PAGE 6 ▼ Q-Notes ▼ October 4, 1997 editorial Equality of the airwaves Talk radio usu ally seems like hate radio when it comes to gays and lesbians. Hosts upbraid us about the “Gay Agenda” and the V,* ' . jf’. destruction of “traditional val ues,” while call ers vilify us as a “threat to the family” and lament about our “deathstyle” choices. In fact, I’m no longer shocked when a talk radio host or caller issues any sort of slander ous, bizarre or even violent proclamation about gays or lesbians. Am I overreacting? Last month a radio show host on KBRT-AM in Costa Mesa, CA sug gested that America follow the “Biblical” ex ample of dealing with homosexuals by putting them to death. He urged listeners and callers to write to state legislators calling for laws that would impose such sentences. Anybody will ing to bet their lunch money on whether or not some cretins mailed said letter? I didn’t think so. Thankfully, things are a bit more rational on the airwaves in this burg. While we certainly have Rush and his ilk blabbing their hot air- inflated heads off, blaming us for everything from the decline in education standards to the demilitarization of America, we also have a few dyed-in-the-wool liberals proudly supporting us. One such supportive radio host, Liz Johnson, represents us “social progressives” on WTLT l480-AM’s Both Sides program. She spends her midday between 11:00am and 2:00pm sparring with conservative co-host Joe Vol. 12, No. 10 - October 4, 1997 Mailing Address: PO Box 221841 Charlotte, NC 28222 Phonr. (704) 531-9988 Fax. (704) 531-1361 E-mail, pridtype@vnet.net Street Address: 4037 E. Independence Blvd., Suite 611 Charlotte, NC 28205 Publisher & CEO Jim Yarbrough Editor David Stout Associate Editor Dan Van Mourik Arts Editor Brian D. Holcomb Typesetter Dan Van Mourik Personals Larry Jackson Advertising Sales Jim Yarbrough Contributing Writers: Julia Adams, Mark Aurigemma, Mohamad Elleithee, Steve Fisher, Kate Frankfurt, Kevin Grooms, Brian D. Holcomb, Billy Holliday, Mark P. Johnson, Gene Poteat, Sue Rochman, David Scout, Miss Paige Turner, Dan Van Mourik, Bob Witeck Q-Notes is published every ocher week in Charlotte, NC by Pride Publishing & Typesetting. Advenisements are publishra with the understanding that the advertisers are fully authorized to publish sub> mitted copy; having sccur^ any necessary written con sent for all copy, text, photos and illustrations, and that no ad submitted is in violation of a patent, copyright, rirst right of publication, or a right to privacy. 'Hie ad vertiser assumes all liability for claims of suits based on the subject mater of its ad, and agrees to hold Pride Pub lishing & Typesetting and Q^Notes harmless from any such daim. The Publisher assumes no liability for typographical errors or omissions beyond offering to run a correction. The entire contents of Q^Nota are copyright (c) 1997 by Pride Publishing 6c Typesetting, and may not be re produced in any manner, either in whole or part, with out the express written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in artides or advertising in Q^Notts is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual ori entation of such person or organization. The views of this newspaper are expressed only in edi torials. Opinions expresUd in columm, letters, artides and cartoons are chose of the writers and anists and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Q^Nous. Miller and fending off an amusing array of Confederate sons and evangelical daughters. It’s every bit as interesting as it sounds. Liz’s liberal credentials would make Barney Frank proud: she’s a former Mecklenburg County Democratic Party chair; she was co founder of the Not Helms PAC; and Jesse him self put her on his top 10 list of political adver saries. With laurels like those to rest on, an ac tivist could become pretty sedentary—not Liz. Starting next month, she’s raising the gay ante on Both Sides by offering me a monthly segment — called Diversity Report — to dis cuss the political issues, social trends and as sorted b.s. that our local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is dealing with. Her listeners are going to love this. My first day on the show is scheduled for October 9 and I’ll probably get on the air around 1:30pm. I hope to deliver my initial message with honesty, clarity and dignity, but who knows what will happen. After I start my litde spiel about the need for Gay & Lesbian History Month, National Coming Out Day and events like OutCharlotte, the phones should be ringing off of the hook. It’s important that the voices of the intoler ant not be the only ones heard. We need to flex our collective muscles and demonstrate that there is a mobile and stalwart GLBT commu nity monitoring the public airwaves. Listen to the show and call in. Help me fine tune my points or bring up some that I may be over looking. If my thinking is as off-track as the right-wingers on certain things, tell me about that, too (please). This is your time as much as it is mine — or the bigots’. Let’s use it power fully. T — David Stout Diversity Report — Oct. 9 Topic; OutCharlotte '97 Both Sides with Liz Johnson and Joe Miller with Q-Notes editor David Stout WTLT 1480-AM Call-in: 1704) 570-1480 or 1-888-455-4356 Index Articles Army report acknowledges problem of “lesbian baiting” 18 Clinton to speak at HRC dinner 10 FDA “reform” bill threatens PLWAs .. 5 GLSEN grades schools on youth 3 Gay doctors criticize proposals giving police access to records 10 Greensboro tapped as host site for new fundraising program 1 Interfaith group affirms ENDA 1 NGLTF honors three GLBT allies; VP Gore attends 11 Officials stress need for needle exchange at AIDS conference 4 Study profiles gay and AIDS leaders.. 1 Featxires Broadway Baby in Charlotte 16 Festivals celebrate arts, visibility 1 Q-Culture Recommends 17 Tltleholdcr wants to be a role model 12 Columns Advertiser Index 22 Ask Billy Holliday 18 Classifieds 22 Community Cards 23 Curbside 26 The Drag Rag 17 GLAAD Notes 8 Inside Hollywood 16 National Notes 13 Out and About 26 Personals 24 Q-Crossword 15 letters AIDS hasn’t gone away I’ve known that it’s been coming for over a year, but now I’ve actually heard the words, “So why worry about it, you just take a few pills and it goes away.” Life with HIV in the post protease inhibitor world. My 22-year-old friend was voicing a senti ment that is growing within the gay commu nity, especially among younger gay men. With new medications available to treat HFV, and with all the (often not quite accurate) atten tion being focused by the media, many are wanting to declare the AIDS epidemic at an end. In many cities, ads for “bareback” sex are appearing in the gay press and many more men are being inconsistent in condom use. Some have quit using them altogether. Don’t throw them away yet. The epidemic is hardly over. One can argue that the treatment of HFV has made great strides. A decade ago, there were no drugs, now there are several with many more in development. Life with HIV is becoming more hopeful. However, these drugs are not a cure. While they appear to combat HFV effec tively, they do not kill it. HFV may hide in the lymph system and in organ tissue. A viral load may not be detectable, but HFV is still there and can be transmitted. Also, we don’t know the future of these drugs. What if they stop working? It’s a litde more complicated than just taking a few pills. An undetectable viral load doesn’t mean you’re cured. It meansthe drugs are working to fight the HFV. You are still infected and you can still transmit the virus to someone else. The reverse is also true — you can still catch HIV. The best weapon to fight HFV is still a con dom — so, dig ‘em out of the trash and do your part to help stop the killer. — Michael Case Health Educator, Metrolina AIDS Project In a real world... Mitchell County’s Republican sheriff, Vernon Bishop, confessed in Superior Court on September 4 that in 1995 he ordered his depu ties to record the mobile phone conversations of an unnamed high school football coach. What was the coach’s crime...was he a spy? Was he a Colombian drug lord? Was he plotting to overthrow our government? No, he was simply suspected of being a homosexual. But we live in a nation supposedly ruled by laws. Among them is the constitutional prin ciple that law enforcement cannot tap our phones without a court order. This is further reinforced by a federal law banning eavesdrop ping on cellular phone conversations. As an officer of the law. Sheriff Bishop surely had a court order, didn’t he? No, he didn’t. Sheriff Bishop remembered 1992’s contro versy when Jim Hunt’s campaign workers spied on Jim Gardner’s phone conversations, didn’t he? No, apparently he didn’t. And it is against North Carolina law to ob struct a police investigation. So, when a State Bureau of Investigation agent asked about his activities involving the coach, did he cooperate in explaining his actions? No, he didn’t. Iiistead, the agent testified that the sheriff lied, telling him that an anonymous person had left the tape on his desk. Sheriff Bishop confessed to his lie in Mitchell County Superior Court. WTiat happens to a law officer who violates his oath of office to uphold the Constitution and the law? In Mitchell County, not much. Distria Attorney Tom Rusher gave him a “stem talking to.” We can all sleep peacefully, know ing that all overzealous law officers have surely learned “the fear of God” ftom this tactic. Never again will North Carolimans need to fear the violation of their property or privacy by mis guided or crooked cops. Welcome to Utopia! But this is the real world. Libertarians say that in a real world, gay people, or those sus pected of being gay, have the same proteaions under the Constitution as anyone else. Liber tarians say that in a real world, law officers must be held liable for their violations of the law. At the very least, they should be removed ftom their positions and required to pay restimtion. Libertarians say that in a real world. Con stitutions and laws are meaningless if they aren’t honored by those sworn to uphold them. ▼ — Chris Cole Chaimuin, Coming Out Libertarian! 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