Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

2 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.