Williamsport 
Deaths Possible 
Murder/suicide

Alice Hill 
Jan. 26, 1994 
Alice Hill, Of Easton, Died Wednesday, Jan. 26, In The Easton Hospital.

Tuesday, February 15, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





Pride, Boris' downfall, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 subverts gay activists, too &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You'd have to go back a ways to find a political blunder as big as the one
Al &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Boris made in December, when he spoke without thinking against gay
rightsYou'd have to go back -- well, at least until Thursday, when
Wilkes-Barre's fledgling gay-rights movement may have made a similar whopper
of its own. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Notice that word, "may." No crystal ball is transparently clear, especially
not on an issue as storm-clouded as gay rights. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But by pushing gay-rights legislation to a City Council vote on Thursday,
there's a chance that the gay-rights movement may have disturbed a sleeping
tiger. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And if they have, gay activists in the future may look back on this
seemingly Medieval time in the Wyoming Valley as the good old days. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Remember this word: "galvanize." It's the key. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mr. Boris, as is now clear, set back his own cause by his
stream-of-consciousness diatribe in December. That was when he said (among
many other things) at a City Council meeting that homosexuals with AIDS got
what they deserved. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The words galvanized the opposition. They so clearly violated the 1990's
norms of public discourse that they took a movement with zero political power
-- the gay rights movement in Wilkes-Barre -- and turned it overnight into a
force to be reckoned with. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even worse (from Boris' standpoint), the words pushed away those groups
that might have rallied to his support. Boris found himself standing almost
alone, without the backing of the churches or other groups that most Americans
look to for guidance on moral issues. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The City Council's unanimous vote giving preliminary approval to a
gay-rights amendment showed the size of Mr. Boris' miscalculation. Would the
amendment have passed at all, let alone unanimously, had Mr. Boris never
opened his mouth? Probably not, given Wilkes-Barre's previous reluctance to be
out in front on social issues. Would Al Boris have voted for it as he did? Are
you kidding? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the fact that the council approved the amendment to the city's Human
Rights ordinance does not mean that the public approves. A majority almost
certainly does not approve. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And it's this majority that the gay-rights activists may be sorry they ever
wakened. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 How can we be so sure of the feelings of the majority? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Because as far as we know, when this issue was put to a vote last year,
every city in the United States that considered it voted it down. In
Cincinnati, Ohio; Lewiston, Maine; Portsmouth, N.H.; and Oregon City and
Kelzer, Ore., gay-rights protections were either defeated or overturned, in
some places by large majorities. (Cincinnati: 62 percent vs. 38 percent,
according to The Wall Street Journal. Lewiston: 68 percent vs. 32 percent.) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And those votes came on the heels of the more famous one in Colorado, where
in 1992 voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting
anti-discrimination laws for gays and lesbians. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Six votes in two years, including one that encompassed an entire state. Six
defeats for gay-rights activists. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's safe to speculate on the feelings of the majority in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gay-rights activists here may have been lulled by the absence of an
organized opposition. After all, Al Boris standing alone isn't a very
formidable foe. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But just as Boris' comments gave the activists their moment in the sun, the
new amendment may be just the nudge needed for conservative religious groups
to organize. It could galvanize the formation of an anti-gay-rights coalition;
it has elsewhere. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And as gay-rights activists in Cincinnati, Lewiston, Portsmouth and
elsewhere learned, groups such as the Colorado-based Focus on the Family pack
a ferocious wallop at the polls. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now, whether such organization will happen before or after the City Council
takes its final vote is open to question. (And that's assuming the
organization happens at all.) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But one thing's for sure, as the Wyoming Valley begins tackling one of the
most explosive and divisive issues of any on the American agenda: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 We will live in interesting times.

Pride, Boris' Downfall, 
Subverts Gay Activists, Too 
You'd Have To Go Back A Ways To Find A Political Blunder As Big As The One Al 
Boris Made In December, When He Spoke Without Thinking Against Gay Rights.

Pride, Boris' Downfall, Subverts Gay Activists, Too You'd Have To Go Back A Ways To Find A Political Blunder As Big As The One Al Boris Made In December, When He Spoke Without Thinking Against Gay Rights.