PAGE6Q-Motes ■ September 1991
Rousso speaks to gay group
'Country boy' wants to be mayor
by Frank Dalrymple
Q-Notes Staff
In an opening address liberally peppered
with such slogans as “I’m not a politician. I’m
a public servant,’’ and “I want to be a mayor
for all people,” democratic mayoral candi
date A1 Rousso described himself as “a coun
try boy from Montgomery, Alabama,” whose
father died when he was twelve and who rose
to be a successful jewelry merchant in the
Charlotte area from selling magazines at
twelve; being a soda jerk at fourteen; and a
shoe salesmen at sixteen.
Speaking to a crowd of about sixty-five
people in an almost suffocating sanctuary at
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday,
August 6, A1 Rousso, a former city council
man, launched his campaign with the gay
community, promising to return Charlotte
from “a mean city,” back to “a clean city.”
Rousso reminded those in attendance of
his withdrawal from the mayoral race two
years ago, due to pneumonia. Despite his
withdrawal, a ground swell of write-in ballots
captured Rousso almost 26,000 votes, nearly
40% of the total tally.
Since announcing his candidacy in March,
Rousso has spoken to over 120 groups, citing
drugs and crime as the primary issues in his
quest for mayor.
He added that, if elected, he would not use
his term in office for public relations, by
“going to Taiwan to look at fire cracker facto
ries,” and is not as interested in making Char
lotte “a world-class city” as he is in making it
“a first-class city.”
Rousso also said that he was opposed to
the new arts center, but supports an NFL
franchise.
Bringing his speech to a close, he asked toy
be invited back to First Tuesday again, before
the election, and reminded us, once again,
that he’s “a country boy” who wants to be
mayor of Charlotte.
Following his address. First Tuesday chair
Dick Woodhouse opened the floor to ques
tions for the candidate. Citing a hearing im
pairment, Rousso moved about the large room,
from questioner to questioner, engaging in
eye-to-eye contact with each individual. In
many instances, however, Rousso tended to
respond before the question had been com
pleted.
When asked about his willingness to sup
port an anti-discrimination ordinance based
on sexual orientation, to prevent such inci
dents as the Cracker Barrel case, Rousso
responded “at this point. I’d have to do more
[research] to be certain. This is a free society,
and as long as laws are not being broken, I
can’t say anything against that.”
When the questioner clarified that the
former Cracker Barrel employee was not
soliciting customers and had a strong perfor
mance record with the company, Rousso
leaped in, “then that was strictly discrimina
tory.”
The questioner then returned to his origi
nal point of asking Rousso’s desire to change
such laws, with Rousso responding “I think
that’s state and federal law. I don’t think
that’s local. I would have to research that,
before I could answer that.”
Another questioner promptly followed by
asking, “considering that a local ordinance
would be legal and appropriate, would you
support and address it with the same vigor
that you have addressed other issues?” Again
Rousso responded “I can’t answer that. I
would have to check into that.”
When asked if he would urge the Charlotte
Police Department to gather statistics per
taining to hate crimes against gays, Rousso
repeated “I would have to check into that.”
Rousso was unwilling to commit to re
quiring sensitivity training for police officers
in regards to dealing with gay and lesbian
citizens. “I will study it. I will research it,”
was his final comment on the subject.
Rousso also frequently reminded the audi
ence how honest he was being with them after
responding to such questions.
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When challenged with the reality of laws
that protect individuals from termination of
employment for being of color, or of certain
religious persuasion, but no such protection
for sexual orientation, he said “that’s some
thing I would have to look into.”
When someone began yet another ques
tion about employment practices, Rousso
stopped her by saying, “I see where you’re
going. You’relookingforfairtreatment. I’m
Jewish. I’ve been looking for fair treatment
all my life. Unfortunately, it’s not there.”
Rousso did agree, if elected mayor, to
meet with a small group from the gay and
lesbian community to discuss their concerns.
He later return^ to the issue of his oppos
ing the arts center saying, “the building is
wrong, the street is wrong, and its too small.”
He went onto say that he is opposed the
proposed “entertainment” tax and feels that
the arts should be privately funded.
A critical moment came when someone
asked if Rousso would look into all the issues
that Rousso had responded “I would have to
check into that,” and when invited back, prior
to the election “would you be able to give
more specific answers?” Rousso responded,
“No. Because I don’t think that would be the
right time to do that,” adding “I’m receptive
to discussing your problems with you, when
I’m in office.”
When asked about his perceptions of gay
and lesbian people, and the community,
Rousso’s response to the gentleman was,
“When I look at you, I see a human being, and
the life you choose to lead is your life to live,”
continuing, “As long as human beings stay
within the law, and you’re peace-loving be
ings, why should I bother you, why should I
despise you for the life you’ve chosen to
live.”
He went on to say that during his long
career as a merchant and employer, he has
never asked a perspective employee (or work
ing employee) who he or she sleeps with, and
feels he does not have the right to do so.
Returning to the issue of whether or not the
candidate felt that sexual orientation is a
“choice” or something that exists from child
hood, he said, “I’m going to have to say it’s a
choice. It’s a life that the individual has
chosen. You should be happy with the life
you’re living. I’m happy with the life I’m
living.”
The meeting was concluded with a final
question regarding when the public could
expect a debate between Republican candi
date Richard Vinroot and himself. Rousso
informed the audience of previous public
debates and said that he has “turned down no
invitation” for future debates.
He closed the evening by saying “I did not
try to mislead anyone here. I don t speak with
forked tongue.”
The primary election will be held on Tues
day, September 24. Rousso has no opposition
in the primary. The general election will be
held Tuesday, November 5.
Time Capsule
It was eight years ago this month, Septem
ber 1983, that Q-Notes began publication.
Published by the Queen City Quordinators
(QCQ), the newspaper promised to feature
news of Charlotte’s gay/lesbian organizations
and not compete with other gay/lesbian news
papers reporting other news. The editor was
Darryl Logsdon, and his assistant was Don
King. Both men are still active in the Char
lotte community.
The 4-page paper reported on activities at
Acceptance, the Gay/Lesbian Switchboard,
the Lambda Political Caucus, MCC/Char-
lotte and QCQ. Articles included information
about tryouts for the QCQ Cabaret, and a
story about Charlotte female impersonators
going to the Miss Gay America Pageant in
Oklahoma City. A column on Bar Basics was
also included.
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