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Vol. 2, No. 14 Taking Pride in Our Culture August 31,1989
"Heart Strings:The National Tour
Kicks Off In Atlanta On Sept. 17
Heart Strings' national talent cast, chosen from across the country, joins
more than 500 Atlanta singers, dancers and musicians at the Fox on Sept. 17
for the kick off of "Heart Strings: The National Tour".
by Johnny Walsh
On September 17, 1989, "HEART STRINGS: The National Tour"
will premiere at The Fox Theater and begin a journey that will cover
15,000 miles and 35 cities across the country. The Tour will conclude at
New York's Beacon Theatre in March, 1990. Hoping to raise consciousness
about AIDS and at least $4,000,000 for direct care to people with AIDS
and education, "HEART STRINGS: The National Tour" is a project of
DIFFA, the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS. DIFFA is
headquartered in New York, and has local steering committees in major
U.S. cities. In 1988, DIFFA's local and national grants committees
reviewed applications and donated more than $1,000,000 in grants
establishing DIFFA as a leader in AIDS grants making.
Georgia Man Claiming To Be Lover Of
Late U.S. Rep McKinney Challenges Will
by Cliff O'Neil
A man claiming to have been the lover of
Rep. Stewart B. McKinney (R-Conn.) has
announced he will challenge the late
congressman's will and a physician's report
that McKinney contracted AIDS through a
blood transfusioa
Arnold R. Denson, a real estate agent now
living in Whitcsburg, Ga„ claims that he was
McKinney's lover for five years and that the
two shared a house in Washington while
McKinney's wife remained in Connecticut.
According to Denson, he also jointly owned
property in Whitesburg with McKinney under
the name Connga Associates.
McKinney, a liberal Republican and vocal
supporter of homeless and gay/lesbian rights,
died May 7, 1987 of AIDS related
complications shortly after spending the night
on the cold streets of Washington as part of
homeless rights demonstration.
As she did shortly after the congressman's
death, Lucie McKinney has denied
widespread reports of her husband's
homosexuality and insisted that he contracted
AIDS through a 1979 blood transfusioa
Denson, however, said that Mrs.
McKinney "had been aware of (her husband's
sexual orientation) for a number of years.
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Gays Need Not Apply To Be
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
by Kalan Brown
There are 471 children in the metro Atlanta
area waiting for a big brother or big sister to
be assigned to them. Volunteers - especially
male volunteers - are needed. But if you're
gay, or bisexual, you need not apply.
"It is the policy of the organization that we
match children heterosexually," said Anita
Joseph, executive director of Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Metro Atlanta. "We will match only
heterosexual volunteers, but we do not
discriminate against gay kids who are waiting
to be matched. So far, however, no kids...in
the program have acknowledged that they are
gay."
The Big Brothers Big Sisters organization
matches volunteers with children who need
role models, or perhaps just a little extra
attention from someone older, in their lives.
Usually the kids are from single parent
households where the parent spends a lot of
time working to support the family leaving
less time to spend with the child. Sometimes
the child participating in the program is
troubled and needs a good role model, or a
surrogate brother or sister, to help them sort
things out.
Volunteers are required to spend about four
hours a week, once a week, for a year with
their assignment. There are about 1,000
volunteers in the metro Atlanta area, which
covers Cobb, Gwinnett, Douglas, Fayette,
Fulton, DeKalb, Rockdale, Henry, Clayton
and Butts counties. Aferaging 1,100 matches
(volunteer to child) per year, so far 912
matches have been made in 1989, according to
Ms. Joseph.
A private agency, Big Brothers Big Sisters
raises its own money through individual and
corporate contributions. Ms. Joseph said
approximately 35 percent of funding for the
organization comes from United Way.
Volunteers are recruited through
commercials, presentations at companies,
brochures and other methods. Once
interested, they must pass a strict interview
process before they are matched with a child.
That process involves filling out an
application, allowing a case worker to visit
their home, gathering five character references
and going through an in-depth oral interview
which covers over 100 questions concerning
everything from relationships to drug use or
alcohol abuse.
While undergoing this rigorous interview
process, volunteers are carefully observed to
make sure they don't display any signs of
anger or other personality problems which
may indicate they might not be a good match
for a child, according to Ms. Joseph.
"It is not a personal thing," said the group’s
executive director. "We are not focusing on
sexual preference as a way of non-acceptance
and we don't correlate homosexuals with
pedophiles. We have matched children of
homosexual parents many times...we just have
a strict eligibility criteria. People who are just
married or who are just divorced are not
accepted either."
Excessive drinkers, drug usqrs, persons
with Driving Under the Influence records and
anyone with abuse or neglect charges are
screened out as well, explained Ms. Joseph.
"We have a complex matching system
which protects the volunteer, the parent and
the child from hurt All are interviewed as to
what they want from participation," said Ms.
Joseph.
Although driving records or past drug
abuse may be easily discovered by a check
with police or medical examination,
discovering a person's sexual preference is
more than likely determinable only through
that person's honesty about their relationships.
Big Brother Big Sister volunteers are expected
to be honest and encouraged to tell the truth
throughout their orientation process.
Paula Maiberger, a 26-year-old Decatur
CLEVB SEAY
Big Brothers/Big Sisters held their annual
picnic at Piedmont Park last Sunday.
woman, decided she would do just that and be
honest about her sexual preference, even
though the fact that the question, "Are you
heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual?" on the
application she filled out surprised her.
"I thought about lying, I mean they’d never
know," said Ms. Maiberger. "But they
stressed being honest and I wanted to be
honest. I was excited about participating and
they told us the sooner we got our references
to mail in their response and returned our
application, the sooner we'd be assigned [a
little sister.]"
A therapeutic recreation specialist, who
works in Atlanta, Ms. Maiberger said she
heard about Big Brothers Big Sisters when
recruiters form the organization came to her
place of employment at the beginning of June
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