u
The southern frontier
LGBT and progressive organizing in the South highlighted at this year's
Creating Change conference
by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com
[Ed. Note — Our editor, Matt Corner, re
cently spent five days in Atlanta covering
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's
Creating Change conference. His interviews
with some leaders at the conference appear
in the follow-up report below.]
ATLANTA — Staffers with North
Carolina's statewide equality organization
were in force at this year's Creating Change,
the annual conference of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Equality
North Carolina staffers.said they had been
Southerners on New Ground Co-Director Paulina Helm-Hemandez, of Atlanta, discusses the impor
tance of intersectional work among LGBT and immigrant communities in Georgia. File Photo.
heartened by what seemed like a growing
attention among organizers and attendees of
the event to issues of progressive and LGBT
organizing in the South.
"I don't know if it was intentional having
this conference in the South or in Atlanta'
but certainly there's been a message that
not only can we not abandon the South, but
the South is the new gay frontier in terms of
rural organizing and in communities of color
and bringing them together through faith
networks," said Equality North Carolina
Communications Director Jen Jones, who
is attended the conference with three other
staffers from the group.
The conference, the largest national gath
ering of LGBT activists and organizers, was
held in late January and came nearly three
months after November's marriage equality
victories in Maine, Maryland and Washington.
In Minnesota, voters rejected an anti-LGBT
state constitutional amendment banning mar
riage recognition.
"The fact that the conference is in Atlanta
makes a big statement, especially coming off
the marriage wins in the rest of the country,"
said Ben Church, Equality North Carolina's
new deputy director of organizing. "To have
the conference in the heart of the South
seems intentional and really positive."
Jones thinks the lessons learned from last
May's amendment campaign in North Carolina
helped shape the four later campaigns.
"We really, even before Maryland and
see Progressives on 10
Brief nod to gays in 'State of City'
by Matt Comer :: editor@goqnotes.com
CHARLOTTE— Mayor Anthony Foxx gave
his annual State of the City address on Feb. 4,
hitting hard on a variety of local topics includ
ing the controversial streetcar project and
other infrastructure needs.
The mayor, a Democrat, also included a
brief mention of the gay community, following
in the footsteps of President Barack Obama,
who became the first president to address the
LGBT community in an inaugural address.
"As your mayor, I serve the most diverse
citizenry in our history — Republicans,
Independents and Democrats, the young and
old, Hispanics and Asians, blacks and whites,
the rich, poor and middle-class, straight and
gay, people from every walk of life you can
imagine," Foxx said according to prepared
remarks later released to media. "My charge
— our charge as a Charlotte City Council
— is to ensure that every man, woman and
child has a chance to succeed, to fulfill what
their talents and abilities can lead them to
accomplish."
Representatives of the Mecklenburg LGBT
Political Action Committee (MeckPAC) said
they were encouraged by the
mayor's remarks.
"MayorFoxx recognizes
what comprises a diverse
community and he recog
nizes that the gay community
(including the transgender
community) is part of that
diversity," MeckPAC Chair
Scott Bishop said via email.
The City of Charlotte
has taken recent steps to
become more LGBT inclu
sive. In 2010, now-retired
City Manager Curt Walton
added sexual orientation to
the city's non-discrimination
policy. In December, before
his retirement he also added
protections for transgender
workers. The City Council
also approved a budget last year including
health and other benefits for same-sex part
ners of city employees.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx delivers his state of the city address
on Monday, Feb. 4,2013.
Photo Credit: Charlotte Observer-Jeff Siner, jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
ear for the LGBT community and encourages
us to advance change for the community in
Charlotte." He said the mayor fully supported
anti-discrimination efforts and the addition of
Bishop said Foxx "consistently has an
domestic partner benefits.
news
goqnotes.com/to/news
Org ceases
by Matt Comer
matt@goqnotes.com
CHARLOTTE — The founder of a new
non-profit organization formed to work with
young a'dults has said his group is ceasing
operations after scrutiny from this newspaper
and others.
"Envy My Illumination and Realize
Excellence" House (EMIRE House) was es
tablished in 2012 by Charlotte's Brian Brigham,
who said he wanted to help young people
ages 18-26 create lives free from drugs,
alcohol and crime. His project would have
provided housing and support.
An investigation by gnotesfound that
Brigham, a registered sex offender, had been
indicted by a South Carolina federal court
on three separate child sex offenses. In
April 1999, he pleaded guilty to two counts of
enticing two minors, a 13-year-old male and
16-year-old male, and one count of possessing
child pornography. He served a federal prison
sentence until 2006. In addition to several
other run-ins with the law, Brigham had also
been convicted in 2010 in Union County, N.C.,
on three felony fraud charges of obtaining
property by false pretenses.
A report exploring Brigham and EMIRE
House was published on Feb. 5. A follow-up on
Feb. 6 revealed several gaps among local law
enforcement's knowledge of some offenders'
criminal histories and local LGBT organiza
tions' youth safety policies.
Brigham had described EMIRE House
as his opportunity to make amends for his
past mistakes and make a difference in other
people's lives. He said he should not be judged
by his past and was deserving of a second
chance.
After the coverage earlier this month,
unconfirmed reports to g/iotes indicated that
Brigham had apparently decided to either
cease his involvement with EMIRE House or
to close the organization. The EMIRE house
website had been taken offline and a fundrais
ing website had also been taken down.
Brigham confirmed to qnotes on Feb. 9
that EMIRE House was ceasing operations,
noting that recent news reports had made
it difficult for him to continue. He said the
money he has raised would be dispensed
according to the wishes of an uncle and a
friend who were helping him establish the
organization.;:
more: You can read the original Feb. 5
report at goqnotes. com/20987/ and the Feb. 6
follow-up story at goqnotes.eom/21000/.
Despite the'recent progress, the City
Council has yet to hold an affirmative public
vote on any single matter of LGBT equality or
inclusion. The last time the City Council itself
publicly considered a stand-alone LGBT mea
sure was in November 1992, when it voted
down a proposal to amend its public accom
modations ordinance.
more: Head the full version of this article
online atgoqnotes.com/20899/formore on
Foxx's State of the City address, where you
can also find a link to read his full prepared
remarks.
Feb. 15-28.2013 qnotes 9