Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Wews
Volume 24 . Number 07 August 8.2009 Printed on Recycled Paper FREE
q-notes.com
v''f
Thousands celebrate Pride in
Uptown Charlotte
Despite anti-gay protests, organizers
say event is success
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
Thousands of LGBT community members
from across the Carolinas gathered at
Uptown’s Gateway Village for the 2009 Pride
Charlotte festival on Saturday, July 25.
Organizers said the event was a success,
despite vocal anti-gay protests from religious
leader Dr. Michael Brown and his Coalition of
Conscience.
Event co-chair Clay Smith said police esti
mates put attendance at anywhere from
12,000-15,000 for the day. He said the event
had almost 90 vendors, down from a little over
100 in 2008.
Smith said he was disappointed so much
of the mainstream media’s news coverage
focused on the protesters who gathered across
the street from the festival grounds.
“We had a fantastic day of fun and fellow
ship and that is what we need at least once a
year,” Smith said. “If anything is newsworthy, 1
think that is what is most important.”
Organized weeks in advance by Brown and
the Coalition of Conscience, the “God Has a
Better Way” rally attracted as many as 500
see Pride on 11
Wilmington
crime
Two men beaten
page 4
Thom Bierdz
Out on/off screen
page 19
f-OCUS
OM
m
Several LGBT-
friendly youth
gathered to
counter>protest
the anti-gay
“God Has a
Better Way”
rally at Pride
Charlotte.
Pageant raises questions
Pride say rules, judging was fair
by Shane L Windmeyer
[Ed. Note — This writer was the host of the
Charlotte Eagle’s Miss Pride Charlotte
preliminary]
This year’s Pride Charlotte festival was a
success — with as many as 12,000 attendees
or more, no one can doubt it. But two weeks
before the festival, the Miss Pride Charlotte
Pageantry System didn’t manage to escape
controversy or questions.
On July 10, Pride Charlotte crowned Felicia
Monet 2009’s Miss Pride Charlotte. Two weeks
prior, the pageantry system also crowned its
first-ever Mr. Pride Charlotte, Howard Hung.
“The Pride Charlotte Pageantry System
was designed to help us find quality perform
ers who are well spoken arid entertaining to
represent Pride Charlotte at events both in and
around North and South Carolina for the next
365 days. This year’s winners truly represent
Pride Charlotte’s standards,” said Michael
Woods, promoter of the Pride Charlotte
Pageantry System and secretary of the Pride
Charlotte planning committee.
Despite the crowning, the Miss Pride
Charlotte Pageant’s judging results sparked
debate and questions among a number of the
drag queens who competed this year. The
most alarming result from the judging was
that the winner, Felicia Monet, representing
the title Miss Scorpios 2009, won every contest
category — Interview, Presentation, On-Stage
see Drag on 12
i
LOGO launches
On Charlotte’s
digital tier
page 19