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. 4 PUBLISHED IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA 25 cents FIRE DESTROYS CABARET AFTER DARK Just hours before the long awaited grand opening of what many expected to be Atlanta’s poshest gay bar, Ca baret After Dark, fire swept through the build ing leaving the glitter in rashes. As morning traffic flowed by, fire trucks and fire department investigators were still on the scene of the 3 a.m. fire. The building mid its contents were totally destroyed. The brick facade camflouged the ruin inside. Only the telltale black smoke marks along the front of the building, broken and blackened., told passers-by that Cabaret was no more. Rumors spread swift ly of anti-gay rednecks fire bombing the building, and of former employees taking re venge. A cover story in Atlanta Newspapers did not memtion the name of the bar, and the WAGA- TV commentators con stantly referred to it as “Richards” (The name of a rock club formerly located there.) None of the media indicated the lounge clientlewas gay. Police and fire in vestigators confirmed that the fire was deli berately set. Resident of nearby buildings told of hearing glass break and seeing a car flee from the Club’s parking lot when the fire began. While no arrests have been made at this time sources within the police department in dicate an arrest is imminent. The owners of the club have said they plan to open at a different location, though nothing appears definite at this point. The scheduled April 24th opening would have been postponed without the. fire. Cabaret’s liquor license was denied by Mayor Jack- son on April 23rd only hours before the fire. Cabaret was the second gay bar to have been denied a license in Atlanta recently. Then Bayou Landing had operated, for almost a year under the license of the previous mange- ment and via court injuction until March of this year. Cabaret's license was adversed twice by the police department and twice by the Atlanta Liquor License Review Board. An appeal to the ALRB saw a reversal of position with two of five members voting for approval, two abstaining and one absent. The lack of a majority of the five despite the fact that no member of the board voted against the license and thus Mayor Jackson denied the license to Cabaret After Dark. Cal Carter, an aid to the Mayor, denied that there were any anti - gay overtones in the refusal of licenses to Cabaret and Bayou. He said that the Mayor had not been aware that the lounges were to serve the gay community. In a conversation with Carter, Barb editor, Bill Smith, noted that the minutes of the ALRB hearing showed that the first vote to adverse was based on inaccurate in formation supplied by the Atlanta Police De partment. Contrary to the police report Ca baret has licensed cisco and Los Angeles. Smith also pointed out that the gayness of a bar should be taken into consideration when receiving reports of convictions or citations for violation r of liquor laws in light of the harrassing and discri minatory policy of some police departments and their often problematic relationship with the gay community. Cabaret’s Los Angeles violations came at the hand of LAPD chief Ed Davis whose homo- phobic tirades have only recently been curbed by the election of a pro-gay solicitor in Los Angeles Bert Pines. Carter indicated that in the future every effort would be made to con sider the source of information and the possibility of discrimi nation involved in the citations against gay lounges as they apply for licenses here. Carter said that he had not made the Mayor aware of the gayness of the bars because he did not consider it relevant to their merit for li- ★★★ NATIONAL NOTES ★★★ MADISON, WISC. - The city council her voted unanimously March 11 to expand the city’s equal opportunities or- diance to include sex ual orientation. The or- diance bans discrimina tion in housing employ ment and the use of public accomodations. ATLANTA - Leaders of the Atlanta-Emory dis trict of the United Methodist Church have joined national denomi national leaders in op posing the ordination of homosexual to the mininstry. A spokeman for the district affirmed however a statement by the national organi zation that “Homo sexuals no less than heterosexuals are per sons of sacred worth. ” BOSTON- A chamber of the Massachusettes le gislature has for the first time voted in favor of a major gay civil rights bill. The legis lation given initial ap proval by the house on a 129-96 vote would pro hibit discrimination against gays within the civil service system and give homosexual the right to appeal job cases. SAINT PAUL- A bill be fore the Minnesota legi- lature which would pro hibit discrimination against gays in housing and employment is in danger of defeat. A coalition of gay people opposing the bill say that the bill does not go far enough and that the group would press for the right of gay people to marry and compul sory gay sex education. SACRAMENTO,CA The state senate has passed a Bill which would re move from the criminal law sexual acts between consenting adults in'pri vate with the senate tied 20-20, the lieutenant governor of the state voted for the measure bring cheers from the gallery. Governor Brown f is expected to sign the bill into law. ATHENS, GA.- An Avowed homosexual, Joseph James O’Connell Jr., from Augusta, Ga. has won a runoff election for student government presi dent at the University of Georgia’. O’Connell, whose Coalition Party platform called for programs toward Blacks and homosexuals, said he thought the fact he was homosexual was “utterly irrelevant. I ran and won on a platform that called for increased student services and greater responsibeness to student needs/’ HARTFORD,UN - Tne Legislative body of this state turned down a pro posed bill which would have been the first state wide gay civil rights bill. Passed by the state senate, the house re jected the measure. BOSTON - Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Ariz) an announced candidate for President in 1976 has expressed his support for H.R. 5452 (formerly H.R. 166), the national gay rights bill filed by Rep. Bella Abzug (D-N.Y.) and other member of congress. COLUMBUS, OH. - This city’s ordinance against across dressing *has been held unconstitutional by . the state supreme court. The court ruled that “in light of contemporary dress habits the ordinance violates the due process clause of the 14th. Cover Photo Our cover Boy this month is tan and handsome, VICTOR STEWART. The 22 Year old native? of Miami has been in Atlanta working. Encouraged by his co-workers he entered and won his first contest, “Mister Sweet Gum Head”. “I felt funny on stage just walking around and being looked at,” he said. “So I just kept on walking and smiling” Flashing his beautiful black eyes and gorgeous smile, no wonder, he won. Victor is very modest, doesn’t seem to be impressed by his good looks, loves to boogie, and declares he is NOT a sex manic. He owns his own car and home in Miami, loves “old fashions” and the great out doors. “I may get into some more contest in Florida at the bars but I don’t know now. I may not win. .” but if you saw him on stage Oscar Nite you’d know why heads turn when he passes by. He has a job offer to do roofing, a job he loves and has done since he graduated from school. . . All I say is “Watch you step VICTOR, cause a lot of other people are certainly gonna be watching you!” You GEORGOUS HUNK!