 |
 |
| Esera Tuaolo, a former Atlanta Falcon, talked about his experiences as a closeted
gay professional athlete during a town hall meeting Oct. 29 sponsored by the
Human Rights Campaign. (Photo by R.O. Youngblood)
|
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: RYAN LEE
COMMENTS |
| 
National gay rights leaders have tapped gay men and lesbians in metro Atlanta
to get involved in the budding fight for same-sex marriages — a fight one
activist called "the central civil rights issue for our movement."
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization,
hosted a forum Oct. 29 in Atlanta that focused on civil marriage and family
laws. On Nov. 13, longtime gay activist Evan Wolfson will speak to a gay business
group about adding their personal stories to the national debate currently
taking place.
"The cause of ending marriage discrimination is a very important one
that affects real people," said Wolfson, executive director of Freedom
to Marry, a New York-based gay marriage advocacy group. "Those of us who
get involved will look back with pride that we stood up during this extremely
important time."
Lisa Bennett, deputy director of HRC’s FamilyNet project, expressed
a similar message to the more than 100 people who attended the HRC forum last
month.
"What is at stake is profoundly important for our families, which are
growing rapidly every day," Bennett said. "The issue of gay marriage
is the central civil rights issue for our movement. It’s on the table,
and it’s going to be decided"
Esera Tuaolo, a former Atlanta Falcon and gay dad with two children, opened
the FamilyNet forum by talking about the inner torment he endured during his
NFL career. Tuaolo, overwhelmed with shame and fear, kept his partner anonymous
to teammates, while witnessing some of his teammates being unfaithful to their
families.
"They just don’t know what they had," Tuaolo said. "What
they had, that’s what I wanted. I wanted a family, I wanted children,
I wanted a husband."
FamilyNet’s recent stop in Atlanta was part of a 10-city tour designed
to educate gay men and lesbians about laws that can impact their relationships
and families, as well as update them on the latest fronts in the battle for
legalized same-sex marriage.
One in three lesbian couples living together raise children, Bennett said,
as does one in five gay male couples who live together. But such couples lack
the more than 1,000 rights granted to heterosexual couples and families, she
said.
"The fact is, in Georgia, in Michigan — wherever you look in this
country — there is no equal protection for same-sex couples and their
children," Bennett said.
Georgia is a mixed bag when it comes to granting rights to gay individuals
and families, Allen Thornell, executive director of Georgia Equality, told
the forum.
In 1996, the General Assembly passed a state "Defense of Marriage" law
to match the federal legislation approved by Congress that same year. The state
also lacks an anti-bias law that covers the private sector, Thornell said.
But metro Atlanta is the state’s most progressive toward recognizing
gay families.
"There are only five counties in the entire South that offer domestic
partner benefits, and two of those counties are in Georgia," Thornell
said, referring to DeKalb and Fulton counties. "I know it sounds doom
and gloom, but we’re actually doing pretty good down here in Georgia."
Conservative politicians and political groups have ignited fear about gay
marriage, including a proposed Constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions,
in order to stock their coffers, charged Kim Mills, education director at HRC.
"They have discovered that vilifying gay people is a cash cow for them," Mills
said.
To combat those efforts, gay men and lesbians must become actively involved
said Wolfson, who speaks at a Nov. 13 luncheon hosted by the Atlanta Executive
Network, a gay business group.
With six of the state’s 13 members of the U.S. House co-sponsoring the
anti-gay marriage amendment, gays residents need to contact elected officials,
he said.
"People need to be scheduling meetings with each and every one of those
legislators, and more importantly, those who have not yet signed on," Wolfson
said. "Bring their photo albums, bring non-gay friends and family, people
who vote, and let them know this is a disgraceful attack on families."
Nov. 13, 6:45 p.m.
Sheraton Midtown at Colony Square
188 14th St., N.E.
$20 for guests, $10 for members
404-724-9008
www.aen.org
| 
