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
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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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