Michael Wilke presents 'The Commercial Closet' this Thursday

'The Commercial Closet'
by Jason Cecil

On Thursday, March 20, AEN will be honored to have as its speaker, New York City business journalist Michael Wilke. Mr. Wilke has charted the emergence of gay marketing and advertising since 1992. He is credited with coining the popular term "gay vague" -- which appeared in articles he wrote for Advertising Age from 1994-1998.

In 1998, he won a GLAAD Media Award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for his work covering gay marketing and in 2001 was named one of OUT magazine's OUT 100. He has also written about gay advertising and media for The New York Times, The Advocate and Brandweek.

Mr. Wilke now devotes himself fulltime to the non-profit Commercial Closet project, launched in May 2001. Its Web site, commercialcloset.org, has handled over 1.5 million visits since its launch and contains over 1,000 gay-themed ads spanning the globe and the last 85 years.

Mr. Wilke currently also writes a syndicated twice-monthly advertising column carried by gay.com, the Gay Financial Network (gfn.com) and leading gay newspapers.

He also travels frequently with The Commercial Closet video presentation, which first appeared at the New York Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in 1997 and has since been seen across the U.S. and overseas in countries including Brazil, Italy and Switzerland.

The doors open at the Sheraton Colony Square Hotel at Fourteenth and Peachtree Streets at 5:45 p.m. The program begins at 6:45 p.m.

Web site: Commercialcloset.org

Message board

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Here comes the chief
by Drew Barton

It was Richard Pennington's first public speech to a LGBT audience since becoming chief of the Atlanta Police Department in July 2002, but addressing our community's issues is nothing new to the law enforcement veteran.

On Thursday, February 20, Pennington, who this year will mark 35 years of work in law enforcement, spoke briefly about the importance of meeting with members of the community, his experience in Washington, D.C., New Orleans, and now Atlanta.

As a deputy in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, Pennington said he was assigned to serve as the liaison to the district's LGBT community. As the outreach officer, he opened the ranks of the police force to gay, lesbian, and even transgendered applicants who wished to serve on the police force - a revolutionary change in 1978. It would come as no surprise that when in 1995, when Pennington was named head of the New Orleans Police Department, he would name his own LGBT liaison to address the city's LGBT issues and concerns.

Within 100 days of becoming chief of Atlanta's police, Pennington assigned Sgt. Connie Locke to serve as the liaison to Atlanta's LGBT community. Sgt. Locke, a lesbian, introduced the chief before a standing-room only crowd at the February 20 meeting.

After a brief explanation of his history with LGBT concerns, he opened the floor to questions which ran the gamut from gay bars to street signs. It became evident that Pennington's list of top priorities resounded well with the AEN audience.

"It's time for Atlanta to be a big city," Pennington said. Pennington named a number of conditions that he believes are impeding that growth. During major events, like the upcoming hip-hop festival in April, traffic will be rerouted away from Peachtree Street, allowing residents and employees access to the road, but keeping visitor congestion away from the artery. Due to the tremendous growth of the city in the last decade, Pennington also believes that Peachtree Street should become one-way in certain parts. In addition, the chief also believes the timing of traffic lights and street sign visibility adds to the city's traffic woes.

Pennington cited the need for more police officers. After leaving a department in New Orleans with over 1,800 beat cops, Pennington came to Atlanta to lead the city's smaller force of 1,580 patrol officers. The city, he claims, requires 2,000 trained officers, but says he told Mayor Shirley Franklin, he would settle for no less than 1,800. Considering the city's current financial woes, Pennington's case for more officers will be an uphill battle.

In addition to the LGBT advisory group, Pennington says he has also implemented a Quality of Life Enforcement Unit, charged with finding places for homeless and dealing with aggressive panhandling. The focus of the unit will center on Buckhead and Downtown where the bulk of Atlanta's visitors come to stay.

Chief Pennington's efforts to put more officers on the street have already made an impact. During the holidays, he gave police academy cadets their own beat in Buckhead during the holiday rush. His statistics show a marked decrease in the number of crimes in those patrolled areas.

With less than a year on the job, it's clear that Pennington's management style is already effective. As he passes these inherited hurdles, the evidence that outreach to the LGBT community is a priority to this chief.

Web site: http://www.atlantapd.org




A matter of Pride

AEN is looking for volunteers to act on our 2003
Pride Committee. This year Atlanta's Pride Festival is June 27-29 and we're looking for creative and energetic individuals to truly make AEN stand out from the crowd. Contact Dana Brown-Owings at danabrownowings@aen.org to participate.

Web site: http://www.atlantapride.org/

In an effort to reduce our impact on the environment, we're offering members the ability to opt-out of our postcard mailings. If you opt-out, we'll continue to keep you up-to-the minute with our e-mail list. Click here to opt-out.

Upcoming speakers

April 17

Patrick C. Guerriero
Executive Director
Log Cabin Republicans

May 15

Billy Bean
Former Major League Baseball Player and author

AEN's newest director is Dan Lax, who for several months now chaired the membership committee. Dan has already made a valuable contribution to our Web site by adding a Flash version of our logo and a presentation on the benefits of joining AEN. You can view the presentation at by clicking here.

Dana Brown-Owings joined the board of directors in January. She has already stepped into two crucial roles as the chair of our Pride committee and co-chair of the Diversity committee. She's currently looking for volunteers to help make our presence at Pride this year exceptional. Dana can be reached at danabrownowings@aen.org.

AEN Directors help organize candlelight vigil

A one hour Candlelight Vigil will be held on Saturday, March 22, at 7:00 p.m., on The Square in downtown Marietta to honor the memory of murder victim, Ahmed Dabarran, a Fulton County assistant district attorney, and to protest Cobb County's failed murder prosecution. On February 28, 2003, a Cobb County jury acquitted Roderiqus Reshad Reed of the May 2001 brutal murder and robbery of Dabarran despite Reed's own admission at trial that he repeatedly struck Dabarran on the head with a pot in Dabarran's home, and then left with the victim's car and cell phone. Candlelight Vigil organizers are constructing a Web site, www.CobbCandlelightVigil.com,to publicize the event and provide information about the murder trial.

Reed's attorney's used the "gay panic" defense alleging that Reed killed Dabarran to protect himself from Dabarran's sexual advances. However, a medical examiner testified that Dabarran was struck over a dozen times on the head while he slept. A juror explained that the jurors reached their decision because they felt the state had not "dotted their I's and crossed their T's," according to a news report in the Marietta Daily Journal.

In a March 5th press release Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, Dabarran's boss, stated, "Needless to say, my Office was horrified by this verdict. Because Ahmed was such a kind and wonderful person, it is extremely difficult to accept that the man who brutally murdered him has walked free." The acquittal led Howard to announce that his office is planning a national symposium for prosecutors on how to effectively combat the use of the "gay panic" defense. "Gay crime victims must receive equal treatment as crime victims," Howard said. "It is our hope that this symposium will honor Ahmed as the man that we knew him to be and reinforce this important principle of social justice."

Controversy is not new to Cobb County over its treatment of gays. In 1993 the Cobb County Commission passed a resolution stating that the "gay lifestyle" was incompatible with community standards. The following year Cobb County lost the rights to host the 1996 Olympic volleyball games after the successful protests of Olympics Out of Cobb, a group which was angry about the anti-gay resolution. The Olympics controversy drew unwanted national and international attention to Cobb County.

The Candlelight Vigil is being organized by an ad hoc committee of Atlanta and Cobb citizens outraged over the acquittal of Reed according to committee spokesperson Steve Koval. The committee members are Don George, the immediate past president of the ACLU of Georgia; Steve Koval, an attorney and immediate past president of the Atlanta Executive Network; Michael Manely, a Cobb County attorney; Chris Parsons, a community activist; Cherry Spencer-Stark, past co-chair of Cobb Citizens Coalition; Allen Thornell, Executive Director of Georgia Equality; and Craig Washington, Executive Director of the Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Center.

Web site: CobbCandlelightVigil.com
Viewpoint: Cobb County's bigoted birthday
Southern Voice: Vigil set over verdict in Cobb slaying

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> In This Issue

• 'The Commercial Closet'
• Here comes the chief

> Next Meeting

» Thursday, March 20
'The Commercial Closet'
Michael Wilke
Sheraton Colony Square
Doors open 5:45 p.m.
Program begins 6:45 p.m.

> Luncheons
Reservations »

» Tuesday, March 18
11:55 a.m.
Carl Lange
Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center in Peachtree City

» Monday, March 24
11:45 a.m.
Ronald Moore
Chequer's at Perimeter

» Tuesday, March 25
11:55 a.m.
Allen Jones
Houlihan's in Colony Square

» Thursday, March 27
11:45 a.m.
Bonnie Barton
Violette's on Clairmont Road

» Thursday, April 10
11:55 a.m.
Allen Jones
Houlihan's in Colony Square

» Wednesday, April 23
11:55 a.m.
Allen Jones
Houlihan's in Colony Square

» Wednesday, April 23
11:55 a.m.
Jamie Ensley and Decatur City Commissioner Kecia Cunningham
Carpe Diem in Decatur

AEN's mission is to:

• Promote business contacts and friendships through networking;

• Advocate equality for lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals, and transgenders;

• Promote diversity in the business community;

• Foster leadership in business, government and the arts.

Board Members

David Payne
President

Bonnie Barton
Vice President

Jamie Ensley
Treasurer

Margie Archer
Secretary

Drew Barton
Communications Chair

Dana Brown-Owings
Diversity, Pride Chair

Don George
Nominations Chair

Patrick Greco
Luncheons Chair

Joe Guthridge

Sandy Hoke

Steve Koval
Past President

Carl Lange
Programming Chair

Dan Lax
Membership Chair

Ann McAllister

Newsletter Editor
Jason Cecil