For Father’s Day
Two dads share their story
page 25
Interview
Sandra Bernhard
page 25
Speaking Out
Recognizing Gay Pride
page 6
Noted . Notable . Noteworthy. LGBT News & Views
Volume 22 . Number 03 www.q-notes.com June 16.2007
Vigil held to remember hate crime victim Sean Kennedy
Murdered gay youth’s mother calls
for hate crime laws
by Melissa Moore
GREENVILLE, S.C. — At 8:00 p.m. on June
3 a Candlelight Vigil to commemorate the life
and mourn the death of 20-year-old Sean
Kennedy was attended by an estimated 275
members of the Upstate community. Held in
downtown Greenville, members of Kennedy’s
family were among those in attendance.
Community outrage has skyrocketed fol
lowing Kennedy’s death, as evidence continues
to mount that he was killed because he was a
gay man.
“Sean Kennedy was a beloved child of God,
and no act of violence will ever take that
said Rev. Donna Stroud, pastor of the
Metropolitan Community Church of the
Upstate (MCCU), who led the group in an
opening prayer.
“We gather at this Vigil to share the
blessed memories South Carolinians have of
Sean. We stand in silence, quieted by the
tragedy and sadness of his death. But we also
stand as a unified voice, calling out for the
day when no person is harmed because of
how God created them.”
Kennedy was punched in the face and
knocked to the ground as he was exiting a
Greenville bar on May 16. When his head hit
the pavement, he was fatally wounded. An
investigation into the crime continues, includ
ing a probable motive that Kennedy’s killer
uttered anti-gay comments either before or
after the attack.
A number of community organizations
such as PFLAG Greenville, Upstate United,
MCCU, South Carolina Equality Coalition
(SCEC), AFFIRM Youth, and Greenville
Technical College Gay-Straight Alliance were
see community on 7
Members of South Carolina’s Upstate Community joined together June 3 to
commemorate the life of gay murder victim Sean Kennedy.
Out of debt even with no follow up
on promised $30,000 donation?
charlotte’s Community Center bounds back but
fights to get their act together
by David Moore . Q-Notes staff
CHARLOTTE — In January Q-Notes reported that the
Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Community Center was fighting an
uphill battle to survive. It came as a surprise to most in the
city’s LGBT population — seemingly little mention had been
made that the Center’s funds
The Lesbian & Gay
Cfmmunity Center
were drying up.
The problems at The
Center came to light during
the summer of 2006 while
fundraising efforts were
underway for the newly
revamped PRIDE Charlotte
festival. On more than one
occasion the Center removed
money raised from the account for the PRIDE celebration to
cover expenses such as payroll, utilities and even rent.
Rou^ly six months later. Center staffer Linda Davis was
laid off and Executive Director Laura Witkowski resigned. The
Center cut back on its operating hours and was then staffed by
a mix of board members and community volunteers.
When it was announced that the Center was $40,000 in
debt and that funds being donated were extremely limited
— the city’s queer community had to face facts: some fast
action was required or the possibility that the Center would
close its doors forever was a distinct and disturbing reality.
As the need for help became obvious, the community rallied.
Southern Country Charlotte donated $20,000. The Charlotte
Lesbian and Gay Fund donated $ 18,000 and John Crowley, the
executive vice president and CFO of Fairpoint Communications,
handed over a hefty individual contribution of $10,000, with a
promise of an additional $30,000 coming down the pike.
Now — according to Joe Campos, chairperson of the Board
of Trustees — the outlook for the Center has vastly improved.
“We’re out of debt,” says Campos. “Through the generosity
of many individuals and the organizations that have donated,
we’re in a much better place.”
At press time though, Crowley was in the dark about the
latest developments at the Center. Despite the fact he told
Campos about the additional donations he was ready to
make, there had been no follow up from the Center’s end.
“I haven’t heard anything from them,” says Crowley. “They
asked me for $40,000 and I understood at the time it was a bit
of an emergency need for funds, so I said why don’t I just give
pu $10,000 right now and I’ll give you the rest as we reach
certain benchmarks.”
Although Campos had indicated he would get back with
Crowley in three weeks with a strategic plan, somehow the
effort fell through the cracks.
“It was never specified what those benchmarks were,”
see charlotte on 23
Twice fired gay sailor
hired for third stint
Gay Hebrew linguist assigned to reserves
by Rebecca Sawyer
WASHINGTON, DC-
assigned an openly gay
sailor to duty in the
Individual Ready
Reserves (IRR), accord
ing to paperwork
obtained by
Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network
(SLDN). Former Petty
Officer 2nd Class Jason
Knight, a Hebrew lin
guist recently deployed
to Kuwait, has been
placed on IRR duty
until April 2009, despite
publicly “coming out”
in national media out
lets and being told he
would receive a “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell” dis
missal. Knight’s dis
missal form, also called
see linguist on 7
• The United States Navy has again
‘I have been nothing but proud
of my service in the Navy, and
I’m ready to serve in the
Individual Ready Reserves and to
return to active duty if called.’
— former Petty Officer 2nd Class
Jason Knight
Changes at SCEC
page 15
Bush nominates ‘ex-gay’ advocate
page 20
The insecure partner
page 27