‘A-B-C...easy as 1-2-3’
Rightly reminiscent
Dumbledore is gay
Music in 2007
page 25
My year with the radicals
page 18
And more 2007 news
page 22
Noted. Notable . Noteworthy. LGBT News & Views
Special Year-End Issue; retrospejfjtive 2007
Volume 22 . Number 17 www.q-notes.com December 29.2007
rtT'—'
Politics as
(un)usual in 2007
A year-end review of major political
stories
compiled by Q-Notes staff
retrospective 2007
2007 offered some unique instances of
political and social history making:
Employment discrimination and hate crimes
legislation; a gay man targeted by the Internal
Revenue Service and another re-enlisted in
the U.S. Armed Forces; anti-gay politicians
caught in compromising activities and “ex
gays” professing their change. Here’s our recap
of the year'in politics.
IRS targets gay N.C. native
Multi-millionaire Charles Merrill, an open
ly gay North Carolina native, announced he
would not pay taxes like a first-class citizen
until he is treated as such under the law. The
Gay millionaire Charles Merrill refuses
to pay income taxes until he can marry
his partner.
Internal Revenue Service was none-too-
pleased with his choice so they came knock
ing in early 2007. Merrill and his partner
refused to pay up, asserting to Q-Notes that
their position is not negotiable.
“I have no intention of paying federal and
state income taxes because I cannot...
receive the same tax benefits as other married
couples,” Merrill said.
As we reported in January, the IRS is with
holding 28 percent of Merrill’s income until he
files a report. In April, the outspoken atheist
received more negative reaction when he was
suspended from using the online blogs of the
see politics on 12
Q-Notes Person of the Year:
Elke Kennedy
compiled by Q-Notes staff
May 16 was an especially dark night for
the LGBT community of the Carolinas and
particularly for Greenville, S.C. On that
evening, openly gay Sean Kennedy, 20, was
killed by a senseless hate crime. His death
at the hands of a homophobic teenager
underscored the stark reality that South
Carolina has no hate crime laws, and the
anti-gay climate in the state is toxic for
LGBT people.
Sean’s mother, Elke Kennedy, instandy rose
to address these issues and began campaign
ing around the state. Demonstrating the depth
of her courage and conviction, she trans
formed herself from a grieving mother to an
outspoken, respected leader for the causes of
equiity and justice in South Carolina, North
C^olina, Georgia and beyond.
Through her advocacy, Elke has worked
with governments at all levels and created
allies with elected and appointed officials
across the South. The district attorney prose
cuting her son’s killer has joined her call for
changes to South Carolina’s handling of mur
der and manslaughter cases.
With the help of her family, friends and
volunteers, Elke has established Sean’s Last
Wish, a foundation to push for hate crime leg
islation and to raise awareness of the need for
organ donation. (Sean was an organ donor
and his death allowed others to receive critical
medical treatments.) Because of her activism,
hate crime protections for LGBT South
Carolinians was discussed in nearly every
major city in the state this year.
Recendy, Elke was recognized as Best of
the Beat 2007 Local Hero by the Upstate Beat
newspaper.
Q-Notes is proud to add to her accolades as
we name Elke Kennedy our 2007 Elke Kennedy transformed herself from a grieving
Person of the Year. I mother to an outspoken, respected leader for
info: R.C. Wilson contributed to this report the causes of equality and justice.
"4
Li
Gay N.C. elected official targeted by
hate mongers
Chapel Hill Town Councilman
Mark Kleinschmidt
subjected to violent rhetoric
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
CHAPEL-HILL, N.C. — Through
the internet, neo-Nazi white suprema
cists have targeted out LGBT elected
officials across the nation, including
some direct statements against
prominendy gay Chapel Hill Town
Councilman Mark Kleinschmidt.
The trouble began when a national
list of openly gay dected offidals
appeared on die forums of the Aryan-
affiliated Vanguard News Network — a
blog-type online publication.
Kleinschmidt’s name and position were
included in the post.
The list was originally published
online by a gay man in ^ton, Ohio,
who traded offidals’ voting records
and legislative histories dating to the
late 1990s. Following an announcement
that the site would close Jan. 1,2008, white
supremacists re-posted the information to
have it “archived and spread by others.”
Also named in the list are Orange County
(N.C.) Commissioner
Attorney Mark
Kleinschmidt has served
on the Chapel Hill Town
Council since 2001. He is
one of five openly gay
North Carolinians elected
in state history.
Mike Nelson and recendy
appointed State Court of
Appeals Judge John S.
Arrowood. Oddly absent
from the list is N.C. Sen.
JuliaBoseman,a
Wilmington lesbian who
is the highest-ranking
gay official in the state.
Readers of the hate
site were encouraged to
take “direct action”
against the openly gay
officials.
“Because the infor
mation is perishable,
local activists are best
advised to use this
information first as a
precursor for additional
investigation before taking‘direct action,”’the
posting states.
The list has been re-posted throughout the
internet and blogosphere, including a website
that direcdy targeted Kleinschmidt with vio
lent rhetoric and veiled threats.
On “Politically Correct Apostate,” a blogger
presented it with the heading “List of Open
and Unapologetic Faggot Politicians.”
In response to criticism from Kleinschmidt
on his own blog, the “Politically Correct
Apostate” blogger wrote, “I would never
encourage my readers to take direct action in
the form of violence against any faggots, that
would be illegal. However, if for some reason
the laws were to change in the future, by keep-
mg this information archived here and on vari
ous computers across the country, these faggots
may rue the day they‘came out of the closet.’ If
that day ever arrives [when it becomes legal to
lynch fagots]. I’ll be more than happy to pro
vide this information to those that might legal
ly string you degenerates up.
see hate on 20
Phoenix rising — S.C. 2007 review
.gage 14 _
N.C. news recap from 2007
pag® 10 .