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Vietnam journalist calls for concern
Renewed concern for the Vietnamese people is the
key to ending continued fighting and mistreatment of
political prisoners in Vietnam, according to journalist
Don Luce.
Speaking In the Nebraska Union Ballroom
Thursday, Luce said true peace depends on an eTTd to
American military aid and the beginning of a "real
concern for the Vietnamese people."
Luce said Americans think of the Vietnam War
"too much in terms of statistics and kill counts rather
than in terms of what it actually did to the people.
"Our major problem is a lack of concern for tha
culture, people and history of Vietnam," he said.
'Iftfc've never even had an ambassador there who
could say 'hello' in Vietnamcsa."
Luce has spent most of the 15 years in Vietnam,
first as agricultural expert for International Voluntary
Services, then as correspondent for ABC News.
In 1970, he and two American Congressmen drew
national attention to prisoners confined in tiger cages
In one of South Vietnam's largest prisons.
According to Luce, fighting still continue: in
dclu m
Vietnam despite the Paris peace agreement. He said
125,000 have been wounded and ,50,000 killed since
the ceasefire took effect.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon. Lues
said peace depends on "complete respect on all sides
tor the Paris peace agreement.
"We're still supplying bombs and planes," he said.
"Peace will come only when Americans say they're
not going to send any more bombs to Vietnam."
Luce said the U.S. currently pays for the 25,000
42-gailon barrels of gas used for military purposes in
Vietnam each day. This amounts to 365 million
gallons a year or more than 3 billion miles of driving
"if your car gets 1 0 miles to the gallon," he said.
"There are still tiger cages In South Vietnam and
there are still political prisoners in those cages," he
said. "A lack of concern and the continued flow of
U.S. money is why the Thieu government can still
keep them in jail." ' e
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Fncfay, february 22, 1 974
lincoln, nebraska vol. 97, no. 23
Brawl strengthens gay unity;
search for 'home' stops short
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By Rebecca Srlto
Early the morning of Feb. 2., a fight at the
Lazy B Lounge on Cornhusker Highway called
a temporary halt to an attempt to provide
Lincoln with a unique specialty club.
ut members of the Lincoln Gay Action
Group (LINGAG) and the Lesbian Sisters say
the conflict, in which four of their members
were injured, only has strengthened their spirit
of cay community. . .
The Lesbian Sister is a group relatively new
ta Ltncsfn. It mt decided in September at Its
first meeting that one of Its objectives would be
to fnd s place where gay persons could drink
and dance without fear of harassment, member
Shellee Botts said. -
"We didn't like the traditional model for gay
bars," she said, referring to clubs, such as one in
Omaha which "is run by a woman hater," and
whose clientele is almost exclusively gay.
"We wanted to establish a place where men,
women, gays and straights could meet and
socialize on equal terms," she said.
The group first looked into buying a bar, but
were discouraged by the amount of money
needed, Botts said. They then decided to try to
find a bar that was losing business.
"We knew we could bring in 200 to 300
people on a weekend night," Botts said. It
would be a good business deai for someone who
was losing money."
Last December, a member of the listers
heard of a lounge called the Lazy B, which
apparently met their requirements.
"We were told that the bar was good sized,
had a dance floor and was in danger of going
broke," Botts said.
In January, the group contacted Robert
Boeshart, the lounge's owner, and proposed
" their business deal. Boeshart denied having
financial trouble with the bar, Botts said, but
still was open to the idea of a gay clientele.
"I warned them that our customers could be
kind of rough," Bosehart said, "but I thought
they had the right to try it."
The Lesbian Sisters and LInGAG arranged
to bring a small group of people to the Lazy B
on Jan. 23. About 35 persons turned out, and
this initial effort at liberation apparently went
well.
"We got some verbal hassle," a Sister said,
"but the bouncer took care of things."
On Jan. 25, again by arrangement with bar
management, about 125 gay and straight mm
and women went to the Lazy B. One LINGAG
member was harassed physically.
"I was on the edg of the dance floor with a
straight friend, a woman," Dan Christensen
said, "and two men pushed me down and
started kicking m.
"But we had erranged beforehand that if one
of us got any trout!.?, the rest of us would
surround the person and escort them to
safety," ho n A.
The plan was carried out successfully in his
esse, Christ-: risen t3.d, end the bouncer saw that
the men left the lounge.
f4o further 'trouble was encountered at the
Lazy B until Feb. 2.
At about 12:30 a.m. that morning, five men,
who reportedly are members of a local
motorcycle club, blocked the bar's exit as the
gays and their frinds were preparing to leave.
"It seems like a nightmare now," said one of
those injured, a Sister. "We were going to leave
en masse safety in numbers, you know-and a
waitress warned us that the bikers planned to
give us trouble."
Evidently the "bikers" had thought a male
member of the gay group was dressed like a
woman. The man was wearing white overalls
with wide bellbottoms and a satin-lined caps.
Witnesses agreed this man was the focus of the
bikers' antagonism.
"We were told to leave by the back exit,"
the Sister continued, "and started moving in
that direction.
"Suddenly there was the feeling (in the
group) that we shouldn't be doing it this way. I
think everyone had visions of how often gays
must sneak out the back door."
Rick, the rnan in the cape, and a woman
became separated from the others, Botts said.
When the woman realized their position, Botts
added, she attempted to talk the bikers out of
the confrontation.
However, when the woman tried to shield
Rick, she was shoved to the floor and kicked
around the face and shoulders.
"And then all hell broke loose," Botts
recalled.
According to Botts, Rick was beaten
severely and his clothing was ripped. He later
discovered his car keys and wallet had been
taken, she added. Ha and the woman who tried
to protect him were treated at Lincoln hospitals
later that night
Two other gays, a man and a wo ma x were
hurt in the fight, but did not seek hospital
treatment
The members of the motorcycle club, of
'whom witnesses agreed about 10 were involved,
aooarentlv were not injured.
Chrittenstn said: "We (gays) weren't going
to fight back. We had agreed not to return
violence with violence."
"At one point, though, after several of us
had moved up to the front' he said, "a guy in
our group got so mad he picked up a chair and
broke it over the backs of the bikers. It didn't
stop them."
"The crowd reaction was incredible," Cctts
said. "A lot of the (straight) customers were
trying to stop the bikers. One woman kept
saying. This isn't right,' ever and over.
"Another woman was standing on a chair
yelling, 'Get the queers,'" she added, "but most
I of the straights were really cool, and tried to
'help."
Christensen said, "There was even a bikr in
the back-1 guess he'd been sent to guard the
back door-who was crying. A couple of our
women were talking to him, and he was
1 jobbing."
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