ORGANIZATIONS
Registry
AALGA- African-American Lesbian/Gay
Alliance. 1st Sunday of each month. 4:00 PM.
Quaker House. 525-3376. A political and social
organization for black lesbians and gay men.
ACT- Atlanta Couples Together. Meeting
times vary. 432-1085. A social support and
educational outreach.
AFC- Atlanta Faerie Circle. 1st Sunday of each
month. Location and time varies. 6224112.
Gay men who gather to support one another
and explore their connections with the earth
and white light.
AGC- Atlanta Gay Center. 876-5372. Provides
services and advocacy for the lesbian and gay
community. Operated primarily by volunteers,
AGC offers numerous services for lesbians and
gay men as well as educational outreach to
society as a whole. AGC Help Line-892-0061.
Information, counseling and referrals.
AGMC- Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. 296-6581.
A semi-professional community oriented
chorus of male voices. Membership open to all
interested singers and non-singers alike.
AMC- Atlanta March Committee .2nd and 4th
Tuesday of each month. 7:30 PM. North
Highland Branch Library. 377-8312. A
community-based activist organization that
works toward promoting lesbian and gay rights
through educational, social, cultural, and
political events.
AVS- Atlanta Venture Sports. Activities and
meetings vary. 2424899. An association in
which the membership enjoys recreational,
social, educational and spons activities.
BWMT- Black and White Men Together. 1st
Saturday of each month.8:00 PM. Location
varies. 794-BWMT. A gay inter-racial
organization committed to fostering a
supportive environment wherein racial and
cultural barriers can be overcome and the goal
of human equality realized.
Circle of Healing- 1st and 3rd Sundays of each
month.4:00 PM. First Existentialist Church.
The Circle is open to anyone in need of
healing, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual.
Friends Atlanta- Activities and meetings vary.
634-2500. A social, recreational and
educational group for gays and lesbians.
Volleyball, bowling, dinners, theater nights
and dances are among the activities.
GALA- Gay Atheists of America. Meetings
social in nature and at members' discretion.
875-8877. To assure freedom of speech;
freedom from religion; to defend the separation
of church and state; to assist in obtaining civil
rights for gays and lesbians, and to offer non
believers an alternate social scene.
GAPAC- Greater Atlanta Political Awareness
Coalition. Meetings vary. 888-0510. The gay
and lesbian political action committee
monitoring and acting in the local political
scene.
GLPCI- Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition
International. 1 st and 3rd Sundays of each
month. 7:30 PM. Unitarian Universalist
Church. 296-8369. A support group for
lesbians and gay parents.
The Group- Thursday nights. Call the Gay
Help Line at 892-0061 or write PO Box 15191,
Atlanta, Ga. 30333. A support group for gay
and bisexual men who are or who have been
involved in marital-type situations with
women.
Integrity- Gay Caucus of the Episcopal
Church. 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month.
7:30 PM. All Saints Episcopal Church-3rd
floor of Ellis Hall.
LIFE- Lesbians in Fun Endeavors. Meeting
times and locations vary. 493-3966. Bringing
professional gay women together for the fun of
it, giving them the opportunity to make friends
and enjoy a wide variety of events.
LEGAL- Legislate Equality for Gays and
Lesbians. 3rd Monday of each month. 7:00
PM. Peachtree Branch Library. 875-7500. The
voice of lesbian and gay Georgians in the
Democratic party.
MACGLO- Metro Atlanta Council of Gay and
Lesbian Organizations. 3rd Thursday of each
month. 7:00 PM. Peachtree Branch Library.
6334754. A representative council of lesbian
and gay organizations to facilitate the exchange
of information.
Kurt Rahn Bargains For A Longer Life
NAPWA- Atlanta Chapter of the National
Association of People with AIDS. 2nd and 4th
Thursday of each month. 7:00 PM. 1132 W.
Peachtree St. 874-7926. A political, social, and
educational organization which exists to
confront the AIDS crisis. Membership is open
to all individuals with AIDS or A IDS-Related
Complex.
PLGC- Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay
Concems/More Light. 1st Sunday of each
month. 373-5830. Gays and lesbians gather
over light foods to celebrate their Presbyterian
heritage.
SAME- Southeastern Arts, Media & Education
Project, Inc. 584-2104. Organized to utilize the
arts and media as tools for exploration,
education, and change in human rights,
especially those pertaining to the lesbian and
gay community.
SECLGM- Southeastern Conference for
Lesbians and Gay Men.Every Monday. 7:00
PM. Peachtree Branch Library. Volunteers
needed to plan the Southeastern Conference to
be held in April, 1988.
WOW- Women of Wisdom. 3rd Monday of
each month. 7:45 PM. North Highland Branch
Library. Aims to facilitate women meeting
together with older women in a pleasant
atmosphere. Offers timely programs of interest
to the community, reaches out to older women
and women with special needs.
Making Room
For several months I have known and
watched Kurt Rahn work. I have seen him
at meetings, watched him at the NAPWA
(National Association of People With
AIDS) office, talking to clients, making
buttons for demonstrations, returning lists
of phone calls, laughing and talking to AID
Atlanta personnel. Kurt looks comfortable,
at ease with his role, like someone who has
been doing this kind of political and
service-oriented work for years.He has not.
On New Year's Day 1987, Kurt got sick.
He was running a fever and his leg was
swollen and hurting. He was beginning a
new job and had no insurance and little
money so he took aspirin for his fever and
went back to bed. Several days later his leg
was more swollen and his fever was higher.
He knew he had to have medical help.Kurt
went to Grady Hospital where he
understood that he would not be refused for
treatment because of lack of money and
insurance.The Doctors at Grady diagnosed
Kurt's problem and placed him on
antibiotics. In the course of examination,
they also did blood work. Kurt was sitting
in the emergency room when one doctor
asked another where the "poor slob with the
screwed up bloodwork was." The doctor
was looking for Kurt.That moment began
the realization for Kurt that something was
seriously wrong. He was admitted to the
hospital but there was no bed for him so he
lay in the hall until morning when a bed
could be found. Minutes after he had settled
into his room and breakfast came, the
doctors entered the room and told Kurt that
he had tested HTLV-III positive and that
they needed to do a pelvic tap. Kurt wanted
to eat breakfast first. He was tired from his
sleepless night and hungry. There was no
time for rest or food. The pelvic tap is done
without anaesthesia and Kurt spent his early
morning screaming into his pillow. During
the recovery period, dosed with Demerol,
Kurt called his mother to explain what was
going on. His Mother already knew her son
was gay. She knew about AIDS. She would
try to understand, to cope.
After release from the hospital, Kurt
went back to worrying about making rent,
paying bills, attending classes,day-to-day
real life. He didn't try to deal with or
understand what was going on in his body.
Kurt calls this the denial phase of his
illness. Friends covered for him at work
when management asked if he had AIDS.
His body was not cooperating with the
denial. Kurt had chemotherapy and the
blood work improved for a while, then
became worse again. The doctors at Grady
decided that Kurt needed to have his spleen
.removed. The surgery required months of
recovery’. It became apparent to Kurt that he
would have to manage his health for the rest
of his life. He was diagnosed with a severe
form of AIDS-Related Complex (ARC).The
time and opportunity for denial was over.
Kurt had practiced denial in various
phases of his life. As a teenager, he kept
trying to deny his sexual inclinations by
dating women, even though he didn't find
them sexually satisfying. Kurt was a
technician for road shows for big rock and
roll name artists until the oil crisis and
bands stopped doing the huge road shows.
Kurt moved to Atlanta to get away from the
small Alabama town where he had grown
up. Part of the reason for moving was to
explore his sexuality and Atlanta offered the
opportunities. The denial of the gayness
ended when Kurt moved in with a male
lover. Then Kurt took a job as bartender at
The Cove. He lived happily in a primarily
gay world, dealing with only a few straight
delivery workers from the liquor
companies. Kurt had found his home, a
place to be comfortable. In order to work
the long hours, staying up all night, having
trouble sleeping during the day, Kurt started
using speed. He entered another denial
phase, telling himself that using the drugs
and no sleep wasn't a problem. And, again,
his body reacted,forcing him to deal with
the denial.
Leaving The Cove and realizing that he
did have a drug problem, Kurt made a total
turn around in his life. He started back to
college at Georgia State and got a job in a
good restaurant. He was determined to
make something of his life, to realize some
of the potential and intelligence that he had
allowed to go unused for a long time.He
began working out at the gym, getting his
body and mind in shape.The ARC diagnosis
and the spleen operation came during this
period and totally rearranged Kurt's newly
organized life.
While recovering from the spleen
operation, Kurt understood even more
clearly that managing his health would be
something that he had to do for the rest of
his life.He returned to work and slipped into
a pattern of sleeping, working, washing a
shirt out in the sink and sleeping again. His
classes were floundering. His energy was
decreasing. He had to struggle just to keep
working. His doctors suggested that he
apply for social security insurance. After
intense deliberation, Kurt made the decision
to join the ranks of the retired. Kurt was 28
years old.
During the first period at home, Kurt
hibernated, caring for his plants, repainting
the apartment, resting.He was on the
mailing list from AID Atlanta and decided
to go to a support group meeting.He was
afraid to talk about what was going on
inside him. He tested the water a little by
telling close friends and had good
experiences with them. Encouraged by this,
he started going to the support groups and
quickly realized there was a great need for
people to speak out about the disease from
the first person. Kurt became involved in
the AIDS education programs. He
participated in the panel for the training
program for volunteers at AID Atlanta. He
applied to participate in the Fifth Annual
AIDS Forum and met people from
NAPWA. He became an alternate board
member for the national organization. He
returned to Atlanta and talked about starting
an Atlanta chapter of NAPWA. On
Memorial Day, 1987, NAPWA officially
Continued on Page 16
Spiritual Alternatives
for Lesbians and Gays
I can think of no one I know in the
lesbian/gay community who has not been at
odds with the religious tradition of their youth.
I'm sure that that doesn't mean that such a case
or cases don't exist, but I have yet to find one.
What 1 mean by at odds is rejection of positive
lesbian/gay identity by any or all of the
following: clergy, congregation or structure
(local, regional or national).
In the midst of this vacuum we have created
our own spaces for religious and spiritual
expression and engaged different traditions in
dialogue. We have started new churches,
looked to alternative traditions, and created
organizations that remain in dialogue with
mainline religious organizations. In the course
of this and the next column or two, I will
describe the organizations and supply contact
information.
Organizations emerging within mainline
traditions have gained status and a voice
(though not often heeded). Among these
organizations are Integrity (Episcopal),
Presbyterians for Lesbians and Gay Concerned
and Bet Haverim (Jewish).
Bet Haverim
Bet Haverim started out about eight years
ago and began as a social group for Jewish
lesbians and gay men, rather than a religious or
spiritual group. The group lost its momentum
and many members fell away until about three
and a half years ago when the men began
meeting, focusing on religion, and creating a
space inclusive of lesbians and gay men. The
first two years of meeting as a congregation
involved more men than women. This year,
however, Bet Haverim has an equal number of
man and women. The congregation is
supported by about seventy members who now
have a place to celebrate their Judaism from a
place of being lesbian and gay.
Members reflect the spectrum of Jewish
experience, from Orthodox to Reform to the
Continued on Page 13
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