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Vol. 8, No. 11 November 1993 She's still unusual ...page 20 The Gospel according to Matthews ...page 8 The Carolinae’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper Fr'mted on Kecyded Paper FI^EE ACT UP/SF calls for boycott of North Carolina Controversial imprisonment may have figured in loss of Mercedes-Benz plant by David Stout Q-Notes Staff SAN FRANCISCO—ACT UP/San Fran cisco has endorsed a national boycott of North Carolina over the imprisonment of Tuscarora Indian Eddie Hatcher and is encouraging other chapters to do the same. The Prison Issues Committee of ACT UP/ SF drafted a press release in August which stated that the group had been contacted by the Free Eddie Hatcher Campaign, based in Pembroke, NC, about the inmate’s circum stances. At the same time they were asked to sign on as co-sponsors of a nation-wide boy cott of North Carolina travel and tourism and also its lucrative furniture industry, specifi cally Broyhill Furniture and Thomasville Furniture products. After reviewing the case, members agreed that Hatcher’s imprisonment was unjust and the group backed the action. Hatcher’s incarceration stems from his role in the February 1,1988, ten-hour armed occupation of the Robeson County newspa per, Ae Robesonian. He and partner Timothy Jacobs said that the take-over was an attempt to call attention to the corruption and racism within the local government. They charged that county offi cials were trafficking cocaine and turning a blind eye to a crime wave consisting of al most twenty minority murders. After holding the newspaper staff hostage for the better part of the day, Hatcher and Jacobs released the Robesonian employees and turned themselves in to the authorities. In March, North Carolina officials de cided to pre-empt their charges in lieu of a federal trial. The lengthy court proceedings culminated on October 14, with a federal jury finding the defendants not guilty on all counts in accor dance with their necessity defense. In an unexpected move, state prosecutors then dredged up their original charges and an nounced plans to retry the pair. Emotionally weary from the just-con cluded federal case, Timothy Jacobs plea- bargained to a sbc year prison sentence. Mdie Hatcher fled to San Francisco. He was eventually captured, brought back to North Carolina and convicted of kidnap ping. On February 14, 1990 he was sen tenced, under a separate plea-bargain, to eigh- Bar owner's house burned by arsonists by David Jones Q-Notes Staff JACKSONVILLE, NC—On Saturday night, October 9, at about 11:30 pm, Danny Leonard, owner of Friends Lounge in Jack sonville, was ready to perform as Brandy Alexander when he got a phone call. His house was on fire. When he arrived, the fire was under control, but everything inside was covered with what he calls a thick, black grease formed by smoke, soot and water. The front door to the house had been kicked in and someone had gone straight to Leonard’s bedroom in the back of the house, soaked the bed in a flammable liquid and set it on fire. The fire was so hot the bedsprings had melted into the floor, he reports. The bedroom area of the house was badly dam aged and the house has been declared a total loss, Leonard says. He said that robbery was clearly not the motive since neitlier a jar of money in the bedroom nor stereo equipment or a camera were taken. Later that night, he got an anonymous, threatening call. “We fixed you good this time, faggot,” he remembers the caller say ing, “Next time we’ll finish you off.” When asked how he replied, he almost shouted into the phone, “Hell, I said, ‘Well, come on, then.’” Jacksonville police opened an investiga tion but Leonard does not believe much will come of it unless the police lab can produce Caller said, "We fixed you good this time, faggot. Next time we'll finish you off." some evidence. The police have reportedly said that arson is usually a very difficult crime to solve. The North Carolina Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCCGLE) is in contact \vith the Jacksonville Police Department to assure that the investigation is thorough, and will consider, at the group’s next board meet ing, offering a reward for information lead ing to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the fire. Leonard reports that he was planning to purchase the house which he had been rent ing and had let his renter’s insurance lapse. Most of his personal possessions were de- Continued on page 5 Military witchhunt halted by courts by Dan Van Mourik Q-Notes Staff The U.S. militaty’s “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell” policy regarding homosexuals in the armed forces is on trial across the country. Even before the new policy was to go into effect, October 1, rulings were being handed down which, in essence, stated that discharge from the military on the basis of sexual orientationalonewasunconstitutional. While none of the cases were brought to court after the new policy was to be instituted, rulings will have a significant impact because they address the broader issue of discrimination rather than the specifics of a single policy. Each time a lawsuit has been presented to a lower court, gays have won and the military has lost. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has successftrlly avoided ruling on the ban itself, honing in on the specifies of individual cases with carefully constructed language that can in no way be construed to apply to a larger forum. But that could soon change. The case involving Keith Meinhold, a Leading Petty Officer in the Navy, may force the Supreme Court to decide the issue. Meinhold publicly announced his sexual ori entation in May 1992. He was discharged three months later. His suit against the Navy challenged the ban as unconstitutional and he was reinstated. However, the Navy con tinued to appeal. U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter Jr., as part of his ruling in the Meinhold case, placed an injunction on the Department of Defense (DOD) which instructs the DOD “not to discharge any person from the armed forces solely because of his/her status as a homosexual.” This“freeze” applies to trans fers as well. The significance of this decision rests in the fact that it encompasses the entire Depart ment of Defense and is not directed at a single Individual under a specified set of circum stances. It effectively lifts the ban on gays as promised by but not pursued by President Clinton. In September, Hatter ordered several DOD officials, or their representatives, to appear in court. His order made it quite clear that the officials were to “show cause, if you have any, why you should not be held in contempt for continuing to enforce the Department of Defense’s policy regarding gays and lesbi- ans. During that September 30 hearing. Judge Hatter again ordered the DOD to cease “dis charging, changing enlistment status or de nying enlistment to any person based on sexual orientation in the absence of proven sexual conduct — if such conduct is proven to interfere with the military mission of the Continued on page 19 teen years in prison. Since then, Jacobs has been released while Hatcher has gone before the North Carolina Parole Commission twice and been turned down both times. His third parole hearing is scheduled for this month, and Juanita Baker, the Chairman of the North Carolina Parole Commission, stated emphatically that no out side pressure would influence the decision of the commissioners, “The commission will deal with the facts of the case and that will be our only concern.” John Chapman, of ACT UP/SF’s Prison Issues Conunittee, says that his organization took up Hatcher’s plight because he has be come a champion of AIDS-affected inmates, “Eddie has b^n an outspoken supporter of Continued on page 13 Clinton appoints Triangle activist by David Jones Q-Notes Staff CHAPEL HILL, NC—Jesse L. White, Jr., of Chapel Hill and current chair of NC Pride PAC, the North Carolina gay and lesbian political action committee, has been nomi nated by President Bill Clinton to be the co chair of the Appalachian Regional Commis sion. The appointment requires confirma tion by the U.S. Senate, which will hold hearings on the nomination. The White House is reportedly aware of White’s role in gay and lesbian civil rights in North Caro lina. White, 49, a native of Mississippi, will manage the federal agency which sponsors economic development and other anti-pov erty programs for the 13-state Appalachian mountain region running from Mississippi to New York. The state co-chair is Virginia governor Douglas Wilder. The commission was established as a part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. According to press reports, the commis sion has a staff of 55 and a budget of $190 million. To date, $798 million has been spent in North Carolina. If confirmed by the Senate, White will move to Washington, DC. White and President Clinton have had a long relationship. White was the executive director of the Southern Growth Policies Board, a think-tank of southern governors, between 1981 and 1990, and worked closely with Clinton when Clinton was the governor of Arkansas. The board develops strategies to improve economic development in South ern states. White became widely known during his tenure as an advocate of investing in and growing businesses and industries that origi nate in the South instead of relying on im porting jobs by recruiting business to move to the South. In numerous speeches and ar ticles, he argued that imported jobs are at risk of moving eventually to places with cheaper labor, including overseas, while industries developed from within a state or region are more stable and have a greater long-term positive impact on more aspects of regional economies. When he left the board in 1990, White was widely praised for his leadership. Gov. Carroll Campbell of South Carolina said at the time that “Your efforts on behalf of economic development throughout the Southeast are without measure.” Gov. Ray Mabus of Mis- Continued on page 23
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