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1989, The Year That Was... Is history just a "joke of questionable
by Gary Kaupman
1989. The final year of the decade. The year
that Bush replaced Reagan. The year that Georgia
AIDS cases exceeded 3000. And the 20th
anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the event gen
erally accepted as the beginning of the lesbian and
gay rights movement's current history.
Abraham Lincoln suggested that we cannot
escape history and that we "will be remembered
in spite of ourselves." Philosopher Joseph
Schumpeter offered a different take when he
quipped that "...history sometimes indulges in
jokes of questionable taste." Henry Ford simply
called it "more or less bunk."
All are probably right. But we're inclined to
go with Lincoln.
In that spirit here's a list of some of the local
events that contributed to the history of Atlanta's
gay and lesbian community circa 1989. But
because we are a community of tremendous
diversity and one that cherishes privacy, it's also
a list that is as notable for its omissions as it is
for the events that it recounts.
AIDS
March
• In a last minute maneuver lobbyists at the leg
islature were able to secure passage of a bill that
would extend Medicaid coverage to persons
(including PWA's) who receive Social Security
Disability Income. Especially important for
Georgia PWA's not served by Grady, the pro
gram doesn't go into effect until April 1, 1990
and only one quarter of funding was approved.
Call your legislators and demand that funding be
extended.
April
• ACT UP/Atlanta with support from New York
and Boston activists zaps the South Carolina
Legislature in protest of their repressive AIDS
legislation. S.C. activists claim the action is at
best counter productive. Privately, what they say
is scathing. Forty-one are arrested but the laws
aren't changed.
• The Metropolitan Community Foundation
released the first $500,000 of what is expected
to be $2 million in grants to local AIDS organi
zations. Approximately half the money comes
from the Ford Foundation, the rest is raised
locally with Heartstrings providing a lion's
share. Large as it is, the half million is only a
drop in the ever deepening AIDS bucket
May
• After more than a year of heated battle about
his competence, demeanor and general suitabili
ty for the job, AID Atlanta Executive Director
Buren Batson is out the door. The agency has
never fully recovered from the divisive depar
ture of previous Director Ken South and its
future looks grim.
• Eight members of the Board of AID Atlanta
resign and former Development Director Sandra
Thurman is appointed as Acting Director.
Survival of the agency remains in doubt.
July
• AID Atlanta's back in the news claiming a
"severe cash flow crunch" has caused the agency
to lay off one-third of its paid staff and saying
that it may have to close its doors by September
30 if close to $150,000 cannot be raised by that
time. An anonymous donor offers to kick in $1
for every $2 the agency raises before the end of
the year.
Ding Dong, Buren's gone.
August
• Once again, panels from the ever expanding
N' MES Project Quilt are shown in Atlanta.
■>t the names of Georgia residents who
ha, J.
September
• Heart Strings, Atlanta's glitzy, mainstream
AIDS Fundraiser, has gone national. This year's
show premiers in Atlanta and will tour to 35
cities across the country ending up in the Big
Apple in March of 1990. Promoters hope the
tour will net $4 million in funds for direct care
and education.
• Project Open Hand is one of 30 local charities
who benefit from A Cause for Celebration at
Macy's Lenox. Not yet a year old, Open Hand is
already feeding over 100 PWA's daily and gar
nering great P.R.
October
• Sandy Thurman, who has been Acting
Executive Director of AID Atlanta, has been
appointed Executive Director. Under Thurman,
whose style is tough but gracious, the beleaguered
agency appears to be on the road to recovery.
• The Atlanta AIDS Research Consortium is the
only such group in the Southeast to be awarded a
grant from the NIAID as a member of that agen
cy's new Community Programs for Clinical
Research on AIDS initiative. The grant is for
$307,000 and will be used for drug trials on
numerous stages of HIV disease. ACT UP
protests are given part of the credit for NIAID's
establishment of the CPCRA program.
December
• Mr. Carter's Presidential Center which has
caused more than a little distress to local activists
because of it's position on the dread Parkway
redeemed itself a bit by co-sponsoring a national
religious consultation: AIDS—The Moral
Imperative: A Call to National Leadership.
Could something on homophobia be in the
works, too ?
Community
January
• The contingent of 80 or so mostly white gay
men and lesbians marching in the 4th Annual
Martin Luther King Day Parade was larger than
ever before, but participants continued to note
their fear at the amount of hostility directed
toward their number.
March
• Fourth Tuesday presents it's first Business
Expo, a task formerly handled by the Atlanta
Business and Professional Guild. Despite a
truckload of bumps and pot holes in its re-orga
nizational process, or maybe because of them,
the lesbian professional and networking organi
zation continues phenomenal growth.
• Amidst controversy about when, how and a
pelthora of other planning issues, organizers
agreed to hold the first ever National Lesbian
Agenda Conference in Atlanta in 1991. Sounds
like a whole lot more fun than the Demo's or the
Olympics to us, but will the Atlanta Visitors and
Convention Bureau be as happy to hear about it?
April
• PWA Joe Tomlin, volunteer and Board
Member of AID Atlanta and Project Open Hand
died of the disease that he spent his last several
years fighting with style. Rest peacefully, Joe.
• The Atlanta Gay Center, Commissioner of
Public Safety George Napper and the
Lesbian/Gay Police Advisory Board are
embroiled in a battle par excellence over the
severity of hate crimes directed against gays and
the way to deal with the problem. Nobody wins.
• In a well intentioned but poorly orchestrated
move, representatives from the Georgia DHR pre
sented MACGLO with a plan that would promote
the foster parenting of HIV positive babies by les
bians and gay men. DHR, however, was unable to
offer protection from homophobic harassment for
the families thus created. Nice try.
May
• AIDS activists and their supporters pack the
glitzy new City Council chambers for a Zoning
Review Board Hearing on Jerusalem House, a
proposed residence for PWA's located in posh
Druid Hills. When the smoke clears, easy
approval follows. The much needed housing is
in operation by fall. An excellent example of
how good planning and a just cause can over
come severe opposition. Congrats to all.
Pam Martin's smiling face and unique
activism - both departed in '89
• Pam Martin, recently moved from Atlanta to
Minneapolis, dies one day after her 43d birthday
from complications caused by an intestinal tumor.
Well known locally for her work with ALFA and
Fat Dykes, the interminably cheerful Martin was a
veritable fount of radical ideas and action.
• Family and friends of gay/lesbian and neigh
borhood activist John Howell who died of AIDS
last year, gather in a pouring rain as a park is
officially dedicated in his name. It is the first
dedication of public property to an openly gay
person in the city of Atlanta. As ceremonies
draw to a close, the clouds part and sun reigns
down. Thanks, John.
• For the sixth time in as many years, thousands
of lesbians, gay women, dykes, feminists and
wimmin' gathered in the North Georgia moun
tains for a weekend of workshops, comedy,
song, bare breasts and other fine fun.
June
• Two hundred and fifty plus lesbians and gay
men gathered for the second annual Pride Prom
at the Inman Park Trolley Bam. Such costumes !
• Three weeks of varied and exciting Pride activi
ties are capped by a National Day of Mourning on
June 30th, the all too recent anniversary of the
Supreme Court's decision in the Hardwick Case.
Movement on Georgia's neolithic sodomy statute
We're in the business of
putting your business or
organization in the public eye.
From
To
and everything in-between that makes
an event special or even a bad team look
good. (You know who you are.)
Yes, Southern Voice Readers now have a
friend in the advertising promotion business. I
promise however , never to do a radio ad.
Your Friend,
Julie Ellis
874-8656
P.S. No matter how crazy you may think your
idea is, chances are we can produce it. •
Qr&Zy Creative People helping creative
people.— Total Approach
A!Southern Voice • January 4,1990