Newspaper Page Text
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The Issue Is -
Coming Out
Does a person with homosexual ten
dencies have to be gay? Not according
to William Kinsey, whose famous
survey found that approximately 40%
of the adult male population at one
time in their lives has experienced
oigasm during a sexual encounter with
another male. Yet only 10% of the
population considers itself gay. If who
you have sex with doesn't determine
whether or not you are gay, what does?
The answer is attitude. A gay person
is a person with homosexual feelings
I who has responded to these feelings by
accepting them, by coming out ot him
or herself and then progressively to
more and more people. Jeff in Consen
ting Adult tells his mother "I am a
homosexual" and is willing to go to a
psychiatrist to help "cure" his problem.
He doesn't become "gay" until he quits
trying to change and starts living a life
of acceptance and positive outlook. He
can say to himself "It's OK that I'm dif
ferent and society can punish me if it
wants. I am what I am." Until the first
coming out occurs, to yourself, you can
have sex with all the men you want and
stil not be "gay." "Gay," therefore, is a
term of self-definition—you aren't gay
until you say you are.
In this issue we are addressing peo
ple who have taken the first step and
want to go further into the coming out
process. Daniel's article discusses the
five, stages of coming out; they seem
remarkably similar to Maslow's hierar
chy of needs... both end with self ac
tualization. Al's article on PFLAG tells
us about a group that can help yoUr lov
ed ones deal with your decision to come
out. Gene and Gary tell us a little about-
the important issue of being closeted at
work and A1 and Alexander, in their
reviews, take a look at coming out in the
world of entertainment. ,
Coming out is an ongoing process.
We may encounter some rough places
along the way, but the overwhelming
concensus is that the further down the
road we go the easier things get. The
News wishes you a good and safe
journey ■
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Out In High Places?
We all know that the ranks of cor
porate Atlanta are filled with lesbians
and gay men, but traditionally these
men and women have had to be very
closeted. Are things changing? We
spoke to a lawyer, a banker, a minister
and a corporate level employee of the
J.C. Penney Company to find out.
Daniel works for J.C. Penney in data
processing testing and is the most "out"
person of those interviewed. We asked
him why he felt safe to talk to us as
openly as he did (Penney's is not par
ticularly known for its liberal employ
ment policies). Daniel told us he works
in a staff rather than a line position; his
work is very important and he is well
paid but he has no customer contact-
even if he was obnoxiously aggressive
about being gay (which he isn't) it
would affect only his co-workers. He
has a very specialized job at which he is
competent and he could easily get work
elsewhere. He isn't worried about being
fired for any reason.
Daniel started coming out at work
three years ago after he got really angry
about an act of discrimination (not at
work) that he had no control over. He
says that he decided that the straight
people who committed the act couldn't
have known any gay people personally
or they wouldn't have treated him that
way. He figured that if he came out to
people that liked him as a person that it
would be difficult for them to treat gay
people as objects rather than people.
Daniel comes out to people one at a
time in a matter-of-fact and non-
apologetic way. He says that he has
never had a bad response and feels that
his co-workers are supportive of him
and his lifestyle.
Daniel summarizes his feelings by say
ing, ."It's important that more people
corrte out; the people who have a
negative attitude towards gay people
are the ones that don't know us as peo
ple. To pass a laW agajnst an
anonymous group of people is one
thjng; to pass a law that might affect a
friend is another?
Mike is in upper middle manage
ment with a large bankihg corporation.
He is agressive, competent, and is very
happy with where his career is going.
We talked for several hour's before he
found any complaints about his inabili
ty to be completely out at work.
Nobody tralks about it, but everybody
knows. How? Mike and his lover go to
the theatre, symphony, and other
public places as an obvious couple.
They meet and greet his peers and
superiors in these situations as a
heterosexual couple would.
(continued, page 7)
AIDS...
Risk-Reduction Efforts
An interview with Ken South, executive director of AID Atlanta
"Campaign 85 is," says Ken South, executive director of AID Atlanta, "our attempt
to motivate, encourage, and educate the gay male community of Metro Atlanta to the
health advantage of safe sex, which will result in modification of specific sexual
practices."
Among the goals South has in mind for the campaign are:
• Safe Sex Survey
Produce and distribute a self-mail card survey to 5,000 gay males on each of three
dates in May and October of 1985 and February of 1986.
• Focus Groups
Train five people to conduct focus groups of 10 people each. Conduct two-hour
sessions, write results, and publish written evaluation of sessions and data col
lected. South said that a specially
designed "Trivia Game" has been
designed for iise as one of the Groups'
tools.
• Media Campaign
Plan, design, and distribute to the
Atlanta community such items as
posters about Safe Sex Campaign;
napkins; matchbooks with the safe-
sex message; decals/stickers;
business-card sized flyers to be put on
cars in bar parking lots; flyers through
direct mail inclusion in routine mail
ings of 37 organizations; pamphlets on
safe sex in direct mail and inclusion in
routine mailings; advertisements in
The News, Cruise Magazine, and
Creative Loafing.
• Safe Sex Trainers
Train six people to conduct seminars
on safe sex. South wants at least 14
seminars with 14 different gay
organizations.
• Sub-Group Task Force
Three sub-group task forces of two people each to identify, contact, and meet
with representatives and groups of youth (15 to 20 year olds), black men, and I.V.
drug abusers.
• Campaign 85 Committee .
Meet at least once a month and coordinate activities of the Campaign. Publish
minutes of the meetings.
• Final Report and Evaluation
i A final report to be written and submitted to the U.S. Conference of Mayors by
April 1,1986.
The entirecampaign of AID Atlanta comes under its more recently adopted mis
sion of "aggressive risk reduction," The agency's role began with educational efforts
for the public, progressed to patient services, and now extends to endeavors to ac
tively reduce the risk of A1D ( S among gay men.
The Atlanta,health agencyns one of nine in competition for grants from the U.S.
Conference of Mayors in connectW with CDC's "AIDS Health Education & Risk
Reduction Study" in the Spring of 1985. \
AID Atlan'ta hopes to be granted approximately $12,500 if all goes well.
, : Source: Interview with Ken South, February 18,1985;
* also his literature entitled "Proposal to U.S. Conference of Mayors"
, , ’ ‘ dated February 13,1985
Rank
City
#Cases
' ' 1 V
New York, NY
2606*
2
San Francisco, CA
826
3
Los Angeles, CA
593
4
Miami, FL
282
5
Newark, NJ
193
6
Houston, TX
175
7
Washington, DC
172
8
Philadelphia, PA
122
9
Chicago, IL
137
10
Boston, MA
92
11
Dallas, TX
. 87
12
Jersey City, NJ
84
13
Nassau, Bahamas
80
14
Atlanta, GA
67
15-51
Other Cities
10-67
Source: Ken South, AID Atlanta; 2/18/85
offered in lieu of the graph which was
not available for the Fdj. 28 issue)
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