Coco’s return to
the Queen City
Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
Volume 23 . Number 15 November 29.2008 Printed on Recycled Paper FREE
page 21
Ai\j^
KiAM-j-^
q-notes.com
i fs a national
turning
point. A figurative
call to arms for the
queer community.
, The cross-country
;■ response to the pas-
. . ' sage of California’s
a j ' Proposition 8 and other
m J k ’ anti-gay ballot initiatives
M W ~ I _ is among the greatest and
9 m I w loudest rallying CTies for
I — equality ever heard from
# the LGBT community.
^ ^ Journalist Rex Wockner
^ is calling it “Stonewall 2.0”
J^T Others are talking about a
new wave of inspiration and
the death of a “passive era” of
m LGBT lobbying and advocacy. -
m WriterAndrew Sullivan says
m m ■ groups like the Human Rights
• ^ Campaign are becoming increasing-
^ ly irrelevant in the face of the need to
adapt to new realities and challenges.
On Nov. 15, untold hundreds of
thousands of citizens in more than 300
cities across the nation took to the
streets to proclaim a new movement for
equality. Twenty-six-year-old, Seattle resi
dent Amy Balliett’s JoinThelmpact.com —
the informal “organization” behind the call
for a national day of protest — created a
powerful, national coalition of young and rela
tively inexperienced activists the likes of which
the LGBT movement has not seen in decades.
With just a few clicks of the mouse and the
dedication of local, self-appointed organizers
across the country, Balliett tapped into the growing
frustration and stirred more passion than the
national LGBT movement has been able to muster
■ since the days of ACT-UP and Queeer Nation. The vis-
■ ibility and level of public debate created.in the
firestorm of Nov. 15’s public outcry over California’s,
, Florida’s, Arizona’s and Arkansas’patently offensive viola
tions of civil equality is priceless.
. - , If only we’d seen such a movement before the election.
Or perhaps before the other 27 states in the union defined
me as a second-class citizen. I guess now was the appointed
time for the bubble to burst-.
The Carolinas’ almost 3,000 protesters pale in comparison
to the thousands-strong protests in cities as far flung as New
York and L.A. But for a region of our size and political climate,
our local participation in this national moment of anger, frus
tration, hope and Pride — joining the protests in other rural,
■see Taking on 16
’TIs the Season!
Annual holiday
gift guide f
page 21 I
Tough times
Economy hits
S.C. Groups
page \ ‘4
Gala success
Advocates gather
with EqualityNC
page 15