While Brown v. Board of Education and Rosa Parks were indispensable elements of the Civil Rights Movement, widespread social change came about largely due to the unheralded actions of everyday African Americans. Likewise, advances in the acceptance of gay men and lesbians are often marked by scenes as underground as the MARTA subway.
Editors’
note:
This
week,
Southern
Voice
begins
a
two-part
series
using
Atlanta’s
public
transit
system
to
explore
the
visibility
and
experiences
of
lesbian
and
gay
people
throughout
the
city.
It
was
a
fairly
typical
rush
hour
at
the
Arts
Center
MARTA
station
last
Friday
evening,
aside
from
the
presence
of
what
some
consider
a
blue
moon.
A
gate
attendant
displayed
fierce
resolve
in
tracking
down
a
high
school
student
who
avoided
paying
a
fare
by
sneaking
through
the
entry
gate
behind
his
friend.
“Young
man!
Young
man!”
the
attendant
called
out
at
least
six
times
before
the
teenager
could
ignore
her
no
longer.
Downstairs
on
the
train
platform,
a
homeless
woman
stood
—
or
dreamily
hovered
—
in
front
of
the
escalator
exit,
oblivious
to
the
many
people
who
tried
to
squeeze
by
her
without
contact,
and
the
many
more
whose
eyes
were
transfixed
on
her
tragedy.
The
dozens
of
people
awaiting
a
train
at
the
Arts
Center
station
included
Midtown
workers
ready
to
start
their
weekend,
travelers
heading
to
Hartsfield-Jackson
International
Airport
to
catch
a
flight
and
Atlanta
Braves
fans
on
their
way
to
see
the
team
lose
to
the
San
Francisco
Giants.
A
typical
crowd
on
a
typical
summer
evening
in
Atlanta,
awaiting
a
routine
train
ride.
Also
a
part
of
this
standard
MARTA
crowd
were
two
young
women
engaged
in
nondescript
conversation.
One
of
the
women
—
wearing
high-rising
jean
shorts
and
a
white
blouse,
with
orange
and
red
highlights
in
her
braided
hair
—
sat
on
the
arm
of
a
concrete
bench.
Her
friend,
who
sported
short
dreadlocks,
an
oversized
orange
T-shirt
and
baggy
brown
shorts
—
stood
in
front
of
her.
A
southbound
train
approached
the
Arts
Center
station
and
the
woman
with
orange
and
red
highlights
stood
beside
her
friend
on
the
platform.
As
the
two
of
them
waited
for
the
train
door
to
open,
they
clasped
each
other’s
hand,
making
the
upcoming
ride
decidedly
less
routine
than
what
some
MARTA
passengers
were
used
to.
Seated
beside
each
other
on
the
crowded
train,
the
woman
in
the
oversized
T-shirt
extended
her
left
arm
so
that
it
rested
across
her
girlfriend’s
shoulder.
Directly
across
the
aisle
from
the
two
women,
a
heterosexual
couple
on
their
way
to
Turner
Field
was
in
an
identical
pose.
Behind
that
couple
sat
another
man
and
woman
on
their
way
to
the
ballgame,
already
inebriated
and
blabbering
about
an
obnoxious
variety
of
topics
including
acid-washed
jeans
and
vampires.
The
couple
was
easily
making
the
most
noise
on
the
train,
but
even
their
rowdy
behavior
didn’t
seem
as
loud
and
distracting
as
the
two
young
women’s
quiet
embrace.
Most
of
the
people
on
the
train,
zoned
out
into
their
personal
world,
didn’t
notice
when
the
woman
with
orange
and
red
highlights
rested
her
head
on
her
girlfriend’s
shoulder.
But
the
young
lesbian
couple
captivated
a
handful
of
passengers,
like
Mark
Young
who
was
on
his
way
home
to
Austell
after
work.
A
self-identified
Christian
man,
Young
watched
the
two
women
for
most
of
the
15-minute
train
ride
to
Five
Points,
discomforted
by
what
he
considered
glorified
sinning;
but
he
was
also
aware
that
it’s
no
longer
as
fashionable
to
express
such
views
about
homosexuality
in
public
as
it
once
was.
“But
it’s
like,
you
see
more,
and
more
and
more,
of
it,
and
it’s
like,
it’s
supposed
to
be
normal,
but
in
actuality,
morality
wise,
it’s
not
normal,”
Young,
35,
said
in
an
interview
after
exiting
the
train.
“The
first
time
you,”
Young
said
with
a
pause,
choosing
his
words
carefully.
“Like,
say,
if
those
two
ladies,
if
I
would’ve
went
up
to
them
and
said,
‘Look,
I
would
like
to
talk
to
you
ladies
about
Christ,’
then
they’ll
feel
like
their
civil
liberties
or
civil
rights
have
been
violated
if
somebody
looks
at
them
in
a
different
way.
“People
say
live
and
let
live,
and
some
people
think
that
homosexuality
is
normal,”
he
continued.
“But
it’s
not
normal
for
a
human
and
an
animal
to
sleep
together,
or
it’s
not
normal
for
an
adult
and
a
child;
but
two
of
the
same
kind,
it
should
not
be
normal
as
well
—
that’s
just
my
personal
opinion.”
On
her
way
to
her
job
as
a
waitress
at
a
downtown
restaurant,
Melissa
Duncan
didn’t
stare
at
the
lesbian
couple
as
intensely
as
Young
did,
but
she
periodically
looked
in
their
direction,
at
one
point
rolling
her
eyes
as
she
looked
away.
“I
didn’t
mean
to
roll
my
eyes,
but
I
guess
it
was
a
bit
much,”
Duncan,
27,
said
in
a
telephone
interview
the
next
day.
“They
just
...
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