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NEWS
Metro Gays and Lesbians Sweep
Demo Convention Caucuses
Local media mum on LEGAL's most successful sweep in two years
by Ian Ginsburg and Andrea K. Brown
Atlanta—In a quiet grassroots "blitzkrieg," metro area
lesbians and gay men have won the majority of seats in six
districts to the Georgia Democratic Convention, to be held
September 8th at the Georgia World Congress Center. The
August 17 move was organized by LEGAL (Legislate
Equality for Gays And Lesbians); it took even Democratic
party veterans by surprise.
Openly gay/lesbian candidates and their friends took
seats in three additional districts as part of the LEGAL
action.
In Cobb County, three gay and lesbian delegates, not part
of the LEGAL platform, were elected to the State
Convention.
Delegates to the State Democratic Convention adopt
party policy and legislative platforms, as well as nominate
and elect state party officers and congressional district
chairs. They are also charged with considering reports from
convention committees, and acting upon other matters as the
convention deems necessary.
Using a strategy reminiscent of its organizing in the
1988 presidential and DeKalb County Democratic Party
caucuses, LEGAL focussed its efforts on being the largest
and best-organized voting-bloc at the local caucuses. In the
36th, 39th, 40th, 41st, 42nd, and 55th districts, LEGAL
took a majority of the delegate seats, with a total of 74 les
bians and gay men chosen as delegates—and 20 as alter
nates—to the state convention. LEGAL's original goal had
been the election of 50 delegates.
The stunning victories in Fulton and DeKalb were pro
ceeded by distributing slates naming candidates who sup
ported gay and lesbian issues to candidates and their sup
porters at an organizational rally held the morning of the
caucuses.
At the caucus sites in each State Senate district,
LEGAL-friendly delegates were identified by yellow
stickers; one or two LEGAL floor managers were present
at each of the polling sites to help eliminate confusion. The
paper balloting process was less than secret; in their one-
minute speeches prior to the voting, some candidates made
statements about their sexual orientation and/or their sup
port of the lesbian/gay agenda, while others did not.
Members of a number of cooperative lesbian and gay
groups—from Integrity and ACT UP to GAPAC, HRCF and
AALGA—lent their support to LEGAL's efforts. Asked
whether this was the beginning of a new era of cooperation
between metro area lesbian and gay organizations, Padraig
McManus McLoughlin, president of LEGAL, commented
that "working together and united there is nothing we cannot
achieve."
Many of the one hundred plus participants at the early
morning pre-caucus rally expressed their apprehension over
their "unrehearsed quantum leap," as one LEGAL member
described it, into mainstream Democratic politics. Some
feared they would be overwhelmingly defeated, while others
wondered if the Democratic Party had gotten wind of
LEGAL's plans and would be sending party regulars "out in
droves."
These concerns were laid to rest as the results from
around the city became known at a post-caucus party held at
the home of LEGAL’s Rich Jones and Bob Briggs.
In District 40, Jones was one of 15 LEGAL candidates
elected. He plans to run for a four-year seat on the Georgia
Barbara Snell
Delagates and supporters celebrate
after their caucus victories.
Democratic Committee as 4th Congressional District Chair,
which would put him in charge of the caucuses in that dis
trict. The election will take place at the upcoming State
Convention, and, because of the large number of delegate
seats taken in 6 of the 9 senate districts within the 4th
Congressional District, his chances of winning are 'very
good," says LEGAL's McLoughlin.
As might be expected, LEGAL's action created some
controversy. In many of the district caucuses lesbians and
gay men—predominantly the latter—were pitted against
black Democratic party regulars. (Notably absent from
LEGAL's coalition were lesbians of color.) Though LEGAL
was in fact doing nothing wrong procedurally by turning out
large numbers to support its objectives, the strategy antago
nized more than one black Democrat.
In the 40th district, Caucus Chairperson Francis Turner
stated, "It's clear that LEGAL has come in here with your
delegates and taken over. 1 think you need to think long and
hard about the implications of these actions."
And long-time Democratic party activist Gloria Tinubu
of the 36th district reminded newly-elected LEGAL dele
gates about the importance "of the Democratic party repre
senting all peoples, races, creeds and colors."
"Despite this move and our election of openly gay mem
bers to the Fulton County Democratic Committee, none of
these folks [who are complaining] have come to us and
asked what our issues are, why we're doing all this organiz
ing," responds Rich Jones, LEGAL member.
LEGAL's McLoughlin comments that it is so-much sour
grapes. "We [LEGAL], according to party rules, graciously
and without malice, won the majority of seats. If we took
some of the folks by surprise, so be it."
McLoughlin, however, goes on to describe friendly
interaction with some Democrats, including Congressman
John Lewis' office and Scotty Greenwood, caucus coordi
nator at Party Headquarters, after the delegate elections.
At Georgia Democratic Party Headquarters,
Southern Voice found two attitudes reigning, in apparent
contradiction—a "Day After" sense of doom, and a blase
"it's okay, you [LEGAL] had the votes" attitude. One high-
up official who preferred to remain anonymous felt that
LEGAL now represented a "sizable five to ten percent
minority in statewide total delegates, depending on how
many total delegates show up at the convention."
The source went on to say, "We've been alerted now
and we'll be ready for them."
But, asserts McLoughlin, "We're here to participate, and
even when we lose, it still makes a statement that we want
to take our rightful place in Georgia Democratic politics."
Gay and Arts
Advocates Monitor
Censorship Trends
Jones insists his record is clear
on arts funding votes
by Andrea K. Brown
Washington, DC—Votes to cut funding
for Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" at
the University of DC (UDC) campus
(reported in the last issue of Southern
Voice) may reflect where individual legisla
tors stand on the hot issue of arts funding
and censorship. This, according to Peri
Jude Radecic, Legislative Director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF).
Georgia Rep. Ben Jones (D-4th) voted
for the funding cut, along with 9 out of 10
of his Georgia peers; Rep. John Lewis (D-
5th) was the exception.
The House voted in late July to cut
appropriations for UDC in response to that
institution’s decision to fund the permanent
exhibition of "The Dinner Party," a contro
versial feminist work.
"The vote of 297-123 [with the minority
against the cut] mirrors almost exactly my
count for those Members who are likely to
reauthorize the NEA [National Endowment
for the Arts] for five years without content
restrictions," says NGLTFs Radecic.
Peter Ruzicka, press secretary for Ben
Jones, insists however that this "was not an
art vote, but an education funding vote."
Jones, says Ruzicka, was "not voting
against the right to display the art, but to
establish a priority at UDC in terms of how
it uses its funding." Ruzicka is referring to
the debt—stated to be in the millions—that
UDC owes to its faculty, due to funding
shortfalls in the past. If the University
holds off on its plans to cash the $1.6 mil
lion in bonds necessary to install the art
work, the bill allows them to receive their
full appropriation, according to Ruzicka.
Jones' representative also emphasizes
the Congressman's record of votes support
ing NEA funding and opposing restrictions.
"As an artist himself—he is an actor—
Jones feels very strongly about arts fund
ing."
The Senate is expected to consider the
DC Appropriations bill in September.
Meanwhile, gay activists fear that if fed
eral funding of gay-related art is cut, gay
and lesbian advocates could lose the
momentum gained by their recent success
es in Congress, with the passage of the
Hate Crimes Statistics Act, the Americans
With Disabilities Act and the AIDS CARE
bill. Votes on NEA funding and restrictions
may reflect not just attitudes toward art and
censorship but toward gay and lesbian
issues and visibility in general.
The New York chapter of the Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
(GLAAD/NY) is conducting letter cam
paigns through its Freedom of Expression
project, as part of the effort to encourage
funding the NEA without restrictions.
Letters have been written to the President's
Commission on the NEA, urging members
to "take a strong leadership role and stand
firm against...expressions of homophobia."
West Hollywood—Censorship even more
restrictive than that involved in the N.E.A.
battle is at issue. A billboard disparaging
Jesse Helms as an "Artificial Art Official"
was removed by the advertising company
that originally accepted it for display,
because of its potential for controversy.
The billboard, which featured a portrait of
Helms "as an ugly white bureaucrat with a
hole in his head," in artist Robbie Conal’s
own words, was on display for just a week
before the National Advertising Company's
(N.A.C.) national marketing director Jim
Shaheen saw it, and ordered its removal.
Conal, who is a self-described "guerrilla
artist," insists that this is the type of censor
ship he was critiquing with the billboard,
which he paid for himself. A spokesman for
3-M, parent company of the N.A.C., insists
the decision to remove the billboard was
simply "a matter of judgment and taste."
As the September session approaches,
readers are once again reminded that they
can participate in a congressional tele
gram program organized by arts activists
by calling 1-900-226-ARTS. The call costs
$4.50, and allows you to send messages to
your Senators and Congressperson.
National Coming
Out Day Ad Calls
For Sponsors
National Coming Out Day will be cele
brated with a full-page ad in the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution on October 11
according to organizers for the event.
National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is
"a call to action," on the anniversary of the
March on Washington for Lesbian and
Gay Rights in 1987. The first NCOD ad in
the Atlanta J-C was published in 1988.
This year, the advertisement will fea
ture the late Keith Haring's drawing of a
figure coming out of the closet, and, as did
the 1988 ad, will include the names of
those contributors whose "next step"
includes coming out in a public forum.
Since the primary goal of the ad is to
increase the visibility of gays and lesbians
in this country, and by doing so, garner
support for gay rights, the NCOD commit
tee is hoping that enough money will be
raised to buy a full page—$11,000.
Send for a release form if you wish to
have your name printed, or send dona
tions to NCOD-Atlanta, 1579 F Monro e
Drive, Box 215, Atlanta, GA 30324.
Payment deadline is October 1.
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Southern Voice/August 30,1990