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q-notes.com

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Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
Volume 24 . Number 12
October 17 . 2009
Printed on Recycled Paper
FREE
page 13
q-notes.com
2
OCTOBER 17 . 2009 • QNotes
T A B L E
O F
C O N T E N T S
Front and center:
Get with the game, Charlotte
Editorial Contributors:
01
Articles:
www.q-notes.com
Volume 24
Number 12
PO Box 221841 • Charlotte, NC 28222 • 704.531.9988 . 704.531.1361
October 17, 2009
FAX
To find a copy, go to www.q-notes.com/distribution-points/
Publisher: Jim Yarbrough
Editor/New Media: Matt Comer
[email protected]
Anti-gay Reggae concert canceled
09
Candidate defeated in election
10
Front Cover:
Decade of service
12
Jennings attacked by right wing again
05
Matt Shepard: The Whole Story
15
Cover image by theilr, courtesy flickr.
Licensed under Creative Commons.
Design by Lainey Millen and Matt Comer.
Associate Editor: David Stout
Features:
Special Assignments: Lainey Millen
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offering to run a correction. The editorial positions of Q-Notes are expressed in staff editorials and editor's notes and are determined by editorial
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Q-Notes accepts unsolicited editorial, but cannot take responsibility for its return. Editor reserves the right to accept and reject material as well as
edit for clarity, brevity.
Robbi Cohn, Matt Comer, Charlene
Lichtenstein, Lainey Millen, David Alex
Nahmod, Leslie Robinson, David Stout,
Trinity
Audiophile
14
Editor’s Note
04
General Gayety
18
News Notes: Domestic
06
News Notes: NC
07
Out and About
22
Out in the Stars
21
Q-Poll
04
Tell Trinity
22
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Meeting Date:
Program:
Time:
Cost:
To Reserve:
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Anthony Revels, author of “Behind the Badge”
(LGBT Police Officers)
Sponsored by Eastwood Homes
Crowne Plaza Hotel, 201 S. McDowell St.
Uptown Charlotte, Free Parking
Cash Bar Social/Heavy Hor d’oeuvres @ 5:30 pm
Program starts @ 6:45 pm
$15 members, $25 non-members
Call 704.565.5075 by 12 pm
Friday, October 16, 2009
or email [email protected]
to request tickets for this event
www.charlottebusinessguild.org
P E R S P E C T I V E
Editor’s Note
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
End the embarrassment,
get with the game
Bessemer City: 5,119. Boone: 13,843.
Carrboro: 16,782. Charlotte: 687,456.
Population isn’t the only fact or figure separating these three small towns from the
largest city between Atlanta and Washington,
D.C. Unlike Charlotte, these three quaint hamlets have taken a step forward in fulfilling the
American promise of equality and now protect their public employees on the basis of
sexual orientation. Two of them also offer protections for transgender workers.
The Queen City, on the other hand, offers
LGBT citizens and public employees nothing.
Q-Notes’ cover story this issue asks a simple question:“On LGBT equality, when will
Charlotte get with the game?”
The Queen City lags behind other cities
and towns in this state and others of comparable size and stature nationally. It offers no
employment protections for LGBT workers, no
domestic partner benefits and has no openly
gay-elected officials. Similarly, Mecklenburg
County — despite small attempts at moving
forward — also lags behind. The abysmal
state of LGBT equality in Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County is a statewide and
national embarrassment — an epic fail on the
part of progressive city leaders who say the
right things, but rarely take the right action.
I was faced with the blunt reality of these
facts when I participated in Chapel Hill’s
International Gay and Lesbian Travel
Association Familiarization Tour during NC
Pride Fest weekend in September. The difference between Charlotte and how the LGBT
community was not only celebrated, but fully
integrated into the life of the Town of Chapel
Hill, was obvious.
I’ve lived in North Carolina my entire life
and I’ve visited all of its largest cities. I’d
been to Chapel Hill numerous times, but the
IGLTA Fam Tour was the first time I’d experienced the town as an adult and outside of the
university bubble. While there, I felt completely comfortable, warmly embraced and
unconditionally welcomed and accepted. In
Charlotte, I work for a gay-owned company
and most of my time is spent traveling in
LGBT political or social circles.Yet, the warm
feeling I had in Chapel Hill is found rarely in
the Queen City. Even in my primarily LGBTinvolved life, a sense of coldness, rejection
and conservative, anti-gay moralism invades
my time in Charlotte.
Don’t believe me? Just look at the facts:
• On our first day in Chapel Hill, our group
•••••••••••••••••
Do you think Charlotte is
as LGBT-friendly and
progressive as other
North Carolina
cities or towns?
See the options and vote at
www.q-notes.com/qpoll
4
was welcomed by Chapel Hill’s mayor.
Two days later, the mayor of
Hillsborough personally welcomed us
to his town. Can you ever imagine
Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory participating in anything remotely related to
LGBT people? He can’t even bring
himself to sign a simple welcome letter
to the HRC Carolinas Gala or to Pride
Charlotte. He’s certainly never appeared at
either event.
• In Durham,only a handful of protesters have
ever been present for the NC Pride Fest and
Parade.In Charlotte,dozens,if not hundreds,of
anti-gay protesters routinely interrupt the event
every year.The police and city officials are
either unwilling or unable to keep order and
the LGBT community is forced to hold what
should be a public display of Pride on private
property,partially enclosed and invisible to
passers-by and the surrounding community.
• In Durham, a resolution supporting marriage
for all couples, regardless of gender, passed
unanimously. Ditto for Chapel Hill. Ditto again
for Carrboro. In Charlotte, our leaders can’t
even bring themselves to pencil in discussion
of simple issues like employment protections
on a city council agenda.And, God knows,
even if they dared do so, a contingent of radical, anti-gay voices would drown out the
meeting with their bigoted vitriol.
• Carrboro elected a gay mayor in the 1990s.
Chapel Hill has an openly gay town councilman (who is now running for, and will likely
win, the mayor’s seat). Carrboro has an
openly lesbian alderwoman. Orange County
has a gay man on its county commission.
And, for the three openly gay or lesbian candidates who have run in Charlotte since the
1980s, one as recent as this year? Defeat.
Every large and mid-size Queen City corporation — and even some smaller ones —
have protections for their LGBT employees.
Many offer domestic partner benefits. Some
support our community with large financial
gifts.Where the hell are our city and county
governments?
Some Charlotte city leaders have suggested
progress has been stalled under the threat of
McCrory’s veto power. They say things will be
different if Democrat Anthony Foxx is elected
in November. That’s good information to have.
Now we can demand: If Foxx is elected,
Charlotte’s LGBT community expects action,
not lip-service, no more than two months
after Foxx becomes mayor.
The time for complacency in the Queen
City is over.An election is on the horizon and
we have a unique opportunity to make our
voices heard.Voter turnout will be small, so an
increased LGBT and LGBT-supportive voter
turnout will spell victory for electing proequality candidates. For more than a decade,
Charlotte’s LGBT community has sat on the
sidelines, patiently waiting their turn as politicians say all the right things but never do the
right things. It is time to change the paradigm
and time to act.
Charlotte — with almost three-quarters of
a million residents and almost 135 times the
size of the smallest North Carolina city offering
LGB protections — seems more like a backward, Southern village than the “world class”
metropolis it fancies itself to be. It is time to
end the embarrassment and time to fully
embrace all citizens in the life and times of our
city and county. Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County leaders need to get with the game. Q
M E D I A
Right-wing takes aim at Jennings, again
Latest attacks are part of ‘constant
witch hunt,’ says watchdog group
Right-wing groups took aim at an openly
gay Obama Administration official at the end
of September, after conservative media and
several activists and pundits chastised the
official over sex advice he gave a gay student
in 1988.
Kevin Jennings, a Winston-Salem, N.C.
native and current director of the
Department of Education’s Office of Safe and
Drug Free Schools, said he should have handled the situation with the student differently
but was defended by Education Secretary
Arne Duncan.
“He is uniquely qualified for his job, and I
am honored to have him on our team,”
Duncan said, according to an AP report.
While a teacher at a Concord, Mass., high
school in 1988, Jennings, then 24, was
approached by a 16-year-old student who
described meeting an older man in Boston and
going home with him.
In a book and at a conference years later,
Jennings said he told the boy,“My best friend
had just died of AIDS the week before.You
know, I hope you knew to use a condom.”
Conservative professor and “ex-gay” proponent Warren Throckmorton had discovered
a tape of Jennings’ remarks at the conference
and posted it to his website.
In a statement, Jennings said he regrets his
remarks.“21 years later, I can see how I should
have handled the situation differently. I should
have asked for more information and consulted medical or legal authorities,” he said.
“Teachers back then had little training and
guidance about this kind of thing.All teachers
should have a basic level of preparedness. I
would like to see the Office of Safe and Drug
Free Schools play a bigger role in helping to
prepare teachers.”
Progressive media watchdog group Media
Matters for America has debunked several Fox
News Channel reports which claimed the student was 15 at the time of the encounter.
Media Matters has since contacted the student
and has proven he was 16 — Massachusett’s
legal age of consent — when he approached
Jennings regarding his relationship with the
older man.
Jessica Levin, Media Matters’ press secretary, told Q-Notes the attacks on Jennings are
no doubt motivated by his sexual orientation.
“They’ve tried to paint him as a radical
gay activist and tried to fabricate links to
NAMBLA,” she said.“The fact that he is openly
gay and used to work for a gay organization is
a large part of [the attacks].”
Levin said accusations that Jennings “covered up” a statutory rape need to be taken
seriously, especially when they aren’t true. She
said other Obama Administration officials
have also come under attack.
“This is something we’ve seen a lot of in
the past few months, starting with the Van
Jones controversy and going on from there,”
she said.“It has been a
constant witch hunt. We
have a whole list of different so-called ‘czars’ they’ve
gone after. The Kevin
Jennings one probably hit
a new low.”
Media Matters said the
attacks “follow a well established pattern” and that
“members of the conservative media, Glenn Beck key
among them, are conducting a relentless and frequently defamatory witch
hunt for ‘czars’ in the
Kevin Jennings
Obama administration.”
Jennings is the founder of the Gay,
Lesbian and Straight Education Network
and served as its first executive director
before stepping down to take his position
with the Department of Education. He has
been honored by several national education
groups, including the National Association
of Secondary School Principals, the National
Association of Independent
Schools and the National
Education Association.
Jennings grew up in
Lewisville, N.C., outside of
Winston-Salem. His memoir,
“Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son,”
recounts his life growing up
gay in North Carolina, his
relationship with his parents
and his career as an educator
and advocate.
This latest round of attacks
is not Jennings’ first rendezvous
with right-wing conservatives
in his position with the
Department of Education.
Appointed to the office in May, he came under
attack by the conservative Family Research
Council days before he was set to begin work
in June. The Council’s “Stop Jennings” campaign included full page advertisements in
The Washington Examiner. Q
Send your letter to the editor or any other
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join the conversation there.Web comments
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include your name, city and state and a phone number where you can be reached.
5
D O M E S T I C
More than eight out of 10 LGBT middle
school students reported hearing homophobic epithets (e.g.,“faggot” or “dyke”)
frequently or often from other students in
school — a higher percentage than high
school students (73 percent). Perhaps most
shocking, 63 percent of LGBT middle school
students had heard school staff make homophobic remarks.
“The findings should be a wake-up call to
school officials and policymakers across the
country that we can no longer ignore one of
the biggest school climate issues facing middle school students, regardless of sexual orientation,” said GLSEN Executive Director Eliza
Byard.“GLSEN has worked for many years to
provide educators/schools with evidencebased solutions that they can implement to
address anti-LGBT bullying and harassment.
For the sake of all of our students, schools
must take action to address these issues in the
critical middle grades.”
National News Notes
by David Stout . Q-Notes staff
Gay man tapped for Ambassador
NEW YORK,N.Y.— The White House wants
David Huebner to be the U.S.Ambassador to
New Zealand and the Independent State of
Samoa.If confirmed by the Senate,he will be the
first openly gay Ambassador appointed in the
Obama administration.He currently serves as
pro bono legal counsel for the Gay and Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation and was a founding
board member of the group including a stint as
co-chair.
Huebner is an expert in international law
and a highly respected arbitration specialist in
Europe and the Pacific Rim. He is currently
the head of the China Practice and the
International Disputes Practice at Sheppard
Mullin Richter & Hampton, based in
Shanghai. He is a Fellow of the Chartered
Institute of Arbitrators in London.
“We congratulate David and know he will
bring the determination and expertise that he
has brought to his work at GLAAD to this new
post,” said GLAAD President and former
Massachusetts state Senator Jarrett T. Barrios.
“His commitment to public service is unrivaled and for over a decade as a founding
national board member and today as our legal
counsel, GLAAD and the LGBT community
have been the beneficiary of his commitment,
dedication and skill.”
Workplace report: LGBTs in hiding
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fifty-one percent
of LGBT workers hide their identity from most
or all co-workers, according to a new report
from the Human Rights Campaign
Foundation. The study finds that despite significant advances in employment policies at
major U.S. corporations, a majority of LGBT
workers continue to experience a range of
negative consequences because of their sexual
orientation and gender identity.
As reasons for hiding their identities, 39 percent fear losing connections, 28 percent fear not
being considered for advancement, 17 percent
fear getting fired and 13 percent fear for their
personal safety.Among transgender workers
specifically, 40 percent report fearing for their
personal safety and 42 percent fear getting fired.
The report also reveals that younger workers are particularly likely to hide their LGBT
identity. Only 5 percent of LGBT employees
ages 18 to 24 say they are totally open at work,
compared to more than 20 percent of older
LGBT workers.
Middle school study ‘wake-up call’
NEW YORK, N.Y. — According to research
from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network, LGBT middle school students are significantly more likely to face hostile school climates than LGBT high school students, yet
have less access to school resources and support. The findings were based on data from 626
LGBT middle school students who participated
in GLSEN’s 2007 National School Climate
Survey of 6,209 secondary school students.
Ninety-one percent of LGBT middle school
students said they experienced harassment at
school in the past year because of their sexual
orientation, 59 percent experienced physical
harassment and a startling 39 percent said they
had been physically assaulted, nearly twice as
many as in high school (20 percent).
6
Victory endorses largest slate
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Gay &
Lesbian Victory Fund has endorsed 76 openly
LGBT political candidates in 2009, making
this endorsement slate the group’s largest ever
in a non-federal election year.
Chuck Wolfe, the Victory Fund’s president
and CEO, said the record number of endorsed
candidates in 2009 bodes well for progress in
the near future:“LGBT officials are our best
hope of reaching full equality for all
Americans. By running openly and honestly,
they’re changing the political landscape.When
elected, they’ll be our voice inside government, and that is irreplaceable.”
The Victory Fund is the nation’s largest
LGBT political action committee, and the only
national organization dedicated to increasing
the number of out elected officials at all levels
of government. Since its founding in 1991,
the number of openly LGBT elected officials in
the U.S. has grown from less than 50 to more
than 450.
GLAAD looks at LGBT TV regulars
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Gay &
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has
released its 14th annual “Where We Are On
TV” study, a comprehensive review of scripted
LGBT primetime characters in the 2009-10 television season. Based on information provided
by the five broadcast networks — ABC, CBS,
Fox, NBC and The CW — GLAAD reviewed 79
scripted comedies and dramas airing or set to
air this season, and counted a total of 600
series regulars, 18 of which are LGBT.
ABC leads in LGBT representation, with
eight such characters out of 168 total series
regular characters (5 percent). FOX, which
only two years ago featured no regular LGBT
characters at the start of the season, now
offers four out of 105 (4 percent). NBC has
three series regular LGBT characters out of
126 (3 percent). The CW is showing gradual
improvement with two LGBT series regular
characters out of 69 (3 percent). CBS continues to disappoint; out of 132 series regular
characters on the network, none are LGBT.
On mainstream cable networks, the number of announced LGBT series regular characters dropped to 25 from last year’s total of 32.
The presence of LGBT-focused cable networks
here! and Logo, which program specifically for
LGBT viewers, adds an additional 27 series
regular LGBT characters. Q
N O R T H
North Carolina News Notes
C A R O L I N A
The statewide group
announced Tuesday, Oct.
by Lainey Millen & Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff 6 that the White House’s Deputy
Director of Public Engagement
COASTAL Brian Bond will deliver the keynote at the
event, slated for Nov. 14 on the campus of the
Party time
University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
“As one of the members of our community
WILMINGTON — Join St.Jude’s MCC at
who works closely with the President, we’re
their 7th Annual Masquerade Ball on Oct.30,8
honored to have Brian Bond join us in North
p.m.-12 a.m.at the Hannah Block/USO
Carolina. Our staff had a chance to hear Brian
Community Center,120 S.2nd St.Cost for tickets
speak this summer and we immediately knew
is $25 and may be purchased at St.Jude’s or at
we wanted bring him to here,” ENC Executive
the door.
Director Ian Palmquist said in a release.
This festive Mardi Gras themed event
Prior to joining White House staff, Bond
comes complete with the crowning of a king
worked for the Obama for President
and queen.There will be a $100 prize for the
Campaign and the Democratic National
best Mardi Gras costume, a 50/50 raffle, raffle
Committee. He’s also served as executive
for prizes, food, beer and wine. Enjoy the
director of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.
evening while dancing to a DJ until midnight.
The group announced earlier that state Sen.
For more information, call 910-762-5833.
Julia Boseman (D-New Hanover),the legislature’s
only openly gay or lesbian member,would be the
Speaking out
recipient of this year’s Legislative Leadership
WILMINGTON — Wilmington’s StarAward.She is being honored for her role in passNews published in its Teen Insight column a
ing the state’s landmark anti-bullying legislation,
story focused on making schools safer for
the School Violence Prevention Act.
LGBT students.Visit www.starnewsonline.com
“As the lead Senate sponsor of the anti-bulto read the full story entitled “Allies cultivate
lying
bill, Julia fought every step of the way to
environments that feel safe for all students.”
pass this bill with critical protections for LGBT
TRIAD young people,” Palmquist said.“Julia’s hard
work has changed the tone of the debate on
Obama official to offer keynote
our issues in the Senate and was an integral
GREENSBORO — An Obama
part of our effort to protect kids in school and
Administration official and liaison to the LGBT
make history for LGBT North Carolinians.”
community has been announced as this year’s
The conference will include several speakkeynote speaker at the Equality North Carolina
ers and breakout sessions led by advocates
Conference & Gala,as the group plans to honor
and community members across the state.
the state’s only openly gay or lesbian legislator at
Linda Bush, executive director of the
their annual gala the same day.
Movement Advancement Project, will also
speak during the conference.
Participants will enjoy a day full of cutting-edge policy discussions and activist
skills training, followed by a glamorous
evening of celebration.
Workshops cover everything from the next
steps on the School Violence Prevention Act,
addressing hate crimes in local communities,
religion and advocacy,as well as skill-builders on
campus organizing,employee resource groups,
harnessing the power of the media and more.
The evening Gala at the Empire Room
from 6:30-9 p.m., is Equality NC Foundation’s
largest fundraiser. Presentation of the
Legislative Leadership Award to Boseman will
be a focal point for the event.
Gala registration fee is $125 for individuals
($155 after Oct. 30), $65 for students ($85 after
Oct. 30) and $75 for people with income challenges (reduced rate not available after Oct. 30).
For more information or to register, visit
www.equalitync.org/conference.
Alliance (ALFA).Gordon Hensley,one of the
organizers,said they were giving away free
masks to the first 50 guests.Admission is $10
and supports two local non-profits.Enjoy music
from all eras,special lighting,and a cash bar.
Dinner buffet is on site for an additional fee.
Volunteers are also need.
For more information, to purchase
tickets or to volunteer, email
[email protected] or visit
www.HighCountryPride.org.
In other news, HCP is accepting applications for its $500 Academic Award until Oct.
30. This is open to LGBT or ally students seeking post-secondary college education.
Applicants must be from Alleghany,Ashe,
Avery, Mitchell,Watauga,Yancey or Wilkes
counties and registered for three-quarter time
attendance in a post-secondary institution.
Visit the website for more detailed information, including a link to download the
Award questionnaire.
WESTERN
STATEWIDE
Spook’s out!
We’re everywhere!
BOONE — High Country Pride (HCP) will
hold its Masquerade Halloween dance for ages
21 and up on Oct. 31 from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. at the
Broyhill Inn, 775 Bodenheimer Dr.
This party offers an night of costumes on
parade, mysterious identities and dancing.
Enjoy upbeat hit music from all eras, club-style
lighting and a cash bar. Come early and enjoy a
special dinner buffet in the Broyhill Inn’s
Jackson Dining Room for an additional fee.
Admission is $10 and tickets are limited.
Proceeds from the dance support High Country
Pride and AIDS Leadership Foothills-area
STATEWIDE — According to a 2005 census data, same-sex couples live in every county in the state.Among these, a quarter of gay
couples are raising children. Look out for the
statistics from the 2010 census once they are
made available. Equality NC expects the numbers to be more encompassing. This will
enable ENC to continue its work to achieve
civil equality for LGBT families and children.
See the next issue for more information on a
study on gay adoptive couples. Q
info: Announce your community event in NC News Notes.
email: [email protected].
7
8
A C T I V I S M
Anti-gay Reggae concert
canceled
Buju Banton lyrics call for
shooting gays
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Shooting gays in
the head and burning them alive. That’s what
Reggae singer Buju Banton calls for in his
infamous song,“Boom Bye Bye.”
When the Alliance for Full Acceptance
Buju Banton at a performance at the
Ilosaarirock festival in Joensuu, Finland.
Photo Credit: wili_hybrid, via Flickr.
Licensed under Creative Commons.
learned of his impending Oct. 27 performance at The Music Farm, they quickly mobilized to see the concert canceled. A day after
the group sent out an action alert to its members, the owner of the venue and promotion
company All-In Entertainment announced
the cancellation.
“It is unimaginable that any business
supported by the people of Charleston, S.C.
would pay someone and literally give him a
stage for hate speech,” AFFA said in an email
to members.“Is that the reputation the Music
Farm wants? Is that the kind of business you
would support? Violence against gay and lesbian people may be ‘nothing new’ to some
corners of Jamaican reggae music. It doesn’t
belong here.”
In “Boom Bye Bye,” Banton sings,“Boom
bye bye/Inna batty bwoy head/Rude bwoy no
promote no nasty man/Dem haffi dead,” and
“Guy come near we/Then his skin must
peel/Burn him up bad like an old tire wheel.”
Music Farm and All-In Entertainment
owner Marshal Lowe said in a statement he
was unaware of Banton’s lyrics calling for violence against gays.
“Neither, All-In Entertainment or the
Music Farm, were aware of this song and the
suggestions that it makes,” Lowe said.
“While we do believe in first amendment
rights, we do not feel this artist projects the
image that All-In Entertainment and The
Music Farm have spent years building. We
feel it is in the best interest of our fans,
friends and the community as a whole to
cancel this performance.”
Refunds were given to those who already
purchased tickets.
Banton, a native of the violently homophobic Jamaica, embarked on a U.S. tour this
fall, kicking off in Philadelphia in September.
Venues in several cities, including all venues
run by AEG Live and Live Nation, Inc., have
canceled his performances after outcry from
LGBT community members. Canceled performances included some in Chicago,
Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los
Angeles, Minneapolis, Orlando, Salt Lake
City, San Francisco and Tampa.
Despite the cancellations, Banton’s promoters say they’ve had a successful tour, including
performances in Maryland, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York,
New Jersey, North Carolina,Virginia, Michigan
and Ohio.
At the end of September, Banton performed at Amos’ South End in Charlotte and
Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh. Unlike the
Charleston concert, Banton’s North Carolina
performances went on as scheduled without
vocal protest.
In a statement from Gargamel Music, Inc.,
Banton called LGBT community critics
“detractors” and said he opposes violence
against anyone.
“Throughout my travels as an artist, I
have witnessed first hand the senseless
atrocities being suffered by innocent people
around the world and my heart goes out to
them. I do not condone violence against anyone, including gays, and I have spent my
career rallying against violence and injustice
through music,” he said.“At this point, I can
only hope that my body of work speaks for
itself and that anyone still offended by the
lyrics of my youth will take the time to
explore my catalog or come to one of my
shows before reducing my character and
entire musical repertoire to a single song.”
Banton has never apologized directly for
the lyrics in “Boom Bye Bye,” first recorded in
1988 and re-recorded in 1992. He’s also never
answered calls from activists for an oath to
never sing the song again.
In 2004, Banton was charged in connection
to an incident in which he allegedly joined a
dozen other people beating up six gay men
accused of being gay. In January 2006, a judge
dismissed charges against Banton due to lack
of evidence.
Banton was once thought to have been a
signatory on the Reggae Compassion Act, a
pact among U.K. and European Reggae
artists and promoters to refrain from performing homophobic songs or making such
statements.
Although Banton denies he signed the
pact, British activist Peter Tatchell claims he
did so, although the artist later denounced
the agreement in Jamaican media. Tatchell
claims Banton has repeatedly performed
“Boom Bye Bye” since then. Q
9
E L E C T I O N
0 9
Gay candidate defeated in
Raleigh council election
Candidates advance in
Asheville, Durham
A well-run campaign utilizing new media
and promoting technology and development
for downtown wasn’t enough to secure victory
for a young, openly gay candidate in Raleigh’s
Oct. 6 general election.
Lee Sartain, running for one of two atlarge council positions, came in fourth in a
field of five candidates. The two at-large
incumbents, Mary-Ann Baldwin and Russ
Stephenson, led the contest with 35 and 32
percent of the vote, respectively. Sartain garnered almost 8 percent, or 3,968 votes.
Another young candidate, Champ Claris, garnered 19 percent of the vote.
In an email to supporters after election
results poured in, Sartain congratulated
Baldwin and Stephenson and said he was
committed to moving forward.
“While ultimately, we did not win in this
race, we championed issues of economic
development and comprehensive public transportation,” Sartain wrote.“I will continue to
work with the city council to advance our
position on these issues.”
He urged the city’s Democratic majority to
support a half-cent sales tax increase to benefit more comprehensive public transportation.
Sartain’s candidacy marked only the second time in state history an openly gay man
has run for the Raleigh City Council. In
1981, Bob Hoy, an openly gay graduate student at N.C. State University, ran and lost in
a primary. He garnered only three percent of
the vote.
Sartain’s loss comes on the heels of longtime Raleigh activist Willie Pilkington’s refusal
to endorse him. In his “Raleigh GLBT Report,”
Pilkington said Sartain did not adequately
understand LGBT issues.
“Unfortunately the one person,Ricky Lee
Sartain,who we thought would help provide
some good insight and leadership over the issues
brought forward in our Questionnaire,failed in
showing that he understood issues that also
affect him in his life as a Gay man,” he wrote.
Pilkington instead endorsed Baldwin
and Claris.
Candidate advances in Asheville
While the Tar Heel State’s capital city was
holding a general election, other municipalities were holding primaries. Races in
Asheville, Durham and Greensboro were
among those watched by Q-Notes this year.
In Asheville, progressive party activist
Gordon Smith, well-known for his blogging
and citizen journalism efforts, sailed to a slot
on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, garnering
almost 19 percent of the vote among a field of
10 candidates.
Smith has been actively supportive of the
Asheville LGBT community. In July, he indicated his support for domestic partner benefits
for city employees.
“The gay and lesbian citizens of Asheville
deserve equal recognition and equal benefits,”
Smith wrote.“To deny these benefits is to relegate gay and lesbian couples to second-class
status.We all know that Asheville is a gay-
10
friendly city, and our city government ought
to reflect our commitment to honoring the
civil rights of all our citizens.”
Incumbent Asheville City Councilman Carl
Mumpower, known for his routine anti-gay
remarks and views, also advanced to a place
in the general election.
Hughes slips into second place
Young progressive Donald Hughes, a recent
graduate of the University of North Carolina-
Despite excitement for his downtown
technology and development initiatives,
Lee Sartain lost his bid for an at-large
Raleigh City Council seat on Oct. 6
Greensboro, garnered nearly 18 percent of the
vote in his primary race against Durham Ward
1 Councilwoman Cora Cole-McFadden, who
captured 69 percent.
Hughes will appear on the Nov. 3 general
election ballot.
Recently, Hughes has come under fire from
activists in Durham after he seemingly
switched his position on marriage equality for
same-sex couples.
According to activist Joshua Lee Weaver,
Hughes had indicated his full support of a
Durham City Council resolution on marriage
equality. But at a Young Democrats forum days
later, Hughes said “the law as it currently
stands is the one we should abide by” until
state leaders change it.
Hughes later clarified his remarks and said
said the issue of marriage was outside of the
authority of the city council. He reiterated his
support for LGBT equality.
“I have and will continue to articulate my
opposition to changing the NC State
Constitution (NC Defense of Marriage Act) to
deny any citizens their rights to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness,” he wrote on a
local blog and told Q-Notes.
Other races
In Greensboro, Jay Ovittore came in
third, with almost 13 percent of the vote,
in his race for that city’s District 3 seat.
Incumbent Zack Matheny and challenger
George Hartzman will face off on Nov. 3.
Chapel Hill Town Councilman Mark
Kleinschmidt is running for mayor there.
The town will hold no primary.
Kleinschmidt will face three opponents in
the Nov. 3 general election.
A C T I V I S M
On LGBT equality, when will Charlotte get with the game?
North Carolina’s largest metro area
still struggling to amend policies,
extend benefits
There’s no doubt the LGBT community has
seen success in North Carolina.Our achievements aren’t quite as grand as those in New
England or elsewhere,but they are steps forward
nonetheless.Our progress has largely come in
baby steps,as municipalities slowly add sexual
orientation and gender-identity to non-discrimination policies and state-level advocates work to
ensure safe schools for LGBT students.
The state’s two largest metro areas —
Charlotte and the Triangle’s Raleigh,Durham
and Chapel Hill area — are home to large LGBT
communities,but they aren’t evenly matched
when it comes to local progress on LGBT equality,affirmation and integration of LGBT citizens
into the full lives of their communities.
Cheris Hodges, news reporter for
Charlotte’s Creative Loafing, recently highlighted some of the advances in Orange County —
home to Chapel Hill — in an article for the
news weekly, exploring the town’s and county’s
outreach to LGBT visitors.
During N.C. Pride weekend, the Chapel Hill/
Orange County Visitors Bureau hosted gay travel
professionals and media for the International
Gay and Lesbian Travel Association’s
Familiarization Tour of the area.
Among other media outlets from across
the country, Q-Notes and Asheville’s Stereotypd
were there along with Hodges and Brian
Clarey, editor of Greensboro’s YES! Weekly.
“It definitely felt like the Triangle had a
better understanding of what the LGBT community was looking for as far as travel and
things of that nature,” Hodges told Q-Notes of
her experiences chatting with Charlotte and
Chapel Hill travel officials.“It doesn’t seem like
there is a lot of knowledge in the Queen City
about reaching out to gay visitors.
She said Chapel Hill seems to be reaching
out because they are truly a welcoming community. In Charlotte, the lure of money seems
to be the motivating factor.
For her article, Hodges spoke to David
Paisley, a senior project manager for
Community Marketing Research, Inc. Paisley’s
company is a leader in LGBT consumer and
travel research, recently conducting its annual
national survey on gay and lesbian consumer
interests and spending.
Paisley told Creative Loafing that
Charlotte “isn’t on the radar” in national gay
and lesbian circles.
“From the West Coast perspective, when
we look at North Carolina as a whole, certainly
the Research Triangle area has some connection with the gay and lesbian community,”
Paisley said.
A large portion of Charlotte’s citizens,
Hodges has observed in her close to 10
years here, still find LGBT issues uncomfortable to deal with.
City/County
Sexual
Orientation
Non-Discrim.
GenderIdentity
Non-Discrim.
Partner
Benefits
Partner
Registry
Gay
Officials
Bessemer City
Yes
No
No
No
No
Boone
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Carrboro
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Chapel Hill
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Orange Co.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Charlotte
No
No
No
No
No
Mecklenburg Co.
Yes
No
No
No
No
Durham
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Durham Co.
Yes
No
No
No
No
Greensboro
Yes
No
No
No
No
High Point
Yes
No
No
No
No
Guilford Co.
Yes
No
No
No
No
Raleigh
Yes
No
No
No
No
Winston-Salem
Yes
No
No
No
No
Some data courtesy Equality North Carolina
“It is really sad that the largest city in North
Carolina and the largest county in North
Carolina still has so much animosity toward
minorities and gays and lesbians,” she said.
She feels Charlotte’s political climate
doesn’t indicate a high level of LGBT support
or affirmation.
see Queen City on 12
11
A C T I V I S M
A decade of service
Equality North Carolina’s Ian
Palmquist celebrates 10 years on staff
Over the past 10 years, North Carolina’s
statewide LGBT advocacy organization has
grown steadily in political, financial and legislative support and success. Its growing base
of community activists and committed
donors, coupled with its passionate leadership
team, has made Equality North Carolina one
of the most effective state-level advocacy
organizations in the nation.
Much of the group’s growth can be rightly
credited to the work of current executive
director Ian Palmquist, who celebrated 10
years on staff at the organization on Oct. 12.
First hired in 1999, Palmquist was shortly
thereafter named assistant director and later
appointed co-director with Hickory attorney
Ed Farthing. In July 2006, he was named executive director.
Palmquist’s work has earned himself and
his organization respect and recognition from
national, state and local organizations and
advocates. Under his leadership, Equality
North Carolina has become one of the most
influential advocacy groups working to effect
change for all citizens at the state legislature.
This year, Palmquist led the organization
— along with a wide coalition of other state
groups —in building sufficient public and
legislative support for an LGBT-inclusive antibullying act. The School Violence Prevention
Act, signed by Gov. Bev Perdue this summer, is
the first time the terms “sexual orientation”
and “gender-identity” will appear in state law.
A board member of the Equality Federation,
a national association of state LGBT advocacy
groups, Palmquist chaired the group from 20042007. Palmquist is also a founding member of
the board of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina
and a steering committee member of the North
Carolina AIDS Action Network.
A native of Raleigh, Palmquist began his
activism on gay rights and civil liberties issues
at Enloe High School. He attended the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and
graduated in 1999 with a B.A. in English and
Linguistics. Palmquist lives in Raleigh with his
partner, Brad Oaks. Q
Queen City still struggling
from page 11
“Chapel Hill has openly gay elected officials,” she said.“Orange County Commission
has an openly gay man. Can you imagine an
openly gay man on the Mecklenburg County
Commission sitting up there with Bill James?
Can you imagine the money that would be
fueled into this guy’s opponent from the secret
powers-that-be to keep him out of office?”
Chapel Hill’s mayor welcomed LGBT travel
professionals and media with open arms at a
reception kicking off the tour.The town’s openly
gay councilman,Mark Kleinschmidt,was there,
too.And,so was Orange County Commissioner
Mike Nelson.Although she couldn’t make it to the
reception,Carrboro Alderwoman Lydia Lavelle
spoke the next morning at a panel discussion.
It’s all starting to sound good, but Les Geller,
a board member of the up-and-coming LGBT
Center of Raleigh, said the situation isn’t all
roses. Despite its progressiveness the Triangle’s
LGBT community still has a long way to go.
“There are so many diverse gay and lesbian groups in the Triangle that don’t seem to
know each other exist,” he told Q-Notes.“If
they did know, they would be more cooperative and working toward a common goal.
That’s what we are trying to achieve with the
Community Center.”
But, like Hodges, Geller also said he finds it
hard to understand why the state’s largest city
isn’t more welcoming to the gay community.
In North Carolina, 13 city and county governments have amended non-discrimination
policies to include sexual orientation. Four
also include gender-identity or -expression.
Additionally, four county or city governments extend benefits to domestic partners of
public employees.
Although Mecklenburg County voted to
add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy in 2005, it has yet to extend the
same protections to transgender employees or
offer domestic partner benefits. Despite dis-
12
cussion on the topic for years, the City of
Charlotte has yet to move on any progressive,
LGBT-inclusive initiatives. The city doesn’t
offer domestic partner benefits either,
although most of its Uptown corporations do.
Jennifer Roberts, chair of the Mecklenburg
County Board of Commissioners, told Q-Notes
the area is moving forward.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” Roberts
said.“The county will be discussing domestic
partner benefits probably within the next month.”
In January,the Commission asked its human
resources department to investigate the possibility of domestic partner benefit extensions.
“There are a lot of indications that we are
moving forward as a community and being
inclusive and non-discriminatory,” Roberts
said, pointing to the school board’s new antibullying policy.“We still have a long way to go,
but we are moving forward and the voices of
homophobia are getting fewer and farer
between. I’m pleased the community is showing that it cares about equality and fairness.”
Yet, the facts remain clear: Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County lag behind even some of
the smallest cities in the state.
“All these things kind of speak for themselves,” Hodges said.
What will it take for Charlotte to move
ahead and join other North Carolina cities and
counties in the quest for full equality? Roberts
thinks the key will be employment.
She said more progress on these issues will
“bode well” for the future workforce.
“We know we need creative and inclusiveminded people,” Roberts said.“The only way
we can attract them is to show progress by
real action — that we do not discriminate
against any race, religion, ethnic origin, age or
sexual orientation. My hope is that we will
definitely move forward.” Q
End the embarrassment, get with game:
Read Matt Comer’s take on Charlotte on page 4.
Queer acres is
the place for me
page 16
Art sport
Virginia artist’s glasswork to be showcased in Charlotte Fine Arts Show
love and cherish the items for which galleries will charge
“Being an artist is like being an athlete,” Californiaexorbitant rates.
born, Broadway, Va. resident Lisa Aronzon says. “You have
“I’m pretty much wholesaling to my customers,” she
to train your body. Teach yourself all the moves, how to
said. “I have things for as low as $15 and I go up to about
handle the tools and know when to take all the steps.”
$700. In a gallery, some of my
Her chosen craft, blown
pieces would be sold for $1,200 to
glass, is a physical art, she
$1,500. I make my work and take it
says, adding she coined the
out to these shows
term “art sport” to reflect
and sell it to people
all the physical effort that
without having to
must go into the craft to
compensate a gallery.”
complete it.
Born in Los
“The art comes in knowAngeles, Aronzon
ing how to use color, how to
moved to rural
design proportions,” she said.
Virginia just three
From her home in the
years ago. She said
Shenandoah Valley, Aronzon
she’d always wanted
creates glowing pieces of
to own a home of
finely blown glass vases, dishher own. She found
es and other items. She’s
just what she was
come a long way from her
looking for right here
Oakland, Calif. days of paintin the South.
ing and drawing.
“It was $200,000,”
“Color is definitely one of
she says ecstatically.
my biggest inspirations,” she
“You can’t buy anysays. Colors and pallates
thing like this in
have always interested her. In
California. I thought
her glass-making, she says
I’d never own a house
differently colored glass can
in my entire lifetime. I
operate like watercolors and
have this house, with
oil paints.
a garden, in an older
“You can blend them, but
neighborhood. It was
sometimes they don’t quite
all so exciting.”
blend like paint,” she says.
This vase (9”w x 14”h), inspired by trees, sells for
Aronzon says she
“You eventually figure out
$550.00 and is indicative of the inspiration artist
knew what she might
which combinations work
Lisa Aronzon receives from nature.
possibly be getting
and which don’t through
herself into when she made the move from
trial and error. A lot of people are really known for the
progressive California. She was pleasantly
color combinations.”
surprised when she learned most of her
Her passion for color is what opened the door to her
neighbors were warmly welcoming and not
current craft.
“A friend of main was painting on glass,” she says. “So we
got this kiln and starting playing with it, reading books
about the art. We started melting sheets of painted glass
together to make jewelry. It
kind of took off from there.”
Although she’d already
been to college, Aronzon
returned to graduate school so
she could study glass work.
Flash forward 20 years and she
finds herself living in tranquil
rural settings and attending
shows like Charlotte’s Fine Arts
Show, set to take over the old
Merchandise Mart Oct. 24-25.
Aronzon doesn’t sell her
pieces through art galleries
and instead prefers to sell
This leaf-inspired platter (20”l x 14”w x 3”h) is another nature-inspired
directly to the people who
work by Aronzon. It sells for $150.
next issue
October 31, 2009
at all any of the stereotypes she thought she’d
encounter.
“People are pretty accepting here, much nicer than I
expected,” she says. “I like my little corner of Broadway.”
If the beauty of her glasswork is any indication, her art
likes it, too. Q
— Sponsored Content —
Healthcare
Out on the Big Screen
HIV awareness and prevention
The all-gay cast of ‘Eating Out 3’
www.q-notes.com/qliving • QNotes
Q - L I V I N G
Audiophile
by David Stout . Q-Notes staff
Horn of plenty
Autumn is to album releases what
Summer is to movie releases — the season
that matters more than any other. As a
result, every year the Fall musical harvest
yields a cornucopia of projects spanning
from potentially star-making debuts to
superstar juggernauts seeking to extend
their chart reigns to heritage artists looking
for a big comeback.
I’ve recently been enjoying a diverse group
of albums from across this whole spectrum.
Read on for a sampling of the CDs I’ve had on
repeat the last few weeks.
Barbra Streisand — “Love Is The
Answer” (Columbia). The best-selling
female artist of all time is a restrained
wonder on her record ninth “Billboard”
chart-topping collection. “Love” is an
exquisite set of jazz standards
performed with Babs’ signature
emotive singing but without her
trademark vocal pyrotechnics.
The result is an intimacy that
makes Streisand seem real — a
virtuoso vocalist still, but not a legend apart from the world. The credit for
this understated triumph should probably
be given to album producer Diana Krall,
who has herself recorded a string of lowkey jazz classics.
Human Nature — “Reach Out” (Sony). To
this hunky Aussie quartet the Motown catalog must be Heaven’s songbook because they
perform it like a chorus of pop angels. After
attaining super success Down Under with
their interpretations of ‘60s classic rock and
soul, none other than Motown legend
Smokey Robinson has now brought the
group to the U.S. This is a “circle of life”
kinda thing since he wrote four of the 16
songs Human Nature covers so well on its
American debut.
Mika — “The Boy Who Knew Too Much”
(Casablanca). Thanks to his operatic pop
voice and gift for writing earworm hooks,
Mika gives music writers much more to
focus on than his ambiguously gay sexuality. Following up his sterling 2007 breakthrough,“Life In Cartoon Motion,” Mika
strikes gold again straightaway with “We Are
Golden,” the quirky lead single and first
track from “Boy.” The song’s caffeine-overdose video is four minutes of the singer
jumping, prancing and mincing around in
his boxer shorts.
Meshell Ndegeocello — “Devil’s Halo”
(Mercer Street). Ndegeocello – openly bisexual, bassplayer extraordinaire and an
uncompromising musical auteur – continues
to blaze her own path on her latest outstanding release. Ndegeocello spices the alt-R&B
of “Halo” with pulsating rock, slippery funk
and sultry soul to produce a savory sonic
stew that sticks to your ribs. Now six albums
strong, Ndegeocello’s catalog appears
destined to stand with the best of her Hall
of Fame
influences.
Noisettes
— “Wild
Young Hearts”
(Mercury). The
crackerjack
pop and funk
of Noisettes
second album
was inspired
by the music of
the wild young
hearts referenced in the
group’s album’s
title: Early
Elly Jackson of La Roux
Prince, Queen, blends Annie Lennox and
Talk Talk,
Boy George.
Fleetwood Mac
and others. The British trio – dubbed “the best
live band in Britain”by The Guardian newspaper – road-tested some of the early material
last year and the response assured them they
were on the right track. Lead single “Don’t
Upset The Rhythm”is one of the year’s brightest pop gems.
La Roux — Self-titled
(CherryTree/Interscope). This electro-pop
debut makes British duo La Roux look like
the ones to beat in the Next Big Thing sweepstakes. Traces of Human League, Yazoo and
Eurhythmics can be detected in the singing
of 21-year-old Elly Jackson and the computer
soundscapes of instrumentalist Ben
Langmaid. Lead single “Bulletproof ” made
ripples at radio but the album is deep with
potential chartbusters to complete the job.
When ‘80s music fans have a listen and a
look at Jackson’s sculpted red hair and her
unique personal style, they’ll think time has
rewound to 1983. Q
info: [email protected]
For up-to-date
coverage visit:
www.q-notes.com
the Carolinas’
multimedia LGBT
news source
online. inprint.
14
Q - L I V I N G
Matt Shepard: The Whole Story
Mother pens ‘Meaning of Matthew’
by David Alex Nahmod
Contributing Writer
Matthew Shepard was neither the first nor
the last to die in a brutal gay bashing, yet his
death, in particular, touched hearts around
the world. Perhaps it was his age, 21 at the
time, or perhaps it was the sheer brutality of
his murder — Matt’s death was far bloodier
than others. The sight of his comatose body,
tied to a fence in a Laramie, Wyoming field,
jolted people.
Even before Matthew left this mortal coil
several days later, his fate had attracted worldwide attention— then President Bill Clinton
personally called Dennis and Judy Shepard to
express his support and condolences.“Who do
they think we are, Elton John?” was Judy
Shepard’s initial reaction to the press
onslaught.
Judy, Matt’s mom, has since gone on to
embrace the media. She is now one of the
LGBT community’s staunchest allies and is
dedicating her life to educating as many people as possible about homophobia and the
need to come together.
“We need to be a united front,” she stressed
to Q-Notes in a recent phone interview.“We
can’t be different people fighting for different
things.”
These days, Judy Shepard lives much of
her life on the road, speaking to whomever
will listen. Her grace and quiet dignity have
moved many people and many do indeed
stop and pay attention when she speaks. Now,
a little more than a decade since Matt died,
Judy shares the whole story from start to finish. She offers a stunning, just published
memoir that will stand as a lasting tribute to
Matt’s memory.
•••
Do you have news items about your organization
you wish to share with the community?
Submit your copy and/or photos to [email protected].
For up-to-date coverage visit: www.q-notes.com
the Carolinas’ multimedia LGBT news source
•••
Staring at the book jacket, one can’t help
but be moved by the angelic face staring back
from the front cover. Matthew Shepard’s youth
and good looks serve to underscore the
tragedy of his sad end.
Those who know Matt solely as a victim of
anti-gay violence will be stunned by the book’s
first 100 pages, in which Judy shares the story
of everything that happened to Matt before
that fateful night in Laramie.
Nary a reader will hold back a tear as they
read of Matt’s ongoing battles with clinical
depression and of the horrible rape he survived three years before his passing.
“I wanted people to meet Matt,”
Judy Shepard said quietly.“I had to
go back to those memories. It was
hard, but we knew we had to do it.”
The book shows a depth and maturity that’s rare among first time authors. She
now admits that her earliest perceptions of
LGBT people were based on stereotypes. She
cites Matt’s dressing up as Dolly Parton for
Halloween as an early clue. She has since gone
to great pains to educate herself and others
about the truth.
Shepard has very strong beliefs as to where
the church belongs in society.“The church has
no place saying that someone ‘shouldn’t’ be,”
she says firmly.“Whatever your higher power
happens to be, your love for your fellow man is
the most important thing.”
She doesn’t blame the parents of her son’s
killers for Matt’s death.
It’s society as a whole that needs to accept
responsibility for what happens, she feels.“We
need to teach love instead of hate.”
Shepard’s “The Meaning of Matthew: My
Son’s Murder in Laramie and a World
Transformed”(Hudson Street Pres) is now available at White Rabbit Books and online retailers.
For more information,visit MatthewShepard.org
and MatthewsPlace.com.Q
— David Alex Nahmod lives in
San Francisco. Visit him at
www.DavidsOpenForum.Blogspot.com.
15
Q - L I V I N G
Queer acres is the place for me
‘Down home’ can be ‘family’-friendly
he Carolinas are known for their majestic, mountain beauty and seaside serenity. In between, urban high rises dot the
rural, Piedmont landscape. LGBT-friendly
oases in the Bible Belt Carolinas include
Charlotte, Columbia, the Triangle area and
Greensboro. But, maybe, city life just isn’t your
thing. Perhaps the easy-going, simple routine
of rural life is more your style.You’re afraid of
losing the LGBT-friendly lifestyle you’ve come
to enjoy in the city, you say. Don’t worry, just
take some time to look around.You don’t have
T
to put up with seas of sidewalks — there are
plenty of “family”-friendly hamlets in the
rural Carolinas.
Western North Carolina
Country Living Real Estate Issue
tunity for settling down in a nice home surrounded by trees.
Like Chapel Hill, Davidson is a small college town. Unlike the state’s landmark university town, though, Davidson sits next to one of
the state’s largest recreational getaways. Lake
Norman beckons water- and boat-loving
With less than 75,000 residents, liberal
Asheville it not too big and not too small. The
town is home to some of the region’s
greatest artists and thinkers. That
means its also full of the gays.You can
be sitting on the front porch of a hillside
home one moment, and minutes later
be strolling down a small town sidewalk
interspersed with community art and
lined with cafés, eateries and shops.
With a half-dozen LGBT nightlife
options and a monthly LGBT-focused
magazine,Asheville offers a unique and
varied rural LGBT community.
Further up the Blue Ridge
Mountains sits Boone. Home to
Appalachian State University, the
town is home to a little more than
13,000 people. Winter skiing and
summer hiking make Boone a vacation getaway for countless numbers of
North and South Carolinians. In
recent years, the local LGBT community has seen a bit of growth, largely
Downtown Rock Hill, S.C.
encouraged by increased advocacy
Photo Credit: Akehnaton06, via Wikipedia
and social efforts by LGBT App State
Licensed under Creative Commons
students and faculty.
North Carolinians year round. Summers are
Piedmont
full of lazy days in the sun and holiday weekOn the outskirts of the bustling Raleighends attract thousands of visitors. Home to no
Durham-Chapel Hill area sits Hillsborough.
more than 8,000 people, Davidson provides a
Home to less than 6,000 people, this one zip
rural escape for those who can’t stand to part
code town is the county seat of Orange
with big city life in nearby Charlotte.
County. Lined with historic buildings,
South of the Queen City and across the
antique shops and other unique businesses,
North Carolina-South Carolina border, lies
downtown Hillsborough is like a step back
Fort Mill. Similar in size to Davidson, the
in time. If you like art, literature and histotown takes its name from a colonial-era fort
ry, Hillsborough is for you. Here, history
built by the British and grew as a textile mill
comes to life as famous North Carolina
hub in the late 1800s. The town is home to
writers and famous homes and gardens mix
Carowinds amusement park and the Charlotte
a fairy tale potion.
Knights baseball team.
In nearby Chapel Hill, life is a little more
Nearly eight times the size of Fort Mill,
hurried. University students and faculty dart
Rock Hill, also in South Carolina and a subacross Franklin St. scurrying to their next
urb of Charlotte, is home to more than 67,000
class or meeting. Cars, buses and trucks pack
people.With a quaint downtown, the city
the town’s tiny streets in midday traffic.
boasts three colleges including Winthrop
Chapel Hill’s not quite city, not quite rural. Just
University, Clinton Junior College and York
the right mix for someone looking for city life
Technical College. Each spring, the town hosts
and a flare for down home. It’s twin-like
the “Come See Me” festival, as well as the winneighbor, Carrboro, offers a robust alternater Christmasville festival and a charming
tive arts scene.
Independence Day festival.
In the Triad, nestled between Greensboro
Coastal Carolinas
and Winston-Salem, sits Kernersville. The
Seaside cities sure do have their own kind
“Heart of the Triad” is a perfect 15 minutes
of charm, don’t they? Along the Carolina coast,
away from any top-notch restaurant or gay
two progressive cities stand out.Although not
hotspot.With a little over 20,000 residents,
see Down Home on 18
Kernersville offers a quite and tranquil oppor-
Charleston’s Arther Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River.
Photo Credit: bbatsell, via Wikipedia
16
Triangle Area
Office Space for Rent:
704.965.5214
144 sq. ft. to 288 sq. ft. • close to Uptown Charlotte
Clean, cool, comfortable
Around The Carolinas
17
Q - L I V I N G
General Gayety
elsewhere.“Your daughter should not exploit
their obliviousness to
by Leslie Robinson . Contributing Writer
cadge a free room.”
The problem I see is
that if she stays elseIn his New York Times Magazine column
where she’s essentially
called “The Ethicist,” Randy Cohen recently
coming out. How else to tell her grandparents
tackled a modern dilemma.
she’s not staying with them anymore? The
A mother wrote in to say that her daughter,
sheets are too scratchy?
in her late 20s, has a same-sex partner, a fact
She might not be ready to risk losing her
known to most of the large Catholic family.
grandparents over the truth. She might conBut the writer’s in-laws, the lesbian’s grandtinue to lie about herself. But, if her grandparparents, don’t know and the rule at their suments are the sort to reject her over her nature,
mer home is that non-married younger folk
that says little for them. Lying, rejecting —
may not share a bedroom with their oppositewhose ethics are lesser? Now, I remember why
sex partners.
I didn’t take philosophy.
Trouble on the Jersey shore. Or Cape Cod.
On the bright side, Cohen, in telling the
Or the Maine coast.
lesbian to vamoose, is also saying her relationThe mother reported that her daughter
ship is on a par with the heterosexual relationand her daughter’s partner often stay in a
ships. Both orientations must adhere to the
small room for two at the summer home and
same rule. Both can groan about it equally.
the grandparents think of the girls, who live
This rule that non-marrieds must sleep in
together, as good friends.
different rooms is far from unusual. My parWell, of course. Bosom buddies.
ents enforced it for years. The obvious reason
The writer’s younger daughter is consterfor it is to prevent unmarried opposite-sex
nated that she and her boyfriend have to stay
couples from having sex. Or, at least, to prein separate rooms.With a family reunion
vent them from having it within earshot.
looming, the mother asked whether she
In preventing couples from having sex
should have a chat with her in-laws about her
before marriage, parents and grandparents
older daughter.
uphold traditional morality and prevent pregTalk about the sandwich generation. This
nancy. They’ve done their bit.
mother is getting squeezed by the old and new
As positive as it is to have gay couples
mores like a bike running over a PB&J.
treated equally — in this case put in lock“The Ethicist” responded that it’s her
down just like the straights — it’s simultanedaughter’s decision whether to come out. He
ously more than a wee bit silly.
did allow for an emergency that might force
If you’re looking to prevent a lesbian couthe mother to tell, namely “a complicated sciple from having sex before marriage, you’re
ence-fiction scenario in which thwarting an
going to be an acting warden for a long time,
alien invasion demanded the intervention of
as long as it takes for gay marriage to be legal.
some sort of heroic interstellar lesbian.”
Meanwhile the couple will be growing old and
If her daughter “were reluctant to step up,
dropping a fortune at Motel 6.
well, then perhaps you could announce,‘She is
Upholding traditional morality? Until
gay enough to battle the slime creatures and
recently gay relationships were considered the
save the planet.’”
pinnacle of immorality. Housing a lesbian
But, not until then.
couple in separate rooms to prevent pregnan“Ethicist” Cohen further said the grandcy? Unless the gals tote a turkey baster
parents make the law in their own home and
around, you need not worry. Q
the daughter should mind the rule or stay
info: [email protected] . www.GeneralGayety.com
Keeping the young folks apart
‘Down home’ — friendly living
from page 16
quite rural, Wilmington and Charleston
Carolina’s first openly gay elected official
aren’t exactly urban either.
took office last year. Q
With 100,000 and
125,000 or so, respectively,
these two historic Carolina
seaports have just enough of
about everything you’d
expect from an urban landscape, minus the headaches
of traffic and other big city
problems. Both have good
schools and universities,
both have historic neighborhoods and businesses and
both have a wealth of LGBTfriendly hangouts and
nightlife establishments.
In Wilmington, voters
have elected North
Carolina’s only openly gay A quaint, riverside downtown in Wilmington.
or lesbian state legislator.
Photo Credit: M. Tirrell Rhines, via Wikipedia
In Charleston, South
18
19
Q - L I V I N G
Tell Trinity
by Trinity . Contributing Writer
I can’t deal with your lover’s
dirty fantasies
Dear Trinity,
Everything, including sex with my lover,
couldn’t be better with one exception: he
wants me to defecate on him. Despite my
refusals, he persists, but I’m afraid if I don’t
satisfy his “dirty pleasures” he’ll seek it somewhere else. Help?
Dirty Pleasures, Boston, Mass.
Dear Dirty Pleasures,
You can simply ignore his shitty desires
(Sorry, I had to say the “S” word just once),
but if he still persists, then why not hire a
professional fetish escort. If it’s a professional then there’s no chance of romance, only
20
cash advance. Maybe this
way he’ll get it out of his system or get tired of someone
else getting it out of their
system on him.
Hello Trinity,
My partner never wants to
fool around when we first wake up.“It’s hard for
me to get the feeling in the morning,” he says.
How do I get him into the morning mood?
Morning Desires, Tucson, Ariz.
Hello Morning Desires,
I’m sure you’d never think of getting up
before him, getting cleaned up, dressed up and
preparing a little champagne breakfast just to
seduce him, would you? Get the hint! (My cartoon will show you how to put the “ooh, la, la”
into breakfast!)
Hey Trinity,
My boyfriend and I broke up five months
ago. Now, it would’ve been our second year
anniversary and I think about him all the time.
How do I get him out of my head? Plus, what
should I do with the pictures of us?
Memory Troubles, Utica, N.Y.
Hey Memory Troubles,
Being depressed over a breakup is
depressing. Yet, did you know that depression created some of the world’s greatest art
and music? So, don’t avoid your sadness,
but, rather use it as inspiration. Now as for
getting him out of your head, try staying
busy with things like dating, cleaning, volunteering, exercising and traveling. Don’t
give yourself time to get melancholy. Do
give yourself time to love life. And, lastly,
about those pictures — either hide them on
the bottom, back of the hardest to reach
place or toss ’em out which you’ll eventually
do anyway!
To Trinity,
You’re such an advocate of dating. But, don’t
you think that some people are just meant to be
alone and not date?
Dating Excuses, Oklahoma City, Okla.
To Dating Excuses,
Yes, some people are meant to be alone
only after they’ve dated everyone twice
and read:
Trinity’s Tough Excuses
For Not Dating
1.“I’m waiting for my dream lover!” (Very
Hollywood, but dating while you’re waiting
makes a much better documentary.)
2.“I’m not settling for less than perfect!” (Very
virtuous, but no one is perfect, including
you. So loosen up and start dating!)
3.“Dating is too much work.” (Very couch
potato, but living itself is work and what
the hell else are you gonna do, watch
TV forever!)
4.“After my last relationship I’m done
dating.” (Very post-war, but how boring to
let your past relationships ruin your
future ones.)
5.“No one could compare to my first love!”
(Very cliche, but let someone at least try to
snap you out of your fairy tale history.)
6.“I don’t have time to date!” (Very CEO, but
just think of how much time and money
you’ll save on loneliness therapy!)
7.“I’m still mourning the loss of my last
lover.” (Very Greek tragedy, but when you’re
done wearing black can you start wearing
life again!)
8.“When it’s the right time it will happen!”
(Very spiritual, but taking steps toward
meeting other people will prove even more
enlightening!”)
9.“I’m busy taking care of someone.” (Very
Mother Teresa, but while you’re doing
something for someone else also try doing
something for yourself.)
10. Lastly,“Dating is too dissappointing!”
(Very Van Gogh, but we must be the sum
of our experience not the sum of our fears
or failures!) Q
— With a Masters of Divinity,
Reverend Trinity was host of
“Spiritually Speaking,” a weekly radio
drama, and now performs globally.
info: www.telltrinity.com . [email protected]
Tell Trinity, P.O. Box 23861 . Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33307
Sponsored by: Provincetown Business Guild
800-637-8696 . www.ptown.org
Support the companies
and organizations that
rally for you!
They’re here in Q-Notes.
To advertise, call 704.531.9988 or
email [email protected].
Got news items about your
organization to share?
Submit your copy and/or photos
to [email protected].
Q - L I V I N G
Out in the Stars
by Charlene Lichtenstein
Oct. 17-30
Get into your groove when Sun enters strategic Scorpio. We suddenly see things for what
they are and people for who they are.
Discover your hidden talents and find new
methods to your madness. This is the time to
take careful action.
LIBRA (09.24-10.23) Your thoughts turn to
money…and more money. Proud Libras expertly manage to cash in their assorted buffalo chips
for good hard cash. There are millions to be
made (or, maybe just thousands) when all of
your fiscal know-how gets applied to the bottom
line. Get off your assets compadre and start planning for (early) retirement.
SCORPIO (10.24-11.22) A flattering pink light
is cast on all your best moves. Proud Scorps
increase their popularity quotient tenfold and
win over even the most unwinnable folks. But,
don’t rest on your laurels, you charmer you; as
time progresses, you are encouraged to put
words into action. Don’t be a blowhard unless
you know which way your wind blows.
SAGITTARIUS (11.23-12.22) If you begin to
feel a bit more psychic, pull out your crystal
ball and give it a rubadub. Gay Archers get a
intuitive nudge that lets them know in no
uncertain terms that life as they know it is
about to change. Good vibes emanate from
unexpected sources and, as things progress,
your karmic rewards hit the jackpot. Are that
you that deserving? Uhhhh.
CAPRICORN (12.23-01.20) Pink Caps give out
a whoop and a holler.Friends gravitate to you and
you are surrounded by adoring admirers. How
long can you hog the limelight before you do
something more meaningful with all this attention? Not too long, buster. Publicity hogs are relegated to the pigpen in no time. Be the cock of the
walk instead.
AQUARIUS (01.21-02.19) If you have felt hamstrung in your attempts to climb the corporate ladder, this spance will offer you an easy
ride up. Aqueerians experience increased
professional opportunities now and should
use this time to solidify and consolidate their
gotten gains. Soon all your hard work will
really pay off. You have been working hard,
haven’t you?
PISCES (02.20-03.20) If life has been getting
you down, the current respite will offer a great
escape from stresses and strains. Whether you
pack up your troubles and cart them off to
Paris or decide to hang close to home and
cruise the net, Guppies expand their outreach
and lower their personal temperature.
. Contributing Writer But, also expect a
little cosmic oomph
so you don’t become too mellow.
ARIES (03.21-04.20) Your personal charm
turns on full throttle as you attract anyone you
want now. Can you control your impulses?
Proud Rams are infused with a sexual thirst
that needs to be quaffed. Before you dive head
first into something (or someone) over your
head, think about the ramifications and end
results. Caution? Okay, forget about that — full
speed ahead!
TAURUS (04.21-05.21) Relationships are the be
all and end all. Queer Bulls who ache for a significant other will have a choice of potential partners. Those already in a relationship can improve
on perfection. But, don’t expect it to come easily.
You will be expected to put out a bit of effort for
your domestic bliss.You just can’t phone it in…or
can you?
GEMINI (05.22-06.21) Pink Twins are more
efficient than usual. Use this useful energy to
clear off your desk and get a few nitpicky
things out of the way. And, as the week progresses, you can turn that excess girth into
attractive grist. Rewards are there for those
who put in the effort in exercise and their
overall health regime. Work hard now to play
hard later.
CANCER (06.22-07.23) How playful do you
feel, gay Crab? You can be tempted into all sorts of
wild activities that expand your imagination,
tickle your gay muse and just relax and have fun.
Allow yourself to be tempted. Before you know it,
you can turn your inspiration into reality. Let’s
hope that reality nibbles and doesn’t bite, unless
that is your thing.
LEO (07.24-08.23) Proud Lions are at home at
home. Make your surroundings more comfortable and in sync with who you are. This is also a
good time to attend to certain family issues. You
are especially strategic and diplomatic and can
smooth out the rough edges and build bridges.
Say what you have to say.You sound wise and balanced, for a change.
VIRGO (08.24-09.23) Queer Virgins express
themselves eloquently and expertly. Consider
your strategy and plan out your line of attack.You
can more easily consolidate and build on your
successes while you have the optimism, confidence and clearer perspective. It is time to reap
your just desserts. Will there be a cherry on top?
Only if you add a little sauce. Q
© 2009 Madam Lichtenstein, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Entertainment.
info: Visit www.TheStarryEye.com for e-greetings,
horoscopes and Pride jewelry. My book “HerScopes: A Guide
To Astrology For Lesbians” from Simon & Schuster is
available at bookstores and major booksites.
21
Q - L I V I N G
Out and About . compiled by Q-Notes staff
Events and happenings across the Carolinas
Community Centers &
Switchboards
Charlotte Lesbian & Gay
Community Center
704-333-0144
820 Hamilton St., Suite B11
Charlotte, NC 28206
www.gaycharlotte.com
Harriet Hancock Center
803-771-7713
1108 Woodrow St.
Columbia, SC 29205
www.scpride.org
OutWilmington
910-762-4717
Wilmington, NC 28401
www.outwilmington.com
www.highcountrypride.org.
Oct. 31 • Winston-Salem
Dixie Debutante Ball
Debutante Balls have long played an important role in
genteel Southern culture. This year’s Dixie Deb Ball
will benefit AIDS Care Service. Each debutante will be
presented to society along with their life histories and
worldly accomplishments. Some will perform (or try
to perform).VJ Barry Browder from Fort Lauderdale’s
George’s Alibi provides non-stop video disco music to
liven up the dance floor. Dancing and merriment with
a VJ until the wee hours of the night. It’s Halloween —
dress festive! A $30 admission includes heavy hors d’
oeuvres. Cash bar available. Space is limited, so
reserve tickets in advance. For more information, visit
www.aidscareservice.org.
Nov. 3
General Election
Many municipalities will hold general elections this
year. Be sure to register to vote and head out to the
polls on Nov. 3.Visit www.sboe.state.nc.us to check
your current voter registration and polling location.
The Center Project
843-626-4953
736 8th Ave. N.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
www.thecenterproject.com
Nov. 6 • Charlotte
Doubting Thomas
Triangle Community Works
Gay and Lesbian Helpline
Hartigan’s Irish Pub hosts Doubting Thomas with
Lindy Dobbins opening. Hartigan’s, 601 S. Cedar St.
9 p.m.-2 a.m. $10 cover. 704-347-1841.
Raleigh, NC
[email protected]
Nov. 7 • Spartanburg
919-821-0055
Alternative Resources of the Triad
Community resources and referrals
Greensboro, Winston-Salem & High Point, NC
OutTriad.org . OutGreensboro.com
Upcoming Events:
Oct. 23 • Charlotte
Brief
Friends of Takeover Friday host Charlotte’s first-ever
male-only underwear fashion show. Part cocktail
party and part fundraiser, proceeds will benefit the
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Extravaganza, 1610 N.
Tryon St. 7:30 p.m.-11 p.m.Various prices.
www.briefcharlotte.org.
Oct. 23-31 • Durham
Insanity of Mary Girard
Turbulence, a “movement focused theatre group,”
present “The Insanity of Mary Girard” at Common
Ground Theatre, 4815-B Hillsborough Rd.Various
times. $12/adults, $10/students and seniors.
919-384-7817. [email protected].
Oct. 24 • Spartanburg
Halloween Bash
Celebrate Halloween with a special night benefiting
Upstate Pride. Nu-Way Restaurant and Lounge,
373 E Kennedy St. 7 p.m. $10 suggested donation.
www.upstatepridesc.org.
Oct. 31 • Boone
Masquerade
High Country Pride presents Masquerade, a
Halloween dance and fundraiser for Boone’s LGBT
Pride organization and AIDS service organization
ALFA. Dancing and drinks, with optional dinner buffet. Costumes encouraged. Broyhill Inn Ballroom, 775
Bodenheimer Dr. 9 p.m.-1 a.m. $10.
only online
Cleaning out the closet
Upstate Pride will host a group rummage and bake
sale, with proceeds benefiting next year’s Pride festival. Items can be donated to the sale.A location has
yet to be determined. For more information, stay
tuned to Q-Notes or call 864-612-0747 or email
[email protected].
Nov. 7 • Raleigh
Gloria Steinam
NARAL Pro-Choice NC presents Gloria Steinem for a
special speaking engagement. Steinem has spent her
more than 40-year career highlighting and advocating
for the rights of women. Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship of Raleigh, 3313 Wade Ave. 12:30 p.m.
Tickets $20-$50. (This is a barrier-free event.) Buy
tickets, register attendance and get more information
at www.ProChoiceNC.org.
Nov. 13 • Greensboro
Youth Suicide Prevention
The Wellness Center at the University of North
Carolina-Greensboro presents a training session on
LGBT youth suicide prevention. This all-day workshop
will teach risk awareness, intervention strategies and
more. For more information, email
[email protected].
Nov. 14 • Greensboro
ENC Conference and Gala
Equality North Carolina will hold its third annual
statewide conference and gala in Greensboro.
Obama Administration official Brian Bond will
keynote. State Sen. Julia Boseman (D-New Hanover)
will receive this year’s Leadership Award.
Registrations for both the conference at UNCGreensboro and the evening gala at the downtown
Empire Room are now open. For more information
and to register for the conference or gala, visit
www.equalitync.org. Q
info: Announce your community event in Out & About.
email: [email protected].
q-notes.com
• Report from the Capitol: National Equality March
in Washington, D.C.
• October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• Q&A: Keith Boykin
• T-Notes: A tale of two stories
22
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q-notes.com

Transcription

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