Fulton County Commissioner Joan Garner spent decades championing gay and lesbian equality and other causes close to her heart.
Some of her efforts were door-openers, including her successful push 25 years ago for domestic partner benefits for City of Atlanta employees.
Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin said Garner “possessed an unwavering commitment to causes that she held dear, and that’s what made her a great public servant.”
Joan P. Garner, community advocate and Fulton County commissioner for more than six years, died April 18 after a breast cancer recurrence. She was 65.
A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. May 6 at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Garner was born in Washington, D.C. in 1951 and heavily influenced by the civil rights movement, especially the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said Garner’s wife, Fulton County State Court Judge Jane Morrison.
“That really lit a spark in her to go on as an advocate,” Morrison said.
Garner moved to Atlanta in 1978 and soon became immersed in the community and a long list of local organizations.
In the early 1990s, Mayor Maynard Jackson named her as one of his liaisons to the gay and lesbian community.
Garner’s advocacy for gay and lesbian equality began at a time when that was rare, especially in the African-American Community. She served in leadership roles with several gay and lesbian advocacy groups and spoke at a rally in 2015 after the U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage constitutional.
She was in treatment for cancer at the time and had lost her hair, but not her spirit, said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, an organization promoting for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
They met during the fight for domestic partnership benefits for City of Atlanta employees. “During the next 25 years, I turned to her often as a colleague, mentor and friend,” he said.
Jonathan Colasanti and Daniel Driffin, co-chairs of the Fulton County Task Force on HIV/AIDS, said Garner was “an unwavering champion in the fight against HIV/Aids and equal rights for those living with HIV and AIDS, as well as the LGBTQ community … And she was willing to tackle the health and social inequities that fuel the HIV epidemic,” they said in a joint statement.
Garner and Morrison shared a home in Atlanta’s Historic Fourth Ward neighborhood, within what Morrison describes as a baseball throw of Dr. King’s childhood home.
“That just reminded her and me every day of the connection we have to others,” the judge said.
Garner was involved in the Historic Fourth Ward for more than two decades, as a member of the board of directors, then executive director of the Historic District Development Corp., the nonprofit founded by Coretta Scott King to oversee residential redevelopment near King’s childhood home. She continued her work for the district until the time of her death, serving on the board of Sweet Auburn Inc., a nonprofit devoted to improving the commercial end of Auburn Avenue, downtown Atlanta’s historic African-American business district.
Garner, who has her master’s in organizational communication from Howard University, made the not-so-giant leap from community activist to politician with her election in 2010 to Fulton County Commission. As District 4 commissioner, she represented the heart of the city, Midtown and neighborhoods west of downtown to Fulton Industrial Boulevard.
“She was an activist who grew organically into a politician,” Morrison said. “She was already so involved that when she found herself in an official position, it really gave her a chance to continue to help others and to promote social justice.”
Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves said Garner, who became known as “The Health Commissioner, “put her heart and soul into her service to citizens, with a particular focus on health.”
Only days before her death, Garner was still participating in commission meetings by teleconference.
At a recent meeting, commissioners honored Garner. “It really fills my heart, and I will carry this with me forever,” she said via conference call.
She was a “go-getter” and “game for most anything,” including canoeing and traveling to new places, her wife said.
“What she did, with such grace and dignity was stand up and be herself,” Morrison said. “She listened to people and made them feel like they were being heard and their voice and experience matters.”
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Garner “was respected by all who had the privilege to work with her. The people of Fulton County have lost a treasured voice, but her impact and legacy will not be forgotten.”
Garner’s survivors include Morrison, her brothers Damon, Tony and Keith, and her sisters Jean and Janet.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Joan P. Garner Health & Human Services Internship Program, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) Civic Affairs Foundation, 191 Peachtree Street, N.E., Suite 700, Atlanta, 30303.
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