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Letter to Mayor James Conway from the Magnolia Committee, March 21, 1980

The Magnolia Committee
St. John's Episcopal Church
3664 Arsenal St.
St. Louis, Missouri 63116

March 21, 1980

The Honorable James Conway
Mayor of the City of St. Louis
City Hall
St. Louis, Missouri 63103

Dear Mr. Mayor:

We are a group of concerned citizens who have formed a committee to organize a "Lesbian, Gay and Friends Walk for Charity." This Walk will take place on April 20th 1980 from Maryland Plaza to Washington University. The purpose of the Walk is to raise money for the following groups:

The Abused Women's Support Project
The Catholic Worker Community
The Women's Self-help Center
The Ad Hoc Committee to Save Homer G. Phillips Hospital
The Matrix, Inc.
Life Crisis Services, Inc.
G. A. U. Hotline.

In addition, we intend for the Walk to show our pride and dignity in being lesbians and gay men and their friends who believe in civil rights for all people and expect to be treated as first class citizens. Our sub-theme is "Gays Care About St. Louis; thus, our efforts to raise money for needy groups who are performing necessary services for St. Louis residents.

We would like your official endorsement for the Walk. In addition, since the week prior to April 20th is the St. Louis Celebration of Lesbian and Gay Pride we would like you to issue an official proclamation to this effect. We would appreciate a written response from you within the next ten days.

We are also requesting a meeting with you to discuss the quality of life in St. Louis for a previously hidden minority, lesbians and gay men. These people are consumers, voters, property owners, business men and women, churchgoers, taxpayers, and family members. We have a stake in the future revitalization of the city and want to share our concerns in improving the quality of life here.

As you may know, many other publix officials of municipal and state governments throughout the country have shown their support for gay rights. Among these are the following:

• Gov. Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania, pledged equal rights to homosexuals on 4/26/75;
• Mayor Abraham Beame, New York City, appointed gay rights activist to NYC Human Rights Commission of 3/21/77;
• Mayor Koch, New York City, isued an executive order prohibiting discrimination of gays on 1/3/78;
• Mayor Laimer, St. Paul, Minn., backed an anti-discrimination order on 4/23/78;
• Mayor Lonnie Peters, Wichita, Ks., backed a gay rights ordinance on 5/9/78;
• Mayor Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco, appointed a gay supervisor on 11/1/79;
• Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, D.C., appointed gays to office on 11/30/79.

We feel strongly that it is time for the City of St. Louis to join the ranks of these cities that have shown their support for human rights for their citizens. We await your response.

Respectfully yours,

William Spicer
Secretary
Magnolia Committee