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New Orleans Gay Leaders Set Path For Rebuilding


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New Orleans Gay Leaders Set Path For Rebuilding

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: September 19, 2005 12:01 am ET

(Houston) New Orleans LGBT leadership has begun preparing for the return to the city of thousands of gay citizens anxious to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

Community leaders, scattered throughout the South as a result of the massive storm, held a conference call on the weekend to set a course for the future.

One of them, Tim Hornback of the Forum For Equality reported on what he saw when he was briefly allowed into the beleaguered city a week ago.

Hornback said he had been to the French Quarter and the Bywater districts. "Everything is brown," he said. "Wires are hanging like spaghetti. Everything had a mark of some destruction."

But, he reported that both areas fared much better than some parts of the city. "There were huge areas in some places where all that remained of hundreds of homes were matchsticks."

There is still no drinkable water and in areas where power has been restored it frequently goes out.

Hornback was one of a number of business leaders allowed to check on their property last week. The building that houses the Forum is fine he said, although it sustained some damage..

He, Jack Carrel, a board member of the New Orleans Community Center and an employee of the Office of Public Health, and several other community leaders are planning to return to the city this week.

During the conference call community leaders agreed that they must get services up and running for the LGBT community as quickly as possible.

There will be counseling and legal needs as people try to rebuild their lives. In addition, people living with HIV/AIDS will need medication.

Leaders said they hoped most residents would delay their return to their homes until the services are operational.

One of the ideas the group is considering is the pooling of donations given to each of them individually to create a sort of LGBT superfund to help rebuild.

"This is a new chance for the gay community to pull together," Carrel told 365Gay.com following the conference call.

Last Thursday, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin announced that the heavily gay Garden district will reopen next week and the French Quarter the following week. (story) The Bywater area is still being pumped out and it will be longer before people can return.

As the focus slowly begins to shift from the immediate needs of evacuees to the rebuilding the city donations to aid organizations by gays across the country continue to pour in. (story)

©365Gay.com 2005

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