ju st o u t ▼ aprii 2 1 . 1 0 0 9 ▼ 7
BANSHEE DESIGNS
SPRING OPEN STUDIO
Pressure stepped up
in Georgia
Lesbian daughter o f Cobb County Commission chairman
leads protest at meeting
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by Richard Shumate
L
ed by the lesbian daughter of the Cobb
County (Ga.) Commission, opponents
of the county’s resolution discrimina
tory to sexual minorities have taken
their protest directly to commissioners.
On March 28, during a period set aside for
public comment at a commission meeting, 14
demonstrators got up and surrounded the podium
while two speakers, including Shannon Byrne,
the daughter of chairman Bill Byrne, denounced
the resolution. The other speaker, Jim Stark, sym
bolically handcuffed himself to the microphone,
then threw the handcuffs on the floor in front of
the podium, saying that gay men and lesbians
“refused to be handcuffed” by the resolution.
The most emotional moment, however, came
when Shannon Byrne, who last summer publicly
announced that she is a lesbian and denounced her
father’s action in voting for the resolution, ad
dressed Bill Byrne and his fellow commissioners.
Except for a brief conversation several months
ago, it was the first time she had spoken to her
father since her public declaration.
“It seemed like a real good time to remind
them that I’m still here,” she said later. “I told
them that they are sacrificing their families for the
sake of their political careers, when they are
supposedly protecting ‘family values.’ ”
As protesters began to leave the room, Bill
Byrne asked his daughter to return to the podium.
He said he was proud of her and praised her “guts,
articulation and candor.”
“I do believe that he is proud of me, but I don’t
take what he said full-heartedly,” Shannon Byrne
said. “He probably felt it was in his political
interest for him to address me.”
In August 1993 the county commissioners, by
a 4-to-1 vote, passed a resolution saying that the
“gay lifestyle” was incompatible with the com
munity standards of Cobb County, a conservative
suburban enclave of 450,000 people just north
west of Atlanta. The ensuing controversy cost the
county the opportunity to host the volleyball
competition in the 1996 Olympics.
The particular issue that brought the demon
strators to the commission meeting on March 28
Finger-lickin’ bigotry
African American civil rights leaders and gay,
lesbian and bisexual activists have joined forces
in Louisville, Ky., to protest alleged racial and
homophobic practices at Ken
tucky Fried Chicken. The fast food
chain’s corporate headquarters are
located in Louisville.
A citywide picket and boycott
of KFC restaurants has been or
ganized by the Justice Resource
Center, a group of ministers and
civil rights activists led by the
Rev. Louis Coleman. Center
members and their allies have
picketed outside the restaurants
every Saturday for the past several weeks.
Evidence of discrimination came to light in
1992 when a Louisville KFC restaurant manager,
Denise Bentley, was asked to fire an employee
because he was gay. Bentley had hired the em
ployee because of his efficient and courteous
work manner. She refused to terminate him.
was a public promise made by Commissioner
Gordon Wysong, the author of the resolution.
Speaking at a candidates forum during his
successful re-election bid last fall, Wysong said
his motivation for proposing the resolution was a
decision by the city of Atlanta to pass domestic
partnership legislation. He said that if the Georgia
Supreme Court struck down that legislation, he
would support rescinding the resolution.
On March 14, the Supreme Court struck down
an ordinance extending benefits to the domestic
partners of city employees. It upheld a separate
ordinance creating a partnership registry.
Now, Wysong is saying that the resolution is
a “dead issue” and that his earlier statement was
misunderstood.
“He seems to have gotten amnesia over this
item,” says Noel Lytle, co-chair of the Cobb
Citizens Coalition, made up of local residents
opposed to the resolution. “We wanted to remind
him to keep his promise.”
Since the Supreme Court’s decision, members
of the coalition have spoken with the lone oppo
nent of the resolution, Commissioner Bill Coo
per, who pledged to bring up repealing the mea
sure privately with his colleagues. But he appears
to be the only commissioner interested in revisit
ing the issue.
During the same week that demonstrators ad
dressed commissioners, the coalition also began
running a series of educational ads on Atlanta’s
two largest talk radio stations— including the
station that airs right-wing talkmeister Rush
Limbaugh.
The three commercials are designed to combat
three myths about gay men and lesbians: that they
are child molesters, that they are interested in
special rights, and that sexual orientation is a
choice, according to Elaine Hill, co-chair of the
coalition.
Hill says other actions are planned, including
a major demonstration on Mother’s Day, to which
gay men and lesbians are asked to bring their
mothers.
“We’re going to keep the pressure on,” says
Hill.
“I felt if I had to terminate this person based on
their sexual orientation, then I was opening up
Pandora’s box and giving KFC the opportunity to
terminate anybody for any reason.... It’s not an
acceptable practice,” said Bentley.
The employee was later fired
by a KFC representative on
Bentley’s day off.
Bentley herself was targeted
after the incident. When she tried
to return to work in 1993 follow
ing a work-related injury she was
not rehired, although she says the
company had guaranteed her posi
tion during her recovery. Bentley
is now filing a lawsuit charging
KFC with discrimination based on her disability
and race. Bentley is African American.
The issue has intensified feelings in the local
gay community due to a pending vote on a gay
rights ordinance. The measure would ban em
ployment discrimination based on sexual orienta-
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