i|sse^
336-774-1077
4019-A Country Club Road • Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Two sides to double your pleasure!
Our main side features DJ Bill, spinning all the top house turn,
while the hip hop side features the top urban hits.
CASS WESTBROOK'S
CABARET
Every Friday Nite @ Midnight!
Marph I3th-Tiffeny Bonet and Tyra Coture, cameo by
My-Kel Knight Addams
March 20th-Crystal Collins with Knute Westbrook
March 27th-Arabia Knight Addams and Simply Liz
Wild Wednesdays ooiiar Night!
$1 cover for members & non-members
$5 cover for 18-20 year olds
S1.00 Domestic Beer • $1.50 Well Drinks
2009 Talent Search — happens
every 1st Thursday of every month.
$100 cash prize to the winner!
Every Wednesday and Thursday
come party with DJ Tyson spinning!
Thursday. April 2nd:
Talent Search Night
email: ciubodysseync@hotmail.com
web: www.ClubOdyssey.info
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 9 pm until
For booking Information contact
Cass Westbrook at the club from 9-11 pm on
Tuesdays at 336-774-1077
L E G I S;L A T 1-0 N -
Marriage amendment
introduced
N.C. State Sen. Jim Forrester
Palmquist: ‘Greater push from right
wing than ever before’
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
RALEIGH — Several key pieces of legisla
tion — both anti-gay and pro-equality —
have been filed as the North Carolina General
Assembly dives deep into its 2009-2010 leg
islative session.
Conservative
lawmakers intro-,
duced an anti-
LGBT, anti-family
state constitution
al amendment on
marriage at a
press conference
on Feb. 24. State
Sen. Jim Forrester,
the chief sponsor
of the amendment
in the N.C. Senate,
said the amend
ment would “pro
tect our children
and our grand
children.”
“It would protect them from being taught
in public schools that same-sex marriage is
the same as traditional marriage,” he said. “It
would protect children from being raised in
unhealthy homes.”
EqualityNC Executive Director Ian
Palmquist said conservative lawmakers and the
right wing are using “scare tactics” to advance
their amendment. He said there was “absolutely
no evidence” to support their claims.
This year marks the sixth year in a row
that Forrester and other conservative
Republicans and Democrats have introduced
the amendment. For the past five years, the
Democratic leadership in both the N.C.
House and Senate have blocked the the
amendment’s progress.
“Our leadership has refused to act, has
refused to have the bill heard in committee
and giving the citizens in our state the right
and opportunity to vote on this issue as 30
other states have,” said Forrester. “It takes only
one liberal judge to overturn our statutes and
usher in gay marriage.”
Chiefly sponsored by State Sen. Jim
Forrester and Rep. Paul Stam, the “North
Carolina Defense of Marriage Amendment”
would ban all recognition of same-sex mar
riages, domestic partnerships or other civil,
domestic unions.
Roman Catholic Bishops Michael Burbidge
of Raleigh and Peter Jugis of Charlotte joined
Forrester, Stam and other legislators and con
servative activists from the anti-gay coalition
NC4Marriage at the press conference in the
only online
N.C. Legislative Building.
“We are seeing a greater push from the
right wing than ever before,” Palmquist told Q-
Notes. “Because of that we really need to be
organized and vocal in our opposition to
ensure that it does not come up. I’m hopeful
that we’ll be able to do it but we need to recog
nize that there is more pressure from the right
than we’ve seen in the past.”
Palmquist added that he believes
state legislative leadership will “focus
their chambers’ work on issues like
solving the state budget and address
ing unemployment rather than on the
constitutional amendment.”
Several county governments have
passed resolutions supporting the
passage of the proposed amendment,
which would ban marriage as well as
state and local benefits in the form of
domestic partner health policies.
Those counties include Lincoln, Ashe,
Avery, Rowan, Transylvania and
Moore, among others.
Palmquist encouraged community
members to check the agendas of
their county and city governments, to
help keep track of the progressing
anti-gay movement across the state.
“Agendas often aren’t posted until a day
or two before meetings,” Palmquist said.
“Our interns are scanning sites every few
days. We encourage all our supporters to
monitor their local county commissions for
these issues and to talk to their commission
ers in opposition.”
Forrester and State Sen. Jim Jacumin have
asked local county leaders to pass resolutions
in support of the amendment.
Their request was more than enough for
the chairman of the Rowan County
Commissioners, Carl Ford, to take the measure
up at his meeting. “I couldn’t ignore that,” Ford
said of the senators’ request before voting to
pass the resolution at the Feb. 16 Rowan
County board meeting.
“As we learn about resolutions coming up
in local governments we are alerting people in
those areas to contact their elected officids
and to attend the meetings and speak out
against them,” Palmquist said.
Among the pro-equality bills introduced
are a comprehensive sex education bill, a
repeal of the state’s Crime Against Nature law
and a hate crimes bill. The School Violence
Prevention Act, an anti-bullying bill, had yet to
be introduced by Q-Notes’ press time.
Palmquist said he expected the bill to be
introduced in early- to mid-March.
EqualityNC will hold a lobbying Day of
Action at the N.C. Legislative Building on
March 24. To register or for more information,
visit www.equalitync.org. I
• February photos & videos
• Video montage: ‘Queer February’
• EarthTalk, South Carolina News Notes
more at q-notes.com!
6 MARCH 7.2009 *QNotes