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SOUTHERN VOICE OCTOBER 21/1993
THE SIXTH DISTRICT RACE
Loftis, Davis and
Andy
Loftis
Loftis, 55, who lives in
Momingside, is an accountant
and businessman and chairman
of the city of Atlanta’s zoning
review board. He is openly gay.
Why should the gay and
lesbian community support you? “There is a difference
between being gay-friendly and being a lesbian or gay. I think
it’s time now, with the issues that we’re facing, that we elect one
of our own. And until we do, we’re never going to know what
true political power is. Once we elect one of our own, who goes
to City Hall, who demonstrates leadership and responsibility, it
will dispel the myth in other parts of the city...that gay people
are different.”
What is your agenda for gay and lesbian issues if
elected? He will change the purchasing code to make firms
that do business with the city have a non-discrimination policy
based on sexual orientation. He would require the police depart
ment to hire gay and lesbian officers, and “I would like to see gay
and lesbian officers work with Midtown precinct. I think putting
our own people on patrol in Midtown.. .can correct some of
these hate [crimes].” He supports a citywide non-discrimination
ordinance, applying to housing and employment, “if we can
write that ordinance so that it can be effective.” He would use his
office as a bully pulpit with whoever is police chief and tell him
or her that “I will be a thorn in your side” until he or she sits
down with the community to iron out their differences.
What does the city need to do to fight AIDS? “We need
to provide housing for our PWAs, and the community develop
ment block grants should be used to provide some of this hous
ing.”
How would you fight for PWA group homes, such as
Jerusalem House, even in the face of neighborhood
opposition? “We must educate the public that AIDS does not
go through the air.”
Why should the community support you, rather than
Mary Davis, who has been a friend of the community?
He notes that he has a special understanding of lesbian/gay
issues because he is gay and also says Davis is not effective.
“Mary has been good in her days. Her days were the 70s. This is
the 90s. Our problems have changed from the 70s to the 90s.”
How do you respond to the criticism that you have not
been involved in the community prior to running for
council? He cites his work behind the scenes helping people
who faced discrimination in the business world and his member
ship in the Apollo Club, an early gay social/political group, in the
late 1960s. “I have been, I think, a role model for the gay
community and the lesbian community in our city. I am not a
person who feels like you have to shout to the world what you’re
doing. 1 think that you can move in a responsible way and still
get things done without getting press for it.”
Kelly square off
Mary
Davis
Davis, 54, a real estate agent who
lives in Momingside, was first
elected to represent District 6 on
the Atlanta City Council (Mid
town, Virginia-Highland,
Momingside and Druid Hills) in
1977. One of her daughters is a
lesbian, and she is a member of P-FLAG (Parents, Family and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays). She is a member of the suite of
Georgia’s AIDS task force.
Why should the gay and lesbian community support
you? “I have an effective record of service and leadership on
issues that are important [to the community], I have produced.”
She notes that she was the sponsor of domestic partnership, was
the author of the first resolution recognizing Pride, got the police
department to remove a question from its employment form
asking people if they had committed sodomy and helped imple
ment police sensitivity training and hate crimes legislation. “We’ve
come a long way, and I’ve been a large part of that.”
What is your agenda for gay and lesbian Issues If
elected? She wants to expand and increase sensitivity training
for police officers and for employees in all city departments. She
will introduce a bill outlawing employment and housing dis
crimination in the city based on sexual orientation. “There are
still some questions about whether it would pass legal muster,
but I want to try it.”
What does the city need to do to fight AIDS? She wants
the city to take a stronger role in helping to provide housing for
PWAs and would propose more education for city employees to
combat ignorance about AIDS. She also cites her work as a
member of the AIDS task force. “I have more standing when I
speak at the state on AIDS issues if I’m an elected official.”
How would you fight for PWA group homes, such as
Jerusalem House, even in the face of neighborhood
opposition? “I absolutely think people should have the right to
be involved in decisions affecting them. But there are some
bottom line issues for me, and one of those is [fair housing].”
On why the lesbian/gay community should support
her rather than elect one of its own: “I understand the
desire to have someone gay in public office. I like to have
women elected to public office. But I have never voted for a
woman because she’s a woman only. If somebody has been there
fighting for me, and he’s a man, 1 don’t hold his being a man
against him. I feel that I have no apologies to make. I feel that I
have served my constituency well.”
On her opponents’ community involvement: “They’ve
not been there on the issues of importance to this city or this
community. They haven’t been there on anti-discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation, either of them...I think it’s admi
rable that they’ve become interested, but I think they need a little
more work in the community.”
on the east side
Joe
Kelly
Kelly, 45, who lives in
Momingside, is an attorney and,
from 1972 to 1982, served as
artistic director of the Atlanta
Contemporary Dance Company.
. j.
-k
Why should the gay and
lesbian community support you? “I think that one thing
that I bring to the representation is an across the board awareness
that there are many fronts [of action].” Kelly also says that,
because he’s straight but has had experience working with gay
men and lesbians in the dance world, he would be an effective
advocate. “I think one of the things that I bring is that there is no
question that I’m straight, that I have a wife, family, kids. I’m
going to be able to convince people, I think, in a serious way, not
because this is on an agenda, not because people elected me, not
because I am gay, but because it is important that society make
this transition.”
What is your agenda for gay and lesbian issues if
elected? He supports requirements that firms that do business
with the city have non-discrimination policies based on sexual
orientation and thinks the city should invest its funds only in
companies that have such policies. He supports community po
licing, which would take officers out of cars and get them inter
acting with the neighborhoods.
On the existing domestic partnership law: He calls it
“goofy” because it includes straight unmarried partners, who
don’t need it, and because “it imposes financial responsibilities
on partners that married people do not have,” namely, joint
responsibility for medical expenses. He also says Davis mis
handled the issue. “I believe a great disservice was done because,
in the firestorm of controversy after that, we stirred up a reaction
that took the movement back years.”
On what the city needs to do to fight AIDS: He believes
the city should cut the red tape required for approvals of group
nomes and provide more funding and support to community-
based AIDS organizations.
On fighting for PWA group homes, such as Jerusalem
House, even in the face of neighborhood opposition:
“I’ll be happy to face my angry constituents and say ‘it’s the
law.’”
Why should the community support you rather than
elect an openly gay candidate? “You’re talking about a
symbolic thing, and I think that’s important. But 1 think when
people go to the polls.. .tHjsy have an enormous number of con
cerns about the future of the city. While [the sexual orientation of
the candidates] may be an issue, it’s not near the top of the list.”
Why should the community support you rather than
reelect Davis? “1 think her friendship has promised a lot but
delivered little.”
RICHARD SHUMATE
THE REAL WINNERS
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