Atlanta Black
Pride board member points fingers at AIDS groups

A week before Atlanta's Black Gay Pride is set to begin, a pride board member blasted city AIDS groups for not doing enough to curb infection among African-American gay men.

In an angry e-mail to the Southern Voice newspaper, gay pride board member Greg Smith accused Atlanta AIDS organizations of not spending enough money to combat the disease.

"The African-American AIDS issue is so trendy now," Smith wrote. AIDS groups, he said "talk HIV case data, advocate for funds, then get the money and do nothing...." Organizations "that give $50 or have millions and give $1,000 should be ashamed of themselves," he added.

Smith, who didn't name specific AIDS organization in his e-mail, also blasted the groups for not financially assisting In the Life Atlanta, the organizer of Black Gay Pride, in putting the pride event together.

"We're trying to do the best we can, but we have begged so many people, it's embarrassing," Smith wrote. (The Advocate)