LGBT
Thursday, May 10, 2012
LGBT Mayor still 'wrestling with beliefs' on gay marriage
Posted by Thomas Wheatley on Thu, May 10, 2012 at 6:15 PM
- Joeff Davis/CL File
- Mayor Kasim Reed
“I respect President Obama’s decision to stand in support of marriage equality. I have fought hard for the rights of gays and lesbians my entire political career, from protecting adoption rights for gay and lesbian families, to voting against Georgia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage as a state senator, to serving as the state house sponsor for the only hate crimes bill ever passed in the state of Georgia.“While I am still wrestling with my own personal beliefs on the issue of marriage, I deeply appreciate the contributions gays and lesbians make to our city every single day and I remain committed to Atlanta’s vibrant and diverse LGBT community.”
The Georgia Voice reports that local LGBT advocate and former Atlanta Public Schools and City Council candidate Charlie Stadtlander has started a Facebook group telling the mayor it's time to 'evolve' on the issue and change his views.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Politics / LGBT The Guardian's fun infographic illustrates how rainbowy Georgia isn't
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart on Wed, May 9, 2012 at 4:05 PM
Yesterday, North Carolina voters decided to amend their state's constitution and ban gay marriage. Today, President Obama finally came out in support of gay marriage. "It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," Obama told ABC's Robin Roberts, further affirming the decision of a many West Virginia democrat to vote for a Texas prison inmate instead of the current president.
It's a country torn, alright. At least regionally, according to this handy, rainbow-colored infographic put together by the Guardian that details what rights have been granted to gays by state.
Should progressive Georgians begin feeling haughty in the wake of the North Carolina gay marriage ban, you can see that Georgia is among the worst — even among Southern states — in terms of gay rights. That pale blue sliver just means that single people can adopt children, not just couples. And, of course, Georgia passed its own gay marriage ban in 2004 (and it passed by an even larger margin than N.C.'s).
Friday, April 27, 2012
LGBT / Cops Atlanta police name new LGBT liaison to replace Pat Powell
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart on Fri, Apr 27, 2012 at 12:41 PM
- Joeff Davis/CL File
- LGBT liaison Pat Powell moves on
When Pat Powell became the Atlanta Police Department's LGBT liaison in May 2010 — charged with "improving communications and relationships" between the APD and the gay community — she had her work cut out for her.
The damage the department did when it improperly raided the Atlanta Eagle in September 2009 still seemed nearly irreparable. Plus, Powell was replacing former liaison Dani Lee Harris, who was pushed out of the position without explanation, though she claims is was for filing an OPS complaint against a superior.
Just shy of her two year anniversary on the job, the APD announced yesterday that Powell was moving on and taking a position with the department's Background & Recruitment Unit. She's being replaced by former Zone 5 patrol officer Kristin Knight. She'll join liaison Brian Sharp, who was hired in September 2010.
It was around that time we interviewed Powell for a cover story about a high-profile gay bashing in Piedmont Park and how it presented an opportunity for healing between the cops and the LGBT community. She discussed the challenge of basically being the sole member of a one-woman unit assigned to mend a cavernous rift:
"When I first came on in May, it was a challenge," Powell says. "But, what the department's been doing is continuing to get me out there in the community and build that relationship, build that trust back. The only way you're gonna do it is for me to get out there and do the legwork. Are we there yet? No. But since May I think we've come a short distance, but a positive difference."
Josh Noblitt, a pastor and a victim in the Piedmont Park attack, praised Powell's attentiveness to his case, saying she'd been "awesome," adding, "I mean, she sat with me in court."
A little bit about your new LGBT liaison ...
Knight, a native of Milford, Connecticut, joined the department in 2005 and worked as a patrol officer in Zone 5, covering Downtown and Midtown. Last year, Knight joined the department’s Community Liaison Unit in the Community Oriented Policing Section, serving Zone 5.“I’m looking forward to this wonderful and challenging opportunity to serve as a link between the LGBT community and the brave men and women of the Atlanta Police Department,” Officer Knight said. “As a proud member of both the gay community and the APD, I will take great pride and care in ensuring we continue our mutual respect and understanding. The LGBT liaisons are instrumental in helping foster those partnerships that are at the core of our mission here at APD.”
Prior to joining APD, Knight worked briefly with the Transportation Security Administration. Previously, she worked in the restaurant business and joined APD when she was 23. Officer Knight moved to Atlanta to attend
Clark Atlanta University. She is now working to complete her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Saint Leo University.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
LGBT Gay marriage is alright by JC (Jimmy Carter)
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart on Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 1:13 PM
- CL FILE
- Carter signs his book about Palestine in Atlanta in 2008
To publicize the release of his newest book "NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter," former president Jimmy Carter granted a phone interview to the Huffington Post about his approach to reading and abiding by the Bible in a logical way. (NIV stands for New International Version — I'm not sure if that's a thing everyone knows, because I did not.)
The portion of the interview that's gotten the most attention on Facebook, etc. is the one that contains Carter's thoughts on gay marriage. Basically, Carter says that gay marriages are fine, but churches also shouldn't be forced by law to perform them ...
Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things -— he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.I draw the line, maybe arbitrarily, in requiring by law that churches must marry people. I’m a Baptist, and I believe that each congregation is autonomous and can govern its own affairs. So if a local Baptist church wants to accept gay members on an equal basis, which my church does by the way, then that is fine. If a church decides not to, then government laws shouldn’t require them to.
He approaches other topics in an equally — and fittingly — diplomatic manner. Seems his philosophy is pretty well summed up in this quote:
I think ‘judge not that you be not judged’ is the best advice that I will follow. Maybe it is a rationalization, but it creates a lack of tension in my mind about that potential conflict.
Monday, March 19, 2012
LGBT / Courts / Cops More money paid out to Eagle Raid victims
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart on Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 4:14 PM
- Joeff Davis / CL File
The GA Voice just reported that a $330,000 settlement was reached in a third lawsuit filed by victims of the APD's 2009 unconstitutional raid of the Atlanta Eagle.
Here are the details ...
As part of the settlement, [the plaintiffs' attorney Dan] Grossman also requested the Atlanta Police Department be mandated the police chief fire officers who destroy evidence in a civil case.Several officers involved in the raid on Midtown gay bar the Atlanta Eagle on Sept. 10, 2009, were accused of destroying evidence but not fired.
"If an officer thinks, oh, well, I'll just get a three-day suspension for deleting cell phone records, then nothing keeps him or her from doing it," Grossman said.
A court order also mandated the city pay Grossman $25,000 in attorney's fees for working to ensure the APD implemented the policy changes mandated from the original lawsuit that resulted in a $1.025 million settlement.
That brings the total city payout for the raid up to $1.475 million.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
LGBT / Crime Victim of gay attack speaks, Pittsburgh gets serious about eradicating violence
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart on Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 5:00 PM
- Gwynedd Stuart
- Brandon White, victim of the recent gay bashing in Pittsburgh, spoke to the media for the first time today.
But violence at 1029 McDaniel Street is hardly a new occurrence.
According to a source — I'm waiting on APD public affairs to confirm the statistics — there have been 384 calls for police respond, 230 direct patrols initiated, and 30 fights reported at the location since January 1, 2011. Last year alone, there were six murders on that corner.
This afternoon, at a press conference that was arranged primarily so the victim Brandon White could speak to the media about his attack, LaShawn Hoffman of the Pittsburgh Community Improvement Association also spoke. His message: Pittsburgh wants the convenience store at 1029 McDaniel Street gone.
Hoffman began by apologizing to White, not just on behalf of his organization, but "on behalf of the entire community as a whole."
"No one called the police," he pointed out. "[In the video] a MARTA bus passes, people walk down the street like this is the norm — this is not the norm in our neighborhood and it has to stop. We're closing down that store."
Thursday, January 26, 2012
LGBT Outwrite Bookstore closes permanently and files for bankruptcy
Posted by Bobby Feingold on Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 11:22 AM
- Joeff Davis
- In a written statement, owner Philip Rafshoon said, "We have examined and exhausted all possibilities for continuing this company given our financial situation."
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
LGBT So these are the two (hot) guys who started the fight at Blake's
Posted by Bobby Feingold on Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 11:51 AM
- APD
- Blake's brawlers Vance Johnson and Derrick Leegrant
Vance Johnson (left) and Derrick Leegrant, both 22, reportedly started the fight while waiting in line for the bathroom at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to Project Q. The manager of Blake's asked 69-year-old retired Atlanta police office J.J. O'Brien, who works security at the bar, to remove the two men. That's when things got ugly.
Monday, January 23, 2012
LGBT What the hell is going on at Blake's in Midtown?
Posted by Bobby Feingold on Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 2:11 PM
- CL File
- Blake's from the halcyon days of 2005
Project Q has an early report of the melee:
The incident took place about 1:15 a.m. on Saturday. A spokesperson for Atlanta police said that two people were arrested after police responded to a fight call at the popular 10th Street gay bar ... Several uniformed Atlanta police officers responded and rushed into the bar, according to this witness who asked to remain anonymous.Some responding officers called patrons in the gay bar “sweetie” and “princess,” according to the witness. He also alleges that another officer ordered a man to stop recording the scene on his mobile phone, knocked it out of his hand and then ordered the man to delete most of what he recorded.
Double no-no, APD. Did the botched 2009 Atlanta Eagle raid and your new LGBT liaison teach you nothing? But APD spokesman Carlos Campos responded with this statement:
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
LGBT Everyone calm down about Atlanta's fall from grace on The Advocate's Gayest Cities list
Posted by Bobby Feingold on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 11:49 AM
- The Advocate
I've never been to Salt Lake City, and while I've recently learned "Everyone's a Mormon," I just can't imagine that the capital of Utah is a gay utopia on par with Los Angeles or Chicago. Cultural wasteland of America Orlando came in at number two, and you'll never guess who beat Atlanta at number eight: Knoxville, Tenn. Listen, Knoxville is not suitable for anyone of any sexual orientation.
But it's Atlanta's accompanying blurb that really rubbed people the wrong way, specifically one preposterous line.
