The Carolinas’ Most
Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Ford drives his
comical tales home Page 3
The proud (and very
profitable) collector ...Page 12
published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper . Volume 12, Number 24 . May 2. 1998
Intruders murder local female
impersonator in her apartment
by David Stout
Q-Notcs Staff
CHARLOTTE—Christopher (Todd)
Cloninger, 28, a popular female impersonator
who performed under the name Victoria
Sinclair, was murdered around ll;00pm on
April 12 when an undetermined number of
assailants knocked down the back door of his
apartment at 3101 Girard Court No. 2 and
opened fire on those inside.
Cloninger died at the scene and Sharif
Marche, 21, died at Carolinas Medical Center.
Ahmad Johnson, 21, and Latawn Collins, 18^
were hospitalized at Carolinas Medical Center
and later released. A fifth resident was not home
at the time of the shootings.
Cloninger s death sent shockwaves through
local female impersonation circles because he
was an accomplished performer who had
amassed numerous titles. During his career, he
had won such coveted pageants as Miss
Mecklenburg County-America; Miss Capital
City-America; Miss Asheville-America and been
crowned Miss Scorpio and Miss Legends.
Local drag maven Miss Della said, “Victoria
developed very quickly. Within her first two
years she had already begun to win tides. I think
it was because of her great self-confidence; she
was known for that.”
According to sources, the root of the Easter
Sunday home invasion was a drug-related rob
bery that transpired earlier in the weekend. Al
legedly, one of the residents had broken into
Apartment No. 3 on Friday and stolen a large
amount of marijuana. The shootings were ap-
parendy in retaliation for the theft.
“From what I understand,” an anonymous
source told Q-Notes, “one of them [residing in
Apartment No. 2] noticed that the apartment
next door was empty except for two or three
times a month and the windows were covered
with aluminum foil. Well, the person knew
something was up, so he broke in. The- place
was a way station for drugs. I heard that he stole
about 100 pounds of marijuana.”
The source continued, “On Saturday, a
moving van pulled up to that apartment [No.
3] and some men packed it up. They knew that
somebody was on to them.” Then came the end.
“On Sunday night, Vickie [Cloninger] heard
something and walked toward the back door.
Right then they busted it down and started
shooting.”
In an interview with Q-Notes, Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Police Investigator Chuck
Connor acknowledged the likelihood of this
scenario. We suspect it’s a good possibility that
this could be what caused Ae whole incident.”
Investigator Connor said there was physical
evidence to support that there had been drugs
in Apartment No. 3, but added that “it had
been cleaned up very well. It was obvious that
they knew what they were doing. They had
something in mind.”
After the shootings, witnesses saw the kill
ers flee down Sharon Amity Road in a hatch
back car. Unfortunately, their accounts are only
making things less clear. According to Investi
gator Connor, one witness says that there were
five intruders, another says two and a third is
asserting just one. Connor stated that the dis
crepancies niight be intentional. “Someone
might be telling us this for a reason,” he said.
“They might want to throw us off or be pro
tecting somebody. I don’t see how people in the
same apartment can see different things.”
The lurid circumstances surrounding
Cloninger s death make his passing even more
distressing for friends. “I want Todd to be re
membered for his life, not his death,” said
Marquita Cardia, a female impersonator and
“very close” ftiend of the victim. “He was a good
person with a good heart. If you asked any fe
male impersonator who knew him, they would
say the same thing.”
Kasey King, the show director at Oleen’s,
where Cloninger performed as a member of the
club’s housecast, agreed with Cardia’s assess
ment. She was a great friend. Everybody loved
Vickie; she was a high-energy person who al
ways had a smile on her face.” After pausing a
moment, she added. She just got mixed up
with the wrong people.”
Connor told Q-Notes that the police “are
dewloping a number of good leads” and hope
to have the attackers in custody soon. ▼
NationsBank
offers domestic
partner benefits
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
CFIARLOTTE—NationsBank, headquar
tered in Charlotte, and BankAmerica, head
quartered in San Francisco, have agreed to a
$66.6 billion merger, the largest bank merger
in US history. The new banking giant will be
named BankAmerica Corp. and will be head
quartered in Charlotte with Hugh McColl Jr.
as chairman and chief executive, the same po
sition he currently holds at NationsBank.
And with the merger comes a huge benefit
for the bank’s gay employees. Once the merger
is finalized, domestic partner benefits will be
offered. BankAmerica has offered health insur
ance to partners of gay workers since January
1997 under a policy that also covers live-in adult
family members. NationsBank, with about
100,000 employees, will become one of the
largest Carolinas companies with such a policy.
When asked if same-sex benefits would be
extended to NationsBank employees, McColl
simply answered “Yes.”
Its an historic merger and the new corpo
ration will offer these benefits,” said Shelly
Schoenfeld, a NationsBank assistant vice presi
dent. I appreciate Mr. McColl’s stance on this
See NATIONSBANK on page 14
Ban on needle exchange stays in
place despite scientific evidence
Q-Notes web site
ready for action
by Brian M. Myer
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—The Carolinas’ Most
Comprehensive Gay and Lesbian Newspaper
is now online!
After four months in the planning and beta
stages, Q-Notes has launched its new online
news source (http://www.q-notes.com) in con
junction with this issue of the newspaper.
Q-Notes Online offers much the same in
formation and entertainment our readers have
come to expect, as well as some interesting ad
ditions,” said newspaper editor David Stout.
Not only will we give readers access to both
regional ^d national news affecting the GLBT
community, but we’ll also provide a message
board for online discussion, polls and surveys,
trivia, classifieds, personals and, perhaps most
interesting, live chat.”
Everyone’s favorite columns (like “Q-Cul-
ture Recommends,” “Lesbian Notions” and
“The Drag Rag”) will appear, as well as a new
opinions page that features editorials, letters to
the editor and a section for surfers to share com
plaints or observations about any topic.
The web site will make it easier than ever to
communicate with Q-Notes. Subscriptions and
advertising (for both print and online) can be
ordered from any personal computer and com
ments or editori^s can be submitted with a click
of the mouse.
The site will also be a way of bringing the
region’s GLBT community closer together.
d'Notes
Q-Notes Online debuts with the
release of this issue of the paper.
“Because our readership is made up of people
from two states, sometimes it’s difficult to build
a true sense of community. Q-Notes Online will
drastically shrink the distance between us, al
lowing everyone to gather in the same ‘neigh
borhood.’ The Information Age has opened
opportunities for our community to meet, share
ideas and support one another to an extent only
past,” commented Stout.
Thats one of the primary goals of the web
site.”
Of course, there s nothing wrong with plain,
old-fashioned fun. The creators of Q-Notes
Online hope to provide entertainment as well
as information in an interactive community
that’s safe, educational and enjoyable.
Stout noted. In the coming weeks, it would
be great to see a number of people frequenting
the site, hanging out in the chat room or post
ing discussion topics. We think Q-Notes Online
will evolve into one of the busiest online GLBT
meeting places in the Carolinas. It’s a great feel
ing to be able to offer this resource.” ▼
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
YCASHINGTON, DC—On Monday, April
^ 20, the Clinton Administration announced that
it will continue to block federal funds to needle
exchange programs in spite of their
acknowledgement that the programs do save
lives.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secre
tary Donna Shalala announced that, after an
exhaustive review of the scientific evidence, she
has concluded that needle exchange programs
• prevent the transmission of HIV and do not
encourage the use of illegal drugs. Under fed
eral law, Shalala has the authority to allow fed
eral fun^ for needle exchange since she has now
determined that the programs prevent HIV
transmission and do not encourage drug use.
However, HHS stated that “the act’s restriction
on federal funding...has not been lifted.”
“We are extremely dismayed by today’s an
nouncement,” said Winnie Stachelberg, Hu-
man^Rights Campaign (HRC) political direc
tor. It is unconscionable that the administra
tion can acknowledge that needle exchange pro
grams save lives and then deny federal ftinds to
implement them.”
The leaders of seven national HfV and AIDS
organizations condemned the failure to lift the
restrictions on needle exchange programs. In a
letter to President Clinton, the organizations
referred to his stated goal of reducing the num
ber of new HIV infections to zero. “To ac
complish this goal, your administration must
follow the science and make an immediate de
termination on needle exchange,” they wrote.
“We expect that federal support for these life
saving programs will be made available this fis-
year and incorporated into a comprehen
sive, fully funded plan to address the twin epi
demics of HIV and substance abuse in the
United States.”
The administration carried out the first step
of this call to action by issuing a determination
on the science. We hope that this certifica
tion of the science by the nation’s chief public
health official will help state and local health
departments in their efforts to include needle
exchange in their local HIV prevention plan,”
said Seth Kilbourn, HRC senior health policy
advocate.
However, Stachelberg added, HRC remains
gravely concerned that, despite the wealth of
scientific evidence which has now been certi
fied by the secretary, the administration has
chosen the politically easy path and will not
actually make federal funds available. “It is clear
that politics triumphed over public health in
the end, she said. “The administration today
validated the politics of the Family Research
Council which wishes to play politics with
people’s lives.”
The administration’s action followed a
unanimous vote of no confidence from the
President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
The council s resolution questioned the
administrations commitment and willingness
to achieve Clintons stated goal of “reducing the
number of new infections annually until there
are no new infections.”
The Clinton Administration’s action is il-
logit^, irrational and irresponsible. Indeed, the
administration agrees the science is in: the Earth
is not flat, the moon is not made of cheese and
needle exchange does not make drug addicts.
But todays action is like acknowledging the
Earth is not flat but refusing to fund Colum
bus voyage, said Daniel Zingale, executive
director of AIDS Action.
Dr. Mathilde Krim, Chairman of the Board
of the American Foundation for AIDS Research
(AmFAR), applauded Shalala’s science-based
determination on needle exchange, but urged
See EVIDENCE on page 22