AIDS
Mr. Bug-Eye Strikes Again
Charlotte
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JULY 1987 □ Vol. 2, No. 7
TO ADVERTISE: 704/332-3834 AFTER 6:30 P.M.
FROM COUNTY
MAP Gets $33,000 Grant
By DON KING
Edltoi
Mecklenburg County's board of commissioners on June
16 allocated $33,613 to Metrolina AIDS Project — possibly
the first time in the Carolinas that a governmental body
below the state level has fiscally recognized the need to
fight the disease that strikes so many gay men.
"To my knowledge, it's the first time the county has
ever done anything related to the gay community," said
Les Kooyman, MAP executive director. "No other county
has given money to an AIDS service organization.
"The effect could be far-ranging throughout the South
east. It's really saying something that the county commis
sioners are addressing the gay community's needs for the
first time."
MAP will receive the money this summer.
According to Kooyman, the allocation will hove sev
eral positive benefits:
■ Future funding. "Usually," he said, "when something
is funded one year, it is in future years, too."
■ Credibility. The grant introduces MAP into Mecklen
burg's established community services network and
grives the organization credibility within the county that it
didn't hove previously. Other grants will be easier to
obtain.
■ Cooperation. Other agencies will be more willing to
work closely with MAP to provide better care, better
services and smoother inter-agency working relation
ships.
■ Support services. The county has stipulated that its
grant must be used for such services as a full-time
director, part-time case manager, a second line on the
AIDS hotline, materials for support groups, and equip-
CONTINUED, PAGE 4
J
COLUMBIA
PRIDE!
Celebration '87 on Sunday,
June 21, at Bell Camp, a
University of South Caro- ,
Una recreational facility.
it- ^ ;
t I
■
A ^ 4.
'5I«S
"A'
Members of the Celebration
'87 committee: (front, left to
right) Robert Youngman of Af
fairs; Alan Gilchrist of Encore:
Bob Harmon and J.J. Johnson
of St. Jude Church: Dennis
Mayer of Omega, USC les
bian/gay group: Jerry Devlam-
inck of Affairs: (back, left to
right) Tony Price of DHEC and
Omega: Harriet Hancock of
PFLAG; Rev. Gil Lincoln of St
Jude; Johnny McBride of En
core: John L. Davis of Affairs:
Alex Hollar of TNT Motorcycle
Club: Chuck Bagley of TNT.
MAP's Les Kooyman (left), executive
director, and Ron Lowe, president
of the board of directors.
Little Theatre
To Benefit MAP
The July 16 production of "As Is" at
the Little Theatre of Charlotte will be a
benefit for Metrolina AIDS Project.
"As Is," the William Hoffman play that
is a poignant yet funny examination of
gay men dealing with AIDS, will run
July 9-12 and 16-19. The director: Steve
Umiberger.
"The unique part of the production is
that much of it will be a seminar," said
Keith Martin, the theater's artistic direc
tor. "The play runs an hour and 12
minutes; then a panel will discuss the
play and the issues raised by the perfor
mance.
"We want to provide members of the
medical, social worker and religious
communities a chance to talk about the
implications of AIDS."
Normally, Little Theater play tickets
cost $12; for "As Is," the cost will be $6
with tickets for the MAP benefit priced at
$15.
Hoffman's work won the 1985 Obie
and Drama Desk Awards for best ploy.
Filing Angered New Head Of QC€l
When the Rose's five-and-dime in Hortsville, S.C.
fired a shy, hard-working Alabama native in 1981, on
angry seed was planted that has now flowered into
determined gay activism.
Jim Yarbrough, now 28, was the youngster who
received his walking papers from the retail chain
headquartered in the small northern North Carolina
town of Henderson. On June 4, Yarbrough was ele
vated from vice president to president of QCQ wh6n
Dean Gkiskey surprisingly resigrned the head post.
"I feel like I lost my job with Rose's because of being
gay," he said. "It wasn't fair and there was nothing I
could do about it and I couldn't even prove that was
why they fired me.
Gaskey Resigns During ‘Watershed Meeting’
QCQ has a new president of its board of directors.
At the June meeting. Dean Gaskey resigned and
vice president Jim Yarbrough assvimed the post. Gas
key had served six months of his 1987 term.
“That meeting was a watershed meeting," Gaskey
said. “There were several schools of thought on the
board and I wanted us to come out with a clear
understanding of what QCQ is lor.
"After having a long talk with the board and every
one telling individually what they thought the organi
zation should do, we arrived at a consensus. I felt we
were finally beginning to focus the organization on the
things it does well.
'"The reason I resigned was that I was simply burned
out, and on organization that had gone through a
rebirth like we did that night needed someone strong
at the top. And I didn't feel I was that person. So for the
good of the organization and the good of the commu
nity, I tendered my resignation.
"Jim Yarbrough I believe can fill those requirements.
This is his second year on the board and he was
treasurer lost year."
"I decided to get active in Charlotte in March of 1986
when Robert Sheets called me and asked me to sit on
the QCQ board. I felt It was an opportunity to get
people together to do something for the community —
something for the long run. Maybe
we could stop or at least slow down
things of that nature."
Yarbrough was raised in Fairfax,
Ala., before moving to Duluth near
Atlanta and graduating from high
school there. He came out as gay in
1981 while working for Rose's in
Gainesville, Ga., then was transferred
to Hartsville.
Since his Rose's days, Yarbrough
has worked for fast food and conve
nience chains and presently manages a store.
He has plans for QCQ.
"First," he said, "we must be more professional and
attract professional people into the right positions.
There hasn't been enough organization and profession-
CONTINUED, PAGE S
‘It wasn’t
fail and
there was
nothing I
could do
about it.”
— Jim
Yarbrough