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City Council Member
Blasts Gay Center's
Tactics in Zoning Case
Atlanta-Acaisations continue to fly in the
wake of the Atlanta Gay Center’s request for a
permit to move its facility to the predomin
antly black Bedford-Pine neighborhood.
City council member Bill Campbell
termed the approach taken by the Gay Center
and by its representative Bill Gripp
"unbelievably nasty and counter-productive."
Campbell charged that Gripp was "antago
nistic towards everyone who stood against the
permit and was insulting towards everyone."
The council member, whose district
includes Bedford-Pine, was referring to a
neighborhood meeting he called to discuss the
Gay Center's request for a Special Use Permit.
The permit would allow the center to move to
a house on 525 Parkway Dr., an area zoned
for residential use.
The house belongs to Lonnie and
Mercedes King who invited the Gay Center to
move after two of their sons were diagnosed
with AIDS. The Gay Center offers, among
other services, HIV testing and counseling.
The city's Zoning Review Board has voted
against granting the permit, as did the neigh-
Council Member Bill Campbell
bors during the meeting called by Campbell.
Campbell and the Zoning Board say the
reasons for the refusal center on zoning
concerns. Gripp and the Gay Center, on the
other hand, have maintained that homophobia
played a major role.
It was that position that bothered
Campbell, who says the Gay Center accused
anyone who opposed the move of being anti
gay. "I have a strong record, if not the
strongest, of supporting gay rights in the City
Council," noted the council member who co
sponsored the city's Gay Rights Ordinance
which bans discrimination against gays and
lesbians by the city.
Gripp concedes it is possible that the
politicians who attended, including
Campbell, believe the matter is one of
zoning. But he objects strongly to their
Pictured (1 to r) are Dekalb Democratic Party members Tad Gardocki, George
Brenning, Daniel Gandy, Jeffrey Laymon, Hal Mobley, Stephen Sickler, Dick
Rhodes, Joan Nadam, Scott Thomsa, Melinda Daniels.
10 Gays and Lesbians Take Seats in the
DeKalb Democratic Party
Openly gay/lesbian candidates startled
political observers when they captured 10 of
48 open seats to the Dekalb County Democra
tic Committee at the Party's Sept 10 caucus.
At the caucus, a coalition of "more liberal,
progressive democrats," including the gay/
lesbian group, won 36 of the 48 seats, said
Linda Meredith, who organized the
gay/lesbian group.
"Of the overall committee, 10 percent - a
good percentage - are gay, which is the way it
should have been in the past," said Meredith,
who is a member of Legislate Equality for
Gays and Lesbians (LEGAL).
Dekalb County Commissioner Sherry
Sutton initiated recruitment of the progressive
coalition as a result of the committee's 1986
election of 20 active Chamber of Commerce
members.
"I just didn't feel good about having that
very, very pro-business atmosphere in the
Democratic Party," Sutton said.
Meredith said she was contacted prior to
the Sept. 10 caucus about adding the gay/
lesbian group with the progressive coalition.
Functions of the Committee include setting
the party bylaws and platform, fundraising,
voter registration, phone banking for
candidates and choosing new Democratic
candidates, according to Meredith.
On Sept. 19, the Dekalb Democratic
Committee met to elect new officers who will
serve for two years.
Albert S. "Sid" Johnson, Dekalb County’s
attorney, defeated Dr. Douglas E. Henson by
a 52 - 47 vote for Chair of the Committee.
Henson, a dentist and longtime party
activist, was supported by the progressive
coalition. He has done advisory work for the
Georgia General Assembly on AIDS policy
making decisions and has worked on a task
force with the Georgia Department of
Medical Assistance to solicit funding for
AZT, the only AIDS drug recognized by the
government
In a speech before the election, Johnson
said he would take an organized, managerial
approach to leading the party. The only goal
of the committee should be electing
Democrats to office, he said.
When asked how he would handle
concerns of the gay/lesbian community in his
new position, Johnson said, "I feel that people
are people, citizens are citizens, and
everybody is entitled to the same rights."
Johnson said he believes Democratic
presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis' tactic
of distancing himself from special interest
groups is a positive one. "It represents an
effort to address the concerns of our society
as a whole rather than focusing on a fragment
of society," he said.
-Wendy Morse
AGC Board Member Bill Gripp
silence when neighbors made homophobic
statements.
"They can't coast on the Gay Rights
Ordinance forever," said Gripp, "and then
pretend not to notice when people make
disparaging remarks." Campbell claims that
the tone of the meeting was not particularly
homophobic.
State Representative Nan Orrock also
attended the meeting and stood against the
permit She noticed the homophobia, and
agrees that there were "some unfortunate
remarks made."
Ms. Orrock, another legislator with a good
record on gay and AIDS issues, maintains
that zoning was the principal consideration.
She points to a number of zoning matters that
have recently been opposed by the neighbors
in an effort to preserve the residential
character of the area. "If the neighbors had
welcomed everything before," she reasons,
"we could say this is a reaction to the Gay
Center rather than a zoning issue."
Southern Voice's informal survey in the
intown neighborhood points in a different
direction. Residents, apparently unfamiliar
with the paper, spoke their mind candidly
revealing fear and dislike of gays as the
reason for their opposition to the move.
Mrs. Tinnie Garrilson who lives across the
street from 525 Parkway Dr. admitted "I
wouldn't mind a center there if it weren’t for
the gays and AIDS." Another neighbor,
Willie Doris McQueen noted the move would
be dangerous for the kids. "I'm afraid of the
whole crew," she said, "the gays, the lesbians
and the AIDS. I know they wouldn't be
keeping to themselves."
Similar concerns came up during the
neighborhood meeting and, according to
Jeffrey Laymon, the Gay Center failed to
respond with solid facts. Gripp maintains that
Gay Center people "went to a lot of meetings
with the neighbors" and had a petition signed
by "24 immediate neighbors, supporting the
permit" Laymon, who is Executive
Secretary of the Metro Atlanta Council of
Gay and Lesbian Organizations (MACGLO),
attended the meeting where he noted, in
disagreement with Gripp, that the issue was
one of zoning, although he acknowledges that
homophobia played a part
Laymon angrily denies the accusation, and
says of the controversy "They destroyed a lot
of the work we've done." That assessment is
echoed by Bill Campbell who states "They
hurt their cause with the very people who
could help in the future."
When Gripp was questioned about
contacting Campbell and Orrock prior to the
Center’s efforts to get the special use permit
he replied, "No, we don't need their
permission to do these things."
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Gay Center vows
to continue working to move to the location
where they say they will be best able to reach
the black and the white community. The city
council will vote on the request on Oct. 3.
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