PAGE 8 Q-Notes
I Std^MiSef
March 1994
Baptist church opposes Pride parade
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by Don King
Special to Q-Notes
CHARLOTTE—A
minor media storm
erupted at the end of
January when The
Charlotte Observer
and a local televi
sion station report
ed that First Baptist
Church seriously
opposed the June 5 NC Lesbian and Gay
Pride Parade and Celebration. The church
campus is in the same block as Marshall
Park, the rally site and start/end point for the
parade, which prompted one Charlotte City
Coimcil member to remark that the event
must be “targeting the church.”
The steering committee for NC Pride ’94
delivered a letter to the church which offered
monitors during the parade to keep partici
pants off church property and to meet with
church officials to address other concerns.
In informal talks before a scheduled Char
lotte/Mecklenburg Parade Committee meet
ing (the authority which issues parade per
mits), the steering committee agreed to a
police department recommendation to move
the staging time for the parade from noon to
1:00 p.m. and to start the parade at 2:00 p.m.
rather than 1:00 p.m.
The minister of the church, acknowledg
ing the positive actions taken by the steering
committee, said he would not speak against
the event at the Parade Committee’s Febru
ary 3 meeting. While he remained true to his
word, another church official did speak
against the event and was the only voice at
the meeting raised in opposition.
The Par^e Committee voted unanimous
ly to proceed with the NC Lesbian & Gay
Mde Parade with the schedule change and
other minor considerations to accommodate
First Baptist.
“One thing that came from this experi
ence is that it’s good to keep lines of commu
nication open, and it’s much better to address
a possible area of contention right away so
that it can be kept within reasonable param
eters,” said Sue Henry, co-chair of the Char
lotte Steering Committee forNC Pride ’94.
“That’s what we did with First Baptist
concerning the step-off time for the parade,
and I think it’s real important. So often, it’s
when humans forget that we can talk to each
other and listen to each other that we get into
trouble,” Henry added.
Dan Kirsch, the other co-chair of the
Charlotte Steering Committee, commented,
“There are many battles surrounding a gay/
lesbian event like this, and it’s just not worth
it to spend energy over one hour’s disagree
ment about a starting time. This whole thing
placed us in a good light and means we have
fewer problems to face.”
In its coverage of the Parade Committee’s
4-0 vote. The Charlotte Observer quoted
Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot as saying
he would not oppose the right of any group to
assemble. Vinroot had previously voicedhis
dislike concerning the gay and lesbian event
being held in Charlotte.
On the same day, an Observer columnist
wrote “Gays 1, Christians 0” in praising the
Steering Committee’s accommodations and
berating the church for its stridency. Howev
er, in the same column, the writer found the
idea of homosexual sex “repulsive.”
House member pushes AIDS
project abandoned by Clinton
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Saturday,
January 22, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (ID-
New York) and AIDS activists and lobbyists
from around the country gathered in the
nation’s capitol for a National Legislative
Strategy Conference focusing on a bill Rep.
Nadler recently introduced into the House of
Representatives. The bill, HR 3310, would
establish an intensive, coordinated AIDS
cure research program much like the “Man
hattan” research project during World War II
which developed the atomic bomb and the
“Apollo” project in the 60s that put aman on
the moon.
The one day conference was attended by
Rep. Nadler and members of his staff as well
as representatives of the White House Office
of AIDS Policy, the Human Rights Cam
paign Fund (HRCF), the National Associa
tion of People With AIDS (NAPWA), the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF), the AIDS Siuvival Project, Gay
and Lesbian Americans (GLA) and ACT UP
chapters from around the nation. The meet
ing was held at the Institute for Policy Stud
ies, over fifty people participated.
HR 3310, also known as foe “AIDS Cure
Project,” was introduced into Congress on
October 29, 1993. Since that time, Ronald
Dellums (D-CA) and Major Owens (D-NY)
have signed on as cosponsors of the legisla
tion. The bill will undergo minor changes
and be reintroduced by Nadler within several
weeks. The AIDS Cure Project would focus
a team of diverse researchers on the search
for a cure for AIDS. The project would be
free from government red tape and the exces
sive influence of the pharmaceutical indus-
tiy-
During the conference activists debated
and discussed strategies to push the AIDS
Cure Project through Congress. Conference
attendees decided to use 1994 to build sup
port for foe project and to push for Congres
sional hearings on foe project next year.
Early this spring activists will launch a na
tional campaign to increase public aware
ness of the need for foe project and solicit
additional cosponsors of foe bill as well as
search for a sponsor of the bill in the Senate.
That national campaign will focus on build
ing grassroots support for the project in key
districts around foe country and will include
lobbying, letter writing and phoning mem
bers of Congress in their home districts and
in Washington urging them to support this
legislation.
As a part of his campaign, Clinton prom
ised a “Manhattan Project” on AIDS re
search. One year into office the President has
failed to take action. During his Dec. 1st
World AIDS Day address, AIDS activist
Luke Sissyfag disrupted the President’s
speech demanding “Where ’ s foe ‘ Manhattan
Project’ to search for a cure?”. The next day,
in an editorial, the New York Times echoed
Sissyfag by sa>rog the disruption was “only
fair” andfoatClintonneededto come through
on his promise.
Sissyfag, who organized the conference,
said “The failings of the current AIDS re
search program are apparent, even Clinton
has acknowledged this. The need for an
intensive research project is clearer than
ever. The AIDS Cure Project is foe blue print
of a research agenda to unlock the secrets of
AIDS and find a cine. It’s time for the gay
community to put it’s political muscle be
hind this project andput an end to this plague
that threatens us all.” Re-emphasizing his
support for foe project. Congressman Nadler
added “This new project can speed discovery
of a cure for AIDS by mounting a more
coordinated and concentrated research effort
to put an end to this deadly epidemic as
quickly as possible.”
Luke Sissyfag (left) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York)