north
& sout
CAROLIN
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Grethe Cammeiweyer
today
Out on DVD:
‘My Summer of Love’ 31
Part Two:
Holy Waragainst gays 07
Report shows anti-gay
violence increasing 17
0-%/e;
Skincare 35
North and South
Carolina
North Carolina:
Multiple cross burnings
in Durham 10
South Carolina:
Pride a success 12
ONL'NE
Should gays amt
themselves for
protection?
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Sports
noted . notable . noteworthy GLBT issues
VOLUME 20 . ISSUE 2
SINCE ±9,B^
Artists in tile
gay community
WWW.Q-NOTES.COM
JUNE 4.2005
Mecklenburg County okays employment
protection for gay employees
Vote 6-3 in favor; followed party lines
by Connie Vetter and Lalney Millen
CHARLOTTE — “It’s time to say we need
to stop discriminating against people
because they may be different,”
Commissioner Parks Helms announced May
17, as the Mecklenburg County Commission
voted to add “sexual orientation” to the
county’s nondiscrimination policy.
The new policy means Mecklenburg
County cannot discriminate in hiring and
personnel decisions on the basis of sexual
orientation, in addition to race, color, sex,
religion, national origin and age.
Democrats who voted for the change,
approved on a 6-3 vote, said it was an over
due statement of tolerance. Republican
members predicted a backlash at next year’s
election. GOP commissioner Bill James said
the board’s action offended God.
Democrats said they were voting their con
sciences and w'ould accept any consequences.
“My instinct, my political instincts, tells me
this community supports the board in saying
that discrimination based on sexual orienta
tion is wrong,” said Helms, a Democrat.
“They want to say that being a homo
sexual or lesbian is alright... state law says
it’s not,” said James.
Supporters of the resolution filled the
room with a sea of blue signs that read
“equality for all.”
Commissioner Jennifer Roberts, a
Democrat, sided with those sup
porters.
“Clear and simple, this is an
issue about discrimination, fairness
and respect and protecting people,
valuable employees, from hatred,”
she said.
Many supporters of the resolution
spoke out about having the same pro-
teaions as their heterosexual coun
terparts. Tim O’Brien, a gay man who
has worked in both city arid county
government, was adamant about the
presence of discrimination.
“Someone could walk by in the
hall and say all kinds of ignorant
comments to me and I would have no
leg to stand on,” said O’Brien.
He went further to say that he
knew many gay and lesbian county
employees who would not come out at work
for fear of discrimination.
Phil Wells, co-chairperson of the
Mecklenburg County Gay and Lesbian
Political Action Committee, pointed out the
unfairness of a discrimination policy that
lacked protection of sexual orientation. “It’s
legal to discriminate right now in Mecklenburg
County,” said Wells. “It’s not right.”
Throughout the evening most of the nine
commissioners — Democrat and Republican
— made frequent references to their religious
faith. Whije Parks Helms indicated that it was
his “strong belief in a Christian faith” that moti-
County Commissioners Porks Helms, Jennifer Roberts
and Vinihelmina Rembert (clockwise from left) spoke
out in strong support of the resolution which prevents
discrimination against gays and lesbians working for
Mecklenburg County.
vated him to bring the resolution before the
board. James responded to Helms assertion by
calling the Commission Chair an “apostate.”
“I don’t know what Bible Commissioner
Helms is reading, but my Bible says homo
sexuality is wrong.”
Commissioner Wilhelmina Rembert
spoke at length — insinuating that James had
an “unhealthy fixation” on homsexuality and
that perhaps he should “consider counseling
for unresolved issues.”
Democratic Commissioner Norman
Mitchell responded to the comments by stat-
see COMMISSION on 16
Charlotte Black
Gay Pride just around
the corner
New event slated for July 14-17
by Donald Miller
“We’re very excited about what’s coming up,” says Charlotte Black
Gay Pride media liaison
Monica Simpson. “This is
an event that all people are
welcome to attend and
should. It’ll be a lot of fun.”
Simpson’s sentiments
about the upcoming Black
Gay Pride are echoed by
most in the community — though some have questioned the need for
an event they feel is based on racial separation.
In an email sent to Q-Nofes in April from an individual who iden
tified himself only as “Chris J,” the writer expressed dismay that
Charlotte Black Gay Pride was taking place.
“Charlotte barely has the numbers in the gay community to support
one gay Pride event, now there are two,”
Chris wrote. see CHARLOTTE on 4
Same-sex marriage
endorsed by American
Psychiatric Association
Statement follows similar measures from Amencan
Psychological and Medical Associations
by Steven Fisher
ATLANTA, Ga. — The American Psychiatric Association approved a
statement May 22 urging legal recognition of same-
marriage. The statement supports same-sex
marriage “in the interest of maintaining and
promoting mental health.”
It follows a similar measure by the
American Psychological Association in 2004.
The statement was approved by voice
vote on the first day of the APA’s weeklong
annual meeting in Atlanta. It cites the “pos
itive influence of a stable, adult partnership on
the health of all family members.”
The resolution recognizes “that gay men and lesbians
are full human beings who should be afforded the same human and civil
rights,” said Margery Sved, a Raleigh, N.C., psy
chiatrist and member of the assembly’s commit- see APA on 16