Editor’s Note
I find myself in a frustrating situation when putting together my thoughts for this issue. While you won’t pick up this copy until May 12 at the earliest, the reality is that the paper will go to print on May 7. I want to write about the results of the vote on May 8, I just can’t foresee the future no matter how hard I try.
This is it! Our last issue of qnotes’ 25th anniversary and what a year it has been. It has been a pleasure to come into the paper at the end of this feat and I look forward to moving into the paper’s 26th year of publication.
By the time you read this, I sincerely hope that you are registered to vote in North Carolina if you are a citizen of the state. If you have not registered to vote, then you have lost your opportunity to formally speak out against Amendment One on May 8.
What happened to winter? After living in South Carolina for the past 10 years, I was so excited at the prospect of a white winter for a change.
The 2012 Human Rights Campaign (HRC) North Carolina Gala was a night filled with speeches from advocates working for the rights of LGBT people across the country and fighting against discriminatory legislation in North Carolina. For me, one of the most stirring speeches of the evening came from CNN anchor Don Lemon who was presented with the HRC’s Visibility Award.
In February both JC Penney and Macy’s came under fire from the organization One Million Moms, a project of the American Family Association, (judging from their Facebook profile they appear to more accurately be 10,000 maniacs) for their public support of the LGBT community.
On May 8, 2012 the citizens of North Carolina will have an opportunity to vote on an issue that will make a statement to the rest of the country about our views on what defines a marriage.
While thinking about my first submission for qnotes, I began to review the many different types of “firsts” that have happened in my life.
Friends, this is my last issue as editor of qnotes, a position I’ve had the honor and humble privilege to hold now for nearly four-and-a-half years. As you read, my time with the paper has already come to an end.
Three… two… one… Happy New Year! Yes, it’s time for well wishes, resolutions and new beginnings. I do it. You do it. We all partake in the annual wish-making and dreaming that is New Year. With a new calendar comes hopes for change, progress and success. And, as much as we each wish better for ourselves, here’s to new hopes that our community and world experiences better days as well.
Despite this year’s litany of successes, our community experienced loss. No year-end wrap up would be complete without pausing in remembrance of those friends, family and loved ones who passed this year.
Santa Claus is coming to town! And, he’s bringing switches and lumps of coal for some of the state’s meanest and most heartless anti-gay villains. At the same time, there’s plenty of folks in need of rewarding. No doubt, sugarplums and other delicious treats will await them in their stockings Christmas morn.
N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis has, for the most part, been a statesman and spoken, at least publicly, with respect, care and diligence, especially on LGBT issues. Yet he is wrong on one important issue: Despite his claims to the contrary, marriage is a constitutional right.
Tar Heels across the state reacted in myriad ways to state Sen. James Forrester’s death in October. For LGBT families and their children, news of Forrester’s passing came as a relief. Many said as much, as did I. “Good riddance, bigot,” I noted on Twitter, and for good reason.
In the 1980s, one would have been hard-pressed to find objective or positive news coverage of LGBT people in mainstream media. Newspapers, TV stations, magazines and other outlets primarily remained agents of oppression, often painting LGBT people as sick or depraved — especially so during the early years of the AIDS Crisis. The 21st Century offers new and exciting changes, including QNotes’ new partnership with The Charlotte Observer’s Charlotte News Alliance.
Asheville’s “We Do” Campaign is a perfect example of grassroots, non-violent direct action, highlighting in real time the effects of discrimination upon its victims. But, in order to ensure defeat of the proposed anti-LGBT state constitutional amendment, we should each keep in mind what will be of best benefit to the entire movement
Twenty-four hours – that’s just about the amount of time it took Republican leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly to push through a drastic and draconian revision to our state’s constitution. They’re hasty consideration of the anti-LGBT constitutional amendment circumvented a true public hearing on the bill and betrayed Republicans’ utter disrespect for their hallowed chambers, the law and the people of this great state.
You can’t stop Pride. Don’t even try. Human dignity and determination of spirit can’t be overshadowed by hate and prejudice. That’s exactly the message sent by the thousands who attended Pride Charlotte on Aug. 27, the same day hundreds of anti-gay protesters from Charlotte’s radical, religious right made a show of desperate force in an effort to stymie progress and turn back the clock on LGBT equality.
In the past few years, and especially after the election of incumbent Democratic Mayor Anthony Foxx, Charlotte has seen substantial changes in the way LGBT citizens and residents are treated and recognized by city government. Some elected officials and candidates, however, still seem to lack basic knowledge and awareness of issues important to the local LGBT community.
The unfortunate truth is that there are people in and around Charlotte who, despite their stated goals, seek not to unite, but rather break apart communities. These folks, motivated by a “life-or-death” mission, seek to push LGBT people back into the closet and even into the grave — both literally and figuratively. Perhaps the most well-known are now-convicted stalker and street preacher Flip Benham and professional anti-gay malcontent Dr. Michael Brown of Concord’s FIRE Church and FIRE School of Ministry.
