Vol. 9, No. 9
September 1994
Money For
Nothing
...Page 8
Women vs. Womyn
Round 3
...Page 28
Tha Carolines’ Most Comprahansiva Gay & Lasbian Nawspapar
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North Carolina ends anonymous HIV testing
by David Jones
Q-Notes Staff
RALEIGH—^Anonymous HIV testing will
no longer be available in North Carolina after
September 1,1994, the state Commission for
Health Services decided at its August 3 meet
ing in Raleigh. The commission meeting
ended with activists complaining about bro
ken promises from the state, questioning the
value of the new state AIDS Advisory Coun
cil and going to court.
In 1992, the commission accepted a rec
ommendation by the state health department
to end anonymous HIV testing on September
1. The state’s new AIDS Advisory Council
recommended recently that a comprehensive
program of education and support services be
implemented to reduce barriers to HIV test
ing. The council called for the state to keep
anonymous testing for at least two more years
while the program was put into effect. The
commission agreed to consider the council’s
recommendation at its August 3 meeting.
(See August 1994 Q-Notes.)
Several days before the meeting, ACT UP/
Triangle member Steve Harris reported that
he was told the state had decided to support
the advisory council’s recommendation, in
Radecic resigns as Task
Force executive director
by Susan Tedder
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—Peri Jude Radecic
will step down as executive director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF) at the end of her one-year contract
in November. Radecic will resume the posi
tion of NGLTF Director of Public Policy
following the naming of her successor.
The NGLTF Board of Directors will im
mediately begin a nationwide search for a
new executive director. To ensure a smooth
transition during the
search, Chris Collins,
NGLTF board co-chair,
will move to the office
and assist with
fundraising and other or
ganizational duties. In
addition, the board will
hire an interim Chief
Operating Officer this
month to oversee day-
to-day management of
the organization.
Radecic’s term as
executive director was
successful and influen
tial. During her tenure,
NGLTF established and
built the highly recog
nized Fight the Right
Project, which has orga
nized and trained scores
of activists in more than
25 cities and 20 states. The project has as
sisted activists and campaigns around the
country battle proposed anti-gay initiatives
and has seen the number of threatened ballot
measures drop from 10 to 2. Radecic also
coordinated NGLTF’s involvement in help
ing Georgia activists get the Olympic Volley
ball competition pulled from Cobb County.
She personally advocated the US Department
of Justice on behalf of Brenda and Wanda
Henson of Camp Sister Spirit in Ovett, Mis
sissippi, and directed NGLTF’s efforts to
assure Apple Computer stayed in Williamson
County, Texas, after that conununity’s anti
gay attack on Apple’s support of gay rights.
During Radecic’s previous tenure as
NGLTF Director of Public policy, a position
she held for six years, she was instrumental in
getting the federal Hate Crime Statistics Act
and the Americans with Disabilities Act passed
through Congress. As she resumes this posi
tion, her responsibilities will include coordi
nating the Task Force’s advocacy programs.
Peri Jude Radecic
including lobbying. Fight the Right, Anti-
Violence, Lesbian Health, and Workplace
and Campus projects.
“Peri is an accomplished strategist,” said
NGLTF Board co-chairs Chris Collins and
Deborah Johnson-Rolon. “Her skilk^ are best
used in bringing various program issues to
gether, developing and harnessing the power
of the grassroots and translating that power
into action on Capitol Hill.” Radecic seems to
agree, “I relish the opportunity to deal with
overall program coorchnation that is needed
to make NGLTF work
for our colleagues at the
grassroots. We need
information and energy
to flow from activists to
Capitol Hill, and we also
need to inform our con
stituents of policy issues
in Washin^on. That’s
what I do best.”
Radecic’s position
change is not the only
NGLTF staff adjust
ment ushering in the fall
season. During Septem
ber, Deborah Cox, Di
rector of Finance and
Administration, Ivy
Young, Director of Cre
ating Orange, and Robin
Kane, Acting Director
of Public Information,
will all be leaving
NGLTF. Both Young
and Kane are long-time staff members, while
Cox has been with NGLTF a little over a year.
Stacey Sobel, an attorney and legislative spe
cialist, has been hired as a consultant to focus
on lesbian health advocacy within federal
agencies. NGLTF board member Gregory
Fisher, a public relations specialist, will serve
as interim Communications Director and Beth
Banett, NGLTF part-time legislative assis
tant, has also taken on duties as public infor
mation assistant.
What these dramatic changes malm to the
Task Force is unclear. The cumate In Wash
ington is critical—Senator Jesse Helms (R-
NC) is attaching anti-gay riders to every piece
of legislation that passes through his hands,
the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is
in discussion, and several health care reform
bills are almost ready for committee.
Although the reasons for the changes are
unknown, and may be beneficial to the indi
viduals involved, much continuity is being
lost, and the community will ultimately feel
the repercussions.
eluding the extension of anonymous testing.
He stated the decision was relayed to him by
John Humphrey, an assistant to Secretary of
Environment, Health and Natural Resources
Jonathan Howes. The decision reportedly
came after two meetings in late July between
Howes and state health director, Ron Levine.
Hanis reported that Evellyn Blankenship, the
newly appointed interim head of the health
department’s HIV/STD Section, would ex
press the state’s support for the council’s
proposal in view of Levine’s strong opposi
tion to anonymous testing.
There were early signs that the under
standing had either been violated or not com
municated fully, however. When asked by (2"
Notes (just before the commission meeting)
whether the state would support the advisory
council’s recommendation, Blankenship said
yes. But when asked if that included the
extension of anonymous testing, she replied
that she did not intend to spe^ to the date
specifically, but she “hoped that everyone
would be able to continue to work together
regardless of what happens.”
At the commission meeting, Blankenship
did endorse the council’s proposal. Commis-
Continued on page 25
Pride pumps $500k into economy
CHARLOTTE—^The North Carolina Les
bian & Gay Pride Weekend in June pumped
more than a half million dollars into Charlotte’s
economy, according to event organizers.
“Our survey at the Pride Rally on June 5
showed that weekend attendees spent
$433,073 on lodging, food, entertaimnent and
shopping,” said Dan Kirsch, co-chair of the
event’s organizing committee.
In addition, IGrsch said, the committee
spent $72,272, almost all locally, for printing,
stage and tents, advertising, off-duty police,
soft drinks, sound system, catering, insur
ance, postage, office supplies, Marshall Park’s
rental fee, and other expenses.
Wrist bands showed that 3,841 people
attended the June 5 rally; 2,158 completed a
survey questionnaire.
Based on the results, which were factored
for 3,841, attendees spent $103,163 for lodg
ing at hotels and motels; $101,376 for meals;
$28,217 for movies, museums, concerts, the
ater productions and nightclub entertainment;
and $200,317 for shopping.
Southpark drew 616; Eastland, 445; Caro
lina Place, 295; and other retailers, 600.
At restaurants, attendees averaged $6.91
for breakfast, $12.71 for lunch, and $18.52
for dinner. The average hotel bill was $67.96
for 1,518 room-nights.
Besides North and South Carolina, people
attended from 13 other states and Washing
ton, DC. 52% of the total of 3,841 live in
places other than Charlotte.
In a related aimouncement, the NC Pride
1994 Committee says it is plaiming a commu
nity dinner in recognition of National Coming
Out Day. The dinner will be held on Tuesday,
October 11, beginning at 7:00 pm at the Uni
tarian Church, 234 N. Sharon Amity Rd. The
Pride committee will be actively soliciting
other groups to become involved with this
dinner, with the hope to make it an annual
event in Charlotte.
Everyone is asked to bring a dish to pass.
The LOC will provide beverages and utensils.
At the dinner, the NC Pride 1994 Commit
tee will officially disband, but hopes to an
nounce the formation of a new group that will
organize an annual gay and lesbian cultural
event in Charlotte.
For more information about the commu
nity dinner, to contribute door prizes, or to be
placed on the mailing list, please call Sue
Henry at (704) 332-7473 (days) or Dan Kirsch
at (704) 536-1372 (evenings).
AIDS caregiver receives national award
by John Scruggs
Special to Q-Notes
Dr. Diane Rose Can of Lexington, South
Carolina, has been selected as a recipient of
the inaugural National Outstanding C^egiver
Award of Merit. The award, presented by
Mary Fisher’s Family AIDS Network, Inc., is
designed to offer gratitude and recognition to
the recipients and to heighten awareness of
the critical and often heroic role played by
caregivers in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Carr
was nominated for the honor by Palmetto
AIDS Life Support Services of SC (PALSS).
Can, who received her doctorate in com
position from the University of South Caro
lina, was first introduced to the field of AIDS
while working as an editorial assistant for a
professor writing a book about the medical
and social aspects of AIDS. Can became
acquainted with PALSS and their work and
realized that people battling AIDS are bat
tling more than just a disease. “Here are
people who have a chronic illness, faced not
only with losing their lives, but their jobs,
their families, their churches and the things
that make life worth living,” says Can. This
awareness led her to volunteer for PALSS.
Can says, “It felt wrong to know so much
about a problem and not do anything about
it.”
With PALSS, Can not only acted as a
“buddy,” but also as a senior team leader.
PALSS matches trained volunteers (“bud
dies”) with persons living with AIDS. These
buddies provide emotional support for their
friends, listening to them, helping them solve
problems and spending time with them while
they just live their lives. Five to seven bud
dies make up a team, and as a senior team
leader. Can helped coordinate the leaders of
the individual teams.
Working as a volunteer, Can says she has
learned “a great deal, not just about AIDS, but
also about life.” For Cmr, one of the most
important things a volunteer can provide to
someone living with AIDS is their presence.
Volunteers cannot stop the disease or relieve
physical pain, but they can “be there for
people who live in the face of losing so many
things,” relates Can.
She says, “It feels strange to be getting this
[award] because so many people do w^hat I
do,” but at the same time, she feels fortunate
because she can come forward and tell about
her volunteer activities. For many people, the
same ignorance that leads to the societal stigma
of AIDS, also spills over into caregivers.
In receiving the National Outstanding
Caregiver Award, Can was selected from
over 100 nominees. The Family AIDS Net
work, which administers the award,
Continued on page 32