(APN) ATLANTA — Today, State Rep. Simone Bell (D-Atlanta) announced she will leave the House to go work for Lambda Legal, the nation’s oldest legal organization working on LGBTQI issues, as southern regional director. Former Rep. Ralph Long (D-Atlanta) tells Atlanta Progressive News that he is already putting his hat in the race. No one will comment, yet, about […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — A small time developer has attempted to destroy a community garden that plays an important role in Atlanta’s radical LGBTQI community. On Saturday, October 17, 2015, Ehsan Razavi, owner of RZI Properties, bulldozed most of the garden at Open Space Church, also known as the Homostead, while police stood by and refused to intervene. “Years […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA — 2015 was a watershed year for the LGBTQI equality movement in the U.S., with the ruling of the Supreme Court of the U.S. in favor of same-sex marriage as a fundamental right under the U.S. Constitution. But LGBTQI advocates lament that the State of Georgia has a long […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Atlantans joined with activists in other U.S. cities for Trans Liberation Tuesday on August 25, 2015, with nearly one hundred supporters gathering at Underground Atlanta for the event. Organizers of the event spoke with Atlanta Progressive News about problems with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and the Atlanta Police Department (APD) the transgender community […]
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With additional reporting by Anna Simonton and Matthew Charles Cardinale. Photograph by Steve Eberhardt. (APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2015 legislative session on Thursday, April 02, 2015. There were a few progressive highlights in the majority-Republican Legislature, including a solar power lease agreement bill; a limited medical cannabis bill; and more flexibility for MARTA […]
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Photograph by Steve Eberhardt. (APN) ATLANTA — Four women were arrested when they visited the office of State Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) to talk with him and deliver a message about SB 129, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bill, that he introduced. McKoon refused to meet with the women. They planned to stay until he agreed […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Tuesday, March 17, 2015, hundreds came to Liberty Plaza, across from the State Capitol, to oppose, SB 129, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bill. People from as far away as Columbus and Macon joined with folks from the Atlanta area to express their concerns to legislators that SB 129 could be a license to discriminate […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — When HB 29 and SB 129 were introduced in the Georgia House and Senate this year, respectively, advocates of LGBTQI equality immediately waxed hyperbolic, calling it the Hate the Gays bill. Atlanta Progressive News ran a lengthy analysis in early January 2015 explaining that the bill was more broadly encompassing and more substantively complex than its […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — On Thursday, March 05, 2015, the full State Senate voted to engross SB 129, the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Bill, in a vote of 38 yeas to 17 nays. The bill passed the Senate in a vote of 37 to 15. Engrossment means that the bill cannot be changed; […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, March 02, 2015, the Senate Judiciary Civil Committee passed an amended version of SB 129, the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The amended version states in the legislative findings but not in the operative text of the bill that courts “have consistently held that government has a fundamental, overriding interest in eradicating discrimination.” […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall (District 2), whose new District 2 contains much of the southern part of Midtown, up to 10th Street in some parts, has told Atlanta Progressive News that he opposes the proposed zoning changes to Cheshire Bridge Road. This puts him at odds with Alex Wan (District 6), the openly homosexual Councilman, whose […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The Atlanta Zoning Review Board (ZRB) has rejected two proposals to get rid of existing adult entertainment establishments that remain on Cheshire Bridge Road–Atlanta’s historic “red light district”–in a series of two to one votes. As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, the proposal would have attempted to eliminate the grandfathered-in status of numerous businesses that […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan (District 6) sent an email to constituents on yesterday, May 08, 2013, describing a second round of amendments to the proposed legislation to change the zoning for Cheshire Bridge Road. These changes will be considered at the Zoning Review Board (ZRB) meeting tonight to be held at City Hall at […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The rezoning proposals for Cheshire Bridge Road currently pending before the Zoning Review Board (ZRB)–which purport to take away the grandfather clause for existing businesses on Cheshire Bridge Road–are likely not legal and will subject the taxpayers of the City of Atlanta to costly litigation the City is unlikely to win, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. APN […]
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