Switchboard, Charlotte 704/525-6128
AIDS Hotline, Charlotte 704/333-AIDS
PFLAG Hotline, Charlotte 704/364-1474
AIDS Hotline, Columbia 803/779-PALS
Call Lin**- Wilmington 919/675-9222
October 1988
IPRIDEINPRINTI
TO ADVERTISE: 339-0679
Calendar
Page 2
Civilized Behaviors
Page 3
Horoscope
Page 6
News Briefs
Page 7
Organizations
Page 2
The Soft Spot
Page 3
To Your Health
Page 4
Oct. 4
First Tuesday, CCP House
OcL 10
Gay Bowling/Coliseum
Lanes
Oct. 16
BingolStevens
Oct. 21
Romanovsky&Phillips
CPCC/NewLifeMCC
OcL 21
Victims of Desire/Scorpio
Oct. 21-23
MCC Charlotte Spiritual
Renewal!Rev. Harvey
Oct. 22
Fall Ball!Stevens
Oct. 29
MCC Charlotte Pot Luck
Supper
Oct. 31
Halloween Show/Oleens
YOUR POWER IS IN YOUR VOTE!
TO VOTE, you MUST be
registered by OCT. 7th.
TO REGISTER: Contact the
Mecklenburg County Board of
Elections, OR go to ANY
public library in
Mecklenburg County.
You MUST be 18 years old on
election day in order to register.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on the
political process contact
FIRST TUESDAY at
704/393-2536
Charlotte Police Cracking Down On Park Cruisers
By Richard Epson
Q-Notes Staff
Entrapment or legitimate arrest ? That is
once again becoming the issue in Charlotte
with the increase of the use of undercover
policemen intent on apprehending people in
the parks and other places. Public sex or just
meeting people ? TTiat is the issue that some
in the gay community are just beginning to
deal with.
In one case, a Charlotte man went to
Freedom Park on August 16 and more than
an hour after meeting and walking through
the paric with a man, he was arrested for
simple assault. In an interview with Q-
Notes the arrestee stated that he entered the
park and in the parking lot met a man who
stmck up a conversation with him. “He said
that he worked for a local bank and had just
moved to Charlotte from Asheville. Not
long into the conversation, after we had
gotten to know each other somewhat, he
asked me something about what I liked to do.
I said that I was pretty adaptable.”
Later, the two men walked through the
woods in the park toward the restrooms. The
stranger lead the way. As they walked and
talked the conversation and gestures became
more suggestive.
“We continued on the path and he made
the comment again about what I liked to do.
I stated that I don’t like to do it in the woods
and that if we were going to do anything that
we should leave the park. We got to the
place where we stopp^ and looked out over
the ballpark and tlie other parking lot. He
mmed towards me and put his hands behind
his back in a suggestive manner. I reached
out and brushed my hand across his crotch
area. There was no response, no protest, no
indication that this touch was not invited. I
suggested we go back toward our cars but he
persisted in going toward the restroom. He
started to go into the restroom and I refused.
I told him that I don’t do bathrooms and he
said, 'Well let me show you something.”
That’s when he pulled out his badge and
arrested me.'”
In another case, a Charlotte man was
arrested in the driveway of his home after he
was telephoned by someone who stated they
had gotten his telephone number off a wall.
He invited the caller to his home and the
caller turned out to be an undercover police
man.
In an interview, Don King, local activist
said; “Police use every underhanded way
possible to entrap people. The stereotype of
people who cruise parks and other public
places is that these men walk up to practi
cally any other man in the park and try to put
the make on them. We know that this is just
a stereotype and that men that cruise in
Charlotte parks, for the most part, approach
no one who does not show interest. Under
cover officers deviously use anthing they
can - words, gestures, body language, eye
contact - to invite men to make an illegal
suggestion. Furthennore, we suspect that in
a good percentage of cases, the police arrest
people who have only come close to making
illegal suggestions know that most of those
arrested will never challenge the case in
court for fear of publicity. Police use this
kind of intimidation to put more notches on
their gun. It’s maddening, it’s frustrating, it
harms good human beings and we want to
put a stop to it.”
King commented further that - “Non-gay
men, using the subtle ways of making ap
proaches that may end up with sexual epi
sodes, may approach women at will any
place on this earth. Gay men have very
limited places, including bars, private homes,
a few Metropolitan Community Churches
(MCC) and a few group meetings. For gay
men who don’t feel comfortable in bars and
don’t have the time to go to meetings, parks
are their best alternative. I see nothing
wrong in gay men approaching other appar
ently willing men in public places. After all,
straight men approach apparently willing
women in public places all the time. The
only difference is that gay men usually do
not use all the preliminaries; they get directly
to the subject at hand. Non-gay men would
use direct approaches too if such approaches
were successful for them.”
Gay leaders, and the gay community it
self, are not in agreement over this issue and
stories and commentaries in prominent gay
publications indicate that the mood has turned
away firom condoning public sex. A recent
commentary in The Advocate (August 16,
1988 - Issue 505) by columnist Dave Walter
states; “There are plenty of ways to approach
the problem, but they all involve first ac
knowledging that gay men don’t enjoy a
God-given right to engage in sex in public. If
more gays would admit that fact and make an
effort to work with law-enforcement au
thorities, then maybe the arrests could be
stopped. One thing is for certain: If gays do
not provide ideas for solving the problem,
the police will never come up with solutions
on tiheir own.”
In another article in the same issue of The
Advocate, in an interview Jeff Levi, execu
tive director of the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force (NGLTF), said men who are
arrested on public-sex charges are “victims
of a repressive society.” It is becoming clear
that the major issue is the difference between
simply meeting someone to begin a relation
ship and soliciting someone to engage in a
sexual act at that time and place.
On August 18th a meeting was held at
Don King’s home to begin to determine how
to combat such arrests and there will be
another meeting to discuss this issue on
October 16. Anyone who is interested, has
been arrested, or knows someone that has
been arrested is invited to come to the next
meeting. For more information about this
meeting contact Don King at 332-3834.
Avoid Arrest - Use
Common Sense
If you frequent the parks, book stores,
etc... and meet unknown people YOU
ARE RISKING ARREST IF YOU:
-use words that can be interpreted as in
dicating anal or oral sex. This could lead
to prosecution for “soliciting for crime
against nature.”
-touch someone without their express
permission. Thisdoes not mean tacit “im
plied” permission- This could lead to
arrest for assault.
-become enticed solely by lingering
looks and suggestive body language; offi-
cersmay adopt agay cmising style. Eye
contact and body language can be used to
get you to make a verbal suggestion or to
touch. Don’t do either until you have
taken additional steps.
-believe that a person is not a police
man simply because they say they are not.
It is far better to know the person over a
period of time ditm to risk. The under
cover pollcenian can simply lie and the
fact that he lied has no bearing in a court of
law.
Oleen's Benefit Raises $4,200
*
'A)
Money piles up for MAP
By Patrick Church
Q-Notes Staff
Looking for a good time? Want a weekend
of fun and laughs? Need to go have a good
time to get away from it all? Well, in that
case, it's too late. You've missed your chance
if you weren't at Oleen's the weekend of
September 9-11.
What happened? Nothing short of a great
time. Oleens held their very own Carnival for
life. It was a gala fundraising event to raise
money for the Metrolina AIDS Project
(MAP).
Events at the carnival included a pie toss,
dart throwing, ring toss and a quarter throw
with albums and stuffed animals given away
for prizes.
If you didn't feel like displaying your
throwing skills, you could have your palm
read for a small donation.
And we wouldn't be fair unless we men
tion the shows. There were over 60 perform
ers including spectacular painted dancers.
Even the Oleen's employees got "into the act"
with each of them performing in "Drag Queens
from HeU."
Finally, Sunday held a yard sale in store.
Many items such as antiques and other do
nated knick knacks were sold.
The carnival was a complete success.
Approximately $4,200 were raised to help
MAP. If you missed this chance to help and
have fun at the same time, check our social
highlights column and be ready the next.