N O R T H C A R O LI N A
Bob Williams and Stephen Heavner are
serving as the DFF Honorary Co-Chairs for
2009. Williams is the co-owner of Mitchell
Gold -t- Bob Williams, and Heavner is the
bookkeeper for the well-known furniture
company.
Club Cabaret will host the afterparty,
themed “A New Way of Living.” All attendees to
ALFAs Pr[EVENT] will receive free admittance
to this afterparty by showing their Pr[EVENT]
ticket stub. Funds raised during the afterparty
will be donated back to ALFAs mission.
For more information, call 828-322-1447
ext. 224, email alfadirect@charter.net or visit
www.alfainfo.org.
Ten-minute test now available
HICKORY — During the week of June 22,
ALFA will be providing free, confidential door-
to-door and walk-in HIV testing to the general
public. ALFAs rapid HIV test is 99.7 percent
accurate and provides results in 10 minutes.
These events are in observance of National
HIV Testing Day, an annual campaign that
encourages individuals to receive voluntary
HIV counseling and testing. By providing this
service, ALFA is able to reduce the spread of
HIV and combat the negative stigma sur
rounding the issue of HIV/AIDS. This is
achieved by allowing individuals to know their
status, connecting those who test positive with
the necessary medical care and providing
accurate and up-to-date HIV/AIDS education.
Walk-in testing will be available at ALFA,
located at 1120 Fairgrove Church Rd. SE, Suite
28, on June 22-25 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and
June 26 from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Walk-in testing
will also be available at Slades Chapel AME
Zion Church, located at 306 Bouchelle St.
(Morganton) on June 24 from 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
For those who are unable to make it the week
of June 22, call ALFA at 828-322-1447, ext. 232
to schedule an appointment for a free test.
For more information or to make a dona
tion, visit www.alfainfo.org.
Statewide
Blogger digs in for long haul
STATEWIDE — North Carolina’s own Pam
Spaulding has been getting a bit
of press lately. According to
gaynewsblog.nefs Jose Antonio
Vargas, the voice behind one of
the most respected gay political
blogosphere sites, Pam’s House
Blend, has given rise to a partic
ular growing political influence.
North Carolina is the only
state in the south that has not
banned same-sex marriage.
An IT manager by day and a
24/7/365 blogger, Spaulding said
that “all eyes are on North
Carolina now.” Florida, Arizona
and California in November passed marriage
amendments.
Vargas said in late May/early June, “after
reports that groups such as NC4Marriage and
Christian Action League are organizing a rally
in Raleigh to support‘traditional marriage,’
Spaulding wrote on her blbgfAs predicted, the
professional anti-gay forces plan to descend
onNC.’”
“What she doesn’t write is that, so long as
she’s blogging, what happens in North
Carolina won’t stay in the Tar Heel State,”
Vargas continued.
The blogging community has been respon
sible for staging Join the Impact rallies and
other successful initiatives across the country
to bring attention to the injustices toward the
LGBT community.
“In the past, someone like Spaulding
would have been relegated to the sidelines. She
doesn’t work for national gay rights organiza
tions such as the Human Rights Campaign or
the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation. She
lives with her partner, Kate,
an audiologist, in Durham,
far from San Francisco, New
York or Washington, where
gay activism has been his
torically based. But now
she’s helping shape the agen
da, one voice in a chorus of
sometimes dissonant, some
times harmonious, often in-
your-face voices that is
pushing established gay
groups and redefining the meaning of grass
roots action in this new media age,” Vargas
concluded.
Joe Solmonese, HRC’s president, reads
Spaulding’s blog regularly.
To read the entire story, visit gaynews-
blog.net/2009/06/gay-bloggers-voices-rise-in-
chorus-of.html. I
info: Announce your community event in NC News Notes,
email; editor@q-notes.com.
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