Q-NOTES
Switchboard, Charlotte (704) 525-6128
AIDS Hotline, Charlotte (704) 333-AIDS
PFLAG Hotline, Charlotte (704) 364-1474
AIDS Hotline, Columbia (803) 779-PALS
Call Line, Wilmington (919) 675-9222
June 1990
PRIDE IN PRINT
TO ADVERTISE: 364 1467
June 2 7:30pm Morture Gay
Men
June 3 Torch Song Trilogy at
Snuffy's
June 8 9pm Trademen Club
Night
Jime 13 7:30pm Queen City
Friends
June 17 FATHER'S DAY
June 17 1pm Q-Notes Pride
Picnic
Jime 20 7:30pm WOW meeting
June 22 8:15 pm One Voice
Concert
June 23 SC PRIDE MARCH
June 24 WITNESS comes to
Charlotte
11 am MCC Charlotte
6:45 pm New Life MCC
June 30 NC PRIDE MARCH
Business Cards
Page 18
Calendar
Page 2
It's My Opinion
Page 2
Letters to the Editor
Page 7
MAP Ad Campaign
Page 8
Mark Drum
Page 15
Movie Review
Page 17
News Briefs
Page 11
Organizations
Page 18
Petronio ACTS-UP Page 9
Soft Spot
Page 6
One Voice Sings In Pride Celebrations
ONE VOICE, Charlotte’s new gay and
lesbian chorus, will hold a “season finale"
concert on Friday, June 22, 1990, at 8:15
p.m. at the Unitarian Church of Charlotte,
234 Sharon Amity Road North. The concert
is open to everyone, and donations will be
accepted at the door.
ONE VOICE formed in January, and has
grown into a chorus of more than 40 mem
bers. They have sung at several commimity
events since March, but the June 22 concert
will showcase many new pieces of music,
including “When Will We Learn To Love
Again" by William J. Reiter, “The Great
Peace March" by Holly Near, “Ain't He
Sweet," and other familiar anthems and old
.standards.
The chorus will wrap up their first “sea
son" with trips to sing in Columbia at the
South Carolina Gay & Lesbian Pride March
on Saturday, Jime 23, and Chapel Hill at the
Pride '90 festivities on Saturday, June 30. In
Chapel Hill, they will join with Durham’s
Common Woman Choras fiir three numbers.
The chorus continues to rehearse on
Thursday evenings, and have returned to
their first rehearsal space for the month of
June — the United Way Auditorium, 301 S.
Brevard Street, Charlotte. They plan to take
the months of July and August off, and begin
again in early September. New members will
be able to join at that time. Several chorus
members will be attending the GALA Con
ference (Gay and Lesbian Association of
ChoriLses) in Chicago over Labor Day week
end.
For further information on any chorus
activity, or to sign up to help with tlie Jime 22
concert (publicity, ushers), please call Dan
Kirsch, President, at 536-1372.
PRIDE WEEK EVENTS
June 17, Charlotte, NC — Q-Notes sponsored picnic — free fixid and free lieer! Bring
your frisbee. Bryant Park, 1-6 pm.
.June 23, Columbia, SC — gather at the Plaza Inn (comer of Richland and Main streets)
at 11 am for the Pride March. March is at 12 noon for thirty minutes (alxmt 1 mile). 12:30
p.m. rally at the Statehouse. ONE VOICE chonis from Charlotte performs. Picnic
following the rally. Party all night.
June 24, Charlotte, NC — WOW Women's group picnic at Hornet’s Nest Park. Bring
something to grill and a covered dish.
June 30, Chapel Hill Pride March — Bus leaves Charlotte at 7:30 a.m., returns 9 p.m.
Assemble at 11 a.m. for the march (about I mile) at 12 noon. Rally 2-4 p.m. with
entertainment that includes the Common Woman Chorus from Durham and ONE
VOICE from Charlotte. Post-Pride March Party 5-10 p.m.
Man Killed After Leaving Bar
By David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
On Saturday night. May 26, tragedy stnick
Charlotte in the form of a senseless taking of
human life. Jeff Langston was walking to his
car irom Scorpio’s nightclub when he was
shot and killed by what apjiear to be gun-
wielding car thieves.
Mr. Langston, age 29, was a youth coim-
selor at Stonewall Jackson Training School
which is a facility to help reform juvenile
delinquents. He had obtained a master’s
degree from the University of North Caro
lina at Chapel Hill and was still furthering his
education at UNC-Charlotte.
Two Hundred Fifty Protest Helms
By David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
On Wednesday, May 23, approximately
250 people gathered outside Spirit Square in
downtown Charlotte to protest NC Senator
Jesse Helms.
Helms was supposed to be speaking at a
black-tie dinner celebrating the l(X)th anni
versary of J.O. Jones construction company
but due to a late vote at the Senate in Wash
ington, D.C., was unable to attend. Persons
from many various and disparate groups were
represented at the protest.
Among the special interest groups in at
tendance were Anti-Apartheid activists, Pro-
Choice lobbyists. Art Funding Proponents,
and Animal lights supporters among others.
Flyers passed out by gay rights activists
asked each person to converge at Spirit Square
at 6:00 p.m. bearing two long white candles.
Once at the picket site, the Charlotte police
informed the group that no candles would be
allowed to be lit while the protesters marched
on the city sidewalks.
Continued on page 12
HI
Metrolina AIDS Project Names New Director
CHARLOTTE, May 18, 1990 — The
Board of Directors of Metrolina AIDS Proj
ect aimounced today that John Conley has
been named Executive Director of the agency.
Conley, 39, is currently a resident of
Roanoke, Virginia, and is Director of the
AIDS Council of Western Virginia, an AIDS
service OTganizaticm providing AIDS educa
tion and support services for 29 counties in
Southwestern Virginia. Prior to coming to
the AIDS Council, Conley was a Public
Health Advisor for the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Vice President of Op
erations for The Whitman-Walker Clinic in
Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the
University of Washington, Seattle. His most
recent accomplishment is developing a pro
gram that allows people with AIDS to re
ceive Medicaid benefits for services not
currently covered by payment guidelines.
This program has been approved by the
Virginia General Assembly.
Conley fills the position vacated by Les
Kooyman, co-founder of Metrolina AIDS
Project, at the end of June. Kooyman is
resigning to pursue a graduate degree in
Counseling from the University of North
Carolina, Charlotte. Conley will assume the
directorship of the agency on July 1,1990.
In annoimcing the Board’s selection. Sis
ter Mary Thomas Burke, President of the
Board, said, “We are fortunate to have such
an outstanding professional coming to Char
lotte to take over the leadership of MAP. The
organization can continue to expect the same
quality and visionary leadership that has been
provided by Les Kooyman for the past five
years.”
According to friends he arrived at the club
late and, due to a full parking lot, was forced
to park his Ford Bronco at the Pep Boy’s
Store on Freedom Drive. He then walked the
approximate one-half block to the club and
stayed for a couple of hours until he was
ready to make his fateful return trip to his
vehicle.
Earwitnesses, who were walking roughly
thirty feet behind Langston report hearing
someone yell, “Back off!” and then a gim
shot.
Since no one saw the actual incident, an
absolutely accurate pictiue of what occurred
is not available; however, the Charlotte Po
lice Department spokespeople believe that
Mr. Langston simply had the misfortune to
walk up on a car break-in in progress. And in
so startling the criminals, they shot him with
the shotgun they were carrying as they fled
the crime scene.
The group of people walking behind
Langston, upon hearing the gun discharge,
ran to find out what was happening up ahead
of them. When they got to Langston, the
thieves had already made their getaway and
the victim was lying on the pavement bleed
ing profusely from a close-range shot to the
chest. Mr. Langston died approximately ten
minutes later from massive internal trauma.
A Charlotte police officer (who refu-sed to
allow his name to be printed) said that there
were no leads in the case but at that time it
appeared to be just a breaking and entering
gone awry and there was no reason to think
that it was a gay-hate killing.
At the time of the writing of this article,
there are still no suspects nor even any major
clues in the murder of Jeff Langston.
Senate Vote ’90 Stands
Against Helms
By Janelle Lavelle
Special to Q-Notes
DUMP HEINS
That’s the message of a coalition of arts
advocates, peace and justice activists, envi
ronmentalists, people of color, gay people
and other opponents of Sen. Jesse Helms.
The organization unanimously endorsed
Democratic Senate candidate Harvey Gantt
at a statewide meeting April 17 in his race
against fellow Democratic contender Mike
Easley. But the coalition is pledged to work
with Easley if he becomes the candidate, and
with any ^oup, organization or candidate
interested in defeating Helias in the Novem
ber elections.
N.C. Senate Vote ’90 was founded by
nationally-recognized AIDS activist Leo
Teachout of Wilmington, N.C., and is di
rected by Mandy Carter of Durham, a peace
and human rights activist with almo.st two
decades of experience as a professional or
ganizer for the War Resister’s League and a
Continued on page 3