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THE BARB - 2
Editor’s Notebook
by Bill Smith
Among the new items that
crossed my desk this month
was a report from the Ft.
Worth Texas Morning Star -
Telegram. The headline
read “Officers ‘troll’ for
Homosexuals on streets.”
The article was a report
on vice officer tactics in
arresting homosexuals. In
this particular case the
vice officer had stood at one
street corner “hot bed of
homosexual perversion”
for twenty minutes before
being picked up by a man
driving slowly down the
block. The arrest took even
longer. Texas law is such
that some actual contact
must be made before an
arrest is made. Thus the
vice officer and the un
witting gay man drove ar
ound Ft. Worth for fifty -
five minutes engaged in
conversation before this
perverted homosexual
made his illegal advance.
According to the report
two additional police
officers kept the vice decoy
under serveillance at all
timed. For this arrest
three Ft; Worth police
officers spent almost four
man hours and several gal
lons of very expensive
gasoline. The cost in
terms of dollars only
begins there. Additional
costs will be incurred by
the city of Ft. Worth and
the State of Texas in pro
cessing this criminal thr
ough the courts. The gay
man arrested will of course
incure a great deal of ex
pense if he hires a lawyer
to defend himself • If he does
not he is still sure to face
a fine of one to three hun
dred dollars. For an
expenditure on the cities’
part of several hundred
dollars it will receive in
return the man’s fine if he
does not appeal it and an
increase of one in its num
erical statistics on sex
crimes, nothing else! If the
man hires a lawyer which
he know will cost more than
the fine the city will pro
bably lose even the fine
revenue as most cases of
this time are eventually
thrown our of court.
Since the police are paid
to make Ft. Worth a safe
city in which to live we
should ask the question did
this arrest make Ft. Worth
a safer city? Well certainly
it did. Now anyone who
stands on the corner of a
particular street in Ft.
Worth for twenty minutes
will not have his solitude
and morality shattered by this
homosexual asking him to
get in the car with' him. He
is also spared fifty-five
minutes of conversation
which would lead to an im
moral and illegal homo
sexual advance. Ft. Worth!
safe at last! One of the
police officers in justifying
his actions stated “Its got
ten so bad in the last year
that you can stand on some
of these corners for an hour
say, and you’ll get a few
offers....” (Just think what
it would be like if those
hunky vice officers weren’t
standing there protecting
the citizens.)
Ft. Worth is not an iso
lated incident. Some cities
are worse with police going
into gay lounges to ‘troll’
for arrests. Can we stop
it? I think so. If we refuse
to cooperate with them and
the courts in plea bargin-
ing for lower sentances.
Some gay, when arrested,
seem to think that this is
their face if they cruise the
streets. It is not fate. It is'
a conscious decision on an
individual basis of whether
you are willing to accept
unjust and unfair laws and
police action or whether
you are willing to take the
risks to obtain the
justice that is yours under
the constitution.
There is hardly a large
city in the southeast that
does not have some type
of gay organization that is
working to gather statictics
on these type of arrests.
If you are already a statis
tic with the local police
department you would do
well to become one to the
gay organization in your
town. If for some reason
you do not feel comfortable
with the personalities or
policies of your local gay
organization contact your
local or state American
Civil Liberties Union. The
national office of ACLU
under the direction of
Marilyn Haft is conducting
as one of its target pro
jects/ a study of laws con
cerning sexual privacy.
Your information will be
held in strict confidence
and be beneficial to you and
the community as a whole
as we seek to strike down
these unjust and unfair
police tactics.
LETTERS
Let us know what you think.
Make your letter as brief
as is possible so that we
may print as many views
as is possible. Names may
be with held on request but
please sign all correspon-
dance. Write to us at: THE
BARB P. O. Box 82543,
Atlanta, Georgia 30354.
Dear Editor:
I especially enjoyed
reading issue #10 of The
Barb. Although The Barb
is new in this area, I have
been getting it from time
to time in some of the local
bars.
The thing I like most
about your newspaper is
honest reporting. Some
newspapers, I have found
are very biased and only
write up what they would
like us to know.
Please keep up the good
works.
John
Jamaica, N.Y.
Dear John:
When we introduced The
Barb approximately eleven
months ago, we had no idea
that we would ever be in
your area. Our thoughts
was to cover the Gay scene
in Atlanta and the neigh
boring cities, but thanks to
all of our supporters,
“here we are”.
Thank you for your nice
letter.
Editor
Dear Editor:
It is my opinion that
more people should become
involved in politics, be
cause if we are to be li
berated we must keep
aware of laws that affect
our lives in the Gay com
munity.
I certainly admire Bill
Smith for speaking out the
way he does in his column,
Community Activities. The
problem with most gay peo
ple today is that they are
afraid to stand up for their
rights, afraid of what the
straight society will think
of them. The Barb has given
me more courage to stand
up and speak out because I
believe that you are sin
cere.
Please send a one year
subscription to Marshall
Wade; address enclosed.
That is my Christmas gift
to him.
Mark Weitzel
Beverly, Va.
Dear Mark:
You couldn’t have said
it better.’“We have been told
by others that The Barb has
been instrumental in get-
ing many gays out of the
closet. Be proud if you are
gay and don’t worry about
what society thinks of you.
Most people accept you to
day for whatever your life
style may be.
Editor
New
National Gay Task Force
Founder Dr. Howard Brown
died of a heart attack. Dr.
Brown was fifty years old.
Gay Liberation -
by Gibson Higgins
Freedom?
What is the meaning
of freedom - of gay li
beration? It can only be
in personal terms, arri
ved at by trial and error
without the pressure of
feeling that something is
what we “should” be.
“Shoulds” can come from
within or without. If one is
from without its source
must be evaluated. Human
beings of all persuasions
are social creatures, and
must: exist within a social
order. Thus we feel that
we “Should’ ’ wear clothes
in public, be civil to
strangers as well as
friends, obey the bulk of
the laws. Some people
attend church, write you
thank you notes, go to a
party. The problem a-
rises when a person be
lieves it necessary to
dress, act, or behave in
certain ways. Some
shoulds are perceived as
being from without when
they are actually from
within. It is quite easy
to confuse social obliga
tions with means to self-
desired ends. Tradition
ally, the gay person often
feels that he must label
himself in a unique man
ner in order to “belong”.
But, belong to what? Gay
liberation can only be a
deeper, darker closet if
it means conforming to
become like everyone
else, or even anyone else,
for then the person has
not explored the desires
and possibilities of his
or her own life. Cruis
ing can be fun, and meet
ing and making it with a
new person is stimu
lating, even for the more
jaded ones of us, but what
is a whole life dedicated
to thinking about and doing
“it”? The shoulds of
guilt seem to drive us to
do what society tells us
is wrong: making it with
a member of our own sex,
making it outsideof
“marriage” (that’s ille
gal also), practicing all
sorts of unspeakable per
versions, etc., etc. So
we return to park, bath,
bookstore, yes, even bar,
and often we are not sure
why. Gay people do speak
of the personal strength
required to live the life,
but where does the
strength derive and what
sacrifices are required to
achieve it?
The trick is to strike
a balance that includes
genuine pleasure (as de
termined by each person)
along with other activities
of living. This is a
“Should” that says we
must grow or die. Human
life is tob diverse to be
channeled into a very few
narrow repetitious acti
vities. Why Hshould” we
deny ourselvesnon-
sexual preferenfee? Li -
beration can occur only
when we free ourselves to
achieve full potential.
Why can’t I dress the way
I want to without feeling
obligated to play any par
ticular role? I need to eat
in order to survive, but
must I patronize or avoid
certain establishments?
And horror of horrors,
what if I also like girls?
There are lots of possi
bilities for liberation
these days- we may even
set the prevedent for so
ciety at large. But it
will not happen if we all
try to out-imitate each
other in a closed society.
We are still a distinct
minority, and being one
sided will not convince
anyone (ourselves inclu
ded) that we are for real.
If getting there is half the fun.
Being there can be
all the fun*
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