Thursday - Saturday,
April 17-19, 1997
Lied Center
Concerts Nightly at 7:30 p.m.
Open Microphone... in the basement of ECM Center at the "Broken Bean." Saturday. April 12. 7:30 P.M.
The University of Kansas • School of Fine Arts • Department of Music and Dance presents the
Thursday, April 17 "Vocal Jazz Night"
Toni Tennille with KU Jazz Ensemble I, KU Ja
Friday, April 18 "Combo Night"
Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band Mike Metheny, trumpet, with KU Jazz Combos
Saturday, April 19 "Big Band Night"
A Tribute to Dick Wright with Gary Foster, saxophone, Carl Fontana, trombone Bobby Shew, trumpet, KU Jazz Ensemble 1
Tickets:
Toni Tennile
Poncho Sanchez & Dick Wright Tribute
public $18 & $16, students and senior citizens $16 & $14
Poncha Sanchez & Dick Wright Tribute
public $15 & $13, students and
senior citizens $13 & $11
Festival Package (all 3 concerts)
public $42 & $37, students and
senior citizens $36 & $32
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU box offices; Murphy Hall, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864 ARTS; SUA Office, 864-3477, or by calling Ticketmaster at [913] 234-4545 or [816] 913-3303; both VISA and MasterCard are accepted for phone orders.