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SOUTHERN VOICE OCTOBER7/1993
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p
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MARIE MURRAY
Age: 43
Relationship Status: “taken” for
12 years
Last Book Read: for fun, “The
Grass Crown” by Colleen
McCullough; serious, “People of
the Lie” by Scott Peck
Pet Peeve: fanatics of any per
suasion
“I was involved in GAPAC when the Metro
Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Association (MACGLO)
was still around,” recalls Marie J. Murray, a
local writer/editor and former Yankee turned
Southern girl, who was educated at State Uni
versity in Geneseo, New York. “I still mourn
MACGLO’s loss—absolute folly to let that won
derful meeting ground go by the wayside. It had
about 75 organizations represented. But you can’t
keep a good community, such as ours, down.
The true leaders continue to emerge anyway.”
“I have such admiration for a dozen or so of
special people,” says Murray, a New York City
native. “The women that I admire the most are
Chris Cash—I’m bowled over by what she’s
done—and Judy Colbs—because of her tremen
dous organization skills. These two should be
applauded for their accomplishments in build
ing up Southern Voice and P-FLAG, respec
tively.”
“For fairly obvious reasons I’ve become con
cerned about breast cancer, which is becoming
as epidemic as AIDS,” she adds when queried
about women’s issues. “More and more I’m
becoming involved in women’s health issues.”
Yet overall Murray’s volunteer activities
have taken a back seat to her home and relation
ship over the past few years.
“I was a board member and a chairperson of
GAPAC,” she explains. “It was fun and educa
tional and burned me out totally. So for the past
few years, I’ve limited my activism to writing
out checks.
“Marie Johanson is the light of my life to
day,” continues Murray on the subject of her
lover, a physical therapist in south Atlanta. “I
don’t know what I’d do without her. We seemed
so different in the beginning. At the start, we
never expected it to last, but we balance each
other. I taught her how to spend, and she taught
me how to save, which worked out great after
we merged our bank accounts. Years ago, our
role models, who have been together 31 years
now, advised us that the secret of their success
was that they were so financially entangled that
they couldn’t afford to break up. We’re in that
same position now.”
However, it does sometimes get confusing
with two Maries in the same household. Ac
cording to Murray, one Christmas, they sent a
card to a friend signed “Les Maries.” Subse
quently he proceeded to call up mutual acquain
tances complaining that he didn’t know a guy
named “L-E-S.”
“Non-work time is spent gardening, deco
rating and loving our dogs,” she says.
Four years ago, Marie Murray’s professional
life took off in a different direction when she
began writing.
“I love the freedom it gives me,” she says.
“And I love freelancing in particular because it
keeps me involved with different projects and
ensures that I won’t be stuck with any one boss’
neurosis for too long.”
On a more personal note, recently Murray’s
•pet peeve was tested when she sent off a series
of letters to a local politician.
“John Linder and I had a brisk series of
communications,” she says, shuddering.
There is with Murray, as with each of us, a
darker area that causes deep concern.
“I’m very worried about violence against
women-it’s something that never leaves you,”
she states. “Rape, in particular, is something you
never ‘get over,’ though you make your peace
with the experience. As a rape survivor, 1 know
that 1 can go for long periods of time just fine
and then at other times my fear is just below the
surface. The escalating level of violence against
women in our society is very disturbing.”
On a lighter note, having seen many demo
graphic changes in Atlanta since her arrival,
Murray concludes with this observation about
her Candler Park neighborhood: “The gay boys
are moving in, so now we will become ‘trendy.’
The neighborhood was first settled by lesbians,
so for years we were not.”
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