These Singles Focus on Progressive Ideas

Socially Responsible Singles--the name conjures images of Birkenstock-wearing ‘60s children discussing Jung, ecology and the pros and cons of midwifery.

Images of people who eschew the sweaty smoke of bars for softly lit parlors where the only things floating in the air are ideas and a mild sexual tension.

Well, kind of.

As a folk singer phrased it at a recent singles meeting: “All my friends are married now and well to do. Mortgages and steady jobs and children too.”

The loose-knit organization counts 1,500 people on its mailing list and a core of about 20 regulars. It is one of several singles groups organized around progressive themes that count San Fernando Valley residents as members. The Sierra Club and the ACLU both have singles chapters.

Socially Responsible Singles, started in 1986, meets twice a month at the Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist Society, whose bulbous meeting center is affectionately dubbed “The Onion.”

Topics have ranged from John F. Kennedy assassination theories to sexual harassment. Upcoming discussions will cover men’s sexuality, past lives and ballot issues.

Friday, about 40 people gathered to hear folk music--”topical folk music,” as group organizer John Johnson pointed out.

Most people were there for the music, not to look for dates.

Steve Westley brought his own date. The Van Nuys man had come to the last folk music night and wanted to bring his new girlfriend, Anita Simen, to this one.

They sat in front, holding hands as Fred Starner strummed his banjo and sang: “Yes, I’m a hobo, I don’t have fancy taste. But I never spread chemicals of toxic waste.”

Most participants are 35 to 55 years old and come for the discussion, not for a politically correct meat market, said Johnson. It’s just not that type of atmosphere, he said. “We do get that crowd but they don’t usually come back much,” Johnson said.

Ellen Trumpler of Tarzana comes to discuss issues with people who share her beliefs. “I feel comfortable with this group,” she said.

Johnson, who has dated people he met through the organization, started attending after feeling left out at other clubs, where most people were paired up. “People do connect up with people with similar interests,” he said. “My problem here is I don’t meet anybody because I’m always here late cleaning up.”