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VIEWPOINTS
Guest Commentary
Opening the Lavender Suitcase
I suspect that to the long-time resident
of Atlanta, the skyscrapers of Midtown are
given objects of architectural wonder.
Piedmont Park is a commonplace patch of
green caught in the comer of an eye during
the rush hours. An abundance of gay bars
is natural, and publicly damning the archa
ic morality of certain factions of straight
society seems simply an inherent facet of
homosexual lifestyle.
To a codependent rural North
Carolinian fag who has only recently
arrived in this metropolis, perceptions of
the aforementioned are quite different. The
skyscrapers seem like a horde of metallic
phalli, the park an unshackled paradise of
same-sex hand holding and affection.
Twenty-four hours of opportunity to min
gle with other gay people is an unbeliev
able leisure, for in North Carolina the
nearest gay bar was a full hour's drive
from home. There dancing was impossible
because stoned neophytes in high heels fell
constantly into the paths of would-be
voyeurs.
The freedom to kiss another man in a
public place is foreign and not yet com
fortable—I still expect to see large men
toting shotguns notched with pink trian
gles lurking nearby every time my lips
pucker in the presence of a man. So, flying
a flag with horizontal rainbow stripes is
not something I'll soon do. For now, I'm
content to fly one colored band at a time
until I fully acclimatize and adapt to
Atlanta and its abundance of lesbian liber
ty and faggot freedom.
This adjustment will not be simple. I
moved to Atlanta two weeks ago, expect
ing that monogamy and the undiverted
attention of my lover would ease my
apprehension about the big city. Foolish
hopes—one night his eyes wandered to
another, then another, then another—leav
ing my heart cracked like an oyster split
out of spite by some mean child, then left
to dry in the merciless sun of a new envi
ronment. Although we still share the same
bed, and he still opts to have sex whenever
it pleases him, I feel lonely, abandoned,
pissed off, and curious about how the capi
tal of Southern homosexuality will relieve
the breakup blues.
And in North Carolina, AIDS was a
quiet myth that our tiny and sheltered gay
community of fifty people avoided with
ignorant trepidation. Here the tragedy
bleeds profusely. Remorseful guilt accom
panies me to Adanta. I now know for sure
that no sophomoric pretense will flush
HIV from the veins of the beautiful, intel
ligent friend I left in my hometown. A
quiet voice of reason, and my sole source
of loving empathy—he is but twenty years
old.
So it is in despair and excitement that I
begin to discover this city. Atlanta is a city
to dread and a city to cherish—an odd
symbiosis of concern and nonchalance,
kindness and selfishness, opportunity and
disadvantage. I intend to share my discov
eries of Atlanta through virgin eyes and
naive heart. I welcome comments and
advice.
Don J. Caufield
Hets Make More
Dear Editor:
I appreciated the issue on partners/
families and am responding to your
request for accounts of discrimination
which gay and lesbian partners suffer.
I am most acutely aware of the finan
cial discrimination we experience as
domestic partners who are not recognized
by the federal government nor by
employers.
Two years ago my partner of ten years
and I decided that I would quit working
temporarily while I finished my degree
and had a child by insemination. My part
ner carried most of the financial burden
for both of us, but when calculating her
income tax she was unable to claim me as
a spouse or a dependent and had to pay
taxes according to the rates of an unmar
ried individual. Fortunately she was able
to claim our child as a dependent "foster
child" even though I am the biological
mother. Obviously if we could have filed
as a married with one child, our savings
would have been substantial.
Since my partner and I were taking on
the tremendous responsibility of parent
ing, I could not even consider the risk of
not having health insurance. My partner
works for an employer who does not rec
ognize domestic partners and thus we had
to purchase a separate policy for myself
and my baby. Needless to say, this was a
considerable expense. Now we are plan
ning a second child, but this time the issue
of medical insurance is a much more seri
ous obstacle since the rates have escalated
dramatically in the last two years.
Spousal and dependent benefits are a
very important part of an employee's finan
cial remuneration. Although not paid out to
the employee as part of one's salary (i.e.
paycheck), they amount to very real dol
lars. In essence, married heterosexuals are
paid more than gay and lesbian couples for
the same job.
Name Withheld
"Fellow
Creatures"
Editor:
You recently printed a notice in the
"Events" section of the Calendar announc
ing a fourth of July pig roast sponsored by
Fourth Tuesday. The announcement ended
with, "Everyone will enjoy it but the pig."
Our group emerged out of an awareness
of the juxtaposition of the oppressions of
women, people of color, gays and lesbians,
and animals in our culture. Any living
being who is not male, white, heterosexual
and human in this society is treated and
labeled as "other." Once a being is thus
objectified, "it" is seen only for its useful
ness to the powers that be, with no regard
for the need of the "other." Thus are vari
ous forms of slavery and exploitation bom.
Additionally, lesbians are "invisible" in
this culture, because they are of no "use"
to the power. In a similar fashion, animals
are seen, not for their intrinsic "being
ness," but for the ways in which they can
be used for food, clothing, medical experi
mentation, etc.
For these reasons, the members of our
group have chosen a vegetarian lifestyle,
and wear no clothing of animal origin. We
are very sensitized to examples of oppres
sion of our sister beings, the animals. We
were, therefore, individually, and as a
group, offended by the printing of the
above-mentioned notice in your newspa
per, which is so acutely aware of the rights
of all human "beings." We ask you, there
fore, to refrain from printing material in
the future which may contribute to the
oppression of our nonhuman sentient fel
low creatures, the animals.
Patricia Crowley, Denise Messina,
Maria Helena Dolan, Margaret Brown,
Peggy Dunn, Nan MacMahon,
Linda A. Geary
Fightin' Words
Dear Editor,
CALL ME GAY and I will SMILE.
CALL ME A FAGGOT, and I am
ready to FIGHT, and I have kicked some
ass.
Again, thanks for the Southern Voice,
and best of luck.
Gary Lary Nickus
Correction
There were apparently two
errors in our article on the New
Pacific Academy in issue #12.
According to Luke Adams, co
founder of the NPA, the Academy
did officially back the students'
demonstration against the
Midnight Sun on June 30. Also,
the $200,000 raised by New
Pacific went to funding this year's
program; to date, no money has
been raised for next year. We
apologize for the misunderstand
ing.
Viewpoints is intended to provide a continuing forum for the lesbian and gay community. We encourage
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The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Southern Voice.
samnaiK*
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Southern Voice/August 16,1990
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