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SOUTHERN VOICE JULY15/1993 Jackson's veto holds, triggering another protest Protestor S. Faybelle Ma-Hee says City Council could use an out, black dyke. Okula removed from mayor’s office, state legislators call for anti-partnership bill Atlanta—The fight over domestic partner ship continued to boil last week, both at City Hall and in the streets of Atlanta. First, the City Council failed to override Mayor Maynard Jackson’s veto of domestic partnership benefits legislation, sparking an other angry demonstration outside City Hall. Then, a sudden reorganization in Jackson’s of fice put a new layer of management over his gay/lesbian liaison, Marcia Okula, who has been publicly critical of the veto. And at week’s end, three Atlanta-area state legislators announced plans for anti-partnership legislation on a state wide level, amid a hail of homophobic invec tive. On July 6, the council, as expected, failed to override Jackson’s veto of the ordinance, as more than 300 observers, about a quarter of them gay men and lesbians, packed City Coun cil chambers for the debate. But the sponsor of the ordinance, Council- woman Mary Davis, introduced new legisla tion that would answer some of the financial concerns that the mayor says led to the veto, and the council then passed a resolution autho rizing the city to begin discussions with the city’s insurance carriers about the real costs of such a program. It also voted down an attempt by Councilman Dozier Smith, a partnership opponent, to put the issue to a city-wide refer endum. Davis’ new legislation could come up for a vote on July 19. “We knew the veto override would be very difficult,” said GAPAC lobbyist Larry Pellegrini. “We’re really very angry dial we have to go through all this again. But even though we didn’t get enough votes for an over ride, we did get enough to pass the legislation. As unfair as it is that we have to do this over again, we will not let up our efforts.” While every attempt was made to success fully override Jackson’s veto, acdvisls were pleased that no votes were lost between die last council meedng and this one. The vote—9 for override, 7 against widi one abstention—was idenucal to the vote cast for the bill on June 21. Mayoral candidate and at-large Councilwoman Myrtle Davis’ vote for the override replaced that of Councilwoman Debbie McCarty, who resigned to become the city’s parks commis sioner. “Those votes were crucial,” said Pellegrini. “They took on the mayor and this issue at the same time.” Debate on the ordinance—and the resolu- don to begin discussions with insurance carri ers, which must be signed by the mayor by July 14—again focused heavily on the legitimacy of estimates on the costs of providing insur ance benefits to the partners of unmarried city employees that were drawn up by the city’s finance department. “It is outrageous, morally indefensible for our finance department to scare the people of Adanta, the employees of Atlanta, and the tax payers of Atlanta with false information,” said Davis, pounding on the desk in front of her. Smith defended the finance department fig ures with claims that domestic partners pose a “higher risk” than spouses. When pressed to idenufy what that risk was by Councilwoman CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Cracker Barrel charges dropped Atlanta—A Fulton County prosecutor has decided to drop charges against 18 people arrested during a 1991 protest at a Cracker Barrel in Union City. The demonstration was one of a series of sit-ins staged by Queer Nalion/Adanta to pro test anti-gay/lesbian employment policies in stituted by the chain of roadside eateries, which is based in Lebanon, Tenn. In a letter to Cracker Barrel officials explaing his decision to drop charges against diose arrested on June 9,1991, Fulton County Solicitor Paul L. Howard Jr. cited “the need for healing and understanding rather than liti gation with respect to the question of equal employment opportunities.” “We were not surprised,” said Lynn Cothren, who was co-chair of QN/Atlanta during the protest and one of those arrested. “We were wailing for it.” “In legal jargon, he was telling Cracker Barrel what his point of view is,” said Cothrea “He was basically on our side.” Howard’s decision closed the book on 38 criminal' trespass charges filed in connection with area demonstrations. The sit-ins were triggered in early 1991 when Cracker Barrel management sent a directive to store manag ers which said hiring people who “fail to demonstration normal heterosexual values” would be “inconsistent with those in our cus tomer base.” At least 17 people were fired across the Southeast as a result of that policy, including Cheryl Summerville, a Bremen, Ga. resident whose termination notice cited “Employee is gay” as the reason for her firing. Queer Nation/Atlanta began a series of sit-ins protesting the policy almost immedi ately after its release, demanding that Cracker Barrel rescind the policy and rehire the fired employees. The company insisted that it had rescinded the policy, but to date no fired employee has been rehired. Twenty other arrests took place during demonstrations at the Lithonia Cracker Bar rel in DeKalb County, including eleven on June 30, 1994. Ten of those eleven (one of those arrested settled out of court) were found not guilty of criminal trespass on April 2, CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 Fired employee Cheryl Summerville walks away from 1991 Union City sit-in. Murder/suicide on Bulldogs' deck Atlanta—An argument turned to tragedy on the deck of a popular Midtown gay bar last Thursday, when a man shot another man three times and then turned the gun on himself. As Southern Voice went to press, police were offering very few details surrounding the murder-suicide at Bulldog and Co. on Peachtree Street, which left Ignacio Urbizu, 51, and Wil liam Marshall, 28, both of Atlanta, dead at the scene. Witnesses told reporters that the pair had been arguing across the street as they ap proached the Peachtree Street bar around 6:30 p.m. on July 8. When they reached the back deck entrance into the bar, Urbizu shot Marshall twice in the chest and once in the head with a .25-calibcr handgun, then shot himself in the head. Few patrons were on hand at the bar when the killings occurred. Some reported that the shots “sounded like fireworks” at first, but dial they quickly determined what had happened and called police. One patron attempted to re vive Urbizu with CPR but failed. The relationship between the men, and what precipitated their deadly encounter, remains un clear. The Atlanta Police Department’s detec tive in charge of the investigation was not avail able for comment, and the department issued few details beyond the identities of the two men. Police Chief Eldrin Bell, who has ordered increased police patrols in the wake of recent gay/lesbian protests, came to the crime scene himself and made statements to the press. Dennis McGowan, the chief investigator at the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s of fice, said that as far as he knew', Urbizu and Marshall were acquainted. “I don’t know to what extern,” McGowan said, “But they did know one another before lire event.” KC WILD MOON Man gets life for shooting lesbians in Macon Macon, GA—A man who walked into a gay/lcsbian bar in Macon last January and fired seven shoLs, killing one woman and wounding another, was convicted of murder last week and sentenced to life in prison. A Bibb County Superior Court jury con victed Dcion Felton of murder in the death of Elie Davidson, of Kingsport, Tenn., who was shot in the back and died later at a local hospi tal. Felton also received a 20-ycar sentence for wounding another patron, Diane Salyers, and 10 more years for shooting into a bar stool where another patron, Frances Ryan, was sil ting. What turned into one of Georgia’s worst incidents of anti-gay/lesbian violence began last January 13, when Felton, Shawn Hightower (who pled guilty to lesser charges) and four other men went to a straight bar in downtown Macon. Two men perceived by the group to be gay walked in. As one of the Felton’s compan ions, Eric Jackson, later testified, Felton began to pick a fight and curse at the men, who then left. As the men began to make their way out of lire bar, Jackson said says that Felton remarked that he planned to follow the men to the Pe gasus Lounge, a nearby gay/lesbian bar, and “shoot the place up and scare them.” Hightower asked Jackson for a handgun, which he gave to Felton. Sometime after midnight, four men came into the Pegasus and began to harass palroas until asked to leave. Patrons had initially thought CONTINUED ON PAGE 8