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Mother’s Valentine:
Arson and
ATLANTA - Two armed
men poured kerosene over the
newly redecorated Mother’s
Lounge as a third watched from
the shadows early Saturday
morning (February 14th.).
Gaining entry under the pretext
of a power shortage at an ad
joining. building one man pulled
a gun and forced the carpenters
to lie face down in the main room
of the lounge. A third man
brought kerosene to the two
armed men inside the bar who
then doused the game room,
back bar and main lounge with
the liquid.
The gun men robbed the
three carpenters and then
ignited the rear bar and fled
through a side entrance.
Pete Winokur, owner of
Mother’s, estimated the damage
at over $100,000. Mother’s was
damaged once before by fire on
August 20th only hours after if
had obtained its liquor license.
Damage at that time was confined
to the roof and dance floor. The
.Valentine’s day fire came only
hours after Mother’s announced
it’s scheduled re-opening for
February 17th.
When asked if the fire
investigators bad any leads as to
the perpertrators of tire assault,
Winokur said that they had
indicated that “(It) certainly
{mints to competing clubs. They
have definite leads not names
but faces.”
Arson squad investigator Lt.
Don Gossett told The Barb
“...there are no leads...we are
looking for three white males.”
When asked if the fires at
Cabaret After Dark, Mother’s
first fire. Peach's Back Door and
the Valentine Dav fire were
Robbery
possibly connected, Gossett
said, “possibly ... there is
always a possibility but nothing
conclusive ... I don’t know about
the Peach’s fire.”
Gossett told The Barb that
similar materials were used in
the fire bombing of Caberet
After Dark and Mother’s.
Armed robbery as well as
arson is involved in the
Valentine’s Day fire but there is
no police investigation as press
time. Gossett told The Barb that
the arson squad was in
vestigating the fire but that the
police department would handle
the robbery.
Winokur also stated that the
arson investigator had urged
him to seek help from the gay
community in obtaining in
formation that would lead to the
arrest of the criminals, Winokur
told The Barb “The fire
department asked me to plead
with the gav community to come
out with any information to
prevent this wanton destruction
of property and total disregard
for human life by your
cooperation anonymously or
otherwise.”
The three carpenters
present at the time of the fire
told arson investigators that the
armed men told them they had
been “hired to have this place
burned to the ground and to
waste anyone(there).''
The third man who the
carpenters sav always stayed in
the shadows apparently gave
orders at the last minute to spare
the carpenters lives as the back
bar went up in flames.”
Inexplicably the main
lounge where the carpenters
were held did not ianitc im-
Artist 8 conception of arsonists furnished by
Atlanta Arson Squad. Right: blonde hair: Left:
Dark hair, arrow points to lump on neck.
mediately. Damage was minor
with water being the main
problem. Winokur told The Barb
"Somebody upstairs must like
us." to explain the failure of
the main lounge to ignite.
Connections upstairs may be
helpful but two large concrete
lire walls were perhaps the main
reason the fire did not engulf the
main room.
David Nastasia. Mother’s
deejav. told The Barb, that he
had flyers printed the day after
the fire stating Mother’s in
tention of reopening and
.decrying the “Terrors of Arsen”
perpertrated against Mother’s.
Nastasis told The Barb that he
printed and distributed the flyers
at his own expense. The flyer
was signed “Staff and
Management ...Mother's.”
Winokur did iiot contradict
Nastasia’s claims to have
produced the flyers indicating
apparently unconcern at
Nastaisia’s presumption to speak
for staff and management.
Continued on page 14.
Risher Looses
NOW Condemns
Texas Court Decision
By JACK DELUCA
Civil rights groups and the gay
community were outraged at the
recent decision of a Texas court
that forced Mary Jo Risher to
relinquish custody of her nine-
year-old son.
For die past two years, Ms.
Risher and her son, Richard,
have- lived quietly with Ann
Foreman and her ll-year-old
daughter, Judie Ann.
Then, on December 23 twelve
jurors decided in a domestic
relations court in Dallas that Ms.
Risher should waive custody of
her son to his father, Douglas Li
Risher Jr. Risher filed suit last
year claiming he should have
custody of the boy because his
ex-wife > lives with and has a
homosexual relationship with
Ms. Foreman.
The National Organization for
Women (NOW) claims that Ms.
Risher’s basic legal rights have
been compromised as a resultof
the court’s decision because that
decision was based on the fact
hat she is a lesbian.
In an official statement,
coordinators of the NOW
National Task Force on Sexuality
and Lesbianism, Nancy Boyd
and Kay Whitlock, declared that
“the rights of Ms. Risher have
been abridged by a court
decision to consider her
homosexual lifestyle to be a
relevant issue/’ “Because of
pervasive homophobia in our
society, that has, in fact, become
the central issue in this case,”
the statement read, “The
court is, in effect,
allowing the affectional or sexual
preference of Ms. Risher to
determine the outcome of the
case.”
The militant women’s
organization urges all groups
and individuals dedicated to the
concept of justice to support Ms.
Risher in the fight far custody of
her son. “We condemn the
court’s decision and dedare that
the abridgement of die basic
rights of Ms. Risher and every
other lesbian mother fighting
; such a judgment dim in shed the
freedom of all women,” the
NOW leaders stated,
“Moreover, it constitutes a
flagrant denial of equal justice
under the law.
The decision of the jury,
composed of ten men and two
women, actually ran contrary to
toe current trend in similar
cases. Two suits in Los Angeles
and Seattle ended with the gay
mother getting custody of her
children-judges, not juries,
nowever, made those decisions.
Observers at the trial believe
the outcome was partly a result
of the testimonyTsf Ms. Risher’s
other son, 17-year-old James,
who moved in with his father
over a year ago. He testified that
he moved out of his mother’s
home because he was “ashamed
of the way she is,” and that his
friends shunned him.
At the time of the 1971 divorce,
Mary Jo was outwardly
heterosexual and easily won
custody of both sons. The case
Continued on page 13.
Carolina Gay Association Hosts
S.E. Gay Conference
CHAPEL HILL - The plans
for the eleven state
southeeastem gay conference
are confirmed. The conference
will be hosted by the Carolina
Gay Association April 2, 3, and
4.
Gays from Maryland to
Florida to Mississippi and all
states between are expected to
attend.
A tentative schedule has
been announced. Among the
workshops are organizing
consciousness raising groups,
how to arrange publicity for gay
groups and dealing with
religious establishments. There
will also be a potluck supper, a
.dance, a picnic and a feeback
session.
In a recent statement the
conference co-ordinator, Tom
Carr said, “The scheduling of the
conference comes at an
especially important time. 1976
Gloria Gaynor
Who’s Got Her
Gloria Gaynor, the Queen of
the Disco, was in Atlanta
January 6, 7 and 8. Where she
appeared was not settled until
hours before she was scheduled
to appear.
Atlanta’s two largest discoes
advertised her appearance at
their respective establishments.
Union Station’s advertising was
low-keyed while Mother's in
cluded Radio and newspaper
advertising.
The dispute apparently
stemmed from two agencies
booking Gloria Gaynor on the
same dates. Pete Winokur of
Mother’s booked Gloria into
Moth er’s throu gh^ h er exclu sive
New York agent Norby-Walters.
Sal Michael of 'Norby-Walters
confirmed that Mother’s had
verbally booked Gaynor prior to
Union Station’s contracts with
Edward C. Weldon Productions.
eldon Productions, a St.
Louis agency, attempted to book
Gaynor into Union Station at the
request of Robbie Llywellyn.
Union Station signed a contract
with Weldon on December 31 for
Gaynor to appear January 7and8
and forwarded a $4u<)0 deposit
on December.31st.
Mother’s began to advertise
Gaynor on December 19th and
stepped it up with newspaper
ads on December 26th.
Llywellyn contacted Norby-
Walters direct in an attempt to
insure exclusive rights to
Gaynor. Winokur and Norby-
Waltershad never established a
written contract but Norby-
Walters indicated that they in
tended to honor their verb
contract with Winokur. The
offered Gaynor to Llywellyn or
January 6th and 7th
Llywellyn asked that exclusn
rights be granted to Unic
Station. Norby- Walters restate
their willingness to sign Gayn<
for the 6th and 7th but not tl
8th already booked at Mother’s.
Continued on page 147
is an election year. It’s about
time we make our politicians
realize that the issue of gay
rights is a very real one in the
Southeast.”
There will be no fee and
housing will be provided.
Further information can be
obtained from: Carolina Gay
Association, Box, 39 Carolina
Union, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
NATIONAL NOTES
ELLIOTT CITY, MD-- The
Howard County (Maryland)
Council has passed a civil rights
bill that protects gay people.
The ordinance, which forbids
discrimination based on race,
. creed, religion, personal ap
pearance, sexual orientation and
a host of other reasons was
recently enacted. The county’s
Human Rights Commission will
oversee the application of the
new law.
WASHINGTON,DC- City
Council member Arrington
Dixon bowing to pressure from
several influential Black Baptist
ministers dropped his
proposal to allow homosexual
marriages in the District. Dixon
said he was dropping the con
troversial proposal because of
fear that the entire no fault
divorce bill in which the gay
marriage proposal was included
would be defeated.
HAMPTON, VA- -Sgt. Richard
Hicks, 22, ot Houston, came out
as gay on Langley Air Force Base
here recently. He plans to fight
against discharge from the Air
Force.
W ASHIN GTON,DC-
Scnator Edward Brooke of
Massachusetts recently blasted
the Defense Department for the
current wave of discharges to
gay servicepeople. “Unless and
until it can be determined that
the personal and private lifestyle
of such members of the Armed
Services interferes with their
ability to do their job com
petently and loyally,” the
Senator said, “the present policy
is benighted, self-defeating, and
not in the best interests of the
United States of America. ’ ’
ADELAIDE, SO, AUS.- -South
Australia has become the first of
Australia’s six states to legalize
consensual adult sex. Sir Mark
Oiiphant, Governor of South
Australia, approved the con
sensual adults bill on September
‘18,1975.
NEW YORK- Patricia Nell
Warren, the author of the best
selling gay novel The Front
Runner, will publish a new novel
this June. The book, entitled
The Fancy Dancer, is the story of
a young, gay Catholic priest.
The novel will be released by
William Morrow & Co.
LOS ANGELES- Iris Flims,
a women’s film production
company here, is preparing to do
a film on Lesbian mothers and
child custody cases. Work on the
film is scheduled to begin this
summer and input from Lesbian
mothers who have been involved
in child custody action is
urgently needed. The projected
budget for the film is $25,000
and contributions from in
terested parties will be ap
preciated. The group’s mailing
address is: Iris Films, POB
26463, Los Angeles, CA, 90026.
ST. FRANCESVILLE, LA-
The West Feliciana Parish
(county), grand jury has returned
the first indictment under a new
state law making homosexual
rape punishable by death. The
grand juty charged two
Louisiana State Penitentary
inmates with the rape of another
inmate Sept. 20. A revised law
approved by the 1975 legislature
equated homosexual rape with
heterosexual rape and made
both punishable by death.
Homosexual rape was formerly
classified a crime against nature
with maxium punishment of 15
years’ imprisonment.
LDS ANGELES^ The
California Democratic Coundl, a
grass roots organization has
endorsed a sweeping gay rights
plank for inclusion into the state
party playform. Democratic
observers think that the plank
will be diluted, but that the state
part will, as it has in the past,
endorse a gay rights plank in its
platform proposals.
KEARNY, NJ - Adam Marchila,
a gay businessman won the
presidential sports award
recently. The award was for Mr.
Starchild’s canoe expeditions
throught the Quetico-superior
wilderness of Minnesota and
Ontario . Mr. Starchild is Vice-
President of West Hudson
Business Service.
BOSTON, MA - Most of the
prominent gay newspapers on
toe eastern seaboard met here
Feb. 14, 15 and 16. The ground
work was laid for a national news
and advertising co-op. The
convention was hosted by
Gay Community News
of Boston and among the papers
that attended were The Barb
and the Pittsburg based Gay
Sews Chain. The group is
scheduled to. meet again ir
Philadelphia in early May.
MIAMI BEACH - Keith Landaon
announced recently that the
Fifth Annual Miss Gay Florida
will be held at the Fontainebleau
Hotel. JThe^Pageant will be held
on May 17th and tickets will be
$10.00.
Additional information is,
available by contacting Miss
Florida Pageant, 813, SE First
Ave., Hallandale, FI 33009.
ON THE COVER
Griffin International the renowned
producers of gay erotic movies have released
their first calender, featuring 14 of their most
popular models. The calender is available
for $6.00 from Griffin International, Post
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