SPECIAL D.C. MARCH PHOTO SECTION
Switchboard, Charlotte 704/525-6128
AIDS Hotline, Charlotte 704/333-AIDS
PFLAG HotUne, Charlotte 704/364-1474
AIDS Hotline, Columbia 803/779-PALS
Call Line, Wilmington 919/675-9222
TO ADVERTISE:
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 11, NOVEMBER 1987
“PRIDE IN PRINT”
704/339-0679
I Published Monthly By QCQ As A Public Service ■
See
Special
March
Section
pages 4
& 5
650,000 March on Washington
m
^ri
■Jb-A-
The largest demonstration in Washington history.
Mr. SE Leather Comes to FACES in Savannah Reflections on the March
Queen City Coordinators (QCQ) will
be holding the first Mr. Southeast
Leather Contest at FACES in Savan
nah, GA, on Saturday, November 21.
The Mr. Southeast Leather contest is
an official preliminary to the Interna
tional Mr. Leather Contest to be held
in Chicago over the Memorial Day
weekend. Contestants for the IML re
gional preliminary do not have to be
residents of the region.
For information on entering Mr.
SE Leather call (704) 339-0679. A hotel
has been booked for all those wishing
to attend the event from out of town;
call (912) 233-9251 and ask for the
QCQ Conference special rates. “We
are still working on some of the other
events to happen during the weekend,“
said Robert Sheets, coordinator of the
contest for QCQ, “but people can come
out and expect a good weekend for
MEN. For more up-to-date informa
tion, call (704) 339-0679 after Novem
ber 1st.
QCQ is also sponsor of the Regional
Mr. Carolina Drummer contest which
will be held May 17-21, 1988.
Governor’s Awareness Week?
Gay activist Leo Teachout is asking
gay men and women and interested
parents and friends to call Governor
Jim Martin during the week of Novem
ber 8-14 to express their concerns
about the lack of state response to the
Aids crisis in North Carolina and what
Teachout sees as an unwillingness on
the part of the state to address the issue
of Aids prevention within the Gay
community. Teachout is asking that
people call the GOVERNOR’S OF-
nCE OF CITIZEN AFFAIRS TOLL-
FREE NUMBER 1-800-662-7952. The
office is staffed from 8:30 am to 5:00
pm, Monday through Friday.
“It is especially important,” says
Teachout, “that persons with aids
(PWA’s) and friends and families of
PWA’s let Governor Martin know
about the problems they are confront
ing as they live with aids — and the
harassment and discrimination they
have endured.”
WORKING TO MAKE GAY LIFE
BETTER
If there is any lesson to be learned
from the march on Washington, it’s
that unity through our diversity can
make life better for all of us. From our
participation in organizations and ac
tivities (over 25 organizations in the
Charlotte area alone) we are allowing
lesbians and gay men to participate in
areas that interest them.
We range from the couples who have
been together for many years, to those
just coming out, from the 40ish activist
willing to help with anything positive
in our community, to those who only
entertain a few individuals in their
home.
As a gay male or lesbian living in the
Charlotte area, with its heavy influence
of religion, PTL and others, it is not
always easy to live the open lifestyle
often seen as the norm in other large
cities. There will always be people who
think they can live your life better than
you can, everywhere, but there seems
to be an overabundance of them
around here.
But there is truth in the statement
that “there is strength in numbers.” We
are a strong and vital part of the fabric
of the city. There are also the ones who
say, “Don’t rock the boat” when it
comes to the disease that has deci
mated our community in the larger
cities, and the laws that make it not just
a crime but a felony to love and seek
happiness with other like persons, with
some preachers, who make us out to be
the skum of the earth, though we know
we are not. To those who say, “Don’t
rock the boat,” I say, “If not now,
when? If not here, where?”
We, as a people, will not be taken
seriously until we demand to be taken
seriously.
Lel us leave the hatred and negativ
ism to the persons of narrow minds
and learn to give praise and encourage
ment to any and all of those trying to
better our community. We don’t have
to like each other as individuals, but by
recognizing the efforts of anyone to
better our community, we can enhance
life for all of us. The March on Wash
ington has taught us that “together” we
can achieve greatness. Now let’s put it
together.