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PAGE 6 T Q-Notes ▼ April 18,1998 0uest editorial Stop the March Madness I’ve spent a great deal of time pondering the recent turn of events that now has us grappling with what to do about the proposed Millen nium March. Because I was a national co-chair of the 1993 March, people have frequendy asked for my opinion on this situation. I’ve taken time be fore responding publicly because I understand how casually critical some people can be and I have worked hard not to be one of those who would rather attack our own than focus on our enemies. But now I’ve come to realize that there is much more at stake here than hammering out the logistics of a march. In fact, what is at stake here is the very heart of our movement. Currendy, a huge segment of grassroots com munity leaders and many national groups be lieve that this march is ill-timed, strategically weak and coordinated by people out of touch with the important work happening outside of Washington, DC. And yet, rather than set up a structure for meaningful dialogue to balance pros and cons and evaluate the strategy of such a march, edicts are delivered via press release. The Human Rights Campaign, the largest group involved in advocating for the march, has publicly apologized for the ham-fisted man ner in which it has approached the issue and that is good. However, it is not enough to say “sorry” and continue to move forward on the same misguided course. In the past, a critical mass of support has been established before committing the enor mous resources that marches require. Now, it appears, instead of doing the work of building broad-based support for such an effort, the movement is being hijacked — strategy and coalition-building thrown out the window. We must decide whether this is a movement for social and political change that will con tinue to build and grow and grapple with the tough issues. Or will we be a produa to be pack aged and shaped according to the dictates of the latest focus group. We can’t replace courage with marketing. There is without a doubt tremendous power Vol. 12, No. 23 - April 18, 1998 Mailing Address: PO Box 221841 Charlotte, NC 28222 Phone. (704) 531-9988 Fax: (704) 531-1361 £-Wir/7:editor@q-notes.com Street Address: 4037 E. Independence Blvd., Suite 611 Charlotte, NC 28205 ' Publisher & CEO Jim Yarbrough Editor David Stout Associate Editor Dan Van Mourik Arts Editor Brian D. Holcomb Typesetter Dan Van Mourik Administrative Assistant... Brian M. Myer Personals Larry Jackson Advertising Sales Jim Yarbrough Charlotte Distribution Angela Sl^ Distribution/Shipping Detriat Phillips Contributing Writers: Barbara Bode, Tracy Conaty, J. Lynn Davidson, Billy Hileman, Brian D. Holcomb, Larry Lauck, C. Lichtenstein, Paula Martinac, Brian M. Myer, Nadine Smith, David Stout, Kathy Strieder, Dan Van Mourik Q^Notes is published every ocher in Charlotte, NC by Pride Publishing & Typesetting. Advertisements are published with the understanding that the advertisen are fully authorized to publish sub- mitted copy; having secur^ any necessary written con sent for all copy, text, photos and illustrations, and that no ad submitted is in violation of a patent, copyright, first right of publication, or a ri^t to priv^. liie ad vertiser assumes all liability for claims of suits based on the subjea mater of its ad, and agrees to hold Pride Pub lishing & Typesetting and Q^^Nous harmless from any such claim. The Publisher assumes no liability for typographical errors or omissions beyond offering to run a correction. The entire contents of Q^-Notes are copyright (c) 1998 by Pride Publishing & Typesetting, and may not be re produced in any manner, either in whole or part, with out the express written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. Pumication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Q-Notfs is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual ori entation of such person or organization. The views of this newspaper are expressed only in edi torials. Opinions expres^ in columns, letters, articles and cartoons arc chose of the writers and artists and do not necessarily represent the opi|iions of Q-Notfs. in marching on Washington. My first March in 1987 was a significant turning point in my life. But this debate is not about the value of marches. It is about whether we best serve this movement by going to Washington in 2000, a major election year, and how we decide when and if the time is right. Three times in the past two decades we’ve come to Washington, DC and the community was told go home and build. Well, we’ve built and built and built and back home is where it is all happening. For over a decade, the idea of a march on the 50 state capitals has been gaining steam and for the first time there exists enough organiza tions to make this a powerful event. To truly have a strong national presence that isn’t merely. a paper tiger, building local and state networks that can gain ground at home and feed the na tional effort is vital. Talk to young people who are coming our. While they are thrilled to see Ellen and Martina and Greg and other celebrities, what they re ally want to see are people in their own com munities who have lives similar to the ones they imagine for themselves. People have called marches on DC glam ourous and media sexy events. That is perhaps our biggest problem. Too many people are won dering how they can become the Martin Luther King, Jr. for our movement when we are in desperate need of a million Rosa Parks. We’re mistaking style for real substance. I have yet to hear a cogent, persuasive argu ment for a national march in 2000. I’m open to it. If convinced, no one would work harder to bring folks to it. But right now I believe our priority is back home. We need massive voter identification efforts so we can start winning elections for ourselves and our supporters. We need to lobby our eleaed officials in their home districts. We need to build our memberships and fundraise for the referendums we continue to face on the local and state level. Those of us who believe that our movement should not be strong-armed have a responsi bility to speak up instead of accepting this as a “done deal.” For HRC’s own good, for our community’s benefit, we need to make clear that this march will not go on as it is now conceived. HRC is the wealthiest and largest gay organi ses EDITORIAL on page 24 Index Articles Charlotte doctor receives state award 15 Face off .. 1 Frank calls proposed 2000 march a “diversion” ..5 Groups fight military ban in court . 10 Leaders praise ex-US Rep. Abzug ... ..9 Leaked report shows military discharges up sharply ..3 A minority within the gay minority ..3 Navy to appeal ruling in AOL case. ..9 North Carolina decides not to make changes to ADAP 15 RAIN walks a mile (plus) for AIDS .. 1 SC Pride anti-rally rally planned .... .. 1 Tour to address GLBT families 22 Features Brighten your life with lighting 21 Gay play sure to raise protests .20 Q-Culture Recommends .20 That’s Liza with a ‘Z’ not Lisa with an ‘S’ ‘cause Lisa 21 Watch out for dykes in Raleigh 20 Columns Advertiser Index .24 Classifieds .24 Community Cards .27 Curbside .30 GLAAD Notes .18 Lesbian Notions .10 Money Matters .12 News Notes .17 Out and About .30 Out In The Stars .13 Personals .28 QFYI .11 letters Lift, don’t separate A crossdressing friend recendy told me of what was, for “her” an “unsetding” experience while visiting a gay nightclub in Charlotte: she was laughed at. She had tricked herself out in her most seduaive, beautiful outfit, only to be found “lacking” by several people at the club — and the subject of ridicule. She’s damned attraedve, too. To make matters worse, some of the people who laughed at her were wearing studded dog collars and leashes, had spiky hair, every avail able inch of skin was covered with tattoos, had piercings in their eyebrows, navels, noses, ears, lips, nipples (and probably their clitoris and penises), looked like Charles Manson wanna be’s...in general, those people who are rather freaky looking themselves. Most of the “laughers” were on the young side. As we all know, many of the patrons of Charlotte’s gay bars can be oh-so-cool, deni- gradng those who do not meet their high stan dards of what is hip and “in.” I accept that many crossdressers are pretty “different” looking, especially to those who are unfamiliar with who and what we are — and are not. Gay bars were initially started by those who wanted to provide a safe haven for gays and lesbians, as well as a place to party with people who were of a like mind. (Cruising was an added “benefit.”) Eventually, bisexual and transgendered people were drawn to those clubs, too — also seeking safety and friends. The point here is that most clubs which ca ter to lesbians and gays, also enjoy patronage from bi’s and TGs — from just-out-of-the- closet crossdressers, to post operative transsexuals...and everything in between. For any GLBT bar hopper to make fun of anyone in an GLBT bar is to make fun of them selves. As I once wrote for Scorpio’s first news letter: GLBT bars welcome everyone. The pa trons should, too. It matters not if you are gay or bisexual, a lipstick lesbian or diesel dyke, a leatherman or a swishy sissy, a professional female imperson ator or an amateur drag queen hooking on the corner, a rich crossdresser or an out-of-work transsexual...even boring straight people are — or should be — welcome at gay clubs. All gay clubs. No one should ever laugh at another patron in any bar, straight or gay, especially if some one else might find you freaky looking, too. When I visit a GLBT club, I always expect to encounter a friendly crowd, regardless if I am one of the cool people or not. Charlotte is fortunate in that there are so many establishments which welcome GLBT business, including several nightclubs and bars. Percentage-wise, I’ll bet Charlotte exceeds most other cities across the US in the number of businesses who welcome our business. Thus, if someone doesn’t get a warm fiizzy from one club, they will probably search for another. Can any club owner afford to anger any group of potential patrons, be they G, L, B and/ orT? I think not. To those club owners who want everyone’s patronage, tell your staff to attempt to be un derstanding and supportive; and don’t tolerate any of your customers ridiculing any other cus tomer. It’s simply bad business to allow anyone to be laughed at in your club. — Divinity, Charlotte, NC \The writer is the founder of the Carolina Trans-Sensual Alliance. ] Courting justice Just as new medical hope brings the prom ise of longer, fuller lives for people with HIV, the Supreme Court Justices must ensure that they are not made vulnerable to irrational, il logical and irresponsible discrimination. Sev enteen years and millions of dental procedures into the epidemic, not once has HIV been trans mitted from patient to dentist. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was intended to protect people from discrimi nation with health conditions that did not pro hibit them from participating in community life. The definition of disability was written in the broadest sense to protect Americans with serious health conditions from irrational dis crimination. Asymptomatic HlV-disease is in fart a model example of the kind of health con dition for which the ADA was intended. See LETTERS on page 24 Advertising Deadlines Issue Date Deadline May 2 Monday April 20 May 16 Monday May 4 May 30 Monday May 18 Subscribe! Subscriptions are by 1st and 3rd class mail in sealed envelopes mailed in Charlotte, NC. Subscription rate for one year (25 issues) is $52 (1st class) or $28 (3rd cla^). Subscription rate for sue months (12 issues) is $25 (1st class) or $15 (3rd class). To subscribe, mail this form to O-Notes, PO Box 221841, Charlotte, NC 28222. Make checks payable to Q-Notes or provide credit card information below. 25 issues: □ 1st class, $52 □ bulk, $28 • 12 issues: Q 1st class, $25 Q bulk, $15 Name Address City, State, Zip Credit Card (circle one): MasterCard Visa Discover /Vnerican Express Card Number: Exp. Date. — ■ Signature j
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