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Lesbian and Gay
Pride '88
Lesbian and Gay Pride Week '88, scheduled for
June 18th - June 26th, is shaping up to be a full
and exciting nine days for Atlanta. The Atlanta
Lesbian/Gay Pride Committee, along with
MACGLO (Metropolitan Atlanta Council of Gay
and Lesbian Organizations), has planned numerous
events during the week culminating in a
"Celebration of Life” march on Sunday, June 26th
which begins at the Civic Center at 12:30PM and
ends with a rally at Piedmont Park.
The Pride Committee, comprised of many 1987
committee members, as well as new members, has
met all year to insure that 1988's Pride Week will
be well-organized, well-attended and a source of
pride for all gay and lesbian Atlantans. Dale
Biggers, Pride Committee member in charge of
fundraising, is excited by the enthusiasm and
cooperation that the city, businesses, bars,
organizations and individuals are showing. "The
city has come a long way since last year's Pride
Week", Biggers said. "Getting permission to hold
the rally in Piedmont Park is an indication of more
support. The bars, unlike last year, are being more
helpful in terms of fundraisers and general support.
MACGLO has been wonderful. It seems that the
National March on Washington has had the effect we
all hoped that it would - an increase in activism and
concern within our own community."
Below is a partial schedule of events for Pride
Week. New ones are being added daily. Contact the
Pride Committee at 662-6748 for information.To be
added to the growing list of sponsors or events, call
the Metro Council, 242-2342. See the next issue of
Southern Voice (June 7th) for a complete schedule of
events for Lesbian/Gay Pride Week '88.
Saturday, June 18 Volleyball
Tournament
Have a ball in Piedmont Park from 2:00-8:00 p.m.
Teams of six persons will compete in either a
competitive or recreational skill level. Registration
is $50.00 per team. For further information, call
Hotlanta Volleyball, 633-0467 or 875-0700.
Saturday, June 18 Prom Night
Prom attire is requested at the Trolley Bar, 8:00 p.m.
Admission is $12.00 per person or $40.00 per group
of four. Admission price includes first beverage.
Admission fee can be exchanged for working before
or during the event if you contact Cathy Woolard
(337-8312) prior to June 10. For more information,
contact the Atlanta March Committee at 377-8312.
Sunday, June 19
AIDS Memorial Service, All Saints Episcopal
Church, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
GAPAC Volunteer Thank Ygu party, 1106
Lullwater Road, 3:00-6:00 p.m., $5 donation.
Monday, June 20 Family Night
The Country Place, Colony Square, will be the site
of MI family reunion. Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays, Gay and Lesbian Parents (and
their children) Coalition International, Atlanta
Couples Together and Couples, Inc. invite you to
join them for dinner (off the regular menu). Bring
your parents, children, lovers, friends. Please arrive
at 6:00 p.m. for dinner or stop by for dessert.
Groups please contact Metro Council (242-2342) to
facilitate planning.
Friends Atlanta Night at the Fox Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
634-2500.
Tuesday, June 21 Channel 30 Movie
If you're planning to attend Wednesday's
performance (see below), tune in to Channel 30,
WPBA (PBS), at 10:00 p.m. The movie "We Are
Family" explores gay and lesbian couples who have
children. A thank you to WPBA can be made at
873-4471.
Tuesday, June 21
Wednesday, June 22 Cabaret Nights
SAME (Southeastern Arts, Media and Education
Project, Inc.) presents a vast array of local talent at
Horizon Theatre, 8:00 p.m. Watch for details for a
truly exciting evening. For ticket information, call
SAME at 827-9678 or 584-2104.
Thursday, June 23
Friday, June 24
Saturday, June 25 Higher Ground:
Voices of AIDS
SAME and NAPWA (National Association of
People With AIDS/Atlanta Chapter) present
"Higher Ground: Voices of AIDS" at the Horizon
Theatre, 8:00 p.m. Written by Rebecca Ranson,
"Higher Ground" is based on over forty interviews
conducted by Ms. Ranson with PWAs, PWARCs,
their lovers, friends and care providers. First
presented at the Names Project, this is a must see.
Ticket information available at 827-9678.
Sunday, June 26 Pride Celebration
Gay and Lesbian Pride Week culminates in a
CELEBRATION OF LIFE afternoon and evening.
Beginning at 12:30 at the Atlanta Civic Center, we
will march to Piedmont Park celebrating our Pride.
Once at the Park, the festivities will continue with
speakers and entertainers, including last year's
crowd pleaser Sam Baker. So, plan on bringing a
picnic basket and spend the day.
The Presidential
Parkway Mess
More than four months after Patrick
Mullins and Michael Futhey were murdered
in the government-owned field behind the
Inman
Park
MARTA
station,
the legal
status of
the land
remains
locked in
the
quagmire
of
politics
sunounding construction of the
controversial Presidential Parkway.
The deserted field, scene of murders,
rapes and muggings, is viewed by Little Five
Points and Inman Park residents as the
trump card in the hands of the State
Department of Transportation whose
Commissioner, Hal Rives, has taken the
position that the land will not be transferred
to the City for development until the
Presidential Parkway is under construction.
The 24-acre site has already been zoned
for construction of nearly 200 housing units
that would preserve the integrity of the
neighborhood's "historic" identity. But the
more immediate concern to residents is their
personal safety. They argue that development
of the land would deter crime in the area,
replacing a dangerous thoroughfare for
transients and crack dealers with the stability
of family housing.
A resolution was presented at a recent
DOT meeting to make the land available
for immediate
development
in light of the
murders and
the continued
criminal
activity. The
resolution
was sent to a
DOT
committee for
study, but
many
residents fear
this is the same as killing it. The DOT is
reluctant to release the land to the City
unless it gets the support it wants for the
Presidential Parkway. The parcel of lanid
is the DOTs trump card and the catch-22
for residents, most of whom oppose the
Parkway but desperately want the land
developed. As resident Gail Waldorf says,
"There are so many components to this
controversy, each of which has its own
history."
Richard Ossoff, who works for
CAUTION, a group committed to stopping
the Parkway, bristles at any notion the
Parkway will ever be built. "I am highly
optimistic and absolutely committed that it's
not going to be built," he said. "The
Parkway has our continuing and emphatic
opposition."
Ossoff argues that the historical
arguments in favor of the Parkway already
have been proved false: that the Jimmy
Carter Library can neither be built without
the Parkway nor function without it. Ossoff
points out that the Library has now been built
and the existing streets are handling the
volume of traffic fine.
But the fight goes on. Even residents on
the periphery feel the effects of the
controversy. Theresa Nelson points out, "It
doesn't matter where you or I live, the
Presidential Parkway is a detriment to the
environment. Your neighborhood could be
next. Nowhere in the City seems safe from
this sort of thing."
The route for the Parkway has remained
basically unchanged since 1982. A 2.2 mile
stretch from Glen Iris Boulevard to Ponce de
Ixon Avenue near Clifton Road. Its various
issues'are being fought in various courts, and
an ugly fence that reminds residents of a
concentration camp has gone up around parts
of the field behind the Inman Park MARTA
station.
"I just wish somebody would decide
something," a resident said to me. "I’m sick
of it. Somebody-the courts-need to step in
and make a final decision or something.
This has been dragging on for too long.
Children are growing up with it. And people
have been killed in that field. This is
dangerous."
- Terry Francis
CHARB booki*more
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