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The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 12, Number 7 • August 23, 1997 • FREE Rep. Kolbe addresses Log Cabin conference Page 3 Making the most of antiviral therapy Page 18 Former SC Pride co-chair Baseball fundraiser thrown into acquitted of solicitation charge spotlight after media attention by David Stout Q-Notes Staff GREENVILLE, SC—^This past March, just one month prior to the annual SC Gay and Lesbian Pride March, event co-chair Derrick Gunter was arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover officer. On July 31, a jury deliber ated 15 minutes before acquitting him. Gunter, 29, was arrested in Timmons Park near downtown Greenville one afternoon as he waited to go to work. He maintained that an undercover officer approached him and initi ated a conversation that quickly turned to sex. Gunter, who lives in Fountain Inn, SC, said that despite the fact he repeatedly told the of ficer he was not interested, the leading ques tions continued and he was subsequendy ar rested without cause. The arrest report alleged that Gunter re sponded to the conversation by suggesting a location where the two men could go for sex. After news of the arrest was released, leaders with the Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement (GLPM), the organization that produces the annual march and celebration, removed Gunter from his position as co-chair. They were report edly concerned that Gunters arrest could be a rallying point for anti-gay opponents and take the focus away from the celebratory nature of the weekend. In court, Randy Hiller, Gunter’s attorney, held that the case was an example of police en trapment that simply came down to one man’s word against another. Not enough evidence upon which to base a conviction, he argued. Based upon their quickly-rendered verdict, the jury agreed. Not surprisingly, police offi cials did not. Maj. W.L. Johnson told The Greenville News, “We regret there was no con viction, but we’re standing by our officer.” After the decision, GLPM member Tony Snell was quoted as saying, “We certainly wel come [Gunter’s] support and his work on the state board again if he would like to serve.” However, Gunter indicated that he had no de sire to do so. T Bar Association endorses needle exchange program to stop AIDS by David M. Smith Special to Q-Notes WASHINGTON, DG-The American Bar Association (ABA) endorsed the use of needle exchange programs August 5 as an effective way to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS while complementing the fight against drug abuse and encouraged the removal of legal barriers to such health efforts. “The ABA has joined public health experts in recognizing the scien tific evidence that needle exchange and drug treatment efforts complement each other and save lives,” said Seth Kilbourn, senior health policy advocate for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “Needle exchange programs help meet an urgent public health need in communities combating the dual epidemics of AIDS and il legal drug use.” Needle exchange programs provide intrave nous drug users with sterile syringes in eyrhangt* for used ones. Such programs have been imple mented in more than 100 communities around the country and have been shown to stem the spread of HIV and other blood-borne diseases transmitted through the sharing of injection equipment. In February, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report concluding that needle exchange programs are effective in slowing the spread of HIV and AIDS. HRC continues to call on the secretary of Health and Human Services to act on the sci entific evidence demonstrating the necessity and effectiveness of needle exchange programs. HRC is encouraging her to remove current restrictions preventing communities from us ing federal funds for these life-saving programs. The aba’s resolution states that “in order to further scientifically based public health ob jectives to reduce HIV infection and other blood-borne diseases, and in support of our long-standing opposition to substance abuse, the American Bar Association supports the re moval of legal barriers to the establishment and operation of approved needle exchange pro grams that include a component of drug coun seling and drug treatment referrals.” Approximately one-third of reported AIDS cases are related to injection drug use. Sixty-six percent of all AIDS cases among women — and more than half of such cases among chil dren ^ are related to injection drug use. With the adoption of this resolution, the ABA has joined a growing consensus in favor of needle exchange programs. Groups support ing such HIV prevention efforts include the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Na tional Academy of Sciences, die National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the United States Conference of Mayors. The ABA cited evidence that needle exchange programs re duce the spread of HIV and A hepatitis among injection drug users and their families: reduce the number of con taminated needles on the street that threaten public safety; do not increase — and may aaually reduce — ille gal drug use; and are frr more cost-effective than treating the additional people who would otherwise become HIV-positive. “It’s all too rare that saving lives and saving money end up on the same side of the public health equation,” noted Kilbourn. “So ignor ing the mountain of scientific evidence in fa vor of needle exchange efforts would be both morally and fiscally irresponsible.” Beyond the support from public health, sci entific and legal experts, neeffie exchange pro grams are earning favor with the majority of Americans. Fifty-five percent of voters support such programs, according to a bipartisan poll commissioned by HRC and conducted April 8-10 by the Tarrance Group, a Republican firm, and Lake Sosin Snell and Associates, a Demo cratic polling company. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percent. In addition, a March 1996 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 66 per cent of Americans favor “having clinics make clean needles available to IV drug users to help stop the spread of AIDS.” ▼ by David Stout Q-Notes Staff CHARLOTTE—When the Q-Notes staff decided to sponsor a trip to a Charlotte Knights baseball game several weeks ago, they envi sioned a fun, but low-key, outing to benefit Charlotte Pride Alliance. During the first sev eral weeks of ticket sales, that’s precisely how things were going. However, that changed af ter a few citizens complained about the event to Knights management and even contacted the media, leading to a flurry of publicity. The impetus for the outing was a bulk mail solicitation from the Knights allowing businesses and organizations to buy game tickets at below face value and resale them for a profit as a means of fundraising. The Q-Notes staff decided to pursue the offer with the hope of as sisting a wonhy gay organization. “We wanted to give the community an op portunity to get together and have some fun while supporting the Charlotte Pride AlUance at the same time,” said Associate Editor Dan Van Mourik. Because Charlotte Pride Alliance was newly formed, it was agreed that all proceeds would go to them if the event was organized. Before moving ahead, though, a Q-Notes staff member contaaed the Knights’ sales depart ment to ensure that team management would have no problems with the fundraiser — or a request to have the scoreboard acknow ledgement (given to all groups of 25 or more) read “Lesbian and Gay Knights Fans.” A Knights sales representative said that clear ance would have to come from his superiors, but he foresaw no problems with the requests. As predicted, the go-ahead for the fundraiser was given the next day and the August 30 game was selected since it offered a fireworks display and a performance by the Blues Brothers. At this point, the staff began to advertise the fundraiser in Q-Notes, billing it as “Gay Nite at Knights Castle.” Apparendy, it was this slo gan that led to the tumult among some non gays who saw the ad. According to Pete Moore, the Knights’ gen eral manager, some people took it to mean that the team was sponsoring an official night for the gay and lesbian community. They were an gered by this “promotion” of homosexuality and called to say so. They also contacted the media. Reporter Melissa Manware fielded a com plaint at the Rock Hill Herald and contacted this writer as a follow-up. She stated that she was preparing an article on the situation and wanted to ask a few questions. Based on the ensuing interview, and another she conducted with Moore, an article on the controversy ran on the front page of the Herald on August 12. In the article, Moore tried to placate those who were upset, reportedly stating, “That [Q- Notes\ ad leads you to believe we are sponsor ing a night. We aren’t doing anything special for them.” However, he affirmed that the gay and lesbian contingent would be welcomed like Editor David Stout at Knights Castle for Charlotte Observer photo session any other at Knights Casde. Over the next two days, the media contin ued to spodight the fundraiser. There was a story in The Charlotte Observer, a morning call- in discussion on local talk radio and a segment on WBTV’s early evening news broadcast. What had been planned as a small gather ing at a baseball game, turned into yet another public referendum on gay and lesbian visibility in Charlotte—with the usual results. “As we’ve seen with all the other controversies of the last few years, the attempts to stop these perfor mances have only made them bigger. The same is happening with our baseball game. When the media started reporting that some people had a problem with our fundraiser, tickets began to sell faster than ever,” Van Mourik said. One ticket holder commented, “After I saw in the newspaper that some folks didn’t want us to go to the game, I was more determined than ever to be there. This isn’t about being ‘in your face’ or anything else. It’s simply about gays and lesbians getting together and being who we are. I wanted to participate in this be cause it sounded like fun, not because of any ‘gay agenda’ or politics.” Despite the increase, plenty of tickets are still available. If you would like to help fund a worthy organization and increase gay visibility among the general citizenry, all while enjoying a fun evening of baseball, see the ad on page 15 of this issue or call (704) 531-9988. ▼ GLAAD gears up for histoi:y month by Liz Tracey Special to Q-Notes NEW YORK—The Gay & Lesbian Alli ance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is proud to announce that October is “Lesbian & Gay History Month: A Celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History.” The theme of this fourth annual event is “Charting the Future, Reclaiming the Past,” which will high light the often ignored contributions of gay fig ures and the community in history. During Lesbian & Gay History Month, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender commu nity examines its political struggle, cultural achievements and collective creativity. “Lesbian & Gay History Month creates a more honest and complete understanding of history by tell ing untold stories,” said Joan M. Garry, GLAAD’s executive director. “It provides us with the opportunity to reflect on the distance we have traveled as a community and to honor the stewards of that journey.” In January 1994, a high school teacher in Missouri, appalled by the exclusion of lesbian and gay history from textbooks, set out to make a change. Rodney Wilson organized teachers and community leaders to educate the public about lesbians and gay men past and present. They formed a national grassroots network to create a celebration and education campaign that continues today. The month of October was selected to commemorate the anniversa ries of the first two lesbian and gay marches on See HISTORY on page 8
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