^^The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 12, Number 14 • November 29, 1997 • FREE
Author isn’t buying
at the malady market Page 5
NC youth group hosts
training conference Page 14
JJ M'
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President Clinton is greeted by HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Bircdi
Clinton makes historic appearance
at HRC National Dinner fundraiser
ACT-UP heckles pres,
over needle exchange
by David M. Smith
~- Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON,DC—Community lead
ers applauded President Clinton’s unprec
edented appearance at a gay fundraising din
ner at which he vowed to work toward an
America where gay men and lesbians “will no
longer be bashed or banished to the closet, or
told to betray their own identity.”
“President Clinton, you have done so much
to challenge all of that and you can be certain
that we will ask you to do more,” responded
Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Hu
man Rights Campaign (HRC), the nadon’s larg
est GLBT politic organizadon.
Birch’s remarks came at HRC’s first Nadonal
Dinner, held November 8 at the Grand Hyatt
Hotel, where Clinton delivered the keynote
speech, marking the first time a sitting presi
dent ever addressed a lesbian and gay civil rights
event.
“We andcipated your first term as president
with utter hope and joy,” Birch said in intro
ducing Clinton to the sold-out crowd of 1500.
“We stood nearly alone against the worst epi
demic in this century.... Through the first de
cade of AIDS your predecessors offered only a
wall of stony silence as coundess died around
us.
by Peg Byron
Special to Q-Notes
CHARLOTTE—In two separate cases, be
fore two separate courts, gay fathers gained visi
tation rights with their children. While the
battles are not over, the tendency is for higher
courts to overturn lower court rulings that ban
gay parents from seeing their children.
Victory in North Carolina
Michael Marshall and Lisa Sizemore were
married for less than two years and separated
before daughter Gloria was born. Now,
Sizemore wants to cut off all contact between
Gloria and her father because he lives with his
gay partner.
On November 4, in a 2-1 ruling, the NC
Court of Appeals upheld Mecklenburg District
Judge Yvonne Mims Evans’ order that allows
Gloria to stay at Marshall’s home in Cleveland,
TN, one weekend a month. Sizemore’s attor
ney, Richard Harris of Charlotte, said she plans
Myers values gay families
While acknowledging that the gay and les
bian community has suffered some disappoint
ments under Clinton, Birch said, “I can hon-
esdy say: You have played a brave and powerful
and indispensable role in the march toward jus
tice for us, and all Americans.”
She singled out the president’s endorsement
of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
(ENDA), a bill that would oudaw job discrimi
nation based on sexual orientadon, as an ex
ample of his efforts.
During his address, Clinton reiterated his
support for the landmark legislation. “All
America loses if we let prejudice and discrimi
nation stifle the hopes or deny the potential of
a single American. All America loses when any
person is denied or forced out of a job because
of sexual orientadon. Being gay, the last time I
See APPEAMNCE on page 10
Two courts support visitation
rights for openly gay fathers
by Gene Poteat
Q-Notes Staff
Before Tom Myers’ son came out at age 14,
the teenager had become very withdrawn, de
pressed and self-destructive. Today, the youth
has grown into a well-adjusted 25-year-old and
Myers, having gone through this process along
side his child, has founded and directs “We Are
Family,” a non-profit agency in Charleston, SC.
According to their website, the group’s mis
sion is “To focus primarily on the plight of gay
and lesbian children who often suffer the most
because they have nowhere to turn for advice
and support; to work by all means available for
the acceptance of gays and lesbians as full mem
bers of our society; and to promote and dis
tribute educational resources which inspire so
ciety to manifest our vision.”
According to Warren Gress, the
organization’s current program director and a
former Roman Catholic priest. We Are Family
fulfills that mission “primarily through direct
mailing of position papers to school system
administrators and clergy members; commu
nity outreach and educational programs; and
running a local support group for youth.”
Myers comments that his own life journey
took a different turn when he learned of his
son’s sexual orientation. He says the only sup
port he initially found came from his spouse at
the time. “The first part of my reaction was
‘thank God’ there is a reason for his behavior.”
Later, Myers discovered PFLAG (Parents and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays), going on to
found a local chapter of the group, eventually
serving as a regional director of PFLAG.
“Early on, I made a distinction that there
are two issues involved, the two relating to each
other. One was rights and justice; the other
acceptance and understanding. There are nu
merous organizations on the side of rights and
justice. PFLAG is one of the only organizations
coming from the position of acceptance and
understanding. I decided where I could have
more influence is in getting straight people to
understand — that’s what led me to found We
Are Family.”
“[Myers] founded the organization as an
educational program,” states Gress. His own
involvement came about because of his personal
experiences as a youth.
There seems to be litde doubt that gay and
lesbian youth are at risk. The group’s website
(hosted at no charge by Internet service pro
vider pridemail.com) lists some startling statis
tics; “An estimated 40% of street kids are les
bian or gay. These youth have either run away
or been thrown out of their homes. Many bi
sexual, gay and lesbian youth drop out of school
due to harassment or low self-esteem and fear
of‘being found out.’ Over 25% of gay and les
bian youth have severe drug and alcohol prob
lems. Gay and lesbian youth account for one-
third of all teen suicides. Lesbian and gay youth
attempt suicide three times more often than
their straight/heterosexual peers.”
One of the group’s most important func
tions is disseminating the educational mailings
it sends to regional organizauons. “We Are Fam
ily, which receives some small grants from local
foundations, but is primarily funded through
private donations, publishes Plain Talk, a posi
tion paper, if you will, which includes articles
such as information on suicide rates, survival
stories, failure stories, etc. It’s usually one page.
See FAMILIES on page 10
Inaugural conference on hate
crimes held by administration
to appeal to the NC Supreme Court.
The NC Family Council, a Raleigh advo
cacy group, expects to file legal papers support
ing Sizemore. It argues that gay fathers are com
mitting felonies by violating the state’s laws
against oral and anal sex — and thus are unfit
parents. But Sharon Thompson, a Durham law
yer with NC Gay and Lesbian Attorneys, said
that would create a double standard. “If it’s not
applied to straight couples, it should not be ap
plied to gay couples,” she said.
In the ruling. Judges Edward Greene and
James Wynn said there’s plenty of evidence sup
porting Evans’ ruling that the visits are in the
child’s best interests. Judge Mark Martin dis
sented. He argued that before deciding the vis
its, a court guardian should be appointed to
investigate allegations that Marshal sexually
abused Gloria during the visits. Evans ruled
there was no “credible evidence” that Marshall
molested his daughter.
See VISITATION on page 12
New hate crimes bill
being readied
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—President Clinton
initiated what may be seen as one of the most
meaningful discussions of his presidency when
he convened the first-ever White House con
ference on Hate Crimes on November 10 and
brought together almost 350 participants culled
from law enforcement, civil rights, anti-vio
lence, youth,- education and reli
gious groups to discuss ways of
combating the rising tide of hate
violence in America.
National gay organizations
represented at the conference in
cluded the Human Rights Cam
paign; National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force; National Coalition of
Anti-Violence Programs; Na
tional Youth Advocacy Coalition;
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Edu
cation Network and the Univer
sal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches.
At the day-long summit, held
at George Washington Univer
sity, President Clinton endorsed the Hate
Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), a bill that
would add sexual orientation, gender and dis
ability to the current federal hate crimes law.
The president said the bipartisan measure, soon
to be introduced in the US Senate by Arlen
Specter (R-PA) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA),
Federally
Recognized
Hate Crimes
Classes:
• Race
> Religion
• National Origin
Proposed
Additions Under
HCPA Bill:
»Sex. Orientation
• Gender
• Disability
was the first of several initiatives his adminis
tration would pursue tp get tougher on crimes
motivated by hatred.
Clinton unveiled plans to add 50 more FBI
agents and prosecutors to work on hate crimes
enforcement; announced that, for the first time,
the National Crime Victimization Survey used
by the Justice Department will indude ques
tions about hate crimes so that they can be
tracked on a national basis; and indicated that
the Justice Department will make its own hate
crimes training curriculum available to state and
local law enforcement training centers across
the country.
Human Rights Campaign
Executive Director Elizabeth
Birch, who was at the confer
ence, stated, “The Hate Crimes
Prevention Act is critical because,
when Americans are targeted for
hate violence based on sexual ori
entation, gender or disability, the
FBI should be able to investigate
and prosecute—just as it is cur-
rendy able to combat hate crimes
based on religion, race and na
tional origin. All hate crimes are
pernicious and they should all be
punished accordingly.”
Until HCPA passes, hate
crimes based on sexual orientation, gender and
disability are not against federal law. Therefore,
they cannot be investigated and prosecuted by
the Justice Department like other hate crimes.
HCPA would cover anyone victimized because
of their actual or jjerceived sexual orientation.
See CONFERENCE on page 9