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Page 11
Vol. 1, No. 21 Taking Pride in Our Culture December 8,1988
Atlantans Prepare
to Challenge
Operation Rescue
Atlanta-A coalition of progressive groups
is preparing to mount a major counter
offensive to help neutralize the upcoming
assault on the city by Operation Rescue.
The anti-abortion group Operation
Rescue is scheduled to return to Atlanta
from December 7th through December 10th.
This time, Jerry Falwell, the ultraconser
vative founder of the Moral Majority, will
conduct a conference on anti-abortion
protests designed to draw more participants
to the cause. Operation Rescue targeted
Atlanta during the Democratic National
Convention last July. Since that time, more
than 1200 of its members have been arrested
for blocking access to abortion clinics
during numerous protests where they have
harassed women who choose to have
abortions. Falwell's conference will take
place at the Omni Hotel on Thursday,
December 8th.
Coalition Opposing Operation Rescue
(COOR) will hold a demonstration at the
Marietta Street lobby entrance of the hotel
from 11:30am to 12:30 pm.
On Friday and Saturday COOR members
and supporters will help escort women into
the clinics where Operation Rescue takes its
forces. COOR members want to build a
mass resistance movement in Atlanta. They
note that the attitude of waiting for the anti
abortion protests to fizzle out has not
worked here, whereas in cities like Boston,
where Operation Rescue was met by huge
pro-choice demonstrations, the attacks on
abortion clinics have failed.
Rita Barnes of the Atlanta Feminist
Women's Health Center and COOR noted
that the Supreme Court is now considering
whether to reexamine the Roe vs. Wade
decision that legalized abortion in the
United States. Restrictions on public
funding of abortion are already being
enacted in several states, even though polls
show most people favor allowing women to
choose without government interference.
One COOR member pointed out, "This
whole thing is not just about abortion, it's
about oppression.
"After women," he said, "they'll go after
gays, blacks, and others."
COOR is made up of a wide-ranging
collection of local organizations. The
December 8 th demonstration, for example,
is officially sponsored by at least 15
organizations, including the All People's
Congress, Black Women's Health Project,
New Jewish Agenda, Planned Parenthood,
Refuse and Resist, Charis Books, Georgia
Women's Political Caucus, and Southern
Voice. For more information on the
December 8th demonstration and other
COOR activities, call 365-5311 or
351-7105.
PAMELA J. COLE
Atlanta is the newest and fastest growing member of the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America (LGBA). The band
will perform "bar raids" as fundraisers over the holidays. Watch for them to come marching through your favorite
bar-and be generous when the hat is passed.
Nat f l Leaders Call for Political Visibility at Conference
San Drego-Participants at the Fourth
National Conference of Gay/Lesbian Public
Officials approved the formation of the Gay
and Lesbian Leadership Political Action
Committee (GALLPAC) according to the
San Diego Gay Times. The 100 politicos
present issued a statement at the end of the
conference calling for more gay/lesbian
visibility in the political arena.
San Francisco attorney Roberta
Achtenberg will organize the formation of
GALLPAC, which will financially assist
gay men and lesbians seeking election and
appointment to public office.
"We encourage gay and lesbian public
officials to be open in public, creating as
much visibility as possible," the statement
read. "We must work for proportional
representation by getting more lesbians and
gay men appointed, including lesbian and
gay people of color."
A Saturday morning panel discussion,
"Working with the Bush Administration,"
prompted a fiery discussion between
Democrats and Republicans on the value of
coalition building in the Republican Party.
"We need to continue to push for gay
organizations that are truly non-partisan on
our issues," said Lunenberg, Mass, town
clerk Bob Ebersole. Ebersole is the first
openly gay Republican official elected in
the United States. He added, "We need to
keep the gay press accountable and make
sure that when we hold Republicans who
are anti-gay up for public ridicule, we do
the same thing to Democrats on an equal
Roberta Achtenberg
basis."
Boston City Councilor David Scondras
responded, "liie phrase 'gay Republican'
rings in my mind like Nazi Jew.'" He
contended that gay/lesbian civil rights were
a low priority for gay Republicans.
Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge
Rand Schrader called Scondras' comparison
"repugnant."
Speaking at the closing brunch, the
Honorable Mary Morgan, presiding judge
of the San Francisco Municipal Court said,
"Sometimes I get tired of being a
professional dyke.
"There are pressures from our
community to be and do everything," she
added. "People tend to focus all of their
hopes and all of their frustrations on us."
Next year's conference will be held in
Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the only
state to have criminalized gay/lesbian
discrimination. In announcing the site,
Madison's five openly gay elected officials
said, "We wish to show you the future in
practice, where non-discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation is the law of the
land."
- Chris Duncan
-F.G