Music
Drag Diva
Bananarama talks about new CD
page 42
RuPaul comes to Crape Myrtle Festival
page 20
Noted . Notable . Noteworthy. LGBT News & Views
Vol. 21 . Number 05 www.q-notes.com July 15.2006
Actor Peter Paige
returns to Nor^
Carolina
Out actor, former cast member of
‘Queer As Folk’ makes appearance
at Crape Myrtle Fest
by David Moore . Q-Notes staff
It’s nine o’clock in the morning in Los
Angeles. Actor Peter Paige has been up for
about an hour. He was awoken by a phone
call earlier in the morning from his best
friend Krista Vernoff, a writer for the TV
show “Grey’s Anatomy,” who announced
that she had just been nominated for an
Emmy.
Now he’s at his desk in his office, wearing
only a pair of plaid boxers and a Madonna-
styled phone headset.
Paige is apparently one of those individu
als that can work comfortably in a sort of
organized chaos environment — his office is
cluttered with piles of scripts, calendars,
notepads and business cards.
Ifs also interesting to note
that Paige has a penchant for
unusual art — the room is
filled with statues and totems
collected from all over Africa.
“I have a statue of Ganesh
that 1 really like,” he says, refer
ring to the Hindu Elephant
God of Good Fortune. “I also
collect a lot of contemporary
portraiture, too.”
Paige is obviously a man of
many facets in addition to art collector.
He’s best known for his portrayal of the
character Emmett Honeycutt on the
Showtime series “Queer As Folk.”
His other acting credits include roles on
“Will & Grace,”“Time of Your Life,”
“Girlfriends” and “Caroline in the City.” His
very first audition in Los Angeles earned
him a guest-starring role on “Suddenly
Susan.”
.If/.'4
Peter Paige on Raleigh: ‘It’s a place I’m always happy
to come back to.”
In addition to film and TV, Paige is also
an accomplished stage actor and has per
formed nearly every genre of play, from
Greek tragedy to Shakespeare and contem
porary American work. Among his favorite
roles: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”
Born in Connecticut, his parents
divorced before he was two. Paige lived and
, see peter on 6
5.C. Black/Latino Pride week a success
Events included an AIDS vigil, a
Pride Expo, a film festival and
multiple parties
COLUMBIA, S.C. — According to organ
izers, nearly 2,000 people from up and down
the East Coast convened on the capital city
of Columbia the week of June 19-25 for the
S.C. Black/Latino
Pride week.
Columbia’s ABC
and Fox News
Channel affiliates
covered the
HIV/AIDS Vigil,
Town Hall Meeting
and Pride Expo. The
events were also cov-
ii
tatfi
landsl
Fun at Black/Latino Pride: organizers say nearly 2,000
attended.
ered in local newspa
pers The State
and The Free »
Times.
Two groups came together to produce
the celebration: Palmetto Umoja and
Carolinas Black Pride Movement (CBPM).
Palmetto Umoja is the only South Carolina
organization that deals with the issues and
visibility of the LGBT community of color.
CBPM serves LGBT people of African
descent in North and South Carolina.
The CBPM mission statement is to foster,
present and celebrate Black LGBT culture
through education, the arts, cultural
• events and advocacy.
Week Highlights Included:
• Monday June 19
Volunteer training and social for the
S.C. HIV/AIDS Council
Volunteers from as far as
Arkansas and Georgia came out to
stuff visitor bags, sit through a 25-
minute volunteer orientation and
enjoy a dinner social in their honor.
• Tuesday June 20
Since I98i
see first on 5
pagg 15 .
te the Ceraliiat
A soldier’s story
Visiting Saddam’s palace
Editor’s Note: These are the thoughts
of a gay soldier — a North Carolina
native — who has been deployed to
Iraq. Because of the military’s ‘Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, he must remain
anonymous.
Saddam’s palace was surrounded by the
first nice grass I have seen in months. It was a
fortress that reminded me of some upscale
resort — but one that included armed guards.
The furniture was elegant — most of us
would die to have it in our homes if you like
elegant pieces. The tapestries were as nice as
the ones you would see in the Biltmore Estate.
The ceilings were painted with the most orna
mental themes. There was a theater and it had
over two dozen plush leather chairs. I wonder
what movies Saddam watched there?
The marble that was used in the palace
could cover the entire football field of the
Panthers Stadium, probably twice. It was like
one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The grandeur of the entire thing made me
sick. I enjoyed seeing the palace but the plight
of the average Iraqi kept that in check.
It was amazing; it was overwhelming. It
made me cringe to think of the money it took
to build these palaces, over 15 alone in
Baghdad, for the former regime. I have visited
three now. It’s especially galling when you
think of the over one million Iraqi people dis
placed as a result of sectarian violence and
because of the war.
Flying into the International Zone where
the Palace is located, you can see trash every
where. Bombed out buildings, animals roam
ing free — it’s primitive and yet new all at the
same time. I saw the tomb of the Unknown
Soldier here in Iraq and the famous crossed
sabers. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are
both in sight.
With 30-some-odd years of seclusion from
the technological world as we know it, the
Iraqis are just now coming into the age of all
see soldiers on 5
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