Newspaper Page Text
OCT 7 - OGI 13 / 1993
■+■
De-Larious
in Atlanta
PAGE 25
PEOPLE
National Coming Out Day set for
OCt. 1 1 PAGE 13
NEWS
Candidates for mayor and City Council
in Atlanta address community at
GAPAC forum PAGE 3
SportsTown says physique magazines
not fit for its "normal" customers pages
Gay/lesbian Cracker Barrel
stockholders win victory PAGE 17
NATION
New anti-gay initiative launched
in Oregon PAGE 9
HEALTH
ddC gets approval as a single-drug
AIDS therapy PAGE 18
OUT AND ABOUT
ART8
Second annual Atlanta Gay and Lesbian
Arts Festival kicks off this weekend in
Buckhead PAGE 25
THEATER
"Six Degrees of Separation," a tale of
imposters and deception PAGE 29
«
Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas
together again at 7 Stages PAGE 31
VOLUME B/NUMBER 33 PLEASE RECYCLE 75C WHERE SOLO
*
Eye on the Right
New Christian supremacist push in city elections has
lesbian!gay politicos looking for hidden agendas
by KC WILD MO OX
Atlanta—Gay and lesbian activists in the city are
searching for clues this week, trying to ferret out candi
dates for local office who may be connected with the
religious right.
The search intensified last week when the existence
of Jacob’s Well was uncovered. Jacob’s Well bills
itself as a black/white coalition supporting “candidates
with character.” The group’s stated purpose is to pro
vide resources for candidates running on a “pro-fam
ily” platform, particularly those opposed to the recently
passed domestic partnership ordinances.
GAPAC has uncovered a number of such “stealth
candidates,” so named because, much like the military’s
Stealth bomber can fly undetected by radar, these can
didates try to enter the political arena without their
right-wing ties being detected.
The list includes Ari Caspcr-Silbcrman (City Coun
cil District 9), Hiram Scott (District 3), Harold Morgan
(District 17), Soisettc Lumpkin (District 1), Jackie
Livingston (District 16), Donny Grogan (School Board
Seat 9), and Rasheed Edwards (Seat 4). Also thought to
be leaning sharply to the right arc Kathy Carter (City
Council District 9), Ayisha Jeffries (District 2), John H.
Lewis, Sr. (District 14), and Brenda Muhammad (School
Board Seat 1).
African American activists have been alarmed by
the revelations of Jacob’s Well. Pat Hussain, a commu
nity organizer with AIDS Walk Atlanta, was particu
larly disturbed when she arrived to speak to a meeting
of Concerned Black Clergy last week to find mayoral
candidate Nancy Schaefer, the force behind Jacob’s
Well, at the meeting.
“My blood ran cold when 1 saw [her],” Hussain
said. “It’s depressing to me from the standpoint that
here we have Family Concerns [Schaefer’s group], which
is while, trying to dictate what we should do. It’s sick
ening to sec it happen.”
Hussain said that Schaefer was unable to speak to
the group because she hadn’t arranged a spot on the
agenda beforehand, and that she left the meeting after
introducing herself.
“There were other candidates for office there as
well, who also couldn’t speak,” she said. “Everyone
else who couldn’t get on the program stayed. But Nancy
Big Hair left, which spoke volumes. She wanted us to -
hear what she had to say, but she didn’t want to hear .
what we had to say.”
Patrick Bell, a member of the African American
Lesbian Gay Alliance, called the introduction of Jacob’s
Well a racist attempt to subjugate the minority commu
nity, and urged lesbians and gays to hold those who take
a stand with the group accountable for their positions.
“If they make the stand, they need to be willing to
withstand the scrutiny,” he said. “We allow African
American leaders to get away with silence on these
issues. [We need to] ask them if their silence means
they condone people like [state Rep.] Billy [McKinney]
and Nancy.”
“It seems to me rather racist,” he added. “They’re
trying to get African Americans to agree with them, and
the more they get to agree with them, the more legiti
mate they arc. But it’s a hate campaign.”
Hussain agreed. “Dr. King said 11 o’clock on Sun
day is the most segregated hour in the country,” she
said. “What has brought [the white Christians] out of
their churches? It’s because they want to use us. But
nobody’s been asked to dinner, right? What I really
want to ask [Schaefer] is where were you in the 1950s?”
JIM MARKS