The more things
change
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Trying to get bi
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Anti-gay measures expected
in new NC Generai Assembly
by David Jones
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—Politics in the North Caro
lina General Assembly shifted dramatically
to the right as a result of the November 1994
mid-term elections, creating the prospect of a
massive assault on lesbian and gay rights
when the new legislature convenes on Janu
ary 25,1995. A host of punitive and restric
tive legislative bills concerning AIDS educa
tion and services is also expected.
With strong support from conservative
Christian groups. Republicans gained 25 seats
in the state House, creating a Republican
majority of 67 to the Democrat’s 53. That
gives Republicans the right to name the next
Speaker of the House and committee chairs.
Republicans will also decide the makeup of
committees, which committees hear individual
bills and control the timing of votes on bills.
In the Senate, Republicans gained 13 seats
giving them 24 to fte Democrat’s 26, just two
short of a majority. Rumors spread immedi
ately after the election that at least two conser
vative Democrats in the state Senate would
switch parties, giving Republicans control
and the power to control the agenda there, too.
Republican leaders have aclmowledged that
they are encouraging Democrats to switch.
Given the number of conservative Democrats
in the Senate, many expect Republicans to
have ideological control over the Senate even
if they do not obtain a majority of members.
“Gays and lesbians in Nordi Carolina are
under siege” as a result, according to Derek
Livingston, outgoing executive director of
NC PridePAC, the state’s gay and lesbian
political action committee. “Bleak,” was the
word used by Roz Savitt, long-time progres
sive lobbyist in Raleigh who has represented
the NC AIDS Service Coalition, the state
association of social workers and the National
Organization for Women. John Bell, North
Carolina Coordinator for the Fund for South
ern Communities, a grassroots social and eco
nomic justice advocacy coalition with a long
history of supporting lesbian and gay causes,
called the election results “very troubling.”
Livingston told Q-Notes that because of re
sults in both state and local elections, “we
should be prepared for attacks on all fronts.
People who hate us will hate with more li
cense,” he said, “and our friends are not as
secure.” He called for stronger lesbian and
gay organizations on both statewide and local
levels. “As constituents, we have to talk and
lobby hard so people in the legislature know
that there are consequences to their votes. The
big question now is whether enough people
will trade their closet and comforts to fight for
their lives.”
Anti-gay and lesbian measures have been
introduced by Republicans, with the support
of some conservative Democrats, in North
Carolina in the past. And Livingston and
others expect those tactics to be tried again.
One amendment would have allowed land
lords to discriminate against those “for whom
there is a reasonable basis to conclude they
have committed a felony,” targeted at gays
and people with HTV. Another would have
prohibited the use of any state-funded facil
ity, including college Campuses, from being
used for meetings by gay groups. In the last
legislative session, a bill was introduced,
dubbed the “no promo homo bill,” that sought
to prohibit schools from discussing in sex or
AIDS education courses any unlawful sexual
acts which, in North Carolina, include sex
between people of the same-gender, sex with
a married person or sex between unmarried
people. Also, several attempts have been made
in the legislature to end anonymous HIV
testing.
None of the measures became law. But
with many predicting that Democrats in the
General Assembly, and Democratic Gov.
James Hunt, will now move to the right to
accommodate the new right-wing political
power in North Carolina, those and similar
bills are given a much stronger chance of
being enacted. Potentially even more trou
bling is a Republican pledge to authorize
voter initiatives to amend the state constitu
tion. Initiatives would allow groups to place
Continued on page 35
Pride PAC director resigns
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—^Derek Charles Livingston,
Executive Director of North Carolina Pride
Political Action Committee for Lesbian and
Gay Equality (NC Pride PAC), tendered his
resignation to the Pride PAC board of direc
tors on October 22, but the announcement
was delayed until after the November 8 elec
tions because of their work on behalf of can
didates. Livingston has agreed to serve as
director through the end of the year.
Livingston assumed the position of execu
tive director in January of this year after the
resignation of his predecessor Mike Nelson.
Livingston highlighted sevend accomplish
ments during his tenure before citing his rea
son for leaving. “Despite the accomplish
ments, however. I’ve come to realize the
work I want to do for the gay and lesbian
community is outside the parameters of a
political action committee. I feel I am better
suited for other types of political activism.”
While Livingston summed up his relation
ship with the board of directors as “at times
it’s been really good, and at times I think
WASHINGTON, DC—Pedro Zamora,
AIDS Action board member, dedicated HTV/
AIDS peer educator and cast member of
MTV’s The Real World, died on November
11,1994of AIDS. Hewas twenty-two years
old.
Zamora, who fled Cuba at age eight with
his family during the Mariel boat lift in
1980, became infected with HTV as a fresh-
P
Pedro Zamora
man in high school. He began speaking
publicly, as a way of coping with his condi
tion, to groups of young people about AIDS
soon after learning of Us HIV infection as a
Ugh school semor, Ziwnora went on to
b^me one of the nation’s leading AIDS
educators, appearing on television, nation
ally and intemationUly, telling his story to
theNational CommissiononAIDS, to mem
bers of Congress and to thousands of young
people around the country.
“In his abbreviated lifetime, Pedro did
more for HIV and adolescents than anyone
or any organization I know. His honest,
nonjuc^mental presentations made him an
invaluable advocate for young people with
HIV/AIDS or at riskofinv iirfection,”said
Jay Cobum, AIDS Action legislative repre
sentative and longtime friend of Zamora.
“Pedro dedicated his too-short life and
work to educating and enlightening those
around Um,” said Daniel T. Bross, AIDS
Action Council executive director. “The
simplidty, clarity and immediacy with wUch
Pedro shared bis experiences and ideas with
AIDS Action’s staff and board of directors
set an example for how we as a nation
should be fr^tmg tUs epidemic.”
2^ora spent Qte first half of tUs year in
San Francisco filming MTV’s The Real
World, a program that captures the adven
tures of and relationsUp between seven
young adults living under one roof. MTV
invit^ Pedro to the cast to portray exactly
who he was: a young gay man living with
HTV. “His character added a new dimen
sion and depth to the program and allowed
Pedro to reach young people around the
country with the message Uat AIDS hap
pens to young people, yet people can live
with AIDS,” Bross said.
In cooperation with AIDS Action, the
nation’s only organization devoted solely to
advocating at the federal level for more
effective AIDS funding and legislation,
Zamoratestifiedrepeate^Uy before congres
sional committees on HIV prevention and
the need for health care reform. In July, he
Continued on page 24
we’ve differed on styles and procedures,” he
refused to clarify what those dMerences might
be.
“Derek has served NC Pride PAC well in
helping to increase the visibility and expand
the base of support of the organization. He
has helped create a dialogue between the
political and gay and lesbian communities
that will be one of our most valuable assets in
the future.” said Bob Barrett, chairman of the
board of directors.
Livingston has recommended that the Pride
PAC not hire a new executive director. He
feels even more would be accomplished if
individual board members took on additional
responsibilities and that a lobbyist be hired to
work directly with legislative members. The
board is taking that recommendation under
advisement.
NC Pride PAC is a state-registered politi
cal action committee dedicated to electing
candidates who support equal treatment of
lesbians, gays and bisexuals. The organiza
tion focuses on state legislative and executive
races, as well as local races and issues of
statewide significance.
Anonymous HIV testing preserved for now
by David Jones
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—^Anonymous HIV testing will
continue to be available in all 100 North
Carolina health departments for two more
years, if a recent decision by the state Health
Services Commission stands. The commis
sion met November 4, 1994 and adopted a
temporary regulation to extend anonymous
testing. The commission could not adopt a
permanent rule at the November meeting be
cause the state had not published a notice of
intent to do so. The commission will vote on
making the rule permanent at its February
1995 meeting. If the commission does make
the rule permanent, it could still be overturned
by the North Carolina General Assembly.
The extraordinary meeting was unprec
edented in state history. The commission was
ordered to meet by Superior Court Judge
Gordon Battle. ACT UPTTriangle went to
court after the commission decided on August
3,1994 not to adopt a plan by the new state
AIDS Advisory Council. The plan would
have kept anonymous HIV testing in place
while the Council worked to reduce barriers
to testing. ACT UP told the court that the state
had withheld important data that was needed
to study whether anonymous HIV testing
increases the number of people at high risk of
HIV infection who seek testing. The court
reinstated anonymous testing temporarily and
ordered the commission to hear the new data.
State health director Ron Levine opened
the meeting with a review of the history of the
issue in North Carolina, including his prefer
ence for reporting names to the state of those
testing positive. The meeting was then turned
over to ACT UP’s attorney, Stuart Fisher of
Durham, who has successfully won three ear
lier court decisions supporting anonymous
testing. Fisher reminded the commission that
an individual’s right to privacy could not be
violated unless the state could show a com
pelling interest in doing so. He argued that
witnesses and scientific data to be presented
would make it clear that the state had no data
to support its position that confidential HIV
testing, where names are reported, resulted in
more people at high risk being tested than
anonymous testing.
Fisher then introduced a long list of exhib
its into the record, and a series of witnesses
that took up most of the day. They included.
public health, medical and scientific experts,
people with HTV and activists. Dr. Peter Leone
of the Wake County Health Department, and
Dr. Charles van der Horst of the University of
North Carolina AIDS Clinical Trials Unit
both testified that, regardless of laws seeking
to protect people with HIV from discrimina
tion, fear exists of breaches of confidentiality
that keep many people away from testing
when they think their names will be reported
to the state. Tim Moore, a Durham county
outreach worker with IV drug users, gave the
commission a dose of reality when he said
that “most of the people I talk to have criminal
records or are running from the police right
now. You won’t get them in if they have to
give their names. If you lose them, you won’t
get them again.”
After several other witnesses, the room
Continued on page 33