The gay we were
...Page 20
Take my closet,
please!
...Page 22
The CaroWnae’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Printed on Recycled Paper
FREE
Former MAP
treasurer
sentenced
by David Prybylo
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—Nearly 10 months after
being charged with embezzlement, Stephen
O ’ Shields, former treasurer of Metrolina AIDS
Project, was sentenced in September to six
months in jail and ordered to repay the nearly
$118,000 he was convicted of stealing.
O’Shields was also ordered to repay
$39,000 to the Hackberry Court Homeowners
Association, where he was also treasurer and
from which he admitted embezzling.
O’Shields, who has been free on bond
since turning himself in last December, was
ordered by Superior Court Judge Zoro Guice
Jr. to report to the Mecklenburg satellite jail’s
work-release program on September 2 to be
gin serving his sentence. Judge Guice also
ordered him to begin monthly payments to the
court which will be divided between MAP
and Hackberry Court.
Officials at MAP say they are pleased with
the resolution. “Under the circumstances, it’s
the best for MAP and the best for Stephen,”
“Stephen O ^Shields stole
thousands of dollars from
people dying of AIDS...
MAP board member and attorney Jim
Gronquist told the Charlotte Observer.
In court, Barbara Rein, who began as
MAP’s executive director shortly before au
ditors discovered money missing from the
agency, painted O’Shields as a callous spend
thrift who stole money to support his lavish
lifestyle. “Stephen O’Shields stole thousands
of dollars from people dying of AIDS so he
could have parties and travel,” she told Judge
Guice. “That money should have been used to
buy medicine for children who are sick. That
money should have been used to keep the
lights on for people who are poor and alone.”
O’Shields, however, denied that he used
the money in this way, though he did not say
how he spent it. He appeared apologetic in
court, saying he regretted “the terrible pain
and hardship” he had caused. “I took both
positions with honorable intent,” he told the
court. “I admitted I was guilty from day one.”
O’Shields had planned to use proceeds
from the sale of his mother’s beach property
to begin repayment, according to his defense
attorney, Gary Murphy. The sate, however,
fell through.
According to a police fraud investigator,
O’Shields embezzled money from MAP by
forging checks and depositing them into the
Hackberry Court account. Since his was the
only signature needed on Hackberry checks,
he then withdrew the funds and used them for
personal expenses. At the time the embezzle
ment was discovered, MAP officials said that
their accounting procedures were appropriate
for the size of the agency, though they admit
ted to placing too much trust in O’Shields, a
volunteer. “I think this is an important lesson
for all non-profits,” said then-board president
Hal Chappie in January. “I think every non
profit agency needs to look into their financial
[matters]. We’re all run by volunteers, and
we have to trust them. Sometimes, I think we
end up trusting them a little too much.”
Carrboro approves domestic partnerships
by Darryl R. Williams
Q-Notes Staff
CARRBORO, NC—^The Canboro Board
of Aldermen took a monumental step toward
equality on September 13 by unanimously
passing an ordinance to allow registration of
gay, lesbian, and heterosexual domestic part
ners. The passage makes Carrboro the first
municipality in North Carolina to grant legal
recognition of lesbian and gay relationships.
The measure will take effect on October 11,
1994, to coincide with National Coming Out
Day.
In introducing the ordinance, sponsor Mike
Nelson beseeched other aldermen to vote
with him. “This is fundamentally a civil
rights issue,” Nelson said. “It’s an issue of
fairness, and it’s the right thing to do.”
Alderman Jacquelyn Gist seconded the
motion to approve the measure, adding that
the reason for her support was simple: “I think
it’s right and it’s fair.”
At the request of town manager Bob Mor
gan, the vote on a measure to offer health
insurance to domestic partners of town em
ployees was postponed until Carrboro learned
whether Blue Cross and
Blue Shield (BCBS)
would provide cover
age. Nelson said that
BCBS was expected to
cover domestic partners
and that the board of
aldermen would likely
approve the measure
when it comes up for a
vote in the spring. Kai
ser Permanente, the
town’s other insurer, has
already informed the
board that it will cover
domestic partners.
Another proposal re
quiring elected officials
to disclose financial in
formation of domestic
partners was also passed unanimously; a simi
lar local ordinance is already in effect for
Mike Nelson
spouses of elected officials.
Although Nelson considers all three pro
posals importaqt, the le
gal recognition of domes
tic partners through reg
istration is paramount.
“In the eyes of the law,
domestic partners are
strangers — total strang
ers — and that simply
ain’t right,” Nelson said,
adding that issue was not
about money and benefits,
but about respect. “There
isn’t a lesbian or gay fam
ily in this town that
wouldn’t trade all the
money in the world to get
the same respect as mar
ried couples.”
Nelson expects several
couples to pay the $40 fee
and register on the day the ordinance takes
Continued on page 10
International gay group barred from U.N.
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
NEW YORK—On September 16 the In
ternational Lesbian and Gay Association
(ILGA) was removed from its consultative
position with the United Nations because of a
U.S.-led effort to ban groups which support
pedophilia.
Sparked by Senator Jesse Helms’ amend
ment to a Foreign Appropriations bill last fall,
calling for the U.S. to cut funds to the United
Nations unless all member organizations
which support pedophilia be expelled, the
U.N. Economic and Social Council voted
unanimously to disassociate itself from the
worldwide gay group.
The ouster was the culmination of almost
a year of controversy surrounding the North-
American Man-Boy Love Association’s
(NAMBLA) membership in ILGA.
Helms’ challenge, which was expressly
mounted in opposition to ILGA, fueled in
tense debate in the gay and lesbian commu
nity where NAMBLA has been a bane to
many for years. Although ILGA’s status with
the United Nations was only that of a consult
ant, with no voting privileges, it was an his
toric step for a human-rights organization
focused on sexual minority issues to be al
lowed into the U.N. under any circumstance.
As a result, many gays felt that it was impera
tive that ILGA oust NAMBLA to circumvent
Helms’ ploy.
The passionate opposition to NAMBLA
was evident at the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force’s Creating Change conference
last November where several gay/lesbian ac
tivists, including former Task Force execu
tive director Urvashi Vaid, expressed outrage
that the Board had not issued an official
statement condemning NAMBLA’s member
ship in ILGA. Earlier this year, the Board did
issue such a statement which stated in part,
“[NGLTF] condemns all abuse of minors,
both sexual and any other kind, perpetrated by
adults and supports the expulsion of
NAMBLA... from ILGA.”
While the great majority of the community
seemed to be in agreement that NAMBLA
should be removed, some high-profile activ
ists, includingStea/n magazine publisher Scott
O’Hara and foimtx Advocate sex advice col
umnist Pat Califia, condemned the movement
to blackball NAMBLA, casting the action as
a politically expedient sacrifice.
These and other NAMBLA supporters
made their feelings clear in June when they
separated themselves from Stonewall 25, the
“official” march to recognize the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riot, and
organized their own march. The group dubbed
itself Spirit of Stonewall and stated that it was
honoring the memory of the marginalized
drag queens and racial minorities who fre
quented the Stonewall Inn by supporting
NAMBLA.
Nevertheless, this past summer ILGA
members voted to revoke the Man-Boy Love
Association’s meihbership with a whopping
80% marking their ballots in favor of the
ouster.
The Economic and Social Council’s ac
tion caught community leaders off-guard since
the vote on NAMBLA had presumably
brought ILGA in line with the Helms amend
ment.
Peri Jude Radecic, the out-going executive
director of the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force, called the removal “...an un
speakable injustice against lesbians, gays and
bisexuals around the world.”
Status of HIV testing in North Carolina still in question
by Dan Van Moutik
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—^After the state Commission
for Health Services decided
to end anonymous HTV test
ing in the State of North
Carolina, ACT UP/Tri-
angle filed a motion in
Wake County Superior
Court, alleging that the state
withheld critical informa
tion when ACT UP re
quested documents under
the state’s public informa
tion statute. The motion
asked the court to order the
commission to rehear the
issue and consider the new
evidence. ACT UP also
requested that anonymous
testing be continued while
the court assessed the mer
its of their case.
On August 29, Judge Gordon Batt'
Sec. Johnathan Howes
down a three-part ruling. Of immediate sig
nificance is the granting of an indefinite in
junction against the State Health Department
which will keep anonymous
HIV testing available until a
final decision is reached by
the court.
Included in the mling is
the stipulation that the state
Commission for Health Ser
vices must reconsider all evi
dence presented on the issue,
including the suppressed re
port obtained by ACT UP.
The report, from state epide
miologist Teresa Klimko,
states that there is a signifi
cant and permanent drop in
the numbers of gay men be
ing tested for HIV when
anonymous testing is not
available. The State Health
department withheld this report from both
emission and ACT UP; ACT UP threat
ened the state with a law suit to get the report
released.
The third segment of Judge Battle’s ruling
states that the commission must return to
superior court after re-evaluating all informa
tion and present their findings. At that time.
Judge Battle will make a final determination
regarding anonymous HIV testing.
Judge Battle felt compelled to make his
ruling based on the state’s violation of the
Public Records Act, but it is undetermined if
the court actually has the authority to decide
this issue.
Several AIDS activists recently met with
Jonathan Howes, Secretary of Environment,
Health and Natural Resources, to discuss this
situation. Howes assured those present that
the Commission for Health Services would
devote their next meeting to this issue. Their
next scheduled meeting is November 3 where
regular agenda items will be discussed. The
commission has established a special, all-day
meeting for November 4 to address only the
testing issue.