Vol. 8, No. 4
April 1993
THE 1993 MARCH ON WASHINGTON
. ITITI
Pride guide
...page 8
The CaroWnae Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper Printed on Pecycied Paper FREE
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Powerful law firm takes pro-gay stance
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
MONTGOMERY, AL—In order to take a
powerful stand on anti-gay hate crimes, one
of the South’s most influential civil rights
institutions has agreed to represent gay-bash
ing victim Crae Pridgen in a civil suit against
three marines who assaulted hun.
For the first time in its ten year history, the
Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit,
groundbreaking firm in the fight for racial
equality, will prosecute a social justice case
dealing with sexual orientation.
In a written statement, Morris Dees, the
Law Center’s Chief Trial Counsel, said, “Hate
crimes plague our nation. When individuals
are at risk solely because of their race, sex,
ethnic background, or sexual orientation, all
of us are in danger.”
Pridgen, 28, said that he decided to ap
proach the Center after appearing with Dees
on a CNN broadcast about hate crimes. “I was
very impressed with the things he had done
with the Ku Klux Klan, I mean as far as
prosecuting them, so I got hold of the Law
Center’s phone number and asked Morris
Dees to call me. He [did] and I told hun that
I was receiving numbers and numbers of
phone calls from attorneys across the country
wanting to represent me, and I was real leery.
I said that since he was on the interview with
me, I was very interested in the Law Center
and what their cause was.”
According to Pridgen, Dees sent him a
packet of information on the history of the
Center and a videocassette detailing some of
its precedent-setting cases.
Pridgen determined from the material that
the firm possessed the type of civil rights
vision he was searching for. “I was very
impressed with them. Their reputation is very
well known all across the country, and they
are very interested in gay rights. I felt like
they would be the best as far as getting a
principle across.”
In a telephone interview, tlie Law Center’s
Legal Director, Richard Cohen, confirmed
that Pridgen’s case was the first specifically
“gay” suit the Center had handled. But he
hastened to add that the organization had
been working to eradicate anti-gay violence
for quite some time. “We have been U'acking
crimes against gays and lesbians for many
years and report them regularly. We see them
Lesbian Avengers co-founder Doris Taylor on the Duke University campus
Are you being served by
by Robin Church
Special to Q-Notes
CHAPEL HILL-In its quest for quality
and non-discriminatory entertainment, the gay
community has made a phenomenal amount
of progress in the past decade. But that
progress has not been achieved without sub
stantial effort and determination. And it also
has not been so great that even a single step
backward won't have far-reaching ramifica
tions. That is why it is particularly disheart
ening that the North Carolina Center for Pub
lic Television (CPT) has decided to stop
airing In The Life, a gay variety series.
It is also the reason that two local gay and
lesbian activist organizations are taking the
state's public television system to task. Dur
ing the past month, the Alamance Gay and
Lesbian Alliance (AGLA) and the newly
formed Lesbian Avengers have been making
their objections known via letter, telephone
and check.
In The Life, produced by WNYC in New
York, is broadcast by over 45 public televi
sion stations nationwide. It is a program
created by, for and about gays and lesbians.
Each half-hour show features musical guests,
comedians, actors and actresses from the com
munity. Even though reviewers have cited
the program as being humorous, educational.
honest ^d informative, only four episodes
were shown in North Carolina before the
series was discontinued. AGLA president
Chris Ingle was upset when he learned that
the show was being cancelled. Buthe became
indignant when he learned that CPT was
planning to air an hour-and-a-half marathon
of Are You Being Served? during its March
fund-raising drive. Are You Being Served? is
a British comedy set in a department store
which features a stereotypically gay male
sales clerk. Ingle said that the show rein
forces negative images of gays while In The
Life offers honest porurayals. "In The Life
provides a positive, educational and realistic
role-model as well as providing quaUty enter
tainment. Are You Being Served? not only
degrades us, but shows our younger genera
tion a negative gay stereotype being depicted
as reality," Ingle said.
To fight this situation, Ingle joined with
Durham's Lesbian Avengers to organize a
campaign geared toward achieving "realistic
images in public broadcasting." The groups
began with a phone zap of CFF on March 16
from 6-8pm. Members called the pledge
numbers continuously during that time and
expressed their disappoinunent in the station.
This tied up phone lines and operators result-
Continued on page 11
as one of the most important hate crimes. Gay
people are more likely to be victimized by
hate crimes than any other group in our soci
ety, whether that be racial groups, ethnic
groups or groups defined by tlieir religion, so
we consider them to be an exU'emely serious
problem. This is the first court case we’ve
brought aimed specifically at it, but we have
engaged in a variety of public education pro
grams - including education programs di
rected toward law enforcement.”
The Center’s reliance on education,
coupled with its representation of Crae
Pridgen, prompted Cohen to send a letter to
U.S. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin on March
15,1992 wherein he addressed ie problems
of, and possible solutions to, the violence
Continued on page 19
Raleigh City Council
votes to play it safe
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—As was speculated by Mike
Nelson, Executive Director of the NC Pride
PAC, in last month’s Q-Notes, two proposals
regarding discrimination based on age and
sexual orientation were brought before the
Raleigh City Council on March 16. One pro
posal would extend anti-discrimination pro
tection to all Raleigh citizens and would
require a change to the city’s charter. The
second would be a non-binding resolution to
encourage businesses to include age and
sexual orientation in their anti-discrimina
tion policies and would require the City Man
ager to appoint a department to accept com
plaints.
The Committee on Law and Finance unani
mously recommended the charter change pro
posal which did not come easy according to
Mary Watson Nooe, chair of the committee.
When Nooe initially proposed the change
before the full council, no one would second
her motion. They instead sent the proposal
into committee. It was there that the second
recommendation was fonnulated. Even with
only three members on the committee, it took
three lengthy and sometimes heated meetings
before they were prepared to make their pre
sentation to the council.
The City Council voted 4-4 on the charter
change proposal, defeating it since five votes
are required for passage. The second proposal
was passed unanimously.
According to Nooe, one reason offered for
the defeat was the shaky relationship between
the Raleigh City Council and the NC General
Assembly, the council deciding they did not
want to be controversial. The council felt it
was “more important to maintain a good
relationship,” Nooe said.
In her effort to obtain passage, Nooe used
an economic development approach. How
ever, the council argued that businesses would
suffer increased expense if they were accused
Continued on page 27
Nominations sought for
annual Q-Notes awards
CHARLOTTE-Nominations are cur
rently being accepted for this year's Q-
Notes OUT!Bound Award and Mark Drum
Memorial Award, to be presented by Q-
Notes in June. This year will be the second
time the annual awards have been presented.
The Mark Drum Memorial Award is
given to recognize an individual who has
done outstanding and exceptional work in
the HIV/AIDS-affected community.
Mark Drum was a Q-Notes staff writer
who chronicled his battle with the disease
until his passing in May of 1991. We are
honored to pay tribute to Mark and feel this
award is our appreciation in action.
The Q-Notes OUT! Bound Award is pre
sented to someone who has made a signifi
cant impact on the lesbian and gay commu
nity in North and/or South Carolina. This
person will have made a viable change
through activism, lobbying, and commu
nity service.
Last year's Mark Drum Memorial Award
and Q-Notes OUTIBound Award went to
Bill Edens and Darryl Logsdon, respec
tively. Edens is the executive director of
PALSS in Columbia, SC, and Logsdon is a
gay activist in Charlotte.
If you or your community service orga
nization know a person who should be con
sidered for either prize, please write to us.
Include in your letter abrief personal profile
of the individual; a description of their work
and performance; and the reasons why their
contribution has been exceptional.
We are aware that hundreds of people in
the gay and lesbian community are commit
ted every day to extinguishing disease; suf
fering; bigou^; bashing; and discrimina
tion, so choosing these recipients will be a
difficult process.
The deadline for your submission is Sat
urday, May 15.
Alt applications will be given serious
consideration by a nominating committee;
finalists will be voted on by the entire staff.
Please make sure that you include your
contact information, as we will be making
further inquiry regarding finalists.
Send your submissions to Q-Notes, P. 0,
Box 221841, Charlotte. NC 28222.