Newspaper Page Text
THE MU-1
MCC—SoutheasterntDistrict
Holds Semi-Annual Conference
Ft. Lauderdale’s Marlin
Beach Hotel was the site of
the^4th semi-annual con
vention of the Southeast
District of the Universal
Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Church.
Rev. Keith Davis, pastor of
the Miami MCC and district
coordinator moderated the
two days of business and
fellowship scheduled for the
conference. The conference
had few controversial items
under consideration. A major
portion of the conference
business was involved in re
licensing and licensing
fellowship ministers and
reviewing the status of study
groups and missions.
The ministers, delegates
and friends attending the
convention had the op
portunity of talking with each
other and exchanging ideas
for growth within the com
munity of churches.
The Southeast District
conference has five chartered
churches in Atlanta, Ft.
Lauderdale, Jacksonville,
Miami and Tampa, three
missions in Nashville,
Orlando and Columbia and
two study groups in Ft. Myers
and Pinellas County.
The Series
Observations On
'Gay Life’
Published In TheAtlanfa Journal
8 Celebrate Mass With
I DIGNITY^
I ATLANTA
“A Catholic Outreach to the
Gay Community”
Grow by sharing with
your Brothers and
Sisters in liturgy, dis
cussion, socials, and
sporting activities St.
Thomas Moore Church
i 624 West Ponce De Leon
| Ave., Decatur, Georgia
1 30030
| First and Third Wed-
= nesday s - 8:oo p.m.
= FOR MORE INFORMA-
1 TION WRITE MARTY
I COCHRAN, POB 77013,
| ATLANTA, 30309 OR
§ CALL 873-2670
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PO. BOX 14-077• SAN FRANCISCO
As a gay person who
believes that visibility is vital
to the liberation movement, I
was anxious to read about
myself in the newspaper. Not
myself literally, of course,
but I did hope to see glimpses
of those I know, and perhaps
even be able to identify with
some of the people portrayed.
1 read quickly, then more
slowly, and finally in
disbelief. The sensation! got
was akin to a pogo stick-hop
here and there and in so
doing describing the en
vironment of the pogo stick.
Needless to say I didn’t find
myself mentioned at all, nor
any of my friends in enough
detail for positive iden
tification. Its true that most
of us are bent on anonymity
and Ken, Doreen, Mike, and
Fred (maybe even Ron) are
probably aliases. Are they
real? Am I real? What do I
have in common with them?
Should I laugh, cry, write to
the editor, streak Marietta
Street at noontime, or just
ignore the whole thing? I
believe that what was written
was factual, but was
weighted in such a way as to
give a rather distorted pic-
:ure of the truth.
Society is in need of a
nassive information project
concerning gays, and the
nedia are the best channels
available besides personal
contacts, so a series of any
sort should be good provided
a totally negative viewpoint is
not taken. Society exposed to
some facts about a largely
ignored segment of itself
must be better informed, it
would seem. Other than the
fagged out queer jokes and
references to the proverbial
three dollar bill, very little
enlightenment circulates
within society. Sure it has
changed a little in the last few
years, but there is still a long
way to go. Besides, even the
one dollar bill is rather queer
these days. So Ron Taylor
had a chance to do something
humanitarian and con
structive, but he largely blew
the opportunity, no pun in
tended. Not that anything he
said was wrong, but that the
magnifying glasses used
weren’t numerous enough for
the power. He saw a few
things in great detail and
missed much more, resulting
in a very distorted picture.
The truth, the whole truth
may not be available,
through, since oppression by
society forces most gay
people to live invisibly. Had
our erstwhile reporter been a
homosexual himself and or
spent about three years living
a life of being “out of the
closet” as much as the
average gay in Atlanta, he
would have attained a far
better perspective, and would
have been able to more faith
fully relfect things as they
really do occur.
The average person in
society has very little notion
of what gay people do: for a
living, for entertainment and
recreation, with their
thoughts and feelings on cold,
lonely nights, what turns
them on and off. The im
pacting pogo stick flashes
here and there and the
montage it creates is per
fectly understandable to the
mature, experienced gay but
it strikes loathing, disdain,
and contempt in the hearts of
the homophobes, disbelief in
the hearts of those who don’t
care, and fear and terror in
the hearts of those
who are gay but afraid to
admit it to themselves. Few
outsiders have a perspective
on the different ways in
which gays live, and em
phasis on the exaggerated
styles does little to allay the
uncertainties of the un
familiar. Gay people in cities
everywhere are so diverse
that the “gay community” so
often touted doesn’t even
exist. Sexuality is the only
thing that all gays have in
common- the same as with
people in general, and
sexuality is not sufficient
basis for community, in spite
Continued on Page 10.
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Btlania.Qcorqia
C404] 812-2241*
Reverend. 3ohn Gtu.n
Pastor
Reverend Tun M -6nou>t
Resistant Pnsro*
Reverend Rwtttutt CaiERucT
UlonsrtiP 5uniDR95 At
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