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THE NEWS, page 5
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Hate Crime Alert
Miffed Mayor’s message to ACT UP: kiss off!
A kiss - in demonstration sponsored by the New York City
based AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) on July 18
during the Democratic National Convention unleashed
controversy when Atlanta Police called out the riot squad to
break it up.
The demonstration, following on the heels of the violent
confrontation between police and counter - demonstrators at a
white supremacist rally on Sunday, was intended to dramatize
the oppression under which gay men and lesbians must conduct
their lives. About 25 demonstrators walked in a circle, kissing
one another in a sort of gay version of musical chairs.
Organizers were stunned when their peaceful direct action
was broken up with a show of force which they said was an
unconstitutional infringement upon their first amendment
rights. Walking peacefully in a circular picket, participants
kissed one another briefly in passing. Within 10 minutes, nearly
100 officers in riot gear descended on the small group, chanting
"Move! Move! Move!" and forcing ACT UP members into and
over barricades surrounding the free speech site. Participants
attempted to regroup, but were againToree'd'off the sidewalk.
Others in the area passed by freely.
Mayor Andrew Young, plainly ignorant of the group and its
purpose, admitted that officers’ homophobia may have played a
role in the apparent suppression of free speech and may
unwittingly have betrayed his own feelings on the subject.
In an interview with Vivian Shapiro of the Gay Cable Network,
Young remarked, "The police are committed to protect people
against violence, and they’re trained to do that, and they are
trained to — you know, to certain levels of tolerance; but that
was a strain on the tolerance not only of the police, but of this
community, and I don’t know — I don’t know that it was Simply
the fact of kissing, but when you put that in the context of AIDS,
and when you put that in the context of all the other things that
we’re trying to do in the community, it — well, if the intent was to
strain our level of tolerance, it succeeded."
Young’s comments came after an apology which he later
clarified and for which he further apologized.
ACT UP members were unimpressed with Young’s
explanations. Said Neil Braum, "(Mayor Young) said that when
you have a name like ACT UP, you can expect problems —
without even knowing what the acronym represents, he said
that. His assessment was completely inaccurate. We came to
this city not to be divisive, and he also did not make a clear
distinction between a demonstration and what we were doing.
What we were doing was an action. It was a kiss-in, and our
fundamental right to assemble was not upheld. We were hit by
police, and we were not obstructing the sidewalk. We were
constantly moving."
An attempt to complete the kiss-in on Wednesday was again
thwarted by police officers in riot gear. The group finally
managed to complete its action on Thursday following Young’s
second apology, with Mayoral aide Shirley Franklin
accompanying participants to ensure that police respected and
protected their civil rights.