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Paper Justice

admin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:06:00 +0000

In 2009, the Atlanta Police Department raided a gay bar in the city that many might think of as gay friendly given the large gay population that inhabits the city. But, as usual, it wasn’t a pretty sight.But according to a post on PinkPaper.com, it looks as though the APD will pay (literally) for their misguided actions!

The Atlanta City Council voted 14-0 to pay the sum (of $1 million) to the Eagle Bar after nineteen men claimed they were illegally searched and detained in September, last year.

The local authority made the decision yesterday. However, the settlement must now go back to a federal judge for final approval.

More here!

Mega Gay

admin — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:19:05 +0000

Bishop Jim Swilley sat down in front of his congregation at Church in the Now near Atlanta to get a few things off his chest.

“There are two things in my life that are an absolute,” the megachurch pastor told his flock. “I did not ask for either one of them, both of them were imposed upon me, I had no control over either of them. One was the call of God on my life… and the other thing … was my sexual orientation.”

More at the original source: NPR.org

Black, White or Gay?

James — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:59:26 +0000

A terrific piece in the Los Angeles Times about the mayoral race in Atlanta, which pits a white woman–Mary Norwood–against an African American man–Kasim Reed. While the run-off was expected to come down to a question of race and voter-turnout, the new dynamic is the gay vote.

The support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, community has been a coveted political prize for some time in Atlanta, a bastion of live-and-let-live progressivism in the heart of the more censorious Bible Belt.

But the wooing of LGBT voters here has become particularly intense since the Nov. 3 general election, when Councilwoman Mary Norwood and former state Sen. Kasim Reed earned spots in the mayoral runoff.

“I cannot recall a mayor’s race when there’s been so much attention placed on the gay and lesbian vote,” said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, the state’s largest gay rights group.

More at NLGJA Blog!

APD Sued Over Raid

James — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:00:23 +0000

A national gay legal group is joining with an Atlanta attorney to file a discrimination lawsuit against the City of Atlanta and a handful of police officers for the controversial raid at the Eagle in September.

Lambda Legal will appear with Atlanta attorney Daniel Grossman during a press conference Tuesday morning in Midtown to discuss the lawsuit, which alleges officers from the Atlanta Police Department violated the Fourth Amendment rights of patrons and employees by illegally searching and detaining them when they stormed the bar Sept. 10 and arrested eight dancers and employees.

The lawsuit also alleges officers violated the First Amendment rights of people inside the bar by not allowing them question what was happening.

“The complaint is primarily alleging violations of the Fourth Amendment and also alleges violations of the First Amendment because you have a right to question and criticize police officers,” Grossman said early Tuesday. “When anyone at the Eagle questioned the officers, they were greeted with, ‘Shut the fuck up.’

More at: Project Q Atlanta!

LeBron James’ Mass of Muscle

James — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:00:27 +0000

So forgive us if we’re swooning over LeBron James and his little vacay in Atlanta while on the way to the NBA Finals next month. The 6-foot-8-inch, 250 pound mass of muscle is in town for a couple of days as his Cleveland Cavaliers dismantle the Atlanta Hawks in the second round playoff series.

Game Four is tonight at Philips Arena and the Hawks are likely to fall by the wayside as the team with the best record in the NBA rolls on.

Read the whole story at Project Q Atlanta!

Firefighters Bare Plenty for Charity

James — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:00:41 +0000

Note to event planners: To create buzz for your cause, nothing helps quite like four bare-chested and muscled Atlanta firefighters.

Just ask those on hand April 18 for the mini fashion show and silent auction at Urban Body Studios in Midtown. They will tell you that those public servants certainly did the trick.

Read the rest at Project Q Atlanta!

Hold On to Your Wig

James — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:00:31 +0000

If you only know drag icon Varla Jean Merman and her winning pink jumpsuit in last season’s “Project Runway” drag challenge, or from her saccharine-sweet role in the film “Girls Will Be Girls,” you’re in for a treat.

Varla takes her first official bow in Atlanta Jan. 22 when her creator and alter ego, Jeffrey Roberson, brings “Shut Up, Sweet Charlotte” to 14th Street Playhouse. The parody of the 1964 camp classic “Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte” plays through Jan. 31 after an award-winning run in New Orleans last year.

Get the rest of this at Project Q Atlanta!

Warren Asked to Rescind MLK Invitation

James — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:00:27 +0000

Warren is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observance in Atlanta on January 19.The founding members of the newly formed Atlanta Black LGBT Organization is calling on Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center to rescind their invitation to controversial evangelical pastor Rick Warren.

Read the entire post at Living Out Loud with Darian!