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COMMUNITY
AALGA- African American Lesbian/Gay Alliance. 1st Sunday of
each month. 4:00 PM. Ashby and Gordan Street. A political and
social organization for black lesbians and gay men.
PO Box 50374, Atlanta, Ga., 30302 691-5921 or 297-8815.
ACLU/LG-ACLU/Lesbian &Gay Chapter. 3rd Wednesday of
each month. Peachtree Branch Library. 7:30 PM. Working for
the civil rights of lesbians and gay men in the metropolitan
Atlanta area. 231-5991.
ACT- Atlanta Couples Together. A non-political, non-religious,
social organization whose purpose is to support the positive
aspects of gay and lesbian relationships. Events and meetings
vary. Info: A.C.T. Voice Mailbox, 365-2455, or writE PO Box
723291, Atlanta, Ga., 30339.
ACT UP/Atlanla-AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power Direct
action group with the purpose of fighting homophobia, AIDS,
sexism and racism. Meetings held every Tuesday at 7:30 PM at
131 Ponce de Leon, Suite 233. 24-hr. info line - 286-6247.
Outside Atlanta, call 800-342-7038 ext. 6247.
AFC- Atlanta Faerie Circle. 1st Sunday of each month. Location
and time varies. Gay men gathering for support and to explore
their connections with the earth and white light- 6224112.
AGC- Atlanta Gay Center. 876-5372 Operated primarily by vol
unteers, AGC offers services for lesbians and gays men as well as
educational out-reach to society as a whole. Help Line-892-0661.
AGMC- Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. A semi-professional com
munity-oriented chorus of male voices. Membership open to all
interested singers and non-singers alike. 378-9676.
AGLA- Athens Gay & Lesbian Association, at the University of
Georgia. All welcome at meetings, 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of
every month; call 404/548-0580 for more information
ALACC- Atlanta Lesbian Agenda Conference Committee. A
diverse group of lesbians helping to organize the 1st National
Lesbian Agenda Conference to be held in Atlanta in 1990 or
1991. For info call 378-9769.
ALFA- Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance. 2nd Sunday of each
month. 6:00 PM. A lesbian feminist organization which wel
comes lesbians of all races, religions, political orientation, eco
nomic status, occupation and degree of openness. Write PO Box
5502 Atlanta, Ga. 30307 for more info and to request newsletter.
A LG PC- Atlanta Lesbian/Gay Pride Committee. 2nd Tuesday of
each month. 7:30 PM. Unitarian Universalist Church Needs vol
unteers to coordinate this year's lesbian and gay pride March to
insure its success.
AMC- Atlanta March Committee- More Than a Phase.2nd and
4th Tuesday of each month 7:30 PM. North Highland Branch
Library. A community based activist organization that works
toward promoting lesbian and gay rights through educational,
social, cultural, and political events. 377-8312
APAC Atlanta Pro-Choice Action Committee - Join Atlanta's
newest abortion-rights activist group in defending women's health
clinics. A non-profit, non-partisan, nonviolent broad-based orga
nization created to support the right to reproductive freedom for
all people. 239-8016 for information. Our bodies, our lives, our
right to decide.
AVS- Atlanta Venture Sports. Activities and meetings vary. An
association in which the membership enjoys recreational, social,
educational, and sports activities. 2424899.
AID Atlanta- A community-based, non-profit agency providing
multiple services to all people with AIDS, their families and
friends, and education to everyone regarding the disease and its pre
vention. 1132 W. Peachtree St. (Entrance 13th Street). 872-0600.
AIDS Inro Line-876-9944 (Atlanta);l-800-551-2728 (State-
wide).Answers to questions about AIDS, referrals, etc., by trained
volunteers staffing phone lines from 9:00 AM-900 PM daily. A
public service of ADD Atlanta and the Ga. DHR.
Atlanta Business & Professional Guild- A non-profit service
organization comprised of both gay/lesbian and non-gay profes
sionals and businesspersons. 2nd Tuesday of each month. Place
varies. Membership and further info: 6624202
Atlanta Feminist Women's Chorus- A community-oriented
choral group of women's voices. Membership is open to all
women interested in singing. Chorus practice held each Sunday,
4:30-7:00 PM at the First Existentialist Church at
470 Candler Pk. Dr. 355-8894 or 4354498.
Atlanta Lambda Chorale- A community-oriented choral group
for both men and women. Membership open to all singers and
non-singers alike. Rehearsals every Tuesday at MCC-Blessed
Redeemer, 800 N. Highland Ave. 7:30 PM. 874-1622
BWMT- Black and White Men Together. 1st Saturday of each
month.8:00 PM. Location varies. A gay inter-racial organization
committed to fostering a supportive environment wherein racial
and cultural barriers can be over-come and the goal of human
equality realized. 794-BWMT.
Circle of Healing- 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month.7:30 PM.
Fust Existentialist Church. The Circle is open to anyone in need
of healing, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. 378-5570
CODA-Codependents Anonymous- Lambda. A 12-step program
of recovery from codependency for gays and lesbians. Meetings
Tues. & Wed. at 8 PM. For info and locations call: 239-1657.
Chrysalis - A women's center providing social, educational and
informational programs and services for the community. 2045
Manchester. For info call (404) 881-6300.
Congregation Bet Haverim- Services 1st and 3rd Friday of each
month at 8:30 PM. Shabbat Seder, 2nd Friday of each month at
7:30 PM. All Saints Episcopal Church. Proudly serving the les
bian and gay community. Info line: 642-3467.
Delphi- A fraternity of gay men, offering recreation, fellowship,
and idealism. P.O. Box 14591, Atlanta, GA 30324.
ELGO- Emory Lesbian & Gay Organization Meetings every
Wed. at 7:30 PM. Room 362E Dobbs University Center.
Box 23515, Emory Univ., Atlanta, Ga. 30322. 727-6692.
First MCC Atlanta- Sunday Services at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM
evangelistic service. Mid-week services on Wednesday at 7:30
PM.800 N. Highland Ave. Office hours Noon-6:00 PM.Tuesday-
Friday.A Christian church proclaiming God's love for lesbians
and gay men. Counseling available by appointment for individu
als and couples. Same sex Holy Unions performed. 872-2246.
Fourth Tuesday-A networking organization for lesbian profes
sionals and entrepreneurs, operating through monthly dinner
meetings and a variety of special social, sports and educauonal
events. P. O. Box 7817, Atlanta, GA 30309,6624353.
F riends Atlanta- Activities and meetings vary. A social, recre-
auw ' -nd educational group for gays and lesbians. Volleyball,
bowling, au„ theater nights, and dances are among the activi
ties. 6624501.
Friends of Zoo Atlanta- Support organization for Zoo Atlanta.
For info regarding crxporate sponsorship, membership, volunteers
and adopt-an-animal call (404) 525-9936. Morc-Fri., 9AM-5PM.
GAA- Gay Atheists of America. Meetings social in nature and at
members' discretion.To assure freedom of speech; freedom from
religion; to defend the separation of church and state; to assist in
obtaining civil rights for gays and lesbians, and to offer non
believers an alternate social scene. 875-8877.
GALA- Georgia Tech Gay and Lesbian Alliance. Weekly meetings.
676-1324. GALA, Programs Area, GA Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332
GLSA- Ga. State Gay and Lesbian Student Alliance. Day meet
ings on Wed. 10:10am, Rm 904 General Classroom Bldg. (Nov.8
mtg. in 804 GCB). Info: 651-3636 or 3524570. GLSA, Box 506
University Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30303.
GANG - Greater Atlanta Natunst Group. For gay men who enjoy
nude outdoor and social activities. Not a sex club. Nude camping,
swimming, parties, etc. several times per month. For info send
SASE to: GANG, PO Box 7546, Atlanta, GA 30357.
GAPAC- Greater Atlanta Political Awareness Coalition.
Meetings vary. The gay and lesbian political action committee
monitoring and acting in the local political scene. 368-7420.
GLPCI- Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International. 1st and
3rd Sunday of each month. 7:30 PM. Unitarian Universalist
Church. A support group for lesbian and gay parents. 296-8369.
Gay & Lesbian Pride March-1990-PO Box 5643, West
Columbia, SC 29171. (803) 796-3615,252-9455,2714207.
The Group- Thursday nights. Call the Gay Help Line at
892-0661 or write PO Box 15191, Atlanta, Ga. 30333. A support
group for gay and bisexual men who are or who have been
involved in marital-type situations with women
Hotlanta Volleyball-Serious and amateur players are welcome
to join Members compete in tournaments and regulation league
play. Clinics held during the year to learn and practice new tech
niques. Call 875-0700 for info.
Human Rights Campaign Fund- (HRCF-Atlanta) The nation’s
largest Lesbian & Gay political + lobbying organization
P.O. Box 8594, Atlanta, GA 30306, Phone 365-8766.
Integrity- Gay Caucus of the Episcopal Church. 2nd and 4th
Friday of each month. 7:30 PM. All Saints Episcopal Church-3rd
floor of Ellis Hall. 875-2720.
LAMP - The Living AIDS Memorial Park Project. Second
Monday of every month. 7:30PM. N. Highland Branch Library.
For info: 874-8969. Address: LAMP, PO Box 301,
1579-F Monroe Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30324.
LEGAL- Legislate Equality for Gays and Lesbians. A voice for
lesbians and gays in the Democratic party. Mtgs. on 3rd Mon of
the month. 7pm at Ptree Branch Library. P.O. Box 54167, Atlanta
30308. (404)286-7476.
LIFE- Lesbians in Fun Endeavors. Meeting times and locations
vary. Bringing professional gay women together for the fun of it,
giving them the opportunity to make friends and enjoy a wide
variety of events. 938-2009.
Lutherans Concerned/Atlanta- A Christian Ministry for
Lesbian and Gay Understanding. Please contact us at P.O. Box
13673, Atlanta, GA 30324.636-7109.
Lutherans Concerned/South Carolina- A society of gay les
bian and non-gay Christians. All denominations welcome. We
wotk to foster a climate of understanding, justice and reconcilia
tion among all people. 3rd Sunday of each month. 4:00PM. 728
Pickens St., Columbia, SC. Contact PO Box 90537, Columbia,
SC, 29290. (803) 732-0838.
MAAS- Metro Atlanta Astrological Society. A networking edu
cational/research organization for both amateur and professional
astrologers. Usually meet the 4th Wed. of each month. 622-5661
MACGLO- Metro Atlanta Council of Gay and Lesbian
Organizations. 3rd Thursday of each month. 7:00 PM. Peachtree
Branch Library. A representative council of lesbian and gay orga
nizations to facilitate the exchange of info. 242-2342
MCC All Sainls-Serving metro Atlanta with positive Christian
support for lesbians and gay men. 5:00 PM every Sunday.
575 Boulevard, SE Office hours: Mon-Thurs. lOAM-Noon, and
1PM4PM. 622-1154.
NAPWA- Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of People
with AIDS. Regular meetings and events. 131 Ponce de Leon,
Suite 233. A political, social, and educational organization con
fronting the AIDS crisis. Membership is open to all individuals
with AIDS, ARC or who are HIV positive. 874-7926.
The Names Project/Atlanta- A National AIDS Memorial.
Every Wednesday at 6:30PM at All Saints Episcopal Church.
Send correspondence to: 375 Georgia Ave., Atlanta, Ga. 30312
P-FLAG- Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. 3rd Sunday
of each month. 5-7 PM. Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of
Atlanta. Committed to help parents leant what we have learned.
To help change attitudes and create an environment of under
standing, so all gay people can live with dignity and respect.
961-6085 or 296-0830.
PLGC- Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concems/More Light
3rd Sunday of each month. Gays and lesbians gather over light
foods to celebrate their Presbyterian heritage. 373-5830.
Palmetto Gay/Lesbian Association - A support, education and
civil rights organization in S. Carolina. PO Box 10022,
Greenville, SC, 29603-0022.24hr. switchboard(803) 2714207.
Pride of Peachtree - Atlanta's Lesbian & Gay Marching
BandEvery Monday night 7:30PM-9:OOPM at First MCC,
800 N. Highland Ave. For info call 434-7826.
Project Open Hand - Prepares and serves meals to PWAs,
PWARCs unable to do so themselves. Volunteers needed for
organizing, kitchen and delivery. 248-1788.
SESA - Die Southeastern Sports Alliance is a fundraising, aware
ness and organizer for sports and cultural events leading up to
Celebration '90 Gay Games & Cultural Festival, Vancouver,
British Columbia. 875-0700.
SAME- Southeastern Arts, Media & Education Project, Inc.
Utilizes arts and media as tools for exploration, education, and
change in human rights, especially those of the lesbian/gay com
munity. 584-2104.
Southern Country Atlanta- A social organization which pro
motes country/westem dance and activities. We sponsor coun-
try/westem dance nights at three locations in Atlanta and some
out-of-town activities. Call 231-0805 for further info.
Speak Out- Provides you, the voter, an opportunity to let your
congressional representatives know how you feel concerning
AIDS & Civil Rights Matters. P.O. Box 8594, Atlanta, GA
30306, Phone 365-8766.
WOW- Women of Wisdom. Usually every 3rd Monday of each
month. 7:30 PM. N. Highland Branch Library. Facilitates women
meeting together with other women in a pleasant atmosphere.
Offers timely programs of interest to the community, reaches out
to older women and women with special needs. 984-9929.
OUT
LINES
Age: 29
Hometown: Newark,
Delaware
Relationship Status:
Married, but not dead!
Book currently reading:
Oscar Wilde,
by Richard Ellmann
Favorite politician:
Harvey Milk
Organizations involved with:
ACT-UP, Project Open Hand
Goals: To make a living
through my art.
m
l :: : - S. 9!
| X •*^ v v “
Karen Chance:
Mixing Art with Action
Art and politics definitely mix for Karen
Chance. Like many young artists, Karen
speaks with modesty and self-deprecation
about her work. But she speaks with articu
late intensity about her commitment to gay
activism.
Karen lives in Little Five Points in a sunny
top-floor apartment with lots of light, high
ceilings, simplicity, bright colors, a sense of
space. Fulton furniture, a comfortable rocking
chair. A hint of incense hovers in the air, a
tabby cat named Ben sits in quiet attendance.
A table gets maximum light. Over the table
hangs a huge bulletin board like a collage, full
of popular-culture images - Elvis and Priscilla
Presley, a picture of a Janie Geiser puppet,
one of the Rev. Howard Finster's little overall-
clad figures, fresh-faced, innocent, deceptive
ly childlike.
Also prominently visible is the painting
Karen did for Dede Vogt's album cover,
"Goliath Dreaming." In the picture, a nude
lavender woman curls asleep on a violet mat
tress on a red bedffame. A green-faced figure
in a hat and yellow shirt leans through a win
dow and plays a red accordion. A yellow ani
mal lies under the bed beside a pair of laven
der boots.
Karen speaks modesty about her art "My
art isn't intellectual. It isn't cutting edge stuff.
It's influenced by Southern folk art: kind of
primitive, brightly colored, flat - a lot of
detail, and small. I like to work small; I don't
like working on a large scale." The album
cover for Dede Vogt is her first, although she
hopes to do more. "I’d like to be able to sup
port myself by making images. I'd like to do
more magazine illustrations, album covers,
maybe children's books." At present, she does
freelance illustrations for the Journal
Constitution, and is planning a show of her
paintings in the spring with a local woman
photographer.
Karen's work uses autobiographical
images, images from gay sexuality. "I try to
work my politics into my art," she explains.
"People seem to enjoy my art; it's visually
pretty, and that makes people look at it. Then
they see that the message is darker than you
might expect at first glance."
An example is Parallax, a small art book
about homophobia that Karen created using
offset lithography. "It's one story on one side,
sort of a paranoid dream sequence of a
straight man. Then you turn it to the other
side and see a gay man and how he sees
straight people. Then at the end, the two men
have to share a space together. I don't put any
comment about whether they liked doing that,
only that they had to."
"There was a little bit of controversy about
the book because of its gay content. The pro
motional card was a drawing of two men kiss
ing and a policeman in the background."
Karen is political not only through the
images she uses in her art, but also by the
action she takes in her life. She participated in
the ACT-UP demonstration against the
sodomy law on January 8 and was one of the
demonstrators to be arrested.
She found the experience a positive one:
"Three men and myself wore pajamas over our
clothes, and put rubber shackles on our wrists
and shackled ourselves together, and lay down
in the street and blocked traffic. We had just
barely lain down when the police grabbed us."
Karen decided to take part in the ACT-UP
demonstration almost at the last minute: "I
had bear thinking that I wanted to do it. A lit
tle more than a week ago I lost a really good
friend to AIDS, and that cemented my desire
to participate."
"Our group was the John Howell group,
named after a neighborhood activist who died
of AIDS over a year ago, for whom a park in
Virginia Highlands has been named. He was a
man I met in Washington at the March. I
talked with him there, and I liked him a lot,
and so I chose that group."
Karen feels that direct action is valuable,
not only for the political results it may have,
but also for the effect it has upon the people
who participate: "I think it's important to do
something, not only for the cause, but for your
mental health as well. Demonstrating felt like
a good thing to do. It was a way to channel
my anger about the law's invasion of privacy."
"At a march, there's something about the
numbers that makes you feel less alone.
Dealing with people about gayness can be
really draining, reily exhausting. Especially
if your friends don't feel the same way you do
about gay rights, even if they are gay. And so
it's nice to find people who feel the way you
do, and who act on it."
Karat hopes to do more political work in
the future. She plans to become a member of
ACT-UP: "They’re really a wonderful group
of people. The Atlanta group is really solid.
Small, but they're intelligent, articulate, pas
sionate." And she expects to continue to work
and to grow as an artist: "I want to try differ
ent media. I'd like to push my drawing skills,
and really stretch my limits."
Pushing limits is one of the things Karen
does best. We can expect to see her bright col
ors and vivid dreamlike images in many places
in the future, and to see Karen herself wherev
er committed gay activists can be found.
- Charlene Ball
16/Southern Voice • January 18,1990