Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN
9
VOTE
Vol. 1, No. 18
Taking Pride in Our Culture
The
Presidential
Elections
Page 11
October 27,1988
"Throwing the Bones" by Madelaine St Romain. Fabric Paint on Cloth. 42 cm x 43 cm
Swindall Uses Voice to Attack Jones
The Witches' Season
In a witch's year, one of the most important dates is SAMHAIN (November 1st).
Celebration of Samhain begins the night before, October 31st, All Hallow's Eve or Halloween.
Also important are the days marking spring, summer, and fall. Rites are altered and amended
as witches see fit-it is the intent, not the ritual's specificatbns that is important.
Samhain is the Day of the Dead. It is when the Veil between this world and the invisible
one is at its thinnest. No wonder witches celebrate and decorate!
Witch is a derivative of the word wicce or wicca, meaning "wise." In ancient and not-so
ancient days, witches were generally considered the wise old(er) women of a village or
community, with vast knowledge in herbal medicine.
A witch is one who believes not in Heaven and Hell but in harmony, duality, the Oriental
concept of Yin and Yang, if you will. A witch believes in Nature, the never-ending cycles of a
never-ending order, which is why the Seasons are what is important on a witch's or pagan's
calendar. Nature is the one tangible manifestation of the Supreme Being(s). The following is
one woman's very personal account of Samhain.
Our feet touch in her shade. She is always a little to the right or to the left of me, angling
slightly ahead of or behind me. The sun and I are the only ones for whom she moves.
She follows my movements and traces my outline each day, but it was in late October of last
year that she gave me words as well as form.
My shadow talked to me.
It was almost Halloween. The fall air was newly cooled, still fresh and yellow-bright.
I was walking. First falls seem to demand strong walks. The porches I passed were
Halloween-ready, with pumpkin heads and cardboard cutouts of dark-haired witches.
My Halloweens had been spent collecting candy in worn paper sacks, making black-pointed
hats from construction paper, telling .scary stories and trying to "cackle" the way the "real"
witches do. As a child I would "dress-up" with friends, paint any face nearby and giggle the
night away eating candy.
In just a few nights I would celebrate again, still "dressing-up" but my friends would be
larger, and I would laugh, certainly not giggle.
Walking and remembering, fall air makes it easy and for me it has an added feeling of
searching. The first cool air seems to push me on, drive me a little faster, a little harder in my
walks. I always feel as if I am looking for something and if I could just push back the
Cont'd Page 11
NCOD Ad a Sobering Success
U. S. Rep. Pat Swindall displayed an
enlarged classified advertisement from
Southern Voice during a debate last week that
called for gay men and lesbians to support his
challenger, Ben Jones, apparently in an
attempt to link Jones to the homosexual
community.
The debate, held at the Temple synagogue
Oct. 10, focused national media attention on
the 4th Congressional District race, which has
been called one of the dirtiest in the nation.
Jones said he had not previously seen the
ad, which was placed by local activist Cathy
Woolard to solicit gay/lesbian volunteers to
staff the Ben Jones phone bank on Oct. 18.
"But for someone who is as homophobic
as you are, I can understand why you'd do
this," Jones said to Swindall.
"I disagree with that community on a number
of issues but... I don't think what you do or
what anybody does in the privacy of their home
is any of my business. And I appreciate the
support of any American," said Jones.
"You might’ve put that in there yourself,
for all I know, the way you operate," he said.
Jones told Southern Voice he was not
surprised by Swindall's action, "which will
ultimately be counterproductive to his
purposes."
"It seemed to be typical of the kind of
demagogic campaign he is running and the
campaigns he has run in the past. I wonder
how much money he spent to do this. I
thought it said more about him than anything
else," said Jones..
Jones said he is not at all bothered by
being called "the candidate of liberals and
homosexuals."
"I just consider the source," he said.
Swindall and his campaign manager, Rob
Austin, did not return numerous phone calls
placed by Southern Voice.
Cathy Woolard, who placed the ad, said
she resented seeing her telephone number
blown up on national television.
"Pat Swindall doesn't think of the
implications of that kind of action. I've had a
bunch of nuts and glory-seekers calling and
harassing me. One guy called and said he
wanted to speak to Mr. Swindall," Woolard
said.
Woolard also said she was disappointed in
Jones' response to Swindall's action, which
was "homophobic as well."
"I'vc been dealing with Ben for about six
months, trying to educate him into being a
candidate to wholeheartedly support," said
Woolard.
"I'm tired of politicians who will take my
vote but not acknowledge me in public. I just
won't take it anymore. I think Jones will win,
but I think he will be a one-term
(representative)," she said.
Woolard said about 25 people showed up
to staff the phone bank. ”1 suspect we turned
out the best crowd so far. All the seats were
full all night," she said.
-Wendy Morse
Approximately 225 gay and lesbian individuals and organizations participated in placing a
full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) part of National Coming Out Day
celebrations. Although some individuals reported being harassed after their name appeared in
the ad-including at least two death threats-the ad was termed a success by its sponsor and
participants.
The ad was a project of the Metropolitan Atlanta Council of Gay and Lesbian Organizations
(M ACGLO). MACGLO's executive secretary Jeffrey Laymon said that the AJC staff was open
to doing the ad, and were extremely helpful in getting the ad in the paper.
Approximately 50 % percent of the telephone calls MACGLO received after the ad appeared
were negative. Among the comments MACGLO received were "You should use money for
AIDS research, not advertising," and "I have a problem with violence toward c*cksuckers. Any
suggestions on how we can do some more?" Mail received since then, however, has been
overwhelmingly positive, according to Laymon.
Although many people did not print their full names, they did participate by submitting
phrases such as "a lesbian in Jean Williams' district," or "a high school English teacher."
Laymon called the use of phrases rather than names a "two-edged sword."
'Tm glad that people did that because it showed the variety of our community. It made
people stop and think that the person they’re dealing with may be gay or lesbian." On the other
hand, he said, "Using a title is not coming out all of the way."
At least two'women who used their full names received death threats over the phone. Both
declined to have their names used in this article. Although they were shaken up by the incident,
the women said they would still use their names in next year’s ad. They characterized the
response of the Atlanta city police to the call as "exceptional."
In addition to calling the police, the two women called Cathy Woolard, president of the
ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter. Woolard stressed that it was important that people
who were experiencing anti-gay/lesbian crime call the police, and then call her. She may be
reached at (4W) 378-8312.
"The thing that infuriated me about this was the low probability that this guy is a murderer
versus the high probability that people will go back into the closet-tighten the locks-when they
hear about this," said one woman.
"If more people were willing to take the risk, fewer of us would have to bear the brunt of this
type of hatred, the other woman added. "Think about how many (gay and lesbian) people are in
Atlanta, and how few people participated in the ad."
-Chris Duncan