ju st o ut T 1. 1005 T 9 Problems with your dream house? The Olympics' gay adventure N ext year's gam es will take place in A tlanta's gayest neighborhood , and plan s are underway to welcom e the world T by Richard Shumate ext summer’s Olympic Games in Atlanta will mark a queerly different milestone. These are believed to be the first modem Olympics where the village that will house the athletes, along with many of the venues where they will compete, will be located in a predominantly gay neighborhood. And— despite a festering dispute between Olym­ pic organizers and activists over the role Cobb County will play in the city’s Olympic odyssey— Atlanta’s Midtown community is making plans to welcome the world. The centerpiece of that effort will be a 24-hour gay and lesbian visitors’ center, located within walking distance of most Olympic events, that will provide information and assistance to ath­ letes and visitors. Mayor Bill Campbell’s gay and lesbian advisory committee is currently drawing up plans for the center and trying to bring the city ’ s pride committee and other organizations on board to help fund and staff it. “We don’t want to be wallflowers at the big putting together the visitors’ center, McDonald says ACOG turned down a request to fund it. So corporate donors will be sought to pay for the center, and the advisory committee is trying to get a landlord to donate space by pointing out that the center will be an attraction likely to draw large numbers of people to other businesses on the same property. While the city’s lesbian and gay community will be having the Olympics in its back yard, its relationship with ACOG has been rocky for the past two years, ever since ACOG announced that preliminary volleyball competition would be held in Cobb County. In August 1993, county commis­ sioners in Cobb, a suburban enclave of 450,000 people just northwest of the city, passed a resolu­ tion stating that the “gay lifestyle” was incompat­ ible with Cobb’s community standards. Despite two years of continued protest, they have refused to rescind the resolution. Faced with threats of a massive protest in 1996, ACOG eventually removed the volleyball venue from Cobb, and the Olympics Out of Cobb A 24-hour gay and lesbian visitors center located within walking distance o f most Olympic events will provide information and assistance to athletes and visitors. Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell ’s gay and lesbian advisory committee is currently drawing up plans fo r the center. We can help! Arts & Crafts Construction specializing in repair & remodeling o f period houses call Steve at 648 6968 o r 1 800 684 9038 licensed/bonded/insured CCB # 107844 m A nnual lésbian m f I X f l EVI bash < 2 ©do $*3 3 IDer Only. F u rth er Info, 2 8 2 -6 9 7 9 . ’ dance. We want to participate,” says Phil McDonald, the city official who facilitates the committee. A site hasn’t been selected yet, “but we feel it is important to be close enough to the village that the athletes who are here will be able to walk to the center,” says McDonald. The Olympic Village is being constructed on the Georgia Tech campus, which is just west of Midtown, the city’s most identifiable gay neigh­ borhood. Atlanta’s largest cluster of gay bars is but a quarter mile from the village, and a number o f venues, including the swimming and diving stadium, are also at Tech. And while that provides the opportunity for extraordinary visibility for the gay and lesbian community during the 16-day run of the games, it will also create some problems for Midtown resi­ dents who are living with AIDS. The city plans to block off many Midtown streets for 16 hours each day, making it almost impossible to access the neighborhood except on foot. Project Open Hand, which delivers meals to people with AIDS who are shut in, may face interruption of its normal delivery routes. Also, Grady Memorial Hospital’s Infectious Disease Clinic, the primary medical provider for indigent HIV patients, is located in the area that will be cordoned off. City and Fulton County health officials are currently working with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games to develop a plan to continue services to people during the games. No final plan has been announced. Though the mayor’s gay and lesbian advisory committee has received ACOG’s cooperation in Coalition, the group formed to fight ACOG’s initial decision, disbanded. But the coalition was revived this summer after ACOG President Billy Payne indicated in a television interview that the Olympic torch run may go through Cobb County, though the final route for the torch won’t be announced until the end of the year. Not willing to wait for a final decision, the coalition is organiz­ ing nationwide protests now. Jon-Ivan Weaver, co-chair of the coalition, says his group does not oppose the idea of build­ ing a welcome center for lesbian and gay visitors and athletes. But that does not mean that the protests against the torch run have been called off. “There are going to be protests. They are going to happen,” says Weaver. The torch will make its way through parts of 40 states before arriving in Atlanta next July. The coalition met with activists in November at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change conference, held in Detroit, to organize the troops for protest at every city along the way. The effort will culminate in actions against the torch in Cobb County and Atlanta. "The response [at the NGLTF conference] was very supportive of what we are doing,” Weaver says. “I think ACOG is in for a really big surprise if they think they can go into Cobb County with­ out problems.” He adds, “W e’re not telling people not to attend [the Olympics]. But as for myself, I will not be attending any events. I am going to be very busy.” We put the “real” back into real estate. In this age of real estate conglomerates and high technology one thing often gets overlooked - you and your individual needs. From the day we opened in 1979, the agents at Bridgetown Realty have never lost sight of the very real personal, emotional and financial considerations that go into buying or selling a home. It’s our business to guide you through the transaction process and keep you informed in real terms you can understand. At Bridgetown Realty you are not just a number...you’re treated as a real person. We’re proud to say we’re putting the “real” back into the business of real estate. 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