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Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 13, Number 7 • August 22, 1998 • FREE
Carolinas youths attend leadership conference
by TVacey Conafy
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON. DC—The National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) brought
some of the nations most outstanding gay, les
bian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) youth
leaders together for its annual Youth Leader
ship Training Institute. Twenty-five young
people gathered August 5 for five days of in
tensive grassroots organizing training along with
concrete skills-building workshops. The youth
were selected after an extensive screening pro
cess. Four of them came ftom the Carolinas.
The annual Institute is the longest-running
GLBT youth training program in the country.
NGLTF provides need-based scholarships to
ensure that all participants can attend.
“The Youth Leadership Instimte is one of
NGLTF’s most exciting programs,” said Kerry
Lobel, NGLTF executive direaor. “The young
people...embody the diversity and talent in our
community. They are not only our movement
of tomorrow, they are our movement today”
The Institute included skills training in ar
eas such as media, meeting facilitation, leader
ship styles and fundraising. In addition, the
youth were instructed in various types of orga
nizing, including grassroots and campus orga
nizing. Also, there were facilitated discussions
on diversity, coalition building and what it
means to be a youth activist in the age of AIDS.
A major focus of the Institute was Equality
Begins at Home (EBAH), a series of actions to
be held in state capitols across the country next
March. The Task Force is the national coordi
nator of EBAH. Instimte graduates are being
paired with the EBAH group in their home
states to work on youth activities.
The home team
The Carolinas youths who attended the
Leadership Training Intensive are:
• John Harrison, Durham, NC
John is a 20-year-old, Afncan-American, gay
man. He is a Duke University smdent and ini
tiated a campaign to allow same-sex marriages
in the Duke Chapel. He helped implement the
first mentoring program for GLBT youth in
NC. John is on the board of the National Black
Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum.
• Holly (Tyler) PuUis, Durham, NC
Tyler is a 22-year-old, gender-questioning,
white dyke. She was a member of North Caro
lina Lambda Youth Network’s (NCLYN) first
summer leadership institute and is now on its
of board of directors. She is currently in charge
of organizing NCLYN’s next institute.
• Aubry D. Threlkeld, N. Charleston, SC
Aubry is an 18-year-old, white, gay man.
He helped organize a petition to the US Senate
to oppose HR9, a resolution regarding envi
ronmental justice law, on the basis that it dis
criminated against the poor. He also helped
organize a group of fellow smdents at his high
school to talk about sexual orientation issues,
informally called “Queer Lunch.”
• Darnell C. Williams, Durham, NC
Darnell is a 17-year-old, black, gay man. He
worked to bring together 25 young people from
his local surrounding counties to create a coali
tion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and
questioning high school-aged young people. He
is involved in Youth Voice Radio, a non-profit,
youth-run organization dedicated to education
and getting youths’ voices heard. V
House GOP breaks ranks with the Right - for a day
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—A flurry of legis
lative activity created and then divided a coali
tion of Democratic and Republican leaders
when three anti-gay bills came up for debate in
the US House over two successive days. The
outcomes of the anti-gay measures elicited
praise and condemnation from gay leaders.
In the first battle, on August 5, 63 House
Republicans voted along with an overwhelm
ing majority of Democrats to easily defeat an
amendment by Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO) to re
peal President Clinton’s recent executive order
banning workplace discrimination based on
sexual orientation. The 252-176 defeat of the
Hefley Amendment was seen as a crushing de
feat for House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-
TX), who supported the measure.
The response to the vote was swift and un
usually upbeat. Richard Tafel, executive direc
tor of Log Cabin Republicans, a national orga
nization of gay Republicans, called the deci
sion a turning point in the history of the GOP.
“The real story in this vote is that a growing
segment of the Republican Party is emerging.
While so many have reported on the anti-gay
segment of the GOP, this vote shows there is a
growing segment of the party that is inclusive
and opposes anti-gay discrimination.”
The 63 Republicans voting against the bill
set a record for House Republicans acting fa
vorably on a gay rights issue. The last such gay-
supportive vote was in the 104th Congress
where 29 Republic's voted against an amend
ment to repeal Washington, DC’s domestic
partnership law.
Ironically, the celebration ended unceremo
niously the very next day with the passage of
two amendments attached to the Distria of
Columbia’s Appropriations bill.
Rep. Steve Largent (R-OK) offered an
amendment to prohibit joint adoptions in the
District by people not related by marriage or
blood. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) pushed a mea
sure to prohibit federal and local money from
being used to fund local needle exchange pro
grams. The anti-gay adoption measure passed
the House 227-192 and the anti-needle ex
change provision passed 250-169.
Democrats again voted sizably against both
measures. F-iit this time, a v/idc majorityr-if
Repu'olicaiis voted in favor of tlie amendments.
Clearly, the bipartisanship that thwarted the
anti-gay Hefley measure was gone.
Daniel McGlinchey, interim executive di
rector of the newly-formed National Stonewall
Democratic Federation, was especially disap
pointed to have these setbacks come so quickly
on the heels of success. He bluntly observed,
“This is the wrong Congress for those seeking
full fairness for gay and lesbian Americans.”
Roger Lee, the group’s vice-chair, said, “Ev
ery anti-gay amendment that came before Con
gress over recent weeks was sponsored by a Re
publican — and many were actively sup
ported by the Republican leadership — and in
each case, a rock solid majority of Democrats
opposed the attacks. The answer is simple: if
we’re going to fully vindicate our rights, we need
more Democrats, and specifically a Democratic
leadership, in Congress.” T
Gay Games drama didn’t just come from sports
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS—The
fifth quadrennial International Gay Games were
held in Amsterdam, considered by many to be
the gay capital of Europe, August 1-8. Anyone,
straight or gay, may compete in any of 29 events
and this year’s games drew 15,000 competitors,
from near world class athletes to ordinary
men and women who were more inter
ested in personal bests, friendship and
a good time.
The week-long games kicked off
with parades and “drag races” in
which the tough and the fit found
themselves right beside the tacky and the
outrageous.
“No, I’m not competing,” said a burly New
Yorker, groaning at the aches and pains he suf
fered from strutting in the opening parade.
“Five hours in high heels is enough participa
tion for me.”
In addition to competition, the Gay Games
is a cultural event with art exhibits, poetry read
ings, musical performances, panel discussions,
nightly parties and nearly constant entertain
ment of one variety or another. Subculture fa
vorite Diva International appeared and the
Weather Girls belted out “It’s Raining Men”
before crowds that were significantly more male
than female. Harvey Fierstein and the Rocky
Horror Show performed, as did Mina Hartong,
a Dutch-American comedian, who rifled on
sports not yet on the official
Gay Games program —
“lesbian sports like re
bounding, breaking
up and group dat
ing, and gay sports
like traveling and
eating out.”
More than 230
teams competed in, or just
played, volleyball, the Gay Games’
most popular sport. The other big draws were
soccer, track and field, figure skating and body
building. But these games are not the Olym
pics. Included in the events were billiards, sport
climbing, table tennis, karate, bridge, and such
demonstration sports as aerobics and fencing.
And competitors with an aversion to traditional
training tried their luck in the 100 meters high-
heels sprint or the handbag-throwing contest.
But as an estimated quarter of a million par
ticipants and spectators enjoyed the festivities,
not all was well with the games.
Financial woes
On Monday, August 3, the Amsterdam City
Council guaranteed an emergency five million
guilder ($2.5 million) loan to the financially
troubled Gay Games after it became clear that
the event’s former director had spent beyond
his budget. Organizers said the full sports pro
gram would go ahead as a result of the addi
tional cash. The Games’ original budget was
14 million guilders. Some companies had con
sidered pulling out of the event for fear they
would not be paid.
Managing Director Marc Janssens, earlier
hailed by Dutch media as a financial wizard,
was relieved of his duties on Sunday, August 2
after organizers discovered he had committed
the games to an estimated two million guilders
extra spending. The overspending came as a
surprise to sponsors and organizers. When the
accounts were last checked in July, the Games
See DRAMA on page 22
“7
Commission hopeful Chris Cole
Candidate Cole
ready to rumble
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
Chris Cole wants to be a Mecklenburg
County Commissioner. He believes his status
as an openly gay Libertarian offers him a unique
perspective on local politics which no other
candidate can match. He says the Commission
needs a strong voice to challenge the bigotry
dfei has infected it over the last year and be
lieves he can best provide it.
Cole knows that some of his views, and his
party affiliation, are likely to raise eyebrows
among a segment of GLBT voters, but he
unapologetically presents his positions and is
willing to trust people to make up their own
minds.
In today’s era of “promise ’em anything un
til you win” style of politics, his forthrightness
deserves respect — regardless of whether any
one thinks it deserves a vote.
Q-Notes interviewed Cole recendy and asked
him to speak about the race thus far.
Q-Notes: This is your second campaign for
public office [Cole unsuccessfully ran for a seat
in the NC House in 1996]. How has that
helped you with this race?
Chris Cole: I was much better prepared to
deal with the media. I knew how to do it and I
already knew some of the people. Also, I started
much earlier. Two years ago I started in May;
this year I started in December.
QN: Why are you running for County
Commission?
CC: I had originally planned to run again
for the state legislature because the issues that
were most important to me were primarily state
issues. But last year, when the county commis
sion decided, “Hey, here’s a part of our com
munity that is helpless; we can grind them up
and it will make us look good to our constim-
ency,” I chose to run in the county commis
sion race. I’m very proud to be a part of this
community...the gay community...I’m proud to
be a Charlottean too. It tortured me to see that
going on.
When I was at that [April 1] meeting last
year, none of the Democrats really had any
meaningful response to what was being said.
And whether or not [Commissioner] Parks
Helms truly cares about us, I don’t know. But
he was an ineffective response to the Gang of
Five, because he doesn’t know our lives. When
Bill James and Joel Carter, especially, start spout
ing the smpidest trash about us, I think we need
someone on that committee to just say, “No,
that’s not the way it is.”
QN: What kind of response have you got
ten from the gay community?
See COLE on page 14