When
gay
activistS
pressured
the
city
of
Atlanta
to
offer
domestic
partner
benefits,
she
was
there.
She
was
also there
to
help
take
on
Cracker
Barrel
in
the
early
‘90s
when
allegations
of
gay
employee
discrimination
surfaced.
And
she
was
there
during
protests
to
drive
the
1996
Olympic
Games
out
of
conservative
Cobb
County.
Alongside
her
fellow
crusader
and
husband
Joe,
Goldy
Criscuolo
was
on
the
frontlines
in
several
fights
for
equality,
including
civil
rights
for
gay
men
and
lesbians,
women
and
African
Americans.
She
was
often
arrested
for
standing
up
for
what
is
right.
Goldy,
now
84,
says
she
used
personal
experiences
of
gender
discrimination
as
motivation
to
help
in
fighting
for
gay
rights.
“My
commitment
was
always
in
the
areas
of
treatment
of
people.
I
experience
that
as
a
woman
and
by
being
Jewish,”
she
says.
Her
husband
died
in
2002,
and
Criscuolo’s
health
is
now
failing
due
to
leukemia.
Her
family
and
friends
threw
a
party
for
her
Sept.
23,
gathering
to
celebrate
her
life
and
accomplishments,
and
share
humorous
anecdotes
about
the
activist.
Criscuolo
spent
most
of
the
party
laughing
and
talking.
She
spoke
to
the
crowd
briefly.
“Thank
you
for
being
with
me
in
the
picket
lines
and
in
the
jails,”
she
told
them.
“I
have
lived
a
full
and
rich
life,
and
like
everyone,
there
were
difficulties.
But
my
life
was
a
rich,
hopeful,
productive
life,
and
I
have
a
beautiful
family
to
show
for
it.
“I
wish
you
all
would
be
a
participant
when
and
where
you
can
in
issues
that
benefit
everyone,”
she
added.
“Love
yourself
and
love
each
other.
I
love
you
all.”
Gay
activists
rallied
around
Criscuolo
during
the
event.
“Joe
and
Goldy
were
involved
in
getting
a
lot
of
the
Atlanta
legislation
passed,
the
domestic
partnership
protections,
and
there’s
the
matter
of
marching
in
front
of
City
Hall,
pounding
on
doors,
making
a
lot
of
noise
and
shaking
the
building
when
they
were
considering
that
legislation,”
says
Don
George,
a
veteran
Atlanta
gay
rights
activist.
George
says
he
met
the
Criscuolos
during
the
Cracker
Barrel
protest,
and
he
joins
several
gay
activists
in
saying
they
developed
a
personal
relationship
with
the
couple
beyond
the
picket
lines.
“You
didn’t
just
work
with
them,
they
were
friends,”
says
Allen
Thornell,
former
executive
director
of
Georgia
Equality.
George
says
having
a
straight
couple
on
the
front
lines
helped
mainstream
the
fight
for
gay
equality.
He
also
notes
that
the
Criscuolos
took
their
experience
fighting
for
labor
unions,
women’s
rights
and
black
civil
rights
and
applied
it
to
the
gay
rights
movement.
“The
gay
movement
is
just
another
chapter
of
history
where
they
saw
things
have
worked
in
the
past,
and
they
saw
it
would
work
using
this
formula
again,”
he
says.
Longtime
gay
activist
and
lobbyist
Larry
Pellegrini
agrees.
“Goldy
and
her
husband
are
longtime
friends,”
he
says.
“From
the
moment
I
came
out,
they
were
on
the
front
lines
of
several
issues
that
I
got
involved
in.”
Pellegrini
says
he
met
the
Criscuolos
at
a
Queer
Nation
meeting,
and
that
many
activists
relied
on
the
couple
for
their
expertise.
“We
got
arrested
the
same
day,”
Pellegrini
says.
Although
CRISCUOLO
is
ill,
her
son
Jim
says
the
silver-haired
grandmother
hasn’t
lost
her
wit.
“As
my
mother
and
I
and
our
family
have
been
coming
to
grips
with
the
maladies
that
plague
my
mother,
plague
her
body,
she
has
been
an
absolute
rock,”
he
says.
“I
can’t
tell
you
what
an
icon
of
strength
and
courage
she’s
been
to
me.
“I’m
absolutely
humbled
by
her
unique
combination
of
acceptance
and
defiance
in
the
face
of
it
all,”
he
adds.
Jim
Criscuolo
used
the
Sept.
23
celebration
to
reminisce
on
a
childhood
with
two
activist
parents
who
took
him
around
the
country
in
their
fight
for
equality.
“I
remember
our
version
of
family
outings
when
I
was
younger,”
he
says.
“We
were
at
the
Pentagon
in
1967
and
1968
protesting
the
war,
on
the
streets
of
New
York
for
civil
rights
and
1972
on
the
Washington
Monument
protesting
the
second
inauguration
of
‘Tricky
Dick
Nixon,’”
he
says.
Friends
remember
Goldy
as
the
calmer
partner,
while
Joe
was
never
afraid
to
speak
his
mind.
“Goldy
was
always
the
one
who
—
in
a
tag
team
with
Joe
—
she
would
be
the
good
cop,”
Pellegrini
says.
“When
Joe
would
get
hot,
she’d
be
the
one
who
would
make
the
calm
point.”
Based
on
her
decades
of
involvement
in
the
gay
rights
movement,
Cruisuolo
herself
offers
advice
to
the
current
crop
of
gay
activists:
remember
there
is
strength
in
numbers.
“All
issues
that
deal
with
injustice
stem
from
the
same
force,”
Goldy
says.
“We
all
need
each
other.”
Bo
Shell
contributed
to
this
report.
