Vol. 8, No. 3
March 1993
THE 1993 MARCH ON WASHINGTON
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Schedule
...page 11
The Carolina^’ MO0T Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper Printed on Recycled Paper FREE
Wilmington supports gay-bashed hero
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
WILMINGTON—^Justunder one-hundred
people braved the cold, drizzling weather
Saturday, February 20 to show support for
William “Crae” Pridgen, a local gay man who
gained national attention after being brutally
assaulted in this coastal city.
The actual circumstances sur
rounding the assault have almost
passed into legend. . %
Slightly pastmidnight on the mom- w
ing of January 30,1993 three marines
from Camp Lejuene entered Mickey
Ratz nightclub unaware that it was a
gay/lesbian establishment. After
learning it was, they began to verbally
harass tlie doorman and a few patrons
in the foyer. Pridgen, 28, unwittingly
walked into this melee attempting to
exit the club, was grabbed by the men
and forced outside. They knocked
him to the ground and beat and kicked
him while allegedly yelUng “Clinton
will pay,” which is assumed to refer
to the President’s stance on allowing
gay and lesbian Americans to serve in
the armed services. Within minutes,
bar patrons were able to chase the
marines away and pull Pridgen’s un
conscious body back inside. As a re
sult of the attack, Pridgen sustained a
fractured skull, had a tooth knocked
out, had cartilage in his left«ar tom
and received several facial bruises
and lacerations.
Hours later, Colin C. Hunt, 20,
Patric G. Gardone, 23, and Walter G.
Watkins, 26, were charged with as
sault and released on $400.00 bail
each. They are confined to the base
awaiting trial.
In the ensuing weeks, Pridgen’s
friends searched for a way to bring
attention to the violence perpetrated
against him and other gays and lesbi
ans.
This resulted in the formation of
an organization called People for the
Ethical Treatment of Otliers (PETO) which in
turn organized a march to illustrate their
concerns.
Prior to the march, three speakers ad
dressed the crowd gathered behind the City
Hall building. PETO spokesmen Paul
Eareackson and Michael Cheek served as the
emcees for the rally, alternately calling to the
microphone Chris Ingle, co-chair of the North
Carolina Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equal
ity, Corey Mitchell, an African-American
student from UNC-Wihnington, and Pridgen
■*ICI
himself.
Pridgen told the jubilant attendees, “It’s
time for us to stand up for our civil rights as
Americans. This is not just about gays in the
military; we’ve been denied and discrimi
nated against for too long. We’ve got to start
standing up and fighting - we’ve got to stop
living in fear. We have the right to live our
lives the way we want to; not the way society
tells us we should. I know there’s not a lot of
us out here, but we’re supporting a lot of
people who are still living in fear. Let’s not
live in fear anymore, let’s stand up
and fight - and fight hard.”
At approximately 12:15 pm the
march gotunderway. Eareacksonand
Cheek led the contingent around the
circular route through the streets of
downtown Wilmington, pastMickey
Ratz and back to City Hdl where the
march had begun.
When all of the marchers had
filed back onto the grounds, Pridgen,
PETO members,and Danny Leonard,
owner of Jacksonville’s Friends
Lounge, gave parting remarks about
the event and its significance.
After the closing comments, par
ticipants were encouraged to go to
Mickey Ratz and socialize.
At the club, Q-Notes was able to
spend a few moments with Pridgen
before he left for Los Angeles to
work with Queer Nation, discussing
the notoriety and opportunity that
tlie bashing had thrust upon him.
Oddly, if he had heeded the initial
advice of his friends, those opportu
nities would never have material
ized. “After they pulled me back into
the bar, I was sitting there saying,
‘This isn’t right. Someone’s got to
do something,’ but my friends were
telling me, ‘Crae, you should keep
quiet. You just need to forget about
this and get better and get on with
your life.’”
But because of the shame and
humiliation he felt, Pridgen was un
able to do that. “Those three men
stole my dignity. I knew the only
way I could get it back and ever feel
good about myself again was to do
something.”
Ironically, it was a member of the media
who convinced him to recounthis violation to
the general public.
Frances Weller is afriend of Pridgen’s and
Continued on page 12
Bar owner offers safe haven to gay soldiers
By Brent L. Pack
Special to Q-Notes
Many times in the heat of controversy and
protest, we rally behind the cause, but forget
the individuals who are fighting to make a
difference within that cause. Danny Leonard
is a man who has found a way to not only
bolster the crusade for homosexual rights, but
also to assist those individuals caught in the
CTOSS fire of and the fallout from the fight.
Danny Leonard, a native of Lexington,
NC, spent many years as Brandy Alexander
on the Miss Gay America pageant circuit
before finally hanging up his tiara and pur
chasing Friends LoungeinJ ackson ville. North
Carolina. Friends Lounge has served the needs
of the communities in Jacksonville and sur
rounding areas for 14 years, 11 of which
Leonard has been the owner.
Friends Lounge is a gay bar providing a
safe environment for dancing, cruising and
performing. Although its purpose is to cater
to the homosexual community. Friends
Lounge serves the straight community as
well with one third of the clientele being
straight. On the high percentage of hetero
sexuals in Friends Lounge, Leonard com
ments “The straight couples enjoy coming to
my bar because they love the music and the
dance floor, but also because a man can leave
his wife or girlfriend alone at a table and
know that she will be safe from harassment”
Although the club provides a comfortable
environment for homosexuals and hetero
sexuals, military authorities have seen fit to
keep all military personnel away from the
bar. Since 1981, Friends Lounge has been
blacklisted. Blacklisted status means that if
any military personnel are caught in the bar,
the individual could receive two years in the
brig, demotion to a private, and loss of all
military benefits. Currently, Friends Lounge
is one of only four bars in the country that has
been blacklisted by the military.
Despite its status. Friends Lounge remains
extremely popular with the Marines of Camp
Lejeune. Leonard estimates that 70 percent of
his clientele are members of the military. He
explains why the Marines frequent Friends
Lounge by saying, “I try to provide a home
away from home, a place of security and
comfort for the customers. Hopefully, they
can just be themselves when they are in my
bar and not worry about the rules and regula
tions of the military.”
Nonetheless, this “home-away-from-
home” has been threatened by the recent
publicity from the controversy surrounding
Continued on page 30
Activists discuss
U.S. AIDS policy
by David Jones
Q-Notes StaH
CHARLOTTE-About 60 AIDS activists
and people with HIV infection from North
and South Carolina met in Charlotte on Satur
day, February 20,1993 to help develop pro
posals to send to the Clinton administration
concerning the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It was
one of 25 regional meetings held across the
country over the past several weeks.
The Charlotte meeting was facilitated by
Mike Averbuch of Metrolina AIDS Project in
Charlotte, Jacqueline Clymore of tlie AIDS
Service Agency in Raleigh, Cornelius Baker
of the National Association of People with
AIDS and David Barr of the Gay Men’s
Health Crisis in New York City.
The regional meetings came about as a
result of an initiative by AIDS activists last
year. According to David Barr, AIDS organi
zations saw that AIDS was not being debated
by the five candidates for the Democratic
presidential nomination. They created a coa
lition called United for AIDS Action, wrote
an AIDS platform outlining what the next
president should do, obtained the endorse
ment of450 other groups and sent it to all five
candidates.
Continued on page 34
New G/L group
gets political
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—A subdued gathering of
47 gays, lesbians and bisexuals met on Febru
ary 10 in Charlotte. Three members of the
group known as “Citizens for Human Rights,”
formed to support passage of an amendment
to Charlotte’s public accommodations ordi
nance to include sexual orientation, led the
meeting.
Organizer Sue Henry gave a brief history
of events leading up to the meeting and an
nounced that Citizens for Human Rights had
raised $10,000 for the Democratic Party and
the Clinton campaign as well as coordinating
mass mailings on the ordinance issue.
Organizer Bob Barret mentioned the in
creased visibility of gays in the media and
asked how this was affecting the community
on a personal level. Attendee David Farraday
stated he used the increased coverage to begin
discussions on gay issues and to offer a gay
viewpoint to heterosexuals.
Organizer Ward Simmons began the pre
sentation on the proposed organization by
stating that meeting planners hoped to “avoid
traditional structure” and the “smothering”
effect of administrative responsibilities.
Continued on page 31
Q-Notes to give away trip to Cancun
You could win the trip of a lifetime just by filling out the survey you’ll find enclosed
in this issue.
In fact, here’s how easy it could be for you and a friend to fly off to Mexico. First, you
need to completely answer the survey questions. Next, write your social security number
in the space provided, refold the form and seal it with cellophane tape where indicated.
Then, just drop it in the mailbox - it’s postage paid.
The social security numbers from aU completed surveys will be placed in a pool from
which the winner will be drawn. That lucky reader, and one guest, will be flying, to
Cancun, Mexico for a 4-day/3-night stay in paradise.
The prize vacation will be September 9-12, 1993 and includes round-trip airfare
aboard AeroMexico airlines and accomodations at the luxurious Hotel Melia Turquesa,
located on the island’s Carribean side.
Be sure to look for your survey in this issue and send it in!