PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY QCQ AS A PUBLIC SERVICE
Q-NOTES
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1988
I PRIDE IN PRINT I
Switchboard, Charlotte 704/525^128
AIDS Hotline, Charlotte 704/333-AIDS
PFLAG Hotline, Charlotte 704/364-1474
AIDS Hotline, Columbia 803/779-PALS
Call Lin**- Wilmin^on 919/675-9222
TO ADVERTISE: 339-0679
Charlotte Comes Out For The Green
BEST BETS
March 1
First Tuesday meeting
Carolina Community
Project House
March 5
Tradesmen Club Night
At the Brass Rail
March 12
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Uptown Charlotte
Post Parade Cook-out
Steven’s Restaurant
2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
March 16
Jimmy James at Scorpio’s
March 17
St. Patrick’s Day
March 18
Buckhead Boys at
Charades
March 20
Steven’s 1st Anniversary
Party
Steven’s Restaurant
March 24
Leadership Council
Barclay Cafeteria
Amity Gardens Shpg. Ctr.
March 26
MCC Charlotte Potluck
INDEX
Page 2
Organization listing and
March Calendar
Paged
Meet Miss Lillian
Women and MDS
Page 5
Lesbian Survey Released
Queen’s Cuisine
Page 6
The Soft Spot
Page 7
Letters to the Editor
and Q-Notes Editorial
’age 8
The Dark Side of Phone
Sox
To Your Health
*age 9
Cheap Trade Strikes Again
'age 10
QCQ Election Results
'age 11
Civilized Behaviors
Business Cards and
Q-Notes Classifieds
by Robert Sheets
On Saturday, March 12, 1988,
shortly after 12 noon Gay and Lesbian
history will be made in Charlotte and
the Southeastern United States when
people from QCQ, Closetbuster Pro
ductions, Students at UNCC, Metro
politan Community Church of Char
lotte, GLS Bridge Players and others
step off the curb and into Tryon Street
to march as a contingent representing
the Gay and Lesbian Community in
Charlotte’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
This will be the first time in Char
lotte that its Gay and Lesbian Com
munity has ever taken to the streets or.
participated with other groups in a
public setting. It will also be the first
time that a Gay and Lesbian organiza
tion has been viewed by so many (the
1987 St. Patrick’s Day crowd was
estimated at 35,000 and this year’s is
expected to be even larger). The pa
rade begins at 9th Street and North
Tryon and marches down Tryon
through the center of Charlotte and
ends at Stonewall Street and is ex
pected to last about one hour.
Queen City Quordinators was offi
cially invited by the Central Charlotte
Association in early December and its
board voted unanimously to accept.
At the January Charlotte Leadership
Council meeting Jim Yarbrough, QCQ
President, expressed the board’s
wishes to invite Charlotte’s Gay and
Lesbian organizations to march with
the QCQ contingent carrying a banner
for their group.
The theme for the St. Patrick’s Day
parade is “Forty Shades of Green.’’
QCQ’s banner will be “Coming Out
for the Green’’ Queen City Quordina
tors — serving the Gay & Lesbian
Cornmunity, followed by all of the
participating organizations. Judging
for the parade will be done at the
center of town at Trade and Tryon
Streets. QCQ is entered in the catego
ries of Best “Shade of Green,’’ Most
Original and Best Media. Friends of
the community will gather in front of
Discovery Place at 6th Street and
North Tryon and follow along with the
contingent to the square for judging.
Individuals are asked to wear green
and QCQ adopted green and pink as
its parade colors and can be identified
by the green and pink balloons the
contingent will carry. Those marching
with QCQ can paint their faces green
if they would like to remain anony
mous. If you would like to march, call
your local organization or QCQ at
339-0679.
On Saturday night, February 27th
there will be a banner-making covered
dish dinner with an Italian theme at
6:30 pm at MCC Charlotte, 4037 East
Independence Blvd.
There will be a “Coming Out Cele
bration’’ after the parade at Stevens
for all the participants and viewers. A
picnic buffet will be available for a
$2.00 cover. White Rabbit Books of
Greensboro will be set up in the up
stairs dining room off the bar for those
who would like to become better in
formed.
United Wav to Oversee MAP
by Dean Gaskey
Q-Notes Staff
Mecklenburg County Commission
ers have moved to have United Way
of Charlotte oversee the operation of
Metrolina AIDS Project following the
criticism levied against MAP by the
Reverend Joseph Chambers, a local
minister of the Church of God.
Chambers, in a press conference,
presented a card that had been distrib
uted by MAP, that in Chambers’ opin
ion promoted homosexuality.
MAP, being an agency funded in
part with public tax dollars, was asked
by the County Commissioners to ex
plain the card. MAP stated that the
card was a part of the group’s educa
tion outreach, but that the card was
donated by an agency in Atlanta,
Georgia. They also noted that the card
was not paid for with county monies,
and was no longer being distributed by
MAP.
County Commissioners decided
that since some of MAP’s work was
controversial in nature, and that pub
lic monies were being used by the
agency, that some “neutral” agency
should oversee the operation of MAP,
and to insure that MAP only operates
in areas that it is qualified to operate
in, specifically in client services, such
as counselling persons with AIDS,
ARC, persons who are test positive,
and to provide general non-medical
information to the public.
Commissioners also directed that
the Mecklenburg County Health Di
rector, Basil Delta, should take a look
at the printed information that MAP
distributes and should make changes,
not in total content but in specific
instances that may be found to be in
bad taste, according to community
standards. The basic effect, of course,
would be the removal of “street Ian-
New Political Group Forms
guage” in favor of “clinical terms.”
MAP will continue to provide client
services, and the public health depart
ment will take over most educational
programs.
Les Kooyman, executive director of
MAP, told Q-Notes that “The bottom
line is, you (MAP) do support services,
and public health will do education.”
Kooyman also said that MAP wants
to provide support services to Char
lotte’s gay community as well as the
community at large, and that the in
formation outreach to the gay commu
nity should continue, under the direc
tion of the public health department.
Kooyman noted that the recent
events in Charlotte were similar to
those happening to AIDS agencies all
over the country as a result of the
Helms Amendment, passed by Con
gress, specifying that no public monies
may be used in AIDS education that
“promote homosexuality.”
by Robert Sheets
First Tuesday was formed on Febru
ary 9, 1988, by people wanting to
become more involved in the local
political and social structure of the
community. The call for this meeting
came out of a discussion in January by
the Charlotte Leadership Council (a
bi-monthly meeting of officers of
Charlotte’s Gay and Lesbian Organi
zations and interested individuals).
The topic came out of the issue raised
by the Mecklenburg County Commis
sioners of whether or not to continue
funding the Metrolina AIDS Project.
The name “First Tuesday” is de
rived from the national voting day: the
first Tuesday after the first weekend of
the month. The group recognizes that
politics is part of our lives and that
Charlotte’s gay community would
have to reach out to other organiza
tions and individuals interested in
defending individual freedoms and
rights.
Keith B, a member of the statewide
committee to repeal the Crimes
Against Nature laws, and Lynn
Guerra, pastor of the Metropolitan
Community Church of Charlotte, were
chosen as co-chairoersons.
A media committee was set up to
contact the major media. Pat Wiley
and Don King are co-chairs, with a
number of others available for imme
diate contact.
An Electoral politics committee was
set up and will present a questionnaire
for candidates for elected office at the
March 1 meeting.
Stephens will donate the receipts of
its February Sunday night Bingo to
First Tuesday.
If you are interested in joining First
Tuesday or in participating in its ac
tivities, call Lynn Guerra at 563-5810,
Keith B. at 549-1421 or Pat Wiley at
393-2536 or write Pat at 9009 Sharpes
Circle, Charlotte, NC 28214.
k .3 .
■k: '
Congressman Frank Visits
Charlotte. See Story on
page 6.