Vol. 9, No. 3
March 1994
Sissyfag gets
tough on AIDS
...Page 8
Pride
in NC ...Page 8
in SC ...Page 4
The Carolina^’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper Printed on Recycled Paper FREE
North Carolina to eliminate anonymous HIV testing
by David Jones
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—State Health Director Ron
Levine, MD, has announced that the state
health department’s position is that anony
mous HIV testing should be ended in Sep
tember 1994 based on a recent study by the
U S Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the
impact of restricting access to anonymous
testing to only a few counties over 16 months.
Former state health official David Jolly re
sponded that the study by the CDC of HIV
testing in North Carolina demonstrates that
eliminating anonymous HIV testing does not
increase the state ’ s ability to reach more total
people at high risk of infection and discour
ages gay and bisexual men from seeking
testing, proving that anonymous HIV testing
is needed.
The state health department proposed a
regulation in 1990 to end all anonymous
testing. The Commission for Health Servic
es restricted it to 16 coimties instead and
decided to end it by September 1,1994. ACT
UP/Triangle sued the state and won an order
in 1992that restoredanonymous HIV testing
to all counties because making anonymous
testing available in some but not all counties
was considered discriminatory. The ruling
does not prohibit the state from ending all
anonymous testing. Unless anew regulation
is adopted, anonymous testing will end auto
matically on September 1, 1994.
Levine’s statement, to a meeting of the
Commission for Health Services on Febru
ary 1,1994, comes one year after the admin
istration of Gov. Jim Hunt announced that it
would begin a series of meetings to seek a
consensus on the issue, and after testing
strategy was discussed extensively by acom-
mittee of activists, health and state officials.
It came just as the state’s new AIDS Adviso
ry Council was being organized and before
the new council had an opportunity to dis
cuss the matter. It has left many health
advocates questioning the state’s good-faith
in meeting with activists over the past year
and in forming the new advisory council.
At the second meeting of the new adviso
ry coimcil on February 22, 1994, and in a
GROW confronts support crisis
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
WILMINGTON, NC—GROW, begun in
1979, is a multi-faceted, membership orga
nization serving the gay and lesbian commu
nity in the Wilmington area of North Caroli
na. It is not imlike the United Way, coordi
nating many of its own projects while assist
ing other groups with their various needs.
And like so many other gay and lesbian
organizations, GROW has found itself in the
middle of a support crisis.
The January 1994 issue oiBackgrounds,
GROW’s monthly newsletter, laid out their
support problems in both dollars and volun
teer hours. The three most immediate con
cerns center on their newsletter, the Gay &
Lesbian Switchboard of Wilmington and
their Transportation Project.
The newsletter is without an editor, a job
requiring a volunteer commitment of ap
proximately 34 hours per month. With the
cost of the newsletter running about $1,750
per year, the board of directors is questioning
whether to continue the newsletter, possibly
charging members for a subscription.
The Gay & Lesbian Switchboard operates
on an automated voice mail system while
attempting to staff the line with operators
from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. seven evenings per
week. Early in 1993, the board voted to
operate the line through the voice mail sys
tem only. However, a few of the operators
volunteered to coordinate staffing, only four
people covering the schedule over the past
nine months. The coordinator was forced to
resign in November due to ajob change, and
the interim coordinator resigned in January.
The board is once again faced with an auto
mated system due to a lack of volunteers.
While the newsletter and switchboard
concerns focus more heavily on volunteer
hours, their Transportation Project problems
center around money. This program (part of
their HIV Resource Project) provides trans
portation for individuals and families affect
ed by HIV disease from their homes to
medical care facilities. GROW was under
contract with the Coastal Carolina HIV Care
Consortium for reimbursement at the rate of
22 cents per mile for the first passenger plus
$5.00 for each additional passenger from the
same town. As of January 31, 1994, the
Consortium owed GROW in excess of
$19,000 in reimbursements.
Due to the exceedingly slow reimburse
ment process, the GROW board of directors
voted at its January 1994 meeting not to
renew its transportation contract with the
Consortium, which expires March31. How
ever, the Transportation Project will contin
ue.
The board elected to contract with
GROW’s founder Leo Teachout, as a paid
employee at a gross wage of $75.00 per trip,
to provide transportation for area HIV pa
tients, with the stipulation that reimburse-
Continued on page 37
White receives Senate confirmation
by David Jones
Q-Note Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—Jesse L. White,
Jr., an openly gay Chapel Hill man and former
co-chair of North Carolina Pride PAC for
Gay and Lesbian Equality, has been con
firmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate to
head the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The Appalachian Regional Commission
sponsors programs to relieve poverty and
promote education, health care and economic
growth in a 13-state Appalachian mountain
region. It is based in Washington, DC.
White was appointed to the position by
President Bill Clinton in October 1993. On
February 22,1994, the Senate confirmed the
. apppintmenj witjipul,dissept. .Nqiiher of Nprth
statement faxed to Q-Notes, Secretary of
Environment, Health and Natural Resources
Jonathan Howes, which includes the health
department, said that Dr. Levine’s statement
had “regrettably...highlighted the need for
improved communication” and “caused some
confusion that the State has made its final
decision on the availability of anonymous
testing. This is not the case.” He went on to
say that the department wanted to hear from
the new advisory council on this and other
policy decisions.
Levine squared off at the council meeting
with David Jolly, former head of the state’s
AIDS Control Branch and now a staff mem
ber of the North Carolina AIDS Training
Network. Levine presented the state health
department’s view that the CDC study sup
ported ending anonymous testing.
Levine reported that the CDC study con
cludes that total testing and the number of
positive tests performed continued to in
crease during the time when anonymous
testing was unavailable in most counties. In
Continued on page 25
Sec. Jonathan Howes
Busted escort ring has ties to Fleiss
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—On August 5, 1993, po
lice aiTested Robert Frederick Holliday for
allegedly operating a male escort ring in
Mecklenburg County.
Holliday, who resides in Atlanta, is charged
with prostitution, racketeering and postal fraud
and will be tried in federal court in Charlotte
on April 4.
The charges stem from the government’s
assertion that Holliday, 42, aka “Carl,” owned
an escort service known as Professional Mod
eling Agency (PM A), located at Sharon Lakes
Office Plaza, which was actually nothing
more than a front for prostitution.
One of PMA’s former employees, Jimmy
Hincemon, is expected to not only testify
against Holliday but also assert that the ser
vice was handUng clients for infamous “Hol
lywood Madam,” Heidi Fleiss.
Hincemon, 31, was employed by PM A
from 1986 until 1991, when he moved to Los
Angeles and went to work directly for Fleiss.
Despite the fact that he admits to working as
a prostitute, to date he has not been charged
with any offenses. He says it’s because he is
cooperating fully with federal authorities,
talking not j ust about Holliday, but also about
the sex-for-sale connection between the Queen
of Tinsel Town and the Queen City. “They
want information that I have to offer, and Tm
giving it to them. I gave them all of my client
lists and computer files.”
Hincemon said that PMA’s involvement
with Fleiss began prior to his employment
there. “It was going on when I got there, I
guess. The client referrals were already on the
computer anyway.”'
Allegedly, whenever Fleiss’ Los Angeles
customers were in the Charlotte area for movie
or television work, she would recommend
PMA to them. “At one point in 1989, there
Continued on page 28
Carolina’s Republican Senators, Lauch
Faircloth and Jesse Helms, raised objections.
Neither were present for the vote. White
worked extensively with Southern governors
and other leaders while he was the executive
director of the Southern Growth Policy Board
between 1981 and 1990 and drew board praise
from RepubUcans and Democrats forhis work.
White knew and worked with President
Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas.
White left Chapel Hill for Washington the
day following his confirmation by the Senate
and assumed the position immediately. He
joins over 20 openly gay and lesbian senior
staff appointments made by the Clinton ad
ministration.
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 third
time the annual awards have been present
ed.
The Mark Drum Memorial Award is
given to recognize an individual who has
done outstanding and exceptional work in
the HIV/AlDS-^fected 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 OUTlBound Award is pre
sented to someone who has made a signif
icant impact on die lesbian and gay commu
nity in North and/or South Carolina. This
person will have made a viable change
through activism, lobbying, and communi
ty service.
If you or your community service orga
nization know a person who should be
considered for either prize, please write to
us. Include in your letter a brief personal
profile of the individual; a description of
their work and performance; and the rea
sons why their contribution has been ex
ception^.
We are aware that hundreds ofpeople in
the gay and lesbian community are com
mitted every day to extinguishing disease;
suffering; bigo^; bashing; and discrimi
nation, so choosing these recipients will be
a difficult process.
The deadline for your submission is
Sunday, May 15.
All applications wilt be given serious
consideration by a nominating committed;
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. O.
Box 221841, Charlotte, NC 28222.