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"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.
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