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NEWS
Atlanta Couple Sues
Continental Airlines
Discrimination turns quiet couple into avid activists;
A-J/C responds with call to legalize lesbian and gay marriages
Atlanta—Joseph Preis wanted to take Larry
Hiller to London for a week last December.
When he saw Continental Airlines' ads, which
offered a free companion ticket through its
OnePass program, Preis called to make reser
vations.
But the ticket agent informed Pries that the
advertised tickets were for "family members
only" and that he could have the free ticket
only if he "could produce a marriage certifi
cate."
Confused, Preis went to Rich's and asked
their travel department to try to make the
reservations. The department store's agent got
the same answer. No marriage certificate, no
ticket.
Preis and Hiller aren't married, but they
have been lovers for 32 years. "They ought to
give us an award, just for that!" says Preis
proudly.
In response to Continental's disregard for
their rights, Preis and Hiller went in search of
an attorney. They found Sandra Michaels who
presented their case to the Georgia American
Civil Liberties Union, which accepted it.
Michaels did not return Southern Voice's calls
by press time, but Preis says that the suit asks
for at least $300,000 in damages and takes the
airline to task on five counts, including breech
of contract and bait and switch tactics.
Preis and Hiller are confident that they'll
get a settlement—there is a precedent for the
case in which TWA settled a similar claim out
of court—but money isn't the most important
issue. "[We've discovered] you have to fight
like hell to get your rights," says Preis who
owns a beauty salon in downtown Atlanta.
For Hiller, employed by a major retail
chain, the issues surrounding the decision to
take the airline to court were a little different.
"I've spent over 50 years with one foot in the
closet," offers Hiller who was worried about
reaction from his employer when the story
appeared on page one of the Journal
Constitution's Metro & State section.
The response that Hiller has gotten has
been just the opposite of what he feared. His
co-workers have been proud and supportive.
"[And] the executives are handling it with kid
gloves," says Preis.
"We really do have power in Atlanta," he
adds, voice tinged with both surprise and
pride. Preis goes on to explain that he is work
ing with several organizations to get word of
the suit out to the lesbian and gay press
around the country. He speaks eagerly of orga
nizing a boycott of Continental.
The first evidence of the power that Preis
feels is the Constitution's October 1 editorial
calling for legalization of lesbian and gay
marriages, "or at least" domestic partnerships.
It's unlikely that the Georgia General
Assembly will leap in positive response to the
Sheila Broughton
Larry Hiller and Joseph Preis
paper's call, but it sure can't hurt the cause at
City Hall or with the Fulton and DeKalb
County Commissions.
Helms Coming
to Atlanta
"A Day of Outrage" planned in
response to homophobic senator's
speech at First Baptist Church
Atlanta—Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) is
coming to town. He will be one of two fea
tured speakers at the 1990 Family Concerns
Conference and Brunch on Friday, October 12
at the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, 753
Peachtree Street, in Midtown. Family
Concerns is a rightwing religious group led by
fundamentalist Nancy Schaefer. Schaefer was
also at the helm of Citizens for Public
Awareness, a group which tried, unsuccessful
ly, to remove sexual orientation from Atlanta's
employment non-discrimination statement.
In response to Helms' appearance, a STOP
HELMS coalition and ACT UP/Atlanta will
hold "A Day of Outrage" demonstration out
side the church. Organizers are encouraging
the participation of a broad-based coalition of
lesbians and gays, women's rights activists,
pro-choicers, environmental activists, arts
advocates, and supporters of civil rights.
A pre-action meeting will be held on
Thursday, October 11 at 7:30 pm at the Little
Five Points Community Center for. All those
who would like to be marshals or help assem
ble props are encouraged to attend the meet
ing; others are welcome.
A demonstration—which will be conducted
legally—will convene at 9 a.m. on the side
walk outside of the church in order to greet
those entering the conference.
The main demonstration (also legal) will be
held on the 5th Street side of the church at
11:30am with street theatre and several speak
ers planned. The Church is located between
4th and 5th Streets, two blocks north of the
North Ave. Marta Station. Exactly when
Helms will appear is not known, but 10 a.m. is
the most often repeated rumor. Organizers
suggest that those wishing to catch sight of the
Senator may want to come to the early demo
and hang out until the 11:30 event.
Southern Voice encourages your participa
tion in this demonstration. The centerfold of
this issue is a poster that can be attached to
cardboard and carried in the demo; protest
organizers ask that you bring a whistle or
other noise-maker, too. If you are not familiar
with Helms' record or why you should protest
his presence in Atlanta, please see our editori
al opposite page 14 of this issue.
Interested persons may call 434-6820 or
the ACT UP hotline (286-6247) for additional
information.
Evett Bennett
John Frohnmayer—"Concerned
Caucasian with one arm akimbo."
Activists Zap
Frohnmayer
Atlanta—Activists shouted "shame,
shame” and unfurled a banner that said
"Frohnmayer=Censorship" at a meeting of the
Southern Arts Federation here last Friday.
The group of approximately 15, including
L.A. performance artist Tim Miller, were
protesting the appearance of National
Endowment for the Arts Chairman John
Frohnmayer, keynote speaker for the event.
Security guards removed some protesters
from the Hyatt Regency ballroom while oth
ers left voluntarily. "Frohnmayer stood their
looking like a concerned Caucasian, with one
arm akimbo until they left," remarked one
observer. "He looked very smug."
"So begins the dialogue. But I truly believe
you don't build the arts by shouting at folks,"
remarked Frohnmayer who went on to give a
speech that defended the NEA against recent
charges of obscenity, but offered little in the
way of advocacy for artists, especially
minorities and those outside the mainstream.
During a question and answer session, one
attendee likened Frohnmayer's treatment of
openly gay/lesbian artists to that of Jewish
Councils during WW II when they turned
some of their own people over to the Nazis
ostensibly to protect the larger community.
"I disagree with your premise and your
analogy," replied Frohnmayer. When chal
lenged to explain his disagreement the NEA
Chairman replied by saying that he had, on
occasion been, misquoted, specifically in ref
erence to an analogy, and would not elaborate
further.
Frohnmayer met with the Executive
Committee of Alternate ROOTS on Thursday.
As a result of that meeting, Congressional
compromises on "obscenity clauses," and a
Cincinnati jury's acquittal of a local museum
and its director on charges obscenity charges
stemming from the display of Robert
Maplethorpe's photographs, ROOTS
Executive Director Kathie DeNobriga said
that her group was no longer greatly con
cerned with censorship per se. "Structural and
procedural changes affecting the peer review
process are now the important issue," she
added.
Readers are urged to contact their US
Congressperson and request that the NEA
reauthorization contain no structural or pro -
cedural changes. Mailgrams can be sent by
calling 1-900-226-ARTS. There is a a $4.50
charge.
AIDS Fraud
Conference Spurs
Controversy
Is big brother concerned about
health fraud or corporate profits?
Atlanta—An AIDS fraud workshop held
here Sept. 26 was intended to find question
able therapies, disseminate information about
them and establish a Georgia task force to
monitor AIDS fraud. But those assembled
spent a significant amount of time listening to
opinions that such a task force was either not
necessary or that, if established, it should
focus on misinformation about HIV rather
than that attempting to limit the availability of
remedies for the disease.
Sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and the Georgia
Department of Human Resources, the work
shop was the fifth in a series of 19 similar
gatherings being held across the country in an
apparent attempt to give local jurisdictions
some say-so in how supposedly fraudulent
AIDS therapies should be handled.
On several occasions, Captain LaVert
Seaborn, FDA's AIDS Task Force Project
Manager, told those assembled that the FDA
was "going to move [on fraudulent therapies]"
regardless of what local or state groups did,
thus discouraging the idea of not forming a
task force at all.
Dr. John Renner, coordinator of the
National Council Against Health Fraud's Task
Force on AIDS Quackery, presented the group
with facts about the increased movement of
cancer and hair-loss quacks into the AIDS
field. Renner used his reported friendship with
members of ACT UP Kansas City to creden-
tialize his presentation to the few AIDS
activists present at the workshop.
In fact, a conference co-sponsored by
Renner's organization, the American Medical
Association and the Health Insurance
Association of America had been the target of
an large ACT UP demonstration less than two
weeks prior. ACT UP claimed that, "The con
ference was designed to teach insurance,
health and consumer officials techniques to
discredit and suppress non-AMA, non-FDA
approved treatments for AIDS and other dis
eases."
Another workshop presenter, Grace P.
Monaco, an attorney from Washington DC,
offered a funny and sometimes touching
speech on how she had worked to help fami
lies get access to and payment for front line
cancer therapies. At the end of the conference
members of ACT UP Atlanta quietly dis
tributed fliers which claim that Powers is "an
attorney who defends insurance companies
against claims for medical reimbursements
and is a declared opponent of parallel track
and other proposals to speed AIDS drug
release..."
The flyer, from ACT UP/NY goes on to
state that the group which Monaco heads,
Emprise, Inc., will "compile computerized
databases on so-called un-proven remedies'
for AIDS and cancer." Emprise's goal, ACT
UP claims, is to "compile a blacklist" that
would be "leased to insurance companies."
While it was made obvious that fraudulent
AIDS remedies do exist and that they need to
be controlled, the blatantly dishonest claims
made by the purveyors of those remedies sug
gested to many that education rather control
was the issue. The glaring difference in per
ceptions about treatments was highlighted
several times as government and medical
agency officials referred to hyperthermia as
"fraud" or "quackery" while activists viewed
it as an "experimental" albeit iffy potential
treatment. Low dose oral alpha interferon,
receiving much publicity for its reported effi
cacy in Kenya, was discussed similarly.
Atlanta Attorney Chip Rowan and
NAPWA/Atlanta President Bert McDowell
repeatedly made the point that those infected
with HIV must be empowered to make their
own medical decisions. Martin Delaney of
S.F's Project Inform spoke of the "need for
hope," "healing partnerships," and "informa
tion networks."
Capt. Seaborn and other people of color
present countered that many who are infected
are not so well educated as and have different
needs than the gay white men who have been
at the nexus of the AIDS activist movement.
The conference concluded with four small
groups charged with providing input on how
Georgia's AIDS Force might operate. Again
the theme of education and the very different
needs of the populations affected by the epi
demic emerged.
2
Southern Voice/October 11, 1990