Vol. 7, No. 1
January 1992
1992!
Calendar, wishes
and coming events
...page 6
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Church Council
adopts policy on
discrimination
... page 12
The Carollnae* Meet Compreheneive Gay &. Leeblan Hewepaper^^^ Frmted on Recycled r^per^^^ FKEE
Thompson flghts the good light and wins
Quadriplegic lover to come home
after seven years of forced exile
by David Stout
Q-Notes staff
ST. PAUL, Minnesota—“There aren’t
words to express the hell the system has put us
through,” declared Karen Thompson after
she was named legal guardian to her disabled
lover Sharon Kowalski. ‘Today’s decision is
not a victory. It is a right decision, a just
decision that should have been made eight
years ago.”
In 1983 physical education teacher
Kowalski suffered extensive brain damage in
an automobile accident that resulted in the
total paralysis of her limbs. In the ensuing
months, Kowalski’s parents filed for custody
of their daughter in an attempt to wrest her
from her lesbian lover of many years.
That attempt proved successful when a
judge ordered that Kowalski be remanded to
her parents’ care, even though she was able to
communicate her desire to stay with her part
ner.
The Kowalskis’ first act as guardians was
to deny Thompson, a professor at St. Cloud
State University, any type of visitation or
communication with her lover. The couple
had maintained during the hearing that then-
child was not a lesbian and was being influ
enced by Thompson. Being awarded custody
of Kowalski gave them the power to finally
remove her from a relationship which dis
turbed them.
Fighting back, Thompson then began an
appeal process which would dominate her
life for the next several years.
She hit the lecture circuit of colleges,
universities, and organizations gathering sup
port (emotional, but more importantly finan
cial for her mounting legal fees) and sounding
the alarm to other homosexual couples that
unless they drafted a legal statement naming
their partner as their desired caregiver, they
could be placed in the same situation.
Enlarging her burgeoning media profile
even more, Thompson wrote a national
bestseller entitled, ‘‘Who is Sharon Kowalski,
and Why Can’t She Come Home?” that she
promoted through radio, television, and print
interviews.
More and more mainstream organizations
gave their support to Thompson and her
struggle, putting a great amount of pressure
on the judicial system to right its wrong.
However, the breakthrough, or so it seemed
at the time, came when Kowalski’s parents
notified the courts that due to their own medi
cal circumstances, they could no longer give
their daughter adequate care. Thompson filed
to regain custody and waited for the hearing
to take place.
When the judge finally made his decision
it was too incredible to believe - he ruled that'
United Family Services comes to you
Project Outreach helps cope with HIV/AIDS
by Frank Dalrymple
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE — For years, Charlotte’s
United Family Services has been providing
quality counseling to individuals and fami
lies (traditional and non-traditional) regard
ing a wide range of issues fi-om anger to
addiction to job-related stress.
UFS counseling is available to anyone in
need, and fees are charged on a sliding scale
according to one’s income and ability to pay.
In August of 1990, when President Bush
signed the Ryan White Compensation AIDS
Resources Emergency Act into law, he re
leased some $4.4 billion in funds to be dis
pensed over the next five years for direct
AIDS-related support services.
Specifically, $875 million was allotted for
fiscal 1991.
United Family Services became one of the
many beneficiaries of this legislation.
This past September, with 60% additional
funding from United Way, UFS launched its
Project Outreach program, offering counsel
ing services to HIV/AIDS patients as well as
their partners, friends and family members.
Project Outreach is a confidential, non-
judgmental program whose only criteria for
services is that one member of the “family”
unit is HIV positive.
A simple telephone call to Project Out
reach 704/332-9034 from a Mend is enough
to activate services for someone.
Director of Communications, Charis Wil
son, says the Project Outreach program is
“under capacity” and is prepared to service
clients immediately. (Non-HIV-relatedcoun-
seling through UFS requires about a 30-day
waiting period for new clients.)
United Family Services/
Project Outreach.
301 S. Brevard Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
(704) 332-9034 or 1-800-345-0441
Kowalski should be placed in the care of her
friend and former high school track coach,
Karen Tomberlin.
Thompson was outraged and filed an im
mediate appeal with the Minnesota State
Appeals Court which on Tuesday, December
17, gave her permanent, sole custody of her
lover.
Thompson’s attorney. Sue Wilson, de
clared the victory, “A significant affirmation
that moves gays and lesbians and the way the
law treats them...into the 20th century.”
Besides the benefits of professional coun
seling by a dozen-plus skilled therapists.
Project Outreach is designed, if necessary, to
come to you. Meetings can be arranged in
your home or at another location nearby.
With some limitations, they are even pre
pared to make evening visits.
Staff counselor Sherry Lash spoke of her
work with great enthusiasm and dedication.
Lash, like the other therapists on staff, alter
nates her work day between Project Outreach
cases (both on- and off-site), and United
Family Services cheats.
In asking Sherry to describe, anonymously,
someof her cuirentchent issues, there seemed
to be a frequent pattern in some of her cases.
Quite often the HIV diagnosis, and the
subsequent counsehng, unearthed other un
resolved family issues. We discovered that,
in some cases, HIV had become a “catalyst
for healing.”
UFS/Project Outreach often “networks”
with other service/support agencies when a
cheat’s needs exceed the boundaries of coun
sehng and venture into other issues such as
financial assistance, meals and health care.
Two counselors are currently assigned to
Union County, and plans are underway for a
Cabarms County office to open later this
year.
If you, or someone you know is a candi
date for either United Family Services or
UFS/Project Outreach, they are waiting to
hear from you. There’s even an 800 number
for those outside the local call area.
Competing for the crown
■■
The Miss NC, USA 1992 Pageant took place Thanksgiving weekend in
Hickory at Club Cabaret. Thirty-eight contestants from every part of the state
competed for the title. Pictured l-r; Mahogany, Miss NC, USA 1991; Akasha
Pharrows, 4th runner-up: Kristina Foxx, 3rd runner-up; Paris LeBon, Miss
NC, USA 1992; Farrah McRae, 2nd runner-up; Candace Corday, 1st runner-
up; Sable Chanel, Miss Gay USA 1991. See story on page 9.
Chapel Hill to host Gay
elected leaders in 1992
by Michael Nelson & Joe Herzenberg
Special to Q-Notes
CHAPEL-HILL—Delegates at the 7th
Annual Conference of Openly Gay and Les
bian Elected and Appointed Officials selected
Chapel Hill as the site for next year’s confer
ence, to be held November 20 & 21,1992.
Chapel Hill was selected by the delegates
over Montreal and West Hollywood, Califor
nia.
Over 100 elected and appointed officials
attended this year’s conference in Houston
and 150 to 200 people are expected to attend
next year. While most openly gay and lesbian
elected and appointed officials are from the
Northeast and Far West, the South and Mid
west sent a number of representatives includ
ing Chapel Hill Town Council Member Joe
Herzenberg and Orange County Human Re
lations Commissioner Michael Nelson.
NC organizers hope the conference will
highlight our southern hospitality and serve
as inspiration to our young but growing les
bian and gay community. “By bringing les
bian and gay elected officials to North Caro
lina, we will—I hope—encourage more les
bians and gay men to run for office in our
State,” said Nelson. “Asheville, Durham and
Charlotte seem ripe for strong lesbian and gay
candidacies,” added Nelson, who ran for
Carrboro Board of Alderman in 1989 losing
by only 30 votes.
Several attendees of this year’s confer
ence are running for office this year. Tammy
Baldwin, currently serving on the Dane
County (Wisconsin) Board of Supervisors, is
in a race for the Wisconsin State Legislature.
Tom Nolan, president of the San Mateo
County (California) Board of Supervisors, is
running for an open seat in the US House of
Representatives. Tim Cusick, a St. Louis ac
tivist, is running his second campaign for the
Missouri legislature.
Fourteen states have at least one openly
gay or lesbian elected official including North
Carolina, Florida, and Texas in the South,
every Northeastern state except New Hamp
shire, and California, Oregon, and Washing
ton in the West.
In related news, this year the first openly
lesbian African-American was elected to of
fice. Sherri Harris, an engineer and commu
nity activist, was elected to the Seattle City
Council in a landslide victory over an en
trenched incumbent.
Harris joins Keith St. John of Albany,
New York, as the only two openly gay and
lesbian African-Americans elected to public
office. Others elected this year include Glen
Maxie (Texas State House) and Tom Duane
(NYC City Council).
For information on the 1992 conference,
contact Michael Nelson at 919/929-7514 or
Joe Herzenberg at 919/929/4053.