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q-notes.com

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Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
Volume 24 . Number 11
October 3 . 2009
Printed on Recycled Paper
FREE
Wilmington
activists take
to the street
and the net
q-notes.com
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OCTOBER 3 . 2009 • QNotes
T A B L E
O F
C O N T E N T S
Front and center:
How Bayard changed Carolina
Editorial Contributors:
01
Articles:
www.q-notes.com
Volume 24
Number 11
PO Box 221841 • Charlotte, NC 28222 • 704.531.9988 . 704.531.1361
October 3, 2009
FAX
To find a copy, go to www.q-notes.com/distribution-points/
Publisher: Jim Yarbrough
Editor/New Media: Matt Comer
editor@q-notes.com
Community catalyst
Election ’09: Races to watch
Failed merger reveals allegations
Festival brings Pride to the mountains
Hate crimes course tracked
‘Laramie Project’ in the Carolinas
Legal seminar covers important topics
Associate Editor: David Stout
Features:
Special Assignments: Lainey Millen
Dazzle your guests with etiquette
Fall decor trends
Graphic Design/Production: Lainey Millen
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Marketing
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Drag Rag
Editorial
General Gayety
News Notes: Domestic
News Notes: Global
News Notes: NC
On Being a Gay Parent
Out and About
Out in the Stars
Q-Poll
Tell Trinity
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ARAcontent, Matt Comer, Kevin
Grooms/Miss Della, Andy Harley, Charlene
Lichtenstein, Lainey Millen, Leslie
Robinson, David Stout, Trinity, Brett
Webb-Mitchell
Front Cover:
Old Well image courtesy TimDan2, via Flickr.
Licensed under Creative Commons. Bayard
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Congress Prints and Photographs Division
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P E R S P E C T I V E
Editorial
by Q-Notes Editorial Staff
Fulfilling our obligations in order to serve you
Since the publication of our Sept. 20 web
story,“Failed Carolina gay news merger
reveals allegations,” Q-Notes has received feedback both positive and negative.We encourage
our readers to discuss and debate our news
coverage based on its merits.We also want our
readers to know the reasons why we decided
to publish the story and the history of the
case.We think the “back story” is worth sharing and sheds more light on our decisions to
cover this topic.
In November 2008, shortly after the debut
of OnQ Carolina Edition, Q-Notes was made
aware of some concerns and questions regarding the past actions of OnQ’s executive editor
and founder Jamie Seabolt.At the time, we
looked into those concerns and spoke to individuals who knew and who worked with
Seabolt in Pittsburgh, Penn.We also interviewed Seabolt.
While we found the allegations to have
merit, we decided to table the story as it had
been a few years since the allegations and
Seabolt had not acted in similar ways in this
market. For almost a year, we sat on the story
and filed away our interviews and notes
while Seabolt worked to produce a new LGBT
publication.
When we learned several Carolinas community non-profits and gay-owned businesses
had signed contracts with Seabolt and those
contracts had gone unfulfilled, our concern
was reawakened.
So, aware of new concerns and questions,
Q-Notes editorial staff was obligated to again
investigate.We approached this story knowing
it was a potential land mine.We knew some
readers and others in our community might
interpret our coverage as a direct attack on a
competitor and as “business as usual.” For
these reasons, we took great care to thoroughly interview each side.We presented questions
and issues fairly and evenly.When one side
alleged an improper action from the other, we
followed up with new questions and incorporated new answers in our reporting.We were
given emails and copies of contracts and other
documents.We reviewed everything that
crossed our desks.
After days of in-depth interviews and
research, and two days of writing, editing and
reviewing, we published our story. In it, each
side’s views are presented objectively. If one
side made an accusation or allegation, the
other was given a chance to respond. Our coverage depended on and can be backed up by
corroborated interviews or documentation.
We believe our coverage is neutral and
presents an accurate representation of the
issues at hand.
Some of our readers might think we pursued this story out of self-interest — that we
sought out to “drag our competitor’s name
through the mud.” It is unfortunate some
would view our decision to cover this story in
this way.We hope they will recognize the care
we took in approaching this story and the
almost year-long research and observation
that went into it.
For 24 years, Q-Notes has existed to serve
the community and to protect it when others
attempt to harm or take advantage of its
members, businesses and non-profit organizations. Sometimes, serving and protecting
our community and its interests means
reporting on its bad news along with its good.
As much as we’d like to report only on the
positive achievements of the LGBT community and its leaders, we sometimes find ourselves faced with facts and a reality in stark
contradiction to our own wants and desires.
Although such bad news might paint a less
than savory portrait of our community, we
must remember our place as a newspaper and
our mission to work with unbiased and objective lenses. This is what makes Q-Notes and
other LGBT news organizations unique.
We hope our community becomes better
through our news coverage.We want our readers and the public to know that we wish nothing but goodwill toward our competitors, their
readers and the overall community.We hope
our coverage is seen as an opportunity for our
community to grow and take Nietzche’s wise
words to heart:“That which does not kill us,
only makes us stronger.” ◗
only online
• Review: Firebirds Rocky Mountain Grill
• NC Pride: Photos and Video
• Extended News Notes: North Carolina
more at q-notes.com!
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Send your letter to the editor or any
other thoughts to
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4
•••••••••••••••••
Atlanta Pride will take
place at the end of October.
Do you plan on going?
See the options and vote at
www.q-notes.com/qpoll
M E D I A
Failed Carolina gay news merger reveals serious allegations
OnQ’s Jamie Seabolt comes under fire for breaches of contract, past mismanagement
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
inDepth
[Ed. Note — Due to the unusual length of
this in-depth article, Q-Notes has decided to
publish an abridged and shortened version of
this piece in this print issue. The full version of
this article — containing more details on
breached contracts, missed print editions and
Jamie Seabolt’s past run-ins in Charleston,
W.Va. and Pittsburgh — can be read online at
www.q-notes.com/3660/. A staff editorial detailing the history of this story and our decision to
cover it now appears on page 4.]
A recently attempted and failed merger
between three Carolinas LGBT publications
has resulted in several accusations, concerns
and questions regarding unpublished print
editions and pre-paid advertising by several
Carolinas businesses and non-profits.
The Asheville, N.C.-based Stereotypd, a
monthly LGBT news publication, and the
Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based OnQ Carolina
Edition, a bi-weekly glossy gay nightlife guide,
announced Aug. 22 they would merge under
the leadership and direction of Jamie Seabolt,
executive editor and creator of OnQ.
Stereotypd business and artistic director
Porscha Yount, OnQ’s Jamie Seabolt and
Stereotypd editor Lin Orndorf distributed a
press release announcing the merger. In it,
Seabolt was identified as the Asheville paper’s
new publisher and Stereotypd is identified as
“part of the OnQ Network.” A few days later,
the new OnQ team announced a merger with
the Charleston, S.C.-based Drag Magazine.
By Sept.16,the situation had devolved into a
convoluted series of events,with Stereotypd and
OnQ staff each accusing the other of bad business practices and financial mismanagement.In
two press releases that day Stereotypd and OnQ
announced the merger between their publications and Drag Magazine had been called off; differences in business practices and artistic direction were cited as the main cause of the split.
SC Pride sponsorship soured
More than a month before the announcement of the failed merger, Seabolt signed an
advertising contract with Ryan Wilson, president of SC Pride, for the group’s upcoming
Sept. 12 festival in Columbia.
Wilson said his organization paid $650 for
a series of five full-page ads in five consecutive
issues of OnQ Carolina Edition. Seabolt confirmed the transaction and Wilson provided a
signed contract.According to the document,
SC Pride was given a 50 percent discount on
OnQ ad rates. The ads were to begin running
July 24 and end Sept. 11, Only two print editions, published July 25 and July 31, were ever
produced and distributed.
Seabolt said he contacted Wilson to tell
him he was having problems with printing,
but Seabolt never informed Wilson the print
issues would never be produced.
“I told Ryan Wilson we were having trouble
printing,” Seabolt said.“When I told him that,I
could have possibly two days later got enough
money from advertisers to make the issue work.”
When the money never came in, Seabolt
was unable to produce the first OnQ August
issue. He said he never informed SC Pride of
the issue’s failure because Wilson said he was
too busy to discuss the matter.
Wilson said he was never contacted by
Seabolt regarding printing problems.
“We never had a conversation about ads,”
Wilson said.“There was never communication
on Seabolt’s part to me or to Clay [a SC Pride
volunteer] about printing issues. I don’t
believe that conversation ever occurred.”
In an email dated Aug. 17 provided by
Seabolt,Wilson asked Seabolt to respond to a
sponsorship agreement between OnQ and SC
Pride, which included the five full-page SC Pride
ads and the 50 percent advertising discount.
Seabolt responded on Aug.28 and confirmed
the details of the sponsorship agreement.
“I am on the road all week so at present I
dont (sic) have a printer to print, sign, and
resubmit,” Seabolt wrote.“I am good to go
with all that I had promised Ryan VIA phone,
text, and e-mail.“I wont (sic) be able to submit you a ‘signed’ contract until Monday.”
Jamie Seabolt
Despite the assurance he would fulfill his
end of the sponsorship agreement, Seabolt
never produced OnQ’s two August issues or
the first issue in September.
Joint contracts unfulfilled
Starting sometime in August — one joint
OnQ-Stereotypd advertising contract was
signed Aug. 21 — advertising for both publications was sold as package deals. Funds collected from some of the new contracts were
deposited into the Out in the Carolinas
Publishing bank account, according to both
Seabolt and Yount.
see Seabolt on 10
5
G L O B A L
looked like normal kids.
“When they were still following me after crossing the street
twice, I became concerned.
“There was a group of police officers in
riot gear standing on a corner, so I walked
over and stood by them. One of them looked
at me and I just signalled to the three young
guys who were following.
“The police looked over and the three men
disappeared down a side street.
“People who live here must have to go
through this on a regular basis — living in a
constant state of fear of thugs. It’s really scary.”
Urich could well have been lucky. The day
before the canceled Pride, an Australian
International News Notes
by Andy Harley . Special to Q-Notes
In Belgrade, Pride must go on
BELGRADE, Serbia — There was not a gay
person, let alone a banner, in sight in the
square in front of the Faculty of Philosophy in
Belgrade’s city center at lunchtime on this
Sunday. The Gay Pride Parade, scheduled for
Sept. 20, had been banned by officialdom, or
cancelled by the organizers, depending on
which “spin” one happened to hear.
But, the cops were there in force — and so
were an assorted crowd of thugs egged-on by
ultra right-wing factions.Among the groups
was Movement 1389, who
had decided to stage a
parade of their own in “honour of the cancellation of the
Pride Parade.”
When the police got wind
of this demonstration, they
quickly issued an edict: all
public gatherings in Belgrade
city center were prohibited
for security reasons.
Only a dozen nationalists
turned up to “celebrate” —
and they were heavily outnumbered by the riot police
there to greet them.
Swedish Ambassador to Serbia Krister Bringeus chats with
Meanwhile gay men and
Belgrade Pride organizer Marija Savic at a reception hostwomen were making their
ed at Bringeus’ official residence.
way to suburban Belgrade
Photo Credit: Andy Harley/UKGayNews.org.uk
for a private event they were
tourist was beaten by thugs in the city-center
soon calling a “mini Pride.”
park.And it was gay Greeks from Athens who
There were just six police visible outside
witnessed the attack and raised the alarm.
the residence of Swedish Ambassador to
“Local people did nothing to help the vicSerbia Krister Bringeus who hosted the event
tim because they were afraid,” one of the witfor Serbian LGBTs and those from other counnesses said.
tries. Some 50 activists and community memNot knowing exactly how to contact the
bers attended the reception.
police or an ambulance and fearful of lan“Pride is all about the message of tolerguage difficulties, the witnesses called the
ance,” Bringeus said.“I am very sorry that
“emergency Gay Pride line.” Volunteers there
Pride didn’t take place. But welcome to this
in turn called the police.
small Pride event.”
Just a week earlier, three French football
Flags and banners once due to have been
fans from Toulouse were attacked while havdisplayed at Pride were unfurled and phoing a drink in an Irish pub in the centre of
tographed (the only safe photo opportunity of
Belgrade. One of the fans remains in critical
the weekend), and Belgrade Pride 2009 t-shirts
condition in hospital.
were given out.“A collector’s item,” one woman
And,just days before that,a British citizen
from Austria said.
was attacked by thugs,again in the city centre.
And while the Swedish reception was a
At a pre-Pride meeting of gay men and
safe and welcoming retreat from the antiwomen who had planned to be at the Belgrade
LGBT sentiments of mainstream Serbia, the
event, the dangers that were common on the
reality of LGBT life here wasn’t all forgotten.
streets of Belgrade were explained to visitors
American William Urich, chair of
from other countries.
InterPride’s committee on LGBTI Human and
They were told not to anything that made
Civil Rights, said he felt unsafe on the streets
them look “gay,” and to be alert at all times.
of central Belgrade and was followed by some
“Foreigners are especially targeted,” an offiof the same thugs protesting earlier in the day.
cial said.
His experience showed him just how
And to bring the point home, a Serbian
Serbian society had to live “in a constant state
gay woman, saying that she totally supported
of fear of thugs.”
the cancelling of the Pride parade because of
Urich was attending Belgrade Pride as an
security concerns, uttered what certainly
official observer for InterPride,an international
summed up the lack of security from thugs
federation of LGBT Pride organizations,festivals
on the Belgrade street.
and events.He told UK Gay News that,after
“I am not ready to die,” she said. ◗
returning to his hotel from the reception given
by the Swedish ambassador,he decided to go out
— Andy Harley is the editor of
and explore the downtown area that evening.
UKGayNews.org.uk, an international LGBT
He recalled:
news website based in Manchester, England.
“As I was walking along, I noticed in the
Harley travels the world attending various
reflections in shop windows that I was probPride festivals and other LGBT events.
ably being followed. I crossed the street
In 2008, he traveled to Columbia for SC Pride
twice, and the group of three young men
following the international “SC is so gay”
clearly continued to follow me. They just
advertising brouhaha.
6
D O M E S T I C
tion on the basis of sexual orientation.”
The data the Williams Institute and its
co-investigators gathered and presented in
the hearings contain proof of widespread
discrimination, including:
• One in five LGBT public sector employees
has experienced workplace discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation according
to a 2008 study; a 2009 study found that 13
percent had reported such discrimination in
the past year alone.
• A persistent and significant wage gap exists
between heterosexual and LGBT employees.
For example, government LGBT employees
earn wages that are 8-29 percent lower than
their heterosexual counterparts.
• Sexual orientation-based discrimination
affects good, productive employees. The
Williams Institute has collected nearly 400
anecdotes of LGBT workplace discrimination; in not a single case did a rational basis
for the adverse employment action exist.
Georgetown Law Center Professor Nan
Hunter,Williams Institute Law Fellow Christy
Mallory, eight law firms and a cross-discipline
group of scholars contributed to the research.
National News Notes
by David Stout . Q-Notes staff
Compelling data at ENDA hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House
Education and Labor Committee held a full
committee hearing Sept. 23 on the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which
would bar workplace
discrimination, preferential treatment and
retaliation on the basis
of sexual orientation or
gender identity in companies with 15 or more
employees.
The results of a yearlong study of issues
faced by LGBT individuals working at all levels Brad Sears
of government across the country were presented by Brad Sears, executive director of the
Williams Institute. The study — the most comprehensive review of discrimination against
LGBT people in the public sector — examined
employment surveys, administrative and legal
complaints, wage records and other publications
to evaluate the extent and persistence of LGBT
discrimination.
“Our findings clearly demonstrate that discrimination against members of the LGBT
community is persistent and occurs at all levels of government,” Sears said.“This is exactly
the kind of data that was presented to support
passage of earlier civil rights legislation, and
Congress should act now to ban discriminaMeeting Date:
Program:
Time:
Cost:
To Reserve:
Gathering supports trans athletes
INDIANAPOLIS,Ind.— A groundbreaking
think tank co-sponsored by the National Center
for Lesbian Rights and the Women’s Sports
Foundation Initiative: It Takes a Team!
Education Campaign for LGBT Issues in Sport
will gather here Oct.25-26 to address equal
opportunity for transgender student-athletes.
Participants will include top sports leaders from
across the country,athletic directors,researchers,
medical and legal experts on transgender issues,
student-athletes and NCAA officials.
With increasing numbers of young people
identifying as transgender in high school and
college, sponsors said the event will provide an
opportunity to discuss best practices and
develop model policies for high school and
collegiate athletic leaders to ensure the full
inclusion of transgender student-athletes.
Candidates advance in primaries
WASHINGTON,D.C.— Nearly a dozen
openly gay and lesbian candidates in three states
faced primary elections Sept.15.Eight of them
advanced to general elections this November
according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund,
the only national organization dedicated to
growing the number of openly LGBT elected
officials at all levels of government.
In New York City, four Victory Fund-backed
candidates prevailed in their decisive
Democratic primary races for city council,
including Speaker Christine Quinn. James Van
Bramer, Danny Dromm and Rosie Mendez,
who are heavily favored to win in the general
election, will likely join Speaker Quinn, doubling LGBT representation on the council.
Further upstate in Rochester, city council
candidate Matt Haag could become the third
openly gay man in a row to occupy the seat
he’s running for, having secured the
Democratic nomination. Barbara Smith
earned another term on the Albany City
Council, handily defeating her challenger.
In Massachusetts,Amaad Rivera advanced
to the general election for the Springfield City
Council and was the top vote-getter in his
race. Maplewood, Minn. City Council candidate James Llanas advanced to the general
election, when he will be one of four candidates vying for two seats.
Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the
Victory Fund, said the wins send an important message about the willingness of LGBT
Americans to serve their country.
City settles free speech suit
BIRMINGHAM,Ala. — A settlement
agreement has been reached in Lambda
Legal’s federal lawsuit on behalf of Central
Alabama Pride against the City of
Birmingham and its mayor, Larry Langford.
The settlement was reached after a federal
judge ruled against the city and mayor in their
efforts to have the free speech case dismissed.
CAP has held a Pride parade through the
streets of Birmingham every year since 1987,
and its Pride banners have been displayed on
light posts in accordance with the city’s practice of hanging banners for a variety of events
held here. However, in May 2008, Langford
refused to allow city workers to put up the
Pride banners due to his religious beliefs. He
also refused to sign a permit for the march.
According to the settlement, the City of
Birmingham will pay legal costs and attorneys‚
fees of more than $40,000 and will establish
objective and non-discriminatory written banner-hanging regulations for public events.“We
are pleased with the terms of the settlement
authorized by the City of Birmingham that
protects free speech and equal treatment,” said
Beth Littrell, staff attorney in Lambda Legal’s
Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. ◗
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 businessguild@yahoo.com
to request tickets for this event
www.charlottebusinessguild.org
7
N O R T H
C A R O L I N A
North Carolina News Notes
Service held
CHARLOTTE —
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
held a Service of Reconciliation
on Sept. 12.About 150 attended in order to
bring together varying factions as a result of
recent Evangelical Lutheran Church of
America’s decisions.
According to blogger Frank Imhoff of The
Lutheran,“Voting members at the August
Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis
approved a series of proposals to change the
denomination's ministry policies, including a
policy to allow Lutherans in lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as
ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.”
Attendees included those from Lutheran,
Mormon, Jewish, Roman Catholic and Buddhist
faiths. Not everyone was in agreement, but the
experience was affirming, added Imhoff.
Holy Trinity Pastor Nancy Kraft recounted
the event as “glorious.” Her presence was that
as an observer.
Retired Pastor of Advent Lutheran Church,
Richard C. Little, presented the sermon.
The service was comprised of prayer and
discussion.Afterward, time was set aside for a
gathering of worshippers in the church’s social
hall for dessert and coffee.
by Lainey Millen & Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
CHARLOTTE
Sing and serve
MATTHEWS — One Voice Chorus is holding a fundraiser at the Matthews Township
Grill, 10400 E. Independence Blvd. on Oct. 12
to support its upcoming season. Tom Im, vice
president, made the announcement.
The Chorus Board and friends will be
waiting on patrons hand and foot as they sing
some ABBA tunes, maybe dance a little and
serve good food at great prices.A percentage
of the food and all the tips goes to the Chorus.
The 2009-10 season includes Sleigh Bells,
Dec. 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian
Universalist Church of Charlotte.A matinee
will be held at 2 p.m. on Dec. 5. Other concerts
slated are Southern Belles, celebrating strong
women, joined by the University of North
Carolina-Charlotte Women’s Chorus and the
Girl’s Chorus from the Northwest School of
the Performing Arts at Heaton Hall, Myers
Park Baptist Church, 1900 Queens Rd., in the
spring. School Bells, the Chorus’ 20th anniversary concert, will be held on June 19 at 7:30
p.m. at the Booth Playhouse, 130 N. Tryon St.,
in the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing
Arts Center.
For more information, call Artistic
Director Gerald Gurss at 816-878-7464, email
info@onevoicechorus.com or visit
onevoicechorus.com.
Mancini accepting grant apps
CHARLOTTE — The Wesley Mancini
Foundation is accepting applications until
Nov. 1 for the grant period of Jan.1, 2010
through Dec. 31, 2010.
Grants are awarded to fund specific projects and are not awarded to cover general
operating expenses.
The Foundation's mission is to provide funding for projects that promote the inclusion of
LGBT individuals as full participants in the
Charlotte community,seek to eliminate censorship and/or work to foster and support freedom
of expression.Since its inception in 2000,the
Foundation has awarded grants to 18 organizations.Projects must benefit residents of
Mecklenburg and surrounding counties,and are
project specific.
Past recipients have been: Actor’s Theatre
of Charlotte, Bare Bones Theatre, Campus
Pride, Charlotte Coalition for Social Justice,
Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund (Foundation
for the Carolinas), Echo Foundation,William
C. Friday Fellowship for Human Resources,
Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte, Lesbian and
Gay Community Center of Charlotte, Light
Factory, Metrolina AIDS Project, Off Tryon
Theater Company, One Voice Chorus,
OutCharlotte, Playworks, Time Out Youth,
UNCC Foundation, UNCC Urban Institute,
and Unity Fellowship Church Charlotte.
Foundation board members include Ben
Collins, Mike Davis, Jonathan Murray, Rev.
Tonyia Rawls, Nancy Ring,Ward Simmons,
Connie Vetter, Tom Warshauer and Bert
Woodard.
Federally-tax exempt organizations or
those with tax-qualified sponsors interested in
receiving a grant application should contact
Bob Scheer at 704-375-4275, ext. 11 or via
email at bscheer@wesleymancini.com.
8
In memoriam
CHARLOTTE — MeckPAC has announced
the death of one of the organization's most
ardent long-time supporters, Lynn Kennelly.
Kennelly died as a result of cancer in her sleep
surrounded by family and friends.
In August, she provided support for
MeckPAC’s Gold-level sponsorship of the organization's pre-election party.
She was a 1977 graduate of R.J. Reynolds
High School in Winston-Salem and graduated
from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1981, where she was a member
of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority.
MeckPAC says it will continue its work in
honor of Kennelly and her passion for LGBT
equality.
EASTERN
Show your spirit
GREENVILLE — Tipsy Teapot, 409 Evans
St., #B, will host a “family pride” Eastern
Carolina University Homecoming Kick Off
Party on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.
Enjoy dinner and drink specials, then stay
for Someone’s Sister and Laura McLean and
Calamity.
Cost is $10 at the door.
The following day, from 2-4 p.m., McLean
will hold a guitar clinic.
Beginners are encouraged to attend and
educational materials will be provided. Cost is
$20 per person.
TRIAD
Replacements, Ltd. recognized
GREENSBORO — The Human Rights
Campaign Foundation awarded Replacements,
Ltd. a perfect score on the HRC Foundation’s
Corporate Equality Index on Sept. 14. The
report rates on a scale from 0 to 100 how
major American companies treat LGBT
employees, consumers and investors. This
marks the eighth consecutive year the world’s
see next page >
N O R T H
largest supplier of old and new china, crystal, silver and collectibles has received a
perfect score. Replacements is one of only 11 companies that have achieved a 100
percent rating every year since the index began in 2002.
“It means so much to me to see more companies responding to the concerns
of the GLBT community and protecting the rights of all workers so they don’t
have to endure the discrimination that so many of us experienced early on,” says
Replacements’ Founder and CEO Bob Page.
Replacements was one of the first companies in North Carolina to offer
domestic partner benefits.
For more information, call Lisa Conklin, public relations manager, at 336209-0951, email lisa.conklin@replacements.com or visit www.replacements.com.
TRIANGLE
Gold to address PFLAG
NASHVILLE — Join Mitchell Gold, author and editor of “Crisis: 40 Stories
Revealing The Personal, Social and Religious Trauma of Growing Up Gay in
America,” will lead a discussion at the Oct. 12 meeting of Parents and Friends of
Lesbian and Gays - Rocky Mount at 7 p.m. at the Nash Arts Center, 100 E.
Washington St.
Educators, church leaders, social workers and elected officials and parents are
encouraged to attend.
A reception will follow.
For more information, email pflagrm@aol.com or visit www.pflag.org.
WESTERN
Film Fest slated
BOONE — Appalachian State University has announced its 10th Annual
Queer Film Festival, occurring during October and November at 7:30 p.m. in
Room 114 in Belk Library and Information Commons.
Scheduled are: Oct. 13:“Milk;” Oct. 20:“Outrage;” Oct. 27:“Training Rules;”
Nov. 3:“Fight Back Fight AIDS: 15 Years of ACT UP;” and Nov. 17:“Hannah Free.”
Screenings are free and open to the public. Discussion will follow the film.
For more information, email Dr. Jill Ehnenn at ehnennjr@appstate.edu, Kim
Hall at hallki@appstate.edu or Davis Orvis at
orvisdl@appstate.edu.. ◗
info: Announce your community event in NC News Notes. email: editor@q-notes.com.
C A R O L I N A
Community catalyst
A center for the LGBT community has been a longsought-after dream in Raleigh. For at least 10 years,
organizers said, community leaders have discussed
and debated the creation of an all-purpose community organization designed to unite and inspire.
That dream is now becoming a reality. For the past
year, community members have been working diligently to create the first LGBT center in the state’s capital city. Organizing started off small at first and has
now grown to fundraising stages as the group plans to
make its public debut on Oct. 17.
“The center is a catalyst for finding needs in our
community,” board member Glenn Medders told QNotes, standing under a NC Pride festival tent and
safely away from a light drizzle.“It will be like the
wind beneath the sails of many groups.”
Medders and his fellow board members who’d
gathered to promote the Center at the festival in
Durham said they envision their project as a way to
fill the holes that might exist in community services
for LGBT people.
The new LGBT Center, under the leadership of a
full-time director, could actively seek out those gaps
in services, network with organizations and other
leaders and ensure community members received
the help they need.
Board member Les Geller said the Center’s online
presence will has serve as a unique resource.
“We want our website to reach out to people thinking of moving to or working in Raleigh,” he said.
With many newcomers attracted to the city by large
companies providing LGBT-inclusive benefits and pro-
tecting their employees from discrimination, these
new Raleigh citizens will need a place to welcome
them and point them in the direction of volunteer,
social, education and advocacy opportunities.
In order to achieve these large aspirations,organizers
said they’re counting on the support of the community.
They’ve started reaching out for sponsors and donors and
LGBT Center of Raleigh board members
Glenn Medders, Les Geller, Anthony Garcia
and chair Eddie Sartin.
are encouraging those who can to join their Founders’
Level donors.They hope they can find 1000 people willing to contribute $100 to the cause.With that seed money,
they’ll begin their search for the Center’s physical home.
On Oct. 17, the Center will hold its first official kickoff event. Their “coming out”party at Moore Square in
downtown Raleigh will include entertainment, food,
wine and beer. Part party, part fundraiser, the event will
be another chance for the community to get to know the
Center and its organizers and join in the effort.◗
info: www.lgbtcenterofraleigh.com
9
M E D I A
Seabolt comes under fire
from page 5
Seabolt claimed a combination of financial
difficulties led to interruption in OnQ’s August
and September production.
“It was a matter of money,” Seabolt said,
adding several advertisers had yet to pay him
for ads run in OnQ.“You do with what you
can and if you don’t have the money to print
you either skip an issue or do electronic only.
All paid publications are finding it difficult to
find paying advertisers and getting them to
pay on time.”
He alleged September production for
Stereotypd was interrupted due to financial
10
mismanagement on the part of that publication’s staff.
“All of the money from all the new sales from
OnQ,Drag Mag as well as Stereotypd was
absorbed,” he said.“The money disappeared covering Stereotypd’s old debts through its old publishing group.I had to make the decision that we
had to cut Stereotypd’s issue for September
because there was no money to print all three.”
Seabolt offered no explanation as to why
he did not have access to financial accounts of
a newspaper of which he had been named
publisher.
Another joint OnQ-Stereotypd advertising
Seabolt said he stopped publishing all of
agreement also went unfulfilled. Seabolt
his papers in April 2005.
offered Asheville’s Blue Ridge Pride four full
Pointing the finger
page color ads spread across both publications
The turmoil resulting in shared disagreein issues to be published from Aug. 28 through
ments between Seabolt and Stereotypd staff
Sept. 25. But neither Stereotypd’s September
has left both sides feeling burned by the other.
issue nor OnQ’s August or September issues
Seabolt said his claims can be supported by
were ever published.
documentation,much of which has been examAn OnQ contract with Blue Ridge Pride,
ined by Q-Notes.He said he intended to take
provided by Yount, shows the group was suplegal action against Out in the Carolinas
posed to pay $262.50 on several dates.A total
Publishing.
of $525 — two payments — was refunded to
“You really have been fed a lot of false
the group by Stereotypd.
claims by Porscha [Yount] that they can not
In a third unfulfilled contract, Seabolt col(sic) supported (sic) with documents,” Seabolt
lected a $200 payment from Columbia nightwrote in an email to this writer.“I wouldn’t
club H20 for three ads which were to run in
think it worth the risk to run her ‘gossip’ to try
OnQ Carolina’s Aug. 27 and Sept. 15 issues and
and make me look bad, which would result in
Stereotypd’s September issue.
Regent Media getting involved.”
Missed issues the norm?
Regent Entertainment Media, Inc., is a
Failure to produce
subsidiary of Here
issues of OnQ Carolina
Media, which owns
Edition, either in print or
and operates Gay.com,
electronic-only, seems to
The Advocate and Out
be the rule rather than the
magazine, among other
exception and points to a
products.
trend of inconsistent proSeabolt was named
duction and misleading
a Mr. Gay.com 2008
sales pitches.
Community Leader. In
Seabolt claims the
several emails to Qonly issues he missed
Notes, Seabolt claimed
were in January and that
he was a “Regent
electronic versions of his
Media property” as a
magazine were distribMr. Gay.com titleholduted to readers via email
er and insisted this
in February, March and
news article must be
April. Seabolt declined to
run through and
provide PDF files for the
approved by Regent
missing issues of OnQ.
Media’s legal team
“I see no point in
prior to publication.
sending all of my past
Seabolt said others
issues as it should
are attempting to make
have no involvement
him “look like the kind
in the article,” he
of person who does not
The cover of OnQ Carolina Edition’s
wrote in an email.
make
good.”
July 31 print issue. The magazine
The issue numbers of missed both its print issues in August
“I do make good,”
OnQ Carolina Edition’s
he said.“I’m a national
and the first in September.
publicly archived issues
community leader for a
— whether on Myspace.com, the publication’s
reason. It is not because I’m
website or on issuu.com — all run sequentialscandalous…Regent Media did their research,
ly from from one to 12.
too, and I still won my title.”
Past scrutiny
But both Yount and Orndorf feel they’ve
This summer’s recent string of events,
been the victim of a scam. Over time, Orndorf
including Seabolt’s breaches of contract, is not
became more uncomfortable with Seabolt’s
the first time Seabolt has come under scrutiny
business practices and tactics.
for alleged financial mismanagement, missed
“It gradually became clear to me that it
or late print issues or failure to fulfill his end
was much more like a Ponzi scheme than anyof agreements.
thing else,” she said.
Originally from West Virginia, Seabolt
Yount and Orndorf said the deal moved
started his first gay publication, GoGayGuy, in
too quickly. They didn’t have time to investiWest Virginia in 2003. Seabolt claims he opergate finances or draw up any legal paperwork.
ated six papers from 2003 to 2005, including
Seabolt insists he’s done nothing wrong,
the Pittsburgh-based Get Out Pittsburgh and
but said he’s often found himself in highly
Cleveland ROX.
controversial moments.
In December 2003, late payment to three
“Why do I always catch so much heat? I don’t
charities for which Seabolt held a fundraiser
really know,” he said.“I’ve been asking myself
came under scrutiny by the local press in
that for 28 years.Sometimes there are just probCharleston,W.Va. Seabolt said the reporter
lems in a community and sometimes it is easier
contacted him a day after the event and that
to just point fingers to the most visible person.
he’d yet had the time to cut checks. However,
“I’ve always made it my habit to be seen
Dec. 16 and Dec. 20 news articles show the
and be out there because it makes people feel
event ended Nov. 16.
more comfortable in being involved…but the
Seabolt was also accused of trademark
consequence is that you’re always the target. It
infringement in Pittsburgh. He has rejected
is easier to point fingers toward the person
the charges as false.
that everybody knows.” ◗
11
C O M M U N I T Y
Festival brings Pride to
the mountains
Blue Ridge Pride set for Oct. 10
signed up to attend the festival.
This year’s festival is a far cry from last
year’s organizing snafu, which almost resulted in the event’s cancellation. Formerly
known as Asheville Pride, Blue Ridge Pride
Organizers are gearing up for Asheville’s
rebranded and brought on new organizing
restructured Pride festival, set for National
committee members after founder Kali
Coming Out Day weekend.
Brewer allowed a major
On Oct. 10, LGBT community members in
sponsorship and the
the town and folks from surrounding rural
festival’s event space to
areas will make their way to
fall through at the last
the Blue Ridge Pride
minute. The new festival’s
Festival in downorganizers have also comtown Asheville’s
mitted to ensuring a
Martin Luther King,
greater depth of inclusion
Jr. Park. The event
and community involveruns Noon to 8 p.m.
ment than in years past.
Featured enterSponsors this year
tainers this year
include Value Place,
include Cantaria,
Homewood Event and
Asheville’s Gay Men’s Choir;
Conference Center, The
Now You See Them, a folk
If you go
Grove House, Tomato Jam
rock and alternative band;
Blue Ridge Pride
Cafe, Families Together,
Izzy and the Kesstronics, a
Oct. 10, Noon-8 p.m., Free.
Inc., PFLAG, City Real
surf, soul and swing band;
Martin Luther King, Jr. Park
Estate, Malaprops
Blondie tribute band Heart of
50 Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
Bookstore,Amanda
Glass; female impersonators
Asheville, NC
Miles-Greater, CPA, The
Natalie Productions; and
www.blueridgepride.com
Purple Pages, Unitarian
soul, funk and R&B band
Universalist Congregation
Boogie Hustlers.
of the Swannanoa Valley, Patton Counseling
The festival will also include vendors such
Services, Inc., R.O Franks Aviation Company,
as Equality North Carolina, The Purple Pages,
LLC, North Carolina Stage Company and Jack’s
several LGBT-affirming churches and LGBT
Boxes, among others. ◗
non-profits. So far, almost 50 vendors have
Legal seminar covers
important topics
Lesbian attorney presents
‘Gay Law 101’
In America,the law is supposed to offer equal
protection to all citizens.For LGBT individuals
and couple alike,the law is often an enemy.
The majority of LGBT couples don’t have
equal access to civil marriage. In some states,
including North Carolina, LGBT employees
aren’t protected from discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation or gender-identity.
LGBT parents find it difficult to navigate
adoption statutes and procedures.
Charlotte attorney Connie Vetter plans on
helping community members answer some of
the challenging legal questions affecting their
daily lives. On Oct. 15, she’ll present “Gay Law
101” at the Lesbian & Gay Community Center
in Charlotte.
“It is going to be a bit of a potpourri with
a little bit on a lot of different things,” she
said.“We’ll talk about doing wills and healthcare power of attorney agreements, give an
update on adoptions and in particular second
parent adoptions.”
Vetter’s colleague, Chris Connely, will be
present to talk about criminal issues, especially those affecting gay men.
“I imagine we’ll also touch on gay marriage,” Vetter said.“We get a lot of that in my
12
office. Questions about what that means in
North Carolina.”
North Carolina does not recognize marriage
between same-sex couples and has a statute
specifically banning such recognition. The state
doesn’t have a constitutional amendment
addressing the topic.
That’s good news for couples entering into
joint healthcare power of attorney agreements
and wills. In some states with constitutional
amendments defining marriage, some challenges have been filed claiming joint power of
attorney agreements can’t be recognized.
“I’m not aware of any problems people
have had in North Carolina,” Vetter said.
The “Gay Law 101” presentation isn’t
meant to be an in-depth study of the law, the
attorney said, but she’ll try to give an overview
of as many topics as she can. She also wants to
leave time for a question and answer period.
She said her Oct. 15 presentation will be
of benefit to a wide range of people, but that
it will specifically focus on gay and lesbians
and couples.
“It really is such a short amount of time,”
Vetter said.“I’ve done full seminars just on
transgender issues.”
The program will be held Oct. 15, 7 p.m.8:30 p.m. at the Lesbian & Gay Community
Center of Charlotte, 820 Hamilton St., Suite
B11. For more information, visit
www.gaycharlotte.com or www.cjvlaw.com. ◗
A C T I V S M
The NoH8NC.com website.
Netroots activism in Wilmington
tracks course of hate crime
Operators combine on-the-ground
action with online advocacy
Whether it be the 2008 elections, the
debate of healthcare reform or organizing
after the passage of California’s Prop. 8, the
internet, blogs and various social networking
sites have reshaped the political and social
fabric of America.
Activists in Wilmington are taking the
model to new heights, as they track the course
of a criminal case stemming from a July antigay hate crime and organize on the street for
change.At NoH8NC.com, Ryan Burris and
other LGBT advocates are combining the
power of the pen with the 24-hour, 365-dayper-year reach of the internet.
In late July, University of North CarolinaWilmngton alumni Chaz Housand and Chet
Saunders were walking home from a downtown bar when they were attacked by three
men. Media coverage of the event was sparse
at first. The local daily ran a feature and then
attention seemed to fade away.
Media attention soon returned when
Burris and his friends started publishing
updates on the three accused assailants and
organizing morning rush hour demonstrations.Writers on the site have provided original research, including a look into the past
criminal records of the three accused.
Burris told Q-Notes he hopes the site
and activism help to unite the Wilmington
community.
“I’d like to get a group together that incorporates all the groups together,” he said.“I’d
like to have something that unifies and brings
something together.”
He said the site and his friends are
focusing their attention on the July hate
crime and Safer Communities Act, a bill
that would expand North Carolina’s hate
crimes law to include attacks motivated by
sexual orientation, gender-identity, gender
and disability.
“Our short term goal for now is to continue with the protests. The obvious long
term goal would be to get the Safer
Communities Act to pass legislation,” Burris
told UNC-Wilmington’s student newspaper,
The Seahawk.
So far, the group has held two protests —
one on Aug. 24 and another on Sept. 10. ◗
info: NoH8NC.com
13
P O L I T I C S
Election ’09: Races to watch
Openly gay candidates in Raleigh, Chapel Hill and progressive candidates elsewhere
Mark Kleinschmidt, Chapel Hill Mayor
For eight years, Mark Kleinschmidt has
served on the Chapel Hill Town Council.An
attorney by day, Kleinschmidt has stepped up
as an advocate for local citizens and constituents across the state.
Running for mayor
wasn’t on the top of
Kleinschmidt’s agenda
until longtime Chapel
Hill Mayor Kevin Foy
decided to step down
after this term.
“I’ve been very
pleased to have worked with our soon to be
former Mayor Kevin Foy,” Kleinschmidt said.
“He’s been a wonderful leader for our community. I was surprised he wasn’t running again. I
would have been happy to continue serving
with him on the council.”
Foy’s departure leaves a void in local
leadership.
“We’ve come to a crossroads and we have
to determine what kind of leadership we want
in our community,” he said.
Kleinschmidt believes he’s got what it takes
to fill Foy’s big shoes.“With my experience as
both an advocate for employee rights and social
justice and the financial health of our community,and my experience being considered a bridge
builder and intermediary on the council,I
believe I’m the best candidate to replace Kevin.”
If elected, Kleinschmidt would become the
state’s third openly gay mayor. Chapel Hill
would become the state’s largest local municipality with an openly gay executive. The candidate doesn’t think his sexual orientation will
have any impact on his campaign.
“It hasn’t been an issue,” he said.“I don’t
think it has made a difference. My community
values diversity and understands the contributions I bring to the table.”
Recently, one of Kleinschmidt’s opponents,
Kevin Wolff, was accused of asking constituents if they’d vote for him if they knew he
was the only “moral” candidate.Wolff has
denied the accusations and said “mayoral,” not
“moral,” was the word used in his campaign’s
over-the-telephone poll.
Races for Chapel Hill Town Council and
mayoral position are non-partisan.
Kleinschmidt faces three opponents and
believes his chances are looking good.
“It will be quite a fight and we still have
five or six weeks to convince people that I’m
the best choice,” he said.
Kleinschmidt is the only mayoral candidate who has applied for and qualified as a
“voter owned candidate.” He was able to solicit
a total of 150 individual small contributions
from registered voters in Chapel Hill. He’ll
receive public campaign funding.
He said the public campaign finance program is a great way to involve all voters in
local elections.
“This program has invited support from a
lot of people who generally don’t see themselves as very important to the electoral
process,” he said.“Under any other financing
scheme, they wouldn’t be able to participate at
an amount that was significant enough, but
even a $5 check was significant enough for me
to be able to qualify for public financing.”
Kleinschmidt hopes he’ll get a chance to
14
lead his town through tough financial times.
He said he has the experience to get his fellow
townspeople through “what will be a challenging year ahead.”
Born in Belleville,Ill.,Kleinschmidt moved
to Goldsboro,N.C.,when he was 10 years old.He
has served on several non-profit boards including the North Carolina chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union,the International Network
of Lesbian and Gay Officials,the state
Democratic Party and Equality North Carolina.
He received his bachelor’s and law degrees from
the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.In
the 1990s,he was a social studies teacher at
Charlotte’s West Mecklenburg High School.
Chapel Hill voters head to the polls on
Nov. 3.
Lee Sartain, Raleigh City Council
It is an unfortunate reality, but off-year elections rarely see high turnouts.At most, 10 percent of registered voters will make it out to the
polls. Charlotte’s recent primary only garnered
a mere 4.3 percent of registered voters — less
than the 5-6 percent election officials had
expected. It is a reality that makes local politicking challenging for candidates, their campaigns, political observers and astute citizens.
Lee Sartain, an openly gay city council
candidate in Raleigh, wishes more coverage
would be devoted to local elections by TV
news stations.
“It is always a frustration we have,” he said.
“We would all sort of
like it better if news
channels would wise up
and start covering us.”
Sartain, 28, has gotten plenty of attention in
the local press, especially for his idea for a
downtown “Raleigh Innovation and Technology
Zone.” And he is reaching out to neighborhoods
with traditionally high turnout.
He told Q-Notes he thinks his chances
are good.
“We’re getting a lot of traction based on
the ideas of the campaign,” he said.“We’ve got
something that resonates with the voters we
reach out to.”
At a candidates forum on Sept.10,Sartain
said he was kept an hour-and-a-half after its
close by citizens and possible future constituents.
Despite interest from citizens,one incumbent city
council person didn’t even bother to show up.
“That says a lot to the people in Raleigh,”
Sartain said.
In Charlotte, LGBT issues have been
extremely important to local community
members. The Queen City does not offer
domestic partner benefits and has yet to add
sexual orientation or gender-identity to its
non-discrimination policies. Raleigh, however,
added sexual orientation to their policies years
ago. Partner benefits remain uncompleted.
“It is an issue that is brought up every election year,” Sartain said.“Nothing ever seems to
get done. I don’t really have that on my radar
at the moment. I think we want to see what
the Obama administration can get done
nationally with healthcare and then look at the
costs and considerations.”
Sartain, a N.C. State University alumnus,
has not spent much time discussing his sexual
orientation, although he isn’t hiding it.
P O L I T I C S
“I’m not particularly keen on being called
the ‘gay candidate,’” Sartain said in a Q-Notes
interview in June. In 2009, he said, a gay person can be “just a candidate” and focus on
issues that impact the lives of all citizens.
Sartain has been endorsed by the Raleigh
Police Benevolence Association and is waiting
on further endorsement decisions from other
local groups, The Independent Weekly, and The
News & Observer.
Raleigh citizens head to the polls on Oct. 6.
Click on to Q-Notes.com for updates.
Other progressive candidates
Donald Hughes — Durham — Only 22
years old, Hughes is likely the youngest candidate for any local office across North Carolina
this year.Although he’s never held public
office before, he has plenty of political experience. He served as the University of North
Carolina-Greensboro’s student body president,
was a pledged delegate for Barack Obama and
interned for Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC). His mother is a former Durham City Council member
and former school board member. He is favorable on LGBT issues.
www.hughes4durham.com.
Jay Ovittore — Greensboro — A one-time
U.S.House candidate,Ovittore is running for the
District 3 seat on the Greensboro City Council.He
has been supportive of every major LGBT-inclusive advance in the city,including non-discrimination policies and domestic partner benefits.
www.jayovittore.org.
Gordon Smith — Asheville — A
blogger/citizen journalist and progressive
Democratic activist, Smith is running for a seat
on the Asheville City Council. He has been vocal
about his support for LGBT equality. In July,
addressing the issue of domestic partnerships,
Smith wrote,“The gay and lesbian citizens of
Asheville deserve equal recognition and equal
benefits. To deny these benefits is to relegate gay
and lesbian couples to second-class status.We
all know that Asheville is a gay-friendly city, and
our city government ought to reflect our com-
mitment to honoring the civil rights of all our
citizens.” Smith faces a primary on Oct. 6.
Watch Q-Notes.com for updates.
www.gordonforasheville.com. ◗
15
16
Fall decor
page 19
How Bayard changed Carolina
Arrested in Chapel Hill, Bayard Rustin sparked a revolution
n a week’s time, thousands of LGBT and straight ally community members
will gather in Washington, D.C., for Equality Across America’s National
Equality March. They hope their march, rally, training sessions and other
activities will inspire a new wave of grassroots activism in all 435
Congressional districts across the nation.
They have big shoes to fill, living and working in the legacy of Bayard
Rustin, an openly gay assistant to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the deputy
director of the famed 1963 March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom.
Rustin was more than an activist for African-American rights and equality. Like any true progressive, he championed the rights of the working class
and stood up as a conscientious objector against the drafts of World War II
and Vietnam.
His life’s work landed him in an awful lot of trouble. He butted heads with
other African-American and progressive leaders. He fought tooth and nail to
live his life honestly and openly, despite attempts to closet him. He worked
closely with King and may well have taught the non-violent leader many of the
organizing principles that would land King an eternal place among our nation’s
most treasured leaders and visionaries.
Like other revolutionaries of his time, Rustin wasn’t afraid to put his body
and life on the line. He served jail time for organizing against the draft and for
breaking segregation laws.And it was in Chapel Hill, N.C., where Rustin took a
stand and forever changed our state.
In 1947, Rustin found himself working with the Fellowship of
Reconciliation and organizing the first “Freedom Rides” through the South.
Leaving Washington, D.C., in April, the Journey of Reconciliation took 16 white
and black activists through Virginia and North Carolina.Along the way, they
challenged segregation laws preventing African-Americans from sitting in the
front of buses. One of their stops was small town Chapel Hill.
“Liberal.” That’s the word that pops into many folks’ minds when they think
of the tiny college town made famous by its landmark state university.
Longtime North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms once called the city a zoo and suggested fencing it off. But the Chapel Hill we know today is a far cry from the
town that existed in the Jim Crow-era South.
Three days after their journey began, Rustin and and five other colleagues
— totaling three white, three black — attempted sitting together at the front of
a Chapel Hill bus. The driver refused to carry them as passengers and forcibly
removed them from the vehicle. Rustin and three of his fellow activists were
arrested for violating local segregation laws.
They soon posted bail and were released. Charles Jones, a white pastor and
a Fellowship of Reconciliation supporter, welcomed the riders in his nearby
home. For a while, they had peace. But white taxi drivers who’d witnessed the
events in downtown Chapel Hill made their way to Jones’ home.
According to writer Jerald E. Podair, the taxi driver mob threw rocks
through windows and threatened to burn the house down. They might have
been successful if not for the arrival of town police and a group of white university students. Rustin and his fellow journeymen made their way to safety in
Greensboro, nearly an hour away.
Rustin was ultimately convicted of violating the segregation laws and was
sentenced to 22 days hard labor on a prison chain gang in Roxboro, N.C.
Unsurprisingly, none of the white taxi drivers were ever arrested or charged.
After the grueling, inhumane sentence, the Journey for Reconciliation continued.When Rustin returned to his home in New York City, he penned
“Twenty Two Days on a Chain Gang,” a report to the Fellowship which was later
Bayard Rustin with Cleveland Robinson, chair of the 1963 March on Washington Administrative Committee.
published
by the New York Post and Baltimore Afro-American. The article
Photo Credit: Public domain, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division and New York World-Telegram and
the Sun. Orlando Fernandez, photographer.
see Rustin on 18
I
next issue
October 17, 2009
Country living
A new gay mecca?
Rural homes with Southern charm
Chapel Hill beckons gay tourists
www.q-notes.com/qliving • QNotes
Q - L I V I N G
‘Laramie Project’
in the Carolinas
This year marks the 10th anniversary of
the groundbreaking play,“The Laramie
Project,” and over 100 theatres across the
country will join in remembering the life of
Matthew Shepard and the legacy of the play.
“Laramie Project” creators, Tectonic
Theatre, will debut their 10-year epilogue
revisiting the real life story and town on Oct.
12. Four Carolinas theatres are among those
nationwide staging the play.
Burning Coal Theater Company • Raleigh
www.burningcoal.org
919-834-4001
Edge Theatre • Charlotte
www.theedgetheatre.org
Paper Lantern Company • Winston-Salem
www.paperlanterntheatre.com
336-721-1310
Pure Theatre • Charleston
www.puretheatre.org
843-723-4444
For more information, visit call or visit the
websites of each theatre company.
Rustin sparked a revolution
from page 17
prompted outrage and backlash for North
Carolina’s prison officials.With no other
choice but reform, officials abolished their system of convict labor.
Rustin would go on to work with famed
advocate A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther
King, Jr. and other progressive leaders. He
would travel the globe, working for non-violent change through civil disobedience.
Even into his 70s, Rustin continued
his push for radical change. In 1984, he
was arrested during a demonstration at
Yale University, where he sided with
striking clerical workers. In 1987, Rustin,
75, passed away after returning from a
mission in Haiti.
What would North Carolina look
like without Rustin’s visionary leadership? Exactly how long would the antiquated chain gang and prison labor
system continue to operate without his
“Twenty Two” days report? Would the
progress of Civil Rights advances have
been different without the Journey of
Reconciliation’s stop in Chapel Hill?
What does the story of our state’s
racist, oppressive past say about our
tendency and willingness to gloss over
our history with the oft-repeated meme
that we were a racially tolerant state?
These are all questions that are interesting and at the same time unanswerThe Sept. 6, 1963 cover of LIFE magazine, with able. History is often a good teacher. So,
we’re faced with questions that do have
activists A. Phillip Randolph, left, and Bayard
answers.What have we learned from
Rustin, right.
Photo Credit: Life magazine, Rustin? What can we continue to learn
photographer Leonard Mccombe. from him? ◗
18
Q - L I V I N G
Fall decor trends feature rustic charm with
homespun elegance
The air is becoming crisp, colors are changing and cozy
sweaters are starting to make their way back into your
wardrobe’s rotation. Autumn has arrived and its natural
beauty shines radiantly to warm the heart
and inspire fresh crafting ideas.
Halloween and Thanksgiving
are just around the corner!
“This fall season,
warm colors, rich
textures and creative details stand
out,” says Susan
Atchison, manager
of trend development for Jo-Ann
Fabric and Craft
Stores. “Interest in
homemade crafts
and do-it-yourself
decorating projects
has never been
stronger.”
Clever crafts can
help to create an
autumn atmosphere that
is simply elegant or pure fun
for the family. When thinking about
your fall DIY projects, try some of these ideas
to capture your creative spirit when decorating your home
or planning your next festive get-together:
Fabulous fall decor with versatility and value
Start by decorating your table with exceptionally affordable wool felt. Available in plenty of mix-and-match
autumn colors, felt can be sewn, glued, colored or cut —
the sky is the limit.
One easy option that provides a beautiful visual presen-
tation is to cut out shapes on a felt cloth. For example,
draw scattered maple leaves all over two different colors of
felt and cut out the pieces. Layer the two felt squares
together on your table for a windblown,
just-fallen look.
What to do with the felt leaves
you just cut out? Create a harvest-themed wreath with a
classic yet contemporary
look. Decorate an18inch grapevine wreath
with miniature lights,
felt leaves and any
other favorite fall items
you have around your
house or yard.
Classic adornments
with surprising
details
Need a great fall
centerpiece? Rethink the
classic pumpkin and try
decorating with unique
embellishments. For a beautiful
fall-themed pumpkin, choose
gold-toned wire and bend to create
fun leaves and vines, attaching to the
pumpkin’s top. If you’re looking for a Halloween
theme, decorate the face of the pumpkin with masks
and feathers to create different characters like a witch,
owl or masquerader.
One way to save money and create a cherished piece
of decor you can use year after year is to decorate a
reusable pumpkin like Fun-Kins. These light artificial
pumpkins are easy to work with and sure to become
wonderful works of art.
Fall food made fantastically fun
Food is a must at any fall gathering. When the temperature cools, many of us are turning on our ovens to bake
delightful must-taste treats. Rich and decadent brownies
are tantalizing no matter what, but how about taking
them a step further? Serve them kabob-style with marshmallows, fruit and a drizzle of icing to make them irresistible. Arrange on a tray for a beautiful presentation and
watch them disappear in minutes.
If you’re looking for a dessert with a theme, use
uniquely shaped silicone baking pans. Try baking brownies in a jack-o’-lantern muffin pan. After they cool, pop
them out, turn over and decorate their faces.
Double your fun with
homemade costumes
If a costume party is in your future, you’ll need something fun that stands out. The homemade costume is officially back and allows your creativity to shine. Brainstorm
with your child to figure out what you both want to be for
Halloween and then hit up a craft store to get the necessary supplies. What’s the newest trend for costumes? Twoin-one options that have the ability to quickly convert from
one character to the next.
For example, a sparkling dress can serve as the base for
both an astronaut and a robot. With simple accessories
and removable changes, your little girl can attend one
party as a robot and then zoom off to another as an astronaut. Plus, this is a fun alternative to traditional girls’ costumes without losing the glitz. Reversible options also work
for double-duty costumes. For example, try keeping one
side of a cape black so you can be a witch and the other
side gold. Add a feathered boa and you can become a
queen in an instant.
For more information and to get supplies for creating
homemade fall projects, visit www.Joann.com. ◗
— Courtesy of ARAcontent
19
Q - L I V I N G
Dazzle your guests with holiday etiquette tips 101
You’ve spent the entire day cooking the perfect holiday
feast. But it’s an hour before your guests arrive and you find
yourself standing in front of the table, listening to a little
nagging voice in your head.
Does the knife go on the left, fork on the right, or is it
the other way around? Is that centerpiece too tall? Should I
go ahead and put food on table before guests arrive or do I
wait until everyone gets here?
If you can’t answer those questions, don’t feel alone. In
today’s eat-on-the-run world, you’re not the only one to
flunk holiday etiquette.
“Table manners have become a lost art,” says etiquette
expert Jill Slatter. “Think back 15 or 20 years ago, families
gathered every evening for a proper meal. But these days
we’re all stretched so thin juggling work, school and
home, most folks don’t have time to sit down together, so
when holidays roll around no one’s sure what to do at a
formal meal.”
Slatter is an etiquette coach at the Greensboro, N.C.based Replacements, Ltd., touted as the world’s largest
supplier of old and new china, silver, crystal and collectibles. Gay-owned and consistently named one of the
most gay-friendly businesses in the Carolinas, the company
is bombarded with questions this time of year from folks
looking for a crash course in proper manners and table settings. Based on the most frequently asked questions,
Slatter offers this quick holiday etiquette 101 to give you
insight that will dazzle your guests.
Set the perfect table
• Forks to the left, knives and spoons to the right. Only set
out utensils that will be used for various courses. “If
you’re not serving soup or salad, you certainly don’t
want an extra spoon or fork in your place setting,”
Slatter says. “Not only will those get in the way, the extra
utensils may confuse your guests.”
• The bread plate goes on the left of the dinner plate,
glasses on the right.
20
• Wait to pour. Water glasses should be the only glasses
filled before your guests arrive. Iced tea, wine and other
beverages should be poured once everyone is seated.
Wine should be filled halfway, not to the rim.
• Salad and bread should be the only food on the table
when your guests arrive.
• Courses are generally served in the following order in the
United States: appetizer, soup, salad, main course, dessert.
Are you the hostess with the mostest?
• Remember, the hostess always sits last.
• Unscented candles are a great part of holiday decor, but
should only be lit during the evening. “Another thing
to keep in mind, flickering candles are more than a distraction, those can cause headaches,” warns Slatter.
“That’s why you never want to place burning candles
directly in front of your guest and make sure you situate the flame below eye level.”
• Centerpiece too tall? Sure those flowers you spent
hours arranging are pretty, but will only get in the way
if your guests have to crane their necks to look at each
other. Make sure your guests can see over any table
adornments.
• Passing isn’t just in football. Always pass food around
the table counter clockwise to the right and refrain
from serving yourself first. Always pass the salt and pepper as a set, even if you’re only asked for one.
Be a gracious guest
• Avoid the smear. Female guests should blot their lips
before sitting down at the table. This will keep you from
getting lipstick stains on linen napkins or glassware.
• Wait for the signal. Your host will let you know when it’s
okay to begin eating. They may make a prayer or statement or start by passing a dish.
• If you’re not sure which utensil to use with each course,
start on the outside and work in toward the plate.
• If you need to excuse yourself temporarily, gently place
your napkin in your chair.
• Signify you’re finished with the meal by placing napkin to
the left of the dinner plate and your fork and knife side by
side diagonally across your plate with the sharp side of
the knife blade facing inward and the fork tines down.
“One of the most panicked questions we hear concerns what to do if you accidently break a piece of the
host’s dinnerware,” adds Slatter. “You should certainly
offer to replace the broken piece especially if it has sentimental value for the host or hostess.”
Slatter says don’t lose hope if your host doesn’t know
the name of the pattern or the manufacturer — you can
always take advantage of Replacements’ free pattern identification service.
If you’re still in doubt about holiday etiquette 101, a
cheat sheet is just a mouse click away. You can find place
setting guides outlining the correct layout for all meals at
www.replacements.com, under the site’s “neat things” tab.
With these tips in mind, you’re sure to throw the perfect
gathering. ◗
— Courtesy of ARAcontent
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
21
Q - L I V I N G
General Gayety
in his head. It unfolded
that the Congressman
had been a bad cyberby Leslie Robinson . Contributing Writer
space boy for years.
In one exchange a
teen told him he was
wearing shorts and Foley
You remember Mark Foley. How could you
responded he’d “love to slip them off” and
forget him? It was just three years ago that the
“grab the one-eyed snake.” When Foley directed
Republican Congressman from Florida
him to “take it out,” the high school student left
resigned over the salacious instant messages
the computer because “my mom is yelling.”
he’d sent male teenagers who were former
Had she known what was happening, she
Congressional pages. The dude was disturbed.
would’ve downright bellowed.
Now he’s been given a radio show. If it flies,
In 2003, while the House was voting on a
this will be a resurrection the likes of which
war appropriations bill, Foley stepped away and
hasn’t been seen since Jesus. Foley, in addition
had internet sex with an 18-year-old former
to being a wreck himself, managed to offend or
page. I wonder how that affected his vote?
embarrass everyone from gays to Republicans
After the scandal broke, people debated
to gay Republicans.
whether the disgraced Congressman was a
His new political talk radio show is called
pedophile, an ephebophile (sexually attracted to
“Inside the Mind of Mark Foley.”
older adolescents and teenagers) or a “-phile”to
I swear on a stack of pancakes I thought
be named later. I remember an expert’s conthat was a joke.
tention that Foley wanted to get caught, another
Who would want to get into his mind? Not
gust in his head. So was the fact that he chaired
long ago it was the site of competing blustery
the House caucus on missing and exploited chilstorms smashing against each other. He didn’t
dren and fought for tough laws against those
need a therapist, he needed The Weather
who use the internet to exploit children sexually.
Channel.
Is this really a mind anyone wants to get
For starters, Foley was a gay man in a lifeinto? The winds blowing in there were strong
long closet. Even as his homosexuality was a
enough to flatten Florida.
badly kept secret, the Congressman stayed resAfter he resigned, we immediately learned of
olutely mum about it.While campaigning for a
two more forces billowing inside Foley. He bee
U.S. Senate seat in 2003, Foley was increasingly
lined it to a rehab center for alcoholism treatouted in the media. He responded by calling a
ment and his attorney announced that a priest
press conference where he said his orientation
had molested Foley when he was a teenager.
wasn’t important; he also denounced the
But, hey, three years have passed. Maybe the
rumors as “revolting and unforgivable.”
ill winds are now just anemic puffs.
Revolting to be called gay? I guess if you’ve
It was Foley who approached WSVU in
spent your life guarding the truth like Fort Knox.
North Palm Beach with the idea for the show.
Foley grew up Catholic, was a Republican in
The former Congressman is working for free
a conservative state and may’ve been just old
and there’s even talk of syndicating “Inside the
enough to miss out on gay freedom. I can strain
Mind of Mark Foley.”
myself and cut him some slack there. But not for
I take it back. Some people should go into
the obvious fact that he stayed closeted for polithis mind: psychiatrists and documentary filmical gain.And, maybe, he couldn’t bear to give up
makers. For the rest of us, the place should be
the Palm Beach parties and fundraisers.
off limits as a hurricane zone. ◗
Now to the emails and IMs that got him in
info: LesRobinsn@aol.com . www.GeneralGayety.com
trouble and were another ugly weather system
Inside whose mind?
On Being a Gay Parent
the next generation.
Photographs
can
also be used
by Brett Webb-Mitchell . Contributing Writer
for sending a purposeful message.
For example, with
the recent death of
If the pithy phrase “A picture is worth ten
Sen. Edward Kennedy, the public saw beautifulthousand words”— or as Napolean once said “a
good sketch is better than a long speech”— is
ly photographed images of the entire clan, with
true, then volumes have been spoken in recent
young Teddy on father Joseph’s lap. These
years in capturing what a family looks like. This
images were not by happenstance: they were
is especially true since the invention of the camcarefully orchestrated by Joseph Kennedy. Joe
era, and now the cell phone, that allows us to
used the images to show the world how
capture images of family members, historical
healthy, normal, and beautiful his family is, so
events, and clips for “America’s Funniest Videos.”
that in later years these images could be used
What a picture,a photograph,an image,paintto show-off how much they were the paradiging,or sketch conveys is what we want the world
matic family in Protestant America.
to see and note about us.Photographs can be
The power of photographs for remembering
used for us to freeze in time a moment we don’t
who and whose we are, as well as sending out a
want to forget,knowing that in years to come the
message about our families is very much in play
image will bring up memories that we thought
these days as we find ourselves consumed by the
were long gone.For example,this past summer I
issues of marriage equality, domestic partnertook my grown children with me to Oregon to
ships, adoption, and non-discrimination in the
visit my parents,who are both in their 80s.To capworkplace.As I move among websites, cable
ture and commemorate the moment,high on my
news television shows and their commercials,
“things to do list”was taking photos of my entire
and read the newspapers, I am aware there is a
family,children and parents together,smiling,and
“war of photos”going on around us, and they
enjoying each others company.We now treasure
are powerful images. People against marriage
great photos from that time,a moment captured
and domestic partnerships for LGBTQ people
see Gay Parent on 24
in a few photographs that can be passed down to
Photographs
22
23
Q - L I V I N G
Tell Trinity
by Trinity . Contributing Writer
perfect mate. I know this
is it and I’m ready to propose marriage. But, when
is it time to stop dating
and start proposing?
Finally Found It,
Milwaukee, Wisc.
Hello Finally Found It,
Once upon a time in the small town of
Dating, just outside the big city of Marriage, a
man wrote the queen asking,“When is it time
to move to Marriage? The queen replied,
“What, are you crazy for wanting to leave
Dating? Your rent’s cheap and Marriage is full
of troubles!” So, the man patiently thought
until one day he simply knew it was time to
move to Marriage, no matter what the queen
said, and so will you, sweetie!
Hey Trinity,
I have no luck with sex or relationships. I have
no time for dating. And, the world is filled with
diseases. That’s why I’m choosing celibacy. But,
my friends think these are the wrong reasons. Do
you think I’m wrong?
Celibate Decisions, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Hey Celibate Decisions,
Not only do I think these are the wrong reasons to hide behind celibacy instead of working
on your sexual issues, but, darling here are also:
Trinity’s Unreasonable Reasons (And
Tips) For Being Celibate
1.“I have no genitals.” (But, you still can enjoy
someone else’s.)
2.“The genitals I have don’t work.” (I repeat,
“You still can enjoy someone else’s.”)
3.“I found God.” (But, there are plenty of sects
without celibate clergy.)
4.“I was saving myself for the perfect mate
and now I’m too old.” (But, don’t you want to
reach adolescents some time in your life?)
5.“I’m afraid of sex and have very low self
esteem.” (But, with a good therapist you’ll
be “shagging” in no time.)
6.“I’m hideously unattractive.” (Ugly people
can have great sex too.)
7. “I’m grotesquely deformed.” (OK, you
got me!)
8.“I’ve never had sex so why start?” (Well,
what the hell are you waiting for?)
9.“I’m afraid of diseases.” (But, safe sex also
means great sex.)
10. Lastly,“I have no luck or time for sex.”
(Honey, if Edison had that attitude we’d
have no lights!) ◗
— With a Masters of Divinity, Reverend Trinity
was host of “Spiritually Speaking,” a weekly
radio drama, and now performs globally.
info: www.telltrinity.com . Trinity@telltrinity.com
Tell Trinity, P.O. Box 23861 . Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33307
Sponsored by: Provincetown Business Guild
800-637-8696 . www.ptown.org
Marriage: Don’t kill him, just get
a divorce
Dear Trinity,
My niece is getting married and I want to give
her some advice. But, I’ve never been married.
What would you tell her about marriage and
maintaining a relationship before she says,“I do”?
Marriage Advice, New Haven, Conn.
Dear Marriage Advice,
Getting married is like moving into an old
house.It will need constant fixing,refining and
never should it be left alone for too long.It will
need to be treated romantically,reminded of its
worth and a good renegotiation now and then is
a must.Yet,a marriage also needs respect,communication and understanding,in that order.
What it doesn’t need is nagging reminders of
what happened 10 years ago.So,pumpkin,to
maintain a marriage,take breaks alone,vacations
together and to quote Court TV,“ If everything
goes wrong don’t kill him,just get a divorce!”
Dearest Trinity,
After seven years of being fat and celibate, I
lost a lot of weight and finally want to try sex
again. I get propositioned at clubs to “spend the
night,” but I feel odd using someone for sex. Are
one-night stands wrong?
Feeling Odd, Washington, D.C.
Dearest Feeling Odd,
Sometimes, we just have to let go and forget
what’s right, pure and holy. Sometimes we just
have to open our minds to dangerous flirting,
wild dancing and one-night stands.Yes, sometimes, honey, we have to hit the clubs on a
Saturday night and let the fever take us home
with a stranger and show us what lust is all
about. If John Travolta can why not you? (I can
show you how in my cartoon.)
Hello Trinity,
After dating for many years, I finally found the
Gay parent
from page 22
are using an advertisement with a heterosexual
couple embracing each other and talking about
the fear that their children will be hurt for life
when reading stories in first grade like “And
Tango Makes Three.”
Of course, the couple is correct: images presented before us shape how we see, hear, understand, and feel about large parts of our lives,
past, present, and future. Funny thing: I
remember “Dick and Jane” books from first
grade and their heterosexual parents, with their
dog, Spot. I simply do not remember a book
24
with “Jane and Jane” with their gay dads and
their cat, Rex, yet I know my family is normal
too, just like “Dick and Jane’s.”
All of these images remind me of how much
we need to share not only our written stories,
but especially a photograph book about our
families, like “Love Makes a Family,” as well as
see and show our families on television shows
and YouTube. The more images of our families
are “out”like us, the better the chance others will
get the clear message, very much like Joe
Kennedy did with the Kennedy family portraits:
we are vibrant, beautiful, healthy and normal
families. just like you, heterosexual America! ◗
Q - L I V I N G
Out in the Stars
by Charlene Lichtenstein
Oct. 3-16
Sometimes we are lucky in love. Other times we
can catch a break at work. But, in the recent past,
we might have been stuck in neutral. Now is the
time to pull into overdrive. Expansive and lucky
Jupiter redirects in Aqueerius and any restriction
suddenly releases.Whew. Now take it to the limit.
LIBRA (09.24-10.23) If there ever was a time
for you to try a game of chance, this might be
the time. Take calculated risks. Proud Libras
don’t know where to turn first for fun and frolic. The difficulty you could face is one of prioritizing. Which delightful event is the one that is
worth the effort? Soon you are in a better position to maximize every encounter. For now, just
keep dancing.
SCORPIO (10.24-11.22) Home begins to feel
more like a haven and center of calm. So, do what
you can to make your domestic surroundings
more comfortable and beautiful. Maybe that
means moving some furniture around. Or, maybe
you need to do something more dramatic.
Whatever. It is a good time for any change as it
places you where you need to be to launch your
next successful attack.
SAGITTARIUS(11.23-12.22) Chatty,honest gay
Archers can use their gift of gab to move mountains and effect change — lucky and necessary
change! Find ways to get your opinion across.You
gain foot holds in new powerful circles if you can
harness your ability to communicate effectively.
How about writing for a blog or paper? But,
please stay away from horoscopes. I don’t need
the competition.
CAPRICORN (12.23-01.20) Money will seem
to flow toward you rather than seep away from
you now. See how much you can catch and save in
your tub before it all evaporates. Rampant acquisition is the mantra, so how can you resist? And,
yet, there will be some pink Caps who realize that
all that glitters is not gold.But,there will be so few
of them that we can ignore their nattering.
AQUARIUS (01.21-02.19) Anything new and
refreshing,whether it involves people,places,projects or even a stray gesture, will prove to be luckily timed and productive. Put ideas into motion
now.Reach out and build bridges while you can do
so effectively. Wave your flag where it will be seen
and gather up the troops. Before you know it you
will learn a few new maneuvers.Anyone we know?
PISCES (02.20-03.20) Guppies who have the
ability to channel the spirits or harness the power of
their third eye will gain the advantage. You see
opportunistic things before anyone else. Unfolding
events that have been simmering in the back-
ground, pop up and
give you an incredible
. Contributing Writer leg up on the competition. Don’t sit back
and contemplate your navel.Concentrate and make
your best moves.
ARIES (03.21-04.20) Get back into the social
swing.Gay Rams who have been feeling left out of
the festivities and the machinations of the inner
circle are now enticed back.You can even call the
shots and run the show if you want. But, maybe
you should lie back and let the group dynamic
waft you aloft on a cloud of good vibes rather
than bossing the course. Relax and enjoy.
TAURUS (04.21-05.21) Over the past few
months you might have felt that your career
progress was stalled as opportunities evaporated. Current projects were stuck in the mud. Now
you can breath easier and recapture some of the
past corporate glory.Queer Bulls should put their
shoulder to the wheel and their nose to the
grindstone. Uncomfortable? Yes, but you will be
very successful!
GEMINI (05.22-06.21) Travel proves to be lucky
as this time period progresses. So, pink Twins with
itchy feet can happily scratch them in foreign lands.
Plan to expand your horizons in any way that you
can. There are places to go and people to see who
figure prominently in some of your ambitious
future plans.If money or time is tight,expand your
tastes closer to home. Chinese food anyone?
CANCER (06.22-07.23) Gay Crabs become very
lucky in love now. Make the most of this zest in
any interaction you have. Not only can you attract
anyone you want, you are generally irresistable
and sexy. Turn up the heat and see who gravitates
to your flame. This is also a good time to delve
into finances with an eye to advising and managing others’ largess. Reap rewards with interest.
LEO (07.24-08.23) You can gain great advantage in any important relationship, but instead of
taking charge, calmly approach liaisons with a
spirit of cooperation and laissez faire. Proud
Lions who know how to schmooze and flatter can
pour it on and get what they need. But, be choosy.
You can catch more flies with honey than with
vinegar which is great if you want to catch flies.
VIRGO (08.24-09.23) Queer Virgins are full of
vim and vigor. Perfect timing! Make use of your
extra firepower and energy in a range of beneficial ways. One way is at work. It just so happens
that you have loads of small tasks to handle and
dispatch. Another way is in your overall health
regime.Are you as fit and toned as you should be?
Drop the donut and grab the granola, pal. ◗
© 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.
25
Q - L I V I N G
Out and About . compiled by Q-Notes staff
Events and happenings across the Carolinas
Community Centers
Charlotte Lesbian & Gay
Community Center
704-333-0144
www.gaycharlotte.com
Harriet Hancock Center
803-771-7713
www.scpride.org
OutWilmington
910-762-4717
www.outwilmington.com
The Center Project
843-626-4953
www.thecenterproject.com
Don’t Miss This
Oct. 17 • Raleigh
Center kickoff
Raleigh is coming out!
Join community members as they
celebrate the launch of the new
LGBT Community Center of
Raleigh. Free and live entertainment with beer, wine and food.
Moore Square, 2 Blount St.
5 p.m.-9 p.m. Free.
www.lgbtcenterofraleigh.com.
Upcoming Events:
Oct. 3-Oct. 18 • Charlotte
‘Sordid Lives’
The “black comedy about white trash” returns to the
Queen City.After a sold out run in 2007, Queen City
Theatre Company brings one more time to Charlotte a
cult classic! Duke Energy Theatre, 345 N. College St.
Various times. $12-$24. www.queencitytheatre.com.
Oct. 10 • Asheville
Blue Ridge Pride
Live entertainment, vendors, food, drinks and more
await you in this liberal oasis of the North Carolina
mountains. Join Blue Ridge Pride for their annual celebration of community. Martin Luther King Park,
50 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Noon- 8 p.m. Free.
www.blueridgepride.com.
Oct. 10 • Charlotte
Yadkin Valley Harvest Festival
Charlotte NC Tours, a new gay-owned company in
Charlotte’s South End, will host an expedition to the
Yadkin Valley Harvest Festival, visiting four of the
Yadkin Valley’s finest wineries. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. For more
information about the trip call 704-942-5098 or visit
www.charlottenctours.com.
Oct. 10 • Winston-Salem
Coming Out Day social
PFLAG Winston-Salem celebrates National Coming
Out Day with a fall picnic and social. Drinks, hot dogs
and hamburgers, plus bring your own side dish.
Bolton Park, Bolton St. and Silas Creek Pkwy.
4 p.m.-7 p.m. Free. Register online at
www.pflagwinstonsalem.org.
Out Parade
Can’t make it to the National Equality March in
Washington? Don’t worry ‚ local activists are planning
a sidewalk parade through downtown Charlotte.
Details are still being ironed out. Get more information at outparade.blogspot.com.
Oct. 14 • Greensboro
GGF Granting Ceremony
The Guilford Green Foundation hosts its annual
Granting Ceremony honoring programs and organizations receiving grant funds this year. Studio B, 520 S.
Elm St. 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Free. www.ggfnc.org.
Oct. 14 • Wake Forest
Seminar: Moving in
Triangle Community Works’“SeminarWorks” presents
a free panel discussion on the facts and myths of
domestic partnership and jointly buying or owning a
home. Panel will include attorney Jeffrey G. Marsocci,
realtor Tim McBayer, mortgage planner Tammi Rowe,
financial advisor Damon Yudichak, financial advisor
Bobby Hilburn, insurance agent Kathleen Marsocci
and home inspector Jonathan Goad. Event is free but
RSVP is required by 5 p.m., Oct. 12 to Deana at 919844-7993. St. Ives Clubhouse, 505 Capellan St.
7 p.m. www.tcworks.org.
Gay Law 101
Attorney Connie Vetter presents a free seminar on a
variety of important legal topics for LGBT individuals
and couples, including Wills and Health Care Powers
of Attorney,Adoptions, Gay Marriage, Name Changes,
Employment, and Police Stings in the Parks, etc. Come
learn how the law affects gays and lesbians in North
Carolina. Lesbian & Gay Community Center of
Charlotte, 820 Hamilton St., Suite B11. 7 p.m. Free.
www.cjvlaw.com. www.gaycharlotte.com.
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.
Reduced Shakespeare
Nov. 14 • Greensboro
The Blumenthal Center’s Education Institute has partnered with local sketch comedy troupe, Robot
Johnson, and CPCC’s Theatre Department to provide a
workshop on sketch comedy theatre.You will learn
how to create a sketch scene using your own story line
and then perform in front of a real live audience.
Participants will also have the opportunity to win two
tickets to see America’s best loved comedy troupe:
Reduced Shakespeare Co.: The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare coming to the Booth Playhouse
Oct. 27-Nov. 1.All participants will receive a voucher
to redeem for the purchase of a discounted ticket to
the show. Offer valid so long as tickets are available.
Must RSVP at www.blumenthalcenter.org/workshops.
Peace Auditorium, Central Piedmont Community
College, 1201 Elizabeth Ave. 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Free.
Candidates’ reception
MeckPAC and the Charlotte Business Guild will host a
joint Uptown LGBT Monthly Social and Charlotte can-
26
didates’ reception at the Lesbian & Gay Community
Center of Charlotte, 820 Hamilton St., Suite B11. 5:30
p.m.-7 p.m. Free. www.charlottebusinessguild.com.
www.meckpac.org.
ENC Conference and Gala
Equality North Carolina will hold its third annual
statewide conference and gala in Greensboro.
Registrations for both the conference at UNCGreensboro and the evening gala at the downtown
Empire Room are now open and Equality NC is currently seeking sponsors. For more information, visit
www.equalitync.org. Stay tuned to Q-Notes for more
details on this event and more. ◗
info: Announce your community event in Out & About.
email: outandabout@q-notes.com.
Submit your events online
You can submit your event listings online.Visit
www.q-notes.com/qguide/events/submit/ and
fill out the form and your event will appear in
our event listings online and in print! It really is
that easy!
Drag Rag
by Miss Della
Contributing Writer
Pageant nation!
I’ll start off with a big ole
Howdeeeeeeeeeee! to honor the likes of Minnie
Pearl from the “Hee Haw”days. If you grew
around these parts, I don’t have to go any further.
I’m back from Chicago and with Continental
tea, and I’m pleased as punch with the results.
My good sister Armani from back in the day
won and I could not be any happier for the gal. I
remember judging her when she won Miss
Krash when it was still in Queens, NYC and I
think she’ll be a phenomenal Miss Continental.
Armani’s runners-up were Mokha Montrese,
Naysha Lopez, Kym Moore and Aurora Sexton
(who looked like a baby Mimi Marks — gorgeous!) Others in the Top 13 this year included
Tiffany McCray (1st RU at Elite in April),
Tiffany Hunter, Rachel Mykels,Alyssa Edwards,
Sunni Deelite, Chantel DeMarco, Kourtney P.
Van Wales, and a stunning newcomer, Gizelle
Barbie Royale. Preliminary awards went to
Armani for Interview, Mokha won Talent,
Naysha won Swimsuit and Sunni won Gown.
Producers Awards went to Jim DeMundo, Dana
Douglas (on her 24th anniversary of winning
Miss Continental) and Jeanette Valentino. That
same weekend, Christopher Iman (a former Mr.
NC Continental) won Mr. Continental.
As we go to press, 12 contestants have
shown up for Miss NC America.We’ll talk all
about it in the next Rag.And speaking of Miss
America prelims, I can’t tell you how much I
enjoyed being with our reigning Miss,Victoria
DePaula, when she was in town for Miss MidEast. Promoter Mike Rhinehart had all kinds of
entertainers in town for ‘the function,’ including Shawn Tyler Andrews,Angelica Dust,
Jessica Jade, former MGA Luscious, former
MGA Dominique Sanchez, former MGA Maya
Montana and former MGA Rachael Erikks.
Tatiyanna Voché ended up winning and her RU
is China Collins. Best wishes to both these fine
impersonators at MGA this fall. Other prelim
qualifiers include Miss FL Monica Mohr with
RU Jelitza Fearce, Miss Western States Saché
Van Cartier, Miss TX Onyx and RU Trecenia St.
James, Miss Central States Nikki Stevens, Miss
Tri-States Deja Brooks, Miss IL Mariah Candy,
Miss La. Cassidy St. James, Miss Arkansas
Christina Saxton and Miss TN Anita Cocktail.
On the local level, there have been two more
prelims to Miss NC U.S.ofA. Brooke Divine tells
me at Wilmington, her sister Ebony Addams
was looking better than ever and wants to compete again in an entertainer’s contest (that
would allow a sex-change to compete, of
course). Doug McAlister had his 17th anniversary Miss Cosmopolitan at Night Owls recently
and London Dior won that with RU Jayda Clyne
from Minnesota. The next prelim will be at
Hairspray in Asheville on Oct. 8. Brooke was
also just in North Augusta, Ga., to relinquish her
title of Miss Augusta II, which Petite de Jonville
oversees. Brandonna Dupree won and her RUs
were Malaysia Black and Lauren Alexander.
As for myself, I’m planning a trip to
Indianapolis to be with my junior high sister
Tajma Hall as she relinquishes her second
national title of Miss U.S.ofA. at Large and I’ve
been spending quality time with my good sister Jessica Raye and her husband Nick as they
are in town on a work assignment. In fact, we
just got in from destroying a buffet earlier. See
you sometime soon as I go around sniffing out
pageants and dark-skinned honeys. ◗
info: Drop me a line, OK? . TheTeaMissD@yahoo.com
27
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q-notes.com

Transcription

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