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‘Summer of Marriage’ tour a bust and a sham

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) bus tour comes to Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 7. Let me fill you in on this media-hungry anti-gay marriage group.

Its leadership is Catholic but numerous allegations abound that it is an arm of the Church of Latter Day Saints, which contributed massive amounts of money to the passage of Proposition 8 — the ballot measure that amended California’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Articles in Mother Jones and the Wall Street Journal, among others, have documented this relationship. Founded in 2007, specifically to put Prop. 8 on the ballot in California, NOM has since backed similar measures in Maine, Washington and Iowa. Now the group has taken its show on the road with the “Summer for Marriage Tour.”

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Editorial: Roy Barnes for governor

In the days leading up to the July 20 primary, you couldn’t turn on the television without being inundated with ads from Republicans running for governor who wanted to tell you how anti-gay they are.

This year’s election season has been particularly bad, largely due to the particular Republicans on the ballot.

Karen Handel supported domestic partner benefits and was a member of the pro-gay Log Cabin Republicans during her campaigns for Fulton County Commission. But she denied those stands when she ran successfully for Secretary of State in 2006, and continues to deny her past support in her current bid for governor.

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Pride’s history is our future

Some 41 years ago this weekend, a ragtag group of gay street youth, drag queens, dykes and transgender people fought back against a police raid at New York City’s Stonewall Inn.

The 1969 uprising is widely viewed as launching the modern gay rights movement, igniting a more radical approach than the fledgling “homophile” movement that was already quietly underway.

By the next June, cities began hosting rallies and celebrations to mark the anniversary of Stonewall, creating the Gay Pride events that continue to this day.

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It will take more than a breakfast to restore trust in APD’s LGBT liaison

The image on this week’s cover — a cop offering up rainbow doughnuts — both symbolizes and satirizes the Atlanta Police Department’s efforts to get back in the good graces of the city’s LGBT communities.

Like most police departments, the APD has faced tensions with LGBT residents through the years. The appointment of a full-time LGBT liaison within the department in 2004 was intended to create a direct link between the two sides.

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‘People don’t read anymore, do they?’

When I heard about Southern Voice closing, like many people, I was devastated. I felt as if someone close to me had died; like a friend I loved but with whom I had lost touch. Even though I did not know much about what my friend had been doing or feeling in the past decade my feelings still ran deep and strong.

Like any loss it brought a period of grief and a flood of memories. People and events that had not crossed my mind in a very long time were suddenly at the forefront. I remembered good people, not bad ones; victories, not losses. It surprised me that those memories did not carry a hint of bitterness or regret.

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Still on the journey

As we put the finishing touches on this debut issue of the Georgia Voice, I found that I couldn’t get the title of Sweet Honey in the Rock’s 20th anniversary album, “Still On the Journey,” out of my mind.

Indeed, many of the articles in this issue deal with journeys — literal, metaphorical, or both.