Atlanta’s reputation as a safe haven for gay men and lesbians was seriously challenged in 2004, by everyone from conservative state legislators determined to ban same-sex marriage to Atlanta officials who seemed bent on turning the lights up on the city’s gay nightlife.

In October, the Georgia Supreme Court tossed out the state’s hate crimes law, which has been used to prosecute anti-gay attacks. A week later, on Nov. 2, a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage passed with 76.2 percent of the vote.

So went the year in gay Atlanta: the progress toward gay rights that comes with each year, accompanied by dramatic backlash.

JANUARY
New year, new rules for bars. Just hours after ringing in 2004, partygoers at Backstreet were made aware that a new era in Atlanta’s gay nightlife had arrived. City police switched on the lights at Backstreet at 3 a.m., ending the venerable gay club’s near three-decade run as a 24-hour party spot. The first of the year also marked the beginning of a 2:30 a.m. last call and 3 a.m. closing for all bars in the city, shortening Atlanta’s nightlife by an hour.

Bias panel sides with gay couples in inaugural ruling. In its first hearing since being created in late 2000, Atlanta’s Human Relations Commission found the Druid Hills Golf Club guilty of discriminating against two gay members, Lee Kyser and Randy New, by not offering spousal-equivalent benefits to their domestic partners.

According to the ordinance, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin was due to levy penalties against the club within 30 days of the Jan. 12 hearing. But Franklin did not act until December, when she fined the club $500 per day for a maximum of $90,000.

Georgia’s first trans politician takes office in Riverside. When Michelle Bruce, 42, took a seat on the Riverside City Council in January, she became Georgia’s first openly transgendered elected official, and possibly the first in the Southeast, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

“All my life I’ve had to listen to ‘You’re gay, you’re a fag, you’re a man in damned dress’ or some other snide remark,” said Bruce, who was born intersexed and identifies as transgender. “Now I’m trying to make a difference the best positive way I can.”

Gay marriage ban introduced in General Assembly. State Sen. Bill Stephens (R-Canton) introduced Senate Resolution 595 on Jan. 21, a state constitutional amendment that reads “this state shall recognize as marriage only the union of man and woman.”

Stephens, who said the amendment was intended to protect “the sanctity of marriage,” lowered his profile two weeks later when Southern Voice reported about his annulment of a 15-year marriage, which ended after his ex-wife heard “persistent rumors” that Stephens was committing adultery.

FEBRUARY
Gold Dome serves as ground zero. Gay issues dominated the Georgia state legislature like never before in February 2004. Hundreds of opponents of the gay marriage ban descended on the Gold Dome on Valentine’s Day to participate in a rally sponsored the grassroots group Don’t Amend Atlanta. Intense lobbying for and against the amendment occurred on almost all 40 days in the legislative session, including a pair of massive rallies that pitted both sides on the streets outside the state Capitol.

State Senate approves SR 595. The gay marriage amendment, which needed approval by two-thirds of both legislative chambers, passed the Republican-controlled state Senate by a three-vote margin.

Amendment goes down in first House vote. In a dramatic and emotional moment, gay Georgians muscled their way to a historic victory on Feb. 26 when the state House rejected the gay marriage ban by a three-vote margin. The measure needed 120 votes to passed, but received 117, after a coalition of black and urban Democrats, along with Republican Jill Chambers, voted against the ban.

MARCH
Franklin comes out in favor of gay marriages. Attending an anti-amendment press conference with some 40 other female business and political leaders, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin told reporters that she supports the idea of same-sex couples being allowed to legally marry.

House approves gay marriage amendment. With only two days remaining in the legislative session, the state House voted 122-52 to approve SR 595 on March 30.

APRIL
Woolard runs for Congress. Atlanta’s first openly gay City Council President, Cathy Woolard, resigned from office April 25, nearly a month after announcing that she would run for the 4th Congressional District seat being vacated by Denise Majette, who was running for U.S. Senate.

Woolard, who became the first openly gay elected official in Georgia when she won a seat on the Atlanta City Council in 1997, proved unsuccessful in her bid to become the first openly gay Congress member from the Deep South.

Georgia Equality leader steps down. Georgia Equality Executive Director Allen Thornell, who led lobbying against SR 595 in the General Assembly, announced April 16 that he was be leaving the statewide gay rights group to accept a job as deputy regional political director of the Service Employees International Union.

Falcons quarterback denies gay rumors. Responding to a phony news report on the Internet which said he “enjoy[s] male contact off the field,” Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick called an Atlanta radio show April 27 to affirm his heterosexuality. While not explicitly denying that he was gay, Vick told the “Frank Ski Morning Show” that “Everybody who knows me, knows how I get down. It’s not even an issue.”

MAY
Backstreet fights to remain open. After Backstreet lost its 24-hour operating status and license to serve alcohol, the club’s owners made a last-ditch attempt to keep the club open by applying for a restaurant license from the city of Atlanta, which would have allowed to club to resume selling alcohol until 2:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and until midnight on Sundays.

But that application was rejected by Neighborhood Panning Unit-E.

Coretta Scott King named honorary chair of AIDS Walk 2004. Following months of public wrangling between AID Atlanta and MZA Events over who should produce the 2004 Atlanta AIDS Walk, AID Atlanta announced it had enlisted Coretta Scott King to serve as honorary chair. The 2004 AIDS Walk, held Oct. 17, netted nearly $740,000 for local AIDS agencies, according to post-walk estimates.

JUNE
Georgia Equality taps leader for ballot fight. The state’s largest gay rights group recruited 33-year-old Kris Pierce to move from Indianapolis to Atlanta to

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