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Matt Comer

Sex in the park?

April 2, 2011 in Cover Stories by Matt Comer

If Charlotte news station WBTV or Republican Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James were your only sources of information, you’d likely be led to believe the Queen City has a significant problem with men engaging in illegal sexual activities in the city’s and county’s public parks. Fortunately, real journalism uncovers hard numbers — facts backed up by police records — that show an astonishingly low rate of arrests for men soliciting so-called crimes against nature in public places.

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Leah Cagle

No strings attached

April 2, 2011 in A&E / Life&Style by Leah Cagle

As bright-eyed young people, we all had questions about life, love and how the world works. So, we turned to the influences we trust most in life — our parents, our friends and, perhaps, most memorably, our TV programs. But, what happens when we cross over that inevitable border into adulthood? Who is there to answer the difficult questions we encounter them then? Often, just as the most pressing questions of adulthood emerge, the advising panel disappears. Well, lucky for us, our answer may have just pulled into town.

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David Stout

Liz Taylor mourned by AIDS activists

April 2, 2011 in News by David Stout

The world lost a fierce HIV/AIDS advocate with the March 23 death of actress Elizabeth Taylor. The Oscar-winning beauty launched a second career as an AIDS activist in 1985 when she organized AIDS Project Los Angeles’s first “Commitment to Life” event, which would go on to become the biggest AIDS fundraiser in history.

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Matt Comer

Stomp 2011 celebrates anniversary

April 2, 2011 in A&E / Life&Style by Matt Comer

Charlotte’s LGBT Country Western dancing and social group is celebrating 20 years this year and their annual Queen City Stomp — slated for April 15-17 — is set once again to raise much-needed funds for area non-profits.

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QNotes Staff

What will you do to defeat the anti-gay amendment?

April 2, 2011 in QPoll by QNotes Staff

{democracy:68}

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Matt Comer

Marching backward to the beat of a despotic drum

April 2, 2011 in Editor's Note by Matt Comer

Back in December, Vice President Joe Biden said “there’s an inevitability for a national consensus on gay marriage.” It is a theme has been repeated often enough in days of late. There’s plenty of evidence to support such a hypothesis.

The word is out

April 2, 2011 in General Gayety by Leslie Robinson

At Wayne State University in Detroit, the Word Warriors wave the banner on behalf of the English language’s neglected words. Last year the Warriors released a list of words they hoped to rescue from disuse. As the obliging type, I wanted to assist the restoration effort. So, I tested all 15 words to see if they fit snugly with my LGBT subject matter.

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Leah Cagle

Coming out ally

April 2, 2011 in Editorial by Leah Cagle

I should probably start out with a confession — throughout my youth, my attitude towards the LGBT community was little more than a formulaic result of a traditional Southern Baptist upbringing in small town Hendersonville, N.C., and a unanimously-dedicated Republican family.

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Robbi Cohn

Marriage equality or bust?

April 2, 2011 in T-Notes by Robbi Cohn

I don’t expect this to be the most popular column I’ve ever written. In fact, this will probably be deemed contentious and recalcitrant. I know how important the issue of marriage equality is to many within the gay and lesbian communities. You may have wondered why some of your trans friends are turning their collective backs regarding this issue. It’s not that we don’t support the general agenda of equal rights. We do. And, it isn’t that spousal equality doesn’t affect trans individuals. It does.

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David Stout

Fort Worth settles gay bar-police debacle

April 2, 2011 in Beyond the Carolinas by David Stout

Chad Gibson and George Armstrong, two Fort Worth, Texas, men who were injured during a police “inspection” of the Rainbow Lounge nearly two years ago, received a $400,000 settlement from the Fort Worth City Council on March 23. Plus: Civil unions bill introduced in Delaware, DOMA news, gay giving for Japan, and more.

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Lainey Millen

House of Mercy to hold AIDS Walk

April 2, 2011 in Carolinas News Notes by Lainey Millen

Get those walking shoes out and hit the streets for the 20th Anniversary Walk for AIDS to benefit the House of Mercy on April 9, beginning at 10 a.m. at 101 Mercy Dr., at the stone shelter on the campus.

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Lainey Millen

Triangle: N.C. State student film gains notice

April 2, 2011 in Carolinas News Notes by Lainey Millen

An upcoming graduate of North Carolina State University, Will Lamb embarked on creating a documentary that highlights the school’s LGBT and ally communities. Although this might not seem too remarkable, it is so for him since he is an ROTC scholar. Following his graduation in May, he’ll head to the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a commissioned officer.

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Lainey Millen

Charlotte guild to host theater owner

April 2, 2011 in Carolinas News Notes by Lainey Millen

The Charlotte Business Guild will bring in J.D. Lewis, owner of the Actor’s Lab of Charlotte and Los Angeles, to its monthly meeting on April 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Lesbian & Gay Community Center, 820 Hamilton St.

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Lainey Millen

Western: ALFA Hike slated to raise funds

April 2, 2011 in Carolinas News Notes by Lainey Millen

ALFA’s annual Hike for Hope to benefit those affected by HIV/AIDS will be held on April 16 at Catawba Meadows Park along the Catawba River Greenway.

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David Stout

The music scene onscreen

April 2, 2011 in Audiophile by David Stout

Music and movies are indelibly linked. So much so, in fact, that the first feature-length talkie was “The Jazz Singer”— the story of a Jewish cantor who defies his family’s religious heritage to perform popular music.

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Trinity

How long is too long for the first kiss

April 2, 2011 in Tell Trinity by Trinity

A reader from Atlanta, Ga., asks, “I’m openly gay and seeing a closeted guy for a couple of weeks. He hasn’t even kissed me yet. Am I wasting my time?”

Out in the Stars: April 2-15

April 2, 2011 in Out in the Stars by Charlene Lichtenstein

We can fall head over heels for just another pretty face, especially when Neptune enters Pisces and conjuncts Venus. Will it be just another fling once the dust settles or will it be something much more? Let’s guess.