Triangle activists
have plaque
...Page 8
To live...
To love...
To dance
...Page 28
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Gay-basher charged in grisly stabbing death
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—In the early morning of
Monday, June 19, Russell (Rusty) Watson,
45, was stabbed to death
at his home at the Sum
mit Ridge apartment
complex on Farm Pond
Lane. Two days later,
police charged James
Mark Barberree, 31, with
his murder. It was the
second time in less than
eight years that Barberree
had been anested for bru
tally stabbing a gay man
and came only three
months after his parole
for a handgun possession
offense.
Responding to cries
for help, neighbor Chris
topher Hartung, an off-duty Charlotte police
officer, discovered Watson alone, lying dead
James Mark Barberree
After Hartung called emergency services,
patrol officer J. A. McWhirter arrived on the
scene within moments to begin the investiga
tion. Q-Notes contacted Hartung about the
incident but he declined
to comment; officer
McWhirter was unavail
able at press time.
According to an
anonymous source,
Barberree fled the scene
on foot and discarded
some of his bloodied
clothing in the area. Re
portedly, these articles
were recovered by po
lice and used to identify
and apprehend the ac
cused. Sergeant Rick
Sanders, a supervisor in
the police department’s
homicide division and the
person in charge of this investigation, con
firmed that “physical evidence was collected
in a pool of blood in front of his apartment, at the scene and other places as well,” but
Helms still blocking Senate vote
by David Jones
WASHINGTON, DC—The US Senate is
ready to vote on the broadly-supported Ryan
White CARE Act, which easily won Senate
committee endorsement, but sources report
that NC Senator Jesse Helms is still blocking
a vote (Q-Notes, June 1995).
Sources in Charlotte told Q-Notes that
former Republican North Carolina Governor
Jim Martin personally called Helms, at the
request of AIDS health professionals, to per
suade the Senator to release his hold on the
bill. Martin was reportedly unable to con
vince Helms to allow the Senate vote.
Helms is said to have repeated to Martin
the same arguments a Helms spokeswoman
made to this newspaper last month in an
exclusive interview: too much money is being
spent on AIDS compared with diseases like
cancer and heart disease.
While this situation plays itself out in the
Senate, the US House of Representatives is
creating its own bill to reauthorize the Ryan
White CARE Act, which provides financial
support to poor people with HIV and AIDS.
The House bill is slated for consideration by
the Committee on Commerce this month.
While the working House version is simi
lar to the Senate bill, there are differences,
according to AIDS Action Network of Wash
ington, DC. Most of the changes being de
bated in the House deal with the funding
formula that determines the amount of federal
money individual states may receive.
Under the Senate version. North Carolina
could have its funding doubled if overall
levels remain the same. The North Carolina
share would climb from the current $2.4 mil
lion to up to $ 5 million due to a change in the
Senate’s funding formula—adjusted to send
more money to rural states. In the House
version, states with major metropolitan areas
(which have received the most funding in the
past) would be protected by a 5 percent cap on
any loss of funding as a result of the proposed
redistribution of money.
The House is also considering a 15 percent
set-aside for women, infants and children,
and establishing a ten percent cap for admin
istrative costs for groups that receive grants
under their program.
Survey examines bias in NC bars
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
GREENSBORO—Due to rumors and a
few substantiated instances of discrimina
tion, Men of All Colors Together (MACI^-
GreensboroA'riad initiated a survey to find if,
in fact, a pattern of discrimination on the basis
of color, gender or age actually existed in
North Carolina’s gay clubs.
The survey began on March 1,1995 and
ended on May 15. It was funded in part by
individual contributions and by a $500 grant
from the National Association of Black and
White Men Together.
The survey was anonymous and sought
only demographic information such as age,
race and gender. It included 29 gay clubs and
asked participants to identify those clubs from
which they had been denied entry and what
they felt was the reason. It also asked them to
identify their favorite club, the club with the
most courteous and friendly staff, and which
clubs they attended most.
Of the 79 surveys returned to MACT, 69
percent of the respondents were male and 31
percent female. People of color comprised 55
percent (40 percent male, 15 percent female)
and those identifying themselves as white
comprised 45 percent (29 percent male, 16
percent female).
Analysis of the returned surveys revealed
that 49 percent had never been turned away
from a club; 14 percent had been turned away
due to membership policies (not felt to be
discriminatory); and 37 percent had been
turned away for reasons they felt were dis
criminatory. Of that 37 percent, 63 percent
gave the reason as race, 16 percent gender and
16 percent age.
According to MACT’s analysis, several
contradicitons are evident in the results. While
a club may be included in the list of “un
friendly,” the same club will rank highly as a
Continued on page 30
would not reveal what that evidence might be.
Q-Notes’ source also indicated that Barberree
had confessed to the crime, but Sgt. Sanders
would not confirm that either.
The events that brought the two men to
gether that night are
not clear, but it ap-,
pears that Watson, a
self-employed floral
designer, knew
Barberree previously.
The alledged assail
ant went to Watson’s
home, in a car that he had stolen earlier in the
evening, and was presumably invited in since
police found no sign of forced enty.
Details are also sketchy as to what insti
gated the stabbing, but robbery is the most
likely motive based on a similar crime
Barbenee committed several years ago.
In 1987, Barberree nearly stabbed Ken
Schell to death. In fact, Sgt. Sanders said that
the striking similarities between the two at
tacks was one of the first elements to suggest
Barberree’s possible involvement to him. “I
"r/iis type of offender,
who preys on gay men, is
serial in nature usually.”
was the lead investigator in the Schell case,
and I noticed several similarities between that
crime and this one. This type of offender, who
preys on gay men, is serial in nature usually.”
Schell’s harrowing story was recounted in
a newspaper article
in April 1991. In that
feature, he said that
he gave Barberree a
ride when the young
man was hitchhiking.
They drove around
and talked and even
tually ended up in Latta Park. Barberree spoke
about being “confused” in his marriage and
indicated that he wanted to spend the night
with Schell. The men then went to Schell’s
home.
For the next several weeks, Barberree kept
calling Schell and coming by requesting
money. Schell always refused — until one
day Barberree showed up with a knife and
stabbed him 27 times and robbed him of $23
in cash.
Continued on page 8
Gay jobs bill introduced with
record support in Congress
WASHINGTON, DC—Gay and lesbian
relatives of members of Congress joined vic
tims of anti-gay job discrimination and Con
gressional sponsors of the Employment Non-
Discrimination Act (ENDA) at a Capitol press
conference reintroducing the landmark legis
lation. ENDA would prohibit job discrimina
tion based on sexual orientation. Currently,
no federal law protects people from being
fired, refused work or otherwise discrimi
nated against merely for being lesbian or gay.
“Hard-working people across this nation
are fired, refused work and treated unfairly
simply because they are gay — and have no
federal law to turn to for justice,” said Eliza
beth Birch, executive director of the Human
Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF), the nation’s
largest lesbian and gay political organization.
HRCF organized the press conference along
with the lead Congressional sponsors of the
bill. “We look forward to a day when all
Americans are judged in the workplace not by
who they are, but by how well they do their
jobs. ENDA would simply ensure that no one
loses their job for a reason wholly unrelated to
their skills or job performance.”
Joining Birch were gay and lesbian family
members of US Senators and Representa
tives, including: John Bennett, nephew of
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT); Chastity Bono,
daughter of Rep. Sonny Bono (R-CA); Sandy
DeWine, cousin of Sen. Michael DeWine (R-
OH); Candace Gingrich, sister of House
Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Julie
Pell, daughter of Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI).
“Anti-gay discrimination can touch any
family in America,” Birch said. “As gay and
lesbian people come out in their own way and
educate their families, friends and coworkers,
our movement for equality makes enormous
strides forward.”
The lead sponsors of ENDA in the 104th
Congress are: Sen. James Jeffords (R-VT),
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Rep. Connie
Morelia (R-MD), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA),
Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA), and Rep. Peter
Torkildsen (R-MA). Richard Womack, act
ing executive director of the Leadership Con
ference on Civil Rights, the nation’s leading
civil rights coalition, pledged the group’s
support for ENDA.
Gay and lesbian people who have been
discriminated against in the workplace spoke
about their personal experiences with dis
crimination. Speaking were Ernest Dillon, a
postal worker from Detroit; Michael Engler,
a stock broker from Baltimore; Angela
Romero, a police officer from Denver; and
Jesse Shaw, a former social worker from
Jackson, MS. HRCF recently released a new
publication highlighting their stories and simi
lar cases from across the nation.
“Gay and lesbian Americans simply want
to do their jobs, pay their taxes and contribute
to their communities without living in fear of
discrimination,” Birch said. “When Ameri
cans understand that the discrimination gay
people face is both widespread and legal, they
support the fundamental values embodied in
ENDA.”
“On behalf of the National Gay and Les
bian Task Force, I am pleased to endorse the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of
1995. Sexual orientation does not affect a
person’s ability to contribute in the workplace
yet gay, lesbian and bisexual people continue
to be isolated, stigmatized and persecuted in
and out of the workplace. Without this mea
sure, the threat of legal discrimination para
lyzes us in our jobs and prevents us from
living as full and equal citizens,” said Melinda
Paras, Task Force executive director.
ENDA has already won more original co
sponsors in the 104th Congress than it had
when it was introduced last year. So far, the
bill has 150 compared to 138 when it was first
introduced in June 1994.
A post-election poll of people who voted
in the November 1994 election found that
more than 70% supported equal rights in the
workplace for lesbian and gay Americans.
The number included 64% Republicans, 71%
Independents and 77% Democrats. The poll
of 800 voters, conducted by Lake Research,
Inc., had a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.
“America is way ahead of Congress on the
fair treatment of lesbian and gay citizens. It’s
time that Congress caught up,” Birch said.