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Our voice at the White House Marsha Scott, President Clinton's liai son to the gay and lesbian community, discusses the administration's record and commit ment to lesbian/gay rights. PAGE 15 Gay play gels encore production Actor Jeroy Hannah, who won critical praise for his performance last year in "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me," returns to the role as both star and producer. PAGE 27 PLEASE RECYCLE TAKING PRIDE I N OUR CULTURE SEPTEMBER 28/1995 by PAMI I A EVANS -Gay/lesbian and gay-friendly Atlanta businesses come out in force for next week's Southeastern Lesbian and Gay Business Expo : The Southeastern Lesbian and Gay Business Expo, an event that originated seven years ago inside a small con ference room at an area Hob day Inn, today has outgrown : most hotel accommodations and this year will be housed for the second time at the Georgia World Congress Center The Expo will take place Saturday, Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 3,500 people are expected to attend the event, an increase of 800 riser last year's attendance, according to Patrick Murphy, local business ownei and president of the Greater Atlanta Business Coalition (GABC). GABC, a nonprofit orga nization dedicated to the develop ment and growth of gay-support ive businesses, took on the task of presenting the Expo last year, fol lowing several years of sponsor-* ship by Fourth. Tuesday. "A lot of us had been involved with Fourth Tuesday when they did it," explains Murphy. "Many of us thought we needed to bring [the event] to a nicer location. A meeting was held, and when Fourth Tuesday decided not to make a commitment, I think they wanted to make sure they were turning it over to the right people." Booth spaces this year are lim ited to approximately 150 and at press time were close to being tilled for the Gist time a commis sion-paid salesperson was hired to solicit business owners to rent booths, a strategy that was effec tive in attracting a variety of gay- owned and gay-friendly busi nesses, from small florists and mechanics to national compa nies like NationsBank, says Murphy The Expo is also expected to bring participation from beyond Atlanta for the first time The event was advertised in a six- state area and in several gay and lesbian publications in the Southeast. According to Jernlyn Levetan, chairperson of the event, the exposure this year will bring even larger compa nies to the Expo next year. "We are grooming these businesses to be sponsors next year. We are certain of it," she says. "The businesses that are here, for the most part, are ea ger to show the value-added service they can provide a gay or lesbian customer," Levetan says. "Expo's not just 'Look at >** Continued on Page 12 With bald heads and flesh cut away, the life-scale figures and busts of lesbian artist Dana Groemminger explore "the rawness of being human." Her show opens at the Lowe Gallery on Oct. 6. PAGE 27 i by DON JOHNSTON Atlanta—The day after gay activ ists met with Atlanta Police Chief Beverly Harvard, urging her to allo cate resources on more serious crimes than the illegal sale fsext % iobte arrested the owner of an adult video ahanma matori- | als Lesbian and Gay Task Force met with Harvaid on Sept. 19, asking her to shift police resources toward more pressing oriotefe. , . The Task Force has requested that Harvard address several police ac tions which appear to target sexual ’nitioritiis since Max when -t\i M adult-lores Were idi.'iij Harvardde- mg she is forced tn investigate a lien Roughly 24 hours later, police ar rested the owner of 9 ‘/i Weeks, an At lanta adult video store The store man ager told reporters he would continue to sell the items police call obscene. "We're going to keep selling these a liv ing," general man a cr btt\e Wellington said Owner Michael Morrison was charged with two counts of distribut- Continued on Page 12