Date:         Fri, 25 Nov 1994 13:40:33 -0500
Reply-To: Julie@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu

RESPONSE TO NEWT GINGRICH STATEMENTS IN NOV. 23 AP STORY
 BY L.A. GAY & LESBIAN CENTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

 LOS ANGELES, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was
 issued by Lorri L. Jean, executive director of the Los Angeles Gay &
 Lesbian Community Services Center, in response to statements made by
 Newt Gingrich in a Nov. 23 issue of the Washington Blade and the
 subject of an Associated Press story today:

 "We commend Speaker-to-be Gingrich's apparent recognition that
 homosexuality is an innate orientation, and for his call to his
 conservative colleagues to resist singling out gays and lesbian people
 for hate.

 "Gays and lesbians will not accept `tolerance' by the U.S. Congress,
 however. Until we all have equal rights, until gays and lesbians can
 marry, until sodomy laws are repealed, we will be in the streets and in
 the Capitol fighting for justice.

 "His comments comparing homosexuality to the disease of alcoholism and
 his suggestion that gays and lesbians `practice' homosexuality, clearly
 indicate his need for a greater understanding of who gay and lesbian
 people are. We will vigilantly educate Mr. Gingrich in the
 devastations visited on gays and lesbians by active discrimination. We
 will not accept passive toleration in the face of the twin epidemics of
 homophobia and HIV."

 The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center is the world's
 oldest and largest gay/lesbian organization with more than 200
 employees and 1,200 volunteers. In addition to its role as an advocate
 for equal rights for gays and lesbians, more than 12,000 people each
 month are served by Center programs including legal aid, youth shelter
 and services, counseling, AIDS and HIV medical care, job training and
 placement, education, a women's medical clinic, addiction recovery,
 social and recreational classes and events, and extensive AIDS related
 educational services.

 -0- 11/23/94

 /CONTACT: James Key, 213-993-7603, or 213-217-0197 (beeper)