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Page 4 VIEWPOINTS Deignan Speaks: Why are Lesbians Having Babies? The answer could be boredom. Or perhaps confusion. Or even because of a sadly misdirected urge towards self-assertion. All possible reasons conspire towards me single cause: spiritual ignorance. Our Earth is hideously overpopulated. We do not need more people; we need wiser people. As it is, we’re shoving each other around. We vie for jobs, housing and basic acknowledgment Very few gain the ego-expression requisite to ego-dissolution. We are too many too foolish. We have yet to leam who we are, why we're here or where we are going. Yet we dare to reproduce? My sisters, think again. Do any cogent reasons exist for reproduction? A shred of vibrant intelligence would compel us to cease this global suicide which parades beneath the commonplace banners of "natural need" and "heartfelt inclination." It is stupid behavior. It is retrograde behavior. 1. "I became pregnant by mistake..." Abort Flesh is only packaging. We are 100% spirit The little baby will not be angry. She/he will only effect retreat until a more propitious time. 2. "Ifeel unfulfilled as a woman..." Unfulfilled women should not have babies. 3. "I need someone to bve and care for..." Have vision; not babies. We are an awkward world filled with ill-related, blundering family members. Loo* outward. Care for, and love. It is a divine opportunity. ,> 4. "My lover and/ want a family..." Welcome a stray animal. 5. "All my hetero girlfriends have families..."- So what Is the perpetuation of wrong-thinking a means by which you might bond with mainstream community? Is the need strong enough to surpass good sense? Your Lesbianisn is an advantage both to you, and for others. Traditional hetero mistakes are less likely to occur. Wha'daya miss the opportunity for socially acceptable excuses? Wake up. -Deignan Opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author. Dissenting opinions are welcome. -Editor SOUTHERN YOCE Managing Editor Art Director Chris Cash Stebbo Hill STAFF Karl Boyce, Chris Duncan, Mark duPont, Patricia Jackson, John Kappers, Martin Keefer, Michael McMillan, Rhonda Mensen, Jeannine Quintana, Elena Rutter, Leigh VanderEls, Joe Vindich General Policy Southern Voice is published by SAME (Southeastern Arts, Media and Education Project, Inc.) which is a non-profit corporation with offices at 1083 Austin Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307. All material in Southern Voice is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Managing Editor. The views of Southern Voice are expressed only in the editorial columns or in the editor's notes. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Southern Voice or the publisher. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, cartoonists, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. The appearance of names or pictorial representations does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that person or persons. Advertising is subject to the approval of Southern Voice and the publisher. Although Southern Voice appreciates its advertisers, we cannot accept responsibility for claims made. Services and products are not tested and appearance of advertising does not imply, nor does it constitute, endorsement by Southern Voice. Advertising rates and conditions are available upon request. Southern Voice welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject any material submitted. All rights revert to authors upon publication. Unsolicited manuscripts not accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope cannot be returned. Address all correspondence to: Southern Voice, P.O. Box 54719, Atlanta, GA 30308. rjj "N luls Guest Editorial: Remembering Hurrying to yet another meeting the other day, I glanced up at the familiar intersection of Peachtree and 7th Streets only to discover a not so familiar view. Some buildings that were there only a few days ago were gone, to be replaced with an empty space, a parking lot This particular building was inconsequential. What impressed me was how quickly changes come in this city, and how quickly a part of our lives, even if it is just an old familiar view, fades away into memory and later into forgetfullness. I’ve only lived in Atlanta for five years, yet already my memory is filled with images of street comers that no longer exist patterns of street life that have been replaced with monotonous high rises or simply leveled and turned over to kudzu. We rush about our busy lives, and there is very little to call our attention to what is being lost There are even greater losses in our community these days- yet they too are quickly covered over. We are left with only the fading memory of a gentle smile, a shared glance, some graceful movement or a hearty laugh. At times our friends are whisked away by their well-meaning families, and we are not allowed to mourn when they go on to become yet another AIDS statistic. As the days pass, these hurts and pains drift away into forgetfullness as well. It would seem as if those of us living in "the city too busy to hate" are only hovering on the edge. We keep pushing our economic and ecological structures to reach higher and higher goals. Our politicians are far removed from what is really going on in the world. In all our money-grabbing and political ego building, we have become so far removed from our emotions that we are "the city too busy to love". Underneath all the hustle and bustle, however, there is an opportunity for healing. From all over the city, and all over the country, people are working diligently to create a monument to those we have lost to AIDS. That monument, the Names Project Memorial Quilt, is working its way slowly to Atlanta, where it will be displayed at the Georgia World Congress Center May 29th and 30th. Those of us who saw the quilt in Washington know the extraordinary power it has to move a diverse group of people so very deeply. The quilt is a multi-colored graveyard of names. Looking at individual panels, you get a sense of who these people were- the talent, the love, and the connections that are now gone or severed. Looking at all of these individual panels sewn together is overwhelming. The sheer number of them is enough to stir even the most apathetic individual to action. I genuinely feel at times that my life is no longer mine alone. Each day when I go to work at SAME,I feel as though I bring all my friends that I have lost to AIDS along with me. I am alive and healthy and I must make my life matter more for all those people who never had the chance. My statements, thoughts and actions are for them as much as for me. We live in one of the most repressive, backward states in the country. Many of my friends in other places wonder why I choose to stay. They do not understand that the real enemy here is within, and that is something we have the power to change. There are those in our community who would undermine the Names Project's visit to Atlanta, feeling that for whatever reason they cannot lend their support to such a project. There are those who would use the project for grandstanding their own egos and organizations. In view of the real issues we are facing, I find all of these objections to be inconsequential. The gift of the quilt is its abscence of phoniness. The quilt contains all of the rage, passion and bitterness of our community as well as tenderness, quiet simplicity, gentle warmth and the expression of genuine diversity. To view it is to share an illuminating experience of courage in living, dying and loving. There is really nothing more to be said. - Stebbo Hill (Stebbo Hill is SAME'S Art Director and a member of the core committee of Names Project!Atlanta.) Put Your Money Where Your Friends Are Money has been called the root of ah evil. But, like fire, it can be turned to constructive proposes. The lesbian and gay community must leam to harness the raw power of our money, before other, shrewder organizations use their money to defeat the lesbian/gay community's demand for equality. According to a national news magazine, the gay and lesbian community controls one-fourth of this country's net disposable income. That is a power of inestimable value and a force, when flexed, that can gamer the immediate attention of the world. The community that we call "lesbian and gay" constitutes a wide spectrum of business people deserving of our financial support Some make themselves known to the community by supporting charitable gay and lesbian organizations that in turn work to protect and provide for the mass of lesbian and gay people still in the closet Others offer their support in more circumspect ways. If you regularly spend your money in any business, attach a price tag to your dollars. Insist that the business support your community through charitable donations and advertising revenue. Letting a business know your feelings on the subject is sometimes all it takes. . This circle of spending must be enhanced greatly during the coming decade, if we as a community are to prosper. We can do this by capturing "straight" dollars from employers, removing our financial support from homophobic charities and redirecting both toward our own community. Quit turning to the Bell System Yellow Pages to find plumbers, veterinarians and attorneys; cruise the Gayellow Pages and the Atlanta Business and Professional Guild Directory instead. If you are a lesbian or gay man who owns, operates or manages a business, "cast your bread upon the water, it will surely return ten-fold." A man telephoned Southern Voice last week, desperately trying to find a gay or lesbian moving company. If you own a moving company, you lost four hundred dollars because you didn’t spend forty to advertise in any of Atlanta's four gay and lesbian publications. The charities we support as individuals must be made to realize the impact of gay and lesbian dollars to their organization. For every mainstream charity that is homophobic- no matter what the issue- there is an equal in the gay/lesbian community that is literally starving for your attention. Many of the most innocuous sounding charities are actually among the last bastions of homophobic, racist and sexist terrorism. Investigate where your money is going, and who is going to benefit from each and every penny. It is not simple to be an educated consumer, it requires time, learning and investigating companies and products. Being an educated contributor takes time as well, but it yields peace of mind knowing that you are not supporting apartheid in South Africa, or Lyndon LaRouche in California. Most importantly, prepare a will. Attend to the security of the people you love, and give the rest to the non-homophobic charity of your choice. Atlantan Ralph Ginn, who died last summer of AIDS, is remembered most vividly for his compassion and dedication to friends. He is memorialized every day when Atlanta Gay Center Administrator Richard Swanson opens shop and catches the latest news of the world on Ginn's color television. Without Ginn's bequest, Swanson would be "out of touch" during the most active news time. Money translates into power very easily. It is an easy calculation that some find vulgar and crass. We, as a community, must not allow squeamishness to determine whom we support. In our spiritual growth beyond the me generation , we must spend our money to finance the future of the "us generation"