Newspapers / Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / March 7, 2009, edition 1 / Page 7
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REG 1 O N A L Queer February Gay, anti-gay groups events culminate in week full of activity by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff CHARLOTTE — A crazy month full of LGBT activity in the Queen City has come and gone. For LGBT activists and community members, February was nothing short of a full-fledged queer extravaganza, including a LGBT and straight ally community members protest outside Central Church of God. glitzy, glamorous awards gala, LGBT activism awareness events and chdlenges to local and national anti-gay organizations. National organizations — gay and anti-gay — descended on Charlotte in mid-February for a series of events culminating in a weekend of frenzied activity. Community members heavily involved in several organizations found themselves dashing about town attending to several events, many of them overlapping. The Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE), a newly-established LGBT grassroots activism group, kicked things off with a Valentine’s Day Uptown awareness event. [Ed. Note — This writer is an organizer with CRANE.] About two dozen community members, mostly youth and students, gathered at Trade and Tryop Sts. to pass out literature on LGBT equality and speak to passers-by. “We’re here tonight to raise awareness about relationship equality and our equal rights,” said Lacey Williams, a CRANE organ izer who also works for the Charlotte Codition for Social Justice. Only a few days later, a joint leadership conference with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and two primarily African-American LGBT Christian denominations set up shop in Uptown’s Omni Hotel. Their conference brought together LGBT and gay-friendly religious leaders from across the nation. North Carolina congrega tions like Charlotte’s Unity Fellowship Church and the Church of the Holy Spirit Fellowship in Winston-Salem participated. At the same time as the LGBT-friendly rel- Bar WWW.MYSPACE.COM/TOOLBOXNC WWW.TOOLBOXNC.COM 2325 Burnett Blvd. Wilmington, N.C. blog out at blog.q-notes.com assembloge/*„„«, Igbtql community, news, politics, life,.entertainment, media and culture gious conference, the anti-gay national group Focus on the Family brought their “ex-gay” con ference. Love Won Out, to Charlotte. On Saturday, Feb. 21 — the same day as the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas Gala — the anti-gay group drew out close to 1,000 people to Central Church of God for a full day of teaching on so-called religious “conversion” and “reparative” therapies and ministries for people they say “suffer” from same-sex attractions. Through several events organized by CRANE and other local and national organizations including HRC, EqualityNC and others, community members spent the days prior to the conference debunking the lies and myths of “ex-gay” therapy. On Thursday, Feb. 19, CRANE host- ed author and syndicated columnist Wayne Besen at the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte. Besen, execu tive director of the national group Truth Wins Out, spoke on the dangers of the ministries supported by Focus on the Family. On the day of the conference, CRANE organized more than 50 community members who gathered outside Central Church of God to protest the conference and raise public awareness on the harms of religion-based big otry and prejudice. Love Won Out, featuring “ex-gay” speakers like Joe Dallas and Focus on the Family officer Melissa Fryrear, supports the notion that LGBT people can “change” from gay to straight. Critics, like Besen, charge that the group relies ■gay leader Joe Dallas speaks in the sanctuary of Central Church of God at the Focus on the Family conference, Love Won Out. on false and debunked science, promotes ill- fated “conversion” programs and can lead to increased anxiety, depression and suicide. Inside the church, speakers like Dallas dis cussed theories that claimed to explore the various causes of LGBT sexual orientations and gender identities. In a morning presenta tion, DaOas cited 19th century psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, the former president of the National Association ■ for the Research arid Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). see Flurry on 8 TIMBERFELL LODGE Tennesst;e\; f^wmiere nwn’s resort arhi atmfrgroumi.. The country’s finest paradise & hideaway men’s resort. Please join us for one of these exciting weekend getaways. 91 ' March 20 - 22 - Pajama Party’ Weekend March 27'29 - Daddy Weekend April 10'12 ' “Big Basket” Easter Weekend “Butts in Beds Weekend” - January 5 - March 30 - 50”o Discount Off Rooms Wednesdays - Movie Night - $10 evening passes - 8: 30 p.m. w the East Tennessee mountains. Reservations: 1'800-437-0118 2240 Van Hill Road Greeneville, TN 37745 WWW, timberfell.com MARCH 7.2009
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