amm
'll?
(atbllna Gaj^A85ociatioix]\ew§lettef'
Vol. /, No. 3
^5
toe 1981
i (
Our Day Out”
Lesbian/Gay Pride
Planned for Durham
An ad hoc commitiec of lesbian and
gay activiiists from the Triangle Area are
planning a gay pride marcli in downtown
Durham on Saturday, June 27.
Plans include a rally, march, and
celebration during the daytime and free
admission for march participants to 42nd
Street on Saturday night. Other activities
include a CGA dance, an art gallery open
house, and a picnic.
March planners arc calling the ac
tivities “Our Day Out: A March and
Celebration of Lesbian and Cay Rights"
and say they are timed to commemorate
the June 2, 1969, police raid on The
Stonewall Inn; the resulting Stonewall riots
began the modern day gay liberation
movement.
Organuers say the Durham events are
“to protest anti-gay violence, to celebrate
lesbian and gay culture, to break
stereoiy'pes of us, and to let us feel , our
strength." Planners are seeking en
dorsement.s of the events from various
groups to widen: participation in the
march. A spokesperson said such en
dorsements “will help us find our support
from other folks."
The Durham march will begin at 11:00
a.m. with a rally of singing and chants at
Five Points (intersection of Main and
Chapwl Hill Streets) in downtov.n Durham.
The march will precede up Chaptei
Hill Street, stopping at the court house
where the Little Rive.- incident will be
commemorated. Marcht^rs will then follow
Main Street back to Five Points, where a
celebration wich gay singers, short
speeches, and an “open mike" will take
place.
An afternoon picnic will lollow at the
West Point on the Eno park at about 3:00
p.m. There will also be folkdancii.g, "new
games,” and music.
Special gay pride buttons will be sold
during the day. and access for the han
dicapped is being planned. Signing for the
hearing impaired will be provided.
Forty-Second Street, the only gay bar
in Durham, will open its doors Saturday
night with free admission to people wear
ing march buttons.
(M.4RCR, cont. p. ?)
Little River is Scene of
Queerbashing
On April 12, two men carrying guns
and clubs attacked four sunbathers at the
Lattle River north of Durham. The Little
River is a scenic and popular sunbathing
and picnicing spot for gays and non-gays.
One of the victim.s, Ronald An-
tonevich of Mebane, sustained critical in
juries to his head and a kidney. The at
tackers beat him with a club and then held
his heat under water. Antonevich died in
Chapel Hill on April 16. He was married
and the father of one child.
Three other men were beaten, and
two of them robbed. 7'hc three were
treated for injuries at a Durham hospital
and released.
The assailants reported shouted to
sunbathers, “ We re going to beat some fag
gots."
Mark DeMarais and Darrel Jones were
levying the area when they were stopped by
the attackers. DeMarais said. “'Fhey told
us we were dead," Jones was injured when
the men swung at his head but hit his arm
and wrist. DeMarais and Jones escaped
when they threw a knapsack at their at
tackers.
Earlier, J. Michael Penny had been
stopped by the two assailants. When he
turned away from them to leave, one of the
men siixick him across the face wnth a club.
Penny lost several teeth, but staggered to
his car w'ithout assistance. He said several
other men watched the incident without
helping him
(LITTLE oont. p. 2)