Newspaper Page Text
Have a
Safe, P.C.
Holiday
While most
people buy
Christmas
trees and wrap
countless
presents, some
Atlantans dedicate themselves to
reducing waste and consumption
this season. Page 17
Still a
'Front
Runner'
It's been 20
years since
Patricia Nell
Warren wrote
the 'The Front
Runner.' Here, Warren discusses
literature, gay youth and her new
book, 'Harlan’s Race.' Page 29
PLEASE RECYCLE
TAKING PRIDE IN OUR CULTURE
DECEMBER 22/1994
So long, Eric
Eric Spivey, pictured here as an openly gay candidate at the
1992 Democratic National Convention, died on December 13.
Spivey, 35, died of complications from AIDS. Read about his life
and contributions to Atlanta's lesbian, gay and AIDS communi
ties on pages 4 and 10.
A near-tragedy in the
Fitzgerald family
reunited an estranged
gay son with his father
just in time for the
holiday season
by ADAM J. SANK
Atlanta—When he was a teen
ager in his hometown of York,
Pa., Sean Fitzgerald used to
watch the Showtime series
"Brothers" on his family's televi
sion. On that program, several
gay male characters were regu
larly featured and, as it did for
many other boys of his genera
tion, Sean found that watching
Brothers contributed significantly
to his acceptance of his own de
veloping gay identity. Then, one
day, Sean's father watched the
show with his son.
The elder Fitzgerald canceled
their subscription to Showtime
the next day.
Fast forward more than a de
cade to June 12, 1994. Atlanta
businessman Sean Fitzgerald, 30,
was looking forward to compet
ing in the triathlon at New York
City's Gay Games. Though he
had come out to his sister three
years earlier and was living an
openly gay life in Atlanta, Sean
had yet to tell his parents of his
sexual orientation because he
feared they would react nega
tively.
"Growing up," he recalls,
"my dad would be vocally ho
mophobic and [my mother]
would just sit there and not say
anything." Yet his participation in
the Gay Games, in which he
placed fifth for his age group and
15th overall, proved to be a turn
ing point for Sean and his par
ents.
"My father's a CNN junkie,"
he explains, "and so he knew
what was going on in New York
that week... My sister was going
to come up and watch me com
pete. Before she came up I told
her, 'Give a call so I can tell you
where to go, what to do there...'
She happened to call from my
parents' house. After we were
through talking, she said, 'Wish
Dad a happy father's day,' and he
got on the phone and started ask
ing questions... Over the course
of the conversation he realized
the reason I was in New York. As
soon as he figured it out...he
dropped the phone."
Nor did the senior Fitzgerald
come around after the initial
shock wore off. Months later,
Sean says, his father "went
through the house and took
down all the pictures of me from
the walls."
Meanwhile, while his father
and he ceased communication al
together, Fitzgerald worked on
repairing relations with his
mother. "My father was away one
night, and I got a call from my
sister telling me to call my
mom... We talked for about a half
hour, and I found out the reason
she had been so short on the
phone [in recent weeks] was that
my father was standing next to
her telling her to hang up."
Mrs. Fitzgerald told her son
she couldn't understand why his
father had such a problem with
gay people. "She was actually go
ing through our family history
Continued on Page 15
