Q-Notes T June 1995 PAGES
Index
News
Activists protest violence against
transsexuals 25
Candace Gingrich thrills NC audience 6
Chapel Hill OKs domestic partners 1
Durham theater defends gay fllm festival 10
Gay Republicans send warning to Congress .... 15
HRCF launches massive membership drive 15
MAP seeks nominations for
Jim Oehler Award 20
NC Pride ‘95 24
NC legislature considers gay related bills 10
NGLTF board meets in Washington, DC 14
OutCharlotte 95 receives grant from Fund for
Southern Communities 1
Prison activist paroled because of HIV status .. 17
Project’s benefit dinner becomes
riot at the Hyatt 25
Sources say Helms stalling
Ryan White funding 1
Task force meets with Charlotte police 9
Victory Fund executive director resigns 9
White Rabbit opening soon 37
Winston-Salem selected to host
NC Pride‘96 17
Women’s health access survey set to begin 7
Features
AIDS service organizations nourished by
delicious dining 28
Exploring the connections:
Militias and anti-gay rhetoric 33
Legends fight AIDS 26
Listening to our leaders 20
OutCharlotte 95 to produce cabaret
show with local talent competition 7
Radicals & gays go to court 25
Columns
AIDS Update 30
Between The Covers 37
Classifieds 38
Community Cards 39
Curbside 43
For The Record 43
Gay-la Word Search 43
GLAAD Notes 38
Letters To The Editor 4
National Notes 19
Organizations 23
Out and About 42
Out In The Stars 43
Personals 40
QFYI 29
Quips and Quotes 21
Deadline For
Next Issue:
June 18
Q-Notes
Vol. 10, No. 1, June 1995
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 221841
Charlotte, NC 28222
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Street Address:
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Charlotte, NC 28205
Publisher & CEO Jim Yarbrough
Editor David Stout
Associate Editor David Prybylo
Associate Editor Dan Van Mourik
Typesetter David Prybylo
Office Assistant Susan Tedder
Personals Larry Jackson
Contributing Writers: DJ Instant T, Ruth Derrow,
Susan Dodd, Paris Eley, Davina Anne Gabriel,
Robert Marcus James, David Jones, Scot
Nakagawa, Jonathan Padget, Gene Poteat, David
Prybylo, Bob Roehr, David Stout, Susan Tedder,
Dan Van Mourik, Eagle White, S.J. Williams
Q-Notes is published monthly in Charlotte, NC by Pride
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Notes.
SPEAKING FOR MYSELF
, „ . A rersoml Opinion
Will help always be there?
by Ruth Derrow and Susan Dodd
(Part two of a three part series on commu
nity involvement)
The bottom line IS the bottom line. With
the tidal wave of ultra-conservative, cut-funds-
for-social-programs agenda storming the
country these days, it’s never been more true
that “we have to take care of our own.” The
important fight against HIV and AIDS gets
the vast majority of all fundraising dollars.
Where does that leave everyone else? It
leaves them stmggling and on the verge of
going out of business without your support.
HIV/AIDS is an important fight, but not the
only fight. That’s why we need more of the
community involved.
I find it really interesting that in Charlotte,
THE BIG MONEY is raised at “see and be
seen” parties where we can eat and drink
enough to recoup our “contribution.” Who’s
really making the contributions? Those do
nating the food, drink and entertainment to
cover our good time. Just as it is in our
politics, the special interest mentality of
“what’s in it fof me” too often obscures what’s
good for the “whole.”
On a recent trip to Charlotte, black activist
Benjamin Chavis said, “Minorities are fund
ing our oppressors.” Perhaps those of us in
the gay and lesbian community should think
about the impact our own financial support
has on our community. What has happened to
us that most of the gay and lesbian community
opt out when it comes to financially support
ing programs, projects and businesses which
make a real difference in the acceptance of
gays and lesbians in this homophobic area?
Where you give your financial support is a
direct expression of what you believe in. It
has a dramatic affect on the ability of our gay
and lesbian owned businesses to exist. We all
talk about what we want available within our
EDITORIALS
We have much to be proud of
As we anticipate North Carolina’s annual
Pride celebration, Q-Notes would like to take
a few moments and remember some of the
things that made us proud this past year.
• The fantastic Pride weekend in Charlotte
last June. Hats off to the Local Organizing
Committee for an empowering event.
• ACT UP/Triangle’s herculean efforts to
retain anonymous testing statewide.
• The establishment of scholarships at lo
cal universities for deserving gay youth.
• The formation of a new AIDS coalition to
lobby for sane and humane bills in the Gen
eral Assembly. The state had been without
such a voice since the ‘91 legislative session.
• MCC Wilmington hosted the largest Gulf
Lower Atlantic District conference ever.
• Gay attorneys organized as NC Gay and
Lesbian Attorneys (NC-GALA).
• Queer stage productions flourished at
both Manbites Dog Theater and innovative
Theatre.
• Following Canboro’s lead, the Chapel
Hill Town Council also approved domestic
partnership registration this year.
• The Charlotte chapter of Lutherans Con
cerned hosted the organization’s national con
ference to great acclaim last July.
• A group of out lesbians made their pres
ence and concerns known this year while
participating in a breast cancer conference in
Greensboro.
• NC Pride PAC endorsed 38 candidates in
the ‘94 primaries, a record number.
• The Gay and Lesbian Association of
Choruses convened its Leadership Confer
ence in Charlotte last fall.
• The Greensboro chapter of The Names
Project was one of the first groups to make use
of the city’s newly renovated Coliseum when
they staged a large quilt display there.
• Duke University extended domestic part
ner benefits to its employees.
• Collections! opened in Charlotte as a
multi-purpose library and meeting space.
• Asheville hosted its first AIDS-Walk
fundraiser. The Red Ribbon Walk/Run.
• The Brothers Foundation won a grant to
build The Havens, a 24-unit apartment build
ing for people living with AIDS, in Charlotte.
• Four community organizations in Ra
leigh pooled resources to form Coalition 807.
• The Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board
voted to include gays and lesbians in their
diversity curriculum.
• Movies featuring gays and lesbians, such
as Go Fish!, Priest and The Adventures of
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, were success
ful at theaters across the state.
• For the first time, representatives of 11
gay and lesbian switchboards met in Char
lotte for a day-long training seminar.
• Two African-American lesbians created
Cedar Chest, a political awareness organiza
tion, to empower lesbians of color.
• NC Lesbian and Gay Pride amended its
name to include the words “Bisexual and
Transgender.”
As impressive as this list is, these items
only represent a fraction of the important
work that was done this past year. There is so
much more that could be here — only space
restrictions kept us from filling this entire
page.
As we gather this month in Durham, let’s
remember how much we have to be proud of.
And let’s all do our part to make the coming
year as bountiful as the last one.
Sunday in the park with Vice
community, but how many of us make a real
effort to support those businesses and organi
zations who are already out there for us?
Look in your checkbook and review where
you have spent your money. Are you funding
your oppressors?
A value-driven approach to how each of us
spends our money would greatly benefit our
businesses and organizations. Begin to think
about businesses and organizations to which
you currently contribute and help support
financially. How many of these are gay/
lesbian owned or gayAesbian friendly? Each
one of us needs to invest in our community on
whatever scale we can.
In a value-driven approach to charitable
contributions, measure the return on your
investment by (a) the number of people who
will directly benefit from the supported orga
nization, (b) the long-term benefits to the
community by keeping the organization alive,
(c) does the organization reflect what is im
portant to you, and (d) even if you will not get
direct benefits, does the organization make a
valuable contribution for the good of the
“whole.”
Talk is cheap. Economics is a powerful
form of expression which can change the
behavior of a money-driven society. There is
a lot of talk about building a stronger commu
nity in Charlotte. As stated by William James,
an American author and psychologist, “[T]he
community stagnates without the impulse of
the individual. The impulse dies away with
out the sympathy of the community.” If we
don’t make an effort to financially support
our community organizations and businesses,
who will? They are willing to be here for us.
They should be able to count on our support.
Instead of “funding our oppressors,” let’s
make a lasting difference by investing in our
own community.
Warmer weather has once again returned
to the Carolinas, bringing with it all of the
verdant things that make this area such a
delightful place to live. Residents can spend
their long afternoons picnicking, jogging,
cycling, swimming or simply relaxing in
sprawling parks.
Unless, of course, the city is Charlotte and
the residents happen to be gay.
For some unexplained reason, good
weather induces the Charlotte Police Depart
ment to send droves of vice officers into the
Queen City’s parks to root out gay men who
might be tempted to react favorably to a
proposition for an intimate liaison with a
stranger. Weekly, in fact, men are arrested
and charged with violating the state’s archaic
Crime Against Nature (CAN) laws merely for
indicating that they might enjoy a sexual
encounter with someone they don’t know
particularly well.
The Police Department contends that they
are ridding the parks of men who go there to
engage in public sex. If that were the case, we
would have little to argue about. Few in the
gay community endorse anonymous public
sex, just as few straights would endorse pub
lic heterosexual sex, yet both communities
acknowledge that these acts occur.
What troubles us is that gay men have been
singled out for prosecution — the police ad
mit that no female vice officers patrol the
parks — and that virtually none of the men
have been arrested for actually having sex,
but rather for merely suggesting they may
want to. If that sounds uncomfortably close to
the Orwellian thought police, it ought to.
The arrest procedure goes something like
this: a vice officer wanders the park in search
of men who appear to be alone. Once he spots
someone he thinks might be gay, he approaches
him and begins a friendly conversation which
eventually turns to matters sexual, though not
particularly specific. If the man seems to be
at all interested — and what gay man isn’t at
least flattered when being flirted with by a
young, good-lookingjock—the officer moves
in for the kill by asking, “What do you like to
do,” or something along those lines. If the
man mentions a specific sex act he is immedi
ately arrested. Notice there is no mention of
where this supposed sex act would occur or
even if it would involve the officer.
If that’s not entrapment, we don’t know
what is. Furthermore, we find it difficult to
believe that, if the “guilty” parties were het
erosexual men approached by female offic
ers, either the police department or the district
attorney’s office would expect their actions to
stand up in court. Unfortunately, because of
North Carolina’s CAN laws; gay men could
be successfully prosecuted in these situations
—not for violating the law, but for conspiring
to do so. Even so, the district attorney does
not want to risk legal challenges to these
arrests, so most men are offered deferred
prosecution; that is, the state will drop the
charges if the men are not arrested again for
the same activity in a given time. Considering
the terrible damage that could be done to a
man’s life if his arrest became public, most
men opt for this venue.
What it all adds up to is this: the police
department and the district attorney’s office,
no doubt under pressure from a handful of
fundamentalists, are spending countless thou
sands of tax dollars to harass gay men who
frequent public parks. Meanwhile, Charlotte
was just ranked 19th among all US cities in
violent crimes; it would seem as though the
DA and the police would have better things to
do with their time and our money.
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