Jan. 15, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Jungle
2115 Faulkner Road
MLK Mega Party Winter Meltdown
Jan. 12-14
The Lion’s Den
2678 Buford Highway
$30 one-day pass, $100 threedaypass www.thelionsdenatlanta.com
Ladies at Play MLK Weekend
Finale
Jan. 14, 8 p.m.-11:30 p.m.
La Plaka Taverna
2196 Cheshire Bridge Road
$10 www.ladiesatplay.com
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Prayer Breakfast
Jan. 13, 9 a.m.
Atlanta-Fulton County Central
Library
One Margaret Mitchell Square
$10 advance, $12 at door
RSVP by Jan. 5 to 404-259-
0874 or 404-272-8609 www.lovecoalition.org
LGBT Writers/Publishing
Conference
Jan. 13, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Loudermilk Center
40 Courtland St.
Free to first 100, $99 for others www.urbanmoonpublishing.net
Outwrite Bookstore &
Coffeehouse
991 Piedmont Ave.
404-607-0082 www.outwritebooks.com
Author Gil Robertson
‘Not in My Family: AIDS in
African American Community’
Jan. 12, 8 p.m.
Author Clarence Nero
‘Three Sides to Every Story’
Jan. 13, 8 p.m.
Bayard Rustin Breakfast
Jan. 15, 10 a.m.
Positive Impact, Inc.
139 Ralph McGill Blvd.
Free
Atlanta Martin Luther King Jr.
March
Jan. 15, noon-1p.m.
Gay groups meet at corner of Ellis and Peachtree Streets.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many of the people who gathered around his fight for civil rights believed everyone should be treated equally, including gay men and lesbians.
King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, included gay people in their inner circles and championed gay rights. Bayard Rustin, the gay man who organized the 1963 March on Washington where King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, was a close confidant to King, and gay Atlantan Lynn Cothren was Mrs. King’s personal assistant for more than two decades.
On Jan. 12-15, local events are planned by gay groups to commemorate Dr. King’s life and coincide with the Jan. 15 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday.
King’s wife, who died last January, and Rustin will also be honored.
“We get to not only celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but the life of Bayard Rustin, who was unapologetic for being gay,” says Zandra Conway, board member of In the Life Atlanta, organizers of the country’s largest Black Gay Pride festival in Atlanta and of the annual Bayard Rustin Breakfast, which takes place Jan. 15.
“There will also be [recognition] for Coretta Scott King, who also worked for equal rights for gay people before she died,” Conway adds.
Conway says Martin Luther King’s message was one of equal rights and human rights for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, a sentiment that Mrs. King asserted many times on behalf of her husband after his death.
“[King] said if one part of society is being discriminated against, everyone suffers,” Conway notes.
After her husband died, Mrs. King continued to support HIV/AIDS fundraisers and awareness campaigns, as well as marriage for gay couples.
“Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil unions,” Mrs. King said during a 2005 speech in New Jersey.
A screening of the movie “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” is scheduled during the breakfast. A panel discussion is planned following the screening.
ITLA President Kenneth T. Jones says MLK Weekend is the group’s biggest event next to Black Gay Pride.
“Truly, Dr. Martin Luther King’s message was human rights,” Jones says. “We want to be sure that we recognize GLBT people in the civil rights message of Dr. King.”
After the breakfast, ITLA members and other gay groups will meet at Peachtree and Ellis Streets downtown to participate in Atlanta’s annual MLK March.
This year marks the arrival of another breakfast commemorating King. Transgender organization LaGender, Inc. has teamed up with gay group L.O.V.E.
Coalition to coordinate the first-ever Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast on Jan. 13. That event includes speaker Dr. Alton Pollard, director of the Black Church Studies program in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
LGBT writers conference Author J.L. King, who now lives in Atlanta and whose book about black men on the “down low” gained fame on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” hopes to draw the large crowds to his LGBT Writers/Publishers Conference.
King says his “Write Your Way Through—Writing In the Spirit of James Baldwin” conference will be a one-stop shop for aspiring black writers.
He says an anonymous donor will pay the $99 registration fee for the first 100 people who sign up.
“I decided that I would use my experience to help others,” King says. “It’s for anyone who wants to follow their dream and become a published author.”
King says the conference will include information on how to tap into fiction, non-fiction and multimedia writing. There will also be information on how to market a book, and published authors will share their experiences to participants.
“It’s really going to be good,” says Deardria Nesbitt, co-host of the event and a local lesbian author. “I’m really honored that the speakers are going to be there. It’s always exciting to be around other authors and give them keys to get in.”
Gay nightlife celebrations The party scene also heats up during MLK Weekend, with the majority of the local black gay clubs hosting special events.
Lesbian social group Ladies at Play will host a private party Dec. 14 at the Greek restaurant La Plaka Taverna. Xtreme Entertainment, Inc. and the Lion’s Den will sponsor the Mega Party Winter Meltdown, which is three days of parties at the black gay nightspot.
Finally, gay party promoters, Wassupnatl will sponsor Freedom Weekend, a series of events that at different venues, including Da Hype, Red Chair, El Chaparral and Jungle.
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