Newspapers / Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / April 1, 1995, edition 1 / Page 1
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Brothers move out West ...Page 6 Money talks White walks ...Page 7 The Carolina^’ Meet Comprehenelve Gay & Lesbian Newspaper Printed on Recycled Paper FREE Grethe Cammermeyer Cammermeyer to visit Chariotte by Robert Marcus James Special to Q-Notes CHARLOTTE—Time Out Youth and OutCharlotte ’95 have jointly signed Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer to be keynote speaker at events on Fri day, October 13,1995. During a mandatory se curity check for top-secret mili tary clearance, Cammermeyer told the Army four words that would forever change her life: “I am a lesbian.” She is the au thor of Serving in Silence which in Februa^ was shown as an NBC made-for-TV movie featuring Glenn Close in the lead role. Close and Barbra Streisand co-produced the movie. Cammermeyer will be the keynote speaker for the fifth annual Time Out Youth Health Conference. The theme of the conference is “Mind, Body & Spirit —^The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Experience.” “We are thrilled that Col. Cammermeyer will share herself with us,” exclaimed Tonda Taylor, Executive Director of Time Out Y outh. “Our annual health conference has played an important part in educating youth counselors, ministers, health professionals, parents and others about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of our community. To have someone of Col. Cammermeyer’s stat ure join us, we expect the best conference we’ve ever had.” The conference planning team includes Dr. Bryan Robinson, Ph.D., a professor at UNC-Charlotte, and LeDayne McLeese Polaski, M.Div., youth minister at Myers Park Baptist Church. Following the health conference, Cammermeyer will be available for a book signing, a private sponsor reception and then give a public speech at OutCharlotte ’95, the cultural festival celebrating the lesbian/gay/ bisexual/transgender (LGBT) community. “We think Col. Cammermeyer is an im portant voice in LGBT culture,” stated Dan Kirsch, OutCharlotte Festival Director. “She is a woman who believes that her sexual orientation is irrelevant to her professional abilities, but even though highly decorated by the United States Army, the Army discharged her from the service simply because she was honest about herself.” According to Out magazine (Febmary 1995 issue), it has been estimated that some 18,000 men and women have been discharged from the US armed forces in the past 12 years because of their homosexuality. Cammer meyer, a Vietnam War veteran and the high est ranking and most decorated soldier to fight expulsion, was well on her way to be coming the country’s chief military nurse, and perhaps a general. Serving in Silence is the story of a very courageous woman—a woman who believes that there is no shame in being lesbian, a woman who had the courage not to accept being treated differently simply because of who she is, and decided to take a stand for herself and fight back. For more information about the Time Out Youth Health Conference, call (704) 537- 5050. For more information about OutCharlotte ’95, call (704) 563-2699. Sports Authority ads sell intolerance by David Stout Q-Notes Staff CHARLOTTE—Readers of the March 2 edition of The Charlotte Observer were shocked to find an offensive anti-gay remark amidst the text of a Sports Authority adver tisement promoting a skiing-accessories sale. One of the items included in the ad was Rossignol R77 brand ski boots — written in small letters beneath a picture of the item was the marketing description, “You’ll ski like a faggot with these!” The store, located in Independence Shop ping Center, and The Charlotte Observer, as well as Q-Notes and many broadcast media outlets, were flooded with calls about the advertisement. The situation was discussed on talk radio programs and featured on local newscasts throughout the day. HIV testing back in court by David Joneis Q-Notes Staff RALEIGH—ACT UP/Triangle filed a petition in Wake County Superior Court on March 8, asking the court to restore anony mous HIV testing to all North Carolina health departments. The motion asked the judge for a temporary restraining order to block the state from implementing a November 4 deci sion of the state’s Commission for Health Services to end anonymous HIV testing June 15,1995. ACT UP further asked the court to issue a permanent injunction to keep anony mous testing available indefinitely. ACT UP’s legal argument is based on the North Carolina law that establishes the Com mission for Health Services and gives it the power to enact and change so-called public health control measures. Control measures include testing policy for communicable dis eases, including HIV. The statute requires that the Commission make its decisions based on substantial evidence and scientific data. ACT UP argues in its motion that the Commission heard and considered scientific data when it voted on February 9 to keep anonymous HIV testing available in county health departments. At that meeting, the Com mission heard from a panel of public health experts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The UNC professors pre sented a detailed analysis of the state’s own HIV testing data which, according to the experts, showed a significant decline in test ing in gay men when anonymous testing was not available. However, when the Commis sion considered the issue again on November 4, it heard only anecdotal personal statements of opinion by a collection of local health directors who support the state health department’s campaign to end anonymous testing. The state health department has 30 days to file a response to ACT UP’s motion, after which the court will set a date for a hearing. Anonymous HIV testing will remain avail able in all 100 county health departments until June 15 unless the court issues a ruling extending it. The state health department began work ing to end anonymous testing in 1990, shortly after being given political instructions pub licly by representatives of the governor and lieutenant governor to stop supporting a pro posal to keep anonymous testing available. The next morning, the Observer featured another ad from The Sports Authority apolo gizing for the comment contained in the pre vious ad. It was directed toward “[The Sports Authority’s] loyal customers and the resi dents of Charlotte,” and signed by Richard J. Lynch, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, who explained, “The use of this language was obviously in error.” He noted that an individual was re sponsible for the “in appropriate and of fensive” content and that the employee had been terminated. A telephone number for the retail chain’s headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was also provided. While many were pla cated by the response, Q-Notes was not. The omission of a specific reference to gays and lesbians anywhere in the ad seemed to be an insulting oversight at best or blatant homophobia at worst. On March 10, a letter was sent to The Sports Authority outlining this newspaper’s position, “[We] have a problem with the fact that gays and lesbians were never specifically addressed in your apologetic comments, when the entire situation stemmed from the use of an anti-gay epithet. “Regrettably, you chose to direct your remarks toward your ‘loyal custom ers and the residents of Charlotte’ rather than those who were truly demeaned. Doesn’t The Sports Authority believe that gays and lesbians de serve a direct apology for the needless emo tional pain that was caused them by your ad vertisement? Or, were you more concerned with politics—afraid of offending conservative consumers by publicly standing opposed to the in justice directed toward homo sexuals every day? You missed an excellent opportunity to educate people about the skyrocketing anti-gay violence and hatred engulfing this nation.” Q-Notes challenged The Sports Authority to “confirm its commitment to equality” by Continued on page 18 You'll ski like 8 faggot with thesel Ortglnliy NCCGLE releases annual state hate crimes report as documented by the FBI, is 1.19 to 1. Speaking on behalf of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Sally Zumbach described the impact the vio lence has on gays and lesbians as well as the community at large. “Our loved ones are targets of violence and malicious verbal attacks, suffering loss of jobs, homes, and even life itself,” Zumbach said. “But even the appearance of homosexu ality exposes non-gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons to harassment, violence and discrimi nation.” Durham County Sheriff Worth Hill em phasized the need to teach children to respect all people by setting a good example. “If all of us in society would treat each and every individual with the respect and digmty that we expect to receive, then crimes against persons would be dramatically decreased,” Hill said. “We cannot expect our children to leam to respect all people unless we set the examples for them.” Zumbach agreed, saying that “the seeds of hate are sown early in life” and called on parents to replace hate with “true family val ues of love, understanding, compassion, and mutual respect.” Several recommendations were made by NCCGLE in the annual report and included adding sexual orientation to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act; requiring diversity training for state employees, including public school per sonnel and law enforcement agencies; and enacting legislation in the General Assembly of North Carolina allowing cities to adopt legal protection for citizens, including gays and lesbians. Kirby said the recommendations were the cornerstone of NCCGLE’s work. “A lot of people think we document anti-lesbian/gay offenses for the hell of it, but the reason for the documentation is to educate and legislate.” by Darryl R. Williams Q-Notes Staff RALEIGH—During 1994, anti-gay vio lence increased in North Carolina and across the country. Nine national tracking programs documented 2,064 anti-gay/lesbian incidents in 1994, a 1.6% increase over 1993. In North Carolina, 73 acts were documented. “We are saddened, but not surprised, that anti-gay/lesbian violence is on the rise once again,” said Kenda Kirby, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCCGLE). “Given the unprecedented levels of anti-gay organizing and hate rhetoric targeting our community over the year, violence had to increase.” Kirby’s comments were made at a March 7 press conference in Raleigh, during which NCCGLE released its annual report Homopho bia and Human Rights inNorth Carolina.The report summarizes anti-gay offenses such as harassment, physical assault, vandalism, and homicide in North Carolina as well as other regions where offenses are documented. Key findings of the report were that anti gay bias crimes are becoming more violent, are being committed by very young people, and are often perpetrated by more than one offender. In North Carolina, 5 gay-related murders were documented, the most violent of which was a castration/murder of a gay man in Roseboro. Nationally, 70 gay-related homi cides were documented. A new element of the annual report pro duced by NCCGLE was information regard ing the average age of offenders. An esti mated 30% of 1994 offenders were younger than 18 years of age and approximately thrcse- quarters were younger than 30. Kirby, citing an offender-to-victim ration of 1.47 to 1, called anti-gay crimes a “gang activity for young cowards.” The ratio for all hate crimes.
Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 1, 1995, edition 1
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