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The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 13, Number 6 • August 8, 1998 • FREE
Reyes withdraws from campaign Challenge to DP
law thrown out
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—On Friday afternoon, July
24 a short and conspicuously vague three-para
graph fax was sent to media oudets announc
ing Andrew Reyes’ withdrawal from the
Mecklenburg County Commission race. The
opening paragraph simply stated! “Andrew
Reyes, the Democratic candidate for
Mecklenburg County Commission in District
5, has announced he will withdraw from the
race, effective immediately.”
One of two gay men seeking a seat on the
commission, Reyes was considered a viable can
didate prior to his starding exit.
The fax indicated that Reyes was pulling out
of the contest due to family obligations, but
provided no specific details. It merely noted,
“At this time, my family comes first and my
place is with them.”
Q-Ai7r« attempted to contact Reyes to learn
what prompted his decision, but he was out of
town past the deadline for this issue. His cam
paign manager, Jerry Fox, was also away. How
ever, a source told Q-Notes that the health of
Reyes’ mother sparked his withdrawal.
Reyes, a self-employed businessman who
owns an accounting firm and a statewide Span-
ish-language magazine, threw his hat into the
campaign ring following the county
commission’s infamous arts-fimding batde last
year. He had the support of a number of
Charlotte’s most influendal business and civic
leaders and had been referred to as “the golden
boy” in press reports.
Reyes had garnered attention beyond the
region as well. The Gay and Lesbian Victory
Fund, a national PAC that gives money to se
lected candidates, had endorsed his election bid
and the Democratic National Committee had
named him to their site selection committee
for the party’s Convention 2000.
Chris Cole, the other openly-gay commis
sion candidate and the lone Libertarian, said
that Reyes should be applauded for revitalizing
Mecklenburg’s political climate. “I believe that
the gay community in Charlotte has suffered
from a lot of political apathy and ignorance.
Andrew broke out of that and stirred up a lot
of interest and excitement. We owe him a great
deal of gratitude for that.”
Cole also stated that he would contaa Reyes
for his backing. “I hope that we see him run
ning again in 2000. Until then, I invite An
drew and his people to become involved in my
own campaign at-large. We certainly had dif
ferent approaches to the issues, but I think that
we share a desire for the gay and lesbian citi
zens of Mecklenburg County to achieve our
rightftd place in our hometown.”
In his media release, Reyes seemed to con
firm his political intentions, including other
NC court takes custody
from openly-gay father
by Peg Byron
Special to Q-Notes
RALEIGH—The North Carolina Supreme
Court decided July 30 to overturn an appeals
court ruling and reinstate a verdia that revoked
a gay father’s custody of his two sons solely be
cause of his relationship with his male partner.
The ruling means that Fred Smith, a
Henderson County, NC resident, will not re
gain primary custody of the boys he raised from
birth until his ex-wife uprooted them with a
change of custody in 1995. She argued that,
despite all evidence that the children were thriv
ing in their father’s care. Smith’s sexual orienta
tion and her recent remarriage warranted a
change in custody.
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
(Lambda) and North Carolina Gay and Les
bian Attorneys (NC GALA) represent Smith.
“The court went to extraordinary lengths
to rule against this gay father,” said Lambda
Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn, expressing
shock at the decision. “This ruling undermines
non-gay as well as gay parents in unmarried
relationships, no matter how proven their
parenting ability. The court has opened the door
to relitigating current custody arrangements for
many families in North Carolina.”
Co-counsel Sharon Thompson of NC
GALA said, “North Carolina has a past history
of determining custody not on societal preju
dices, but on the health and happiness of chil
dren. It is a terrible misfortune to Fred, his fam
ily, and all North Carolina parents that anti
gay prejudice overruled the children’s experi
ences in this case.”
Justice John Webb also disagreed with the
court, stating in his dissent, “The difficulty with
the majority opinion for me is that it recites
actions by the defendant which the majority
considers to be distasteful, immoral, or even
illegal and says this evidence supports findings
in fact which allow a change in custody. There
is virtually no showing that these acts by the
defendant have adversely affected the two chil
dren. The test should be how the action affects
the children and
not whether we
approve of it.... I
do not believe we
should allow a
change in custody
on evidence
which shows only
that the defendant is a practicing homosexual.”
The 5-1 ruling, with a seventh justice con
curring only with the result, pointed to Smith’s
long-term relationship with his domestiic part
ner, Tim Tipton, who also helps care for the
boys, as the reason for reversing an appellate
ruling and supporting a trial court’s order for a
change of custody.
In an apparently contradictory statement,
the court said, “We do not agree with the con
clusion of Justice Webb’s dissent that the only
basis upon which the trial court changed cus
tody was that the defendant is a ‘practicing
homosexual.’ Instead, we conclude that the trial
court could and did order a change in custody
based in part on proper findings of fact to the
effect that defendant-father was regularly en
gaging in sexual acts with Mr. Tipton in the
home while the children were present and upon
other improper conduct by these two men.”
The court also disapproved of the fact that
Smith and Tipton kissed each other in the pres
ence of the children and that, although always
keeping their bedroom door closed and locked
if they were having sex, the couple allowed the
children into the bedroom when simply in bed
together. It cited these facts in ssupport of the
decision to remove custody from Smith.
“Sadly, this decision means that two kids
have been torn away from a great fiither only
because that father is gay,” said Stephen
Scarborough, staff attorney in Lambda’s South
ern Regional Office in Adanta. “That’s not the
‘best interest standard,’ at work. That’s preju
dice, pure and simple,” he said.
Dohrn added, “Although professing not to,
the court applied a double standard to the gay
See CUSTODY on page 4
I '
Andrew Reyes
election bids. “I would like to thank all of the
volunteers for their hard work and look for
ward to their support in my future campaigns.”
Had Reyes remained in the race, he would
have faced Republican Tom Cox in the Novem
ber 3 general election. Mecklenburg Demo
cratic Party Executive Council members who
reside in District 5 now have the option of se
lecting a replacement. As of this writing, no
candidate had been tapped for the slot.
Reportedly, Reyes’ camp will be contacting
supporters over the next few weeks to arrange
for the return of all campaign contributions. T
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
CHAPEL HILL, NC—Because “Publius
Heterodoxus” won’t come out, the domestic
parmers of town employees in Chapel Hill will
continue to receive health benefits. The anony
mous Chapel Hill resident’s lawsuit challeng
ing the policy ended on July 21 when a judge
ruled the public’s right to open courts required
the disclosure of the plaintiff’s legal name.
“Publius Heterodoxus” was the name the
plaintiff was dubbed in court documents. He
sought anonymity because he feared retaliation
from “gay activists,” according to his lawyer,
Nate Pendley.
Moments after Superior Court Judge
Catherine Eagles ruled that the real name must
be disclosed, Pendley moved to dismiss the case.
Eagles found that the public’s right to open
courts overrode the plaintiff’s concerns, not
ing, “We don’t know, from the standpoint of
the public, whether this person even exists or is
someone who is made up.” Eagles also cited an
appellate ruling that the plaintiff “cannot ob
tain vindication in our courts without acced
ing to the public character of the process.”
Six couples are currendy receiving domestic
partner benefits; two of them same-gender. ▼
Activists seize ofRce of AIDS Czar
by Wanda Pico
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON, DC—Demanding that
President Clinton fund needle exchange pro
grams to prevent the spread of HIV, on July 20
a group of 10 activists seized control of the of
fice of Presidential AIDS Policy Coordinator
Sandra Thurman.
The activists chained themselves inside the
office immediately after Thurman refused to
publicly condemn Clinton’s April 20 decision
to uphold the ban on federal funding for needle
exchange. “I understand and support the
president’s policy,” Thurman told the activists.
All 10 protestors were arrested ________
by the Secret Service and re
leased shordy thereafter.
“President Clinton’s April
20 act of cowardice spells
death for tens of thousands of
men, women and children in
this country,” said Chris
Lanier, coordinator of the Na
tional Coalition to Save Lives
Now! and one of those ar
rested. “We’ve taken drastic
action today to insist that hu
man lives not be sacrificed to
political expediency.”
The protesters had de
manded that Thurman call on
President Clinton to reverse his decision, as well
as to oppose and promise to veto any bill or
amendment to make the current funding ban
permanent. Participating in the occupation
were members of the National Coalition to Save
Lives Now!, ACT UP/New York and needle
exchange leaders from three cities.
During the takeover, activists chained and
barricaded themselves inside Thurman’s office;
draped a banner proclaiming “Clinton: Clean
Needles Save Lives” out Thurman’s window;
covered walls, windows and photos of Bill and
Hillary Clinton with posters denouncing ad
ministration policy; and shouted their demands
through a bullhorn to outside passersby. The
protesters held the building for 20 minutes until
Secret Service agents swept in and dragged them
out in handcuffs. All were charged with disor-
“Either she is
the community
advocate that
she claims to
be or she is an
apologist for
Clinton’s
cowardice."
derly conduct and released after two hours with
fines of $50 each.
The activists had also insisted that Thurman
join the call by 18 members of the Congres
sional Black Caucus for Clinton to dismiss
Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey. The General has
bitterly fought against funding needle exchange
and was widely criticized for misrepresenting
the relevant scientific evidence. Shordy after
police released the Thurman protesters, one of
them, ACT UP member Bob Lederer, con
fronted McCaffrey during a press conference
at the National Press Club. McCaffrey tried to
stop Lederer’s question, offered to debate him
________ at a future date and then called
Clinton’s move “absolutely
inspired” for affirming the sci
ence on needle exchange while
shifting funding responsibility
to state and local officials.
When Lederer challenged the
contradiction in that logic, he
was ejected by McCaffrey’s se
curity guards. “We will vigor
ously pursue McCaffrey’s
promise to debate this issue,”
Lanier assured.
Experts estimate that 33
Americans are infected with
HIV every day due to sharing
contaminated needles, with
10,000 infected direedy or indireedy by that
route in the five years since Clinton took of
fice. While local funding allows 134 needle
exchange programs to operate nationwide, they
reach only a fraction of the injection drug us
ers at risk. On April 20, Health and Human
Services Secretary Donna Shalala announced
Clinton’s decision (made at the last minute in
the face of McCaffrey’s threat of resignation and
denunciation) to continue the funding ban,
even while finally acknowledging the numer
ous studies affirming that needle exchange low
ers HIV transmission while not increasing drug
use. The chair of the Presidential AIDS Advi
sory Council, Dr. Scott Hitt, called the deci
sion “immoral” and the chair of the Congres
sional Black Caucus, Rep. Maxine Waters, la-
See ACTIVISTS on page 4