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Our history . ^ continues. ’ ^rVim hr 10 ‘Jeiirs « - See page 3 Mgm foj. YnQYQ details. The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper www.q-notes.com Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 16, Number 2 • June 9, 2001 • FREE Lorri L. Jean named new executive director of National Gay and Lesbian Task Force UT Senator James M. Jeffords switched parties recently. What does his defection means to youP See page 9 for details. What’s inside... fiay Superior Court Judge Ray Warren may leave bench page 14 Goumbia University scientist defends study showing gays can go straight page 19 Schools don't protect students page 9 Miss Della reveals the new Miss USofA page 18 Doctors don't talk sex with GLfi patients page 20 Pro and Con; Gay Pride Q-Notes editor and HRC proiect manager see pride differently page 6 See these and more news, editorials and features when you step inside! See the index on page 6. Take the latest Q-Poll: Have you told your parents you are GIBT? Mother Father Both neither To participate in our Q-Poll, access www.q-notes.com See our latest poll results on page 12. by David Elliot Special to Q-Notes WASHINGTON, DC — On May 21, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Board of Directors named prominent GLBT movement leader Lorri L. Jean as executive director. Jean, the former executive director of the Los Ange les Gay & Lesbian Center, will begin work in early June. “I am honored to have been selected as the new executive director of NGLTF,” Jean said, “and I have long admired its work on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender move ment. I am especially proud to be joining the staff at this pivotal political moment when an unapologetic and inclusive approach to our community’s rights is of such great importance.” “What our movement needs now more than ever is NGLTF’s strong and progressive leader ship. I’m ecstatic that Lorri Jean has enthusias tically accepted the challenge,” said Rachel Rosen, co-chair of the NGLTF Board of Di rectors. “Lorri represents the best of our move ment: a proven track record of building local communities, a strong commitment to progres sive political work, and a demonstrated history of building nonprofit financial strength and stability.” Founded in 1973, NGLTF works to elimi nate ptejudice, violence and injustice against gay lesbian, bisexual and transgender people at the local, state and national level, as part of the broader social justice movement. The aim of the Task Force is to resjject and celebrate the diver sity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society. Jean, a dynamic leader with proven fundraising skills, has a long history of accom plishments. As a community leader in Los An geles, she has received numerous honors and awards. Among her major accomplishments, Jean led the LA Center through a period of un precedented expansion, dramatically increasing the number of clients and volunteers, the di versity and volume of services, the numbet of staff, and the size of the budget to make the Center the largest GLBT organization in the world. Under her leadership, the Centers an nual budget grew from $8 million to $32 mil lion, and private donor giving grew from $1 million to more than $9 million annually. While at the LA Center, Jean co-founded the National Association of GLBT Commu nity Centers, a coalition of centers serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The coalition meets annually at NGLTF Foundation’s Creating Change conference. Prior to taking on her role at the LA Center, Jean was the Deputy Regional Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in San Fran cisco, where she oversaw the di saster response and recovery op erations of FEMAs largest region. Previously, she was the Associate General Counsel at FEMA Head- Lorri quarters in Washington, DC. Most recently, Jean was the co-foundet and chief operating officer of a Los Angeles-based advertising company serving the e-commetce industry. She holds a JD from Georgetown Communication from Arizona State University. She and her partner of nine years, attorney Gina M. Calvelli, live in Los Angeles. “NGLTF and the entite GLBT community is unbeliev ably fortunate to have someone like Lorri Jean lead us at this time,” said Phill Wilson, founder of the Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum and currently founding director of the Aftican American AIDS Policy and Treatment Institute. “There are very few people in our commu nity that bring this level of experience, vision and commitment to progressive change. Lorri embodies the best we have to offer. I’m looking forward to working with her and the Task University in Washington, DC and BS in Force.” T Virginia gunman pleads guilty to first-degree murder at Roanoke bar by Clay Ollis Q-Notes Staff ROANOKE, VA — Ronald Edward Gay, who in September of2000 walked into the Back Street Cafe in Roanoke and opened fite on pa trons, killing one and wounding six others, pleaded guilty on May 10 to first-degtee mur der and six other charges, according to reports in The Roanoke Times. The maximum sentence for the charges is four life terms plus 60 years, or a total of 95 yeats under Virginia, law. In a plea agreement, state prosecutors agreed to drop additipnal fire arms charges against Gay which would have added 33 years to the sentence. Prosecutors also reduced charges in the shootings of Joel Tucker, John Collins and Susan Smith to malicious wounding from aggravated malicious wound ing. Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney Donald Caldwell said Gay would be eligible for geriatric parole in ten yeats when he turns 65, but would have to be in very poor health to receive it. According to court records. Judge Clifford Weckstein questioned the defendant to ascer tain that he understood the legal ramifications of his plea and that the plea was entered volun tarily. The judge also asked Gay about the in sanity defense, which sources said Gay and his attorneys had considered. To claim insanity under Virginia law, the defense would have had to prove that Gay did not know right from wrong, that he didn’t un derstand the consequences of his actions, or that he was a victim of an irresistible impulse. A psychiatrist and a psychologist examined Gay, but determined that he did not meet those le gal qualifications. Ttanscripts of police interviews with Gay tevealed that he claimed to have been contem plating such an action for years, even staking out another gay bar in Roanoke as far back as 1986. He told police he wanted to bum it, but “failed.” Gay said shortly after his arrest that the shooting was the realization of a “mission” he could no longer deny himself In March, The Roanoke Times printed ex cerpts from a letter the paper said they received from Gay, in which he refers to himself as a “Christian Soldier working for my Lord” and suggests that other such soldiers will follow him. T First NC Gay Men’s Health Summit planned at Duke by Gabe Lamazares Special to Q-Notes DURHAM —The first meeting to plan a North Carolina Gay Men’s Health Summit was held Saturday, May 19. Twenty-two men got together in a conference room at the Durham County Public Library to lay some of the groundwork for a local summit. Inter ested men came from as far as the Triad and Fayetteville to lend their support and vision to planning a Summit that is as inclusive and holistic as possible. They hope to otganize gay and bisexual men throughout the state to pro mote overall health — physical, sexual, men tal, and spiritual. The impetus for organizing a North Caro lina Summit comes from local men who par ticipated in the National Gay Men’s Health Summits organized in Boulder, Colorado in 1999 and 2000. The-National Summits were a chance for men all over the country to work together to address the gay men’s health issues that have been eclipsed for so long by the spec ter of HIV. This year, rather than having a na tional summit, participants were urged to bring home the idea of gay men educating one an other around health by organizing local and regional summits. The North Carolina Summit is tentatively scheduled for October 2001 at Duke Uni versity, co-sponsored by the Duke Center for LGBT Life and Triangle Community Works. The group agreed that the Summit should be a day of workshops on a Saturday with some social activities the Friday night pre ceding for people to get to know one another. Workshops will be facilitator-led, interactive sessions on health topics ranging from smok ing cessation to depression, from anal cancer to party drugs and yoga. There will also be workshop tracks for folks interested in par ticular topics: men of color, youth, living with HIV, mental health and spirituality, and more. The goal is to create a space for men to talk across boundaries of race, class, and culture to envision a common future where all of us are able to thrive. Organizers also agreed on the importance of outreach and getting the word out through as many av enues as possible to reach men who might not otherwise attend. Before adjourning the planning meeting, participants signed up for working groups or ganizing different aspects of the Summit includ ing registration, logistics, financial manage ment, media, and outreach. These working groups will meet more often to coordinate their area of concern. ▼ [For more information, visit their web site at hometown.aol.com/snmmit4nc. If you would like to get involved in planning the Summit, or would like to be included on their mailing list, please send contact information to summit4nc@aoL com, or NC Summit, TO Box 25642, Raleigh, NC 27611. Another meeting will be scheduled in June.]
Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 9, 2001, edition 1
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