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JULY 1976. THE BARB-2
Editor’s Notebook
Atlanta’s 27th House Distnct
probably has more gay residents
than any other section of the city.
Running from Charles Allen to.
Georgia Tech and bounded
roughly by Ponce de Leon and
the Park. The district takes in
the heart of Atlanta’s Mid-town
community.
Incumbent representative
George Larsen (R). has
recognized the Gay Com
munity’s importance and made
promises to us. He didn’t
deliver as many residence of the
27th can attest.
Many politicians will make
promises to us during 1976, and
again in 1978. Although to
fathom which ones can and will
fulfill their promises is OUR
problem.
Michael Nichols is a young
Mid-town resident who is ac
tively involved in the 27th
District. “The people of this
district have made a com
mittment to live and work inside
the City. I believe we deserve a
representative who will speak
about urban concerns, and who
will be working full time for the
district at the State and Local
levels.” Nichols declared.
Many gay people have made
a committment to live and work
in the City. Many of us live in
the shadows of the downtown
skyscrapers and many of our
leisure places, lounges, parks,
baths, etc. are located in the 27th
district.
Almost two years ago Mike
Nichols, supported my candidacy
for Democratic Party delegate. I
did not know Mike well at that
time but he supported a person
who spoke out for gay
representation in the Democratic
Party.
Sitting in his campaign office
on Peachtree Place, Mike talked
with us about his campaigns and
his committments. His in
tenseness showed in his eyes as
he spoke and his idealism lighted
his youthful face. Civil liberties,
the rights of gay people, what we
can do in the legislation and how
it will affect local government,
we covered a range of topics.
the BARB pose for picture at NichoTs Campaign
Headquarters.
Having read the local Atlanta
Press Mike was concerned over
reports of a “Homosexual War”
and the rash of burned gay bars
during late’75 and early 76.
Mike Nichols can’t solve all
the problems of prejudices and
distrust. If gay people are
willing to work with him he is
ready. He will represent the
interest of gay citizens in his
district, how much time and how
well he is able to do that depends
on how willing gay residents are
to talk with him about their
concerns and problems.
I intend to work actively in
Mike Nichols campaign. I hope
you will join with me with your
time, talent, and money.
Drop by the Nichols’
headquarters at 81 Peachtree
Place and/or call him at 873-3381
- find out how you can help elect
Mike Nichols to the Georgia
Legislature.
APATHY
by BOB KUNST
A notice was up at the
University of Miami, stating that
a Gay Consciousness-Raising
meeting was going to be held on
a Wed. night. That had
somewhat whet my appetite,
first of all, because that is where
1 am at personally, and secondly,
because I’ve yet to see a gay
group get together specifically
for this reason.
When \ got there, severa\
brothers were talking and with
additional latecomers, we had
about 10 people including a
sister also active on the campus,
ready for the evening’s
discussion.
The first introduction began
with an apology for the fact that
most of the members of the
campus organization sponsoring
this get-together, were not
there. The speaker blamed the
situation on ‘apathy’.
1 was feeling farely numb
from this approach, as it
reflected the same negative
excuses I had seen for years
throughout the many movements
I was involved with(civil rights,
/anti-war, New Party, the gay
movement, etc) and which
always curtailed the potential of
these movements because they
concentrated on the excuses
rather than on the work that had
to be done.
Anyhow, I was really more
interested in dealing with the
here and now, and felt that
harping on why others were not
here instead of what we could be
accomplishing at this moment
between the ten of us, was
ripping-off my time and
energies.
I had come to partake in
consciousness-raising and not
campus re-organizing. It seems
here that my definition of
consciousness-raising must be
expressed. CR to me, means the
ability to be one's self, free and
loving, without limitations or
labels holding back one's
potential. CR is de-conditioning
all the social negatives and
taboos that keep people from
loving each other, and
developing interpersonal
relationships. CR is the defining
of the problems that are so
ingrained that we are not even
aware that they are problems.
For example: sexism, role-
playing, racism, negativity in
general. CR is the inverting of
the negatives into positives.
With that in mind, I was
eager to express these feelings
before the group. And the others
seemed to have agreed on the
need to pursue another direction
from the one we were on.
However, I got the feeling
that the issue of apathy had to be
covered from where I was
coming from as part of the
consciousness-raising process. I
had heard this word apathy
dropped So fnahy tiwes bdtweeii
the media, and the 'liberals’,
and others that it was the
fashionable excuse to use to
blame everything on. After the
Vietnam War, people had drifted
into other areas and because the
large demonstrations and
traditional organizing were
being de-emphasized as the
tactic for the times, the media
chimed in with the ‘apathy’
slogan. They were used to the
chaos they helped to create and
when it wasn’t there anymore in
the same form, the media was
willing to replace the so-called
void with this label. The hard
core liberals were the same.
They kept asking how all the kids
from the sixties couls just
disappear like that and not take
any more social responsibilities
for all the suffering, etc. We
were just getting stoned and had
copped-out. We were being put
down for not acting the way they
wanted us to act.
But is the word’apathy’ really
valid to discribe the community
consciousness? I don’t believe
so. 1 do believe though, that the
community is working very hard
on change, but the focus is now
on changing the individual first,
which will, in effect change the
whole community, as a result of
this first step.
What has happened, is that
since the Vietnam War and its
direct influences, people were
lied to so often, that all the
sacred cows came under fire and
every institution became a target
of questioning its authority. The
White House had been exposed,
also the Pentagon, but also the
schools, the church, the nation's
morals, everything. Millions of
us began asking all those
questions we never asked before
and the answers from the
institutions were always fearful
and negative. They continually
lied to us and continually fell into
their own traps of deceit.
For example, they tried to
scare us about the use of
drugs.” Marijuana led to
Heroin”, and if it did’nt make
one crazy or dead from an
overdose, then it would surely be
a criminal offence, with severe
penalties if one were caught
using drugs. T.T. shows only
showed the violence and
overdoses, and the cops busting
right and left. Still, with all of
this propaganda, marijuana use
and psychedelic use had risen
sharply and reached into every
segment of our social structure
including the white collar
{ trofessionals, and the blue collar
aborites. Why?
With all the paranoia and the
penalties, why were people
using these mind alternatives
more than ever?
T.V. and the authorities have
never come out and said that
people actually enjoyed getting
high. When people were stoned,
they were feeling loose, less
uptight about relating to another
person! s), less competitive,
more loving, and these are the
reasons people were willing to
take the risks involved. It must
be worth it, for people were
turning to the basic direction of
mind alteration and that is
questioning oneself. Who am I?
Why am 1 here? Surely there is
more purpose than just
collecting a lifetime of material
junk, or paying taxes, or
reproducing. And everytime the
questions were raised, answers
were sought after.
The answers themselves,
came in tens of thousands of
ways. Meditation and Gurus,
Yoga and awareness, feminism
and gay liberation, touchy-feely
sessions and humanism. All in
all, a multitude of approaches
that took on the political
stagnation and obsolescense.
These forms of answers are
taking on new dimensions every
day. They are multiplying like
crazy and people all over the
place are getting tumed-on to
these alternatives, and creating
more of them.
None of this is ‘apathy’, for
we are all the seeds of our new
evolution. Our questions are
raising new questions and
developing many more
directions to seek put the
answers. Gays are developing
their own positive models, and a
new consciousness. Women are
challenging men on their sexism.
Together, these two movements
are shaking the whole structure
of interpersonal interaction. We
are the bridge to humanism, and
we are creating our own rules as
to how we will get there.
Creating these rules of operation
is unfamilar to the institutional
authorities and therefore they
brand us as ‘apathetic’. We are,
in fact the vanguard of this new
and changing world, that can
only take effect when we as
individuals decide that the
change is necessary.
Everyone there at the
meeting was there because (s)he
had already asked questions
about their lives, and they were
willing to seek out more
questions and answers. We were
exploring our alternatives and
that was hardly‘apathetic’. As to
fitting into any organizational
structure, that was all dependent
on that organization meeting the
needs of the participants.
If the gay organization on the
campus had only two members
or never met again, that was of
no consequence. The point was,
would the ten people now
sharing with each other their
feelings and experiences, want
to get together again to expand
their consciousness’ and to
grow? And if that happened,
would not the campus gay group
have in effect, succeeded beyond
their own expections?
After two hours that went by
awfully fast, our group did
decide to meet again, and the
people there did feel closer to
each other than they had earlier.
The love among us was already
beginning to grow. How much
more success could anyone ask
for?
I welcome any comments to:
Bob Kunst, P.O. Box 1976,
Miami Beach, FI. 33139 305-
445-6757
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