As champagne bottles popped all over the city, and the arrival of 2010 was cheered throughout Atlanta, the chasms within our own community continued to divide. We began the year remembering the fallout from the previous September’s Eagle raid, the collapse of Window Media and the death of the original Southern Voice and David, and political aftermath from Atlanta’s mayoral election that pitted gays against gays in campaign battles.
The drama continued as Labor Day approached and instead of embracing the diversity of our community, a debate heated up over the necessity of Black Gay Pride. This debate in turn sparked two other distinct disagreements about Pride in general – one over businesses not feeling sufficiently courted to be a part of Pride, and another over moving Pride back to June.
Lost amid the clutter and frequent infighting was the cold, hard truth that we’re still taking shots across the board from bigots while snarling at each other about issues of varying importance.
Gay Panic
This past summer, Georgia’s gubernatorial campaign reached a feverish pitch as Republican candidates fought hard to prove who hated “fags” more.
Nathan Deal (the man taking office as our governor on January 10), released a campaign video during the GOP’s July primary attacking fellow candidate Karen Handel for supporting gay partner benefits and gay adoption in her first campaign.
During the August runoff against Handel, he hit back even harder with another campaign ad by mentioning her support of gay partner benefits again, then he threw YouthPride under the bus. “For others, the last straw is Karen Handel’s vote to give our tax dollars to Youth Pride, a group that promotes homosexuality among teenagers as young as 13,” the ominous male voice intoned.
Our community waited with baited breath as formerly pro-gay Karen Handel took on Nathan Deal; however, in true political flip-flop fashion she too vehemently turned on the gays during her campaign.
This only confirmed just how little our community actually matters to the people in this state.
Target’s Practices
The long summer continued with a surprising slap in the face by a gay favorite. It was unearthed in July that Target made a $150,000 donation to the campaign of the anti-gay Tom Emmer in his bid for governor of Minnesota.
Target responded to the backlash and protests by apologizing, but then saying they support candidates who support their business interests. They also refused to ask for the donation back from Emmer’s campaign. Apparently the rights of the gay community are not a part of their business interests.
Yet what did you see in the lobby of AmericasMart in December as our community came together for The Toy Party? Hundreds of Target bags filled with toys.
Target’s efforts to get Emmer elected failed. But sitting back and saying “How could Target do that?” then rushing out to get a new Target-chic comforter set or bath towels won’t do anything to keep them from trying again the next time.
“Nothing Personal”
In mid-summer, Fenuxe was considering a relationship with Jim Ellis Porsche and we were reminded once again of the anti-gay sentiment that is unfortunately shared by many Atlantans.
“Our owner, and my boss for the past 32 years, is a conservative and devout Southern Baptist man,” said Doug McIntyre, the general manager of Jim Ellis Porsche, explaining why his business didn’t care to show support for the gay community.
“I hope you understand. Nothing personal. We have a lot of fine customers who choose the gay lifestyle.”
Yes, dialogue like this actually still exists between people all over the community. Dialogue stating that being gay is a choice. Dialogue displaying such an impressive level of ignorance someone thinks it’s okay to say they won’t be associated with your business because you cater to a gay audience – thinking it sufficient to explain themselves with a “Nothing personal.”
It reminded us of the scene in Talladega Nights when Ricky Bobby tells his boss, “With all due respect, I didn’t realize you’d gotten experimental surgery to get your balls removed.” Hey, it’s nothing personal.
Youth Suicides & Bullying
Gay youth as young as 11 have committed suicide in recent years after having endured relentless bullying at school. Losing just one young person because of bigotry and hate is one too many.
Even more upsetting were some of the comments that were posted on the Fenuxe website when we wrote about the horrific suicides. The comments ranged from “All fags should commit suicide” and “All you sissies will end up burning in hell” to “Glad there is one less fag in the world.”
None of our our youth should ever have to feel they can’t continue living because they are gay. We as a community must be a shining example to let them know it is okay to be gay. It is something to celebrate, not hate within themselves. We must also ban together to let the world know we are not going to tolerate bigotry, hate, or bullying.
What’s The Big Picture?
Some of the issues we faced in 2010 were relevant topics to debate, however, too often we took our eye off the ball and let internal community conflicts keep us from accomplishing the steps necessary to achieve true equality.
Bickering over what month Pride should be celebrated is not as important as corporate discrimination. Petty gay media wars don’t compare to politicians’ bigotry and hate.
Our own infighting and petty bickering slows our march toward equality and it needs to stop. Blaming each other and mindless mudslinging isn’t going to get us anywhere. We are still a minority and even though we have won a battle recently with the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell legislation, the real battle is for social acceptance and equality – something that comes only when we stand together as one.
Right now, as this New Year dawns, we have the ability to decide our community’s fate. Inevitably drama will occur in 2011 but we can decide how to address it. The only way we will see progress is to band together as a community – because unlike what some think, it is personal.
The nation’s first gay boutique hotel brand officially came out in a glitzy bash. The grand opening of Miami’s Lords South Beach attracted socialite and fashionista Tinsley Mortimer, fashion designer Richie Rich , legendary drag queen Lady Bunny, and superstar DJ Tracy Young (although no sign of Young’s on-again, off-again companion Kim Zolciak from Real Housewives of Atlanta).
