------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Atlanta Constitution July 3, 1993 copied with permission from the Journal/Constitution By Holly Morris STAFF WRITER Coming just days after the record-breaking Gay Pride parade, when 100,000 marched in Piedmont Park, partly to celebrate City Council passage of domestic partnership legislation, the furious reaction of the Atlanta gay community to Mayor Maynard H. Jackson's veto was no surprise. It was the unity that was unexpected, jolting even gay and lesbian leaders themselves. ``The mayor's ignited everybody,'' said Lynn Cothren, former head of Queer Nation, who served on the mayor's task force to study the feasibility of domestic partnership legislation. ``His veto really got people in an uproar. He can expect to hear from the gay and lesbian community every day until he leaves office.'' After demonstrations, including one in which protesters smeared themselves with ketchup and rolled around in his driveway, the mayor apparently got the message. On Friday, he repeated his support for the benefits concept and promised that it will be law before he leaves office in January, once cost questions are satisfied. ``I've never seen them so angry,'' said Marcia Okula, the mayor's liaison to the lesbian and gay community. ``The community has been really raked over the coals with this military ban, and they're smarting from that.'' Said Ms. Okula, ``The mistreatment of homosexuals has been in the news every day since [President] Clinton took office. And then our own mayor, who was supposed to be supportive, does something that appears to contradict everything he said to us. My office is flooded with calls from people saying they feel stabbed in the back.'' The next question is whether the gays' new- found coalition can be translated into long-term clout. The first test comes at City Hall on Tuesday, when the council is expected to try to override the veto. The success of their efforts to unseat Sen. Wyche Fowler and deliver the state for Bill Clinton last year did much to build the gay community's sense of its own power. Now, activists say, they will bring that power to bear on Atlanta's mayoral election, holding candidates Bill Campbell and Myrtle Davis accountable. ``Every aspect concerns us, from domestic partnership to the sinkhole. And we won't allow you to put a price on the sinkhole that says it's more important than human rights,'' Mr. Cothren said. ``Maynard's given us an issue to vote as a bloc now,'' he said. ``We're going to be watching carefully to see how aggressively they work to override the veto. We do have some ownership in the city, and we're going to start flexing it. We're homeowners. We're business people. It's our city.'' Mr. Cothren recalled how the mayor used to lecture gay leaders for their scattered approach. ``One of the things that the mayor told us on several occasions is [that] we're not organized, we're factional and we don't come together,'' he said. ``Well, we've come a long way in a couple of years. You've seen it. We're organized. We can strategize.'' A week ago, Jon Ivan Weaver and Diego Sans were looking forward to registering as domestic partners -- something they can still legally do - - as they exchanged vows in the commitment ceremony that has become a traditional gay pride event. The legal relationship is important, they said, because without it, even though they share a business and a home, if one of them was sick or injured, the other might not be able to enter his hospital room. Atlanta businessmen and partners for 17 years, they took time off from moving their offices last week to join the demonstrators who made the marble atrium of City Hall echo with chants of ``Maynard lies!'' and ``Civil rights or civil war!'' Asked why the benefits veto enraged even moderates like themselves, Mr. Weaver said it was a matter of dashed hopes. ``All of our lives we have wanted the same rights as heterosexuals. We fought so long for civil rights, not just for gays, but for blacks and for women. Now we have a president who uses the word gay in public. He talks about AIDS. They have raised our expectations and now they're pulling it away from us. Well, I'm not going to take it. . . . I'm standing up for me. Now it's my rights and I want it now.'' How long the new activism and unity will last is an open question. In the past, gay efforts to exert political clout have been hampered by infighting and a tendency to shoot themselves, and their allies, in the foot. If lesbians and gays succeed in the local elections this fall, the pressure will be strong to push again at the Legislature for laws against hate crimes and changes to the sodomy statute when the General Assembly convenes in January. Of the two issues, a hate-crimes law has the greater chance of success, says state Sen. David Scott (D-Atlanta), who has worked years on gun control and sex education legislation. ``The [U.S.] Supreme Court has given it a little help,'' Mr. Scott said, by ruling that added penalties for hate crimes are constitutional. ``It's the kind of thing that builds a common thread and speaks to the duty of the Legislature to enact laws that protect and enhance the safety of the people.'' ``But the sale is going to be real tough'' in the conservative General Assembly, he said, requiring a new kind of statesmanship and a new kind of politician. ``You have to build coalitions. First you have to say, `Am I serious about what I'm doing?' Then they have to identify a common thread . . . that people [who differ] can support and agree with.'' --- * R110A:* ANNEX: Seekers BBS * Atlanta * GA * 4044527957 =============================================================================== Date: 07-04-93 Time: 01:15a Number: 2814 From: RICHARD PERRY Refer: 0 To: ALL Board ID: COCONINO Recvd: No Subject: DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP 135: NX_GAYISSUES Status: Public ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Atlanta Constitution July 3, 1993 copied with permission from the Journal/Constitution By David Pendered STAFF WRITER City Council supporters of the bill to extend benefits to city employees' domestic partners will not muster the votes to override the mayoral veto, predicts Councilman Dozier Smith. In fact, they will lose some of the original nine votes in favor of the benefits, Mr. Smith said Friday. Twelve are needed to beat Mayor Maynard H. Jackson's move to kill the bill, which passed 9-7, with one abstention and one absence. Councilwoman Mary Davis, who declined to speculate on the outcome, sponsored both the benefits legislation and a second domestic partnership measure that the mayor did not veto. It establishes a way for any city residents to register their domestic partnership. One thing certain is that the bill would not have passed originally without the support of at- large members, who are elected in citywide campaigns and are not tied to the interests of individual neighborhoods. Four of six at-large members voted for the bill, suggesting that the political ramifications of the vote may be easier to handle on a citywide level. ``It does give you more freedom to vote your conscience, because numerically you represent more people and more diverse opinions,'' said Councilwoman Sheila Brown, an at-large member who co-sponsored both bills. Conversely, members who represent smaller areas of the city feel heat from constituents that cannot be spread around. Seven of the 12 members who represent specific neighborhoods voted against the bill that would allow city employees to enroll their partners in the city's health, dental and insurance programs. --- * R110A:* ANNEX: Seekers BBS * Atlanta * GA * 4044527957 =============================================================================== - * God v2.06 * Miners refuse to work after death. -- Craig Canada - via FidoNet node 1:125/1 UUCP: ...!uunet!kumr!shelter!28!Craig.Canada INTERNET: Craig.Canada@f28.n125.z1.FIDONET.ORG