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The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 14, Number 1 • May 29, 1999 • FREE
Leadership woes threaten future
of Pride in North Carolina
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
GREENSBORO, NC—^An email message
circulated a month before the upcoming NC
Pride celebration in Greensboro shocked people
across the state by raising the possibility that
the 1999 event might be the last one following
13 successful years.
The message, sent from NC Pride Inc.’s
email address and signed by board member
Darnel Gay, advises that a town meeting has
been scheduled during NC Pride ’99 to discuss
a number of critical topics (including “where
we are now and where we hope to be in the
21st Century”) and closes by tossing a grenade:
“We will also find out if this will be the last
NC Pride Celebration, which at this point is
looking very possible.”
When Q-Notes contacted Gay, also the co
chair of the Greensboro celebration, he stated
that the problem stems from a lack of experi
enced leadership within NC Pride Inc., the
group that oversees the annual event.
“Our goal is to have 20 board members for
NC Pride Inc. Currently, we have eight. Be
tween people moving away and terms ending
— I’m being transferred to the Washington,
DC area in July — there will only be four by
mid-summer. With the exception of one of
them, they’re all relatively new.”
According to Gay, the shortage of qualified
leaders is due to the proliferation of area events
that are siphoning off veteran organizers.
“What’s hurting us is the local events. Char
lotte has OutCharlotte — now we don’t have
any representation from there. There are also
events in Raleigh, Greenville, Fayetteville,
Asheville, Greensboro and Wilmington; these
are all of the major cities. It’s great, but it’s hurt
ing our efforts. NC Pride Inc. is strictly a
grassroots organization now because 80 percent
of our board have never organized a gay com
munity event before.”
The focus on these city events is hurting the
effort to produce a statewide celebration in
other ways, as well. “The deadline for bids to
host the next Pride was May 15,” Gay observed,
“we haven’t received a single one at this point.”
He noted that a potential bid was being pre
pared by someone in Raleigh, but nothing had
been formalized.
The committee that is organizing NC Pride
’99 in Greensboro has made economics — in
relation to both attendees and production costs
— a focal point of their campaign.
“We wanted to scale the costs of Pride way
back from previous years,” Gay said, “and we
wanted to offer more events that people could
do for free. Some Pride celebrations have cost
as much as $85,000 to produce; this one will
cost around $15,000 and we’ve already raised
half of that.” Only one event, a variety show
called “Spice of Life,” is scheduled to have an
admission charge.
To lower costs so dramatically. Gay said the
See LEADERSHIP on page 21
Community leaders respond to
anti-gay television ad campaign
by Brian M. Myer
Q-Notes Staff
NEW YORK—The Center for Reclaiming
America and 17 other religious political extrem
ist groups announced they would launch a se
ries of television ads touting “conversion” thera
pies to turn lesbians and gay
men into heterosexuals.
Last July, the same coali
tion released a $250,000 print
ad campaign, called “Truth in
Love,” and followed it with an
unsuccessful broadcast launch
on October 8, 1998, the day
after 21-year-old hate-crime
victim Matthew Shepard was
found tied to a fence in Wyo
ming. Reportedly, the newest
ads will air on the Washing
ton, DC UPN affiliate, hav
ing been rejected by other net- —
work affiliates in the same market.
Kerry Lobel, executive director of the Na
tional Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was one of
the first to respond to the new ads. “This multi
million dollar campaign is dedicated to demean
ing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered
people. It is a mean-spirited affront to our ba
sic traditions of democracy. By asserting that
the ‘ex-gay’ movement is borne out of love and
Kerry Lobel
compassion, they seek to shroud their ho
mophobia in the highest principles of Chris
tian belief. But America knows better. The ‘ex-
gay’ movement is simply one more weapon in
the conservative arsenal of those who want to
wage war against the rights of gay, lesbian, bi
sexual and transgender
people. It has neither the con
stitutional authority nor the
anecdotal evidence to justify
its relentless campaign to
‘convert’ us to heterosexuality.
Above all, it is bankrupt of the
very virtues it espouses — love
and compassion.”
The announcement of this
latest volley of anti-gay pro
paganda comes on the heels
of a study on gay and lesbian
youths and suicides. Dr. Rob
ert Garofalo of the Boston-
based Children’s Hospital published his find
ings in the American Medical Association’s Ar
chives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. He
found that students who are gay, lesbian, bi
sexual or not sure of their sexual orientation
are 3.41 times more likely to report a suicide
attempt. The study said that factors which may
exacerbate this problem are “psychological
See CAMPAIGN on page 21
[e Beach business owner
Bghts to keep flags flying
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
MYRTLE BEACH, SC—
According to the city, two
rainbow flags outside of
\a Myrtle Beach busi-
I Aj y ness are flying ille-
"' gaily. Rainbow
House Bistro, a res
taurant and bar that
caters to a primarily
gay and lesbian crowd,
was notified that it is in violation of the city’s
sign ordinance, which among other things pro
hibits the flying of flags in certain zones. How
ever, the ordinance allows for the flying of US
flags; foreign nations’ flags; state flags; town,
city and county flags; and church flags.
Bar owner Linda Robertson said she under
stands those flags being flown because they rep
resent something to different groups of people
— much like the rainbow flag is a symbol to
gays and lesbians.
Robertson took down the flags to give the
council a chance to review the city’s sign ordi
nance and make revisions, but the council has
been silent on the issue.
While the flags may have been taken down,
that hasn’t stopped her from displaying the rain
bow colors more prominently than before.
She painted two large rainbow triangles on
the front of the building and also painted the
gable of the house with rainbow colors.
According to Public Information Officer
Mark Kruea, there is no city law prohibiting
the triangles. “I’m not aware that we have any
difficulty with the triangles,” he said. “They’d
become a sign if they add wordage to them.”
Kruea also said there is no city law prohibit
ing Robertson from painting the entire build
ing in rainbow colors.
Councilwoman Judy Rodman, who helped
put together the sign ordinance, said the tri
angles and additional paint defeat the purpose
of reducing visual clutter.
“There is a loophole there and obviously
they’ve found it,” she said. “If it weren’t illegal.
I’d rather see the flags than what they have now.”
Robertson twice appeared before the coun
cil, asking it to consider or discuss her request
to amend the ordinance. On both occassions,
council members sat silent.
Rodman, who spoke up for gay rights dur
ing the Pride ’98 rally in Myrtle Beach, said
she doesn’t think council will reconsider the
ordinance. “We had silence at the first meet
ing,” she said. “We had silence at the work
shop. And we had silence tonight. That tells
me we’re not likely to do anything about it.”
“It is a somber day in this country when a
city can use its authority to deprive individuals
of their constitutional rights,” Robertson said.
“There are many things in this life I will never
have, but I will have my constitutional rights.”
On Thursday, May 13, she put one of the
flags back up, after almost a week’s hiatus.
Robertson could be jailed and/or fined for each
day of violation.
“If I allow my rights to be violated, then
somebody else behind me has got to pick up
that struggle,” Robertson said.
In contradiction to Kruea’s comments,
Robertson was notified shortly before she put
her flags back up that the two rainbow triangles
she painted on the building are considered signs.
The matter has been referred to the Commu
nity Appearance Board for permitting.
In an odd twist, Robertson may have an ally
in Mayor Mark McBride. McBride had lobbied
to stop last year’s Pride Festival in Myrde Beach,
but he had also voted against the sign ordinance.
McBride said he’s not now advocating gay
rights; he just doesn’t agree with the ordinance.
“I feel the same way I did [when the vote
was taken], I thought it was unconstitutional,”
he said. “I thought it was giving the big people
an unfair advantage. I believe businesses should
be allowed to fly corporate flags.”
The zone the restaurant/bar is in doesn’t al
low corporate flags except at amusement parks
of five acres or more.
“There’s nothing I can do now,” McBride
said. “The people who voted in the affirmative
are the ones wbo have to make the change.”
“What the city is doing is clearly unconsti
tutional,” said Human Rights Campaign Com
munications Director David Smith. “To limit
a person’s ability to express whatever they wish
to express violates a cornerstone of the founda
tion on which this country was founded — I
cannot think of anything more un-American.”
On Wednesday, May 19, Robertson ap
peared in court before Judge Ted Collins. She
pleaded “not guilty” to violation of the sign
ordinance. Collins asked if Robertson had gone
before City Council to resolve this matter.
“What the city is doing is
clearly unconstitutional.
I cannot think of
anything more un-
American" - David Smith
Upon hearing they would not consider amend
ing the ordinance, Collins found her guilty and
fined her $373.00.
If the flags continue to be flown, Robertson
faces a fine of up to $865.00 per day. She has,
therefore, decided to hang the flags in the win
dows rather than on the front of the building.
On Thursday, May 20, Robertson appeared
before the Community Appearance Board for
a ruling on the two rainbow triangles painted
on the building’s front. The board is comprised
of ten citizens from Myrtle Beach and they are
charged with determining what constitutes a
sign under the sign ordinance. All ten agreed
the triangles were not signs.
However, Zoning Coordinator Lyle
Kershner overruled the board saying he and his
staff had determined the triangles to be signs.
Robertson now has the option of appealing that
decision to the full zoning board.
Robertson is working with the American
Civil Liberties Union which has agreed to file a
civil lawsuit in the matter and will advise
Robertson on whether or not to appeal the rul
ing on the triangles. ▼