Three seats are open on the Atlanta Police Department’s LGBT Advisory Board after two-year terms expired.
The board, founded in 2010 by Mayor Kasim Reed during the fallout of the unconstitutional Atlanta Eagle raid, allows two-year terms for members.
Those not seeking to renew their terms are Terence McPhaul, executive director of YouthPride; Betty Couvertier, radio host for Alternative Perspectives; and Ebonee Bradford Barnes, who has been absent for four meetings.
Those who wish to remain on the board are current chairperson Glen Paul Freedman; Josh Noblitt of St. Mark United Methodist Church; AID Atlanta Executive Director Tracy Elliott; Melissa Carter; and Philip Rafshoon.
Dear Mayor Reed,
Not quite three years ago, in November 2009, you and I sat across a conference room table in the office of the weekly gay newspaper where I served as editor. You were there to interview for our endorsement in the Atlanta mayoral election.
Your opponent in the race, Mary Norwood, had sat at the same table, for the same reason. She supported same-sex couples’ right to marry. You did not. You chalked it up to your personal religious beliefs, but couldn’t really explain why — given the separation of church and state — religious beliefs should play a role in setting public policy.
A Facebook group is urging Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to "evolve" and come out in support of gay marriage as President Barack Obama did Wednesday.
But in a statement, Reed said he is still "wrestling" with his support of full marriage equality. His full statement:
I respect President Obama’s decision to stand in support of marriage equality. I have fought hard for the rights of gays and lesbians my entire political career from protecting adoption rights for gay and lesbian families, to voting against Georgia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage as a state senator, to serving as the state house sponsor for the only hate crimes bill ever passed in the state of Georgia.
You can safely say that Pine Lake’s 2012 Inaugural Ball was unlike any other held this year for elected officials in Georgia.
The new mayor held a pink wand as she made her first speech, and danced with the town’s First Woman.
Kathie deNobriga, 61, is a longtime advocate for the arts; she now works as a consultant and is a certified mediator. She moved to Pine Lake to be with her life partner, poet Alice Teeter, and was first elected to the City Council in the tiny Atlanta suburb in 2002.
Kathie deNobriga on love, politics and priorities
At LGBT town hall, Reed pledges to meet with Eagle attorney to discuss raid fallout
Atlanta Mayor Kasim wants to hold a videotaped conference with attorneys representing patrons in the Atlanta Eagle the night of the 2009 gay bar raid "so we can stop having this argument" over whether the Atlanta Police Department has implemented changes required in the settlement of the federal lawsuit.
Reed made the pledge at a packed LGBT town hall forum Tuesday night organized to discuss the Eagle raid and other public safety issues. Tuesday's town hall forum was hosted by the Atlanta LGBT Police Advisory Board and included Reed and Chief George Turner fielding questions from the crowd of some 150 people.
While expected to center around Eagle raid and the fallout, the forum at St. Mark United Methodist Church hit on numerous topics including Occupy Atlanta, LGBT training of police officers, Reed's stance on gay marriage as well as LGBT homeless youth.
Eagle attorney Dan Grossman asked the mayor directly at last night's forum to meet with him to discuss constructive ways to end the ongoing fallout of the raid that continues to weigh heavy on many of patrons in the bar that night, as well as many Atlanta LGBT residents.
With South Georgia Pride around the corner, the organizers of the event have a nice welcome from the top city elected official — a proclamation naming Sept. 17 as "South Georgia Pride Day."
Valdosta Mayor John J. Fretti issued the proclamation to the South Georgia Pride Committee and for all attendees of the fest to recognize the contributions "gay and transgender citizens contribute to the fabric of our community." View the full proclamation below.
Richard Willis, an organizer for the Pride celebration on Sept. 17 in Valdosta, said he and the South Georgia Pride Committee are excited to be recognized in this way for the first time.
Valdosta celebrates LGBT Pride today, mayor issues proclamation