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NEWS IN BRIEF Freedom Ride Rolls Through South, Again Af/anfa-Northem gay and lesbian activists have targeted Southern and Southeastern states in a re enactment of the 1960's Freedom Ride. The South, which has payed a pivotal role in presidential politics this year, continues to attract activists' attention with the drama of this summer's Republican and Democrauc Conventions scheduled for New Orleans and Atlanta. The Gay and Lesbian Freedom Ride, as conceived by Michael Petrelis, a gay man and activist for people with AIDS (PWAs), moved through the first of its several-leg journey prior to the March 8 "Super Tuesday" primary. Long regarded as the last bastion of legalized discrimination, the South put forward both its best and worst faces as the demonstrators drove through theCarolinas. Using a pick-up truck loaned by Charlotte, North Carolina activist Robert Sheets, the group of gay men, lesbians and PWAs announced their presence to locals by staging "kiss-ins" and vocal demonstrations including a stop at Senator Jesse Helms' (R-NC) Raleigh office and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's multi-million dollar Heritage U.SA. theme park. Local communities welcomed the tour with "Southern hospitality" at every stopover, encouraging tire Freedom Riders onward. The group gave lectures, encouraged voter registration, and displayed a 25-panel quilt sewn by residents of the New York City Bailey House - a home for PWAs. "People are fearful of coming out of the closet. Two people told me that they would wear face masks at demonsrations and would be afraid to start a phone tree because the list of names might get out," said Petrelis. Even the traveling activists were wary of unlimited exposure, as they canceled an appearance in Wilmington, North Carolina, due to rumors of an ambush there by hate groups including the White Patriot's Party and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The next leg of the journey will meander through Southern cities between Atlanta and New Orleans. Petrelis plans to attend the Southeastern Conference for Lesbians and Gay Men (SECLGM) in Atlanta April 14-18 to further organize the event. The most lasting reason for the journey, according to Petrelis, is to reach out to Southern lesbians and gay men from the areas more experienced in gay/lesbian activism. "When black people struggled for their rights, civil rights leaders went to Alabama," said Petrelis. "They did not stay in New York City. We are going South to make our point." Houston Rallies Behind Musician With AIDS Houston- Officials of Houston's Second Baptist Church met with strong opposition from the gay and lesbian community after banning a musician with AIDS from participating in its Palm Sunday performance. The incident started after the church hired a group of professional musicians to perform in the event When the church discovered among those hired was a young man with AIDS, he was asked to withdraw from the service. Initially, the French Horn player planned to go along with the request but when he decided to participate, the church banned him. About fifteen of the hired union musicians walked out in protest many with tears in their eyes. After the outcry throughout Houston, the church denied AIDS was the reason the musician had been banned, saying they had health concerns stemming from him having tuberculosis. However, medical experts agreed his tuberculosis was riot contagious. Activists from the gay community and AIDS advocacy groups quickly decided they would attend Easter Sunday services at Second Baptist along with several PWA's. Said activist Ray Hill," We don't intend to disrupt services. We're just going to see how 'Christian' Second Baptist will be." Several dozen people, some wearing pink and yellow ribbons, buttons with pink triangles, and other symbols of support for the rights of gays and lesbians and PWA's, attended the service. Hill told Southern Voice some church members were friendly and came to greet the visitors. But the overall attitude of the regulars at the wealthy Baptist Church was one of hostility without open confrontation. The minister opened his sermon with no direct reference to the controversy involving the church, or the presence of the visitors. He talked at length about the Black Plague that devestated European populations during the Middle Ages. Media coverage in Houston was intense with lead stories in all the major papers and in every television newscast. According to Hill there was general disapproval of Second Baptist's actions. Said Hill, "The church Is by itself on this issue." He explained that many churches in the Houston area have moved to fill the gap left by the lack of constructive government involvement in the AIDS crisis. "Second Baptist stands alone in its non involvement We have seen no interest by them in facing up to the needs of dying people", Hill continued. The church bills itself as one of the fastest growing Baptist congregations in the area. But says Hill, it is now one of the fastest diminishing, as many members leave, horrified by the lack of sensitivity. Following the negative publicity received by the church, Hill met with officials of Second Baptist and asked them if, in retrospect they would do anything differently. Their response was that they wouldn't hire union musicians. "They completely missed the point", commented Hill. Lesbian Co-parent Denied Visitation Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-A lesbian co-parent's suit to establish her parental rights to a child she and an ex lover conceived through artificial insemination was denied March 22 by county court Judge James Benson. The biological parent began restricting, and then halted, all contact between the 6-year-old child and his co-parent two years after his 1981 birth. Neither women or the child were identified in Court documents in order to protect the child. Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund attorney Paula Ettelbrick represented the non- biological co-parent in the unsuccessful suit The Lambda suit claimed that the women "agreed to jointly share all rights and responsibilities for any child they would have together as co-parents." The two women combined their surnames when they gave the child a name, and shared all financial expenses involved in the pregnancy and birth of the boy. The biological parent claimed in briefs filed with the Court that although the child's co-parent has not abused him, it Ls healthier for him to be "raised in a traditional environment." Claiming that the judge's decision could have "revolutionary implications" for lesbian and gay parenting, Ettelbrick vowed to appeal the case on behalf of her client $290 Million AIDS Package Gathers Momentum Washington, DC-Representative Nancy Pelosi (D- CA) introduced the AIDS Health Care Financing Act of 1988 on March 10th. The $290 million attempt to place the federal government in the middle of the fight against AIDS/ARC has as its goal to "establish a rational, orderly approach to financing AIDS health care and patient care." Pclosi's bill drew forty-one original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. Nine other representatives have since joined the effort John Lewis (D-GA), from the metropolitan Atlanta 5th Congressional district, was an original co-sponsor with Pelosi. No Senator has yet stepped forward to introduce a similar Senate bill. According to Pelosi aide Phil DeAndradi, the bill "reflects the belief that the cost of AIDS health care must be shared among the individual, private insurers, and the local, state and federal governments." The bill is intended to shore-up local communities financial efforts to deal with the disease. It will provide $75 million to cities with a large population of persons with AIDS (PWAs) to assist with the local expenditures for projects and services. In addition to providing education on AIDS to PWAs, the bill will defray hospital costs, insurance costs and use of federal matching funds to encourage use of home health care instead of hospitalization. The bill was jointly reported to the House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor Committees according to DeAndradi. He had no estimation of the length of time before the bill would be reported out of committee. The AIDS Action Council, Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF) and the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force (NGLTF) have all gone on record supporting Pelosi's legislation. DeAndradi urged people to contact their Representatives and Senators to push for passage of the bill. More Gay Catholics Arrested New York- Another eighteen Roman Catholics were arrested following an Easter Sunday protest Mass outside New York’s Si Patrick's Cathedral.The demonstration was part of ongoing action by members of Dignity, the gay Catholic group, which has vowed to hold its own Mass outside the chuch on the first Sunday of every month when Cardinal O'Connor conducts the service. Dignity is protesting against the church's stand on homosexuality and the Cardinal's actions against the Catholic group. The Easter Sunday demonstration started only moments berfore the Cardinal began Mass. To the astonishment of most of those gathered in the church, about sixty people suddenly clasped hands and started singing, leaving the church in the direction of the alternative Mass held outside on Fifth Avenue. The service, across the street from St Patrick's, was attended by more than 150 people. The protesters ended their services by following a lavender cross with pink triangles and singing the civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome" before dumbfounded Easter crowds. When the Cardinal left the church after services he was met with cries of "Shame!" from the demonstrators, eighteen of whom were aiTcsted on charges of disorderly conduct for blocking the sidewalk outside the cathedral. Singapore Cracks Down On Gays Singapore- Police have told bar and nightclub owners to keep gays out of their establishments or risk losing their licenses. In the latest government action, the government is refusing to allow a play about AIDS to go on unless it changes its sympathetic treatment of gays. The play, Safe Sex, has been in rehearsal for over a year with support from the Ministry of Community Development. But now officials say the problem with the play is that "homosexuality is portrayed as a natural and acceptable form of sexuality," according to Ng Yew Kang, the ministry's cultural affairs director. "Homosexuality is one of its main causes; homosexuality in Singapore is objectionable." The artists have refused to make any changes to the play and remain deadlocked with the government.. Lim Siaw Chong of the Theatre Works Drama Company said, "Banning the play sends out a clear message that nothing will be tolerated here except what the government views as normal." ART AUERBACH ASSOCIATE BROKER 636-4695 MILLION DOLLAR CLUB I 1 AM BERT ■DUPREE REAL ESTATE SERVICES 1510 PIEDMONT ROAD, N E. ATLANIA, GEORGIA 30324 (404)892-9900 Office Hours By Appointment Brenda L. Hawkins, Ed. D Licensed Psychologist Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Hypnotherapy Community Counseling Center 1935 Cliff Valley Way, Suite 162 Atlanta, Georgia 30329 (404) 634-9440 Page 2