Guest Commentary
One of the big challenges for caring and thoughtful North Carolinians in light of the General Assembly’s decision to place a constitutional amendment on next May’s primary ballot that purports to “define marriage” is: What in the heck should the proposal be called?
I appreciate and can understand editor Matt Comer’s views as expressed in his Nov. 12 Editor’s Note. However, I wish he had called on me to clarify my comment or at least ask why I had called on people to be thankful for his service.
As of September 20, 2011, the discriminatory law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ceased to exist. No longer will patriotic gay and lesbian Americans need to hide who they are in order to serve the country they love.
Darryn entered the foster care system as an abused and frightened child. By the time he was 16, he was struggling with new fears and painful misconceptions about his sexual orientation. Fortunately, his foster mother treated him with unconditional love, creating an environment in which he could heal and feel free to explore his identity. The sense of self that his foster mother nurtured in him through her warmth and respect helped him emerge a strong, confident adult. Darryn’s experience shows how a foster family can change a life.
If I were in church I would say I want to testify, but since this will be read by a broad audience, I would like to share a bit about the role QNotes has played in our work within community and encourage everyone who can to take another look at why it is so critical to support QNotes.
To end discrimination-based sexual orientation and gender identity in the American workforce, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community must work together for the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill that would provide job protection based on employees’ sexual orientation or gender identity in both the public and private sector workforce.
With the Democratic National Convention, with its significant inclusion of LGBT officials coming to Charlotte in 2012, it is time for the Charlotte LGBT community to be more visible in putting forward demands for LGBT inclusion and better treatment by both the party organization and the city government.
Janice Covington discusses drag history, importance of inclusion: “The art of drag is a very serious part of the LGBT community,” she writes. “Being a drag queen makes you a member of a unique family that many others, either straight or LGBT, don’t understand.”
While we have come to expect pathetic behavior periodically from Bill James, what was perhaps equally disconcerting was the feeble response by the default party of conscience, the Democratic majority on the county commission.
President Obama created a stir last month when he reiterated that while he doesn’t support gay marriage, he still struggles with the issue. He said his views are “constantly evolving.” In the Republican Party, the fracture over issues concerning homosexual individuals revealed itself more clearly in the vote for repeal [...]
After reading Dr. Michael Brown’s guest commentary, “Setting the record straight” (Dec. 25, 2010), it is not surprising he still clings to the notions of “lifestyles” when espousing his convictions and judgments against the LGBT. He does deny comparing homosexuality to pedophiles, but goes on to justify this comparison. Just as I wouldn’t compare someone who uses fire to cook or heat with an arsonist, we shouldn’t compare homosexuals to pedophiles. Using an extreme to enable criticism of a group is not only being unfairly judgmental, but denies fundamental facts of humanity that show Dr. Brown’s doctorate is definitely not in biology.
In a recent editorial, Matt Comer says I supposedly compare “homosexuality to child rape” and that I “paint gay people in the same light as child rapists.” Is this true? God forbid! Dr. Michael Brown responds to Comer’s “A Prayer for Michael Brown.”
The statistics are scary. In places like Washington, D.C., and 19 of the largest U.S. cities, the facts and figures take on new meaning, as more and more people contract HIV and are left to live with the disease, the cultural and institutional stigma and health disparities.
by Mark Wisniewski, Charlotte, N.C. [Ed. Note — An edited version of this commentary was printed in The Charlotte Observer on Aug. 15. The longer, unabridged version was also submitted to qnotes and is reprinted below. Since the piece’s submission, the Visit Charlotte website has corrected some of the mistakes [...]
by Hilda L. Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor It’s been 17 years since Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) — groundbreaking legislation that allows parents to take unpaid time off from work to care for their children. Since then, thanks in large measure to technology, work has [...]
Four of the five anti-gay resolutions presented at the Special Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina were easily passed by the clergy and lay delegates on Oct. 23. The fifth resolution, a condescending bit of triteness, resolved “not to condone prejudice or deny the dignity of any person, [...]
by Beth Sherouse, Columbia, S.C. Since movement veteran Cleve Jones announced plans for a national gay rights march on Washington following the passage of California’s Prop. 8 last November, reactions from the LGBT community have been mixed. Supporters of October’s National Equality March are adopting a grassroots lobbying strategy, demanding [...]
We are all equal, but some of us are more equal than others. That’s the fundamental assertion of inequality at the heart of that classic novel “Animal Farm,” by George Orwell. “All animals are equal,” the pigs declare, “but some animals are more equal than others.” So the pigs, who [...]
by Matthew L. Adams, Greenville, N.C Have we become too gay? Almost every gay male role in the movies and on television is portrayed as stereotypically feminine. When did men who like to sleep with other men be so feminine? Everyone’s personality is different and that’s what makes our world [...]
by Janice Covington, Charlotte, N.C. Prostitution is on the rise in our community, especially among our transgender brothers and sisters. Some say that participation in prostitution for a transgender person or a gay man hustling is the easy way out. I beg to differ. The primary reason for participating in [...]
