Newspaper Page Text
PLEASE RECYCLE
75c WHERE SOLD
SOUTH
N
April 25 - May 8,1991 Vol. 4, No. 5
Taking Pride in Our Culture
Festivals and Sports
are just a few ways to
spend your summer
vacation. 7
Summer
Clothes
Closet
Lesbian Fashion
Didn’t think there was
such a thing? We
found it in L5P. 5
Out at Work
“Out of the Darkness”
talks to some people
who have stepped out
of the office closet. 11
Is Racetrac Another Cracker Barrel?
by Gary Kaupman
Dalton, GA—William Carl (a pseudonym) says he was
fired from his job on April 5 at the Racetrac gas station on
Walnut Avenue because he was seen in a gay bar. "I was
fired Friday a week ago," he said. "I'd been there for two
months and worked doubles and came in when other peo
ple didn't show up and they told me that I was fired because
I'd been at Alan Gold's (a Chattanooga gay bar).
Carl, who lives in Ringgold, GA, says that he missed a
day of work because he had car problems. When he arrived
at work the following day, Carl says he had been scheduled
to work only two hours the next week and none the week
following that.
"I called Terri (Thomas, the district supervisor) and
asked her why I had been fired," Carl recounts, "and she
said, 'I feel you were at Alan Gold's instead of coming to
work.'" Carl says he does sometimes go to Gold’s, but
claims he was not at the bar either Hiemight "before or the
day of his missed shift.
"I was scheduled for an interview for a promotion
(before the termination)," claims Carl, "and she (Thomas)
told me to be sure and butch up my act. 'They don't like
fags and niggers,' she said." Carl also says that Thomas
told him, "I don't want any pump-wearing, wig-wearing
queers behind my counter."
Carl's cousin Richard Shannon also believes he was
Two employees claim Racetrac Petroleum
fired them because they are gay
fired from his job at the Racetrac station on Ross Boulevard
in Chattanooga because he is gay. "I'd worked there for two
or three months and everybody liked me except the district
supervisor (Thomas). Then I was on a cable TV show in
drag. After the show they started making it hard on me;
they cut my hours back from 40 to 18 or 20 (per week).
Shannon says that one of his immediate supervisors
eventually told him that he was being fired. "They didn't
give me any reason," he added, "but I knew it was because I
was gay." Shannon says that he used only his drag name
(Kellie Holland) on the TV show and never mentioned his
place of employment.
Carl says he never told any of his co-workers or supervi
sors that he was gay, but feels that Thomas obviously knew.
Both Shannon and Carl say they know other gays who
have been fired because of their sexual orientation, but
none could be confirmed before deadline for this story.
Racetrac Petroleum is a privately held company head
quartered in Smyrna, GA. Its representative, Dianne Gunn,
refused a verbal request for information about the company.
"We're privately held; all requests like that (number of
stores, number of employees, employment policies) have to
come in writing," she said.
District Supervisor Terri Thomas returned a telephoned
request for information about the firings promptly, but said
that she was unable to comment on Shannon's and Carl's
accusations because it was Racetrac's policy that all ques
tions be directed in writing to its legal department. She
added that the company, "has a policy that we do not dis
criminate against anyone." Asked if that policy included
sexual orientation, she replied, "you'll have to ask the legal
department."
The deadline for this story did not permit a written
inquiry.
"Apparently this shows that Cracker Barrel isn't the only
company that discriminates against gays and lesbians," said
Queer Nation's Lynn Cothren. "You can be sure that Queer
Nation will be looking into this and attempting to get a
clear written policy about sexual orientation from Racetrac
as well as other Georgia companies where this kind of dis
crimination has been reported."
Carl also claims that Racetrac's health insurance policy
has a "$25,000 lifetime coverage for AIDS."
"We would want to investigate this before we would
take action," said ACT UP's Jeff Graham. "But in the past
we have held that caps are discriminatory and that if it
exists we would work to have it lifted." ACT UP/Atlanta
has been successful in getting three Georgia corporations to
lift their AIDS caps.
WELCOME NATIONAL LESBIAN CONFERENCE ATTENDEES
Fun Will be a Big
Part of the NLC Package
Irene Young
The Washington Sisters with Melanie Monsur will appear at the Saturday
night Extravaganza during The National Lesbian Conference, April 24-28.
by Gale Reter
Good times are not always necessarily
part of a conference package. Mostly
people attend them to educate themselves.
The National Lesbian Conference, hap
pening in Atlanta April 24-28, will be
educational too, but let's face it, a lot of
lesbians will go just for the fun part.
After all, it's the first gathering of its kind
ever held in the United States, and it's an
opportunity to meet interesting women
from all over the country. The organizers
probably missed a great opportunity by
not having a computer match-up dating
service at the conference. It won't be easy
sorting out the ones who live close
enough for a commuter romance. It
would be awful to fall in love with some
one from Tulsa, your phone bill couldn't
handle the tele-dating.
Especially exciting is the Saturday night
Extravaganza at the Civic Center. The first
set will open with a special premiere
appearance of the Native American Dance
Troop/Two Spirited, Thunder People.
They formed last year to serve as a means
of expressing the culture and heritage of
Two-Spirited Native Americans. The
group will open with dances and cere
monies taken from the tribal heritage of
the thirteen different tribes represented.
(The terms "Two-Spirited" and "Thunder
People" come from traditional tribal refer
ences to Lesbian and Gay American
Indians.)
The Native American Dancers will be
followed by Tammy Why-Not's southern-
style humor, and the wit and song of Alix
Dobkin. The wonderful Washington
Sisters with Melanie Monsur will round
out the first half of the program. The sec
ond half of the entertainment will begin
around 9:30 with California comedian
Karen Williams, followed by Sue Fink.
She will perform songs off her new
album, "True Life Adventure," and hope
fully some old favorites will be included.
Lea Delaria will take the stage by storm
next. She always does. Teresa Trull, one
of the founding mothers of women's
music, will close the concert.
One regret about the concert is that it
means some people won't get to see the
Atlanta Feminist Women's Chorus per
form this time. Through an oversight,
both presentations are taking place
Saturday night. However, there are two
shows, at 7pm and 9pm. In order to
accommodate those who wish to take in
both performances, the Civic Center
Extravaganza has been divided into two
sets and a $3 discount will be given off
the ticket price for those who have bought
tickets for the chorus. The Civic Center
performance and the Chorus concert are
open to the public, including men,
although the rest of the conference is open
only to women.
Some people, men and women, still
question why it is necessary that lesbians
hold a separatist gathering, and wonder
what they can hope to accomplish that
other lesbian and gay organizations have
not already tried. While it is true that les
bian caucus groups have been meeting in
conjunction with other conferences, there
has never been an opportunity to focus on
the Lesbian Nation as a whole, and to
understand its needs and goals.
The Conference has sought out the
wide diversity of the Lesbian Nation, feel
ing that "only if everyone's needs are
included, will the outcome of the
Conference truly reflect the issues most
See page 19