The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 3

9( Friday, June 21, 1996 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER In clothes and comportment, Castro Street and Broad Street are not always far apart. How can a city that loves the Mummers Parade hate gays? was wandering through Center City lyhe other day, figuring I'd said just Ifabout all I had to sav about the raeine My guess is that I will die not knowing the answer. I don't mean to suggest, by the way, that all homosexuals look like Mummers any more than I'm 4-. ll suggesting mm an I iff'jX Mummers look like ill'1 (. I homosexuals.

I'm just I imv wonclcrin8 where the I fi I flW lines are drawn and f'v' whether we really Ik- I All of which begs a question. Doth Francis "The Talking Mule" protest too much? I don't mean, by the way, to further agitate Franny by posing this query. (In fact, I've pleaded for mercy from him before, and I am going to do it again. Yo, Franny, please don't hit me.) I just feel that for the sake of intellectual honesty, we all have to begin asking ourselves what it is we're so afraid of. Myself, I would put money on it that Rafferty is not a homo.

On the other hand, I think he'd make an excellent Mummer, if he isn't already one. So where does that leave us? I decided the subject required further research, so I grabbed a hardcover off the gay-studies shelf. The book, called The Gay 100, lists the 100 most influential gays and lesbians in history. Socrates no real surprise here made No. 1.

Also making the cut were Walt Whitman (6), Shakespeare (20), Tchaikovsky (29), Florence Nightingale (57), Rock Hudson (63) and Liberace (66). several years ago, in a New Year's Day drizzle, took a bus up Broad Street to avoid spoiling their feathers and having their makeup run. They were sissies, pure and simple. And yet, we have this hostility toward gays. Take, as an example, former Councilman Fran Rafferty's testimony before City Council on Wednesday.

(Apparently they had a half day at the Turnpike Commission, where Rafferty, who's made a lifelong commitment to public service, has taken his people skills and cutting-edge know-how.) "I seen the Bible today rewritten all over again," warned Rafferty, who studied under Yogi Berra. In the style that made him feared as much for his fire as for his brainpower, he added that homosexuality "is not the right style of life" and that "It's a cancer, It's a lesion that you have to cut out." Now here's the thing. Franny, clearly, was in a lather. I haven't seen him foaming like that in years, the anger bubbling up from a part of him that maybe even he doesn't know. But given that the Catholic Church has been in lockstep with the Black Clergy in railing against same-sex marriage, it was two other names, pulling in at 17 and 18, that caught my attention.

The 17th most influential gay of all time you're not going to believe it was Michelangelo, and the 18th was Leonardo da Vinci. I have to tell you, I gasped. Michelangelo, for Christ's sake, is the man who painted the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. And da Vinci, for crying out loud, painted no less an icon than The Last Supper. Does the church know those boys were swishers? More important, does Franny Rafferty know? My suggestion is that we don't tell him.

I can just see the Italian police dragging a screaming Franny away as he tries to slap another roll of wallpaper onto the Sistine Chapel. "It's a cancer! It's a lesion! I seen the Bible today rewritten all over again!" know who we are when we march smartly down the street in formation while wearing peacock feathers and eyeliner. Coming from controversy over domestic-partnership benefits, when I ducked into a bookstore to get out from under a downpour. My browsing, by chance, took me past a gay and lesbian book display and over to a section on books of local interest. And while thumbing through a Philadelphia guidebook, I came across some photos of the Mummers Parade.

I was standing there looking at a man in face paint, sequins, headdress and feathers when a thought occurred. As it formed, I found myself peeking back over my shoulder at the gay and lesbian book display. At this point, the thought became a question. How can a city that celebrates the 'atihual tradition of men getting together In private little clubhouses, to design "frilly costumes and choreograph festive dance numbers, have such unbridled hostility toward homosexuals? Steve Lopez California, as I do, I can tell you that by appearance, at least, the annual Halloween parade in San Francisco's Castro district and the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia are virtually indistinguishable. To take it a step further, there is only one word to describe the Mummers who, First Arab summit in 6 years warning of the winds of war Body of Delco woman is found I) i ifi Mill 1 Mht By Alan Sipress INQU1KER STAFF WRITER CAIRO Three months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres was joined by Arab leaders in a summit at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The meeting was hastily arranged to show solidarity with Israel after a wave, of suicide bombings threatened the peace process. Tomorrow, some of the same statesmen will meet in Cairo for the first Arab summit in nearly six years, with 20 leaders representing every Arab country except Iraq. Israel's prime minister won't be joining them. In fact, this conference was hastily arranged to discuss coping with Benjamin Netanyahu's election last month on a platform rejecting "land-for-peace," the principle that has underpinned every treaty between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Once again, the peace process is under threat.

"Both conferences were aimed at saving the peace process," said an Arab diplomat in Cairo. "This conference will bring to people's attention that Netanyahu's policies could lead us to war. We'll be back to the logic of the old Middle East." The lineup of Arab leaders this weekend may alarm some Israelis as a throwback to the mean old days when the two sides cursed at each other across the barricades. The mood is far different than in March, when the "Summit of the Peacemakers" produced memo fastest to do business with Israel, has said it will suspend relations if Netanyahu fails to continue the peace process. Even Jordan, which has emerged as Israel's closest friend in the Arab world, wants closer ties with the Arab world.

King Husseins open embrace of Israel was already unpopular with many Jordanians even before Netanyahu's victory. "You can't be seen to be in bed with Mr. Netanyahu if there's a very rotten mood in the Middle East," said an Arab diplomat. The Syrian delegation comes to Cairo preaching a message of "we told you so." President Hafez al-As-sad has long urged his fellow Arabs to rebuff Israel's overtures and re-impose the economic boycott until Israel returns all occupied territories. Netanyahu, unlike Peres, has ruled out any Israeli withdrawal from the strategic Golan Heights, occupied since 1967 when it was taken from Syria.

Though Netanyahu has said he is willing to negotiate with Assad "without preconditions," the hard-line stance leaves little to talk about. At the summit, Assad is expected to repeat his demand that the Arabs forge a united front to confront the Israeli government, for instance by freezing all ties. Countries with diplomatic links to Israel, namely Egypt and Jordan, will counter that Arab leaders should get firmly be The Philadelphia Inquirer RON CORTES Philadelphia police officers and criminal investigation unit personnel carry out the1 body identified as Aimee Willard's from a vacant lot at 16th Street and Indiana Avenue, in North Philadelphia. Br -TP. 5T 1 i ll 9 1 BODY from A1 college in Fairfax, Va.

Within hours of finding Willard's i abandoned car, state troopers were combing the area along the Blue -iuRoute and the ramp. At daybreak, ai. volunteer searchers began to gather. By 9 a.m., the search was in oi full force, with men and women walking side-by-side through mushy, muddy land, waist deep water, thick brambles and under- growth looking for clues, Nothing turned up. Gail Willard got the call "a mother's worst nightmare," she said at 5:40 a.m.

at her vacation place in Sea Isle City, N.J. It came from a -j colleague in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in Lima, where Gail Willard is a nurse. "She heard my name on the police i scanner," said Willard. "The scanner said my car had been found abandoned. And she thought, 'That can't because I had my car at the Shore." Gail Willard had left her car for her daughter's use.

Aimee Willard had been taking a course at Dela- 0 ware Community College, playing in a summer lacrosse league and looking for a job. a few calls, Gail Willard's friend came up with Willard's num-n ber at the Shore. Shortly after dawn, Gail Willard was on her way home. She spent most of the day on the highway ramp, worried and frus- trated by the scant news. would she stop the car here?" she asked.

"Something made her stop. Please, God, let someone come forward who saw her." On the ramp, which was blocked to traffic, dozens of police cars and "more than 100 state troopers, searchers and police gathered periodically throughout the morning and afternoon. A few times they would move off en masse, over the guardrail and down the slope. Close enough to hold hands, they moved through the thick brush. "We formed a line from the road-'.

way to the edge of the creek," said L. Chester officer Marlowe Freeman. "It was muddy, it was sticky, it was swampy. We did the sweep and 1 nothing was found." At one point a group moved to an i area closer to the Blue Route in an area where some grass looked as if it had been patted down, Three divers from the Philadelphia police rable photos of President Clinton flanked by Arab, Israeli and world leaders. But this summit is designed to put Israel as well as the United The summit will discuss peace and how to cope with Netanyahu.

hind the peace process, especially the "land-for-peace" principle. "There's no need to be provocative," said an Arab official from a country with no for States on notice that marine unit searched a pond. At least three dogs were used to sniff' for clues. There was such a large turnout from Chester, some searchers said, because Aimee Willard was the daughter of Paul Willard, who has been with the city's police force for 23 years. He and Gail Willard are divorced.

Aimee Willard lived with her mother and grandmother on Greenwood Street in Brookhaven, Delaware County. Throughout the day yesterday, friends and relatives dropped by the yellow bungalow to wait for news. One of those was Sister Nancy Bonshock, Aimee Willard's aunt and a history teacher at the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Villanova, Willard's alma mater. Sister Nancy said Aimee Willard met four friends from high school at Smokey Joe's last evening. "It was just a reunion of girls enjoying each other's company, They hadn't seen each other all year," she said.

"They all left the bar together," said Sister Nancy. "They all got into their own cars." Kara McDonnell, a 1992 graduate of the school, said the young women had been meeting periodically for mini-reunions on Wednesday nights, although McDonnell did not make it this week. Wednesday is the most popular night at Smokey Joe's, said bartender Tony Ryan. Ryan said last Wednesday there were about 400 people in the place. 5 3 For The Inquirer TOM KELLY Paul Willard, a police officer in Chester and Aimee Willard's father, examines the ground near a guardrail along the Blue Route.

"It was absolutely packed," he said. "As soon as you walk in the door, you're fighting for room. No way I would remember one person." The youngest of three children she has a brother and sister Aimee Willard was not well-known by the neighbors, some of whom said yesterday they just saw her briefly when she came home for college breaks. mal ties to Israel. "But there's no need for us to be shy.

We are the ones playing by the book, recognized internationally." Arab ministers have been seques- tered this week, trying to craft a common position and, in particular, to quiet the sniping between Syria and Jordan. The debate over relations with Israel is one of many disputes riddling the Arab world, including border squabbles and slights of honor. Egyptian officials have been working behind the scenes for 18 months to heal some wounds. Before the rupture of the gulf war, there were 19 Arab summits, the first in 1964. The staging of this conclave marks a victory for Egyptian diplomacy.

It also counters claims by some analysts that Israel's growing ties with other Arab countries have made Egypt's importance marginal. "This is the political weight of Egypt," said a non-Egyptian diplomat in Cairo. "Egypt has had a historical role in the Arab world of always bringing everybody together." Egypt, the most populous Arab country, is the only Arab state able to maintain active contacts with such diverse states as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Jordan as well as the United States, which provides Egypt with $2 billion in foreign aid annually. In recent years, Egypt has played a vital mediating role, repeatedly, hosting Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. It was in Cairo that the last Arab summit was convened in 1990, to considerable media coverage, in an unsuccessful bid to persuade Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.

It is no coincidence that the last two memorable snapshots of Arab conclaves the Sharm el-Sheikh and Cairo summits were both taken in Eg)pt. key Arab governments remain committed to the current peace process in line with principles of the 1991 Madrid peace conference and the subsequent treaties between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. "Things are turning upside down," said Abdel Monem Said, director of Egypt's Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "Arabs are now the ones who insist on peace, and Israelis are the ones with reservations." The two-day meeting marks the first Arab summit since the Persian Gulf war, which sundered the Arab world into supporters of either Iraq or Kuwait. The rancor engendered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent American-led war has prevented Arabs from patching up their differences.

Iraq remains a pariah, uninvited to the weekend summit. Meanwhile, the warming of relations between Israel and some Arab countries further eroded Arab hopes for a unified approach to the peace process. Now, the reunion of 20 Arab leaders in Cairo is a warning that Netanyahu could be gambling away Israel's embryonic ties to other Middle Eastern states. The historic peace deal with the PLO in 1993 cleared the way for a treaty with Jordan and diplomatic and trade links with North African and Gulf states, including Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Qatar and Oman, along with an easing of the Arab boycott of Israel. These breakthroughs, in turn, have fostered increased Western investment in Israel.

If the Netanyahu government pursues its promise to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank or makes good on its threat to dispatch troops into Palestinian cities, the price could be these modest but strategically valuable ties. Qatar, the 3ulf state that moved In high school and college, though, she gained fame as an athlete. At Notre Dame, a Catholic girls' school, Willard excelled at lacrosse, basketball and soccer; in her senior year, she led the soccer team to an Inter-Academic League title. Her basketball coach, Mary Beth McNichol, described Willard as "extremely intense," and "the best athlete I've ever coached." Friends of Willard's from George Mason agreed. Erin O'Neill, 21, who was at the Willards' home yesterday, was Ai-mee's college roommate for the last two years.

The two were high school rivals O'Neill played for German-town Academy in Fort Washington but they became close friends after playing together on George Mason's lacrosse team. Last season, Willard broke the school scoring records and earned regional All-America honors. Although intense when suited up, Willard was "very, very happy-go-lucky" and "compassionate" off the field, O'Neill said. Yesterday, Aimee Willard was planning to join her mother at the beach. "We talked around noon on Tuesday," said Gail Willard.

"She was going to come down Thurs-dayl." Instead, Gail Willard had to make the trip back to Delaware County. Contributing to this story were Inquirer correspondents Mary Anne Janco, Justin Pritchard and Kay Raftery. -A MONTGOMERY A 'CHESTER fr-A COUNTY fraKf UJ COUNTY 1 V. 1 PHILADELPHIA i-6 ''A DELAWARE i 1 COUNTY fT dSllmlTOj Chester DeM' The Philadelphia Inquirer.