Newspaper Page Text
2 Southern Voice/November 22, 1990
NEWS
Queer Nation Atlanta
Visits Jock’s and Jill's
Bar uses police to evict affectionate lesbians and gays
Atlanta—This city's fledgling chapter of
Queer Nation—the fast growing lesbian and
gay direct action visibility group—staged its
first "Queer Night Out" on Saturday Nov. 10
at Jock's and Jill's. Queer Nation chapters now
exist in eight cities in the U.S.; their actions
generally entail, but are not limited to, a group
of openly lesbian women and gay men visiting
a mostly straight occupied bar, restaurant,
shopping center or other public place.
The twenty-two lesbians and gay men par
ticipating in the Atlanta group's first action
gathered a short distance down 10th Street at
Blake's before proceeding to the Midtown
sports bar. When the group arrived at Jock's
and Jill's at about 10:20 they joined a group of
"40, maybe 50 patrons" already occupying the
bar; many were watching the University of
Houston vs University of Texas game on the
bar's TV's.
"They were too interested in the game [to
pay much much attention to us]; 'Go 'Homs!'
said Padraig McManus-McLoughlin describ
ing the atmosphere.
"We got a couple of glances [from the
patrons] but they calmed down pretty quick
ly," offered participant Jamey Davis. "We
were glad to make our presence felt in a posi
tive way."
Queer Nation participants mingled with the
crowd, sat and stood in couples and in groups
of as many as eight as they drank, talked,
watched the game and sometimes kissed and
hugged. Except for an occasional snide
remark, the group experienced no problems
for approximately 45 minutes.
"I heard several people ask 'What group are
you with?"' said Southern Voice photographer
Evett Bennett. "When they heard 'Queer
Nation' there was no significant response.”
Several other participants remarked that
they were feeling exceptionally good about
the level of acceptance that the group experi
enced and congratulating themselves on how
little homophobia was evident. But the con
vivial atmosphere deteriorated rapidly when
the bar manager and another person (described
variously by participants as an "employee," a
"lackey," and "a drunk customer") objected to
Davis and a friend standing near the bar and
"kissing passionately."
Davis said that the manager "physically
pushed" him and his friend. McLoughlin
reports that the man screamed "You fucking
faggots, get down the street where you
belong."
Bennett had taken four pictures of mem
bers of the group prior to taking a picture of of
Davis and his friend kissing. She says that no
issue was made of her taking the earlier pic
tures—three of which involved women kiss
ing—but that the manager became enraged
when she photographed Davis and his friend.
Participants say the manager then made a
Evett Bennett
Kendall, Jamey and John celebrate Queer Nation/Atlanta's first night out.
big show of calling the police several times
and continued to verbally abusing Queer
Nation members.
"I dropped by to see what was going on
[after going out to a birthday dinner]" said
well known activist known Bob Briggs.
Briggs says that when the first policeman
to arrive [Officer Lear] asked him "haven't
you been asked to leave," he responded that he
had just purchased a beer and saw no reason
why he should leave. He then asked the offi
cer for his badge number and name. Briggs
says that Lear replied, "I'll show it to you out
side" and escorted Briggs to his patrol car.
By that time four other cars and officers
had arrived and escorted all the Queer Nation
members out of the bar. While some members
of the group explained their side of the story
to the officers, others formed a picket line in
front of bar.
Briggs says that Lear drove him around
"for about a half an hour" before they returned
to the bar and had a discussion with the man
ager about whether he wished to press charges
of criminal trespass. Finally Briggs was taken
to a paddy wagon, then downtown where he
was charged with obstruction. At press time
disposition of the charge against Briggs was
not yet complete.
Please see editorial on pg 9 for more info.
Scroggins
Appeal Denied
Court unanimous in support of
attempted murder conviction
Atlanta—Can an HIV infected person pass
the virus to another person by biting them?
Absolutely not according to medical expert
after medical expert. But Cobb County jurors
didn't agree. Last October they convicted Greg
Scroggins of attempted murder because he bit
a policeman who had him in a stranglehold.
Two weeks ago the Georgia Court of
Appeals sided with that jury and found that
Scroggin’s "deliberately biting and injecting
saliva into the bloodstream while knowing he
was infected with the AIDS virus...amounted
to such wanton and reckless disregard as to
whether he might transmit the disease that the
jury could infer a malicious intent to murder."
Cobb District Attorney Tom Charron told
the Atlanta Journal Constitution that "the
question was did Scroggins believe that by bit
ing the officer" he might give him AIDS.
Charron's reply to his own question was, "that
question could only be answered by a jury."
Scroggins' lover Paul Murray says that
Greg, "was upset, but felt all along that it [the
appeal] would go this way" and added that
Greg had never had much faith in the judicial
system. Scroggins will be eligible for parole in
February 1993.
Both Murray and Scroggins' mother Angie
have said that they will continue the appeal.
Murray says that approximately $6000 is
needed to pay the expenses for this appeal
before an appeal to the state Supreme Court
can be mounted. Murray asked that those who
would be interested in helping him organize
the fundraising effort call him at 607-7729.
Contributions may be sent to the Gregory
Scott Scroggins Defense Fund, P.O. Box
7021, Atlanta, GA 30357-0021.
Watkins Allowed
to Reenlist
by Cliff O'Neill
Washington—The U.S. Supreme Court has
let stand a lower court ruling ordering the U.S.
Army to reenlist Sgt.. Perry Watkins, marking
the first time the Court has ever acted in favor
of an openly gay soldier.
Jim Marks
Staff Sergeant Watkins addresses
a rally at the '88 Democratic
Convention in Atlanta.
Declining without comment to hear the
case of United States v. Watkins, the court
upheld the ruling of 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals which ordered that Watkins be
allowed to reenlist. Because the appellate rul
ing was narrowly decided, however, the
Supreme Court action only applies to the one
soldier.
“It’s a victory for Peny; he wins,” said
William B. Rubenstien, director of the
American Civil Liberties Union national
Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, which han
dled the case. “But on a broader level, it
undermines the military’s whole argument
that gay soldiers are bad for morale....The
court seemed to think that’s not going to be
the end of the military as we know it.”
“I think the precedent will effect other peo
ple, probably more in a non-legal way than in
a legal way,” added Seattle attorney Jim
Lobsenz, who argued the case. “It will give
other gay military people the courage to fight,
which they might otherwise not have had.”
Watkins was drafted into the Army in
August, 1967, at which time he acknowledged
his being gay on his medical forms. Over his
14 years as an openly gay soldier, Watkins
was commended highly and was reenlisted
three times. He was granted a Secret security
clearance which was later revoked on the
grounds that Watkins was gay and had routine
ly performed—with his commanding officer’s
permission—as a female impersonator at base
shows.
In 19S1 the Army instituted a new regula
tion demanding the discharge of all gay and
lesbian military personnel and denied Watkins
his next reenlistment. In 1984, the Army gave
him an honorable discharge.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who has
now pledged to take on the issue of pressuring
the Pentagon to change its policy, called the
decision a “victory for Watkins,” but added it
wouldn’t effect the fight to rescind the policy
one way or the other. “It just says [to the
Army] that you can’t have it both ways....We
just have to keep up the political pressure.”
Environmentalists
Take City to Court
Atlanta—That stench in Piedmont Park
may soon be gone if the Georgia Environ
mental Project (GEP) and Concerned Citizens
of the Chattahoochee have their way. The two
groups have filed suit against the City of
Atlanta citing violations of the 1972 Federal
Clean Water Act. The Combined Sewer
Overflow (CSO) of Clear Creek in Piedmont
Park, along with five other sites in Atlanta, are
among the cited violations. These sites carry
and dump raw sewage into either the
Chattahoochee or one of its tributaries.
CSO's occur every time a tenth of an inch
of'rainfall enters the city's sewer system
through storm drains. When this happens,
Atlanta’s treatment plants reach their capacity
and begin to release untreated sewage. And,
according to the National Weather Service
here in Atlanta, our city received over a tenth
of inch of rain on 86 separate days in 1989.
The Legislature recently passed law requir
ing the City to get permits (in compliance with
the Clean Water Act requirements) by 1991
and implement their plans by 1993. However,
according to Kessing, the GEP feels the City
should be in compliance with the Act's stan
dards now. And, he adds, the City's proposed
1993 standards are not high enough for the
Chattahoochee's safety, anyway.
Kessler claims the repercussions of the
City's negligence and abuse of the
Chattahoochee has rendered the river unsafe
for both humans and wildlife.
Park Harassment
Escalates
Atlanta—First it was taking down tag
numbers of cars occupied by single men.
Then flash photos of the cars as they left
Piedmont Park. Next two gay men were told
they were barred from the park because they
had driven through the lot twice looking for a
business associate's car.
Gay men and those who are perceived to
be gay have been complaining strongly about
the abuse to city Councilwoman Mary Davis
and Parks Department supervisor Hilliard Lee.
In response to the complaints, Davis began
requesting a meeting with Parks
Commissioner Morgan more than a month
ago, scheduling problems for both prevented
the meeting.
The result? Harassment has escalated.
Beginning about two weeks ago, at least
one of the off-duty police officers assigned to
monitor criminal activity in and around the
park's one public lot began telling people who
were sitting in the their cars that they had the
choice of getting out of their cars or driving
out of the park.
Councilmember Davis' assistant Jeff
Patrillo says that he and another man parked
and remained in their car and were soon told
that they must "get out and use the park or
leave."
When Patrillo challenged the legality of
the officer's request, she referred him to a
1965 addition to the Parks Department’s regu
lations which says that only those who use the
parks may park in their lots. Patrillo and his
companion protested that they were using the
park, but the officer challenged their defini
tion of "use" and demanded they leave. Two
other individuals reported similar incidents to
Southern Voice.
A day or two after Patrillo's experience a
sign quoting the regulation appeared in the
parking lot. Davis says she immediately called
Lee and demanded that the sign be removed.
That happened, but Patrillo says that com
plaints have continued to come into Davis'
office.
Patrillo now says that a meeting between
between Davis, Commissioner Morgan,
neighborhood residents and representatives of
the gay community has been scheduled for
Tues. Nov. 20, after this paper went to press.