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VIEWPOINTS
Welcome to the Names Project, the big
voice said, and we walked carefully upon
the muslin walkways stitched between the
panels. A man in a three-piece suit
searched the panels, found the one he
sought and collapsed in sobs. A Names
Project volunteer rushed to him, engulfed
him in her arms and told him it was good
to cry. No one wasn't crying. A young
man walked slowly through the football
field of names, stopping at several to
gently touch the cloth: Hello, Bobby, he
said softly. Hello James. Hello Brian.
Rock Hudson. Uberace. One with
seven names on it, inscribed, "Thank you
for loving my big brother." One that said,
"Our family wouldn't let me name my
brother, but he would want his name
here." Many with dates of birth and death. Almost all with birthdates less than mine." - from Meredith
Maran's Journal of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights-Printed in part
in OUTLOOK: The National Lesbian 4 Gay Quarterly.
It has been seven months since The NAMES Project Quilt made it's debut on the Capitol Mall during
the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It exploded in the hearts of all who saw
it, and delivered our dead brothers and sisters to that most awesome event, the demand for equal rights and
protection by more than 600,000 gentle, angry people.
And now, the Quilt is coming to Atlanta. We are fortunate. The Quilt is a patchwork of raw emotions.
No one who sees it will ever forget it. It is the largest memorial in the world, and it engulfs the viewer
with it's rage and it's beauty, and it's pain and it’s forgiveness.
Southern Voice, both as an entity and as individual staff members, endorses this visit of the The
NAMES Project Quilt. The gay and lesbian community reminds us much of the Quilt. We are an
assortment of colors, some demure, others unabashedly glorious. But all tied to the same muslin backing.
If you are lucky, you may not have been touched by the scourge among us, AIDS.If you are lucky, you
have not lost friends, lovers, relatives. You may wonder then what the Quilt could hold for you? It holds
the people who, through their living and dying, taught us how to love and protect ourselves. It is a
testimony to everything that is the best in us. The Quilt reminds you that spirit lives on - through pain,
death and mourning. It has the uncanny ability to heal us, whether or not we have been directly touched by
AIDS.
The Quilt is about individuals. It has no political ties, and carries no religious significance. It is
simple. It is eloquent. It is massive. And it washes away any thoughts of us and them.
It is time for us to mourn together. We straggle alone too often. Come and see the Quilt. Come with
friends, family. Do it for those who have died, those who are sick, those who cannot be there for
themselves. Do it for yourself.Do it.
The NAMES Project Quilt will be on display May 29th and 30th at the Georgia World Congress
Center. Please see the insert this issue for the full schedule. Admission is free, though donations are
encouraged. All donations will go directly to serving people with AIDS!ARC. Over 1000 volunteers will
be needed during the Quilt's visit to Atlanta. Please make the time to help. Call 827-9678 to volunteer.
SOUTHERN
\OCE
Managing Editor
Christina Cash
Assistant Managing Editor
Chris Duncan
Art Director
Stebbo Hill
Advertising/Classifieds
Joe Vindich
STAFF
Karen Barrie, Sharon Blalock, Mark duPont, Terry Francis, F.G., Andrea Getty,
Dave Hayward, John Kappers, Rhonda Mensen, Jeannine Quintana, Elena Rutter,
David Tucker, Leigh VanderEls
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
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The views of Southern Voice are expressed only in the editorial columns or in the editor's
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Unsolicited manuscripts not accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope cannot be
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Guest Editorial
Stop Hiding Your Heart
I had made the decision to stay overnight at the ADS vigil at the capitol. I knew that would be an
extraordinary effort for many people and that numbers were important I figured I could handle it
without much problem. It was fun in some ways and miserable in some ways. I did sleep late in the
night and woke up feeling pretty ragged. Concrete just isn’t a good bed. A healing circle with people
chanting and shivering in the dawn dampness was taking place a few feet from my head. Thousands of
pansies bloomed in bursts on the capitol lawn. The sun was slowly crawling upwards. I lay there and
thought about how few of us were present I looked to see who we were and smiled. Most of us were
people with ADS and local activists. That made sense, that we would be the rates willing to put out the
extra effort needed. Activists were the rates most involved and accustomed to demonstrating and PWAs
were the rates with their ADS struggle and their future daily on the line.
As the sun rose higher, I thought about the National March on Washington and what a beautiful,
affirming experience that had been for our community. There were hundreds of people in Washington
from Atlanta and all of us brought the energy and pride back with us. I knew that energy would spill
over into everything we did in Atlanta following the March. People realized that it was healthy,
affirming, necessaiy for us as a community to have our voice and most people I talked to vowed it had
forever altered their lives. Okay, so lots of those folks didn't make it for the overnight haul but I figured
they would be there for the rally. As eleven o'clock neared, I kept looking fra the surge of new faces. A
few people straggled in. I thought about brunch or mowing the yard or swimming, things I would like
to have bear doing but ADS is our crisis and I knew I was where I needed to be.
As the speakers began arriving and as the media passed through, I kept looking fra the crowd. It
never came. As Michael Lomax, Barbara Chamness, Sandra Barnhill and Martin Reece spoke, I
realized nobody else was craning. When Chris Minor spoke passionately about NAPWA and the needs
of people with ADS and people with ARC, I began to choke up and boil with anger. I rarely raise my
voice in anger at the gay community. As a community, we are in such pain already that admonishment
and criticism seems almost mean. I looked again at the crowd. The majority of faces I saw were people
with ADS and ARC. I watched Chris straggle to hold back his own rage. As he was fighting for his
health, fighting to stay alive, he was also having to fight fra his own bar buddies, his friends, his old
lovers to support him and the rest of the PWAs.
I couldn't stand iL I also couldn't understand it. WHERE WERE YOU? WHERE WAS THAT
SPIRIT SO LOUDLY PROCLAIMED IN WASHINGTON? Did people not know this was
happening? It was in Southern Voice. I received several mailings. Am I in the minority, in some tiny
group that knows what is going on around me? I don't know. I really don’t. It makes me afraid and it
makes me angry. It makes me tremble with outrage and fear. PWAs cannot and should not fight fra
their lives without us, without the healthy majority who can plan what we'd like to do ten years from
now and expect reasonably that we will do it Barbara Chamness says it for me,"When we are faced
with extraordinary circumstances, we can behave extraordinarily. We can do things we never thought
we could do." In file case of the ADS vigil, that meant to me that people could give up some of their
free time and pass through for an hour, that they could inconvenience themselves long enough to say
they cared.
I am already troubled about the NAMES Project. I have perhaps an undue amount of pride in being
Southern but I believe we need to turn out in droves to see the unfolding of the quilts. There are many
people who say the gay South doesn't stand for anything or support their own. I don't believe that I
think we are strong and beautiful and that we do care about our lost loved people. Theater Macon is
bringing a production of Warren, my first ADS play. I am doing a play that is based on forty
interviews with your friends, many of them fighting fra their lives, and they are the majority of the
actors. They are making an extraordinary effort. There are movies and videotapes being shown that are
powerful and astounding.
Every choice you make in your life is political. You are an activist by your choices. It isn't a dirty
word. Passivity or avoidance of pain and depression is the kind of activism that will leave us in shame
and despair, that will destroy us inside and make us the damaged textbook homosexuals that I certainly
don't believe we are. I promise you that my experiences of being there fra PWAs and fra the
community have made me a stronger, better person. I have been able to call up resources of love and
caring that have surprised me and made me proud. I have learned to deal with some of my own fears
around sickness and death.
I am asking you to call up your own resources, to stop hiding your heart Be strong. Be beautiful. Be
there fra other people so that when you need someone beside you, they will be there. I hope this is not
admonishment. I hope it is encouragement to be extraordinary. My passion and my pain are always
intermingled with my hope. I love people. I believe we want the best for ourselves and others. ADS
isn't the only issue, but it is undeniably the issue that is devastating us right now. Crane to the quilts, the
plays, the films. Bring ten people with you. Utilize the power from them to strengthen yourself. The
ADS battle isn't ending. It is sadly just beginning. Prepare yourself.
-Rebecca Ranson
Rebecca Ranson is a playwright and the President of SAME <Southeastern Arts, Media and Education
Project, Inc.)
Southern Voice and GAPAC
Announce Cooperative Effort
:
Southern Voice and the Greater Atlanta Political Awareness Coalition (GAPAC - your local
Now you’ll have the best of both worlds! Beginning in June, the quarterly GAPAC NEWS will
be distributed along with Southern Voice, bringing you the latest insider reporting and
commentary on the political scene. Who’s for us. Who's ag'in us. Who's straddling the fence.
With the State primaries and Fall elections coming up, this is sure to be some spicy reading.
And that’s not all. Also beginning in June, GAPAC will author a monthly column to keep
• * ~ . , , ‘
you apprised of what's going on.
So look for these new additions..it’s all part of Southern Voice's commitment to bring you
our community and lifestyle.
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