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SOUTHERN
VOCE
Vol. 2, No. 10
Taking Pride in Our Culture
July 6,1989
VanderEls Wins Latest Round
Clayton County Judge Who Took Custody Away from Mother
Because of Sexual Orientation, Removed from Case
Leigh VanderEls won a major victory June 23
in her three-year-long battle to regain custody of
her son, when Clayton County Superior Court
Judge Stephen E. Boswell removed the original
trial judge from the case.
Boswell found that there was an air of
impropriety involved when Clayton County
Superior Court Judge William Ison discussed the
case with VanderEls' supervisor at the time, Ann
Plant. Boswell also ruled in VanderEls' favor on
a question of whether or not motions in the case
had been filed in a timely manner.
Commenting on the victory, VanderEls said,
'Tm ecstatic. I feel it's the first positive ruling I've
had since the case began three years ago.
"It certainly gives me some hope for the
future," she added.
Ison was alleged to have spoken with Plant
regarding VanderEls' position with the Clayton
County Department of Family and Children
Services (DFACS) after he ordered then 7-year-
old Chase Ryan removed from Ms. VanderEls'
home and placed with his biological father
instead.
Leigh VanderEls, who has fought for almost
three years to regain custody of her son, can
now seek a new hearing. In an order signed
June 23, the judge who ruled against
VanderEls because of her sexual orientation,
was removed from the case.
Michael Hauptman, who is VanderEls'
attorney as well as president of the Georgia
ACLU, told Southern Voice that Boswell's ruling
clears the way for his client to seek a new trial.
VanderEls began her legal battle in January,
1987 after Ison ruled in favor of a petition by her
ex-husband to change the original divorce decree
and grant custody of their son to the father.
VanderEls' appeal is based on her allegation
that Ison showed undue prejudice against her
sexual orientation when he discussed her case
with her employer.
Ison admitted on the stand in Boswell's
courtroom that he granted custody to the father
solely because of VanderEls' sexual orientation.
He stated that he felt the change of custody was
"in the best interest of the child."
In papers filed with the court, VanderEls
alleged that upon ruling against her in the
custody case in 1987, Ison instructed someone
from the district attorney's office to contact Ann
Plant, director of the Clayton County DFACS
where VanderEls was employed as a foster care
and adoptions caseworker. The person from the
D.A.'s office allegedly told Plant to call Ison
about the VanderEls case. Plant told VanderEls,
subsequent to her conversation with Ison, that
she had no choice but to remove VanderEls from
her casework position.
Plant allegedly stated that VanderEls would
be a detriment to the department if she was called
to testify in a child welfare case and placed her in
a position where she had no client contact. That
conversation, VanderEls maintains, led her to
leave her her job at DFACS because she "had no
future there."
During his testimony before Boswell, Ison
denied that he had initiated contact with Plant
He maintained that Plant had contacted him to
ask for "advice" on what to do about an
upcoming promotion for VanderEls to a position
in Child Protective Services.
Plant however, testified that she was told to
contact Ison by Bob Keller, district attorney for
Clayton County, at which time they did discuss
Ihecase.
That conversation, whatever was said, was
enough to convince Boswell that Ison should be
removed from the case.The ruling also clears the
way for VanderEls to request a new hearing.
If a new hearing is granted, Chase VanderEls
could be living with his mother again before
school opens this fall.
Asked about her feelings on that, VanderEls
said, "I had pretty much given up hope, and now
this ruling has given me a renewed sense of hope,
... and a small amount of faith in the justice
system. _
- Chris Duncan
Pride '89 - USA
More than one million people participated
in Lesbian and Gay Pride events held around
the country this year in honor of the 20th
anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots. The
following is a city-by-city count of some of
the celebrations held nationwide.
▼ Atlanta - 2,000
▼ Birmingham - 250
T Boston - 50,000
T Chicago - 90,000
▼ Dallas - 9,000
T Los Angeles - 200,000
T Louisville, KY - 300
▼ Miami, FL-3,700
▼ Nashville, TN-500
▼ New York-150,000
▼ Philadelphia -1,000
T Ralcigh/Durham - 3,000
▼ San Francisco - 300,000
▼ Seattle - 20,000
T Washington, D.C. -10,000
2,000+ Atlantans Turn Out
For Lesbian and Gay Pride '89
JO GIRAUDO
Members of ACT UP show their spirit and pride in Atlanta's Lesbian/Gay Pride March
which was described by many as "the best ever."
Superlatives flashed through the crowd gathered for the 1989 Lesbian and Gay Pride Day
like wildfire-this year, they said, was the hottest, the biggest and the best Pride Day ever.
Records show that the march held on Saturday, June 24 was not quite the hottest or the
biggest, but there is no denying the renewed sense of community and pride were a welcome
relief to what has been a contentious year of the gay and lesbian community here. The
various factions who regularly fight among themselves turned their swords to the front for
the one day a year that everyone is bound by a single purpose-pride in self and others for
standing up to bigotry.
The theme for this year's pride festivities was "Stonewall: Reasons to Remember," in
honor of the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots. Stonewall is credited as the
birthplace of the modem iesbian/gay human rights movement The Atlanta crowd echoed the
feeling of Stonewall on Saturday with more than 2,000 marchers and participants at a rally
held later that day in Piedmont Park.
This year's march was one of the most integrated and representative marches ever held in
Atlanta. Throughout the day, men and women walked arm-in-arm, people of color were
visible in the crowd more than ever (though still not in proportion to their percent of the pop
ulation), radical faeries laughed along with wimmin at themselves and each other, the local
leather/levi club served as parade marshalls, and the newly-elected leatherhunks Mr. and Ml.
Southeast Drummer gave a lift to drag queens when their float broke down in mid-parade.
Yes, parade.
This year marked the first time that Atlanta's celebration of Lesbian and Gay Pride
included substantial aspects of a parade. For the first time, Atlanta had its own lesbian and
gay marching band (The Pride of Peachtree), as well as a grand marshall, Deana Collins of
Deana’s One Mo' Time, and
several gaily bedecked floats.
As one Atlanta native put it,
"We kept stepping away from
the march to look back and
ahead to see just how many
people were really there.
"And each time we did,
someone would start cheering
just for the sheer numbers we
had, and the crowd's energy
level would go up another
notch."
That energy level reached
EVETT BENNETT
critical mass when the marchers an( j Lena Shearer, from "up north," joined 2,000
streamed into Piedmont Park, Atlantans at Piedmont Park after the march for a full
where organizers had scheduled day of entertainment
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