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Southern Voice/June 20, 1991
NEWS
18 Queer Nationals arrested for
criminal trespass
Cracker Barrel appeared ready for talks before arrests
by KC Wildmoon
Atlanta-Amid chants of "The whole world
is watching," eighteen protesters at Queer
Nation’s June 9 Cracker Barrel action were
arrested by Union City police. The arrests
began only minutes after a Cracker Barrel
lawyer told QN lawyers that the Tennessee-
based restaurant chain "wanted to talk."
Queer Nation has demanded that Cracker
Barrel rescind its anti-homosexual policy and
rehire those employees fired under the policy.
The latest action protesting Cracker
Barrel's policy was another sit-in designed to
disrupt the restaurant's busy after-church
lunch business on Sunday. All the protesters
were seated without incident. Once seated,
they ordered tea and coffee, with some order
ing biscuits or a salad. Cracker Barrel District
Manager Jody Waller had threatened the
protesters with arrest at the last sit-in, claim
ing that the protesters were not ordering from
the menu. At almost the same time that the
last of over 100 protesters was seated, Cracker
Barrel lawyer Raoul Lerow told Michael
Hauptman and Bruce Harvey of the ACLU
that Cracker Barrel wanted to set a time to talk
about QN's demands.
QN Chair Lynn Cothren was preparing a
statement about the breakthrough when
Waller, accompanied by police, began asking
the seated protesters to leave or face criminal
trespass charges. Waller and police went to
each table one at a time, telling the protesters
that they had been seated "long enough to
have ordered from the menu."
In his statement to the press, Cothren urged
"the rest of the community to join us in con
tinuing the boycott against Cracker Barrel."
He was discouraged by the arrests, but said
later that if Cracker Barrel is sincere in its
request for talks, they would take place. At
press time, no details on possible negotiations
were available.
Unlike previous actions, the Union City
demonstration was heavily covered by main
stream news media. Local TV channels 2, 5,
11 and 46 were on hand, as well as reporters
from WSB and WGST radio, the Atlanta
JournallConstitution, and Mother Jones mag
azine. The heavy coverage prompted some
Queer Nationals to wonder if Cracker Barrel
would go through with its threats to arrest
protesters, especially since police who were
present at the restaurant before the protesters'
arrival were sent away by Cracker Barrel
management. The police were called back to
the scene however, when protesters had com
pletely filled the dining room.
Those who chose not to be arrested paid
their bills and joined the line between Cracker
Barrel's front door and the parking lot, where
police cars stopped to pick up those arrested.
The arrested protesters were taken to the
Union City jail, processed, and released on
their own recognizance. The arrestees were
Cheryl Summerville (a lesbian fired by the
Douglasville Cracker Barrel on Feb. 16),
Karen Geney, Cathy Woolard, Lynn Cothren,
Richard Cantrell, Sandra Riley, Charles
LeDuc, Joe deRose, Michelle Gross, Camille
Martin, Martha Ann Mitchell, Genny
McKeown, Mark Broe, Robin Reid, Zan
Thornton, Niky Bunting, Susan Ferron, and
Delmira Hunt. The group's trial date is set for
August 15.
On Monday, the Fulton County Democratic
Party passed a resolution urging Cracker
Barrel to incorporate a non-discrimination
policy, and to rehire all the fired employees.
A letter from the FCDP is being sent to
Cracker Barrel management.
Late this week, Queer Nation announced
Karen Dunigan
Cheryl Summerville, fired by Douglasville
Cracker Barrel in February, was one of 18
demonstrators arrested on June 9.
that demonstrations would continue. The next
action is scheduled for June 30 at the Lithonia
Cracker Barrel at 1-20 and Panola Road.
Demonstrations will continue at that location
every 2nd and 4th Sunday for the rest of the
summer.
Alabama man fired
for being gay
Pres, of U. of Ala. Gay & Lesbian
Alliance too "public" for employer
by KC Wildmoon
Tuscaloosa, AL— A University of Alabama
graduate student was fired last month from his
job as an art exhibit tour guide because of the
"public aspect" of his homosexuality. John
Howard, president of the Gay and Lesbian
Alliance at the University, had been employed
at Gulf States Paper Corporation since
November 1990. He was a tour guide for a
large private collection of American art,
owned by Gulf States chairman Jack Warner
and housed at the company’s corporate head
quarters in Tuscaloosa.
John Howard, President of the University of
Alabama Gay & Lesbian Alliance.
Howard said that his immediate supervi
sor, Lou Lombardy, asked him in a meeting on
May 20 if he were gay, and if he were a mem
ber of an organization. When Howard replied
that both were true, Lombardy said that he
was "sorry to hear this." While indicating that
Howard's work performance was "perfect,"
Lombardy said that he would think the issue
over and make a decision "in a day or two."
Five days later, Howard was fired during a
phone conversation with Lombardy. In the
course of that conversation, Lombardy said
that he would be "comfortable saying you
resigned," but Howard refused to do so.
Howard was then told not to report to work as
scheduled.
"It's not a matter of you being gay,"
Lombardy said, "it's the public aspect of it,
since you're president of this organization. It
puts you in a different light."
Howard wrote to Jack Warner, chair of
Gulf States, requesting a meeting to discuss
his firing. Mr. Warner did not respond, and
his secretary told Howard that he would not
meet with him.
When contacted by Southern Voice on June
14, Lombardy said that both he and the com
pany would prefer not to comment on the
matter.
Handcuff Man
suspect out on bail
by KC Wildmoon
Robert Lee Bennett Jr. was arrested in
Atlanta on June 5 and taken to Tampa on
attempted murder charges. He is charged with
attempting to murder Gary Clapp, who was
found ablaze in a field in Tampa. Mr. Clapp
identified Mr. Bennett as the man who paid
him to drink vodka. Tampa police released
Mr. Bennett on June 13 on a $200,000 bail.
Fulton County District Attorney Lewis
Slaton said last week that he expects to ask a
grand jury to indict Mr. Bennett with aggra
vated assault in relation to a May 12 attack on
Michael Jordan. Mr. Jordan was found badly
burned behind the Ponce de Leon Hotel. He
identified Mr. Bennett as the man who picked
him up hitchhiking and offered him money to
drink vodka. Mr. Bennett has been identified
by some members of the gay community as
well as some authorities as the "Handcuff
Man," who has been terrorizing male prosti
tutes in Atlanta for over 20 years.
In 1982 Mr. Bennett was charged with the
murder of James Johnson, previously reported
to have been a male prostitute. Friends of Mr.
Johnson have since told Southern Voice that
he was not a prostitute, but in fact worked as a
dishwasher at the Coach & Six Restaurant.
Mr. Johnson is alleged to have been involved
in a 2 year relationship with a man named
"Robert" whom he met at the department store
where "Robert" worked. Mr. Bennett was
employed for a time in the jewelry department
at Davison's (now Macy's). Mr. Johnson's
friends said he told them he was terrified that
"Robert's gonna get me" during the last few
weeks of his life. The 1982 charges against
Mr. Bennett were eventually dropped for lack
of evidence.
Ralph from Ben Hill
airs "gay show"
GLAAD gets no response
from WGST
by R. S. Kezh
Atlanta-WGST radio talk show host "Ralph
from Ben Hill" has again provoked the Atlanta
lesbian and gay community. During his June
3rd program, Miles Smith (a.k.a. Ralph from
Ben Hill) referred to himself as "Rachel from
Ben Hill" and repeatedly asserted that he was
gay. When asked by a caller why he called
himself Rachel he replied that he was express
ing his feminine side. "The more feminine the
better. That's what gays do," he said.
Upon hearing promotions for the show in
which a feminine-voiced Ralph said, "This is
Rachel from Ben Hill. Tonight I'm coming out
of the closet on my gay show," GLAAD (Gay
& Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) co
chairs Padraig McManus McLoughlin and Pat
Hussein called station manager/news director
Eric Seidel to ask about the program's content.
Seidel would not answer questions about the
show. McManus McLoughlin and Hussein had
already met with V.P. and General Manager
John Hogan on May 14 to express concerns
about the controversial talk-show host. At that
meeting Hogan had said that "anything inap
propriate" would be deleted from Ralph's pro
grams. He also said that "the subject of
Ralph's shows must have prior approval from
Seidel."
GLAAD responded to the June 3rd pro
gram with a letter to Seidel requesting equal
air time. At press time no response had been
received.
GLAAD co-chair Pat Hussein said of the
host, "He (Ralph) is entitled to his opinion.
What he does wrong is try and speak for us.
He distorts the facts. [He] was representing
himself as a gay male [on the June 3 show]
and yet saying things that were not consistent
with gays."
McManus McLoughlin stated that "further
action is planned" and encouraged people to
stop by the GLAAD booth at the Pride
Festival to participate. The three major adver
tisers on the June 3rd program were Isuzu,
Rolaids and Motel 6.
At 5 p.m. on the day of his show, Ralph
called the offices of GLAAD and said, "This
is Ralph from Ben Hill. You'd better check out
my show tonight." He called GLAAD again
during the show, played their answering
machine message over the air and gave the
address and phone number using the feminine
voice of "Rachel." When asked by a caller
why he was doing the show, he replied,
"Because of all those mean things they said of
me in The News." He was referring to the
April issue of The (Atlanta Gay Center)
News, in which a portion of his March 14th
show was quoted on the cover in which he
said that "how to deal with the gay communi
ty" was to "drop a scud missile on them"
(sound effects included).
A source at WGST who is close to the
program told Southern Voice that "Ralph
thinks that [being gay] is morally wrong. He
had a friend who died of AIDS and I'm sorry a
friend had to die to bring it closer to home for
him. Some [of his] relatives are gay and 'he
hates them but he loves them.' I think it's real
ly pitiful. I think he's homophobic enough that
he cannot [come around]. It seems so strange
that a black man should have such a bad feel
ing about another minority."
Other GLAAD news
On June 4 McManus McLoughlin and
Hussein traveled to Augusta, Ga. to meet with
staff members of the Augusta Chronicle. In an
editorial published on May 1, editorial page
editor Philip Kent described gays as people
"who spread the AIDS virus by refusing to
curb their perverted lascivious appetites." The
editorial was that paper's response to a newly-
formed chapter of Queer Nation in Athens,
Ga.
"We went seeking either a retraction or a
guest editorial. We didn't get either," said
McManus McLoughlin. "There was no move
ment on their part.”
Hussein described the meeting with Kent
and another staff member as "two hours of liv
ing hell." She summed up the meeting by say
ing, "The Augusta Chronicle didn't budge one
bit on their bigotry. Their ideas about the gay
community were so distorted that I don't
believe they could possibly have ever met an
out gay/lesbian. They have a one-dimensional
view of [our] community based on propagan
da." ■
Kent told Southern Voice in a telephone
interview that the article was "the opinion of
The Augusta Chronicle" and refused to retract
any portion.
On a positive note, the city of Augusta will
have its first Gay Pride March Saturday, June
29. Some Atlanta activists, including Lynn
Cothren of Queer Nation and Samantha Claar
of Ga. NOW are scheduled speakers. Call
Morgan Eubanks at Triangle Times (803) 588
6321 for more information on the march.
