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Atlanta HRCF Carries Momentum
To Democratic Convention
With the Democratic convention due in
Atlanta later this month, members of the local
chapter of the Human Rights Campaign Fund
(HRCF) are planning a major fundraiser and
other activities to keep gay and lesbian issues
in the spotlight
Another major fundraiser will be held by
HRCF on Saturday, July 16, with Rep. Tony
Coelho, Democratic whip of the House of
Representatives, as guest speaker. Guests will
be potential major donors to HRCF.
A women's event will be held the
following day, Sunday, July 17, giving local
women an opportunity to meet some of the
lesbian delegates
to the
convention, and
other national
leaders who are
visiting that
week.
HRCF, along
with NGLTF
(National Gay &
Lesbian Task
Force), will also
host a reception
for the lesbian
and gay
convention
delegates.
fundraising gala Representative John Lewis (D-GA) receiving
on May 21, ^e Dan J. Bradley Humanitarian Award at
which honored the HRCF fundraising gala on May 21st.
Congressman
John Lewis and the Atlanta March
Committee, raised more than $90,000, with
another $40,000 raised at a brunch the
following day. The fundraiser was the most
successful of its kind in the entire southeast
for lesbian and gay concerns.
Dr.Stosh Ostrow, co-chair of the gala and
HRCF board member from Atlanta, said he
was particularly gratified by the attendence of
major leaders from the black and women's
communities at the dinner which was
attended by Coretla Scott King, Martin Luther
.King HI, and Fulton County Commission
Chairman Michael Lomax, among others.
"Our community is beginning to be able to
reach out to others," Dr. Ostrow said.
According to Dr. Jackie Johnson, also a
board member and co-chair of the fundraising
gala, HRCF has been making a special effort
to get more women involved. Women
accounted for approximately 35% of the
guests at the May dinner, "which I thought
was excellent,” Dr. Johnson said. Noting that
the success of last May's dinner owed much to
the "good, strong women working on it," Dr.
Johnson said she hoped to continue to attract
new volunteers to HRCF.
The local HRCF committee's successful
fundraiser helped bankroll some expensive
lobbying HRCF has done recently, one
important example being its efforts to see Sen.
Edward Kennedy's AIDS bill passed "One of
the major things we've accomplished in the
last year was to sort of waylay Jesse Helms in
that matter," Dr. Ostrow said. "A tremendous
amount of money was spent to get that bill
passed."
Ostrow said HRCF will be choosing a
candidate to endorse in that race soon, either
Ben Jones or Nick Moritakis, and putting its
full support behind him.
"I think Swindall is very beatable," Dr.
Ostrow said. "We stand a good chance."
Dr. Johnson, who will be attending her
first national HRCF board meeting in August,
said civil rights for lesbians and gays is still
the primary focus of her work with HRCF.
"That's the main issue," she said
One of HRCFs ongoing projects is its
mailgram system, in which volunteers
authorize the organization to send legislators
mailgrams in
their name
when key bills
are up for
voting.
Dr. Ostrow
particularly
likes the fact
that this
program "gives
people who are
not affluent a
way to
participate,"
since the
mailgrams can
be sent for as
little as $4.50.
And the
recipients of
those
mailgrams pay
attention. Only eight years old HRCF is now
the ninth largest political action committee in
the country, and has succeeded in gaining
widespread attention for the needs of the gay
and lesbian community. "I think that's quite a
significant accomplishment," Dr. Ostrow
said
During the Convention, HRCF will bring
in politicians and southern civil rights leaders,
including Coretta Scott King, to explain gay
and lesbian civil rights to the media.
"The momentum in Atlanta is still there
from the HRCF fundraiser in May", said
Robert Bray of the national HRCF office."
The fundraiser was a who's who of the civil
rights movement Over 650 people attended.
When we get to the convention the civil
rights leadership is going to be behind us."
-David Tucker
Locally, the organization plans a massive
effort to unseat 4th district Representative Pat
Swindall, the two-term Republican who has
made his anti-gay/lesbian stance clear. Dr.
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GAPACommentary:
Thoughts on Discrection and Valor
I suppose just about every "movement" of
minorities has its own heroic lore. We're no
exception: we honor the Harvey Milks and
Audrey Lords, and all those famous only in
our own regional community. Perhaps we
admire them most because of their
courageous resilience, surviving and
prospering as an openly gay/lcsbian member
of society.
In the coming out process, the
determination of the value of what is to be
gained or lost is significant only to those
facing the choice. No one else can judge the
situation for them, nor should they. As a
result of this analysis, many of us live by the
old saying that discretion is the better part of
valor. And like most sayings, the truth often
rings through: there is a place and time for
every kind of contribution.
It's been very humbling for me to realize
that courage can be a relative thing: great, as
in those who risk much; and still
commendable, but maybe a little "less great"
by those who have little to lose. Our
anonymous population is so because it
believes it has so much to lose. But these
people vote, welcome gays/lesbians in their
employ, write letters, work in the background
with GAP AC, AID Atlanta, all our
organizations...hell, they're just as heroic an
army as the frontline vets. Perhaps more so,
since they gather no recognition but for their
own satisfaction.
We often chastise ourselves, communally
and individually, on what we could or should
be doing better. Well, a reminder ain't bad
now and then. But we really need to
continue what the March on Washington
started: a feeling of positivism, and an
appreciation for what we have and what we
do. By the quiet ones as well as the
noticeable ones.
Our political and social progress usually
seems to creep along with the glacial speed of
evolution. The movers and shakers jump out
and push, shed more light and more heat on
the topic, and in so doing, they do speed
things up.
But those who are behind arc the
concentrated mass that gives those little pesky
pushes their solid weight, their stunning
impact. Our mouthpieces arc just that-our
voices, our faces. But we are the body; we
arc the force. (What do you know: the Force
is with us.) And so, though each certainly has
its place, the quiet noise speaks louder in
politics, has more effect than the public noise.
It's the quiet contribution of the masses that
backs up the public gymnastics of our leaders,
and makes them effective.
So: are you registered to vote? Be so.
Are you paying attention to what the
candidates are saying? Do so. Go for it!
Whether you're in, out or borderline, you can
make a difference, in the smallest, quietest
ways. You may not get the appreciative
laughter and applause anywhere else but in
your own hcan..but where else does it really
matter, anyway?
-MJ. Murray
M J. Murray is the Chair of GAP AC
(Greater Atlanta Political Awareness
Coalition).
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The Greater Atlanta Political
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Saturday, July 16,1988
9 PM to Midnight
Colony Square Hotel
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