National Wamen*s Mtmth sTiA CAROLINA \ Q-Notes lUNE 86 JUNE G1 OUT OF THE PAST • SEE PAGE 3 1992-1993 • Marines assault Wilmington man • Southern Poverty Law Center takes its first gay case • National LGBT march in DC VOLUME . XSSUE 21 SINCE 198« WWW.q~NOTSS.COM MARCH 2 .2002 Mautner Project launches national African American Lesbian Heaith Study SO long. Transgender civil rights activist, Sylvia Rivera dies Rosie O joins ACLU against Florida’ gay adoption ban. Day Of Silence project Wednesday-April 10,2002 A guide for including your school is available online. Laramie Project MARCH 9 HBO Matthew Shepard MARCH 16 NBC Q-POLL online: www.q-notes.com Where is your favorite place to live? choose one: . The city . The country . The mountains . The beach Q-POLL RESULTS • 24 MCC-Charlotte gets high praise for its 22 years Spedal guest, special services, and spedal events highlight Church's weekend celebration by David Stout Over the weekend of February 8-10, the Metropolitan Community Church of Charlotte celebrated its 22nd anniversary with special services, special fundraisers and one very special guest. Rev. Elder Troy Perry, the founder of the worldwide Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches , presided over the weekend's offerings. He was the featured guest at a UNC-C- sponsored public reception highlighted by a screening of Cod, Gays and the Gospel, a 30-minute videotape on the early struggles and triumphs of Rev. Perry and his future fellowship. After the film. Perry took questions from the see MCC-CHARLOTTE on 8 Newly formed: SC Equality Coalition 21-member coab'tion represents dozehs of LGBT groups in SC by Sarah Lundy The Post and Courier CHARLESTON, SC — Representatives of gay and lesbian organizations from across South Carolina met in Charleston and designed a three-year plan to help improve the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. ' This first-ever statewide group plans to call itself the South Carolina Equality Coalition — made up of delegates and observers from numerous LGBT organizations, clergy. PFLAG and AIDS services groups. see COALITION o/> 29 Rev. Elder Troy Perry, founder UFMCC Black Church Week of Prayer for Healing of AIDS: March 3-9 RALEIGH, NC — March 3-9 2002 marks the thirteenth national anniversary of the week-long event designed to educate and mobilize African American churches to become community centers for HIV prevention, treatment, education and compassionate care. Although great strides have been made in the fight against AIDS, the African American community continues to be disproportionately affected and infected by HIV/AIDS. Since 1995, churches in Wake and Durham counties have come together for Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS to call attention to the crisis % HIV/AIDS has created in the African American community. The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS brings attention to the role African American churches can play in the AIDS crisis. The African American Church continues to be the cornerstone of its surrounding community. As headquarters for disseminating information on issues of health, politics and social change, the African American Church plays a central role in the lives of most African Americans. Given this, and considering the proliferation of AIDS cases in African American communities, it is essential that religious organizations lead the struggle to stop the spread of the disease. All events are open to the public and will feature presentations by local residents IKirg with HIV/AIDS. Black Church Week of Prayer, for the Healing of AIDS events are sponsored by the ■ Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina in partnership with local African American Faith Communities. There are many area churches taking part, please contact Alliance of AIDS Services or go online for more details. info: Schedule of Events Allionce of Al DS Services-Carolina 919-212-9450 www.aas-c.org/oasc/events.html Senator is finally ashamed of something... Jesse Helms regrets not getting in the AIDS fight sooner. by Leah D. Sepsenwol Maybe he forgot. He rvers in the fight from the very beginning. He fought the victims, the .caregivers and the Congress. Helms spoke recently in Washington, DC at “The Prescription for Hope” International Christian AIDS Conference, organized by Franklin Graham’s world relief charity, Samaritan’s Purse. He said, “I have been too lax too long in doing something really significant about AIDS.” He promised it will be on his agenda until he retires next year. “ I am not going to lay it aside for the remaining months I have in office.” For twenty of his thirty Senate years he blamed the dead and dying for the disease. Senator Jesse Helms says about African AIDS fundina, "I am so very ashamed that I hove done so little." This time he did not mention homosexuals, but said “There is no substitute for the joy see HELMS on 8