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“THE GROOVY NEWSPAPER SERVING ATLANTA AND THE SOUTHEAST”
VOL 1 NO. 2
OVER 5,000 IN CIRCULATION
25 CENTS
DURING HOLY WEEK
While many of us ea
gerly await the coming of
the Easter Bunny, mem
bers and friends of At
lanta’s Metropolitan Com
munity Church are looking
forward with greater anti
cipation to the arrival, for
a five-day Holy week Spi
ritual Renewal, of the
founder of their fellowship,
Rev. Troy Perry.
Troy Perry heard the
call of God when he was
13; but it wasn’t until 15
years later, when he heard
the cry of his fellow man,
that his real ministry be
gan.
He was born July 27,
1940, in Tallahassee, Fla.,
to a couple that was to
produce four more sons.
iToy’s father was a suc
cessful farmer, business
man and bootlegger, this
last profession leading to
his violent death in 1952.
Mrs. Perry chose her
second husband unwisely.
The man drank heavily,
mismanaged the family
business, and beat the chil
dren, especially Troy.
Troy rebelled by running
off to live with relatives
in South Georgia. His act
gave his mother the
strength to pack up the
rest of the boys and start
a new, independent life.
It was in Georgia that
Troy started preaching, in
spired by his Aunt Bea.
He lived with her for a time
in El Paso, Texas, and then
returned home because of
his mother’s strong desire
to keep the family togeth
er.
Young Troy preached to
Pentecostal, Church of
God and Baptist Congre
gations. It was a Baptist
Church that licensed him
to preach when he was 15.
To pursue his calling in the
South, he followed the “un
written law” and took a wife
when he was 18; they went
to Chicago so he could en
ter Bible College.
But Troy had been aware
of homosexual feelings
within himself, even before
he was old enough to un
derstand them. Despite
Continued on page 2
Atlantis Motorcycle Club Hosts "Dogwood 74"
By T. C. President AMC
For most in the gay com
munity the mention of a mo
torcycle club conjures up
images of Hell’s Angels,
Marlon Brando in “The
Wild One’’ and assorted
newspaper stories of vio
lence and murder. Thus it
is understandable that
members 6f the Atlantis
Motorcycle Club are greet
ed with great trepidation.
Founded in April of 1972,
the Atlantis MC, Inc., is
one of more than ninety
gay motorcycle clubs lo
cated throughout the Unit
ed States, Canada, Europe
and Australia. At the pre
sent time the Atlantis
MC has fourteen regular
members, two pledges, four
associate members and
one honorary member.
While ownership of a mo
torcycle is not a prere
quisite for membership the
ability to ride is, and con
sequently^ all pledges go
through a training and test
ing period in order to qua
lify them to take the Geor
gia Motorcycle road and
written test. The Atlan
tis MC is recognized by
the National Motorcycle
Association as a legiti
mate motorcycle club and
individual members not
only belong to this asso
ciation of road bike enthu
siasts but also to the Ame
rican Motor cycle Asso
ciation as well.
One of the best organi
zed segments of the gay
community, the various gay
motorcycle clubs regular
ly compete against each
other at weekend events
called runs. The AMC plays
host annually to one of these
runs over the Easter Week
end. This year’s run known
as “Dogwood 74’’ will be
held April 11-14 both in
Atlanta and outside the
city. Events begin Thurs
day evening with, the re
gistration of participants.
Over one hundred out-
of-town guests are expect
ed and following Thursday
evening’s social gathering
the run moves Friday to
it’s outdoor -location where
not only will there be mo
torcycle events such as
skill riding, .enduros and
poker runs but also a raft
race, an obstacle course
and a variety of fun and
humor filled individual
events, including a Mr.
Dogwood contest and a
wheel chair race, for the
“over thirty’’ crowd.
Continued on page 3
