Newspapers / Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / July 1, 1990, edition 1 / Page 1
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Q-NOTES July 1990 PRIDE IN PRINT Switchboard, Charlotte (704) 525-6128 AIDS Hotline, Charlotte (704) 333-AIDS PFLAG Hotline, Charlotte (704) 364-1474 AIDS Hotline, Columbia (803) 779-PALS Call Line, Wilmington (919) 675-9222 TO ADVERTISE: 3641467 The Carolinas March Into The Gay & Lesbian 90's BEST BETS First Tuesday Independence Day MENAMORE Integrity PFLAG Yadkin BWMT WOW Mother's Group NC Senate Vote '90 Queen City Friends MCC Charlotte Pot Luck .tmt .. . hk ^*.1 .•r« ^ ; M :ij\j ;a Mi:>k V, ViM ••.. fttA • . W :ril7i > :: :i :ut .WiM .. •• . h :nl7i > •!. • INDEX Barbara Kaplan Page 3 Business Cards Page 14 Calendar Page 2 It's My Opinion Page 2 Letters To The Editor Page 10 Love We Thought Page 15 News In Brief Page 12 Organizations Page 14 Reflections Page 9 Silver Screen, The Page 13 Social Highlights Page 6 Soft Spot, The Page 6 Three Charged In Murder Page 4 By David Stout Q-Notes Staff The South Marches On North Carolina Marches South Carolina Marches Gay Liberation as a self-perpetuating movement is fast becoming a reality in this country and equally so here in what may be the most conservative region of the nation: the "Bible Belt." The evidence that allows one to make that point is the proliferation of gay-positive po litical action committees, self-help groups, publications and social organizations in our area of the South. However, even though most of these groups have been with us for quite some time now, they are generally known only to members of the homosexual community and not to the population at large. But now that barrier of invisibility is being destroyed by a huge wrecking ball known as the Gay Pride March. The precepts of a march are ingeniously simple: get as many gays and lesbians as you can to come out for the event and by the sheer undeniable power of numbers, aimounce to the public and the press that, "Yes, we are here — and no, we aren't going anywhere so just learn to accept us as we are." Then, as people begin to recognize their doctor, their mail person or their secretary among those marching, it will eventually dawn on them that they don't need to fear the participants because they are persons with whom they have had dealings with for quite some time in the past and may have even considered themselves to be friends with. This is the true beauty of the March: it allows ordinary, everyday citizens to see and to really (possibly for the very first time) be able to put a face with that many-faceted being — the Homosexual, and in so seeing us realize that the gays and lesbians in the demonstration are as usual and normal as anyone else. An estimated 2500 people turned out to celebrate the Fifth Annual Gay and Lesbian Pride March in Cha|iel Hill, Saturday, June 30. The activities, which began at noon were divided into three sections: first, the march, then a rally and finally a cookout. The march got started on schedule from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and everyone trekked down Franklin Street to the Town Hall in Carrboro. This portion of the day took right at one hour from beginning to end. The excellent Pride Marching Band kept time for the whole group and added an upbeat feeling to the parade, as did the float maimed by Metro politan Community Church members who played an organ and sang hynms along the march route. Once the one mile walk was over, every body was ready for the rally to begin. The rally was emceed by Lea DeLaria who is one of the nation's top female comedians. She introduced many different types of enter tainment to the crowd: singing, dancing, award presentations, a theatre skit and sev eral speakers. The Lesbian and Gay Commimity Ser vice Awards were given to Lee Mullis and Mandy Carter by Sonia Lewis for their tire less work in the movement. Singer Sherri Zann Rosenthal performed for the first time in ten years at the rally and was accompanietl by her pianist Delane. The Capitol Cowboys Line Dancers also gave a special performance for the rally attendees. Others on stage included singer Tracy Drach, the Common Woman Chorus, the Lesbian Thespians, and a speech given by Mab Segrest, who is the Director of NC Against Racist and Religioas Violence, about the violence against minorities in tliis state. Also, as has become a regular part of tlie rally, there was the usual ribbon ceremony with each person who was wearing a ribbon representing one person who was lost to the AIDS epidemic. This year there were over nineteen hundred people to be accoimted for. One Voice Chorus sang the closing song to end the rally at about four o'clock and then there was a huge cookout. Lea DeLaria per formed a ftmd-raising comedy routine at the cookout, which ran until about ten in the evening. Vigil Brings Shameful Recognition of NC Hate Crimes The new National Gay & Lesbian Task Force report on violence, discrimination and harassment against gay people included 1204 incidents in North Carolina. The next closest state, Texas, included over 300 fewer inci dents. A candlelight Vigil Against Violence, organized by N.C. Senate Vote '90, the N.C. Coalition for Lesbian & Gay Equality and North Carolina Lesbian/Gay Pride '90 was held Mcxiday, June 18, at 7:30 p.m. in front of the Post Office on Fayetteville Street Mall in Raleigh. Participants inclialed Rev. Jimmy Creech of Raleigh, Mandy Carter of N.C. Senate Vote '90. Jim Duley of the N.C. Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Equality, Mab Segrest of the North Carolinians Against Racist and Religious Violence, and Janelle Lavelle of the N.C. Human Rights Fund. The vigil included readings, songs and a public recitation of the 1,204 incidents in the NGLTF report, compiled by Leo Teachout of the N.C. Human Rights Fund with the cooperation of reporting agencies through out the state. The organization chose to hold the vigil oufside of the building that houses Sen. Jesse Helms' Raleigh office because of his long history of opposition to any protections for gay, lesbian and AIDS-affected citizens, in cluding the recent, overwhelmingly-passed federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act and bill providing assistance for people with AIDS. Saturday, Jmie 23, will long be remem bered by the citizens of South Carolina for a . variety of reasons, but, chief among them, is that that was the day homosexual invisibility was destroyed in that state. Approximately 1500 people turned out to parade down Main Street in the state capital, Columbia. It took tons of courage for these people to leave the safety and security of their homes and face the cruel reality of homosexual existence in this coimtry, but there were plenty who were willing to do so. The participants began to gather around 11 a.m. and mixed and mingled until the march began at about five minutes past noon. The parade members festively played and joked with one another as everyone tried to work out the jitters of being in the first-ever, large-scale display of gay activism in the state's history. Soon, though, all were chanting and shouting gay-positive and homophobia negative epithets to the drivers and pedestri ans who were watching the marchers. The onlookers simply seemed amused by the whole thing, as no malevolent words or gestures were noticed by this reporter. At one point in the march a female im personator who was in the crowd ran over to the side of the street and gave a long slow twirl to the bystanders who chuckled in amusemtait. A lesbian in the crowd yelled to a friend on the sidewalk, "Come on, Melissa, you know you're supposed to be out here," which brought roars of approving laughter from the marchers around her. The march itself took only about twenty minutes but the three-hour rally which fol lowed was a test of endurance because of the heat. But, for those who were able to stay, the rally was worthwhile, for every sjreaker and every act turned out first-rate. Jim Blanton, the Pride March co-chair, opened the rally with remarks commemo rating the first march ever, and spoke of poignant memories he had growing up as the neighborhood whipping boy. He used a story of finally standing up to a bully during his youth to illustrate the point that South Carolinians were likewise standing up to the oppression of gays and lesbians in their home state. Singer and humorist Lynn Laver (who passed up going to the New York Pride March to attend the one in South Carolina) performed next and also acted as the emcee for most of the day's announcements. Next, Robert Bray, spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, gave a rousing speech on tlie status of tlie national Gay Rights movement and also on the sig nificance of the first Pride March in South Carolina. He referred to the marchers present as "Hurricane Homo." Other speeches were given on topics such as: the Stonewall Riots, religion from a ho mosexual perspective, gay parenting, and gays and lesbians in the military. The final portion of the rally saw Charlotte's own One Voice Chorus perform two numbers. Barbara Embick, the other co-chair of the march, gave the closing speech and then One Voice sang the closing song to end the rally.
Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.)
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