Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN VOICE NOVEMBER3/1994
TAKE GEORGIA TO THE
IN HUMAN
RIGHTS!
MAX CLELAND
Thank you to all of the volunteers and participants
in AIDS WALK ATLANTA for your dedication and
commitment to the fight against AIDS.
Paid for by the Friends of Max Cleland Committee
CREDIT PROBLEMS?
NO PROBUM
At Hickman Thrift, helping people
with credit problems buy the
late-model car, truck, or van they
need is what
we do
best!
If you have a job, a residence, and a
down payment, well get you financed!
i
mm
THRIFT
2 mites inside 1-285 on Peachtree Industrial Blvd.
Florida billboard flap settled
This billboard ad was removed after the neighboring
bar complained; it went back up the next day.
Fort Lauderdale, FL—A
billboard ad that includes a
painting of a nude man was
put back up Oct. 5, one day
after a local business owner’s
complaints had gotten it re
moved.
The billboard, advertising
a Cleveland, OH-based viatical
company, features only a few
words along with a nude im
age from an 1836 painting by
French artist Hippolyte
Flandrin, which currently
hangs in the Louvre.
“The message is one thing,
but the naked man is tasteless,” Harold
Reichert, owner of Freddie’s Anchor Sports
Bar, told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel in early
October. Reichert said patrons had complained
about the billboard, which stands over his
building. And Reichert’s complaints to 3M
resulted in the billboard’s removal six days
into Page & Associates 60-day contract.
After a consultation with Timothy Down
ing, Page’s attorney, 3M reversed its decision
and put the ad back up.
According to Jane Grant, a 3M spokesper
son, Reichert didn’t fully understand what the
ad was about until a 3M advertising represen
tative met with him
“Once he understood what the business
was all about, he said, ‘OK, put the billboard
back up,”’ Grant said.
SCLC calls for Miss, investigation
Atlanta—The Southern Christian Leader
ship Conference (SCLC) has joined gay rights
groups and others in calling for a thorough,
independent investigation into the murders of
two gay men in rural Mississippi. A black
teenager has been charged with the killings.
“The case of the execution-style murder of
two alleged homosexuals and the 16-year-old
arrested for their murders includes a multitude
of inconsistencies and raises more questions
than it answers,” said the Rev. Joseph Lowery,
SCLC president, in an Oct. 17 statement.
Jones County Sheriff Maurice Hooks
claims that robbery was the motive, though
the victims were found still in possession of a
watch, a diamond ring and credit cards. The
sheriff’s department has said that Marvin
McClendon, who has no previous record, is
being held on the basis of a “tip” and a taped
confession made without the presence of an
attorney.
In contrast to Hooks’ claims, McClendon’s
mother reportedly told a local newspaper that
her son shot the two men after they made
sexual overtures to him.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
and Western Union have established a toll-
free hotline to link citizens with Attorney Gen
eral Janet Reno’s office. By calling 1-800
651-1417, individuals may speak to an opera
tor who will add their name and address to a
letter urging Reno to intervene in the case.
Representatives of the Department of Jus
tice have said they cannot intervene in the
murder investigation because the 1964 Civil
Rights Act does not extend protection to people
on the basis of sexual orientation.
Tampa law to face second challenge
Tampa, FL—Opponents of a Tampa law
banning discrimination against lesbians and
gay men have collected enough signatures to
bring the issue before voters a second time to
let them decide whether to repeal the law.
Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Pam
Iorio certified a petition Oct. 17 that will send
the sexual orientation measure to a public ref
erendum on March 7.
It will be the second time in less than three
years the gay rights ordinance will be up for a
vote.
The law, adopted in 1991, forbids discrimi
nation based on sexual orientation in housing,
employment and public accommodations.
“We’re very much prepared and ready to
move toward a March election,” said David
Caton, head of a group called Yes! Repeal
Homosexual Ordinance Committee.
Ordinance supporters also have regrouped.
Formerly, they were known as Say No to Hate
and now work as Citizens for a Fair Tampa.
“I defy anybody to read the ordinance and
find special rights for anybody. That is not
what this is about. It’s about protection for all
citizens, and that’s it,” said John Dunn, chair
man of the proponents group.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Judge ok's funds for S.C. AIDS home
Greenville, SC—A U.S. District Court
judge has cleared the way for federal money to
pay for a home for people suffering from AIDS
or HIV and said opponents’ legal challenge
had no place in federal court.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Herlong
Jr. on Oct. 11 dismissed an order blocking
federal funds for the Stephens House, where
six people could live.
The Colonel Elias Earle Historic District
Association Inc. had sued to prevent federal
Housing and Urban Development money to
help pay off loans used to close on the pur-
of the home.
The association said the funds would vio
late the separation between church and state,
since the members of the group running the
home, Project Care, Inc., are members of Christ
Episcopal Church. The association also said
an environmental assessment of the site was
defective.
Attorney Robbie Childs said the associa
tion will evaluate the judge’s decision and may
consider further action.
Project Care official Joey Hudson said the
home could be ready for people to move in
within two weeks.
ASSOCIATED PRESS