Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, M1 48104
ay, February 3, 1976 News Phone: 764
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

Tuesd

-0552

Aid for North Vietnam

REP. PAUL McCLOSKEY (R-Calif.)
has recently urged President Ford
to provide Vietnam's Hanoi govern-
ment with aid, for the purpose of get-
ting information a b o u t American
soldiers reported missing in action
during the war. McCloskey's sugges-
tion is related to a report by North
Vietnamese 1e a ders, made to him
while he was visiting their country
last m o n t h, that former President
Nixon promised them $3.25 billion in
aid as part of the P a r is peace
accords.
McCloskey said the Vietnamese had
not promised a formal trade of aid
for information, but he noted "the
two should go together."
Despite American charges that the
Vietnamese h a v e violated parts of
their side of the Paris agreement,
financial and material aid to Hanoi
would be a responsible and laudable
gesture. The U.S., after all, spent
about a decade waging a full-scale
war in Vietnam, wreaking tremden-
ous damage. The Americans fought to
maintain a repressive regime which
managed to stay afloat only as long
as it got massive U.S. support.
The advantage our government ap-
parently saw in the South Vietna-
mese government which it backed
over the Hanoi- government was that
the Southern leaders were not Com-
munist. The Americans didn't con-
sider the relative merits of the pro-
Igrams planned by the two sides.
They didn't take into account which
side commanded more of a mandate
among the people.
AND T H E AMERICAN approach
backfired. It was a good demon-
stration that this nation cannot force
any kind of government it chooses
upon the people of any foreign coun-
try it feels isn't working right.
If the United States wants the
friendship of Third World countries,
it should c o n s i d e r gaining that
friendship humanely instead of by
force. One way to do this would be
to provide aid to socialist as well as
non-socialist countries.
Third World socialist governments
-like that of Hanoi-are here to
stay, whether the Americans like it
or not. They deserve economic aid as
much as any developing countries.
And America, as a wealthy nation,
has a responsibility to help develop-
ing countries. Such aid would, in ad-
dition to benefitting hungry people,
help the United States in its foreign
policy objectives of getting the sup-
port of poor nations.
The benefit McCloskey sees in pro-
viding aid to Hanoi is that it would
represent some progress in getting
information on missing American sol-
diers. Presumably, this is the advant-
age Ford and many of our other lead-
ers would see in any possible aid. Of
course, progress toward securing this
information would be desirable. The
information would be a great emo-
tional benefit to the families of the
missing soldiers.
AN OBJECTION THAT m i g ht be
raised against aid to Hanoi is that
there has been no guarantee of in-

Nazi
By DAN TSANG
In Luching Visconti's film The
Damned, which was shown Sun-
day on campus, homosexuality
is equated with decadence and
linked to the development of
fascism in Nazi Germany. In
fact, far from being a haven
for homosexuals, the Third
Reich was a place of terror for
gays, ultimately resulting in the
extermination of some quarter-
million homosexuals in Nazi
concentration camps.
Dirk Bogarde in The Damned
murders the grandfather of Hel-
mut Berger, precipitating a
coup which historically was the
political assassination of the
homosexual Ernst Roehm, head
of the SA corps Roehm's mur-
der in 1934, in reality, marked
the beginning of the end of
Germany's Homosexual Eman-
cipation Movement, precursors
of today's gay liberation move-
ment.
EVEN AS ROEHM and other
homosexuals were being round-
ed up, Hitler was issuing new
orders to the SA. He called for
the corps to keep itself "pure
and cleanly". Asking for the ex-
pulsion of homosexuals, he said
he wanted to see "men as SA

commanders, not ludricrous
monkeys."
Within a year the purge of
homosexuals was stepped up by
the promulgation of a new law
which punished, in addition to
sodomy (already on the books),
nine acts including homosexual
kisses, embraces, and even fan-
tasies. There exists the record
of a man who was actually con-
victed on grounds he had
watched only the man while ob-
serving a couple in heterosexual
lovemaking in a park.
Henceforth convictions for
homosexuality increased ten-
fold. 50,009 men were convicted
under the anti-homosexual law
during the Nazi era, but many
more were otherwise dealt
with. Gestapo chief Heinrich
Himmler, who had engineered
Roehm's murder, devised a
way to increase the harrass-
mnent of gays.
HIMMLER ORDERED that
homosexuals, on release from
prison, were to be taken into
"protective custody" as enemies
of the state. Thev would be
then held indefinitely. Protec-
tive custody, of course, was a
euphemism for concentration
camps. Himmler ordered homo-

I

Pani McCloskey

purged gays

in

Ww II

Values week
lectures begin

sexuals placed in Level 3 camps
(lowest of the low), death mills
reserved for Jews and homo-
sexuals. He directed that ho-
mosexuals be shot while trying
to escape.
By 1937 the official SS paper
was calling for the internment
of "two million" homosexuals
in Germany. Hundreds of ho-
mosexuals were interned with-
out trial, including those whose
names had appeared in police
dossiers prior to the Third
Reich. With Austria's annexa-
tion, homosexuals from Nazi-
occupied countries were also
rounded up.
In the camps homosexuals had
no way of "passing" for
straight. They were distinguish-
ed from other prisoners by a
pink triangle about 3% inches
high, worn on the left side of
the jacket and on the right
trouser leg. To make homosex-
uals more visible, pink triangles
were about an inch larger than
the yellow triangles worn by the
Jews.
THEY WERE SEGREGATED
from other prisoners and put
to hard labor. Other prisoners
(who might themselves be en-
gaging in homosexual acts in
the camps) ostracised those
stigmatized by a pink triangle.
In shipments to certain exter-
mination camps, homosexuals
furnished the highest proportion-
ate share. Homosexuals were
also refused admittance to the
camp clinics: others were tor-
tured, and starved. The Ecu-
menical Protestant Church of
Austria recently estimated that
some 220,000 to 250,000 horosex-
uals were liquidated in the
cams.
Nazi mythology of the Nordic
man was used to justify the
genocide of homosexuals. Male
homosexuals, being unable to
function as procreators, were
useless to the goal of creating
the Aryan race. Lesbians, ac-
cording to this sexist rational-
ization, could at least be in-
seminated with Nordic sperm.
When World War II ended,
Fast Germany (but not West
G e r m a n y) immediately
reneated the anti-gay law, cit-
ing it as a product of fascist
thinking (Stenkley, p. 110). The
Allies, in their monument near
Dachau commemorating nrison-
ers, completely ignored the
homosexuals.
BY BLAMING the victim for
her /his oppression, movies such
as The Damned present a false
picture of reality. Such mislead-
ing films may have led some
in California to form an organ-
ization of "gay nazis". As gays

begin to recover our own his-
tory there is hope that homo-
sexuals will no longer submit
to damnation, but will rise in
solidarity with other oppressed
peoples to fight for their free-
dom.
Because gays remain oppres-
sed and vulnerable, we are po-
tential scapegoats for any fu-
ture repression. In the 50's,
thousands of homosexuals were
purged from the military and
the federal government. The
University campus did not re-
main immune to these purges;
here, until the sixties, homo-
sexual faculty and students
were expelled or asked to leave.

by holy matrimony. Gays are
thus condemned precisely be-
cause we engage in sex for en-
joyment and love. The most
recent manifestation of this tra-
dition occurred in mid-January,
when the Vatican issued a pap-
al decree pronouncing homo-
sexuality to be a serious dis-
order. "Every genital act must
be in the framework of mar-
riage," the Church ruled.
Homophobes, persons infect-
ed with homophobia, tend to be
racist and sexist. In other
words, they are people who re-
fuse to give up the privileges
which allow them to maintain
their domination over minority

Nazi mythology of the Nordic man was
used to justify the genocide of homosexuals.
Male homosexuals, being unable to fune-
tion of procreators, were useless to the goal
of creating the Aryan race. Lesbians, ac-
cording to this sexist relationship, could at
least be inseminated with Nordic sperm.'

By JANE SARASOHN
This week marks Values Week
1976. Activities planned to kick
off ongoing events include a
speech by psychologist Rollo
May and seminars sponsored by
various academic and commu-
nity organizations. The seminars
are designed to provoke thought
on personal and institutional
values issues including ethical
questions on business, sex roles,
medicine, and an assertive
training workshop for clericals.
The aim of the Values Pro-
gram is to facilitate inquiry
into values issues, especially as
they affect University life. The
Program seeks an atmosphere
of sensitive joint inquiry, especi-
ally into ethical values, by sup-
porting people in their quest for
moral understanding. Ultimate-
ly, through critical exploration
of values issues, we can devolop
policies that are both practical
and humane solutions to global
problems.
WITH INCREASED emphasis
on quantifiable data, many dis-
ciplines substitute the technical

for the humane. Considered
more scientific, hence more
valid, such treatment of data
is done at the expense of "soft-
er" issues, including values.sThe
Values Program is attempting
to bridge this gap.
The Values Program does not
intend to run a series of its
own, but to facilitate values-ori-
ented activities among the units
and agencies of the University
consistent with the Program's
goals. Ongoing activities this
term include the University
Values Seminar which meets
each Monday at noon to discuss
DNA recombinant research, and
meetings later in the term on a
Slow-Growth Society. Many val-
ues-oriented courses are offered
by the Humanities Department
in the College of Engineering,
and the School of Natural Re-
sources, Architecture, Studies in
Religion, Medicine, Social Work,
and LS&A, as well as three
dorms.
Jane Sarasohn is a Values
Program coordinator.

The Ann Arbor police main-
tained a unit, headed by then-
police Capt. Walter Krasny, to
conduct surveillance of homo-
sexuals on campus.
Today homophobia (fear of
homosexuals or homosexuality)
minefests itself in more subtle,
but still insidious ways. Most
Universitygayfaculty, staff,
administrators and students still
hide their gayness, out of fear
of society's condemnation. The
'U' administration claims it
does not discriminate against
gays, so it refuses to extend
regental by-laws on non-dis-
crimination to include sexual
preference. For the course I'm
teaching on lesbian and gay lib,
a 'U' administrator tells the
Daily (Jan. 20) that I should
emphasize "politics" rather
than "sexual preference".
WHY DO GAYS continue to
be damned? To answer that we
must take a look at the roots
of homophobia. Recent research
suggests that homophobia in
the. west stems primarily from
the Judaeo - Christian tradition.
That puritanical tradition con-
sidered a sin any sexual prac-
tice that did not result in pro-
creation, or was not legitimized

people. Occasionally one hears
the comment, "some of my
best friends are gals . . ." - a
sure sign of some tolerance,
but definitely, not acceptance.
More and more gays are
coming out, however, and
c ha 1 e ng ing hetero-
sexism. Around campus you
may run into women and men
wearing buttons proclaiming
"Come Out!" or, "How Dare
You Presume I'm Heterosex-
ual". By wearing a gay button
gays become vulnerable, for we
give up all the heterosexual
privileges we would have if we
passed for straight.
If you see someone wearing a
pink triangle button, pause and
ponder: would you be willing to
wear one, as a symbol of soli-
darity with an oppressed group?
Sources: H. P. Bluel, Sex and
Society in Nazi Germany;
M.F.M. Itkin, "New York dem-
onstrations planned commem-
orating gays martyred by Na-
zis," Maverick (New York); E.
Kogon, The Theory and Practice
of Hell; J. Lauritsen and D.
Thorstad, The Early Homosexu-
al Rights Movement; J. Steak-
ley, The Homosexual Emancip-
ation Movement in Germany;
P. Tyler, Screening the Sexes.

Richard Nixon

formation in exchange for goods and
cash. But even if the desired infor-
mation doesn't come as a result of a
grant, the aid would have its bene-
fits. It would help the people of Viet-
nam, and it would necessarily alter
Hanoi's perception of the U.S.
In 1973, Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger said, "We will discuss the
issue of economic reconstruction of
a 11 Indochina, including Vietnam,
only after the signature of the agree-
ments. . . ." The Hanoi report, which
Vietnamese officials say is backed up
by documents, indicates t h a t Kis-
singer's statement was less than true.
But for once, Kissinger was conceal-
ing a pleasant surprise.
Editorial positions represent
consensus of the Daily staff.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Mich Dunitz, Rob Meachum,
Mike Norton, Cathy Reutter, Jeff
Sorensen, Bill Turque, Dave Whiting
Editorial Page: Stephen Hersh, Karen
Schulkins
Arts Page: Jim Valk
Photo Technician: Ken Fink

TENANTS' UNION CORNER

U'

pi
private housing interests similar

By ROBERT MILLER
John Feldkamp was a, little too glib
when he explained the extraordinary
dorm rate hike. "Residence hall rates,"
he said, "have not kept pace with the
general changes in the outside economy."
There has been a "55.6 per cent in-
crease in 11 years, but the Consumer
Price Index has increased by 75.6 per
cent in the same period."
What Feldkamp seems to neglect is
that there were three meals a day back
then and linen service to boot.
The average 8.9 per cent increase is
the largest in recent years. Meanwhile,
the University has refused to accept its
responsibility to build more apartments.
In 1960 there were 7,800 students in pri-
vately owned dwellings. This represented
36 per cent of the student population.
In 1972, however, 46 per cent of the
33,000 students lived in the private sec-

tor. The unanimous resolution of both
SGC and LSA was on the mark when it
labelled the University's response to the
housing crisis "embarassingly poor." It
is time for students and members of the
community to pressure the 'U' into ac-
cepting its responsibility and help alle-
viate the housing crisis in town.
THE LOTTERY SYSTEM which the
'U' has grown to love is degrading to
the dorm residents involved, and hurts
every tenant in town. The housing lists
put out by the rental companies are
released just before the lottery.
All dorm residents go out to find
houses, then, unsure of whether they
will be granted the privilege to live in
the "stylish" dorms. This floods the
market, increases the demand for apart-
ments and works toward upping the
already exhorbitant rates.
The housing crisis in town crosses

all imaginary lines which tend to divide
Ann Arbor into "town and Gown." The
Tenants Union (TU) wants students, non-
students, renters and dorm residents to
realize, that they must act together to
solve the housing problem.
The interests of the landlords and
those of the housing office are one.
With a high demand for housing, neith-
er has to worry about filling every tacky
unit they own. All of us will be taken
advantage of unless we see our fight
as the same and unite against the com-
mon opponent.
It has already been noted that a
nine per cent dorm hike will boost all
rents in town. Collective action is our
only resort.
THE RENT STRIKE of TU tenants
has spread. Thirty people have joined
the strike against Sunrise. And a new
strike has begun, better organized than

the first, in the houses of Reliable Real-
ty. There are already 80 tenants in-
volved in that strike.
But we of the TU do not see rent
rebates as the major issue. The ten-
ants involved will not settle without
substantial rent rebates but the political
issues are uppermost in our mind. Who
will change the housing situation if not
the tenants? The landlords love bucks
and care little for the people who pro-
vide them with their profits.
We will have a say in the housing
market only if we raise our voices and
organize every tenant in town. We en-
courage tenants, as well as those who
live in dorms, to come to the Regents
meeting on Wednesday and tell the Re-
gents how they feel.
Former Daily staff member Robert
Miller is active in the Ann Arbor Ten-
ants' Union.


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. - -. y ' "x i t. 9 ."..: ""

Racism n
to The Daily:
On Wednesday, January 28,
1976, The Michigan Daily pub-
lished a racist article, camou-
flaged as a "letter" to the edi-
tor." This is not the first time
the Daily has published such
racist junk. On November 6,
1973 the Daily published an "ad-
vertisement," signed by a non-
existent group that was clearly
anti-Arab. Upon our strong ob-
jection, the Daily published ex-
cerpts from its advertisement
policy that clearly prohibits pub-
lication of any racist material.
The publication of Grant's
article reflects the Daily's ir-
responsibility and is a clear vio-
lation of its policy concerning
racism.
IT IS OUR responsibility to
clarify Gil Grant's flagrant dis-
tortions of history and current
realities. Grant's racism and
malice were quite evident

Letters
such hateful and racist whims.
Grant's article is a classic
example of selective reporting
for propaganda purposes, long
employed by zionists and other
racists. He totally ignores the
plight of Israel's minorities and
Israel's well - documented and
publicised racist policies and
practices towards the Palestin-
ian Arabs. He deliberately over-
looks the fact that Armenians
in Lebanon and in Syria enjoy
their full cultural freedom as
do the Copts in Egypt and the
Berbers in North Africa.
The Iraqi people have, and
for a long time, recognized the
inalienable rights of their Kurd-
ish brethren to self-rule as em-
bodied in the self-rule national
charter (March 1970) that was
drafted by all parties. However,
recent reports revealed that the
CIA, Israel and the Shah of Iran
had been rekindling Barazani's
insurgency with arms and mon-
ey. This, of course, does not
emanate out of their concern

to

The

neither democratic, since power
resides with the rich and priv-
ileged few, nor secular, since
practically everything in the
state is divided along religious
lines. Lebanon is now undergo-
ing a socio-political revolution
that will give birth to secular-
ism, democracy and social jus-
tice to all, regardless of religi-
ous or ethnic affiliation.
In reference to the status of
the Jewish communities in the
Arab world, Grant is only try-
ing to peddle long-refuted zion-
ist propaganda. Or else, how
does he answer for western
media's reports of PLO's con-
cern and protection for the Jew-
ish community in Lebanon? Or
why does he overlook the CBS-
TV report (60 Minutes, Report
by Mike Wallace, early 1974)
that refuted zionist allegations
of Jewish mistreatment in Sy-
ria? (Incidently, the zionist ac-
cused Wallace of collaboration
with the Syrian authorities, but
not only did Wallace reject this

resolution of November 10, 1975,
condemning zionism as a form
of racism, was but one of the
many bold and clear expres-
sions of the world's conscience
and impatience with the zion-
ist practices.
As Arab nationalists, we have
pledged, along with millions of
our brothers and sisters, to ir-
radicate all reactionery, oppres-
sive and exploitative institutions
in our homeland and to strug-
gle to replace them with demo-
cratic, socialist and secular in-

stitutions that will serve the
true interests of all the people
of the area, regardless of religi-
ous affiliation, color or creed.
We intend to see the Arab world
unified in one socialist, anti-im-
perialist state that will offer
comfort and refuge to all peace-
loving .peoples. This we pledge
to accomplish by all legitimate
means.
Organization of Arab
Students
University of Michigan
Chapter

Daily

Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Gem), 253 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), 353 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington. D.C. 20515.

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