NC Pride ’98 holds
fundraisers Page 5
Rosenberg volunteers
to stay active Page 21
^^The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper « Volume 12, Number 20 » March 7, 1998 * FREE
SC Pride ’98 makes progress, Make a bid for Time Out Youth
still faces some opposition
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
MYRTLE BEACH, SC—Plans for the 9th
Annual South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride
March and Festival, April 30-May 3, are near
ing completion with most of the entertainment,
speakers, vendors and other details set and an
nounced to the public.
House of Blues in North Myrde Beach will
host many of the concerts and parties, kicking
off the weekend festivities with a VIP So
cial from 6:00-8:00pm, featuring
entertainment by Melissa
Reaves and her band The
Willys. Admittance is free
and there will be a cash
bar and appetizers avail
able.
At 9:00pm, doors
will open for the night’s
featured entertainment,
dance and adult contem
porary artist Taylor Dayne
will be singing her hits. The
concert will begin at
10:00pm. Tickets are $15.
Following Dayne’s concert.
House of Blues will host a late
night dance party with Mark
— McEwan, a DJ from Adanta. The party will
last until 5:00am. Admission is $7 for people
who do not attend the Dayne concert.
On May 1, ’70s disco superstars KC and
The Sunshine Band will perform at 11:15pm
at the House of Blues. Tickets are $25. Imme
diately following is another late night dance
party featuring New Orleans’ alternative DJ
Lydia Prim. The party will last until 5:00am,
and admission is $7 for those attending only
the dance party.
On May 2, the House of Blues will sponsor
a dance party with RuPaul from 8:30pm until
2:00am. Tickets to that event are $17.50.
Festival organizer Patrick Evans confirmed
that registration and welcome activides will still
be held at the Official AH Star Cafe, another
festival sponsor, on April 30 and May 1.
Candace Gingrich and Betty DeGeneres are
scheduled to speak at the 10:00am rally on May
2, and festival organizers are waiting for con-
firmadon of other speakers. The parade is ex
pected to run from noon to 2:00pm with the
balance of the rally acdvities finishing around
4:00pm. A concert at Doug Shaw Memorial
Stadium is expected to follow at 5:00pm. The
performer for the concert has not been an
nounced yet.
The festival will end May 3 with an inter
denominational morning prayer service on the
beach. The service will be followed by a picnic
at Myrde Beach State Park.
For complete details on all the events, see
the SC Pride ad on page 2 of this issue.
But all is not smooth sailing. On Tuesday,
February 24, Myrde Beach City Council de
nied part of the full request to close several
downtown streets by SC Gay and Lesbian Pride
Festival organizers. Council also restricted ac
cess by festival vendors, limiting them to a small
parking lot. The Council was marked by
strained remarks on both sides.
Organizers had asked the city to allow the
closing of streets in the downtown superblock
area from 10:00am to 4:00pm on May 2 for
the rally and parade. Council, however,
amended the request before approving it 6-1.
Mayor Mark McBride said he could not sup
port the use of city space by the Gay Pride
group.
“For 60 years, this community has promoted
* "'I
RuPaul
itself as a family beach with family values,”
McBride said. “I believe we’re opening our door
to all the other groups across the country, like
the skinheads and all these Black Panthers if
we allow this group. We’ll become the soapbox
for all these groups.”
Festival co-chair Patrick Evans called the
reasoning thinly veiled homophobia. His voice
and body shook with anger as he tried to re
spond. “Tonight you have insulted my family.
Mayor McBride,” Evans said during the
meeting. “I have fiunily values and
I question if you know what
they are.”
k The council voted to
close half of the portion
of Ninth Avenue North
that organizers had re
quested; added the use
of George Cox Boule
vard for the festival; and
said the festival could not
have vendors on the outer
streets. The council also said
vendors will only be allowed
in the inner parking lot, which
is enclosed by the superblock.
Council said it decided not to
close part of Ninth Avenue North
so traffic could get in and out of the First Meth
odist Church for a wedding. The church is lo
cated on the edge of the superblock and uses
pan of Ninth Avenue North for access.
Before considering the request to close streets
for the festival, council had met in executive
session for 55 minutes to discuss a legal ques
tion regarding two festival requests on the
council’s agenda. The requests were for Gay
Pride and Myrde Gras. The council approved
the closing of superblock streets for the city-
sponsored Myrde Gras festival April 25. That
festival requested the same streets the Gay Pride
festival asked for.
Because of that and because the city has shut
down roads for other private events. Council
man Wayne Gray said he would support the
request by Pride organizers. “The fact is the
precedent has been set,” Gray said.
But McBride didn’t agree. “When we closed
29th Avenue North it was for safety,” McBride
said.
Pride co-chair Linda Robertson said she was
very angry and disappointed with council. She
also said festival organizers would contact their
attorney and the American Civil Liberties
Union.
“We have met with City Manager Tom
Leath,” Robertson said. “We have met with
local law enforcement and the fire department.
We have met with city festival planners and
downtown business owners. We have elected
not to have food vendors so restaurants in the
area can reap the benefits of serving this group.
We have designated four charities to receive
money from the event.”
Downtown business owners and city resi
dents also stated their disappointment and dis
gust that the council would approve Myrtle
Gras and limit the same request minutes later
for the Pride Festival.
“The precident you may not understand you
are setting is exclusion,” said superblock busi
ness owner Heather Lee Johnson. “My percep
tion is that it is just discriminatory. My opin
ion has changed tonight. I walked in here think
ing this was a civil thing. I am so disappointed.
Mayor McBride. I think you need to realize
there are enough people in this community to
keep three gay bars running in this city year-
round.” T
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—Everybody’s trying to
score a ticket to one of Garth Brooks’ two sold-
out concerts at the Charlotte Coliseum, right?
Well, guess what? We know where you can get
two of them. Yeah, you heard right...two! And
that’s not even the best part — the best thing is
that the money is going to a great cause! So,
where can you get them? At the 7th Annual
Tune Out Youth Auction—but you didn’t hear
it from us!
On Saturday, March 14, benefactors will
convene at the First Union Atrium in uptown
Charlotte to raise vital funds for Time Out
Youth, the area’s only non-profit organization
dedicated solely to meeting the needs of GLBT
and questioning youth ages 13-23. Silent and
live, auctions will run during the evening,
dubbed “Show Your True Colors,” offering a
variety of unusual and coveted items — like
those impossible-to-get Brooks tickets.
The silent auction will begin at 6:30pm and
last until 9:00pm; live bidding will commence
at 8:00pm with Master of Ceremonies Cullen
Ferguson (WSOC television news anchor and
father of a gay man) leading the way.
Celebrity auctioneers scheduled to partici
pate include County Commissioners Becky
Carney, Lloyd Scher and Darrel Williams,
openly gay commission candidate Andrew
Reyes and local radio personality Jerry Klein.
Some of the items they will be pushing are
an RCA satellite dish, an autographed pair of
Speedos from Greg Louganis, a Maltese puppy
with a free year of vet care, lunch with former
Charlotte mayor and US Senate candidate
Harvey Gantt, numerous vacation packages,
Nascar goodies and backstage passes for Sarah
McLachlan’s Independence Arena show.
This event raises nearly one-third of Time
Out’s annual operating budget. Last year’s auc
tion brought in $18,000; organizers are setting
there sights much higher this time hoping to
bring in $50,000.
There will be a $10 admission charge to
cover the beer, wine, hors d’oeuvres and des
serts provided throughout the evening. For
more information, or to donate items, call Gigi
Guyton at (704) 338-9528. T
Games are on the gay agenda
by Juli Treadway
Q-Notes Staff
At last count, at least nine of the 12,500
athletes expected to compete in the upcoming
Gay Games will be from the Charlotte area.
Participants from five continents will compete
in 30 events at Gay Games V, to be held Au
gust 1-8 in Amsterdam, Holland. The Char
lotte athletes will be competing in figure skat
ing, swimming, triathlon, marathon and ten
nis. Kyle McIntyre, who will be competing in
solo figure skating, says, “I am looking forward
to visiting this fantastic place and just being
there amongst all of the other
gays and lesbians. The cama
raderie will be wonderful.”
The Gay Games origi
nated in San Francisco in
1982. Dr. Tom Waddell, a
former Olympian in track and
field, organized them as the
“Gay Olympics” to demon
strate to the world the skills
and competitive spirit of the
gay community.
Despite their positive mes
sage, however, they were not
without controversy. The United States Olym
pic Committee successfully filed for an injunc
tion prohibiting organizers from using the word
“Olympics” in their name. Despite the fact that
numerous events used the word — even one
called the “Rat Olympics” — only the Gay
Olympics were forced to relinquish the name.
(In 1994, when openly-gay, diving champion
Greg Louganis received the highest honor be
stowed by the International Olympic Commit
tee, the US Committee recognized the Gay
Games and included them in their annual hand
book under noteworthy events.)
The first Gay Games attracted 1350 athletes,
from 179 cities in 12 countries, who competed
in 14 events. They boasted a budget of
$125,000 and a volunteer workforce of 600.
Gay Games II were again held in San Fran
cisco in 1986. This time there were 3500 ath
letes, from 258 cities in 19 countries. There
were 17 competitive events and the budget rose
to $350,000. Although the Games were a ma
jor success, tragedy struck the following year
when Dr. Tom Waddell died of AIDS on July
11, 1987.
Gay Games III were held in Vancouver, BC,
Official team logo
Canada. These games were attended by 7500
athletes, from 39 countries, competing in 23
events and the budget had soared to $2.1 mil
lion. Vancouver was a wonderful host to the
Games, opening their city for everyone’s use
and providing free transportation for the ath
letes.
Gay Games IV, the largest sporting event
ever, including the “real” Olympics, were held
in New York City. A whopping 10,864 athletes
from 40 countries competed in 31 events. The
Games had 7000 volunteers and a budget of
$6.5 million. Gay Games IV also coincided
with the 25th anniversary of
the Stonewall Riots—which
occurred in June of 1969.
The three-day Stonewall riots
are considered to be the start
ing point of the gay and les
bian rise to freedom. Two
highlights of the 1994 Games
were a one-mile-long rain
bow flag that marchers car
ried during the Stonewall 25
parade and entertainment by
Liza Minnelli. (Charlotteans
had their own highlight to
boast about at the ’94 Games: hometown power
lifter Sandy Crenshaw captured the Gold in her
weight division. Reportedly, she is planning to
defend her title in Amsterdam.)
Like the Olympics, athletes to the Gay
Games must pay their own expenses. Because
of this, Charlotte’s participants are coordinat
ing several fundraisers — with the next one at
Fat City restaurant, located in the North
Davidson Arts District, on March 22 at 2pm.
Local favorite Doubting Thomas is scheduled
to perform and the cover charge will go to the
athletes. The team is also selling T-shirts for $ 15
featuring their original logo.
If you would like to sponsor an athlete, make
a donation or purchase a shirt, contact Ann
Hooper at (704) 377-1144. Additionally,
Beverly McIntyre of Pink Fairy Travel is han
dling the travel packages for the Games and
there is still room for folks to go — as specta
tors or competitors. Gay Games participants
do not have to meet any minimum, require
ments nor are there tryouts. Athletes must sim
ply possess a desire to compete with other gays
and lesbians in an event whose motto is “Friend
ship Through Culmre and Sports.” T