Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

I .flom'i vlw*jit i Ofb| limortt I I % n nug 1 I ail 0} 1 iff) to* 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 Offic^Bo3^222^SanEranciso^A94119^.