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ATLANTA BARB - Page 10
MCC Holds Southeastern
District Conference In Tampa
The Southeastern Dis
trict of Metropolitan
Churches held the first of
their semi-annual con
ferences in Tampa, May
24th through 26th with al
most one hundred percent
representation from eith
er churches or study
groups in the district.
The three day event was
an effort to bring every
one together and con
sisted of a combination
of business, religion and
social activities. Friday
the first day was taken
up almost entirely with
registration of the mem
bers and delegates.
Business was discuss
ed Saturday morning and
work shop was the topic
of discussion in the after
noon. These included Out
reach, Inreach, bar min
istry, prison ministry,
publications and politics,
etc.
During the discus
sion on Outreach, the Rev.
Jim Snow, Assistant Pas
tor, Metropolitan Com
munity Church of Atlanta,
told the people how the
news media had been un
fair and offensive in re
porting news about gay
people, and a member
urged everyone to become
aware of legislation that
affected gay rights.
The motion to form a
new district of Florida
only, because of the grow-
the, by a Tampa delegate,
was narrowly defeated.
The reason he said was
because the distance be
tween Nashville and Mi
ami was two great for
some of the small mis
sions, or study groups
to travel. It was decided
that the small groups nee
ded the support of a large
district.
The tampa church vot
ed not to increase the pre
sent 5% to the National
Fellowship until provi
sions were made in the
budget.
Refreshments were ser
ved Saturday, and the
Social Committee provi
ded entertainment with a
drag show that evening.
Following the Worship
service Sunday morning
in which every minister
from the district brief
ly participated, a dinner
was served by the Social
Committee of the Tampa
Church. Special music was
presented by the combined
choirs.
It was decided the next
conference will be held
in Atlanta.
Matchless Martinique
Renowned as the birth
place of Napoleon’s Empress
Josephine, the island of
Martinique is known as.
queen of the Antilles. The
best hotel on the island
is the majestic Martinique
Hilton, which includes a
gambling casino, fine restau
rant, cocktail lounge, shop
ping arcade and 154 air-con
ditioned rooms with balco
nies facing on the sea. Hos
pitality reigns supreme.
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Open On Sunday (Till 3 AM) J
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Phone (615) 265-9190 J
Community Activities
By Bill Smith
The phones at MCC
and GIS have rung off the
hook during the past few
weeks with calls concern-
entrapment. Each caller
has related his sad story
of entrapment. Most ap
pear to have been enticed
by police actions while a
few have been caught in
public indiscretions.
Most of the cases
reported have occured on
the “Tree Trails” in
Piedmont Park but a few
have come from Winn
Park and the Piedmont
Park Greenhouse area.
Making friends with
strangers in these areas
can be enjoyable but it
is also frought with dan
gers. Those who engage in
public sex are taking a
great risk. There are
penalties for both homo
sexuals and hetrosexuals
where public sex is con
cerned. The legal penal
ties for public homo
sexual acts are very se
vere. Meeting people in
the parks and then going
home with, them is less
dangerous but not com-
pletly safe. Care and
judgement should be
exercised. Going home
alone can be preferable
to physical harm or loss
of property. Of course
your gentleman friend
may turn out to be a
police officer and you
could lose your job and
a little cash to a local
attorney. Any of the above
can be a memorable ex
perience. In order to pro
tect yourself and others
these situations should be
reported completely to
either MCC or GIS.
Both MCC and GIS have
been working closely with
police department of
ficials to create a safe
environment for all
people in Atlanta parks.
In several meetings with
Atlanta Police Chief John
Inman, the chief has al
ways indicated an even
handed policy toward gay
people. In our June 4th
meeting he indicated that
he had not instituted a
change in policy toward
gay people and that he
would quickly investigate
the situation. He also in
dicated that recent
changes in police depart
ment personnel and
responsibility may have
contributed to the pro
blems of the situation. In
man indicated his dis-
aproval of police entrap
ment policies and urged
gay community people to
work with the police ad
ministration to rectify
problem areas within the
gay community and the
police department.
If you have been arres
ted recently for gay re
lated reasons or know of
someone who has been ar
rested let us know. We
need to know the stories
of what happened from
both sides. Your name is
not essential but date,
place and circumstances
of arrests are needed.
Help us build a better
community.
The Gay Days We Remember
A Picnic At Stone Mountain Park
By Liddia Lipshits
Mother Gus, three
young boys and myself got
together one Summer Sun
day in 1971 at Stone Moun
tain Park for one of the
wildest days I rember.
We left the palatial es
tate around 10:00a.m. and
headed for Piedmont Park
to meet our guests who
were eagerly awaiting our
arrival. The boys boarded
the old Cadillac and we
directed the old girl
to Stone Mountain Park.
Mother passed the beer
around in the car to all
of the boys and myself.
We began to sing as we
reached 285 near the
Stone Mountain Freeway.
My gay-nerves were not
ready for Mother Gus as
she decided to jump over
the front seat to join the
two boys in the backseat.
Her legs went up and over ,
and the young lads
grabbed her buns on the
way over.
We reached the park at
11:00 a.m. and decided to
climb the giant piece of
granite known as Stone
Mountain.
We read the various
cards and names carved
into the foot trail that
lead to the top of the
tnountain. Mother Gus de
cided to become the first
fag to lean her buns over
the side as she almost
slipped off. She recovered
saying “I’m not well for
that’ ’.
We reached the half-way
point and rested. The
boys sat at the table dr in-
ing coke as Mother and
I cruised the people a
round us. One hunky blond
stud reached the resting
spot as I yelled out to
him, “Would you like to
F--- a fairy?” He turn
ed red and green and
not one word was said
as he continued to the
top.
I visited the T-room
finding no one there of
interest. We gathered the
boys and continued our
climb.
Gus and I skipped hand
and hand singing “We’re
off to see the Wizard”.
Four Tech boys were be
hind us but we didn’t take
notice until one said,
“Let’s roll some fag
gots!” Mother stopped in
her tracks along with the
rest of us. Slowly we
turned and proceeded to
see who these gay-haters
were. Mother yelled,
“Whose buns are you
going to roll?” A brown
haired stud stepped for
ward. He said, “No one’s
talking to you faggot!”
That’s all Mother needed
to hear. She picked up
this big stud by the crotch
and threw him into
a clump of bushes. The
others came at us. The
boys with us grabbed at
the Tech boys and I was
busy talking with one of
the studs with red hair.
After the fighting and
yejling ceased, we all
climbed the mountain to
gether. The brown haired
stud commented that he
never met any fags like
us before. I was thinking
that he probably won’t
ever meet anyone like uS
again.
We finally reached the
top around 12:30. It
started to rain so we all
went inside the tower so
we wouldn’t get wet. We
got to know the Tech boys
better in the tower- The
boys weren’t interested in
what we wanted so we
invited them to our pool
at a later date. We stayed
in the tower and smoked
a joint. After an hour
we decended to the bottom
of the tower only to find
the door locked. So here
we were, four Tech boys,
Mother Gus, three park
boys and good ole Liddia
stuck on the top of Stone
Mountain in the tower.
Darkness soon fell upon
Stone Mountain. No one
was anywhere around the
tower, so we just sat and
waited - well we did more
than sit but we won’t go
into that. It was about
ten P.M.when a Security
Cop let us out. He told
us that due to the high
winds and stormy condi
tions everyone evacuated
the mountain top. We got
a free ride on the cable
car to the bottom of the
mountain.
We returned to our car
and got our picnic basket
out of the trunk, a little
late for lunch, but we ate
anyway. The Tech boys
left after late night picnic
and Mother Gus, the studs
and myself returned to
Atlanta, temperatures
rised, eyes on our guys
and satisfied.