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{\noindent\parskip=0pt\obeylines

2 April 1990

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New Pacific Alliance
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Tom Jennings
HOMOCORE Zine / Fido Software
164 Shipley
San Francisco CA 94107
(415)-764-1688 (w)
(415)-882-9832 (h)
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I first met Ray in 1986 at Gilman Street Project, a 
(default-straight) punk/all-ages, volunteer-operated club in¨
Berkeley. I was one of the main coordinators there at the time.¨
During the year and a half I worked there, Ray and I were the¨
only two ``out'' gay people. Both of us were quite aware of our¨
positions there; we were basically the only gay role models for¨
most of the crowd, which was predominantly 16 to 22 year olds. We¨
made a point of holding hands, confronting minor bullshit (of the¨
``hey you fag'' type stuff from unknowing kids) in a constructive¨
manner. We would find the younger ones circling us from a safe¨
distance watching our every move. On a number of occasions we'd¨
get very basic and frank questions about gay people, especially¨
from the younger ones.

Since I have known him, Ray has been politically active, out and¨
comfortable in ``gay'' and ``straight'' environments and bringing¨
an up front and definitely out gay presence to everything he's¨
done.

Ray has also been instrumental in producing HOMOCORE zine, not¨
only writing articles for publication, but more basic, 
un-glamorous ``shit work'' that made publication possible. His¨
ability to think clearly and write down the results is apparent¨
form his writings.

To not include Ray in the program would a serious mistake.

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Sincerely,
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Tom Jennings
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