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Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 15, Number 24 • April 14, 2001 • FREE
Dr. Laura show Judy Shepard, U-WY President Dr. Phil DuBois
is euthanized to speak against hate April 19 at UNC Charlotte
by Cathy Renna
Special to Q-Notes
LOS ANGELES — Culminating its three-
year public education
campaign against the
rhetoric of talk-show
host Laura Schlessinger,
the Gay & Lesbian Al
liance Against Defama
tion (GLAAD) and
other activist groups
hailed the cancellation
of TVs Dr. Laura as a
powerful victory
against defamation and anti-gay intolerance.
Dr. Laura, produced and distributed by
Paramount Domestic Television, ended produc
tion on March 29. The freshman TV show has
been a critical and ratings failure since its Sep
tember 11, 2000 debut, and since early No
vember it has been downgraded to post-mid-
night time slots in 29 of the nations top 30
media markets.
GLAAD launched its campaign in 1998,
when Schlessinger began using terms such as
“deviant,” “disordered” and “biological error”
to describe gays and lesbians. GLAAD was
joined by other GL.BT advocacy groups as well
as Internet sites like StopDrLaura.com. The
high-profile initiative successfully thwarted cor
porate sponsorship of the show, forcing Para
mount to offer deeply discounted rates and rely
almost exclusively on direct-order products to
fill national ad slots. At the 2001 PR Week
Awards in February, GLAAD was awarded the
Non-Profit Team of the Year award for its
Schlessinger campaign.
“Paramount Domestic Television justified its
decision to air Dr. Laura by saying that it would
See LAURA on Page 13
April 15-21 Proclaimed “Remember Matthew
Shepard Week” in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
by Sam Nixon
Special to Q-Notes
CHARLOTTE—Judy Shepard, mother of
hate crimes victim, Matthew Shepard, will
speak at 7:00 pm Thursday, April 19, in UNC
Charlottes McKnight Hall.
Her lecture, T/je Legacy of Matthew Shepard:
Judy Shepard Speaks Out Against Hate, will
chronicle her own experience with the death of
her son and her subsequent work in hate crimes
prevention.
In addition. Dr. Phil DuBols, president of
the University of Wyoming in Laramie, where
Matthew Shepard was a student at the time of
his death, will lead a town hall meeting. Insti
tutional Response to Hate, at 3:00 pm that day
in Cone University Centers After Hours area.
DuBois was provost and vice chancellor for aca
demic affairs at UNC Charlotte from 1991-
1997 before becoming president at Wyoming.
Both Dubois and Judy Shepard will answer
questions following the town hall meeting.
Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory and
Mecklenburg County Commission Chair Parks
Helms have issued a proclamation declaring the
week of April 15-21 “Remember Matthew
Shepard Week” in recognition of the UNC
Charlotte events, Matthews ties to North Caro
lina (he was a resident of Salisbury while
atending Catawba College) and the current leg
islative deliberations about extending the North
Carolina Hate Crimes Act.
Those deliberations take the form of Senate
Bill 392, the Matthew Shepard Memorial Act,
recently introduced in the North Carolina up
per chamber. It seeks to add sexual orienta-
Man faces murder charge after
bar trick leaves gay man dead
by Clay Ollis
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTFE — Gregory Todd Coley, seen
occasionally at Charlotte gay bars, was found
stabbed to death in his apartment on Eastway
Drive on Monday, October 30, 2000. Charlotte-
Mecklenburg police responded to a call from the
manager after neighbors said Coley had not been
seen in two days. The next day, police arrested
Joseph Wade Hastings, known to
frequent the same bars, and charged
him with first-degree murder.
According to information
gleaned from police reports, the dis
trict attorney’s office and sources in
the gay community, Coley, a gay
man, and Hastings, who is bisexual,
met at a Charlotte gay bar on Sat
urday, went to another bar and even
tually to Coley’s apartment. What
happened from that point is unclear.
One source indicated the victim was
tied up, but no mention of restraint
appears in police reports. According to an un
confirmed source, Hastings claimed to have
stabbed Coley in self-defense after Coley himself
pulled a knife. Hastings also said he was “messed
up” and didn’t know how badly Coley was hurt.
One source indicated that Hastings was perceived
Joseph Wade
Hastings
tion, gender, age and disability to NC’s exist
ing hate crimes law. This bill has been referred
to a committee
which has the
power to decide
whether or not
the bill even
makes it to the
Senate floor for
debate. Sup
porters hope
Judy Shepard’s
visit will put
pressure on the
committee to
send the bill to
the full Senate,
and on Senators to approve it.
Matthew Shepard, was enrolled at the Uni
versity of Wyoming in October 1998 when he
PROCLAMATION
City of Charlotte/Mecklenbiu-g CoiuiU'
Judy Shepard
WHEREAS. Matthew Shepard was u o
has muny conmetiona in North Carolina; a'vl
a student of Catawba College and
deliberations about
by some to be a hustler, but others said they never
knew him to hustle. Three different people said
they had never seen Hastings get violent and they
do not believe that he is a violent person.
“Whatever may have occurred in that apart
ment, Greg Coley is still dead. Every gay man
knows that taking home someone you don’t know
is never safe, yet it continues to happen routinely.
Once again, it proved fatal for a young man with
half his life ahead of him,” com
mented one local community
leader.
The defendant is still in custody
in the Mecklenburg County Jail
without bond. He was indicted on
November 27, 2000 for capital
murder. His initial hearing was April
2, where discovery evidence was pre
sented and plea arrangements were
discussed. Hastings will continue to
be advised by his attorney, and a fol
low-up administrative hearing is set
for May 29.
If Hastings is found guilty of first-degree mur
der, he will receive a mandatory life sentence.
Hastings is 30 years old.
Gr^ory Coley was born in Stanly County, NC
on May 14, 1961. He was 39 at the time of his
WHEREAS, Manhew Sbepord'a violent death has led i
exletxling the North Carolina Hate Crimes Act; anj
WHEREAS, the University ofNonh Carolina al Charlone is ^onaoring Matthew
Shepard's mother. Judy Shepard, in a day-k>cig presentaiH'n about random violence
against gay men and lesbiaas:
^tJW, THEREFORE. WE, Patrick McCrory. Mayor of Charlotie. and H. Parka
Helms, Chairman of the County Board of Commissioners, do hereby proclaim the week
of April IS - 21. 2001 as
“REMEMBER MATI HEW SHEPARD WEEK”
In Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and call on all cftizeiu to reflect on the importance
of creating a community where all people ore treated with respect and dignity.
Wl TNESS OUR Hands and the ofTicial Seals of the City of Charlone and
Mecklenburg County.
s Heimi, Chairman
Mecklenburg County
Board of Comm issioncTS
was fatally beaten and tortured by two men be
cause he was gay. The savagery of the crime and
its motivation made national headlines, shocked
Laramie and devastated the
Shepard family.
As Judy Shepard dealt
with her grief, she received
expressions of sympathy
and support from across the
nation. Ultimately, she
found purpose in joining
the effort against hate
crimes and considers her work a
daily tribute to her son.
She has testified before the
US Senate’s Judiciary Commit
tee in support of hate crimes leg
islation and has appeared in pub
lic service television announce
ments aimed at curbing anti-gay
violence and promoting a greater
understanding of gay issues. She also became ac
tive in the organization Parents, Families and
Friends of Lesbians and
Gays (PFLAG), and the
Shepard family has estab
lished the Matthew Shepard
Foundation to carry on
Matthew’s personal interest
in social justice.
Judy Shepard said of
her activities since her son’s
death, “I feel Matthew
with me everyday, or I
would not be able to do
this....We realize that we
must use the voice his
death has given us.”
Admission to the town
hall meeting with Dr.
DuBois and Judy Shepard
is free and open to the
public. Admission to Mrs.
Shepard’s evening lecture
is free for UNCC students
and $5 for the general
public, payable at the door.
For more information,
call the UNC Charlotte
Campus Activities Board at
704-687-2450. T
OutCharlotte’s April film A Union in
Wait shows Deacons vs. Dykes
by Robert Marcus James
Special to Q-Notes
In May of 1981,
Wendy Scott would meet
a new co-workef named
Susan Parker. Their new
friendship would quickly
transform into something
more special. A Union In
takes a very personal
look at Susan Parker and
Wendy Scott’s relation
ship, and the controversy
that would make their
private life anything but private.
Susan Parker and Wendy Scott are mem-
Scott and Parker outside
Wait Chapel at WFU
bers of Wake Forest Baptist Church in Win
ston-Salem. In 1997 the couple decided they
wanted to have a union ceremony in Wake
Forest University’s Wait
Chapel, where their con
gregation regularly holds
worship services. Though
their pastor was willing to
perform the ceremony, the
University, which has a
Southern Baptist heritage,
told them no. Susan
Parker, Wendy Scott, their
church, and many others
joined together to fight
the school’s decision in what would become a
See UNION on Page 9
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