Changing hearts, minds and South Carolina lows. 33
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WWW. q-NOTES. COM
APRIL 2«
Gay Men’s Heallli
Summit 2003
May 7-11 Raleigh
Paramount
. Wear Red!
BIGranSilencioy
Marcha lesbica. Mexico 18
17
25
“Dragapella” with the
Kinsey Sicks
Q.POLL RESULTS:
Be out. Be proud.
Be you, above all
We are a community coming of age.
We are leaving closet doors ajar at least. We are
leaving the footprints for others to follow ... to the
home built for our growing, hungry, diverse family.
We have abandoned politeness for passion and
correctness for courage. We have found our voice
and are standing behind our politics by stepping out
in front. Demanding change. Taking charge.
UbU celebrates the beauty of diversity; its chal
lenge and its responsibility. We have learned through
tragedy and now war, the urgency to mark time and
be all we are to all who need us.
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? if 1 am
only for myself, what am I? if not now, when?” —
Sayings of the Fathers
May 12.3. Uptown Charlotte . see ad on 14
charlotte Bride 2003
Activists ask for partner benefits for City of Charlotte
Group wants partner benefits
and extemded non-discrimi
nation clause for all city
workers
by Leah D. Sepsenwol
With all that has happened in the
world, it is time to campaign for
equality — real equality, real recog
nition, tangible acceptance. Look
around, bit by significant bit, people
are taking chances and making
inroads. Charlotte is emerging.
Being fair
Leaders of MeckPAC, the
Mecklenburg Gay and Lesbian
Political Action Committee, proposed
extending health benefits to the
domestic partners of Charlotte’s city
workers! Such .a move would align
Charlotte with a growing number of
corporations offering those benefits.
And simply, it is about equitable
treatment.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said
Phil Wells, who is leading the
MeckPAC effort. “The city needs to
treat its gay and lesbian employees
with the same dignity, respect and
fairness as all other employees.”
According to an article in the
Charlotte Observer, Council member
Nancy Carter agreed to push for the
proposal, and requested the city
manager study it and report back to
her.
Chapel Hill Durham and
Carrboro include homosexual
domestic partners in their health
benefits coverage. Opponents worry
loudly the change would “condone a
sinful lifestyle.”
Charlotte is not blazing any new
trails here. More than 5000 business
and almost 140 city governments
offer benefits to same-sex partners.
Among them: Comapss Group,
Goodrich, Wachovia, Bank of
America and Knight Ridden The
benefits are extended in many
instances to include unmarried het
erosexual partners. For a complete
list of companies, go online to the
Human Rights Campaign website;
www.hrc.org.
Some City Council members
want more information. Some don’t
want to hear any more about it.
Councilmen John Tabor and Don
Lochman oppose the change.
“1 think you should be married
before you get that benefit,”
Lochman said. “Otherwise, it can be
abused very easily.”
Add sexual orientation
A less controversial request by
MeckPAC asks the city to add “sexu
al orientation” to its nondiscrimina
tion clause used for hiring and pro
moting.
“It sounds harmless enough but 1
need to learn more about it,” said
Lochman to the Observer. Lochman is
a staunch conservative.
MeckPAC has plans to approach
see BENEFITS on 3
Duke LGBT offer DVD: Safe On Campus
by Kelly Gilmer
in;
Dinner
www.anotherwaye.com/
Unity/mag_ball_2003.htm
DURHAM — Duke University’s Center for
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life has
developed a DVD to assist other colleges and uni
versities in creating an environment where sexual
orientation and gender identity can be openly dis
cussed.
The DVD explains Duke’s SAFE on Campus
program, which began in January 2001. Members
of SAFE, which stands for Students,
Administrators and Faculty for Equality, display
“SAFE on Campus” logos in their home or office
to show that they are accepting of all members of
the university community regardless of sexual ori
entation and that their space is safe to discuss
LGBT issues.
“Up until this point, there has been no
resource like this,” said Kerry Poynter, program
coordinator for the Center for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Life, which he said is
one of two professionally run university centers in
the Southeast. Poynter coordinates Duke’s SAFE
program and has implemented similar programs
at other universities. ’
“it’s a template of our program,” he said. “We
think it works really well, and we want to share
our education with others.”
The DVD provides all the tools for starting and
assessing a SAFE program, with lessons about
training sessions and program improvement. The
DVD offers customizable graphics, training man
uals and detailed assessment results of Duke’s
SAFE program. It also features 10 video scenarios
— with Duke students and faculty as actors — for
use during trainingings to inspire discussion about
see SAFE on 3