Newspaper Page Text
i
Alvina Grease And Leslie L. Ross
An Important Appeal
‘ To The Gay Community
By Laeus Liber
The battle for the reco
gnition of our fundamental
human dignity, for the att
ainment of our civil
rights, and for the accep
tance of our gay love as a
valid alternative life and
love style is one which
meets with continuing
hostility, ‘fear arid igno
rance.
The battle is being con
tinually waged on mriny
fronts. There are many of
us who are constantly
working to “enlighten ”
thg straight sexist educa
tors and the bigotted
members of the so-called
‘ 4 helping’ ’ professions
such as psychiatry, social
work and counsel
ing. Many of us are
of us are involved with the
American Civil Liberties
Union in its unending bat
tle to preserve our civil
liberties, especially in
the area of sexual privacy
police abuses and brutal
ity. There are those who
have joined the M. C. C.
Christian Fellowship who
by their affirmatin of the
Christian principles of
love and charity force the
established homophobic
Christian churches, to
take stock and to re-eval
uate their positions and
their own failed express
ion of love and acceptance
of their fellow men.
Indeed, there is so much
to be done, so many possi
bilities for positive ac
tion, that the average gay
person may feel over
whelmed. Our need for
mutual support is great!
Barbara Gittings, a
veteran crusader for gay
rights, has sent an ap
peal to our gay commun
ity for support in the
forthcoming American
Library Association con
vention to be held in New
York City during the
second week of July,
1974. Barbara is the
coordinator of the
American Library As
sociation’s Task Force
on Gay Liberation So
cial Responsibilities Ro
und Table. Through
her fine work, the Task
Force has put out a
Bibilography of Gay Lit
erature. This import
tant bibliography is av
ailable to libraries and
to individuals. It lists
current books and period
ical which are pos
itive in their approach
to gay life and gay pro
blems in order to bat- i
tie the hoard of biased,
homoerotophobic works
which are disseminated
throughout our society
and which weigh heavilj
on the shelves of our
school and public librar
ies. Barbara and her
fellow workers are atten
ding the A.L.A. conven
tion to represent Us and
to stimulate the other
members of that prest
igious national organiza
tion to review their imp
roper attitudes and to
further implement the
dissemination of the
TRUTH about gay life
and love!
Please search your
hearts and you will find
that we all share a re
sponsibility in this bat
tle! Although many of us
cannot be in New York,
we can make our indi
vidual presence and sup
port felt by donations,
however small, for this
worthy cause in the battle
for the liberation of' our
own identities' Donations
may be sent to: BARBARA
GITTINGS, Coordinator,
A.L.A.T.F G.C., P. O.
BOX 2383 Philadelphia,
Pa. 19103^ Our libtr-
ation is only going tv. l3
attained through our own
participation, at least fin
ancially, in these crucial
battles! * *
ATLANTA BARB-Page 11
Community Activities
By Bill Smith,;
As the Barb goes to
press for the July issue
we are in the midst of
our fourth annual Gay
Pride Week Celebration
To me it has been the
best celebration of all.
Each event has brought
gay men and women to
gether. Gay men and
women have not always
been able to work together
easily. We have diverg
ent priorities and goals.
We are ultimately bound
together by the discrim
inatory laws of the stra
ight society. More imp
ortantly we are bound to
gether by common prob
lems. Gay Pride Week
has highlighted many of
these areas. The prob
lems of job discrimina
tion and child custody.
Even the apparently gay
male problem of entrap
ment while cruising has
many repercussions for
the lesbian community.
While talking with a
young lesbian woman at
the ALFA Omega’s Carn
ival, I was struck by the
commoness of many of
our seemingly divergent
problems. As she exp
lained the need for Les
bian women to struggle
seperately due to the
passive nature of many
women, I was amazed at
the number of times she
mentioned problems of
tactics that many gay men
had mentioned to me. We
do have divergent prob
lems, but as long as we
do not seek to join to
gether on common issues,
as well as specifically
male problems, such as
entrapment, and women
oriented projects; such
as ERA, we will have a
longer and lonelier strug
gle. One of the most
oppressive tactics of the
ruling class, the media, is
to seperate each interest
group, make them* feel
powerless to change their
own destiny and thus ac
cept the status quo.
During August, Rev.
Snow, Vicki Gabriner and
I will begin to discuss
projects for joint action
by the community. Thr
ough these discussions
we will be able to com
municate our priorities,
our feelings and our plan
of action. July, I feel
will be a crucial month
in the communities’ re
lationship to each other.
Through Gay Pride Week
we have come together.
We can wait another year
to talk again, wait for
major crisis or move now
to establish permanent
lines of communications.
While recognizing the
need for many seperate
political and social act
ivities there is obviously
a need for joint action.
The Gay Pride Week
news conference indica
ted a number of problems
in the community. July
will also be a critical
month in the solution of
these problems. During
July, the decision on
police - community work
shops will be decided.
The strength or weakness
of City Council Legislat
ion concerning discrim
ination based on sexual
orientation will be made.
Discussions with the
Mayor’s office should;
also .take place in July
The impact of the dis
cussions made in July
will affect the lives of
all gay men and women
in Atlanta. As, Rev. Snow,
* Vickie and I meet togeth
er during the next few
days, I think each one of
us will be looking toward
the inevitable, mobilizat* -
ion of broad community
support, men , women,
blacks, whites, rich and
poor gay people, that will
ultimately be necessary
to make even these em
bryonic steps toward,
civil equality
Did You Know?
The surplus items for
sale from the Government
include ship and marine
equipment, floating doc
ks, ships, small crafts,
motor vehicles, trailors,
cycles, jeeps, tires,
tubes, engines, cooling
systems, oil filters ,
bearings, woodworking
machinery, agricultural
equipment, metalworking
machinery, rope, cable
chains, fittings, and many
others. You can be put
on the list of bidders for
Government Surplus by
writing; Defense Surplus
Bidders Control Office,
The Federal Center, Bat-
ttle Creek, Michigan, zip
491Q6. Some of these
r r aterials are in excel
lent shape, and some are
not but the Government
scrupulously marks each
item accordingly. Info
taken from Consumer
Gazette.
Cocktail Hour 3 To 8:00 P.M.
Congratulations! Atlanta
On Gay Pride Week
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Atlanta, Georgia
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