□^M i^^
COMMUNIT^ONNECTIONS
SERVING WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA’S LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDERED COMMUNITY
ASHEVILLE PRIDE A SUCCESS
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Asheville-ln spite of early setbacks and
threats of rain over 4000 gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered people and
their supporters turned out to march,
in The North Carolina Pride '98
Celebration held in Asheville lune 5-7.
The event kicked off on Friday evening
with a reception at the Radisson Hotel
which was followed by performances
by Deian Mcbryde and The Derivative
Duo at The Diana Wortham Theater. In
addition, Bob Smith, MC for the Pride
'98 Rally held a booksigning at
Malaprops.
The Friday evening events were closed
with a Stonewall Vigil held in memory
Pride continued on page 20
COURT RULES IN
FAVOR OF PWA*S
Washington, DC (June 25, 21998) -
Today, the National Lesbian and Gay
Health Association (NLGHA) praised
the Supreme Court ruling that a woman
with HIV infection is protected against
discrimination under the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Court,
by a 5 to 4 margin, gave every indication
that all people with HIV infection are
protected under the ADA.
"This is truly a landmark decision in
our fight to prohibit discrimination of
patients by their health care providers
because of their HIV status," said
Beverly Saunders Biddle, Executive
Director of NLGHA. "Every major asso
ciation of medical and other health care
professionals agree that it is safe to treat
patients who are HIV positive so long as
universal precautions are observed."
The Court's ruling has significant impli
cations for people with HIV/ AIDS and
for all people with disabilities. The
Court affirmed that an individual with
asymptomatic HIV infection meets the
required legal definition of having a
physical impairment that substantially
limits a major life activity.
CO-CHAIR’S
CORNER
BY NANCY BAKER
Hello from the Co-Chairs of Pride '98.
Yes, we made it and it was wonderful.
I would like to thank all of the beauti
ful people that came and showed the
world that we are a proud people.
During the months before that week-
end, I must say that I lost some of my
focus as to what, why and for whom I
was doing all this work. Some times
my anger came out at LOC meetings,
at home, and on the phone. My gra
cious partner stood beside me and
gave me the support to go forward
with this great task that I chose to
undertake. Our lives were put on hold
for a year, my work went under the
table, and my family had to take a
back seat to the many hours of phone
calls, worrying over money, making
sure that all plans were in place for so
Chairs Continued on page 24