north
& south
Carolina
Popcorn’Q Top 10 movies pg.29
noted . notable . noteworthy 3LBT issues
Canddate
Alex Sanders
getsHRC
Endorsement
for US Senate
pg. 25
VOLUME 17
SINCE 178«
WWVW.q-NOTES.COM
JUNE 22.2002
Soulforce gets to the heartless of the matter
Undo Ellerbee's "My Family is
Different" — new Nick News series
with controversial segment — . ^
teaches tolerance J
Elephants loose In the Senate
tromping Hate Crimes Bill
HIV terrorism in North
Carolina ..Op Ed
Doctors suggesting Pap
smears for gay men J zJ
actioniaiert
• GLSEN:
Superintendents must I
protect students *
• ACLU:
Ashcroft allows FBI
snooping again II
• SLOW:
The military’s sodomy
statute must go df I
South Carolina
Section 25
Q-POLL
www.q-notes.com
What sports do you
participate in the summer?
. Golf
. Tennis
. Softball
. Soccer
. Rugby
. bicycling
. Swimming / Diving
A personal eyewitness account as souls
force their way into the Southern Baptist
Convention to protest intolerant
teachings
by Laura Montgomery Rutt
Media Coordinator, Soulforce
As media coordinator and spokesperson
for the national organization Soulforce. I
knew 1 had my work cut out for me: we were
planning a civil disobedience at the Southern
Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in St.
Louis to protest their anti-gay policies.
Soulforce, an interfaith movement
committed to ending spiritual violence
perpetuated by religious policies and
teachings against GLBT people, was founded
when co-founder Rev. Mel White organized a
meeting of 200 gay-rights activists with 200
followers of Jerry Falwell in October of 1999.
The next month, Soulforce sup*porters
converged on a small town in Nebraska for
the United Methodist Church’s trial of Rev.
jimmy Creech.
I had been Rev. Creech’s spokesperson
and media coordinator when Soulforce
decided to protest the
United Methodist
Church for ^
1 the anti-
policies that brought a compassionate and
dedicated minister to trial for performing a
holy union for 2 men. Rev. Creech was found
guilty of violating the Discipline of the United
Methodist Church and stripped of his
ordination. Rev.
«.arE’.
' «,1L
Soulforce founder Mel White and 200 members protest
anti-LGBT teachings at Southern Baptist Conv. in St. Louis
see SOULFORCE on 6
Marriage defined by Congressional fundaMENTALists
L Graham R-SC Joe Wilson R-SC
SueMyrkkR-NC W. Jones R-NC
Ed Note: The following is
complete background information
on me anthgay AAarriage
Ammendment which is new
before US House.
The marriage ammendment
proposed and supported by
the fundamentalist right is
just plain wrong
Background HJ 93
The House introduction of HI 93,
a proposed marriage amendment
to the US Constitution, was
announced at a press conference
May 15, by lead cosponsor Rep.
Ronnie Shows, D-MS, and a group
of religious and political activists
known as the Alliance for
Marriage. There are now I!
cosponsors: Sue Myrick, R-NC,
Walter Jones, R-NC, Lindsey
Graham, R-SC, Joe Wilson, R-SC,
Chris Cannon, R-UT, Jo Ann Davis,
R-VA, Virgil Goode, 1-VA, Ralph
Hall, D-TX, David Phelps, D-IL,
Joseph Pitts, R-PA, David Vitter, LA.
The amendment reads:
"Marriage in the United States shall
consist only of the union of a man and
a woman. Neither this iClonstitution
ln]or the constitution of any state, nor
state or federal law, shall be construed
to require that marital status or the legal
incidents thereof be conferred upon
unmarried couples or groups."
HRC unequivocally supports
full marriage rights for GLBT
Americans.
While we do not think this
proposed amendment has enough
political muscle behind it to be a
real threat, it is important for our
community to be aware of the
widespread movement across the
country against same-sex
marriage.
MARRIAGE on H
Greensboro GLSEN awards graduating senior $1,000
GLSEN scholarship goes to
Western Guilford High student
GREENSBORO, NC — A
graduating senior at Western
Guilford High School was the
recipient of Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network
(GLSEN) Greensboro’s annual
$1000 scholarship. The
scholarship is awarded annually
to an openly gay, lesbian, bisexual
or transgender graduating high
school student. Funds for the
scholarship are donated by
individuals and by a grant from the
Guilford Green Foundation.
Curtis Main has been an
active participant in GLASS, the
Gay and Lesbian Adolescent
Support System in Greensboro.
He said, “going to GLASS helped
me accept my sexuality and
aided in my decision to come out
to all of my close high school
friends.”
In 2001 Curtis attended
Governor’s School East, where,
for the first time, he was totally
out to everyone about his sexual
orientation. He says that living as
an openly gay person for the first
time allowed him to put into
perspective that his sexuality was
just a small part of what made up
his total personality.
Returning to Western Guilford
High School he addressed the
issue of discriminatory behavior
among some students and
administrators and urged the
school to find solutions to end
this behavior. Curtis says that,
“almost everyday at Western I
experienced (whether towards
me or others) an array of
malicious comments,” These
were frequently in reference to a
person’s sexual orientation. The
school administration responded
positively in an attempt to
improve the situation.
GLSEN Greensboro Co-Chair,
Gary Palmer said, “Curtis is a
very deserving recipient of this
year’s scholarship. He has
shown tremendous courage in
confronting the frequent
harassment and prejudice faced
by openly gay students.”
GLSEN Greensboro is one of
approximately 90 chapters
nationwide that strive to ensure
each member of every school
community is valued and
respected regardless of sexual
orientation or gender
identity/expression.
J. Curtis Main