California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Gays Want Walesa Street Renamed

Members of the gay community are urging city leaders to rename the downtown Civic Center’s Lech Walesa Street because of an anti-homosexual statement the Polish Solidarity leader allegedly made this spring. Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982, is accused of telling delegates to an April Solidarity union convention that he would “eliminate” homosexuals from Polish society if he were elected president. The alleged remarks caused an uproar in the city’s gay community which recently persuaded Supervisor Harry Britt, who is gay, to schedule a hearing on the renaming proposal. Britt has contacted the Polish Embassy in an effort to get a copy of the text of Walesa’s speech. The issue will be discussed Aug. 7 by the board’s City Service Committee. Ivy Street was renamed Lech Walesa Street in 1986 in honor of the Polish union leader’s battle for democracy.