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Southern Voice/May 23, 1991
NEWS
Man Found Burned in Ponce
Parking Lot
Police response slow
\
Karen Dunican
by KC Wildmoon
A 21-year old Florida man was found naked
and badly burned in the parking lot of the
Ponce de Leon Hotel on May 13. The hotel
desk clerk found Kenneth Smith (a
pseudonym) curled in a fetal position around
7:15 that Monday morning. Smith was listed
in critical condition at Grady Hospital as this
issue went to press, with a second surgery
scheduled on May 22 to perform more skin
grafts.
David Atkins, the desk clerk, said that a
woman tenant at the hotel told him that a
naked man was sleeping in the parking lot. "I
went to the back and saw him lying there,"
said Atkins. "At first I thought he was 30-35
and very dirty. I nudged him with my foot,
told him to wake up. Then I realized it was
blisters all over his body and he was just a
kid."
Atkins said he waited outside with Smith
after calling 911 for police and an ambulance.
The ambulance arrived but police did not. "I
went back in and called again," said the desk
clerk. "They told me a report had been filed.
But I don’t know how since they never came. I
was with him (Smith) the whole time."
Later in the day, Atkins again called police
and was told that Smith had been treated and
released after saying he did not want to file a
police report. Atkins then called Grady and
was told that Smith was in critical condition in
intensive care.
"That's when I called the (Lesbian/Gay
Rights Chapter of) the ACLU," said Atkins.
Chapter president Cathy Woolard was able
to obtain a copy of a police report on Smith’s
case. According to the report, which was
marked a bias crime by the reporting officer,
Smith gave a statement to police before he
went into surgery on Tuesday morning.
According to Smith's statement, he drank
three pints of vodka on Sunday evening with a
man driving a large white car with Florida
plates. He stated that the man "looked like
Woody Allen." A bartender at the Phoenix,
next door to the Ponce de Leon Hotel, said
that he had seen a young man matching
Smith's description in the bar around 7 pm
that night.
"He came in and asked what kind of bar
this was, like he was new in town," said Bill
Adamson. "Then he said 'this guy outside just
offered me $20 to drink a pint of vodka.' I
told him that sounds like the Handcuff Man
and to stay away from him, he's dangerous. A
white Lincoln pulled by the front just then,
and the kid says 'that's him there.' I said that
is the Handcuff Man. Stay away from that
mother-."
Adamson also said that the man known as
the Handcuff Man has been operating in
Atlanta "as long as I've been here, and that
was 1968." His modus operandi, according to
Adamson, is to offer men first $20 to drink a
pint of liquor, then $50 to drink a second. He
then dumps his victims naked and beaten or
burned, sometimes handcuffed to poles.
Adamson also said that hustlers have long
known to stay clear of the white Lincoln driv
en by a man around 5'10" with black hair and
glasses.
David Atkins called the police again on
Wednesday to relate the information he had
gotten from Adamson. Inspector Ray
Whittaker, who had been assigned to the case,
responded, "I don't deal in hearsay. I have too
many other cases to investigate. When you've
got some facts, call me back."
When Southern Voice reached Inspector
Whittaker, he said he had not talked with the
victim since he had been in surgery. When
told that the police report indicated that
Smith's case was a bias crime, Whittaker said,
"I don't know about that. I handle my cases
differently (from the reporting officer). That's
why I'm the investigator." Whittaker also said
that "nobody has come forward to give me
any information."
Cathy Woolard told Southern Voice that
Whittaker was arranging a meeting with
Phoenix bartender Bill Adamson on Tuesday,
May 21, but that this was coming only after a
week of pressure from Smith's family, the
ACLU, and Atkins.
"I'm concerned about the fact that it's taken
us five days to get any action on this," said
Woolard. "We've had nothing but a runaround
since the boy was found on Monday. We're
just hoping that the police take this case as
seriously as we do."
Woolard also cautioned anyone who sees
the Handcuff Man to avoid him. "This guy is
obviously very dangerous. If you see him,
call 286-BIAS and leave a message. Then call
Inspector Whittaker at the police department."
March on Washington
Scheduled for Spring '93
by Jim Marks
A third March on Washington for Lesbian
and Gay Rights inched closer to reality May
12, when nearly 100 gay activists at a "grass
roots" meeting overwhelmingly voted to hold
a march in the spring of 1993. Previous
marches were held in 1979 and 1987.
Although naming an exact date for the '93
march was deferred to a planning meeting
scheduled for August 3-4 in Chicago, the
activists indicated they were looking at a late
April-early May window of opportunity, with
April 25 being the most likely date.
The impetus for a third March on
Washington grew out of the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force's "Creative Change" con
ference last November, and a Boston meeting
of gay elected officials the same month.
Formalized by a "Call to Action in '92" from
openly gay Minneapolis city council member
Brian Coyle, 70 gay activists met in
Washington on March 9 to discuss the possi
bility of a march. That group failed to take
any action, calling instead for a more repre
sentative "grass roots" conference on the
issue.
Debate at the May conference centered on
the timing and the nature of the planned gay
rights action. At times, the meeting seemed
like a mass calendar juggling exercise, as indi
viduals brought up conflicts with planned
state rallies, a proposed 1992 national health
care march, the 1994 25th anniversary of
Stonewall, and a 500th anniversary anti-impe
rialism Columbus Day rally slated for
Washington in 1992. While the conflict with
the Columbus Day event protesting "the geno
cide of indigenous peoples in the Americas”
primarily scuttled the 1992 date, it was only
the most visible of many objections to the ear
lier date, ranging from a lack of time for
preparation to a desire to focus the gay com
munity on electoral politics in 1992.
Once a time for the action was settled
upon, debate turned to the type of action.
While the vast majority of the participants said
they could support a march in the nation's
capitol (the vote was 78-9 with 3 abstentions),
a sizeable minority supported holding the
march elsewhere (the vote was 31-45, with 13
abstentions). "It's been done, I'm tired of it,"
said D.C. ACT UP member Michael Petrelis;
"Dubuque is where the real action is." There
was also much discussion of coordinated
regional and state marches, but little actual
support for separate marches once the voting
began.
After the meeting, some participants com
plained about the laborious and time-consum
ing process, which was designed to achieve
consensus, not majority rule. "I could tell by
11 a.m. Saturday that there was a consensus
for Spring ’93," said one participant, "but it
took the facilitators over 24 hours to come to
the same conclusion."
But NGLTF executive director Urvashi
Vaid, who at one point expressed frustration
that the meeting was becoming bogged down
in ancillary issues, expressed satisfaction with
the final outcome. "It was the right thing to do.
The decision makes sense. The march will be
held near the beginning of a new presidential
term and new Congress. 1993 will mark the
50th anniversary of the military's anti-gay
policies, so that will give us a major issue to
focus on, and it will be a boost for local orga
nizations. In 1987, [when 600,000 gay people
came to Washington], the community got
energized, and went home to create new grass
roots organizations. In 1993, we will again get
energized and go home and build those organi
zations.”
The August 3-4 Chicago meeting, open to
representatives from all gay organizations,
will elect a permanent March steering commit
tee and set the March's goals and agenda. For
more information, call 1-800-832-2889 or
write:
National Planning Meeting for the March
c/o NGLTF
1734 14th St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
Ga. AIDS Lobbyists
Plan Full Schedule
by KC Wildmoon
Local efforts for the upcoming National
AIDS Lobby Days are being coordinated by the
Community AIDS Network in the metro Atlanta
area. The Days are being organized to give citi
zen lobbyists a chance to meet with US Senators
and Representatives while they are at home dur
ing the Memorial Day recess.
Community AIDS Network spokesperson
Carrie Jane Singleton said that plans are already
in place to meet with 5th District Rep. John
Lewis, 4th District Rep. Ben Jones, 9th District
Rep. Ed Jenkins, 7th District Rep. Buddy
Darden, and 3rd District Rep. Richard Ray.
Singleton said lobbyists are also hoping to meet
with 8th District Rep. Roy Rowland later in
June. Rowland has been increasingly supportive
of AIDS-related issues, according to Singleton.
While these meetings are already set,
Singleton encourages interested parties in all
districts to contact her office. "We'd like to con
tinue these meetings beyond the Lobby Days
time period," she said. "Ideally we need to get
in touch (with Representatives and Senators) a
minimum of three times a year to really make a
difference."
In addition to the planned meetings with
Representatives, a group of local activists met
on May 13 with Senator Wyche Fowler.
According to Dr. Joe Wilbur of the Dept, of
Human Resources, the main topic of the discus
sion was the Ryan White money.
"We told him the situation in Georgia," said
Dr. Wilbur, "that there are 60,000 people who
need treatment and only 10,000 getting it, and
that 40% of them are indigent."
The group meeting with Senator Fowler
explained how Georgia would be using the
money received from the Ryan White Fund, but
that much more is needed. "This is seed
money," said Dr. Wilbur. "The numbers needing
treatment will double or triple in the next 5-10
years. We need more money."
Dr. Wilbur said that while Senator Fowler
made no promises, he did say that he appreciat
ed the meeting and would use the information he
got from the group when he relumed to his com
mittees in Washington.
Jim Marks
NGLTF Executive Director Urvashi Vaid (back to camera) holds a heated
discussion with 1987 March on Washington organizer Steve Ault.
