Gojitiniie to fightfor ntcirriage eqiuility.
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CAROLIK
noted . notable . noteworthy GLBT issues
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Hopes & resoluffons
fnmi Carolina queers
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Q-Notes!
See page 3 for
details.
LGBT elder housing
project gets grant 14
Planet Out names
Person of die Year 17
Big Screen:
Pedro AlmodovaPs latest 26
North Carolina:
Center director resigns 06
South Carolina:
SC. diesmuldple
and-gay marriage bills 09
"i--1. j
Hm/e you kepis your
resoliiticms for 2005?
VOLUME ±9 . ISSUE 18
SINCE 1988
WWW.q-NOTES.COM
JANUnRY 15 . 2005
36 gay activists dead in Sri Lanka
Most Thai gay venues spared
by Rex Wockner
The Dec. 26 tsunami in the Indian Ocean
killed 36 members of the Sri Lankan gay
organization Companions on a Journey.
Twelve additional members remain unac
counted for. One hundred twelve of the
group’s members had their homes destroyed
by the waves.
"These are numbers that we have received
so far,” said Sherman de Rose, the group’s
executive director. “The coastal line which the
tourists frequent is destroyed entirely. So,
along with it, whatever the gay-friendly
places were, were destroyed as well. Mind
you, we didn’t have any out and open
gay/lesbian spaces, although it was accepted
in tourist areas where a lot of LGB tourists
from Western Europe and Scandinavian
countries visit for holidays.
"Fortunately for the gay community," de
Rose said, “the tsunami didn’t make its
appearance in the evening; otherwise lots of
gays cruising along the beaches would have
perished.”
Companions has received many requests
for assistance and offers of help.
“It’s amazing how the gays and lesbians
responded to the calamity,” de Rose said.
“Many volunteered with relief work
and donated to relief programs. We
have received many calls from
gay/lesbian people who wanted to
support the affected in any possible
way.
"We have also received lots of
requests from affected members to
assist them with building their,
destroyed shelters. We have donat
ed clothing, dry rations, cooked
food, water and medicine. Our
principal donor, Hivos-
Netherlands, has informed us that
we could utilize some of the funds
they have provided for HIV/AIDS-
and sexuality-related activities for
relief purposes.”
The executive director of the Sri
Lankan gay and lesbian organiza
tion Equal Ground, Rosanna
Flamer-Caldera, said: “The magni
tude of the catastrophe that affect
ed Sri Lanka on Boxing Day is
something that is hardly describab|e.
Members of Equal Ground have not only
given of their time and energy to volunteer for
relief efforts, but also have spent their ovVn
monies buying essentials like medicine and
food, and donating it to the larger organiza-
A depiction of how the Tsunami wave may hove looked
as it crashed into the gay resort town of Phuket, in
Thailand.
tions sending the trucks to the north, east
and south."
Flamer-Caldera said “many of the gay
‘spaces’ in the south and also in Negombo to
the north of Colombo were damaged or
see TSUNAMI on 13
Andrew Reyes to
get early release?
Openly gay, former Mecklenburg County
Democratic Chairman could be out of
prison in May
by David Moore
Q-Notes staff
According to an article published on jan. I in The
Charlotte Observer, convicted embezzler Andrew Reyes
may be walking out of
his prison cell sometime
in May of this year,
some 17 months earlier
than he was originally
sentenced to.
Reyes intially faced
up to eight years in
prison after pleading
guilty to multiple counts
of bank fraud, tax eva
sion and conspiracy. Fie
was charged with steal
ing $3.6 million from
accounting client Doug
King, the now-deceased
part-owner of United Building Contractors, a compa
ny Reyes had once worked for.
In December 2003, U.S.
District judge Lacy Thornburg see REYESon 15
Andrew Reyes at the time
of his arrest in the
Charlotte-AAecklenburg
jail.
Settlement reached in
Foot Locker anti-gay
discrimination case
Lambda Legal client gets
settlement, company guarantees
sensitivity training and policy
enforcement
by Lisa Hardaway
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lambda Legal
announced an agreement with Foot
Locker on Dec. 16, settling its anti-gay
discrimination lawsuit against the
company. Under the agreement. Foot
Locker will train its managers and
employees more aggressively about
anti-gay harassment, including
emphasizing to its employees access to
support and services to handle such
harassment. The agreement will also
provide an undisclosed monetary set
tlement to Kevin Dunbar, Lambda
Legal’s client.
“Kevin Dunbar’s nightmare can’t
be undone, but Ihe] helped make one of the country’s large employers a better
workplace for gay people. All across the country, lesbian, gay, bisexual land]
transgender people face discrimination or harassment at work. Kevin Dunbar’s
case showed how we can change that when one person
stands up and demands fairness,” said Greg Nevins, senior see FOOTon 8
Kevin Dunbar: 'I am very pleased to have
this over and to be able to move on with
my life.'