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The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 12, Number 16 • January 10, 1998 • FREE
Gay doctors’ association creates
national lesbian health position
Another roller coaster
year for civil rights
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
In what has become a familiar scenario for
the GLBT community, 1997 was another year
of victories and defeats in the struck for gay
equality.
Perhaps topping every other story dur
ing 1997 is the coming out of Ellen Mor
gan on ABC’s sitcom Ellen. Series star
Ellen DeGeneres came out as well and has
been heralded as television’s first “leading
lesbian.” After the coming out episode
aired on April 30, DeGeneres and her
partner, actress Anne Heche, have been cov
ered by the media more than any other stars in
Hollywood. It was a risky career move for both
of them, but it doesn’t seem to have affected
them in a negative way and they have become
role models for many gays and lesbians still in
the closet.
National
The year started off on a positive note with
the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America invited
to perform during pre-parade fesdvities along
the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Parade route.
But Clinton was not quite that inclusive nor
supportive through the rest of the year. Also in
January, his administration took a stand against
- the medical use of marijuana, considered es
sential by many AIDS patients to ease the side
effects associated with some drugs and treat
ments, and his budget compromise gutted $18
million from Medicaid, much of that affecting
those with HIV/AIDS. Still, it was not all bad
news from Washington. Clinton was the first-
ever, sitting president to personally address a
GLBT organization (Human Rights Cam
paign) and Vice President A1 Gore held several
White House meetings (as did Clinton) with
us and always spoke favorably about our com
munity.
A total of 248 gay-related bills were intro
duced in 49 statehouses during 1997. An an
nual survey by the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force has labeled 120 of those bills as fa
vorable to the gay community with the remain
ing 128 considered gay-hostile. Of the 43 bills
passed, 24 were considered favorable. Of the
19 “unfavorable” bills passed, six involved man
datory HIV/AIDS testing or disclosure of the
results to state agencies. Ten banned same-sex
marriages. Of the 24 “favorable” bills, eight
involved HIV/AIDS discrimination, education
and care. Maine and New Hampshire banned
discrimination on the basis of sexual orienta
tion. New York and Hawaii passed domestic-
partnership laws. Five states included gays in
hate-crime laws.
But hate crimes didn’t go away in 1997 in
spite of sexual orientation being added to the
list of hate crime categories in several states and
President Clinton’s introduction of the Hate
Crimes Prevention Act. For example, in Feb
ruary alone, a pipe bomb exploded at The
Otherside Lounge, a popular lesbian nightclub
in Atlanta, seriously injuring five patrons; and
two men were shot while they sat in their car
in the parking lot at Scorpio Lounge in Char
lotte.
In June, the Employment Non-Discrimina
tion Act was reintroduced in Congress and hear
ings began in October. The Act would add
sexual orientation to the list of protected dis
crimination classes, but there was no vote on it
in 1997.
Q-Notes first reported the nationwide man
hunt for Andrew Cunanan in May 1997, but
it took the murder of gay fashion designer
Gianni Versace in South Beach, FL in July to
find him. Versace was the fifth in a string of
slayings attributed to Cunanan, but there was
no arrest nor trial because Cunanan was found
dead (an apparent suicide) in a houseboat eight
days after Versace’s murder. However, police
are not pursuing any other suspects in any of
the slayings.
While there was little movement on the
Hawaii marriage case, the state did enact a “re
ciprocal beneficiaries” bill, extending to gay and
lesbian couples, as well as other pairs of adults
who cannot legally marry, about 60 benefits
then enjoyed by married couples only.
President Clinton appointed Virginia
Apuzzo as an assistant to the president on Oc
tober 1. Apuzzo is the first openly gay official
ever to servq in the federal} government.
Clinton’s appointment of openly gay James
Hormcl as Ambassador to Luxembourg has
been stalled in the Senate until 1998.
As a result of the November eleaions, we
now have approximately 130 openly gay elected
officials across the country.
Regional
In January, Governor David Beasley of
South Carolina temporarily, halted the distri
bution of condoms by the SC State Health
Department based on moral questions he had
about homosexuality. The ban lasted only two
weeks when a compromise was reached.
After a seven-year legal stru^e, anonymous
HIV testing at local health departments ended
in North Carolina.
Debating homosexuality became the hot
topic in Charlotte for nearly all of 1997 with
very few positive results. At their April 1 meet
ing, the Mecklenburg Board of County Com
missioners voted 5-4 to eliminate funding of
the Arts & Science Council primarily based on
objections to gay-themed plays such as Angels
In America. In June, the “Gang of Five” (four
Republicans and one Democrat) continued
their attack on the GLBT community by se
verely hampering the abilities of youth counse
lors to discuss homosexuality at all county-
funded agencies. And in December, the “Gang
of Five” ousted chairman Parks Helms, replac
ing him with one of their own. Republican At-
Large Commissioner Tom Bush. Bush then ap
pointed another “Gang of Five” member. Bill
James, to a seat on the board of the Arts &
Science Council.
In a similar move to that taken in
Mecklenburg County, Guilford County NC
commissioners voted 6-5 not to fund the
United Arts Council of Greensboro nor the
High Point Area Arts Council after a May per
formance of the gay-themed play La Cage Aux
FoUes by the Community Theatre of Greens
boro.
While the GLBT community is becoming
more visible, with increased anendance at both
NC and SC Pride celebrations in 1997, there
remains a significant number of us still in the
closet. For example, Mitchell County NC Sher
iff Vernon Bishop admitted ordering deputies
to illegally intercept a high school football
See ^VIEW on page 4
by Sue Rochman
Special to Q-Notes
SAN FRANCISCO—Underscoring its
commitment to advancing the field of lesbian
health, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Associa
tion (GLMA), a San Francisco-based national
medical association, has hired the first full-time
national advocate for lesbian health.
Grace Flannery, a long-time executive in the
non-profit sector, joined GLMA last month as
Director of the Lesbian Health Fund (LHF)
— the only dedicated source of funding for les
bian health research in the world.
Flannery will oversee all aspects of LHF, but
one of her primary objectives will be to increase
the funding LHF makes available to research
ers.
“GLMA’s ability to create this position is a
significant marker in the historical development
of the field of lesbian health,” said GLMA Presi
dent Michael Horberg, MD, a San Francisco
Bay Area internist. “Grace Flannery’s skills and
expertise will allow GLMA to increase the funds
available for lesbian health research as well as
increase awareness among researchers of this
funding source.”
Flannery brings more than 16 years of
fundraising experience to LHF. Her previous
positions include program director for the
Horizons Foundation and endowment direc
tor for the Vanguard Public Foundation.
“The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
and the Lesbian Health Fund have drawn nec
essary attention to the field of lesbian health,"
said Flannery. “There is so much that still needs
to be learned about lesbian health issues, and
I’m pleased to have this opportunity to play a
part in increasing the knowledge of lesbians and
health practioners alike about lesbian health
care.
LHF-fiinded researchers are currendy ad
dressing a wide-range of lesbian health issues
such as how to improve lesbian and bisexual
women’s access to gynecological services, alter
native insemination methods used by lesbians,
and risk ftetors for osteoporosis and bone den
sity in lesbians. LHF has also funded projects
to determine the best methods to educate health
workers about lesbian health needs and to teach
lesbians themselves about lesbian health issues.
“For all underserved communities, research
is the cornerstone of sound medical practices
and public health policy,” said GLMA Direc
tor of Public Policy Marj Plumb, a long-time
lesbian health advocate. “This position will play
See HEALTH on page 5
Candace speaks out in Charlotte
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—^The world’s second most
famous Gingrich addressed an attentive audi
ence December 19 during a special meeting of
the Charlotte Business Guild, a networking and
support organization for GLBT business own
ers.
Candace Gingrich, Speaker of the House
Newt Gingrich’s openly lesbian sister and a
national spokesperson for the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), shared her coming out story
and discussed her relationships with her arch
conservative sibling and other family members
during an entertaining 45-minute presentation.
Gingrich opened by recounting that she
knew she was “different” at
an early age, but didn’t un
derstand her feelings until
she was older. She said that
like many young lesbians,
she had her first major
crush at camp and came to
fully accept her sexual ori
entation at college (after
being exposed to a group
of well-adjusted lesbians on
the women’s rugby squad).
She recalled coming out
to her mom — who
“found” a copy of the
school’s lesbian newsletter
that Candace had stashed between the mat
tresses of her bed — and not having to come
out to other relatives because mom was “nice
enough to inform the rest of the family.”
During this same period, Candace Gingrich
had the only face-to-ftce discussion about ho
mosexuality with her older brother that has ever
occured between the two. Surprisingly, it was
short and (basically) supportive: “He told me
that it was my life and I had the right to live it
the way I wanted to,” she recalled.
Since joining HRC in 1995, she has only
raised the subject on two other ocassions —
both via fax and after hearing about anti-gay
statements from the Speaker. Neither corre
spondence generated a reply.
If it seems odd that an employee of the
}
Candace Gingrich
nation’s most powerful gay rights organization
isn’t knocking down her homophobic brother’s
Capitol Hill door with regularity, Gingrich said
that it’s important to keep in mind her rela
tionship with Newt — or, to be more precise,
lack thereof “You have to remember that when
I came out. Newt was already a Republican
Congressman from Georgia. He became the
Speaker of the House in 1984. He married, had
kids and moved to Georgia [from Pennsylva
nia] before I was even born. We only saw each
other a couple of times a yeay.”
Because of their geographical and emotional
distance, Gingrich says that she really doesn’t
know if her brother’s views on homosexuality
are based on his true feelings or political expe
diency. But she conceded
that it is becoming more dif
ficult to check her HRC hat
at the door before Thanks
giving dinner. For the sake
of her parents and two sis
ters, she tries. “[The conflia-
ing ideologies] have been the
hardest for my mom; she just
wants everyone to get along.
My family is conservative
and Republican, but they are
supportive of me. We don’t
talk about a lot of this stuff,
though.”
Gingrich said that one of
the best things — from an activist standpoint
— about having Newt for a brother is the fact
that he inherently challenges the notion that
gays and lesbians arc produced by dysfimctional
homes, since he was raised by the same parents
as she.
After her closing remarks, Gingrich took a
few questions from the audience and signed
copies of her autobiography. She noted that this
visit marked her third trip to Charlotte. (She
spoke at UNC-Charlotte “a few years ago” —
and was protested by the young Republicans
group — and anended the NCAA Women’s
Final Four basketball competition last spring.)
Gingrich praised the Business Guild for send
ing a message to GLBT youth that “being gay
is a beginning and not an ending.” T
f]