From the South to Hollywood
Interview: Actor Leslie Jordan
page 33
A
Music Scene
* A
Black History Month
Interview: Lucinda Williams
HRC salutes Black History Month
page 33
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page 16
Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
SPECIAL HRC ISSUE
Volume 21 . Number 21 www.q-notes.com February 24.2007
Who’s got the benefits: LGBT positive
companies in the Carolinas
by Mark Smith
Q-Notes plunged headfirst into researching
which companies in the Carolinas had domes
tic partnership benefits and sexual orientation
non-discrimination policies in place back in
2005.
Since that time a number of other compa
nies have jumped on board, which facilitated
the need to revisit the issue.
While a number of companies that are new
to this list have only recently added non-dis
crimination policies and domestic partnership
benefits, US Airways has had both in place
for over five years.
“Health benefits and all travel benefits
are extended to all domestic and life part
ners,” explains US Airways spokesperson
Twana Williams. “The travel benefits began
in 2001 and health benefits were initiated
in 2002.”
American City Business Journals,
headquartered in Charlotte, publishes busi
ness journals for cities across the country The
company has a non-discrimination policy
covering sexual orientation and offers health
insurance coverage to employees’ domestic
partners, www.bizjournals.com.
Blackbaud Inc., is the leading global
provider of software and related services
Interview: Deborah Cox
Multi-talented diva makes
Charlotte stop Feb. 24
by David Stout . Q-Notes staff
Deborah Cox is on the phone. She sounds
relaxed and open, laughing eas
ily whether recalling the first
time she heard herself on the
radio or discussing the pres
sures of being a gay icon. She’s
calling from Miami, where she
lives with her music producer
husband, Lascelles Stephens,
and their children, Isaiah, 3,
and Sumayah, eight months.
The 32-year-old Canadian
has come a long way since her
self-titled debut album
dropped in 1995. She’s record
ed a string of R&B (and in
remixed form dance) classics,
including the record-setting
“Nobody’s Supposed To Be
Here,” “Things Just Ain’t The
Same,”‘Tfs Over Now” and her
roof-raising anthem
“Absolutely Not.”
These hits and more have
netted her three Juno awards
(the Canadian version of the Grammy) and
two Soul Train awards. She’s racked up nine
number one hits on Billboards Club Play
chart. And in 20Q4, she made her Broadway
Here’s what the multi-talented artist
shared with Q-Notes in advance of her Feb. 24
performance at Charlotte’s Velocity nightclub.
You grew up in Toronto. How long has
your family been there?
I’m a first generation Canadian. My parents
moved there from the West
Indies — Guyana.
Same-sex marriage is
now legal in your home
country.
Yes it is. And I’m really kinda
surprised that there’s such a
fight to stop same-sex mar
riage here in the U.S. It’s just
not a big deal.
Who were your musical
influences growing up?
Hmmm, who were my musi
cal influences.. .Gladys
Knight, Stevie Wonder, Aretha
Franklin.. .jazz was also a big
thing in our house, Ella
Fitzgerald, Dinah
Washington, Billie Holiday.
You were once a back
ground vocalist for
another Canadian diva,
Celine Dion. What was
that like?
debut starring in Elton John’s musical, “Aida.”
Can Deborah Cox be
stopped? Absolutely Not!
Very interesting. It was in the early part of her
career when she was doing her English
albums in the U.S. It allowed me perform on
“The Tonight Show,”“The Arsenio Hall Show,”
see (fence on 7
oMntaMww
Ww WW
designed specifically for non
profit organizations. Located
imCharleston, S.C., they
maintain a non-discrimina
tion policy and benefit's for
same-sex spouses.
www.blackbaud.com. .
Located in Durham,
Biomerieux is a leading
international diagnostics
group that specializes in the
field of in vitro diagnostics
for clinical and industrial
applications. The company
has a non-discrimination
policy and offers insurance •
benefits for same-sex spous
es. www.biomerieux-
usa.com.
Health Insurance
Company Blue Cross and
Blue Shield of Chapel Hill
offers domestic partnership
benefits to unmafried cou
ples of the opposite or
same-sex.
The Bob Barker
Company, based in Fuquay-
Varina, N.C., is the nation’s
leading detention supplier. If
you’re scratching your head
wondering just what that
means — in short it’s a
massive operation that sup
plies goods to incarcerated
prisoners.
According to their web
site, the company smashes radios on the
floor and grinds toothbrushes on cin-
derblock walls to see how easily they can
be made into shanks (crude knife-like
weapons). They screen hygiene products
for pork and other animal products to
minimize conflicts with the practice of
religious beliefs. They also maintain a
non-discrimination policy and offer insur
ance benefits for domestic partners,
www.bobbarker. com.
Communications Access Network
Inc,, a Charleston, S.C. business that supplies
interpreter services for deaf speakers, provides
domestic partner benefits and maintains a
non-discrimination policy. 843-763-3890.
The Constella Group, a leading
provider of professional health
11
t. •
A sizable number of companies in both Carolinas keep
their LGBT employees happy with non-discrimination
policies and domestic partnership benefits.
services worldwide, is located in Durham,
N.C. The company has a non-discrimination
policy that includes sexual orientation and it ,
offers domestic partnership benefits.
www.constellagroup.com.
Digital Recorders is a technology leader
in transportation, law enforcement, and secu
rity digital communications systems. They
design and manufacture products that
improve the flow and mobility of people
through transportation infrastructure, miti
gate security threats, and enhance law
enforcement surveillance capabilities.
Incorporated in 1983 in Durham, N.C. the
company’s policies include a non-discrimina
tion bylaw and domestic partnership benefits.
www.digrec.com.
.see Carolina on 5
Black Church Week of Prayer
page 31
Senate passes Ryan White
page 29