Happy Mother’s Day! «
noted . notable . noteworthy GLBT issues
ChNotes
lUNE 86 ,
lUNEOI i
1995
• Abstinence or bust or both
• SC Women's Coalition gets
grant to study lesbian health
VOLUME . ISSUE 2«
SINCE
WWW. q-NOTES. COM
MAY ±X
Why we march: for those still afraid
25
11" sc GUV & LESBIHN
lUdiifrittnOiejtreete!
, COl UMBIA . MAY 18, 200?
NC & SC groups get
Gill Foundation grants 4
Why priests are
sinning T
Transgender rights now
law in New York City 8
“Equality through Unity”
was the theme for first
Magnolia Ball 9
Celebrating Mother’s Day
when she Isn’t
speakingto you 13
Patricia Nell Warren:
Out of the closet and
into a Marathon 33
Sing for the Core
a beautiful, unforgettable benefit
MAY 12. MOTHER’S DAY. 8PM
TICKETS: 704.372-1000
Q-POLL
online
www.q-notes.com
Would you fight for the right
of transgender persons to be
included with LGB’s in ENDA,
the Employment
Non-Oiscrimination Act?
choose one:
•YES 'NO
• Will flght for inclusion in
thenext bill, - “enda Z’
by Ed Madden
Seaetary
SC Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement
Port 1
The culture
is changing, but
we still need to
march for our
rights
He didn’t tell
us his name,
but he said he
was from
Columbia.
My partner
and I were at
Charlotte Pride, distributing information for
South Carolina’s Pride March, and one of
the first people we talked to was from
Columbia, our hometown. He said he
couldn’t be out in Columbia, said he drove
to Charlotte to be himself.
Though interested in the SC Gay and
Lesbian Pride Movement, he wouldn’t sign
up for our newsletter, didn’t give us his
name, and said he couldn’t join us for our
SC Pride festival. He drove over an hour
through rain and cold to celebrate Charlotte
Pride, to be out in Charlotte, but he refuses
to come out at home.
When I march down Main Street in
Columbia to the steps of my state capital on
May 18,1 will wonder where he is, and how
many others like him cannot join us. People
for whom the Carolinas are neither safe nor
hospitable because of fears both perceived
and real. I will be marching for him, and
thinking of those absences, those silent
voices.
I’ll also be marching for a high school kid
from Roebuck, South Carolina. He
requested information through our
webpage (www.scglpm.org). Unfortunately,
his parents intercepted his mail. The father
called the gay and lesbian community
center, threatening both lawsuits and
physical assault, the mother in the
background screaming.
1 don’t know what happened when the
young man got home that day. But I know
that I will also march for him. I will hope he
sees us on television,
and knows that there is
a different culture out
there, one that will
welcome him. I hope
that we can change the
culture so that even gay
and lesbian kids in rural
South Carolina can find
community and
support.
Finally, I’ll be
marching for a man
who just moved to
Columbia from
Charlotte for a new jot,
and promptly lost the
job. A co-worker kept
harassing him, accusing him of having
AIDS. He was fired for a “confrontation” in
the workplace. The homophobe who
orchestrated the confrontation kept his job.
I’ll also march for the security guard from
Rock Hill who was fired for having an
“inappropriate visitor” during his break (his
boyfriend), though all his co-workers are
free to meet family members at work.
TYaditionally we have marched in gay
pride marches for three reasons. First, we
march to assert a public voice, to affirm our
power and visibility in a c ulture that all too
often ignores us. a culture that keeps many
of us afraid and closeted—like the man
standing at our table at Charlotte Pride.
see MARCH on 22
Pride Rally on the State House steps Columbia, South
Carolina vmere 2002 gathering will take place again
Acceptance and Pride take on prejudice
sc Gay and lesbian Business Guild and
member organizations of the SC Equality
Coalition speak out with a strong
message; Alliance For Full Acceptance
starts new campaign
Part 1
The Gay and Lesbian Business Guild
has begun a media campaign to further
awareness in the Midlands about prejudice
against gays and lesbians. Working with
the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride
Movement, USC student
organizations, and other members
of the South Carolina Equality
Coalition, the Guild has begun an
educational campaign featuring the
message. “Homosexuality isn’t the
problem. Prejudice is.”
The slogan and ad were
adapted from a similar and
successful media campaign run by
the Alliance for Full Acceptance in
Charleston. The Guild’s campaign
includes newspaper advertising, as
well as a billboard planned for
Blossom Street in downtown
Columbia. The Guild also ran a television
ad with the same message during the Prime
Time feature on Rosie O’Donnell and gay
parenthood on March 14.
The Guild’s campaign also promotes the
SC Gay and Lesbian Pride March. Ads in the
University of South Carolina newspaper
have targeted the University’s failure to
include sexual orientation in its non
discrimination policy.
This media campaign will undoubtedly
create and shape a conversation about our
issues in the Midlands. To support the
HomosexuaKty isn’t the problem,
jiivjuiikv is.
2002 media campaign for the Midlands of SC
/ i
r
Media Campaign effort as well as the Pride
Movement, see the information at the end
of this article.
AFFA is currently planning a large media
campaign for the Charfeston area. Their
central message will be, ■ “We are your
neighbors, and we are gay.” They are
planning for a billboard on 1-26, television
commercials, radio spots, and direct mail.
PFLAG in Greenville is also beginning work
on a billboard campaign.
In related news, for the first time in the
history of Pride, GLPM will have a street
banner on display in downtown Columbia.
Look for the banner over Elmwood Street
the week before Pride. The banner is
sponsored by PFLAG-Greenville and the
Carolina Bear Lodge.
Part II next issue: AFFA’s 2002 campaign
We are your neighbors—and we are gay.
.VfillAtr r> If hiil VctpiJOic- iify
New AFFA media campaign in Charieston, SC
info: support the campaign
Donate: Checks to: SCGLBG
PO Box 7913»Columbio, SC 29202
mark check: "Medio Compoign"
or help both Pride 8, Compoigt):
mark check: 'Medio ■ GLPM"