i
(I 372
(g-iblina Gay*A§5ociatiori,I^w§lettei^
Vol.
K%
October 1982
Number 1
"chxistians for moral decency”
GROUP PROTESTS PAGEANT
(compiled from The Charlotte Observer
and The Chapel Hill Newspaper)
The 11th annual “Miss Gay America"
pageant opened to an audience of about
1600 men and women in Charlotte on
Saturday, Sep. 25, in Ovens Auditorium.
The Charlotte Observer covered the
event with two articles. The first,
"Group to Photograph Gay Event*s Audi
ence" by staff writer Linda Brown,
appeared on Friday, Sep. 24, and the
second, "New ’Miss Gay America' Chosen
While 250 Protest in Charlotte" (Scott
Flander and William Douglas, staff
writers) made it to the front page of
the "Carolina News" section, complete
with two photographs, one on Monday,
Sep. 27., showing the winner Jon
Meadows of Nashville performing his
talent act. Although the headlines em
phasized the protest, the articles
themselves seemed balanced.
Two Charlotte-area ministers led the
fight against the pageant: the Rev.
Joseph Chambers of the Paw Creek Church
of God and Rev. Larry Tate, pastor of
the Harbor Baptist Church. Protestors,
calling their group "Christians for
Moral Decency," said they photographed
persons attending the event "to expose
people who support gays and reduce
attendance at the event."
Chambers, who held a press confer
ence on Thursday before the event,
saidj "There are many persons involved
in people-caring professions who are '
also promoting homosexuality. We want
to expose those persons before they do
harm to people under their care."
Chambers defined the people-caring pro
fessions he is concerned about as min
isters, teachers, day care workers, and
club leaders. Although Chambers would
not state what will be done with the
photographs, he did add, "We're trying
to find out who is what in Charlotte.
We don't want our children exposed to
this lifestyle." Homosexuality, in his
opinion, "is an acquired and learned
abnormality...weak effeminate fathers,
dominating mothers, incest experiences,
seduction by professional persons act
ing in child care roles and many other
similar experiences have left these
persons confused."
Rev. Gary Tate, Baptist minister and
chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Moral Majority, stated, "I think it's a
smear of Charlotte. We're going to
make sure they don’t turn Charlotte
into San Francisco." (The Chapel Hill
Newspaper added here that San Francisco
has a reputation for having a large
homosexual community.)
(continued on page 3)
STATEWIDE CONFERENCE PLANNED
Planning is underway for a statewide
conference of lesbians and gay men next
spring. Planners hope that the North
Carolina Gay and Lesbian Conference
will become an annual meeting to unify
the state's diverse gay community and
share information among groups and be
tween individuals.
Last July, representatives from the
CGA, the State Gay Community at N.C.
State University, and Duke Gay & Les
bian Alliance and some organizers of
the 1981 gay pride march in Durham met
to discuss the proposed conference.
The group i\as met twice since to dis
cuss conference theme and workshop
ideas and to arrange logistics for the
weekend conference slated for early
March.
One member of the group said the
workshop topics will be diverse, with
some sessions for people who may be
dealing with issues of coming out and
other groups for politically active and
experienced people. Planning group
members have been of diverse opinions
on conference theme and have not chosen
a focus yet. They are particularly
(continued on page 7)
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