LGBTQ ATLANTA
ATLANTA PRIDE FILE PHOTO
Howdy There! ON BEHALF OF ATLANTA AND ALL HER WONDERFUL OFFERINGS, WELCOME TO OUR CITY! With the book you hold in your hands, we at Georgia Voice hope you will feel the ample amount of pride we take in giving you a good, strong gaze into what it’s like being a visitor to (and a resident of) our world-class city. It’s truly an honor being able to represent the LGBTQ population in Atlanta as we give you a tour of the grounds. For those new here, Georgia Voice is the oldest, largest LGBTQ publication in Atlanta, with roots that trace back to the 1980s, when LGBTQ rights were rushed before the public eye only to be attacked and vigorously denied. It’s not something we took lightly, as LGBTQ press, and we’re proud to say it. We think our decision to create a megaphone for voices that needed raising was a wise one, as many of our pages — both new and archived — have provided a substantial source for researchers and fans of dogged journalism alike. Even today, we understand our importance in the dialogue on both a personal and political level, and we aim to bring as many voices to the conversation as possible. As we continue to shed light on issues that affect our community, both negatively and positively, we’d also like to invite you to take a look at this city through our lens in our 2018/2019 Destination Gay Atlanta guide. If you don’t mind, we’d like to take a quick step back in time. After all, how will we know where we are if we don’t know where we’ve been? Join us!
14 Destination Travel Guide
GEORGIA’S LGBTQ HISTORY
Georgia is also known as The 13th Colony, for obvious reasons. What wasn’t so “on the books” was how we carried over a puritanical approach to freedom — that is, not until 1817, 85 years after we became a state, when our first anti-sodomy law was enacted. A further amendment took place in 1833, when “carnal knowledge and connection against the order of nature by man with man, or in the same unnatural manner with woman” was outlawed carrying a possible “life imprisonment with labor” sentence. In 1884, the U.S. Supreme Court heard (and overturned) Georgia’s firstever conviction of sodomy with a two-sentence verdict: “Judgment reversed.” In 1949, the penalty for the catch-all “crime” was reduced to 1–10 years imprisonment, something Michael Hardwick (of Bowers v. Hardwick) was staring down in the face after he was caught having consensual sex with his partner. The Supreme Court was called upon for the law again in 1986, when a heterosexual coupling lead to the conviction of a Georgia man. In Powell v. State, the Supreme Court ruled that an individual’s right to privacy trumped the anti-sodomy law, dismantling it in the state of Georgia and making homosexuality here legal in the process. Henceforth, our LGBTQ presence grew exponentially. Take a look — we’ll be quick.