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ATLANTA BARB-Page 2 Community Activities Fire Safety Or Harassment? By BiU Smith Recently the Gay Inform ation Service has received numerous telephone calls concerning fire inspecting frequently of Atlanta’s newest gay lounge. After talking with several com munity people, some of whom complained that if any thing the fire inspect ors were to lax, I visit ed the Atlanta Fire Pre vention Bureau. I was greeted by two middle age fire inspect ors who obviously had no idea why I was there. Aft er requesting the fire in spection records and the fire inspection applications of ten gay lounges, the amiable gentlemen asked why I wanted the records on “these kind of bars’’. I proceeded to explain the concern, both pro and con, in the gay community con cerning fire inspection and. safety. Not batting and eye lash, so to speak, the gent lemen pulled the fire in spection application and records of several well known swinging singles lounges and a few excl usive lounges located in downtown hotels. They explained to me that high volume disco- lounges both hetrosexual and homosexual had a high frequency of inspection during the first few mon ths of operation. This was due, they said, largely to the fact that people usual ly flock to a new bar when it opens and the new oper ators are reluctant to turn first time customers away or make them stand in long lines. They point out that when a npw bat opens, many times it has just been renovated and con struction materials may still be stored in and a- round the building as final touches are applied. The presence of these highly flammable materials co upled with a jam packed lounge, in which most of the patrons are aware of all fire exits, combines all ingredients for a first class fire disaster. Individual fire inspect ors may at times expres- s their personal bias con cern ing minority groups while inspecting a lounge or establishment that cat ers to a group such as gay lounges. It is clear, however, from the records that I inspected that the Fire Prevention Bureau is interested in fire saf ety and not sexual orien tation. Lounge management has not complained and I can report that Atlanta’s new est gay lounge has plans for extensive fire pre vention improvements. To anyone concerned a- bout lounge safety stand ards, talk first witn the lounge manages, and then the Fire Prevention Bur eau. I think that you will be pleased at the concern of both for your safety. BE GROOVY l! KEEP UP WITH THE HAPPENINGS!! Don’t Miss A Single Issue of The Atlanta Barb - Subscribe Today. Subscription Rates 12 Issues $3.00 In Plain Wrapper $4.00 Enter My Subscription To The- Atlanta Barb. I Enclose $- — 1 -—'' Name —-— - 1 — —',' - ■ ■; ; . Address— —— — City -State --Zip I certify that I am 18 years of age or older. MAKE CHECK OR MONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO:,THE ATLANTA BARB AND SEND TO P.O. 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Orders | Address ' may be opened by postal-inspec-! city_.—l——~ tors, and the theft rate is high, (state WE SHIP ALL ORDERS 1st CLASS I TO AVOID THESE PROBLEMS, l_. (Ple k ase Print) .Zip Remember to Enclose 50c for Processing and Mailing Costs Proposed Florida Bill To Make Certain Straights Legitmate Sodomites: By Laeus liber The sexist mentality on the defensr e might appear only ludicrous were it not so filled with malice, fear, ignorance and hostility. Simultaneously with the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment(E.R.A.) in the Florida Legislaturerecendy, Rep. Jack Shreve (TV , Merrit Island) has proposed a new anti-sodomy bill (HB-2810 - now under consderation). Rep. Shreve’s proposed bill defines sodomy as “. . . the insertion of the male sex Organ in the anus ormouthofanothei or oral couplatiOn with the sex organ of another.” In crim inalizing such acts, however, males and females who are- legally married, or who are living together in commonlaw relationship, are expressly ex cluded. In other words, they timate sodomites. ” This evidences the beleaguer ed and confused state of the sex ist mentality. Whereas the old law considered sodomy to be “the Abominable and Det estable CrimeAgainst Nature,” it would seem that that is to be changed now. Now what mat ters is that “who plays the game” is a member of the “right club.” The Grotesque Made Image which tyrannizes the sexists is now modified to include hitherto “unnatural acts,” - Apparently the sexists have discovered it’s fun to play with themselves! No one would disagree with the soundness of protecting children, the mentally deficient, and victims of coerced or force ful assault But Rep. Shreve makes sure to include within the criminalization adult private consensual relations. He expressly includes Him who “voluntarily engates in or submits to an act of sodomy with another, not his spouse.” This is to be a misdemeanor of the first degree In creating the categories of legitimate and illegitimate sodomites, the proposed bill might even bring about the realization of the straight sex ists’ supreme fear, the homo sexual marriage. If sodomy is to be licensed by the state, tnen where is the justice in prohibit ing members of the same sex from being so licensed? Apparently Rep. Shreve or someone has finally awakened to the fact that terming sodomy an “unnatural act” is sheer folly, and utterly untenable. Any appeal to “nature” must show that besides hetero sexuality, there are many ex amples of homosexuality, transsexuality, parthenogene sis, and even a murderous form of heterosexuality in which the female devours themating male ( e.g., the Praying Mantis). Rep. Shreve’s bill differs litde from the usual physical ass aults aimed at homophiles. It would seem that the samobasis is present One man trying to harm or destroy that which he perceives in another man which he either consciously or unconsciously fears exists in himself. That this bill should be con sidered'almost simultaneously with the defeat of the E.R.A. in Florida evidences the sick, threatened type mentailty that needs to reinforce and shore up the grotesque image of what it means to be a MAN. To maintain the false image, it is necessary to legislate against any difference, to defame, to deny the humanity of thosewho are different, to relegate to sub servient roles, women, and to proscribe and brutalize those males and females who prefer an alternative life and love style. Another name for it is the “politics of rape.” The expression and en couragement of this type men tality, legislation based on fear and ignorance, breeds infection | and violence by its repression. It cannot acceptalternativesex- ual love for adults in private : even where there is mutual con sent It breeds the very sickness in its own mind with which it would charge and label the persecuted homophile. If we could finally get down to the business of being HUMAN first, the problem of beingmale or female would soon cease to be a problem at all. It is, furthermore, doubtful that an acceptance of private adult-con sensual homosexual relation ships would lead to any mass sexual apostasy on the part of heterosexuals. It might even broaden ther humanity. That repression is created by such laws and breeds violence is evident in certain crimes which we read > about in. our newspapers. Recently five Miami police officers where charged with gang-raping a young woman who happened to be a prostitute. One of the men was found guilty. The others are await ing trial in early May. Such crimes are not unique in our society. Without relating the crime to the presumably inno cent defendents, we might simply ask if the gang-raping of one woman by even two or more men is much more than using that woman as a mere convenience foi the ex pression of hitherto repressed homosexuality, especially when the rapes includecT’what the sexist : press terms “un natural acts. ” It is not unusual in our society to dehumanize a perso n by labelling him or her a “whore,” a “nigger,” or a “queer,” etc. and then to pro ceed to violate that person. What we all need is a fresh, sane look at HumanSexuality. It is the only way we are going to become enlightened enough to root outthe“politics of rape” not only from our legislatures, but from our everyday human relations. It is time that right thinking people view sexuality openly and enter into meaning ful dialogue with one another in order to rid themselves of their fear and mistrust The seed of bigotry is nurtured by passivity in die bed of fear and ignorance.