Al'fejl
Vol. 8, No. 2
February 1993
Married with
children
...page 24
Bending the
straight press
...page 10
The CaroWnae Meet Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper Printed on Pecycied Paper FREE
MCSP to take
over hate crimes
SC Capitol nears civil rights vote
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
COLUMBIA—If all goes well, South
Carolina’s capitol city, home to an estimated
10,000 gays and lesbians, could enact civil
rights protection for homosexuals as early as
March 1993.
While this timeframe represents an opti
mistic viewpoint, it does not undermine the
fact that a city in this very conservative state
is willing to address the issue at all.
The fact that Columbia’s City Council
will be looking at the proposal is jointly
attributable to the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride
Movement (GLPM) and the town’s Mayor,
Bob Coble.
After several preliminary meetings,
GLPM’s Political Cpmmittee met with Mayor
Coble in 1991 to discuss areas of importance
to the gay and lesbian community with the
passage of city mandated civil protection
being the primary focus.
According to Matt Tischler, GLPM co
chair, Mayor Coble agreed that the request
warranted study, and as a result, charged the
Greater Columbia Community Relations
Council (CRC) with investigating the need
for such legislation.
Culling participants from both its own
members, and from the GLPM Political Com
mittee, the CRC formed the Committee on
Civil and Human Rights for Lesbians, Gays
and Bisexuals in October 1991 to scrutinize
the condition of gays in Columbia and to
submit recommendations it found appropri
ate.
The Committee spent the next year ana
lyzing the complex living situations of
Columbia’s homosexual community culmi
nating in the presentation of a fifty-plus page
report to the full CRC in the summer of 1992,
calling for some surprisingly liberal legisla
tion.
The most progressive recommendation.
which wenteven further than those submitted
by Charlotte’s CRC sub-committee on the
same issue, called for the city to recognize
domestic partnerships between same and op
posite sex couples. Other recommendations
noted in the report were: 1) adding gays,
lesbians and bisexuals to the Housing Code;
2) extending public accommodations protec
tion to gays, lesbians and bisexuals; 3) offer
ing public and private employment protec
tion to gays, lesbians and bisexuals; and 4)
ensuring equal treatment of gays, lesbians
and bisexu^s in all credit transactions.
When the full CRC met to review the
sweeping recommendations in September of
1992 they decided to delete the most far-
reaching, and endorsed those more realisti
cally passable. In the end, the CRC sent a
letter to Mayor Coble requesting that the city
council mandate equal protection for gays,
lesbians and bisexuals in the areas of public
Continued on page 20
Queer Nation mourns
sailor slain by crewmates
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Gay activist or
ganization Queer Nation held a somber candle
light memorial on January 18 for murdered
Navy seaman Allen Schindler.
The vigil, a conscious, stark contrast to the
multitude of merry functions being held
around the nation’s capitol during inaugura
tion week, was timed to bring heightened
awareness to the circumstances surrounding
Schindler’s death and to keep pressure on
President Clinton to repeal the ban on gays in
the military.
Petty Officer Schindler, 22, was brutally
killed October 27 by two shipmates in a
public park restroom in Sasebo, Japan where
they were stationed.
Schindler died of extensive brain injuries
resulting from his head being bashed repeat
edly into a sink.
In fact, the attack was so vicious that the
victim’s mother, Dorothy Hajdys, could
hardly identify him. “I viewed my son’s body.
Asheville center
begins operation
by Brent L. Pack
Special to Q-Notes
ASHEVILLE—^The hopes and dreams of
the Asheville gay and lesbian community
were realized recently with the opening of
North Carolina’s first gay and lesbian com
munity center. After more than two years of
organization, planning and hard work, the
Asheville Gay and Lesbian Community Cen
ter officially opened its doors to the public on
January 15,1993.
The Asheville Gay and Lesbian Commu
nity Center aims to consolidate many of the
services available to the community. In addi
tion to housing tlie offices of the Southern
Appalachian Gay and Lesbian Alliance
(SALGA) and Community Connections, the
Asheville area’s gay and lesbian publication,
the community center also includes a re
source center. The resource center will pro
vide information to the community concern
ing the purpose and events of the various gay
and lesbian organizations in Western North
Continued on page 31
All that was left was the tip of his nose
sticking out.”
The Navy charged two men in the murder.
Airman Apprentice Charles Vins, 20, was
convicted November 23 of concealing a crime
and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to one
year in custody, but will only have to serve
four months. Airman Apprentice Terry
Helvey, 20, is charged with murder and has a
pending trial date.
While naval officials say that homosexu
ality is only one possible motive, gay activists
point out that Schindler had come out to his
captain a month earlier because he was being
victimized by his shipmates. Furthermore,
Schindler’s uncle stated that he was told of
the abuse during a phone conversation with
his nephew.
Queer Nation spokesman Michael Petrelis
said thatmistreatmentof homosexuals is wide
spread in the armed services. “We know that
gays are harassed and treated brutally by the
military. This time the difference is we found
out about it.”
President Clinton (above) promised to repeal
the military's ban on gays. Gay activists cite
cases such as Schindler's murder as a
need for urgency.
Anonymous HIV testing
restored to all NC counties
by David Jones
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—With one simple sentence -
“Mr. Fisher, I am granting your request.” -
Wake County District Court Judge Orlando
Hudson restored anonymous HIV testing to
all 100 county health departments in North
Carolina on January 4,1993.
Several members of ACT UP/Triangle
who were sitting in the courtroom wept qui
etly.
Stuart Fisher, ACT UP/Triangle’s attor
ney, immediately presented Judge Hudson
with a 12-page draft of a written order. The
judge signed it, making the order effective as
of noon that same day.
The state health department sent a fax that
afternoon to county health departments noti
fying them of the decision.
It was the second time that a North Caro
lina judge rejected explicitly the arguments
made by the state he^th department in its
seemingly desperate crusade to end anony
mous HIV testing. And it was the second time
that ACT UP triumphed in court.
In the written order. Judge Hudson ruled
that the state’s policy of restricting access to
anonymous testing was a violation of the
equal protection provisions of the US and
North Carolina constitutions because it cre
ated a special class of persons who did not
have access to anonymous HIV testing based
on where they live.
He also agreed with Administrative Law
Judge Brenda Becton, who ruled in favor of
ACT UP earlier, that the state had not pre
sented a sound public health rationale for
restricting access to anonymous testing. Fur
ther, the court ruled that tlie manner in which
counties were selected to retain anonymous
testing was arbitrary and capricious.
The court also found that the state had not
demonstrated that partner notification - con
tacting the sex or needle partners of persons
who know they are HIV-positive - is really
effective.
Judge Hudson’s ruling was a preliminary
Continued on page 7
reporting project
by David Prybylo
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE — First Tuesday Asso
ciation for Lesbian and Gay Equality, which
formally ceased operations last month, has
turned over operation of the Documenta
tion Project to Metrolina Community Ser
vice Project (MCSP). The Document Project
had been a joint effort between First Tues
day and the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard,
which is operated by MCSP, to document
local hate crimes against lesbians and gay
men. All information received has been
compiled and released to the state agencies
responsible for keeping track of hate crimes
as well as other interested persons.
Robert Propst, president of MCSP, said
the group was pleased to take over respon
sibility of the Documentation Project, say
ing that documenting hate crimes against
lesbians and gay men had become more
important than ever.
"With the [Charlotte] City Council de
feating the public accommodations amend
ment," said Propst, "it is more important
than ever todocumentdiscrimination based
on sexual orientation." Propst went on to
say that he had heard a number of City
Council representatives, both in the No
vember meeting and in the press before
hand, say that they did not believe the
proposed amendment was necessary be
cause they did not.believe that discrimina
tion against gays and lesbians occurred in
Charlotte.
"So it is now more important than ever
that we document incidents of discrimina
tion or perceived discrimination. It is
important to note that you don't have to get
beat up to document. If you are called a
faggot on the sheet, document it. If you are
getting poor service in a restaurant because
you are gay or lesbian, document it."
Propst said that, while those who report
hate crimes are urged to identify them
selves so that their cases can be followed up,
he said that such identification is not nec
essary and that, in fact, anonymity can be
guaranteed. He urged all people who be
lieve that they have been discriminated
against, abused, or vietimizedbeeause they
are homosexual to report such incidents to
the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard. He
emphasized that no matter how old the
incident is, MCSP would still like to hear
about it.
Propst said the group had already been
in eoniaet with the North Carolina Coali
tion for Gay and Lesbian Equality
(NCCGLE) and that they have agreed to
work with MCSP in trying to get documen
tation to theCharlotteCity Council, Among
other things, Propst said NCCGLE will
come to Charlotte to train MCSP volun
teers in gathering statistics. Propst also
said that Don King, formerly head of the
Documentation Project for First Tuesday,
has agreed to assist in the transition.
To Report A Hate Crime
Call the Gay/Lesbian Switchboard in
your area (in Charlotte, call 704/ 535-
MCSP {535-6277} between 6:30 and
10:30 p.m., 7 days a week.)
Your report will be confidential, and
will help local, state, and federal govern
ment officials understand the need for
gay and lesbian civil rights legislation.