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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1995)
- ¿ « f •% >• 1 ^ *• ^ 8 ▼ ju ly 2 1 . 1 9 9 5 ▼ ju s t ou t I For Your Next Visit to national news A s h l a n d E veryone Welcome Country Willows IIP " & BREAKFAST 236-4321 INN Ashland's Country Inn" è' Privale Balhs è’ Heated Pool ‘if è ’ Jacuzzi è ’ Hiking Trails è ’ Bicycles è' è' Gourmet Country Breakfasts i' (503) 488-1590 (8(H)) WIIJ.OWS (503) 488-1611 (F AX) 1313 ClA V ST. ASHI-ANO, OR 97520 Big Screen Sports TV (Mon. nite 1/2 price nite) Electronics Darts • 2 Pool Tables Large Dance Floor Deli Sandwiches Special live Entertainment Call fo r information Open at 1pm Daily 2845 SE S tark • P ortland it f/l My Resources supporting and empowering women A Lesbian Owned business O pen 7 days a week ! Monday thru Saturday 10am to 7pm Sunday 11am to 5pm (503) 236-0505 4526 SE Hawthorne Portland, OR 97215 (Right after 45th, on Hawthorne next to the 7*11) Allow your mind to drift along the Willamette river on our luxury yacht as you dine on fine Northwest cuisine and celebrate to the cheer ful harmonies o f our singing waitstaff For information on departures or special occasion cruises for birthdays, anniver saries or any other event, give ms a call. Our destination is subject to your imagination. Portland ( 5 0 3 ) 2 2 4 - 3 9 OO («(K)) 2 2 4 - 3 9 0 1 "Dildos for sale, not dildos in ¡ail" Arrests of 15 people in Atlanta for selling sex toys leads to a street protest by gay and lesbian activists ▼ T by Richard Shumate o paraphrase the famous commercial, that Atlanta was named the third most dangerous if you come to the 1996 Olympics in city in America is absurd, and it is unacceptable,” Atlanta, bring your Visa card and says Joe DeRose of Queer Planet. “It creates a very queer-negative environment.” your own sex toys. Police officials insist they conducted the raids Because the Olympics doesn’ t take only after complaints from residents and other American Express—and you can’t buy a dildo in business in the neighborhoods where the stores the capitol of Dixie. are located. All were located in commercial zones, Atlanta police recently busted six stores, in and one was near a day-care center. cluding two with a mostly gay and lesbian clien Georgia law makes selling dildos and vibra tele, for violating a state law against selling any tors illegal, although possessing them is OK. The device whose primary purpose is to stimulate the differences in mores and laws between the city genital organs. The stores’ owners and employ and the state has created some strange contrasts in ees, 15 people in all, were taken away to jail. Atlanta, where some bars stay open 24 hours a day On June 15, the same day those arrested were and totally nude dancing appearing in court, fc establishments are per members of two direct^ fectly legal, but people action groups, the Les can’t rent pornographic bian Avengers and, movies or buy package liquor on Sunday—or Queer Planet, held a< t. “Free the Dildos” dem dildos any day. onstration, standing in>^ front of police head- f quarters on a busy Mid town street waving dildos, vibrators and even a zucchini or two at rush-hour commut ers. “Dildos for sale, not dildos in jail,” chanted the 20 demonstrators, who included the Avengers’ new Ladies’ Auxiliary, made up of men in skirts. “Don’t waste time, sex is not a crime.” While the protest was somewhat tongue-in-cheek (tongues almost anywhere else would have been illegal in Geor gia), protesters insist their message is more seri ous than silly. Police in recent months have also been putting undercover patrols in gay cruising spots, and, coupled with the sex store raids, activ ists believe city officials are promoting a sex negative mindset that takes aim at gay men and lesbians. “One would have to be a major idiot not to notice somebody in the police department had to make a choice about this,” says Gwendolyn Dean, spokesperson for the Avengers. “Somebody had to make a choice to invest time and energy in chasing little rubber toys around the city.” ‘To prioritize [dildo sales] in the same week Not everyone is con vinced that Atlanta’s les bian and gay community should expend its time and political capital com plaining about raids on sex shops or cruising ar eas. Dean says some people she approached about participating in the protest said thanks but no thanks. “They said they don’t want to be associated with sex toys,” she says. “But I don’t think we can separate gay and lesbian politics from actual discussions of sexual activity and sexual behavior. That is a mistake. Our goal shouldn’t be to share white, middle-class main stream values.” Dean says the activists now plan to formally request a meeting with Atlanta Police Chief Beverly Harvard to air their grievances. In court, owners of three of the six stores pleaded guilty to charges of running a disorderly house and were fined $500. Charges against two other stores were dropped because of technicali ties, and one owner decided to plead not guilty and fight the charges in Fulton County State Court. A trial date has not yet been set. Charges against the store employees were dropped. S u m m e r t im e L o o k i o k ju s t out's n e x t is s u e s A ik ;. 4 and A ik ;. 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