Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

"THE VOICE OF THE GAY COMMUNITY - SERVING THE SOUTHEAST AND THE NATION” Vol. 2, No. 2 PUBLISHED IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA 25 cents ★★★ NATIONAL NOTES ★★★ GEORGIA SODOMY LAW REPEAL DIES IN COMMITEE House bill 425, introduc ed into the Georgia Legis lature by Newnan Repre sentative Nathan Knight, contained sweeping re forms of Georgia’s Cri minal Codes relating to sexually oriented crimes. Commonly refered to as the “Rape Bill,” HB 425rede fined a host of sexual of fenses and drastically re vised the judicial proceed ing involved in prosecuting alleged rapists and the pen alities that can be imposed. The original version of the bill eliminated all existing state laws against sodomy and solicitation for sodomy. The bill would have effectively ended the argument of employers and other who refused to do business with gay people that they could not do so on the grounds that gay people were potential fer Ions. Sexual crimes were defined as those sexual acts committed against the will of one of the parties involved without regard to the nu mber of persons involved or the sexes of the parti cipants. The bill was introduced with little comment and sent to the Special Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives for hearings. Publicity in the Atlanta newspapers promp ted Rep. Knight, author of the bill, to state that the bill would not legalize ho mosexual and that the Committee would spell that out clearly. In a telephone interview with Rep. Knight he stated that he did not sup port the elimination of the sodomy laws. When asked why it was in his orginal version of the bill he re fused comment. It is doubt ful that Knight actually had anything to do with the writing of the bill and even more doubtful that he was aware that it would repeal Georgia’s sodomy laws until Atlanta Constitution reporter Claduia Townsend highlighted this four line section of his ten page 318 line bill. Dekalb County Represen tative Elanor Richardson, a co-sponsor of the bill told the BARB that she was “unaware of what the bill would do to the current sodomy laws.” She sug gested that we contact a lawyer. Many bills coming out of the Georgia legislature are confusing but Representa tives of the caliber of Knight and Richardson, as suming that they read their bill, could not fail to unde- stand what the bill would do The bill stated that it would in addition to changes in the rape laws “...FURTHER AMEND BY REPEALING IN THEIR ENTIRETY THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS FOLLOWING CODE SEC TIONS CODE SECTION 26- 2002, RELATING TO THE CRIMES OF SODOMY AND AGGRAVATED SODOMY; CODE SECTION 26-2003, RELATING TO THE CRIME OF SOLICIATION OF SO DOMY;” Efforts to have Supporters of this section testify before the House Special Judiciary Com mittee on behalf of this bill failed. The failure of sup porters to testify was due to the total lack of pre paredness on the part of Atlanta’s gay community leaders, ^Io one in the gay community was aware of the bill’s existence until after the bill was introduc ed. Also a lack of know ledge of how the Goergia House operates hindered efforts to properly arrange testimony. A chance meet ing between BARB editor Bill Smith and St. Rep. Sid ney Marcus provided the necessary information to make the prpper arrange ments to testify. Unfortun ately, time had run out for Georgia gays as the Special Judiciary Committee had closed its agenda the day before. One of the most dis appointing aspects of the fight to keep the sodomy repeal in the bill was the attitude of the Feminist Action Alliance (FAL). Press reports quoted spokesperson for the group as saying that they were quite willing to strike the “homosexual” part of the bill. Ostensibly / done to save the rest of the far reach ing bill the quick cave in of FAL at the first sign of publicity was extremely disappointing. BARB ef forts to find out why the FAL discarded the sodomy repeal even before indivi dual legislators objected were met with a wall of silence and unreturned tele- phone calls. The Committee substi tute as reported out of com mittee leaves the solicita- . tion for sodomy and agra- vated sodomy laws to in cluded females as well as males. The penalty for a conviction under this law remains not less than one year and not more than twenty. Efforts to restore the original version of the bill are being made. The total lack of preparedness on the part of gay leadership has seriously jeprodized any small chance the bill may have had. The BARB urges all Georgians both straight and gay who support the repeal of the sodomy laws to immediately write to your House District Repre - sentative in support of the orgianl version of HB 425. The committee substitute is being sponsored by Repre sentatives Knight of the 67th Richardson of the 52nd, Hawkins of the 50th, Car- lislie of the 71st, Felton of the 22nd, Burruss of the 21st, Oxford of the 116th, Bolster of the 30th and Marcus of the 26th. Sup port letters to the bill spon sors above or just a copy of your support letter to your representative would also be helpful. If you do not know your House District Represen tative send your letter to: THE BARB, P.O. 7922, ATLANTA, GA. 30309 and we will toward it to your representative. Be sure to enclose your correct ad dress so that we can de- termin your House District! CHECK OUR CLASSIFIED ADS Coyer Photo Glenn Billings was bom in Cincinnati, Ohio 24 years ago this month. After attending Ohio State University where he majored in Dance and Art he enrolled at the Fashion Institute of America. Glenn will graduate this month with a degree in fashion and fabric design. Travel is his immediate plan. Mexico, California, Canada and hopefully Europe are on his agenda. Longer range plans include breaking into the highly competitive design market in New York. New York- A “Summit Conference” held January 27 between representatives of the gay community and top executives of NBC has resulted in the announcement that the network’s equal employment program will be > broadened to include gay people. New Nork- The National Gay Task Force has begun an emergency alert telephone network to mobilize the national gay community. The network would be used in emergency situations to com municate necessary informa tion or to begin and coordinate a national protest. NGTF would like to find contact people in every state. Those' willing to participate in^this effort should call the Task Force at (212) 741-1010. Los Angeles- An eight page memorandum circulated re cently among members of the Los Angeles Police Depart ment charges that the homosexual lifestyle is “reck less, irresponsible and wan ton” and that homosexuals are ’’immoral, abnormal, degrad ing and criminal.” The Los Angeles City Council is currently considering a proposed ordinance which would make it illegal to discriminate against gays in hiring of police officers. New York- The presiding council of the American Association for the Advance ment of Science adopted a resolution on January 31 stating that the Association “deplores any form of discrimination on the basis of sexual behavior between consenting adults in private.” Houston- A court order recently gave guardianship of a child who had been tentatively diagnosed as a m^le transexual, to Anne Mays, a post operative transexual. The order followed a two month investigation by the County juvenile probation department and the District Attorney’s office. Glenn’s personality, not to mention his 5’ 10” 1601b. physic so well displayed on this month’s cover, will, no doubt, be an asset than will allow his talents, design and other wise, to be utilized by the New York fashion world. Atlanta park goers will miss seeing Glenn’s graceful bod riding through the bike trails in Piedmont Park. The familiar, though rather brief, levi shorts he sported last Los Angeles- Gay people have been distressed by repeated media statements that the “slasher”, the murderer of nine men along L.A.’s skid row is homosexual. Whatever the orientation or the motivation of the unknown killer, the allegation that the police are looking for a homosexual has no basis in fact. The L.A. police has said that the possibility that the killer may be homosexual is merely one of five possible theories advanced to explain the activities of the “slasher”, perhaps to predict his next move. Boston*Dignity, the gay Catholic organization, an nounced plans for this year’s national convention to be held in Boston on Labor Day Weekend, August 29 to September 1. Suggestions for speakers and workshop topics should be sent to the Dignity national office: 755 Boylston St. Rm. 514, Boston, MA 02216. Detroit- A bottleneck in the office of Mayor Coleman Young is holding up adoption or ordinances that will put into effect the sweeping gay rights provisions that became part of Detroit’s city charater last July 1. Young is reportedly incensed at the suggestion that one or more gay people be named to the Human Rights Commission that oversees the department that enforces the city’s anti-discrimination law. New York- Howard J. Brown, M.D. co-founder and past chairman of the National Gay Task Force died of a heart attack on February 1. He was 50 years old. New York- In a decision handed down January 20, a judge of the District Court of Suffolk County (N.Y.) has declared unconstitutional a statute prohibiting sodomy. The judge pointed out that the statute unfairly discriminates against single adults and thus violates the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The decision will be binding only if it is affirmed on a higher level. summer were of his own design. We’re sure Glenn will continue his favorite hobby in the parks of New York. The hobby? Bike riding of course! Glenn’s favorite color is blue and his many friends and admirers are feeling just like his favorite color at his departure from the Atlanta scene. The BARB wishes him all the success his unique and diversified talents will bring to him.