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SOUTHERN VOICE OCTOBER14/1993
Hussain: Blacks must lead fight of right
African American Lesbian
and Gay Alliance awards
dinner honors Joan Garner
Atlanta—Keynote speaker Pat Hussain
brought the audience at Saturday night’s fourth
annual African American Lesbian Gay Alliance
awards banquet to ils feel as she urged the city’s
lesbian and gay African Americans to take the
lead in fighting the recent insurgence of the
religious right into the black community, exem
plified in Atlanta by the Nancy Schaefer-led
Jacob’s Well.
“Who else can tell black America that being
gay, bisexual and transgendered is not a white
thing?” said Hussain, a community activist and
native Atlantan. “If we talk to our people...tell
them it’s not about them—it’s about us—it’s
about me—it’ll make a real difference.”
Hussain reminded the crowd that “slave ships
were missionaries...bringing us to Christ” and
that the Southern Baptist convention came into
existence over the slavery issue.
Noting that she attended segregated schools
in the 1950s, Hussain said she remembered “he;ir-
ing that separation of the races was ordained—
that it was a Biblical imperative and the courts
could not force us. to do something immoral.”
“There’s not a lot of conversation I can have
with people who’vc been bom again when they
were trying to keep me from being bom at all,”
she added.
About 70 people gathered in the Georgia
East Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel on Oct.
9 to hear Hussain, and for the presentation of the
1993 Marquis Delano Walker Humanitarian
Award, named for a founding member and origi
nal co-chair of the organization, to Joan Gamer.
Gamer, a former co-chair of AALGA, has
served the city’s lesbian/gay and African Ameri
can communities in many capacities, including
co-chair of the City Council’s Lesbian/Gay Pub
lic Safety Task force and senior advisor to Mayor
Maynard Jackson. Gamer, now executive direc
tor of the Fund for Southern Communities, re
called her introduction to AALGA in 1988.
“I went to AALGA to talk about the [Human
Rights Campaign Fund] dinner,” she said. “I
said, ‘This is nice. I think 1 found my family.’”
KC WILDM0 0N
Shahar
Continued from page 1
hire me.”
Shahar said that in her capacity with the city
of Atlanta, she has come before judges who
have known about the lawsuit, and several have
offered words of encouragement.
“And I work with City Council members. I
feel very respected by them,” she said. “I don’t
feel like my sexual orientation or my ceremony
with Fran has ever been.. .a negative issue in my
relationships with City Council members.”
Another point Shahar takes exception to in
Freeman’s ruling are his statements that Bowers
did not engage in discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
“If this had been a marriage between a man
and a woman, this case would never have ex-,
isted,” she said. “The whole reason we’re here is
because two lesbians were involved.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, which
is representing Shahar in the case, hailed the
pans of Freeman’s ruling about the rights lesbi
ans and gay men to their relationships, but sharply
disagreed with his decision to balance those rights
against those of Bowers.
“A federal coun has ruled that lesbians and
gays have a right to participate in a partnership
ceremony and they have a right to their relation
ships,” said Teresa Nelson, director of the Geor
gia chapter of the ACLU. “That is a plus.”
For Shahar, the battle is not over. The 11 th
U.S. Circuit Coun of Appeals will hear the ap
peal, a process that will probably take up to six
months, and could order Freeman to let the case
go to trial. If not, say her attorneys, they will
Robin Shahar
pursue the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
It’s been a difficult process, Shahar said, but
at least some pan of this latest development is
promising.
“I am encouraged by a statement that gays
and lesbians arc protected under the freedom of
association laws,” she said. “We can associate
with whomever we want to associate with, and
our relationships have some kind of constitu
tional protection. That, to me, feels like a huge
step forward.”
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