Newspaper Page Text
VOCE
Public Safety's
Record on
Hate Crimes
Vol.2, No. 4
Taking Pride in Our Culture
April 13,1989
AID Atlanta May
Have to Share
Funds With Other
Organizations
AID Atlanta may have to share a $140,000 allotment
next year with at least five other AIDS agencies,
legislators confirmed last week. The money is a
continuation of funding from the previous year, which
totalled $100,000 at that time, and was then dedicated
solely to AID Atlanta.
The funds arc a part of a $1 million AIDS education,
prevention and service funding package approved by
the 1989 General Assembly.
State Rep. Bob Holmes (D-Atlanta) announced at a
Helping Hands, Inc. fund-raising event that five Atlanta
organizations would share in the appropriation totalling
$ 140,000, although a spokesperson at the Georgia
Department of Human Resources (DHR) said she was
still awaiting corroboration of the "redirection" of the
money.
Hie five agencies which Holmes said will share in
the state funds for the next fiscal year, beginning July 1,
are Qiildkind, Outreach, Inc., the Atlanta chapter of the
National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA),
Project Open Hand, and Jerusalem House. All five
currently receive partial funding from Helping Hands,
Incas well as technical assistance in grant-writing
proposals.
George Sinclair, public relations officer for AID
Atlanta, told Southern Voice on Wednesday he was
unaware that the appropriation apparently will be
shared by AID Atlanta and the other five agencies.
"The money is earmarked for us,” he said.
Holmes, who is a member of the House
Appropriations Committee and the Budget
Subcommittee, said Thursday there had been "no
attempt to exclude AID Atlanta" from the
appropriation, but he felt that the money could be more
wisely spent by allowing other groups to share in the
allotment in addition to AID Atlanta. Holmes said AID
Atlanta "has a focus primarily on adult males," and that
other groups serve more diverse demographics, such as
minorities, children and infants, and IV drug users
suffering from AIDS.
Holmes said that "any group is eligible to apply" for
the new funds prior to July 1. He said he will be
sending out a letter "in a couple of weeks" to all groups
in Atlanta that may have an interest in applying.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson in the DHR, Joann
Chance, said Thursday that the $140,000 remains
officially earmarked solely for AID Atlanta, but said
she had heard that the appropriations may by "re
directed." Chance said she had yet to hear from Rep.
Lauren McDonald (D-Commcrcc), chairman of the
House Appropriations Committee, "to see what is the
intent of the committee."
Chris Hagin of Atlanta, who is registered as a
lobbyist with both Metro Business Publications and
Georgia AIDS Lobby, said he recommended to Holmes
in February that AID Atlanta be excluded altogether
from any future appropriations. "I told Rep. Holmes
that the money would be better spent with (the Helping
Hands) organizations," Hagin said. "The money is
going to be spent better now and will go farther."
Requests for funding from the $140,000
appropriation, Holmes said, will be evaluated by the
DHR, members of the House Appropriations Budget
Subcommittee, and by the legislative budget staff.
-Matt Moline
Celebration '90 - Gay Games III and Cultural Festival, the world's preeminent gay/lesbian athletic event, will be
hosted by a city other than San Francisco for the first time since it s founding in 1982. The 8-day amateur sporting and
artistic extravaganza will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, August 4-11,1990. Organizers expect over 10,000
entrants to participate in th$ 28 sports competitions or the still evolving artistic venues. See story, page 11.
NGLTF Issues "Report Cards" on 100th Congress
Lewis and Darden Shine,
Nunn and Fowler Flunk
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) distributed
Report Cards evaluating the records of all 535 Members of the
100th Congress to activists around the country. Each
Congressperson's voting record was tracked on a variety of issues
important to the lesbian and gay community such as: civil rights
legislation, anti-lesbian and gay violence, federally-funded
programs and educational materials regarding the AIDS epidemic,
and anti-discrimination provisions for disabled people including
PWAs, PWARCs, and those who are HIV positive.
"The Report Cards are our way of holding Members of Congress
accountable to their lesbian and gay constituents," said Jeffrey Levi,
executive director of NGLTF. "We want to make sure that the
promises politicians make are reflected by their voting records."
The report cards reveal that while many Members of Congress
support lesbian and gay issues, a great deal of educational work
remains to be done. NGLTF found that over half the Members of
the House of Representatives (56%) earned a grade of 'A' or TT, and
almost three-quarters (72%) earned a passing grade by voting with
the NGLTF position at least 60% of the time. By contrast, only
one-third of the Senators (34%) earned a passing grade of any kind,
and 66 Senators received an 'F.
The report cards from Georgia's House Delegation revealed few
surprising results. Rep. John Lewis (D-5) proved that new members
of Congress can take a stand for civil rights issues and still gain
respect and authority by scoring a perfect 100% with his voting
record. At the bottom of the list were former Rep. Pat Swindall (R-
4) and Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-6) with 29% and 31% respectively.
Both Representatives, along with Rep. Doug Barnard (D-10) were
the only members of the Georgia delegation to vote against the Civil
Rights Restoration Act Barnard, it should be noted, scored near the
bottom with 56% while missing 41 % of the votes tallied in this
survey. The big surprise of the 100th Congressional Session came
from Rep. George 'Buddy' Darden (D-7) who scored a whopping
96% on his report card. This extraordinary score earns Darden the
distinction of being targeted by NGLTF to become a cosponsor of
the federal lesbian and gay civil rights bill (Rep. Lewis is already a
cosponsor). Constituents of Rep. Darden are urged to either call or
write letters of support for co-sponsorship of the bill. Also worth
noting is the fact that every member of the Georgia House
delegation supported the Hate Crimes Statistics AcL
Georgia's Senate Delegation presented few surprises with Sen.
Fowler scoring an unimpressive 50% and Sen. Nunn trailing closely
with 46%. Sen. Fowler's only break with Sen. Nunn came with his
support of DC Home Rule vis-a-vis the DC AIDS Insurance Bill
which prohibits insurers from discrimination against individuals
who are HIV positive, perceived to be HTV positive, or are at risk
for HIV infection. Given the fact that Fowler supported every
Helms amendment included in this survey, one might conclude that
Fowler supports DC's right to Home Rule, but does not necessarily
have enlightened views regarding discrimination against PWAs,
lesbians and gay men. Georgia ranks in the top 10 nationally in
number of AIDS cases, but the Senate delegation, according to their
records, are not displaying stronger leadership with regard to
progressive AIDS-related legislation.
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