AIDS
ATLANTA CHORALE TO PERFORM
Charlotte
Hotline
Pmge 5
Switchboard
333-AIDS
NEW LESBIAN GROUP MEETS OCT. 9
525-^8
Page 2 i—:: _
NOVEMBER 1986 □ Vol. 1, No. 5
TO ADVERTISE, CALL 704/332-3834
Registrations
Counting Up!
Town Meeting 9/15 33
QCQ Skate Party 9/18 6
Oleen's 9/20 15
Charades 9/25 ^
Charades 9/26 12
Oleen's 9/27 7
Tags 9/30
Acceptance 9/30
Scorpio 10/1
Scorpio 10/2
Brass Rail 10/3
Atlanta Chorale Concert 10/4
Charades 10/4
MCC/Charlotte 10/5
Tags 10/5
New Ute MCC 10/5
Scorpio 10/5
TOTAL
He may be one of the last
unless attendance increases at
skate parties Pagre
Attendance at the Town
Meeting was strong Page 4
New groups, too, may expect
attendance Pages 6 and 8
Political Candidates
At Acceptance Oct. 14
By don king
Editor
One Nation Indivisible's gay/lesbian
political activities in Mecklenburg
County are steamroUing with a strong
voter registration drive and a meeting
for gay men and lesbians with political
candidates.
ONl's "Candidates Forum" will be
Tuesday, Sept. 14, hosted by Accep
tance at Park Road Baptist Church's
Fellowship Hall. The church is at 3900
Park Road two blocks north of Park
Road Shopping Center,
All candidates seeking public office
in the Nov. 4 elections have been in
vited to the 8 p.m. meeting.
Candidates will be asked their views
of gay/lesbian civil rights, particularly
about repealing North Carolina's crime
against nature law as it relates to con
senting adults and about the Charlotte
Police Department's policy of excluding
gay men and lesbian women from em
ployment.
The voter registration drive started
with 33 new voters at the Sept. 15 Town
Meeting; picked up six at the QCQ Skate
Party Sept. 18; added 15 at Oleen's on
Sept. 20; 46 at Charades on Sept. 25 and
BLANK ON 26; and BLANK at Oleen's on
Sept. 27.
Additional registration opportunities
were scheduled at Tags, Scorpio, Brass
Rail, Charades, worship services of both
Charlotte congregations of MCC, and at
the Unitarian Church during the Atlanta
Lambda Chorale's concert. (See accom
panying box.)
The drive must be completed by Oct,
6, the final day for new voters to register
to vote in elections Nov. 4 and thereaf
ter.
Voting is viewed as the strongest
weapon in any minority's fight for equal
rights. Charlotte has never before had a
gay/lesbian voter registration drive.
These people must register to exercise
their right to vote:
■ New residents of the county. They
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
■
4
Dean Gaskey (left) listens as Diane Travis makes point
during September meeting of Closet Buster Productions.
We're Going On TV!
Sp«cial To G-Notes
Sometime in November, Cablevision of Charlotte's public access Channel 3
will air the first locally produced gay/lesbian television show in the Carolinas.
The 30-minute production, "Gay 8c Lesbian Forum," will be the first monthly
show from Closet Buster Productions, a group formed specifically to televise
gay/lesbian issues in the Charlotte market,
TTie show will likely be taped in October and shown at the earliest date
agreeable to Cablevision and Closet Busters. The first show will include Diana
Travis, a Charlotte native who was strongly activist when she lived in the
Boston area; Lynn Guerra, pastor of MCC/Charlotte; and Don King, a Charlotte
activist for eight years,
"We need people to help — writers, lighting technicians, directors, camera
operators, tape editors," Travis said. "We want to establish a new level of
professionalism for programs on public access."
Also needed are furnishings for the set: a couch or love seat, chairs,
accessorizing tables, plants, artwork, rug, lamps and table accessories.
■ ■ ■
To help in planning, production or furnishings, call A1 Carwile, 376-1490.
Bars Plan Nights For Persons Age 18, 19, 20
By don king
Edltoi
Beginning Friday, Oct. 3, at the Scorpio, Charlotte's
under-21 gay men and lesbians will again be able to
attend gay bars on specific nights.
■ On Friday nights, Scorpio will allow persons age
18 and over to attend. The exception is Halloween
Night, Oct. 31, when only persons 21 and over will be
allowed.
■ On Sunday, Oct. 12, Charades will allow people
age 18 to and over to attend.
■ Tags will open on Saturday, Nov. 1, for a Hallow
een weekend party, allowing people age 18 and over
to attend.
North Carolina law does not prohibit people under
21 from entering establishments which serve alcoholic
beverages; but penalties are stiff for bars in which
people under 21 are caught drinking them. Because of
the difficulty of policing consumption, most bars hove
chosen not to allow people under 21 to enter.
Since Sept. 1 when 19- and 20-year-olds were no
longer allowed to buy beer and wine, Panamas and
The Cellar, nongay Charlotte bars, have continued to
allow people under 21 to enter and have done an
apparently lawful job of prohibiting consumption by
under-21 people.
Now, three of Charlotte's gay bars are going to give
it a try, though each will require proper identification.
At Scorpio on Friday nights, the main dance room
bar will serve only nonalcoholic beverages. People 21
and older will be allowed to enter the VIP Lounge to
buy and drink alcoholic beverages; but no beverages
will be allowed to pass from the VIP into the main
dance room, and no one under 21 will be allowed in
the VIP.
On Oct. 3, 10, 17 and 24, there will be no cover
charge at Scorpio.
“This arrangement will inconvenience some of our
21-and-over customers," said Marion Tyson, owner.
"But we've really wanted to do something to help our
people who are 18 to 20 and used to be able to go to
bars."
At Charades on Oct. 12, all bars except the dance
room's balcony bar will serve nonalcoholic bever
ages. People 21 and over will be allowed to buy
alcoholic beverages at the balcony bar overlooking
the dance floor; but no beverages will be allowed to
pass from the balcony bar into the rest of the bar, and
no one under 21 will be allowed into the balcony bar
area.
"If it works well, we'll expand to more than one
Sunday each month," said Steve Freeman, Charades
co-owner.
At Tags on Nov. 1, no alcoholic beverages will be
sold as Tags holds a Halloween party that persons age
18 and over can attend.