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Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing in
this buisness. What with long hours, low -
pay and responsibilities that you just can’t
ever seem to get away from...it’s enough to
drive you to drink. ..and often does.
They call this the age of apathy and that
sentiment is as evident in the gay com
munity as it is anywhere else in society.
What with pot, poppers, booze and a
“hot” new place to boogie, today’s gay is
truly fulfilled. Concerns about acceptance
and discrimination seem like tired old
concepts from the sixties. The days of
entrapment and outright harassment seem
as distant as the concentration camps of
Hitler. Those things couldn’t happen
♦oday!
Frustrations with the unconcern of the
gay community in regard to their own lot in
life have been expressed by far better
writers than I. But from my ivory tower, it
never fails to gall me that no one really
cares. That’s why last Monday’s Can
didate Forum was such a welcome ex
perience.
Editor’s Notebook
K U-). f**—•
ales for city office took our
cause seriouly and attended is a positive i
sign in itself. That 200 gay people took j
themselves seriously and participated is far
more important from my perspective.
It was heartening to see so many people
asking questions...important questions
and demanding answers. These candates
are asking to be chosen to govern our city.
It ’s important that they meet us, that they
learn our concerns and it’s important that
we know how they feel about
discrimination,..about harassment...about
us. \
The night the candidates met the gays,
Channel 11 called the meeting historic. I
call it the most promising sign of our
development as a unified community.
Sure, we both had ulterior motives. They
want our vote and we want civil rights. But
this effort can come back to both groups
with a multifold blessing: a better Atlanta
for us all to live in.
Just like other minorities, we had to
scream and dance about...to protest and
picket, but now...we’ve finally gotten their
a'*ention. Now’s the time for some real
work. It’s the time for honest and sincere
cooperation. Maybe we’re finally growing
up.
Sweet Gum Will Benefit Vicki Gabriner
Atlanta — The Vicki
Gabriner Defense Committee
will sponsor a benefit at the
Sweet Gum Head on
Thursday, October 6 at 8
p.m, Appearing will be Red
Dyke Theater, Jan Gibson,
Karate for Women, Carole
Etzler and New WomnSong
Theater.
Vicki Gabriner is a lesbian-
feminist who has lived in
Atlanta for the past seven
years. She has been an
active menrberof the Atlanta
Lesbian Feminist Alliance
and Georgians for the Equal
Rights Amendment, and
spoke at the Gay Pride Rally
this year.
In. 1973 she was arrested
here by seven FBI men who
came to her home at 7 a.m.
The charges were passport
fraud and conspiracy to
commit passport fraud,’ both
felonies. These charges
stemmed from Vicki’s anti-
Viet Nam War activities with
Weathermen-Students for a
Democratic Society (SDS)
three and one half years
earlier. In response to her
pre-trial motions, the FBI
was forced to release tapes of
illegally recorded con
versations from the SDS
national office in 1969-70.
This past winter, Vicki’s
trial was finally held in the
Massachusetts Federal
District Court, She was
convicted of both charges
and sentenced to one year’s
probation. She is currently
appealing the conviction.
The charges themselves
and the manner in which the
case was tried undoubtedly
point to political harassment.
Clearly, Vicki and her co
defendant were being
punished for their anti-War
activities. Furthermore, the
four years that passed since
the arrest and the actual trial
were marked by government
delays in prosecuting the
case.
The more recent per
secution of gays intensified
by Anita Bryant’s vicious;
campaign clarifies the need!
to stand up to oppression on
all levels. Toleration of any!
form of harassment only
lends silent support to those:
; who want to keep all “social!
deviants” in their place.
I All proceeds from the
f benefit will go to aid Vicki in
her defense. For more in
formation, or to make a
contribution, write to the
Vick Gabriner Defense
Committee, P. O. Box 5533,
Publisher’s Perspective
He’s an attractive young man with a
shock of blond hair that occasionally flips
down over his hazel eyes. He was the boy
next door in a small Tennessee town. He
is not a country boy, but a bright, in
telligent young man who left a pleasant
community for the anonymity of the
urban setting. He’s One of many gay men
•hat realized that no matter how much
they liked their home town and no matter
how much their home town loved them,
the people would not tolerate a gay
lifestyle that he knew he must embrace.
Now that he’s in the big city, he goes
about his life in much the same way he
may have wanted to do in his home town.
The big exception is, of course, he works
with gay people.
He’s not an outspoken gay activist, but
he became art important part of gay
activism with one letter. We’ve reprinted
it here. As you read it think about writing
your hometown newspaper. If we all
wrote home perhaps our home towns will
let us be the people we want to be.
“I was bom and raised in Oak Ridge;
graduated from ORHS and UT; but
decided not to stay because the ‘liberal’
community would have never accepted
the lifestyle that I discovered had been
developed within me during my earliest
years.
“There was no ‘choice’ involved — I
simply realized that I was attracted to my
own sex and no amount of counseling
could change this preference.
“I would have been perfectly satisfied to
lead a heterosexual life — to enjoy the
love of a family — but since I was not
provided with a choice, I must do what I
can to make my life as happy and wor
thwhile as possible as a homosexual.
“Do you think that any homosexual
would have chosen the ridicule,
harassment and discrimination that
follows them from their elementary
school days through high school and
beyond;?
“It was not until the privacy of college
that I could grasp my situation and realize
how I would live a life unaccepted by a
majority of society.
“Even with all the recent publicity, the
general population still chooses to ignore
the magnitude of the situation — 10
percent of all people are gay. I was one of
# • • • • • • • • «
Dear Mr. Smith,
I am writing to thank you for
publishing arid writing
“Publisher’s Perspective.”
It is the only article written
on that particular subject
with which I agree. It
doesn’t seem that a very
large number of the gay
population here in Atlanta
would agree with either you
or I!
If my memory serves me
correctly, most gay people
had Mr. Llewellyn convicted
before the trial!
I feel that even If Mr.
Llewellyn did commit the
crimes for which he was
convicted, Mrs. DdBoard and
her daughter have suffered
enough for his wrong doings.
Might I add that they have,
suffered wrongly, for it was
not their doings for which
Mr. Llewellyn was convicted.
The BARB has always been
one of my favorite gay
publications and it is Oven
more so now.
Many Thanks
.. Bob. Williams.
approximately 60 gays in my high school
graduating class. These were your
children and your friends’ children —
kids you have known all their lives.
“Homosexuals do not produce more
homosexuals — heterosexuals do. The
problem should be approached by
discovering what parents must do in the
early stages of their children’s lives so
that the children can grow up to be
heterosexuals — not try to change them
once they realize they are homosexual
and no longer can do anything about it .
“Those of us who have accepted the fact
that we will be gay all our lives are now
taking steps to insure that we can lead
happy lives without fear of
discrimination. That is why there is a gay
rights movement. Most of us in the
movement have stopped trying to solicit
approval from the straight society.
“The straight majority thinks that we
want the privilege to flaunt our lifestyle
and recruit their children, but this is a
myth. All we want is the assurance that
we will not be fired or evicted.
“Sex in a public park, I admit, is an
immoral aspect of homosexuality, but
several studies have shown that there are
a higher percentage of sex criminals
among straights than among gays.
“However, this seems to be the only
aspect of homosexuality that society
wishes to dwell upon. Little is ever heard
of the artistic and intellectual con
tributions of gays throughout the cen
turies.
“In trying to express my views on
homosexuality, I want to emphasize that
heterosexuals should quit acting like
homosexuality only happens to other
people. There is a good chance that
someone in your immediate family is gay.
Remember that the next time you make a
‘fag’ joke or accuse a gay of being a
sinner.
“In closing, I did not sign my name in
fear of publicly admitting my
homosexuality. I have been fortunate to
find nondiscriminatory housing and
employment in my new home. The
reason is that I do not wish any em
barrassment or harassment to come to my
parents because of what such a revelation
could cause them. If they were the cause
for my homosexuality, they are not to
blame, for little is known about why or
how they could have caused it.”
Now there are two editions of Gayellow Pages.
The National Edition includes listings for the
entire United States as well as Canada.
Published November and May; $5 third class
mail, $6 first class mail; outside North
America $7.
The quarterly NYC/NJ Edition covers New
York City, Long Island, and New Jersey.
Features include bar and cruising notes.
$1.50; $2 by mail.
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