interview
Melissa Etheridge is wide awake
page 29
'■ t'T
Trirfd Pi'id.2
Event is rousing success
page 14
Charlotte Business Guild
announces award winners
page 7
' Noted. Notable . Noteworthy. LGBT News & Views
Volume 22 . Number 09 www.q-notes.com September 8.2007
Get ready for SC Pride ’07!
Sixteenth annual event takes place
Sept. 22 in Columbia
by Ed Madden
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Gay
and Lesbian Pride Movement (SCGLPM)
invites you to come together on Saturday, Sept.
22, for Ae 16th Annud South Carolina Wde
Festival.
The march and festival are part of a week
of activities and events built around the
theme, “Equal Rights Are Human Rights.” A
highlight of this year’s event will be the per
formance of Nemesis, the openly gay twins
and hot singing duo starring in the LOGO
Network’s hit series, “Nemesis Rising.”
Central events this year include the annual
march and parade in downtown Columbia,
followed by a festival in Finlay Park, as well as
a state-of-the-state town hall meeting, a com
munity picnic and the annual Ms. and Mr. SC
Pride pageant. Among other events are the SC
Gay and Lesbian Business Guild’s annual boat
cruise and a Hancock Center workshop
focused on preserving the state’s gay and les
bian history.
Organizers say this year’s theme, “Equal
Rights Are Human Rights” calls attention to
.the need for equal ri^ts for all South
Carolinians. They also want to emphasize the
human dimension of the LGBT struggle for
equality.
“We are real people with real families, real
struggles, real stories. Let’s show South
Carolina that we’re still here and proud,” says
Michael VanDiver, president of
SCGLPM, which organizes the
annual event.
“South Carolina voters may not
have voted with us this past
Novemberr he adds, “but we are still
here in every comer of this great
state. This is our chance to stand
tall and proud as we celebrate our
community and seek equality?’
In addition to Nemesis, die fes
tival will feature performances by
Mary’s Little Sister, Robin & Leigh, Pride Idol
Angela DeBruhl and many other entertainers.
Additional guests in the park will include the
Human Ri^ts Campaign’s Betsy Pursell, S.C.
hate crimes activist Elke Kennedy, Columbia
mayor Bob Coble, gay Army vet and youth
activist Jonathan Jackson and spoken word
artist AJ Taylor.
Among the sponsors for this year’s
events are Carolina Purple Pages, Columbia
City Paper, Food Lion, the Human Rights
Campaign, ID Lubricants, PT’s Cabaret, and
Q-Notes. Turn to page 6 for details on who’s
onstage at Pride this year. I
— For more information and updates
on this year’s festivities, visit the SC Pride
website at www.SCPride.org
or call 803-771-7713.
'uJ
L>
Openly gay twin brothers Jacob and Joshua
Miller, stars of the LOGO reality series
‘Nemesis Rising* and both parts of the
recording duo Nemesis, will take to the
Pride stage to perform their Billboard
Dance hit, ‘Number One in Heaven.’
Pride Charlotte 2007 a record-breaking success
Thousands enjoy day of
entertainment, speakers,
empowerment
David Stout . Q-Notes staff
Best. Pride. Ever.
At least, that seemed to be the prevailing
sentiment among the record-setting crowd
who attended the Aug. 25 festival that
crowned the week’s events of Pride Charlotte
2007. For
the second
consecutive
year the cel
ebration
XT
f' .
.. X'",'--
' A:' '■
-i- -ns
was sponsored by The
Lesbian & Gay Community
Center of Charlotte and
organized by the Pride Charlotte Task Force.
With all the praise heaped on uptown’s
Gateway Village, the new site of the festival last
year, it was a no-brainer for the event to
return there. And it came back in a big
way. Based on estimates from Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Police and Pride organizers,
8,000 people filled the venue for a day of
musical entertainment, guest speakers,
arts and crafts, merchandise and food ven
dors, visibility and empowerment.
The phenomenal turnout topped last
year’s then-record crowd by 2,000 and beat
the Task Force’s goal by 500. As organizers
pointed out, attendance was especially
impressive given that the heat hovered
near the 100-degree miark for the greater
part of the day.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the
numbers,” said Jim Yarbrough, co-chair of the
Pride Charlotte Task Force and the publisher
of Q-Wbfes. “For so many people to have been
out there on that scorching day confirms
how much the community values the Pride
Charlotte festival. From the Task Force’s perspec
tive, it was a “best-case scenario’ type of turnout.”
The gains of the 2007 festival weren’t limit
ed to setting attendance records. The number
of vendors at the event outstripped last year’s
total as well. According to Task Force member
Jeff Schmehl, space permitting, the figure
could have been even greater.
“We had 88 registered vendors,” he said.
“That’s about 10 more than last year and I
turned away 15 after we’d filled ^ our spaces.
We had inquiries up to the last day. A lot of
interest came from outside Charlotte this year,
which I think is a result of more marketing,
getting our name out there.”
Volunteer Coordinator Toryn Stark enlisted
an army of helpers to mount the booming
event. “We had about 100 volunteers the day of
Pride,” she explained. “They did everything
from helping set up the stage to hanging ban
ners to taking surveys, serving as Enforcers of
the Peace, supervising the kids’ area and
cleaning up at the end. The volunteers were
definitely a big part of the day.”
The Enforcers of the Peace were charged
with keeping tabs on the approximately ftiree
dozen protestors who picketed outside the
see success on 15