Newspapers / Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / Jan. 9, 2010, edition 1 / Page 8
Part of Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
tolly 20% off oiCrackers PollyandCrackers.com ■ 2718 Monroe Ri'1 Charkte,NC28^ J^704-374>12321 '10l4(HdStiaei«akM' Hnmen^NC 28078 Emiili ii9ie@lupiei^.coni Connie J. "Vlbtter Attorney and Counsellor at Law CJVLaw.com 704-333--4000 1208 The ni2;i ('hnrlotte Meetin|;Date; Tuesday.January 19, 2010 Program: Vincent Berkeley, Chief Diversity Officer Compass Group USA Sponsored by McColl Center for Visual Art Location to be announced in earlyjanuary Hme: Cash Bar Social/Heavy Hor dbeuvres @ 5:30 P™ Program starts @ 6:45 P® Cost:’ $15 members, $25 non-members To Reserve: Call704.565.5075 by 12 pm Friday, January 15, 2010 or email businessguild@yahoo.com to request tickets for this event tw SEES3P CHARLOTTE BUSINESS GUILD Local Gay Talk Radio Tune in every Sunday 10:05AM on Air America WOlC 1230 AM Or visit us online to listen: www.scpride.org The year ahead What will 2010 bring in politics, culture, community? by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com The winter holidays.. .done. New Year's celebrations.. .done. Schools are back open, holiday breaks between now and Easter a few and far between. It's back to the daily grind. lime said the 2000s were the decade from hell. They say it was bookended by the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor and one of the nation's worst economic recessions. Yet, in 2009, the LGBT community — both locally and nationally—made huge strides. So, what is to come in the next year? Politics '' In early-to-mid 2010, expect city leaders in Charlotte to begin discussions on extending domestic partner benefits and expanding their employee non-discrimination policy. Brought to the public's attention by Mecklenburg County's move on similar issues in December, you should also expect more outspoken opposition to these inclusive changes by Charlotte's anti-gay, religious establishment. In Raleigh, conservative Democratic and Republican lawmakers will undertake their annual ploy to write discrimination into the state's constitution by introducing, yet again, their anti-LGBT, anti-family marriage amendment—a six-year-in-a-row failure. On May 25, make plans to join Equality North Carolina at their annual Day of Action. Visit with your lawmakers and speak out against the anti-gay amendment and for extending employment protections for LGBT workers and other issues. The Connie Spry Fund, created in honor of longtime trans advocate Connie Spry, will again assist transgender community members in financial need with both transportation and lodging costs. For more information, visit equalitync. org/dayofaction. Put into force just one day after New Year, the state's new smoking ban in restaurants and bars will reshape nightlife and dinner outings — especially for us gay folks, who use tobacco far more than our straight counterparts. While non-smokers will no longer fear coming home smelling like smoke and ashes, some smokers say they'll take their cues from state legislators and take the new law as a sign it's time to quit. Community Community members in the state capital will continue work on creating the new LGBT Center of Raleigh. The nascent organization recently announced it will share office space with Triangle Community Works, and talks of a future merger between the two groups are already underway. Just a few miles down 1-40, community members in Winston-Salem will likely continue talks to start their own community center. In late July, the Triangle area will join Charlotte and Columbia in hosting their own, local Black Pride. Carolines Black Pride Movement says they're planning events in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, with their day-long expo likely being held in Durham. The Greenville-Spartanburg area will hold their second annual Upstate Pride, while Charleston ramps up its efforts to host their first-ever local celebration. In February, the annual Human Rights Campaign Carolinas Gala makes its long- awaited trip from Charlotte to Raleigh. With events slated for the entire weekend, a special "HRC Train" planned from Charlotte and Greensboro and the premier Gala dinner at the new Raleigh Convention Center, the event is again expected to reign as the Carolinas' LGBT community's premier political and fundraising event And, being so close to the Governor's Mansion, maybe good ole Bev Perdue will make an appearance? Culture & Entertainment The Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte kicks off 2010 with their second annual GayCharlotte Film Festival, Jan. 28- Jan. 31. Organizers have already announced a showing of "Little Ashes," starring Robert Pattinson and Javier Beltran, and the 2009 romantic comedy "Drool," starring Laura Harring and Jill Marie Jones. Throughout 2010, the southeastern section of the Queen City's Uptown will experience a cultural awakening, as the Wells Fargo Cultural Campus holds some of their first events and openings in new museums and theatres, and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture, which opened in late 2009. In February, the Blumenthal Center for Performing Arts presents the acclaimed coming of age musical, "Spring Awakening." With music written by Pop singer Duncan Sheik and complete with its own same-sex love scene, "Spring Awakening" is a classical, timeless tale of the joys and challenges of youth. National scene At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, New Hampshire became the fifth state to open marriage to all couples. Who will join Granite Staters in the journey to full marriage equality? In 2010, expect debates over marriage to continue in California, Maine, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and other areas. The community celebrated the passage of the Matthew Shepard hate crimes' act in 2009. Our friendly Congress Critters say they're aware of our need for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and repeals of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) and Defense of Marriage Act(DOMf\). Regardless, it seems legislative movement forward will remain slow and painful. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D- N.Y.) recently told DC Agenda there will be no effort to repeal DOMA in 2010. Although Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says a DADT repeal could be added as an amendment on this year's defense funding bill, the reality of any proposal remains to be seen. In the Senate, hope for more action on Sen. Joseph Lieberman's (l-Conn.) Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act As open lesbian Annise Parker celebrates her late 2009 win as mayor of Houston — Carolina celebrates its own gay mayoral victory in Chapel Hill — more LGBTs are throwing their hats into the ring and running for office. An openly gay Illinois man is running for the U.S. Senate and a California man hopes to become the fourth out member of the U.S. House. So far, the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute's Victory Fund has endorsed 15 out candidates facing 2010 elections. Media Some are saying 2010 will be the year of social networking backlash and fatigue. The thing is, people have been saying that every New Year since at least 2006. Some people hate it some people love it and most people likely couldn't care less, but Social, qnotes Jan. 9-22.2010
Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 9, 2010, edition 1
8
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75