Cover Stories
If not for the fact that we are all undressed, this could be any mixer I’ve ever been to. It occurs to me how comfortable I have become with my own naked body in such a short period of time. It’s one of those wonderful “a-ha” moments.
This year’s Just Twirl Christmas party, Twirl to the World, is the third time the company will gear up for the holidays with a special celebration meant to to do just that. From gifts for needy to children and housing and heat for the poor, Twirl to the World and those who attend the event with donations in-hand will make a real difference.
Their motto is “Forged in fire, from the ashes we rise,” and Mel Dixon, Mecca Kerr, Samantha Mercer and Diana Nutter are bound and determined to make a positive impact.
Karen Mosteller does not have breast cancer. In fact, she never has. But, it’s a different story for many of her close friends. “We were younger then,” Mosteller says, recounting memories of two friends diagnosed with breast cancer just weeks apart over a decade ago. “We were all taken aback. They were both healthy and exercised and did all the right things. They ate well, they took walks — all the things you were supposed to be doing.”
Voters will head to the polls on May 8, 2012, to vote on an anti-LGBT constitutional amendment that will ban marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. The measure, “Amendment One,” could also have dire consequences for scores of unmarried opposite-sex couples.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that men having sex with men (MSM) account for just four percent of the U.S. male population aged 13 and older, yet the rate of new HIV diagnoses among MSM is more than 44 times that of other men and more than 40 times that of women. In the rural Appalachian Mountains and foothills of Northwestern North Carolina, a few additional statistics caught the attention of local AIDS service organization, the AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance (ALFA). In 2010, a shocking 90 percent of new clients came into medical care with an AIDS diagnosis and almost 70 percent of the clients self-identified their risk factor as men who have sex with men.
It’s not uncommon to see LGBT people involved in art. We are, after all, a creative bunch. Take just a quick glance at the art world: in every genre, we’re there. And, you can’t really have a good art school without some gays, can you? Ron Crider, Charles Easley and Richard Withem have each worked with the Art Institute (AI) of Charlotte or at other AI locations for several years. Each chairs a particular program area, having worked their way up from faculty. In all, four of the school’s seven programs find these three gay men at their helm.
Be sure to pick up a copy of qnotes’ Aug. 20, 2011, print issue — on newsstands now! It includes our annual QGuide, an LGBT Carolina Resource Guide. Just in time for Pride Charlotte, this resource guide is a comprehensive directory of LGBT non-profit groups and resources, AIDS service organizations, LGBT-friendly faith institutions and nightlife.
For a second year, QNotes is reporting on the financial health and well-being of a host of community non-profit organizations. The data and other information has been collected from the paper’s second annual Community Assessment Survey, a tool designed to gauge community organizations’ financial health and measure their commitment to transparency. This year’s survey responses, however, are less than appealing — more than half of the groups asked to participate declined.
North Carolina has a proud history. We’ve also produced some legendary, iconic and fab-n-famous people. Below are just a sampling — perhaps some you might not have heard of before.
Beginning in May and through mid-June, qnotes readers had the chance to submit their ballots in a contest judging their favorite bars and clubs, restaurants and eateries, coffee shops and cafés, community organizations and leaders and more. After hundreds of submitted ballots, our readers have spoken! We present this year’s QList, Best of LGBT Carolina — Readers’ Pick.
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.
South Carolina Black Gay Pride | June 24-26, 2011 Join other LGBT people of color and allies for South Carolina’s annual black LGBT Pride festival in Columbia. Attracting a couple thousand people each year, SC Black Gay Pride events feature forums, a festival, parties and more. Various events, locations and [...]
“This isn’t a luxury trip,” J.D. Lewis cautions. In July, Lewis and his sons — 13-year-old Jackson and 8-year-old Buck — will depart for a year-long journey hopping from nation to nation as they visit 12 different cities across the globe. In each, they’ll assist in humanitarian work ranging from issues like famine and poverty to healthcare and education.
The story of QNotes’ history is about more than its own achievements; it’s about the community — the people, places and pride of the past 25 years of Carolinas history. People like community leader and QNotes’ first editor Don King, whose Closet Buster Productions helped to herald new eras of LGBT awareness and public engagement in Charlotte. Places like Charlotte’s Lesbian & Gay Community Center or Raleigh’s LGBT Center and the decades long push for community organizing for spaces to call all our own. Pride, like the series of statewide and local Pride festivals and parades that have grown and spread like wild kudzu across the state since 1981.
Out lesbian and former Christian music star will perform a this year’s FemmeFest. Photo Credit: Eye Photography. As a booking agent for The Evening Muse, Lea Pritchard worked very hard to bring in a diverse collection of artists and musicians. After noticing a female presence in each of the bands [...]
While it would be difficult to overstate the importance of AIDS Walk fundraisers in the battle against HIV and AIDS, the events themselves couldn’t be much simpler.
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.
Spring is returning! Finally! With it comes the change to get out in the garden, clean out the house or put it on the market. qnotes has you covered! Best home improvements for your renovation dollars Five tips for a faster sale in 2011 Attaining the perfect patio in 48 [...]
Brace yourselves, Charlotte, for the biggest, baddest and best GayCharlotte Film Festival yet! The Lesbian & Gay Community Center has partnered up with several local sponsors to bring the hottest LGBT films to hit the screens this year — so many, in fact, that organizers had to make some tough choices this year.
