Q-NOTES
Switchboard, Charlotte (704) 525-6128
AIDS Hotline, Charlotte (704) 333-AIDS
PFLAG Hotline, Charlotte (704) 364-1474
AIDS Hotline, Columbia (803) 779-PALS
Switchboard, Wilmington (919) 675-9222
May 1991
PRIDE IN PRINT
(704) 531-9988 Vol 6, No. 5
From Incident To Document: Tracking A Hate Crime
By David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
The April issue of Q-Notes reported the
alarming rise in the amount of hate-motivated
crimes against Gays and Lesbians. Still, the
vast majority of incidents go unreported. They
never make it to the proper law enforcement
agencies nor even to the statistical gathering
sources that are in place to track and docu
ment the existence of crimes against homo
sexuals.
One reason is that people are afraid to
report an assault simply because they don't
know what the process entails.
Q-Notes decided to create a fictitious event
involving a hate-motivated crime, report the
crime and then follow its path through the
appropriate channels.
To set this up, it was first necessary to
create the event. Unfortunately, it was easy to
create a situation. With the myriad of crimes
perpetrated against gays, there was no short
age of examples to use as guides.
So the staff worked up this scenario: A
man is leaving a known gay bar late at night
when he is attacked by two men who physi
cally assault him. They repeatedly- yell anti
gay remarks throughout the incident, making
it clear that the victim is being beaten for
being gay. They then jump into a car and
speed away.
With the scenario in place, a determination
was made to tell each respondent contacted
that, while this was a fictitious event, it should
be treated in a real-life fashion.
The first call was placed to the Gay and
Lesbian Switchboard. In operation seven days
a week from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., it was the first
source we contacted since this is one of the
situations the Switchboard is in place for.
We contacted the Switchboard on April
15. A man named Steve answered the phone
and asked how he could help. I told him I'd
been assaulted by two men and didn't know
what to do.
"Have you told the police?" was his next
question and I said I had not. He suggested
that I do so, and then went on to ask me if I
would recount the entire incident and allow
him to document what transpired.
I asked if I had to give my name for the
documentation and was assured that ano-
WSOC Airs 'A Struggle For Love'
by Dan Kirsch
Q-Notes Staff
A press release crossed Sheila Knox’s desk
in January about a new book release—GAY
FATHERS by Robert L. Barret and UNC-
Charlotte professor Byran E. Robinson. Four
months later, that book led to a three-night
report on WSOC’s (Channel 9) Family Focus
Series, a series about homosexual men and
women entitled “A Struggle For Love.”
Though the series will have aired by the
time this issue is distributed, Q-Notes felt it
was important to find out why WSOC chose
to do these reports. On Friday, April 191 was
able to talk with Knox, photographer/editor/
producer of Family Focus, and J anet England,
Family Focus reporter and anchor of Eye
witness News-Midday.
The series included interviews with Nila
and Stokely Bailey (founders of the local
chapter of PFLAG) and their Lesbian daughter
Sandra on the first night; a formerly married
man named Wesley on the second night; and
concluded with a formerly married man in
shadow and his two daughters, one in shadow,
one not, on the final night.
Knox told of how the book made a big
impact on her — she hadn’t realized how
many men were in this situation. The book
contains many interviews with gay men who
are or were married. She shared the book with
England, and the concept for the series was
bom.
“We wanted to take it beyond the homo
sexuality issue,” explained Knox. “We wanted
to try to get people to understand these people’s
feelings.” Knox and England both said that
other staff members were very interested in
the series, and that management was very
supportive. Only one staff member brought
up the religious aspect, and a couple of others
asked incredulously ‘why are you doing that? ’”
England went so far as to ask the manage
ment for an editorial on the subject. The
editorial aired after the first night’s report
(traditionally it airs at the end of a series),
because a subject like this “tends to bring up
people’s emotions.” An advance copy of the
editorial, to be delivered by Station Manager
Jack Callahan, states in part:
“One American group, however, still suf
fers from civil rights violations: the homo
sexual community ... still assaulted, still de
spised, still harassed and attacked. Members
of the homosexual community are often
ostracized....This percentage of the population,
generally believed to be a predictable ten
percent of any gathered group - school, church,
business people - pays a high price for their
sexual orientation. No one has to approve of
gay behavior, nor endorse it, nor have an in-
depth understanding of what causes it. But we
do have a responsibility to reject violent as
saults directed against citizens because of
their sexual orientation.”
It took over a month just to find someone
willing to appear on camera, and then En
gland and Knox had to earn the trust of these
people, people who were afraid that the report
might sensationalize the topic.
“We didn’t want to bang people over the
head,” said England, “we really wanted to
change the perception that every homosexual
is some weirdo. It was important for us to
portray these people as the human, caring
people that they are, that homosexuality is
only one part of their life. They fall in love for
all the same reasons as heterosexuals do.”
As the series was being developed, England
was surprised that a few friends and colleagues
began confiding in her that there was a gay
person in their family, or how this issue had
touched their lives. Knox even received a call
from the Human Rights Campaign Fund in
Washington, D.C. They had heard she was
doing the series and wanted to offer encour
agement.
England fears a bit for the people in the
story. The man who could not be shown is
very active in the community and not ashamed
of his lifestyle, but his landlord has already
questioned his sexual orientation, and he is
afraid he might be kicked but of his housing.
The other man, Wesley, appears on camera
because he never had a role model growing
up, and he hopes his action will provide hope
to people who are closeted.
Knox and England learned a lot by doing
the series — that homosexuality is not a
choice and about the misconception that men
get married as a smokescreen. England sees
this as “the civil rights issue of today. I hope
(the series) will make people more open-
minded, and encourage people to work towards
ending discriminatory policies and back non
discrimination legislation. Maybe parents
will be able to deal better knowing that there
are support groups in place.”
When we talked, England planned to close
the series by telling the audience that homo
sexuality is a fact of life, and asking the
audience to think about what can be done to
help our young people who struggle with this
knowledge of themselves. She wanted to
communicate that we need to tell young people
that it is okay for them to talk to someone
about this issue. England realizes as a jour
nalist that she doesn’t have all the answers,
but felt strongly that the issue needed to be
addressed to begin change.
Q-Notes will run a follow-up article next
month on reaction to the series.
nymity was not a factor in their ability to
report or the validity of their reports. We
discussed the assault and answered the vari
ous questions contained on the form used to
record hate crimes—did the incident involve
violence (yes), harassment (yes), was the
harassment written (no), was it vocal (yes),
was it discrimination (no), until the ques
tionnaire had been completed.
The entire process took less than 10 min
utes. In his follow-up remarks, Steve told me
that the long-hand record of my attack would
be kept in a locked file overseen by First
Tuesday Association for Gay and Lesbian
Equality, and only the statistical information
(recorded on the documenting form) would
be available for compilation purposes.
The next day, I called the Charlotte Police
Department to report the assault. I dialed the
general department number listed in the phone
book and spoke to an operator who connected
me to an officer. I told him my story and
awaited his response.
His first request was for my name so that
he could file a report. When I asked him if 1
had to release my name, he said, "Yes, you
can't file a report without a name on it. It
wouldn't be valid."
I was then told that after a police report has
been filed it becomes a matter of public record
and federal law requires its availability to the
public and the press. Lastly, I was told that
data is collected at the department concerning
hate-motivated crimes, but these reports re
main at the precinct headquarters and there
are no names or identifying numbers used to
catalog them.
What this tells us is that someone who has
gone through a gay-hate-related incident will
have to make a determination when they are
considering calling the police department: is
what happened to you important or impera
tive enough to open yourself up like this?
Each individual must answer the question
for himself or herself (although it should be
noted here that to access this information an
interested party would have to be able to give
some type of background on the incident to
even have the file pulled for them).
And if the only thing the person wishes to
accomplish is to note that the event occurred,
MAP Holds AIDS
Candlelight Service
Metrolina AIDS Project will sponsor the
local international AIDS Candlelight Me
morial Service on Sunday, May 19,1991, as
part of the International AIDS Candlelight
Memorials. Participants will meet at 8:(X)
p.m. on the grounds of Myers Park Baptist
Church across from Queens College. Candles
will be provided.
In case of rain, the vigil will be moved
inside to the church’s Great Hall.
A selection of quilt panels made by Char-
lotteans for persons they have loved and lost
to AIDS will be on display during the vigil.
These memorial panels will join the Names
Project national quilt.
The Candlelight Memorial will be an ex
pression of care and concern about the AIDS
pandemic as it affects us locally and a dem
onstration of our concern with the worldwide
crisis. More than 200 locations around the
world will be holding similar memorial ob
servances on the same evening.
Metrolina AIDS Project is a local support
and advocacy group directly assisting persons
who are infected with, or affected by, HIV
disease. Other service providers, support
groups and churches will be involved in the
memorial. Participants are encouraged to
bring along friends, life partners, and family
members from their churches and synagogues,
social or work groups, to join in the service.
To receive more information about this
year’s Candlelight Memorial, or to make a
donation to offset the cost of the vigil, contact
MAP at 704/333-1435.
then calling the Switchboard will be suffi
cient. But if the person feels that a law was
broken or that the perpetrators of the incident
need to be charged for what they have done,
then that person should contact the authori
ties.
Whether or not a person decides to report
their assault to the police is their own deci
sion. However, it is everyone's responsibility
to call the Switchboard and document what
occurred. Only when there is a preponderance
of recorded crimes against Gays and Lesbians
will we get anyone to seriously consider giv
ing us legal protection as human beings.
MCSP Holds
Casino Night
MCSP will hold their popular CasinoNight
again this year on Saturday, June 8th, from
8:30 pm to 12:30 am on the top floor of the
Med Center Inn (formerly Ramada Inn), 600
South Kings Drive in Charlotte. Tickets will
be $15.00 in advance or $17.50 at the door,
and can be obtained from MCSP Committee
members or by calling the Switchboard at
525-6128. Games will include blackjack,
roulette, casino craps and others with a Ca
sino Night Auction held at the end of the
evening to spend your winnings. Come enjoy
the food, drinks.. .and dealers. All proceeds
go to support the Metrolina Community
Service Project.
bestb:
May
3 NAMES Project Eivening
Under the Stars
3-5 Tradesmen-Annual Run
11 MAPs “Guess Who's
Cfoming To Dinner”
11 WOW Spring Dance
19 AIDS Candlelight
Memorial
23-27Southern Women's Fest
23 G/L Film Festival 'Fun
Down There"
31 First Tuesday Spaghetti
Dinner
June
1-2 NAMES Project SE
Regional Chapter Conf.
2 Witness at MCC Charlotte
Page
Cracker Barrel Update 22
Gay/Lesbian Filin Series 23
Family Celebration 7
For The Record 16
Fun and Gaymes 16
Letters To The Editor 15
Miss Gay USA Pageant 18
Nat'l March on D.C. 19
ONE VOICE 3
Out and About 4
PLFAG Update 3
Pride Month Activities 9
The Soft Spot 6
...Sounds Good 11
Spotlight On... 17