08/20/21, Vol. 12 Issue 11

voice

georgia VOL.12 • ISSUE 11

ABOUT THE COVER: Cover image by Shutterstock.com / ImHope

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Editor: Katie Burkholder

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Editorial Contributors: Melissa Carter, Helmut Domagalski, Jim Farmer, Buck Jones, Ryan Lee, Bill Kaelin, Justin Smith, Finbarr Toesland, Fletcher Varnson

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FINE PRINT

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4 Editorial August 20, 2021

GUEST EDITORIAL

Black Gay Pride and 40 Years of HIV/AIDS Justin C. Smith, Director, Campaign to End AIDS at Positive Impact Health Centers On Labor Day weekend, thousands of Black LGBTQ people travel to Atlanta to participate in Black Gay Pride in what has essentially become a Black LGBTQ national holiday. For many of us, this singular event serves as a kind of homecoming celebration full of possibility, solidarity, intimacy, and joy. In the midst of the myriad challenges we all face in the current moment — a global pandemic, a nationwide reckoning on racial justice, and assaults on the fabric of our democracy — spaces where we can rejuvenate and connect are vital. But there’s another crisis at work here which Black Gay Pride can either exacerbate or help solve, and that’s the crisis of HIV/AIDS. As an opportunity for community building in the face of marginalization, Black Gay Pride can play a critical role in helping to end the HIV epidemic by tackling HIV stigma.

This year’s Black Gay Pride takes place against the backdrop of the 40th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic which continues to ravage Black communities. In 2018, Black people accounted for 34% of the total population but comprised 70% of the people living with HIV in Metro Atlanta.

Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the first official case reports of HIV/AIDS in 1981, we have increased the number of highly effective biomedical tools we have at our disposal to prevent HIV acquisition as well as to prolong and extend the quality of life of those living with HIV. But the stigma which helps prevent so many others from accessing HIV prevention services and HIV care is rampant.

In so many ways stigma remains the most stubborn part of the HIV/AIDS crisis. As the recent homophobic, misogynistic, and HIV-

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / SYDA PRODUCTIONS

phobic public comments by rapper DaBaby made painfully clear, HIV stigma still abounds. HIV stigma reduces the willingness to get tested for HIV or take preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among people who do not have HIV, and it reduces engagement in medical care among people living with HIV. In other words, HIV stigma undermines the overall health and well-being of the entire community.

Moreover, we have not done nearly enough to address the underlying structural conditions, including racism, homophobia, poverty, and poor access to healthcare that give rise to HIV vulnerability in the first place. These conditions are why a disproportionate number of Black people, especially Black gay and bisexual men and Black women (trans and cis), receiving HIV diagnoses.

We cannot hope to end the HIV epidemic without both community cooperation and robust responses from the institutions that have been created to address HIV. At Positive Impact Health Centers, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure equitable access to high-quality HIV care and prevention strategies, especially for communities disproportionately affected by HIV. We recently started a gender-affirming care program specifically addressing the holistic health needs of the transgender community.

We’ve extended our hours of operation and expanded telehealth services to provide flexibility for people to obtain the care

they need. We offer HIV-self testing kits to give people control over when and where they learn their HIV status. And we will soon add a dental clinic to the services we offer. Additionally, through our Campaign to End AIDS, we were part of a collective that developed a roadmap to end the HIV epidemic in Metro Atlanta, a plan that will require continual community involvement to strengthen and execute. We are excited to support the health and well-being of our community through participating in this year’s Atlanta Black Pride celebration.

Black Pride is important because it serves as a reminder that all Black Lives Matter, a fact which must be continually affirmed in an era in which we regularly witness assaults on the very humanity and dignity of Black LGBTQ people.

Black Pride is rooted the belief that despite the challenges we collectively face, we have the power to be agents for change and to create a more just world for us all. The work that numerous Black LGBTQ-led organizations here in Atlanta like ThriveSS, CNP, Southern Fried Queer Pride, He Is Valuable, and Solutions Not Punishment Coalition (among others) are doing to address HIV stigma and the underlying conditions which heighten vulnerability to HIV among Black LGBTQ people is evidence of this power. Black Pride can be a portal between the world as it exists now and the world that we wish to create in the future. The writer James Baldwin once said that “the place in which I’ll fit will not exist until I make it.” At its best, Black Pride is all about expanding the boundaries of Blackness and queerness to make a place for everyone to belong and to call home.

Justin C. Smith is a public health advocate and researcher conducing work at the intersections of race, sexuality, and popular culture. He is the Director of the Campaign to End AIDS at Positive Impact Health Centers.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

NEWS BRIEFS Staff reports Gay-owned Las Margaritas Catches Fire Only a week after a large fire damaged a bridge on Cheshire Bridge Road, a gayowned restaurant in the area caught on fire.

Las Margaritas, owned by Oscar Valdivieso and his mother Marta, was engulfed in flames August 8 after firefighters were called to a possible grass fire.

A total of 30 firefighters put the fire out. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but an investigation is under way. Fire officials say that no injuries have been reported.

Michele Michael Pettis, the owner’s sister, told Channel 2 Action News that they have plans to rebuild and reopen the restaurant, but until they assess the damage, they won’t know how long it will take.

Las Margaritas has been a mainstay of Atlanta’s LGBTQ community, winning the Georgia Voice’s Best Mexican Food award in 2019.

Atlanta Pride Still Scheduled for In-Person Festival The Atlanta Pride Committee (APC) has announced hat they are still planning to hold an in-person event over the festival dates in October.

In response to Atlanta Mayor Bottoms recent executive order requiring the use of masks in all indoor public spaces and the daily statistics around increasing COVID rates and the Delta variant, APC has experienced an uptick in inquiries around the status of the festival, which is scheduled for October 8-10. However, APC Executive Director Jamie Ferguson says that plans are still in motion for the in-person festival.

“The last year has certainly been challenging,” Ferguson said. “However, we are confident that we will do everything in our power to create a safe and healthy environment for the 2021 festival. If necessary, we will be ready to return to virtual programming - but we know that our community is looking forward to an in-person event. As long as it is safe to do so, this is our plan.”

“This executive order does not cancel our event,” she continued. “We have and will 6 News Briefs August 20, 2021

Las Margaritas catches fire

PHOTO COURTESY OF WSB-TV

continue to monitor updates to CDC guidelines as well as having an open line of communication with the mayor’s office around COVID-related mandates and executive orders. The bottom line is that we strongly encourage everyone, especially those who plan to come and enjoy the festival, to please get fully vaccinated now to mitigate exposure and possible spread at the festival.”

APC will update health and safety plans as guidance changes to remain in compliance with city ordinances and CDC guidelines.

Additional announcements will be made as needed.

92% of LGBTQ Adults Have Received at Least One Dose for COVID-19 A summary of data collected as part of the annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in partnership and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, found that the vast majority — 92% — of LGBTQ adults surveyed in the United States had received at least one vaccination for COVID-19.

Although vaccination rates vary somewhat within the LGBTQ community, the rates across race and ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation, and age are well above the

rates for various general adult populations where the data are available: • By race and ethnicity, 90% of Latinx respondents, 85% of Black respondents, 96% of Asian or Pacific Islander respondents, and 85% of Native American/Alaskan and Middle Eastern/North African LGBTQ adults, among other race identities have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

• By gender identity and sexual orientation, 92% of cisgender lesbian and bi+ women, 93% of cisgender gay and bi+ men, and 92% of transgender and non-binary people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

• By age, 91% of LGBTQ+ respondents aged 18-34, 92% of LGBTQ respondents aged 35-5, and 94% of LGBTQ respondents aged 55 and older have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine While vaccination rates are high, Covid-19 took a toll on well-being among respondents. The survey finds that 59% of LGBTQ respondents reported that Covid-19 made them feel socially isolated, and 50% of respondents reported that it impacted their mental health.

Read these stories and more online at thegavoice.com.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

NEWS

Political Strategist Robin Biro Is Running to Become Tucker’s First LGBTQ Mayor Fletcher Varnson

“People are looking to get involved, they’re looking to be good stewards of the community they live in. Sometimes, they just don’t know how to, so they have to be asked. It takes a catalyst to get [local movements] going, and I want to be that person.”

Read the full article online at thegavoice.com.

Robin Biro, a political strategist, real estate consultant, and retired Army Ranger, is running to become Tucker’s first LGBTQ mayor.

Biro, 46, has a history in politics extending back to 2008, when he worked as a field director for President Barack Obama.

A year later, he joined the U.S. Army Rangers and served for 10 years. While in service, Biro worked as the political director of the Fulton County Democratic Party and as a delegate for Hilary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Biro looks to shift from national to local politics in Tucker, especially because he wants his children to become involved in bettering their community. In 2019, Biro adopted his two half-brothers, Logan, 9, and Tucker, 13, after the passing of their father. “I have been telling my children to get involved at the local level,” Biro said. “I’ve been helping them get involved with things like Green Cell Atlanta and volunteer initiatives, and I needed to set a good example myself.”

Indeed, Biro’s campaign aims to benefit his fellow citizens of Tucker by targeting three major issues: LGBTQ representation, homelessness, and crime.

Regarding LGBTQ representation, Biro has a long history of facing discrimination due to homophobic government policies extending back to the decade he spent in the military.

“I started serving in the military during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era,” Biro said. “I was stationed in Columbus, Georgia, at Fort Benning as an Army Ranger. And I didn’t want to spend weekends in Columbus with all of these guys [soldiers] when I couldn’t live my life authentically, so I bought a 8 News August 20, 2021

Another aim of Biro’s campaign is to fight crime in Tucker. Crime has become a rising issue in Tucker, with crime analytics showing that the chance of becoming a victim of violent or property crime in Tucker is one in 40.

Robin Biro is running to become Tucker’s first LGBTQ mayor condo in Midtown and would come up here [Atlanta] to live my life and get away from that before I would have to go back to base and keep my mouth shut about who I was.”

However, when Biro moved from Atlanta to Tucker in 2017, he found that Tucker had its own problems with establishing an LGBTQinclusive local government. Tucker has never had an LGBTQ mayor, and incumbent Mayor Frank Aumen has stalled the passing of an LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance in the city. “Having a representative government is one of the major reasons I’m running,” Biro said. “We are all entitled to a government that represents the constituents, and I would assert that this government in its current form does not.”

Biro believes a lack of representation of diverse sexual and gender identities has resulted in the blocking of LGBTQ-inclusive legislation. “The mayor has said that there is no need for a nondiscrimination ordinance

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because discrimination doesn’t exist in Tucker,” he said. “That to me is speaking from a place of privilege because he himself has probably never been discriminated against as a cisgender, straight, white male.

But discrimination definitely does exist.”

Biro also wants to tackle homelessness in Tucker. Currently, Tucker has between 10 and 100 homeless people, and with the eviction moratorium set to expire on October 3, the number is expected to rise.

“We need to coordinate with faith organizations in the community, it’s what they’re there for,” Biro said, calling on local movements in Tucker to combat the issue. “Yes, faith organizations have been coordinating foodbanks, but we need to be digging deeper and coming together as a community to help these people from also becoming homeless because of the burgeoning problem on the horizon with the moratorium set to expire.”

However, Biro wants to make sure that combating crime in Tucker does not mean relying heavily on the police in a political climate where calls for police reform and abolition have risen across the country. Biro has even applied and been accepted to Dekalb County Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy to “oversee them and make sure people are being treated fairly here in Tucker.”

Biro is calling on citizens to form their own patrols to increase security in Tucker: “We don’t have hardly any neighborhood watches here in the city limits. The city can cooperate with homeowner associations to get those started.”

Indeed, a consistent point in Biro’s campaign is to call on grassroots and local movements like the formation of neighborhood watches to enable his goals in Tucker.

“People are looking to get involved, they’re looking to be good stewards of the community they live in. Sometimes, they just don’t know how to, so they have to be asked,” Biro said.

“It takes a catalyst to get [local movements] going, and I want to be that person.”

For more information on Robin Biro’s campaign for mayor, visit RobinForTucker.com.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

FINANCIAL NEWS

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / FENG YU

The LGBTQ Generational Wealth Gap Finbarr Toesland It’s no secret that LGBTQ people face a range of financial challenges that heterosexual people simply don’t need to contend with.

Less discussed are the effects of financial discrimination on building LGBTQ+ generational wealth. The stereotypical view of a wealthy gay couple with no children and a sizable disposable income is just that — a stereotype.

In reality, the “American Dream”— buying a home, getting married, having kids, finding a good job and investing in a 401(k) — is out of reach for many LGBTQ people, according to a survey by TD Ameritrade. 35 percent of LGBTQ millennials say they are unlikely to achieve these goals by age 40, compared to about half of straight millennials. The same survey found that while the average annual income for a straight household is $79,400, the average LGBTQ household earns just $66,200 a year.

LGBTQ people are being left out of generational wealth for many reasons, 10 Financial News August 20, 2021

including family rejection, systematic barriers, and a lack of financial education.

With almost half of LGBTQ adults saying they have been excluded by a family member or close friend as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity (according to a study by the Pew Research Center), a lack of familial financial support is a common problem for many in the community.

Legacy financial exclusion At every stage of life, it’s common for LGBTQ people to encounter financial challenges that their heterosexual counterparts won’t face.

From being kicked out of their homes as teens due to unaccepting parents or not receiving financial support from family for college to being removed from an inheritance, the financial cost of being LGBTQ can be substantial.

With the average inheritance reaching close to $177,000, according to a HSBC survey, and Cerulli Associates forecasting that up to $68 trillion will trickle down to younger generations within 25 years, LGBTQ heirs could collectively lose trillions through

inheritance exclusion.

“Even much smaller amounts could help folks pay off debt, pay off a home, send their own kids to college and help them with their own retirement. Many LGBTQ kids aren’t getting these benefits,” said John Auten-Schneider, the co-owner of The Debt Free Guys blog and host of the Queer Money podcast, a leading gay money blog and podcast for the LGBTQ community run by him and his husband, David.

Raising a deposit for a house or apartment can be a difficult task for all people, but without financial support from family, many would not be able to fund a deposit. When David’s parents pass away, David’s sister will likely be inheriting upwards of $1,000,000.

Yet he won’t receive any of this money, solely because he’s gay. “His parents have every right to do with their money what they want, but it’s a particular disappointment that they’ll do this only because he’s gay,” Auten-Schneider explained. “This, of course, means we need to plan differently for our retirement than his sister does.”

Knowledge is power At the start of 2020, Michigan-based Lexa VanDamme was at her financial rock bottom.

Stuck at work after a 70-plus hour work week with no money in her bank account, bills due the next day and a broken-down car, she decided to make a change. “I realized that I needed to face my financial situation,” she said. “I dove deep into the online world of personal finance to learn about budgeting, debt payoff methods, saving and investing.”

After her crash course in finance, VanDamme refinanced her credit card debt into a lowerrate personal loan, created a workable budget and started a side hustle to make extra income. She managed to pay off her debt by following the financial rules she had set for herself.

While trying to learn about personal finance on her own, VanDamme realized there was a need for accessible and relatable content that appealed to a wide range of people. She decided to create the Avocado Toast Budget CONTINUES ON PAGE 11 TheGeorgiaVoice.com

FINANCIAL NEWS

“Negotiating the LGBTQ generational wealth gap is no small feat. But continuing the discussion around both financial literacy and taking steps to combat systematic financial issues can go a long way to address the financial challenges impacting the LGBTQ community.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 (ATB). Starting out as a blog just over a year ago, the ATB now counts more than 400,000 followers on TikTok. “For the longest time, the loudest voices in the personal finance community were cis, straight white males and, as a queer woman, I wanted to share information and tips that were often overlooked by those creators,” VanDamme said.

Genuine representation goes beyond just diversifying the financial content creators who receive media platforms, with the advice given by these experts also needing to be fully inclusive. “Advice tended to ignore how systems of oppression affect people of color, women, the LGBTQ community and more,” VanDamme said. “We know statistically that it’s easier for some to build wealth than others.”

She has an ongoing series on Instagram focused on the intersectional nature of many financial issues. The series sheds some light on the economic realities that often contributes to minority community challenges. From financial inequality that disproportionately impacts disabled people to wealth inequity and racism and the cycle of poverty, VanDamme works to educate her audience on pressing topics that matter to them.

“It’s especially important to talk about the financial challenges that trans people in our community face,” she said. “This includes increased reports of lower wages, limited and more expensive housing options, and twice the rate of unemployment. This heavily impacts their ability to build wealth.”

Intersectional challenges While being LGBTQ can underpin unique money issues, queer people of color and queer women often experience additional difficulties around financial matters. In addition to the financial barriers faced by LGBTQ people, queer people of color also face a racial wealth gap. Employment discrimination, systematic inequalities and disparities in financial education all contribute to this unequal financial playing field.

According to research from the Federal TheGeorgiaVoice.com

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / DEAN DROBOT

Reserve, the average white family’s wealth is eight times higher than the wealth of an average Black family. The gender pay gap also contributes to excluding women from building generational wealth, according to the latest statistics compiled by Pew Research, which show that women earned 84 percent of what men earned in 2020.

Carmen Perez, creator of Make Real Cents, a personal finance blog dedicated to helping people achieve financial independence, believes it’s important to have experts who are more representative of the people they’re speaking to. “I heard a quote a while ago: ‘You can’t be what you can’t see,’” she said.

“I think that’s really important because eventually, if you don’t have a model to follow, either you have to be the first, or it’s never going to happen.”

As a lesbian woman of color, Perez knows firsthand how important it is to address the absence of representation in financial education. “It’s definitely one of the things we have to step back and look at in the LGBT community,” she said. “There’s a compounding effect because not only

am I part of the LGBT community as a lesbian, but I’m also a minority, and I’m also a woman, and there’s a lot of hurdles up against a lot of folks in this space.”

With more than 60,000 people following her Make Real Cents account, Perez is playing a part in democratizing access to finance.

There, she does everything from break down the cost of credit to explain 401(k) company matches with easy-to-read graphics and Insta stories. Her methods are a world away from the complexity of some traditional financial advisors and tools.

“Millennials are starting to change the money game because we’re delivering advice in a way that isn’t super technical. It can be so overwhelming to watch CNBC with all these screens and tickers that don’t mean anything to you personally,” she said.

Future generations Despite the long-standing barriers facing LGBTQ people in gaining access to financial education and financial services, LGBTQ personal finance content creators now offer a way for many to improve their financial

literacy in more convenient ways than ever before. While investing early and regularly is one of the most effective ways to secure a financially comfortable retirement, it’s never too late to build wealth and support for the next generation of LGBTQ people.

According to Auten-Schneider, “[you can] create legacy wealth within the LGBTQ community by setting up your estate plan to donate to LGBTQ causes that will help homeless youth and [by] giving to local, younger LGBTQ folks you know personally.”

Negotiating the LGBTQ generational wealth gap is no small feat. But continuing the discussion around both financial literacy and taking steps to combat systematic financial issues can go a long way to address the financial challenges impacting the LGBTQ community.

“The stronger we are as LGBTQ+ individuals and allies,” Auten-Schneider concluded, “including our financial strength, the stronger we are as a community.”

Finbarr Toesland is an award-winning journalist committed to illuminating vital LGBTQ+ stories and underreported issues. His journalism has been published

by NBC News, BBC, Reuters, VICE, HuffPost, and The Telegraph.

August 20, 2021 Financial News 11

BLACK GAY PRIDE

Black Gay Pride Weekend Rundown Katie Burkholder Every year during Labor Day weekend, Atlanta’s Black LGBTQ community comes together to celebrate, party, and honor the community’s rich history and activism. This year, organizations like Atlanta Black Pride, Pure Heat, and In The Life are bringing back their most popular events. So, clear your schedule and get ready to PARTY!

SEPTEMBER 3–7, 2021

Black Gay Pride Parties 840ATL Every night of Black Gay Pride weekend, 840ATL and In The Life Atlanta are hosting amazing parties, drag shows, and more, with after-hours parties from 3 to 10am every night. You can buy tickets at 840ATL.com.

The schedule is as follows: 9/3: Fantasy Party from 10pm–3am 9/4: Erotic Show from 7–11pm, Boxers, Briefs, and Drawers Party from 11pm–3am 9/5: Brunch from noon–4pm, Happy Hour from 4–10pm, Drag Show from 10pm–3am 9/6: White Party from 3–10pm, LSS Weekly from 11pm–3am 9/7: Tip Out Tuesday from 11pm–3am

Veronica Vega at the 2019 Atlanta Black Pride Festival Piedmont Park This festival brings together Atlanta’s Black LGBTQ community and its allies with competition, entertainment, and education.

The event includes food vendors, celebrity guests, local performers, dance competitions, giveaways, and live hair battles.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

The Trans Life Awards 2021 3:30pm Atlanta Marriott Suites Midtown Hosted by Atlanta Black Pride in conjunction with In The Life Atlanta, the Trans Life Awards honors individuals in Atlanta’s transgender community who work for the growth and enrichment of their peers and the memory of those whose lives were lost.

Angelica Ross at the 2019 Atlanta Black Pride Festival

PHOTOS BY SHINEHOG.COM

The reception begins at 3:30pm before the ceremony at 4:30pm. To learn more and register for this free event, visit AtlantaBlackPride.org.

7–10pm Atlanta Marriott Suites Midtown Members of LGBTQ fraternities and sororities are invited to this special black-tie event. Tickets start at $37.50.

For more information and tickets, visit AtlantaBlackPride.org.

Central Park Atlanta Black Pride celebrates 25 years with a free two-day outdoor festival with live musical performances on two stages, arts, food, celebrity guests, and more!

Learn more about this event and others at AtlantaBlackPride.org.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

SEPTEMBER 4–5, 2021

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

LGBTQIA Greek Letter Organizations Award Gala 12 Black Gay Pride August 20, 2021

Atlanta Black Pride Festival 11am–8pm daily

Pure Heat Community Festival Noon–8pm

Pure Heat will host a slew of other parties and events throughout the weekend. Learn more at AtlantaBlackPrideLDR.com.

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

Ladies at Play’s Encore Bash 9pm–2:30am Georgia Freight Depot Celebrate Black Gay Pride weekend by partying the night away with DJ Nutty and DJ Boogie Luv spinning hip-hop, house, soul, and more! Buy your tickets at LadiesAtPlay.com.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

BLACK GAY PRIDE

Black Queer and Trans Folks Lead the Fight for Police Reform Katie Burkholder

Black families. We know the world can be different, we know that people don’t deserve to live in cages — particularly when we’re talking about offenses in Atlanta like spitting on the sidewalk, solicitation, idling, and loitering. SNaP Co. believes that if we divest from the Atlanta Police Department and the criminal legal system and invest more into the communities that have been harmed by these systems, then folks would get the resources they need to survive.”

For years, Black queer people have been at the forefront in the fight against mass incarceration and for criminal justice reform.

One such organization doing the work in Atlanta is the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SNaP Co). SNaP Co. is an organization led by Black trans and queer people fighting for community safety and investment, queer-inclusive leadership, political power, and prison abolition.

“We develop the leadership of our folks by building community organizers that tackle campaigns that essentially move us toward abolition,” Toni-Michelle Williams, the Executive Director of SNaP Co., told Georgia Voice. “We know there’s a world without police, and that’s a world we’re fighting for.

We’re also fighting for a world where Black people are free and Black trans women are able to live and thrive without fear of being murdered or prosecuted.”

The organization was founded back in 2013 in response to an ordinance introduced by the Atlanta City Council that would prohibit convicted sex workers from living in the city.

SNaP Co. and other queer organizations — including LaGender, Trans(forming), the Racial Justice Action Center, and Women on the Rise — fought back to protect Black trans sex workers and defeated the ordinance.

Now, SNaP Co.’s work encompasses the needs of sex workers as well as people living with HIV and folks who are incarcerated, profiled, or harassed by police. Along with decriminalizing sex work, SNaP Co.’s goals include ending the criminalization of HIV, saving the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program, investing in Black and Brown transgender leadership, and alleviating homelessness and economic marginalization. They work toward 14 Black Gay Pride August 20, 2021

Toni-Michelle Williams, the Executive Director of SNaP Co. these goals through a series of initiatives: the Taking Care of Our Own Fund, a program providing funds to Black trans and queer Atlantans; SNAP4Freedom School, a monthly educational and training series focused on building a Black trans feminist framework for practical abolition; and Break Up with 12, a contest offering opportunities for Black musicians to submit songs “rooted in Blackness, self-determination, and freedom from police brutality.”

SNaP Co. has also developed the Atlanta Trans Leadership Project with the goal of building a coalition of Black trans and queer community leaders. From the project has emerged a new policy agenda called Trans Agenda Policy and Playbook. “[The Trans Agenda Policy and Playbook…]

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provides some concrete recommendations to the City of Atlanta, particularly to the new mayoral and council candidates,” Williams said. “We’re hoping folks are engaging with us in conversation on these issues, from violence against trans and queer people of color to overpolicing in Black trans and queer communities.”

Criminal justice reform has been deemed a political priority by many, including SNaP Co. The organization believes that reform is a step toward abolition and dares to imagine a world without police.

“We know that police don’t keep us safe, they never have,” Williams said. “Incarceration only perpetuates mental health crises and issues within our health care systems and leads to murder and the separation of

Police reform is an LGBTQ issue; according to a report from Reuters, the proportion of incarcerated lesbian and bisexual women is eight times greater than the 3.4 percent of U.S. women who identify as lesbian or bisexual.

Furthermore, four in 10 Black LGBTQ people reported experiencing police discrimination in a study published in Social Science and Medicine. As Williams notes, it’s important to center people with intersectional, marginalized identities — like Black queer people — when searching for solutions to issues like mass incarceration, because when we do, “we’re able to create policies that are inclusive of everyone.” So, it’s no surprise that Black trans people like Williams have been at the forefront of the revolutionary community organizing that’s brought about reform in the city.

“We’re at a place in our movement where we should be celebrating and supporting the leadership of Black trans and queer folks because we have been leading this work,” she said. “Criminal justice reform in Atlanta is on the backs of Black trans women. Without the work of Black trans folks, we wouldn’t be closing the jail right now. We wouldn’t be talking about what it means to reimagine public safety in Atlanta.”

To learn more about the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, visit snap4freedom.org or follow them on social media @snap4freedom.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

BLACK GAY PRIDE

Diversity Murals Hit Georgia Tech Campus Katie Burkholder Two LGBTQ-inclusive art installations have been introduced to Georgia Tech’s campus over the last month.

The Progress Pride Staircase was unveiled on July 22 by Georgia Tech’s Pride Alliance and LGBTQIA Resource Center. The rainbow staircase, located at the Klaus Advanced Computing Building (266 Ferst Drive NW), includes the traditional rainbow colors, plus pink, blue, and white stripes to represent transgender Pride and black and brown stripes to honor LGBTQ people of color.

The project was helmed by Lisa Medford, the Pride Alliance president. She told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she had been pushing for the project since Fall 2020.

The artist who painted the stairs, Ting, is a Georgia Tech alum and was active in the school’s LGBTQ community.

Another pro-LGBTQ mural was recently completed on Tech’s campus. Artist Fabian Williams worked alongside a group of students to create a mural, located on Skiles Walkway, celebrating the school’s diversity.

The project was helmed by 2021 graduate Sinet Adous, who worked with the Georgia Tech administration to get approval and funding from the Mental Health Joint Allocation Committee over the last year.

According to a press release from Georgia Tech, the idea for the mural came from

Part of Fabian Williams’ mural at Georgia Tech Adous’ realization that the school was missing an accurate representation of its diversity.

“I couldn’t find many representations of people who looked like me or shared my same interests upon first matriculating at Tech,” she said. “Over time, however, I found our student community is richly diverse in more ways than one: in identities, passions, skills, and interests. I wished this was more obvious to me when I began my journey here.”

The mural, which is a permanent fixture of

PHOTOS VIA INSTAGRAM

Tech’s campus, is the first mural on campus that was backed by student organizers.

Williams talked to Georgia Voice about the process of collaborating with the students to come up with a design that was as representative of the school’s diverse student population as possible “Diversity is such a wide subject — how do you capture the essence of everybody coming from all over the world to Georgia Tech,” Williams said. “To capture everybody can be kind of tricky. There was a lot of back and forth on who to represent and how, who’s accounted for, how to acknowledge the LGBTQ community.”

After many discussions between Williams and the student group and results from a student survey about what they thought should be included, a design was finalized.

The mural includes portraits of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds participating in the sciences, arts, and athletics, as well as one person holding up a Pride flag, with “Welcome” written across the top in multiple languages.

Part of Fabian Williams’ mural at Georgia Tech 16 Black Gay Pride August 20, 2021

Williams said that he believes the mural

effectively captures the school’s diversity.

“There’s a lot of different cultures that are coming here, and while I was painting it, I noticed that just about everybody — people from Ethiopia, India, Spain — stopped and noticed a little bit of themselves. I thought [the piece] was on target, making them feel welcome.”

The mural marks a shift in Williams’ philosophy regarding art and its influence over the future.

“I believe that [art] is an opportunity to plant seeds for the future,” he said. “A lot of my work from here on out is going to be talking about the past and the present but having a firm foothold on what we want for the future. The first thing you have to do to get a future you want is to visualize it — what does a world look like where everybody is absolutely equal, and you’re judged by your character instead of the color of your skin?

At the end of the day, art controls culture and culture controls people.”

Follow Fabian Williams on social media @occasionalsuperstar.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

HELMUT DOMAGALSKI THE GAYLY DOSE

Black Gay Pride: An Intersection of Challenge & Leadership Helmut Domagalski, Co-host, The Gayly Dose

Black LGBTQ people need time to themselves, to simply be with others who experience the same challenges, exhaustion, and victories that they do.

Read the full column online at thegavoice.com.

I think this is important not only for these individuals, but for all of us.

I exist at a unique set of intersections, but Black is not one of them.

And yet, in the wake of last year’s Black Lives Matter marches, I thought an outside perspective might be one that resonates with many. I hope to do it justice.

Seek to understand When we are faced with different people — different gender, race, creed — we must start at the most important place: learning! This is not a one-time moment — this is a LIFETIME disposition. Are you prepared to be a lifetime student? If not, you will probably find this earthly experience to be dull and unexciting.

There is adventure in discovering even the simplest new thing … but how much more exciting it is to discover your neighbor!

Read before you ask There is a lot you can learn about the Black and the Black gay experience by simply searching Google. So many of my friends of color are exhausted from fielding questions regarding their experience. When you are at the intersection of Black and gay, it’s a double whammy.

I can relate to the challenge of being gay, of going out into the world and striving tirelessly to prove that despite my sexuality, I deserve the same respect as my straight colleagues.

But I have learned that the Black experience is one that has rested strongly on doing everything possible to “compensate” for racism and bias, so that every aspect of your being, from your clothes to your hair, your car, your everything needs to be 18 Columnist August 20, 2021

At the end of the day, it is from this part of humanity that some of our greatest gay leaders have and will continue to come from.

Bayard Rustin, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Barbara Jordan, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Lori Lightfoot, RuPaul, and many others are instrumental leaders of their time.

It’s my belief that at this challenging intersection of Black and queer, one can blossom into a place of leadership. Because it matters, we should take a moment to celebrate, to learn from, and even to follow.

The Gayly Dose crew

COURTESY PHOTO

perfect just so that you have a chance at the same opportunities. That’s exhausting, and when Black people can’t meet that cultural demand, they are often forlorn, despondent, and even defeated in a way that isn’t easy to translate to non-Black people.

“Do life” with people of color From Kevin, my high school bestie; from Ponce, Kniche, Tim, and Shoshanna, my coworkers; to Yemia, a dear girlfriend; and Mike and Marcus, my bro besties; and our dear Dante, my friend and Gayly Dose cast member, my life is marked by the nurturing of friendships with people of color who have helped my understanding.

I certainly don’t suggest seeking connections like collecting stamps — relationships must be authentic and genuine. However, we can all seek diversity in our friendships.

Talk about things that matter! You won’t learn from your friends if you keep things superficial. Get deep, gain trust, learn more!

It is not just through our shared experiences, but also through our shared discussion of life’s experiences, our feelings, our intentions, and our learnings that we can level up in our understanding of what is foreign to us.

This is true for all people, not just Black folks.

We live in the United States of America.

There is no better place for you to seek and find this intoxicatingly beautiful mix of humanity with which to live and learn.

Double down and take part in a human experience that is uniquely available to us in these modern times. It’s an unprecedented opportunity and it should be grasped and appreciated greatly.

Respect the intersection, support It with love

Happy Black Pride to our Black family. We see you, we support you, and we can’t wait to witness the private and public victories you will achieve. You are loved.

Learn more with Brown University’s LGBTQ reading list at brown.edu/campus-life/support/ lgbtq/graduate-student-resources/queer-theoryreading-list and visit AtlantaBlackPride.org for more information.

Helmut (@helmut_smile) is the Founder and Co-Host of The Gayly Dose, an Atlanta-based podcast hosted by an all-gay cast. Unique in its mission and follow-on format, weekly episodes are known for their real conversations about things that matter to the community and their listeners. Purposefully candid and brutally honest, the cast speaks on a range of topics including monogamy, body issues, coming out, dating apps and growing up gay in the church. Listen at thegaylydose.com.

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August 20, 2021 Ads 19

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BUCK JONES THE FRENCH CONNECTION

Lemonade for 25 Cents Buck Jones If you want to get a true measure of how a country views life, look no further than summertime.

Perhaps nothing embodies the American ethos more than kids having a lemonade stand in front of their house. It clarifies in garish Kool-Aid pastel color that entrepreneurial, capitalistic gene that makes America so unique. Growing up in a tract housing subdivision, my friends and I would sometimes set up a card table, make a couple pitchers of lemonade or Kool-Aid, and with a hand drawn sign announce we were open for business selling our libations for 25 cents.

Sometimes we’d even have one of us with a magic marker-written sandwich poster board stand up at the busier intersection directing traffic down to our little cul-de-sac. A good afternoon of neighbors and passersby partaking in our budding walk up café might bring us twenty-five or even thirty dollars — not a bad haul for a seven-year-old.

Another great example is the Girl Scout Cookies campaign each year. Who can resist the onslaught of rosy-cheeked girls in their scouting vests hawking Thin Mints and Tagalongs at the exits of the local Piggly Wiggly? The level of marketing might be a degree or two more sophisticated than a lemonade stand, but then again, there is the considerable corporate muscle of the Girl Scouts home office behind the operation, propelling the bottom line and the kids forward with visions of jamborees and summer camps.

In France, there are no lemonade stands or Girl Scout Cookies campaigns. The French, however, do have their childhood summer traditions, and among the most beloved are the colonies de vacances (literally, “vacation colonies”). When the Socialists first came to power in 1936 prior to World War II with the Popular Front, they introduced many reforms including a mandatory two weeks of vacation each summer. At that time, most 22 Columnist August 20, 2021

Milos island, Cyclades, Greece

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / AERIAL-MOTION

French workers belonged to one of the labor unions grouped by industry and service sector, and each union created summer camps for the families of its members. These campgrounds, hotels, and cabins became known as vacation colonies, and after the war they expanded to include school kids.

Today most French kids fondly remember their summers alongside classmates at a summer camp in the mountains or alongside a lake where they camped in tents or in mini-cabins.

They learned the basics of outdoor adventures, with hikes, swimming, and organized activities that allowed them to explore and socialize together, bonding over campfires and singing silly songs together under the supervision of adult counselors. For the vast majority of economically disadvantaged kids, it was usually the only vacation they had, with their travel and accommodations subsidized by the government.

The simple pleasures of summer vacation — whether camping, hiking, or exploring new destinations — are an indelible feature of French life. Indeed, it could be said that the life of the typical French person revolves around planning the next big vacation, with the months prior spent researching and discussing with friends and family where they want to go. Once the trip has taken place, more weeks and months are spent talking about it and beginning to plot out the next year’s vacation.

From the 15th of July until the 15th of August, France pretty much shuts down as everyone leaves for vacation. The train

stations are packed with families hauling their backpacks, dads carrying an assortment of retractable tents and folded beach umbrellas while the harried wife and kids scurry along looking to find from which quai their train is departing. Discount airlines hopping from France’s major cities to various Mediterranean budget resorts boom during the summer months, and it takes a certain amount of perseverance to survive the airport check-in process alongside a determined family of French vacationers.

But once they have arrived at their destination, the French truly explore and enjoy themselves.

This summer we returned to the Greek island of Milos, a fairly isolated speck of volcanic residue at the end of the Cyclades. Last night in the restaurant we went to, a French family was seated at the next table, with the parents talking to their two “tween” kids about what they enjoyed most of the day’s activities (“snorkeling and seeing the tiny fish” was the eldest boy’s response, while his younger sister said “burying daddy in the sand,” a skill that will come in handy if she ever becomes a serial killer).

Today at the beach another French family was at the rented parasol and beach lounge chairs next to us. A DILF was teaching his son how to skip rocks along the placid sea surface, while the mother played an improvised game of hopscotch in the sand with her two younger daughters. They were having a great time, and I have little doubt that the parents were ever going to have a discussion about how to price their lemonade to be competitive in the marketplace or what the overhead costs were going to be for selling Samoas.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

Find Your Way Home!

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

August 20, 2021 The Pink Page 23

BILL KAELIN ONE-ON-ONE

One On One with

Royce Soble Bill Kaelin bill@billkaelin.com

This month I have chosen to speak to my dear old friend Royce Soble. Chances are, if you have been to a hot LGBTQ dance party, a march for marginalized humans, or any hip art show, you’ve seen them. They are a part of our city’s LGBTQ history, with Emory University even archiving their photos for over the past 30 years. Read the full interview online at thegavoice.com.

Listen, before we get started, I’ve noticed recently that your pronoun preferences are they/them. Are you cool with going by Alli as your chosen name? I’ve seen recently you are using Royce a little more these days.

I would prefer going by my middle name, Royce. I’m connecting a bit more with it these days as it represents where I currently am with my nonbinary gender expression.

Amazing. Royce it is.

Thanks Mamma. How are things with you these days? I notice that your articles are steering clear of politics lately.

I couldn’t do it anymore. After the past four years, I had to take a breather. The world is already a hot mess without me reminding everyone how fucked up it is in my articles. I decided I wanted to focus on the positive side of life and all the great people in the world that help make our city so great. It’s really modeled after my favorite magazine of all time: Andy Warhol’s “Interview.”

OMG it’s my all-time fave as well. I started collecting them in 1988. My first ones I saved were with Parker Posey, Pee Wee Herman and Robert De Niro. I just remember being so inspired by them. The photographs were so 24 Columnist August 20, 2021

“It’s always photography.

It is the fire that burns for me. I am so grateful to have that thing inside of me that drives me. There are a lot of people in the world that don’t have that passion that feeds them and taking photographs is mine. I am so lucky to have that.”

cutting edge, so queer and a bit sexual. I also loved “Details” magazine as well. Go figure.

How old were you when you first put a camera up to your eye?

The first camera that was given to me was this Kodak Disc camera for my 10th birthday.

OMG I love it that you still have it!

I swear to god, I can smell it from here.

That delicious, plastic, ’80s toxicity.

I still love it to this day. I immediately started taking pictures of everything. I would take it to elementary school. I still have the albums from the years of 1984–1990. 1992 was when I really started to document my LGBTQ community. I had just started at Georgia State and had just made some of my first queer friends down at the quad. I was fresh out of the closet, but I was shy about it and was immediately fascinated by my new friend’s confidence and determination to live life so freely. I think I unconsciously started taking pictures of them, which gave me the courage to literally come out behind the camera and live my life authentically as well.

your photographs that you can’t say verbally?

I’m really just trying to capture humanity in its natural setting. I love it when I get to see people’s intimate moments when they think no one is watching. It is very voyeuristic. Believe it or not, I can be shy, and I think the camera has allowed me to be more social. It does work as a barrier between myself and people, especially when my intention is to document a party or a protest. I can be up in the thick of it, but once I put my eye on that lens I am in my own little bubble. I can be outgoing and very friendly, but I like to come and go as I please. I don’t want to show up to a party with a bunch of people. Most of the time I arrive alone so I can escape when I’m ready.

What are you trying to communicate with

I have been primarily focused on your

Royce Soble

COURTESY PHOTO

photography, but you are also a mixed media and abstract painter as well. If you had to choose only one medium for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It’s always photography. It is the fire that burns for me. I am so grateful to have that thing inside of me that drives me. There are a lot of people in the world that don’t have that passion that feeds them and taking photographs is mine. I am so lucky to have that.

Well, I love you, Royce. You are one of the kindest humans I know. Thanks for hanging with me today darlin’ … Oops, I know that’s not very gender-neutral, is it? Sorry.

Honey, I’ll always be your darlin’ no matter where I fall on the gender spectrum.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

August 20, 2021 Ads 25

JIM FARMER ACTING OUT

Dragon Con Returns for 2021 as a Hybrid Event Jim Farmer It may look a little different this year, but Dragon Con will be back in person in 2021, offering more than 3,500 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over five days as part of Labor Day weekend. This year — the 35th annual event — will be a hybrid affair with the same guests, parties, and LGBTQ-friendly atmosphere, but a virtual component offered to those unable to attend, according to Tony Gowell, the gay director of convention office relations.

The beloved convention will be as safe as the Dragon Con staff can make it. The most exhaustive efforts the Dragon Con team have put in has been working on precautions, constantly keeping themselves up with new COVID-19 guidelines. “We have incorporated those into our policy,” Gowell told Georgia Voice. “We waited until August 1 to put up our definitive plans.”

Precautions include a 100 percent compliance in mask wearing everywhere on show property. The audience size has been capped at 50 percent of the usual attendance, which allows for twice as much space among the seven venues. Saturday-only memberships have been eliminated this year, and the ballrooms in use will have scheduled cleaning throughout each day. Furthermore, the spectators allowed at the Dragon Con parade have to be members, although the popular event will be available to watch on CW69 and YouTube.

Among the LGBTQ guests are Dominique McElligott of “The Boys,” Anthony Rapp and Mary Wiseman of “Star Trek: Discovery” (in which Rapp stars alongside Wilson Cruz as a gay couple), Harvey Guillen of “What We 26 Columnist August 20, 2021

Gowell, left, with Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie, moderating a panel on ‘Doctor Who.’ Do in the Shadows,” and Ross Marquand and Nadia Hilker, who play LGBTQ characters on the locally filmed “The Walking Dead.”

All the voice actors for the TV series “Steven Universe” will also be in attendance.

Other events of note for fans looking for queer programming include a burlesque show, the Spectrum Party (which is probably the most LGBTQ event of Dragon Con) and Masquerade, deemed the queen of the costume competitions, co-hosted by Gowell.

He looks forward to seeing what everyone is wearing this year and what kinds of costumes will be popular. “We want everyone to come out and celebrate their individuality,” he said.

This is the first year that Dragon Con had the option to do a hybrid version. “Last year we had to go completely virtual as we weren’t allowed to have a show in person,” Gowell said. “Once you open Pandora’s Box you can’t shut her back in.”

The virtual aspect was wildly successful in 2020, reaching six continents with over 600,000 individual viewers. It allowed for a much further reach than a normal show would allow. “We said it’s not fair for those people who do not come to our show to leave them out,” Gowell said.

Going virtual last year gave them some practice, but there was a learning curve.

“We had to pull up our bootstraps and put our heads together and find out what were clever softwares that could reach people in the easiest way that are user friendly,” he said. “We do reach an older clientele and understand that not everyone is as cool and hip with the newest and latest technology and gadgets. We wanted to make it sure it was something that was uniformly easy to understand.”

A streaming membership is available for only $10 and has content filmed exclusively

PHOTO BY MICHAEL HAMPTON

for virtual viewers. Patrons also get access to older fan panels recorded over the years.

Some fan favorites are panel discussions with Carrie Fisher, Jason Momoa, Stan Lee — the executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics — and “Star Trek’s” William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. The Dragon Con parade will also be available on the streaming platform.

Gowell started as a volunteer 20 years ago and has been full-time with Dragon Con for 13 years now. His responsibilities include day-to-day administration as well as moderating Q&As with A-list talent. He expects attendance this year to be somewhere between 40,000 and 45,000 patrons.

MORE INFO Dragon Con 2021 September 2–6 DragonCon.org

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Restaurant GUIDE

YOUR GUIDE TO LOCAL EATERIES

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August 20, 2021 Restaurant Guide 27

MELISSA CARTER THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID

Kids Say the Darndest Things Melissa Carter I was the baby of the family, so I wasn’t responsible for taking care of younger siblings. I was never a professional babysitter and didn’t become an aunt. With no intention of having my own children growing up, I never took the time to get to know little ones and their quirks. So now, as a 50-something with a grade-school child, I’m learning about those tendencies fairly quickly.

One trait particular to children is their trust in you. What you say and do is something they pay very close attention to, and every so often they choose to mimic that behavior.

We see evidence of this online in viral videos of children who use choice words they’ve apparently heard an adult say, and when a kid curses, it’s funny. Well, let me rephrase that: when someone else’s kid curses, it’s funny.

Mr. Carter understands there are bad words.

In our home we include not just the classics but also words like fat, stupid, and shut up.

As a rule follower thus far, he has taken that instruction to heart and not repeated bad things in public or private. However, those aren’t the only things that can turn a parent’s cheeks red.

I learned from a friend that predators tend to focus on children who can’t confidently name their body parts. If a child uses something like hoo hoo or no no parts to describe their anatomy, the theory is those things aren’t comfortably discussed in the home. So, if a bad guy does anything, the child likely won’t report it because of that insecurity.

It’s sad that as a parent you have to take those things into consideration, but I did. I firmly taught Mr. Carter the proper anatomy terms, and that’s all we use. I quickly learned how 28 Columnist August 20, 2021

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / ROMAN SAMBORSKYI

comfortable others were with those terms too, after he announced to the adult men in his life they had a penis, and the females all had vaginas. Finger-pointing was sometimes included.

His grandmother has a phrase I’ve laughed at before but never thought twice about. When she’s overwhelmed by something, it makes her want to go running naked down the street.

Mr. Carter apparently heard her say it too, but didn’t quite understand her meaning.

Before school started for this year, I took my son to the store to go backpack shopping. We were in a rush, and I was quickly trying to grab some other items before we headed to the checkout. He connected this frantic energy with his grandmother and said very loudly that once we were able to find everything, we’d run naked out the door. My knee-jerk reaction was to laugh and reassure patrons we wouldn’t be getting naked as I side-eyed anyone near us.

My laughter only encouraged him to repeat it.

There’s a reason that versions of Art Linkletter’s “Kids Say the Darndest Things” have been on the air for decades. Not only is there humor in children’s interpretations of the world, but also a charm. Mr. Carter is simply showing his family he believes in us and what we have to say. That’s why I rarely let my ego or embarrassment trigger me to scold him. He’s figuring out his world, and if I don’t like what he has to say, it’s me that has to look in the mirror to change it.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

August 20, 2021 Ads 29

RYAN LEE SOMETIMES ‘Y’

Pod Life Amplifies ATL ‘Crime Wave’ Ryan Lee Atlanta has more than 2,200 miles of sidewalk and roughly 26 pedestrians, meaning in the most congested parts of the city during the busiest times of day, it’s possible to travel miles without seeing anyone walking along the side of the road. Traveling by foot is so uncommon in this city that I recently had someone approach me in what might’ve been a disrespectful manner, if only beach bum/hobo chic weren’t a fashion aesthetic I’ve striven to perfect.

“Excuse me, sir, you’re homeless, right?” a man said on my trip from the store, preparing to share information about social services before learning I was ineligible.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I always see you walking and so I thought you were homeless.”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely, and then to make my appreciation less awkward I added, “for the work you’re doing.”

Most Atlanta residents could move to Portland or Portugal without noticing much change in their daily environments. It doesn’t matter where you live when the extent of your interaction with your hometown is from the front door of your home to your car, then from your vehicle to the entrance of whatever destination you reach.

GPS takes care of the middle portion of every trip, so being a functional, competent adult no longer requires knowing directions to anywhere or the name of the street two blocks from your home. I’ve always thought Atlanta’s urban pod life resulted from being a highway-centric city of transplants, but by now technology has probably made Bostonians and San Antonians equally ignorant of street names, shortcuts and the character of their cities.

30 Columnist August 20, 2021

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / RAFAL OLECHOWSKI

This isn’t a rant against navigational systems or car culture, although almost every modern critique of cell phones — especially that they isolate us from others and detach us from the “real world” — applies to automobiles, too. Instead, I resent the hickish narrative about “the city” now being repeated by folks who live in a metropolitan area but remain clueless about urban life.

We are a generation of perpetual strangers, forever unfamiliar with the areas we call home and susceptible to suggestions that danger is everywhere outside our doors. We believe the media telling us crime is out of control, when we could stroll through any neighborhood in Atlanta and realize most often the opposite is true.

It’s tough to raise this argument when police are still searching for the person who killed a lesbian (while walking) in Piedmont Park, although an absence of pedestrian culture generally correlates with a lack of witnesses.

Random, awful violence can occur in Midtown Atlanta or Holcomb, Kansas, but we should resist efforts to keep us afraid of our streets and neighbors; and enablers of law-and-order excesses.

Part of the safety I feel walking around Atlanta comes from looking wholly un-muggable, as if I qualify for housing assistance or reduced bus fare. However, the rest of my comfort is knowing my community and city enough to vouch for their decency.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

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