Archive for June, 2011
Parties and revelry will abound this weekend as Charlotte’s fabulous kings and queens head out for nights on the town in anticipation and celebration of Independence Day! Check out these events below, just a small, small sampling of all the great activity this weekend. 11th Annual Plaza Midwood 4th of [...]
Advocates from an array of LGBT community organizations in North and South Carolina attended the White House’s Pride Month reception on Wednesday with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden.
Yesterday, Wachovia Bank, the once-Charlotte-based bank now owned by Wells Fargo, sent a Twitter message in support of Pride Month and the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network: What other large Charlotte-based companies or those with large Charlotte presences have you seen sending messages of support for Pride Month? Let us [...]
The LGBT community and its allies across the country reacted positively to news of last Friday’s passage of a marriage equality bill in the Republican-controlled New York Senate. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law late Friday night; marriages for same-sex couples will become legal on July 24. That [...]
Current Senior Deputy City Attorney Bob Hagemann has been named the new city attorney and will take his post following current City Attorney Mac McCarley’s departure at the end of December. Hagemann will come into his position following years of work by his supervisor and soon-to-be predecessor, whose legal opinions have often been the source of frustration for LGBT community members.
An Associated Press report filed late today outlines the state of marriage equality after New York’s extension of equality to same-sex couples this weekend. Two states, Minnesota and North Carolina, are primed to become the focus areas for campaigns to limit LGBT couples’ rights through state constitutional amendments banning marriage. [...]
FOX Charlotte reported Saturday on the anti-LGBT constitutional amendment before the North Carolina Senate and House: via FOX Charlotte…
Organizers of the first Salisbury Pride event say it was a success, with turnout being higher than expected. That’s despite the vocal anti-gay opposition that turned out in droves and surprised even police officials. The Salisbury Post reports that only one citation was issued during the event. A 74-year-old Pride [...]
Homophobia, harassment and isolation aren’t reserved to the realm of youth. Older LGBTs, too, experience much of the same prejudice. Les Geller, a member of the LGBT Center of Raleigh’s board of directors and co-chair of its Gay & Gray Initiative, says older LGBTs from the baby boom-era, like the rest of the country, are standing at a crossroads. As the nation ages, so do its LGBT seniors and many are facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles in healthcare and housing.
The NC Pride Fest and Parade has had their federal tax-exempt status revoked by the Internal Revenue Service more than a year after it was first revealed the group was out of compliance with IRS rules governing annual non-profit tax filings. Efforts to reach the director of the NC Pride Fest and Parade had proven more than difficult for qnotes and other community members, even as the organization and its signature Pride event faces an uncertain future.
Patricia Harris has lived in Durham for 20 years. First a social worker and educational planner, Harris returned to school years ago to receive training as an architect. In all her years in the Bull City, she’s already left a positive legacy, serving on the committee to draft the city’s 2020 master plan and on the zoning board.
Everyone needs to plan for the future, both for the known and expected events, and the unwanted and unplanned ones. LGBT folks have an additional burden, since we lack many of the legal protections other citizens have.
Two North Carolina students have been chosen among 34 young adults across the nation for inclusion in this year’s Point Scholar Class. The youth each receive high-profile scholarships through the Point Foundation, a non-profit group which provides financial support, leadership training, mentoring and hope to LGBT individuals who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
Summer is here. What do you plan to do this year? A major vacation or low-key staycation? A weekend getaway to the mountains or beach? Major vacation out of town. Weekend getaway. Staycation with a back-yard BBQ. A few lazy days here and there. Vacation? You’re crazy. I’ve got work [...]
Part of me would love to think that this month’s earlier mishap with an open mic in a closed-door North Carolina House Republican caucus meeting was intentional — a smart political ploy to bring attention to some GOP initiative or send a sneaky message to the governor and other Democratic foes. Unfortunately, I just don’t think this state’s Republican legislative leadership is that intelligent.
At the start of June, citizens of Richmond, Va., noticed an addition to the flagpole outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Underneath the American flag waved a rainbow flag. The two banners, Old Glory and Newish Pride-y, flapped in the breeze.
Over the past two years, many state and local jurisdictions have enacted laws making discrimination against trans individuals illegal. That’s the good news. The bad news is that those who would prefer to keep discrimination alive and kicking (not hard to figure out who these people are) have a new tactic; well, not really new, but one they’ve taken to exploiting as fully as possible. It’s the kind of effort one might describe as extreme, yet as many on the religious right have become desperate as they continue to lose the battle over hearts and minds. And we all know desperation foreshadows crazy tactics.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced June 15 the creation of a first-ever resource center to support the resettlement of LGBT refugees. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of ACF, awarded a $250,000 grant to the Heartland Alliance of Chicago to create this training and technical assistance center.
North Carolina organizations confronted issues of homosexuality, “ex-gay” reparative therapies and religion recently. Exodus International’s “Reality of Grace” conference was June 8-11 near Black Mountain. In Asheville, organizers with the No Exodus Project hosted national and local speakers to counter the “ex-gay” comference and discuss the harm of religion-based discrimination, the “ex-gay” industry and more.
Mountain Area Health Education Center and TransHealth Coordinators are teaming up to bring the first of its kind Southeastern Transgender Health Summit-2012 to this progressive mountain town during August 2012.
