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Southern Voice/December 6,1990
VIEWPOINTS
GUEST EDITORIAL
Lesbian Arrested
by U.S. Government
by Teri Kai
It was not unusual for me to pick up sev
eral newsletters in the local feminist book
store. But this time one particular item
changed my life.
In a piece from the Atlanta Committee for
Latin America I read about thousands, last
year alone, dying at the hands of U.S. trained
troops in El Salvador. And if that wasn't
shocking enough, the numbers included inno
cent women, children, clergy. Then came the
clincher: these troops were being trained at
Fort Benning in Columbus, GA.
This Colonel's daughter was
devastated. I grew up on bases similar to
Fort Benning. As a child, I walked the halls
of the School of the America's—where the
U.S. trains such murderers—in Okinawa; it
was only by the grace of Goddess that I was
bom after my father's stay at Ft. Benning.
I decided to attend a march and protest
scheduled for that weekend and to properly
educate myself on U.S. and El Salvador rela
tions. Being a lesbian for peace, I felt it
appropriate to wear a t-shirt with a pink trian
gle across my chest.
I was lucky enough to spend the two-hour
ride to Columbus with an ACLA organizer,
who gave me the history of the U.S. interven
tion in El Salvador along with an account on
the atrocities that followed-—and are still
being committed today.
I was glad to see that the police had
already formed into what I innocently
assumed was an escort for our stroll through
town when we arrived at our march site
about two miles from the base. We were told
that we didn't have a permit and therefore
could only march in groups of three, a hun
dred feet apart. We also were told to remove
all wood from our signs. So, three by three,
we marched and soon found strength in a
maneuver that had been intended to weaken
us since it made our numbers look greater
and allowed us to draw more attention.
Outside the base, we discreetly planted a
rose bush—in memory of the six Jesuit
priests and two women who were murdered
by U.S. trained military on November 16,
1989. Seven of us decided to walk on to Ft.
Benning and to our final destination, The
School of the America's training facility.
I crossed the military line, not knowing
what would happen next, but clearly under
standing it had to be done. Almost instantly I
felt a hand firmly grasp the back of my neck.
Simultaneously, my left arm was immobi
lized and locked in the air by an M.P.
Pressed onto the hood of a car by the same
officer, I reached over and held the hand of
my road trip teacher and friend who found
herself in a similar situation. This was my
first act of civil disobedience and—though
alone and frightened—the presence and
acceptance of my fellow activists told me
that I had taken the right action.
The entire process consisted of hours of
waiting. Alone at one point, I heard a famil
iar voice reading out loud and I was instantly
filled with courage, pride, and peace. Finally,
when we were all placed together and sang,
talked, and shared a single juice box to
quench our thirst, I realized that I, an out les
bian, was a part of a World Cause. I realized
that my presence was welcomed and appreci
ated.
On November 17, 1990 I became a
political activist; Baptized in the Truth, con
firmed by my right action and made aware by
my associate and friend that I too had a
responsibility to act upon the knowledge I
had received.
I hope that more lesbians and gay men
will educate themselves about our govern
ment's actions in El Salvador and elsewhere.
We need to stand visible amongst our broth
ers and sisters of the world. And realize that
there is no justice for any of us until there is
justice for us all.
Corporate Crap
To the Editor
In recent months, you printed a list of cor
porations and to whom they donate money.
I wrote to Coca-Cola about their dona
tions, sadly naming the wrong person, but...
they categorically deny making ANY politi
cal donations. Copy of the letter I received
enclosed.
If it's against the law, as they claim, why
have you listed them, or any corporation?
Could you check into this? Would you
print it loudly and clearly just what is going
on? You have resources I do not have access
to and I am really puzzled over this denial,
especially what I see it in the papers all the
time that this or that corporation donated to
some politician or other. Is my information
terribly wrong?
If your information is incorrect, would
you please print a new listing?
Sincerely,
M. D.
Coke's Dawn Ringo, who wrote to you, is
right—it is illegal for corporations to donate
directly to political campaigns. What we
wrote was that Coke's corporate political
action committee had donated to Jesse
Helms. According to the Federal Elections
Commission, Coke's PAC gave $2000 to
Helms' reelection in the last election cycle.
We made repeated calls to Coke's consumer
and public information departments to try to
get them confirm or deny the FEC's report.
Each resulted in our be shuttled to yet
another person who never called us back.
We'll let you draw your own conclusions.—
Ed.
Queer Purposes
To the Editor
The membership of Queer Nation?Atlanta
asked me to write this letter to express our
deep-felt thanks to everyone at Southern
Voice for your excellent article and editorial
coverage of the birth of Queer Nation/Atlanta
and our first action.
Many persons within and outside of our
wondrous community are, however, per
plexed by Queer Nation/Atlanta, for we have
not stated publicly our goals and purpose.
This problem exists partly because there are
8 other Queer National chapters across the U.
S. and each individually controls its own
agenda. So, Queer Nation/Atlanta is distinct
ly Atlantan.
The purpose of Queer Nation/Atlanta is to:
•Promote positive visibility of the gay and
lesbian community by confronting and tear
ing down age old and incorrect stereotypes;
•Identify and respond to public expres
sions of homophobia and bigoted and misin
formed statements, in whatever language
they appear, concerning lesbians and gay
men, whether societally or individually, and
to promote positive images and improve pub
lic understanding and knowledge of the his
tory, achievements, and contributions of gay
men and lesbians;
•Publicize and counter assaults on the
safety, status, rights and images of lesbians
and gay men in any segment of our society;
•Secure justice and fair treatment for all
people regardless of sexual orientation, sex,
race, age, creed, national origin, profession,
physical capability, or HIV status, and, to
further this goal, to work with other groups
that face arbitrary discrimination, bigotry and
misinformation, toward the common goal of
eliminating discrimination and bigotry in our
society; and,
•Succeed in securing the aforementioned
goals through the use of the principles of
non-violent social change as expounded
upon by Mahatma Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy,
Henry David Thoreau, and Martin Luther
King, Jr.
We, therefore, have as our motto: ‘Get
used to it!’ We seek no approval, no excus
es, and certainly no hostility.
We are concerned that there is renewed
homophobic violence that is thrust upon our
community, so we are actively seeking cre
ative non-violent solutions for our communi
ty to respond to this threat. Our organization
is very interested in working with the Atlanta
Police Department in finding positive ways
to secure safety for members of our commu
nity.
The above mentioned activities are just
the beginning...we hope anyone interested
will come to a Queer Nation meeting. We
meet every 2nd and 4th Monday of the
month at the Little 5 Points Community
Center at 7:00 p.m.
Padraig McM anus-McLoughlin
A Thank You
to Act Up
To the Editor:
On October 28th, approximately 3,000
anti-choice protesters from churches all over
the country lined both sides of Peachtree
Street in an action called the “Chain for
Life”, sponsored by the Christian Action
Council (CAC) of Falls Church, Virginia,
and organized with the cooperation of
Operation Rescue. The purpose was to create
a media event demonstrating overwhelming
public support for the banning of abortion in
Georgia. At 2:00 p.m. the protesters emptied
out of busses, churches, and private
dwellings with the military precision of an
invasion force as they took their assigned sta
tions along the sidewalk from Lenox Square
to 14th St.
Only minutes after two o’clock, opposi
tion to CAC's finely tuned machine of intimi
dation began to appear. The Coalition
Opposing Operation Rescue (COOR)
counter-demonstrated across the street from
viewpoint for media attention. A few min
utes later the Atlanta Pro-choice Action
Committee’s (APAC) “Caravan for Choice”
began its drive down Peachtree Street. Over
forty vehicles, brightly decorated with
streamers of green and purple (the APAC
colors representing women’s choice) and dis
playing hundreds of pro-choice signs provid
ed the seed for action by area residents and
bystanders.
Contributing to the success of the car car
avan was support from members of ACT UP.
APAC would like to take this opportunity to
openly thank ACT UP members for their
support in people, vehicles, and materials.
APAC would also like to thank ACT UP the
organization, as well as its members, for its
long standing support of pro-choice issues,
proving that ACT UP recognizes, as do we in
APAC, that pro-choice issues, women's
rights issues and gay rights issues are really
branches of one main issue: our right as
individuals to control our bodies and lives
without interference from government and
organized religion.
Larry Dunn
Vice President, APAC
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