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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1996)
ju s t o u t ▼ m a rc h I S , 1 0 9 6 T O c o m : ‘BLU'E E O ^TLA ^J)'S CLASS VEST W O M E N S ‘E *[CO ‘U9@tE3t& ACT UPers invited to descend on Olympics Torch run protests gear up nationwide, as street activists threaten to take the stage in Atlanta ▼ by Richard Shumate s the world and the media shift their attention to Atlanta this summer dur ing the 1996 Olympics, the battle for gay and lesbian equality is poised to take a piece of the spotlight. Organizing efforts are underway for two ma jor gay-related protests. In early February, ACT UP-Atlanta called on its compatriots from around the country to descend on the city during the Olympics for two weeks of “creative” demon strations. And the Olympics Out of Cobb Coali tion is vowing to go through with its threat of nationwide protests of the Olympic torch run if the flame is routed through Cobb County. “This would be a perfect time to remind the world that the AIDS crisis is not over,” says ACT UP-Atlanta’s Mona Bennett, who says she is hearing “favorable noises” from groups in other cities. In addition to the AIDS crisis, Bennett says ACT UP members and other street activists may also protest Georgia’s sodomy law, the anti-gay-rights resolution passed by commission ers in suburban Cobb County, and even a state law outlawing the sale of sex toys which led to the arrests of 15 people last year. “The entire world will be look ing at Atlanta. And the world needs to see what is going on in the gay and lesbian community in the United States—that we’re under attack,” says Jon-Ivan Weaver of the Olympics Out of Cobb Coali tion. After months of protest led by the coalition, the Atlanta Commit tee for the Olympic Games de cided in February 1994 to move preliminary Olympic volleyball competition from Cobb County, where county commissioners have passed a resolution saying the “gay lifestyle” was incompatible with Cobb’s community standards. Coalition officials say they had an agreement with ACOG not to place any other Olympic- related events in Cobb County. But last fall, ACOG president Billy Payne indicated in a television interview that the Olym pic flame might go through Cobb County, prompt ing the coalition to call for protests along the entire 42-state, 84-day torch run. ACOG subse quently said that a final torch route through the metropolitan Atlanta area has not been finalized, a position ACOG officials continued to maintain when names of Olympic torch bearers were re leased on Valentine’s Day. Coalition leaders, however, are operating un der the assumption that the torch will go through Cobb. “I firmly believe that’s what they are planning to do. ACOG is just trying to be quiet about it,” says Weaver. The leaders of the coalition have been orga nizing their protests at national gay and lesbian conferences, including the National Gay and Les bian Task Force’s Creating Change conference last year in Detroit. Weaver and co-chair Pat Hussein have been in touch with groups not only in major gay centers such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, but also with activists in A disparate places such as Phoenix; Rockford, 111.; Durham, N.C.; and Cheyenne, Wyo. Special protests are planned in Athens, Ga., home of the University of Georgia, where Payne, an alumnus and former football player, is sched uled to carry the flame. The torch run begins April 27 in Los Angeles and ends at the opening ceremonies on July 19 in Atlanta. It will go through every state except New Mexico, Montana, the Dakotas, West Virginia, Maine, Alaska and Hawaii. The torch is scheduled to pass through Eugene and Portland on May 5, and Seattle on May 7. “There will be a movement [to protest the torch], I’m sure, but right now I don’t know how SPONSORS OF THE ANNUAL LESBIAN PRIDE DANCE NOW APPEARING AT: C H O I C E S - 2 8 4 5 S E S T A R K y 11 parfy Hundreds of Wall to Wall Women as Portland's Hottest DJ Plays All Your Favorites Every Saturday Night From 9pm - 2am Drink Specials, Door Prizes, Video Poker & M ore. ..Cover Only $3.00 / 21 & Over Only Further Info: 282-6979 / 236-4321 Your Community Home Loan Resource ► New purchase ► Refinance/cash out ► 100% equity loans ► Pre-approved loans ► Pre-qualification by phone or fax ► Residential, commercial & investment property ► Appointments at your convenience 66 Tm available when you are! ” The torch run begins April 27 in Los Angeles and ends at the opening ceremonies on July 19 in Atlanta. It will go through every state except New Mexico, Montana, the Dakotas, West Virginia, Maine, Alaska and Hawaii. The torch is scheduled to pass through Eugene and Portland on May 5, and Seattle on May 7. large that movement might be,” says Mickey Schloss of the Progressive Voters Network in San Francisco, one of the groups that has been in touch with Weaver. “I think it is going to depend on whether someone steps out to lead and how pas sionate that leadership is.” The coalition is setting no parameters or limits for groups that want to protest and will not attempt to coordinate those protests itself. “We’re telling them to be peaceful and to be creative. We’re also suggesting that they attach their own local issues to their protests,” Weaver says. Both Weaver and Bennett reject the argu ment—coming not only from Olympic boosters but also from within the gay and lesbian commu nity—that injecting political issues into the Games is inappropriate and could backfire with the gen eral public. “Look at what the Cobb commissioners did. What do we have to lose?” says Weaver. “I don’t think people get it as much as they did with the volleyball protest. Some people have said to me, ‘John, what do you want?’ I want them to stay out of Cobb County.” “Don’t say to me that the Olympics aren’t political. The Olympics have been political as long as there have been an Olympics,” says Bennett, citing the decades-long ban against com petition by South Africa and the political rivalries entwined in the games of ancient Greece. Office 274-1500 Even i ngs/Weekends 780-1561 Colleen Weed LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM 1996 NATIONAL TOUR OPENS IN PORTLAND THE LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM The critically acclaimed exhibit chronicling the history of the gay, lesbian and bisexual movement as seen from the covers and pages of The Advocate magazine SPECIAL BENEFIT SHOWING Sunday March 24th, 4 to 8 PM The World Trade Center 25 SW Salmon, Portland, OR $35 admission includes open bar, refreshments, private showing of the exhibit and one-year GLAAD membership proceeds benefit the Equity Foundation and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against D efam ation (G LA A D ) ticket information please call 224-5285 or 220-0628 r E Q U IT Y FOUNDATION k AGAINST DEFAMATION GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE A n open invitation to stewardship, originated by Oregon's gey and lesbian community Aitvucaie The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine J 'y — 1 5-^ Seagram