Date:         Mon, 24 Feb 1997 18:05:16 -0500
From: LLDEFNY@aol.com

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
6:00 P.M., February 24, 1997

Contact: Peg Byron, 212-809-8585 x 230, 800-314-5149 (pager)

After Bombing, Lambda Meets with Atlanta Lesbian, Gay Lawyers
Sexual politics link victims of recent bombings

(NEW YORK, February 24, 1997)   Calling last weekend's bombing of an Atlanta
lesbian and gay nightclub "a cowardly, despicable act of hatred," a Lambda
Legal Defense and Education Fund attorney met Monday with local lesbian and
gay lawyers to discuss civil rights issues, including anti-gay violence.

     "The bombing of a lesbian and gay bar was a cowardly, despicable act of
hatred,"
Lambda Staff Attorney David Buckel said, adding that whatever the attacker's
motives, "We will not be bombed back into the closet."

     Buckel noted the similarities of the attack to the January bombing of an
Atlanta-area women's health clinic.  "Gay civil rights and women's right to
end unwanted pregnancies are linked by a commitment to freedom of sexual
choice.  That connection, plus the fact that the bar that was bombed is known
to be popular among gay women, suggest that misogyny and anti-gay hate fueled
this violence."

     A powerful bomb filled with nails exploded February 21 on the patio of
the Otherside Lounge, an Atlanta nightclub especially popular among lesbians.
 At least five people were injured.  A second bomb was found in a backpack in
a nearby parking lot and detonated safely.  Officials have compared the
attack to the January 16 clinic bombing as well as to the Olympics'
Centennial Park bombing in July.

     Buckel, who works extensively on issues concerning youth and anti-gay
violence in schools, had been scheduled to discuss family law in a
presentation to the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia, but he expanded the
focus of his talk following the weekend's bombing.  Lambda, the oldest and
largest lesbian and gay legal organization, will open a Southern Regional
Office in Atlanta later this year, making it the first national gay
organization with a presence in the South.

     Lambda Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart said, "Martin Luther King,
Jr., warned that the fight for justice is often met by violence.  No
terrorist will deter our work toward achieving full recognition of civil
rights for lesbians, gay men, and people with AIDS and HIV."

     Cathcart, who will meet later in the week with Atlanta supporters,
added, "There is much civil rights work to do in the Southern Region.  We
have no doubt that, just like the lesbian and gay community here, Lambda will
thrive in Atlanta."

     Lambda currently has a Western Regional Office in Los Angeles, a Midwest
Regional Office in Chicago, and its national headquarters in New York.

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