SINCE 1986 ’ The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper v/ww.q-notes.com * 1991: Tenth National PFLAQ Cmvention in Charlotte • 1994: Team NC goes to Gay Games details a other archive artidi^onpage3 Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 16 . Number 17 • January 5, 2002 • Free His mission complete, Father Gene McCreesh leaves a legacy for us all Celebrate celluloid! OutGharlotte presents the 2002 Charlotte GlBT Film Series starting January 23. pg 4 inside AMA votes to accept G/L medical association 4 lesbian priest sues to adoptagain 9 llbiriif^iie Summers^ nte celebrated at memorial 13 Rep. Barney Frank angry at Bush Administration 15 Wilmington: Mickey Ratz hosdng benefit for BBC 24 Oral Roberts Univeisity looking for alumni who werelosttoAIOS 27 In the season of : giving, what did yon donate? • time: volunteer rcash: tetOBT • goeds: te 16BT • cash: nen-lBBT • goods: nen>lGBT • nothing yet Q*Poll is online at: ■ Zi . ' •• 12-22 Poansutt&m 24 Q-Poll sponsored by: ^iUiamsiliurg on Coinmonlnealtl) Townhome Style Condominiums by Lainey Millen Special to Q-Notes A wise, soft-spoken man, generous beyond normal limits, Fr. Gene McCreesh, SJ, died in Baltimore, MD, December 15, 2001, after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 78. A compassionate Catholic priest, he was well- known in the Charlotte area for his work with the homeless and the hungry. Cold nights found Fr. McCreesh searching die underpasses, looking for those who needed trans portation to shelters or blankets to warm them. He provided food for those who would arrive at St. Peters Church, spending many nights making sandwiches. This was not something that was foreign to him. As a child during the Depression, he warched his mother do the same for those who were out of work and hungry. He was singular in his devotion and determi nation to help them. He spearheaded the effort which established the first permanent shelter for homeless men in Uptown Charlotte, working with the city government and other benefactors. Fr. McCreesh had a long and global history of helping the displaced. He spent nearly ten years in Burma working with orphanage children, playing games with them, distributing cards and toys from US contributors. His service ended when the socialist government expelled all for eign nationals. Upon his return to the US, Fr. McCreesh taught at Jesuit universities. He later became a pastor to an inner-city Philadelphia black church. Wlicn the cold weather of the north became too much for him after he had a heart attack, Fr. McCreesh relocated to Charlotte. He was selected as vicar of St. Peters Catholic Church in Charlotte — which was to be the beginning of his retirement. But the venerable Fr. McCreesh did not retire. Driven by human compassion, he embraced all those in need, including those “not covered” by religious precept. He worked passionately and tirclcs-sly within the GLBT community. He min istered to those afflicted and affected by AIDS. In loving tribute Father Gene McCreesh He met AIDS head-on with Rick Cars^wcll, a well-known community leader, at home, await ing death. The RAIN team and Ho.spicc were doing all they could to keep Canswell comforted and comfortable. sci' McCREESH page 13 the newly-designed Q-Afofes will debut next issue: 1-19-02 National Q-Re^ew of the Year 2001 Compiled by GLAAD, Edited by Q-Notes News & Politics January • Gay and straight Republicans form the Republican Unity Coalition, to make sexual ori entation a “non-Ls.sue” for the party. February • Tlie FBI says 1999 statistics undcrcount anti gay hate crime by 38 percent. Citing under reporting by local law enforcement, the National Coalition of Anti-violence Programs wants law ensuring police report all hate crimes to the FBI. April . • Bush is the first Republican president to appoint openly gay official. Scott Evertz to head the Office of National AIDS Policy. • By a 9-2 board of supervi.sors vote, San Francisco is die first UScity to in.stitute a benefits' package for city/aiuntry employ ees which includes healthcare for tran.sgenders and transsexuals. May • Human Rights Watch releas es a comprehensive study: as many as 2 million gay teens are harassed and bullied, while school officials often refuse to address and actively encourage the abuse. • A Washington Post investigation reveals the Salvation Ariny has secretly thrown its support liehind Bush’s “faith-based initiative” in exchange for a policy allowing the Army to di.scriminate against g/1 in violation of local civil rights laws. • Sen. jes.se Helms introduces an amendmenr to the Senate education bill that could result in withholding federal ftmds from schools reftising to sponsor Boy Sanit troops. Tlie final House- Senate compromise bill passed in November still retains language mandating equal access. • Columbia University researcher Robert Spirzer releases a study: “some highly-motivated” gays and lesbians can go straight. Academics and LGBT organizations found fital methodological flaws: non-representative sample, biased hypothe sis, unteliable information-gathering and solicit ing subjects from known anti-gay organizations. June • Openly gay, traiasgcnder, Two-Spirit youth Martinez, Jr., is brutally mur- ' ““ dered in Cortez, Colorado. The trial of Shaun Murphy — accused of Martinez’s murder and who bragged to friends about how he had “beat up a fag” — is for February 2002. • The one-year annivensary of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale Former Eagle Scout James Dale .said, “The Scouts may have won at the Supreme Court, but their victory is being overturned in the court of public opinion.” • A Gallup poll reveals increasing acceptance of gay and lesbian Amerioms, including 80 percent agreement that gays and lesbians should lie pro-- tected by employment anti-di.scrimination. • Tlie General As.sembiy of the Pre.sbyterian Church USA votes 317-208: to allow the ordi nation le.sbian and gay ministers, elders and dea- con.s. Majority' ratification by local churches is nece.s.sary, with the vote expected in 2002. • US Surgeon General David Satcher calls for a “mature and thoughtftii discussion alxiut sexuality” in his Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Behavior. The groundbreaking reporr directly addres.ses a numlier of issues related to the gay community, including the inefficacy “reparative therapy” and harassment’s J damaging impact on LCBT’s mental I health. •r3 «' • International G/L Human Rights »_ Commission director Karyn Kaplan •7 addre.s.ses the UN General As.sembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS over the objec tions of a largely Islamic bloc of delegates. However, tho.se delegates succe.ssfully renutve the reference, “particularly vulnerable groups” from the final conference declaration. July • Rliode Island becomes the second state (after Minnesota) in the US to protect trans gender people from di.scrimination. • Sharon Smith may proceed with her wrongful death lawsuit.on behalf of her partner, Diane Wliipple killed in January after being attacked by dogs. The San Franci.sco judge rules that denying Smith the right to .sue violates the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. • A coalition of anti-gay religious leaders calling itself the “Alliance for Marriage” attempts to amend the US Constitution to ban equal mar riage rights for g.iys and lesbians.. • A bi-parti.san coalition of congressional lead ers introduces the Employment Non- Discrimination Act, which would prohibit job di.scrimination ba.sed on sexual orientation. In the aftermath of September 11, consideration of the bill is postponed until early 2002. see Q-NEWS page 6

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