Qnotes issue, January 6, 2023

qnotescarolinas.com twitter.com/qnotescarolinas facebook.com/qnotescarolinas instagram.com/qnotescarolinas

contributors this issue

inside this issue

feature

a mentorship program is helping first gen college students and grads succeed

Remembering those we lost in 2022

Welcome 2023!

Mission:

The focus of QNotes is to serve the LGBTQ and straight ally communities of the Charlotte region, North Carolina and beyond, by featuring arts, entertainment, news and views content in print and online that directly enlightens, informs and engages the readers about LGBTQ life and social justice issues.

Pride Publishing & Typesetting, Inc., dba Qnotes P.O. Box 221841, Charlotte, NC 28222 ph 704.531.9988 fx 704.531.1361

Publisher: Jim Yarbrough Sales: x201 adsales@qnotescarolinas.com

Nat’l Sales: Rivendell Media, ph 212.242.6863

Managing Editor: Jim Yarbrough, x201, editor@qnotescarolinas.com

Digital & Audience Engagement Editor: Chris Rudisill chrisrudisill@qnotecarolinas.com

Sr. Content Editor: David Aaron Moore, specialassignments@qnotescarolinas

Copy Editor: Bailey Sides

Production: Will Kimbrough, x205, production@qnotescarolinas.com

Printed on recycled paper.

Material in Qnotes is copyrighted by Pride Publishing & Typesetting © 2020 and may not be reproduced in any manner without written consent of the editor or publisher. Advertisers assume full responsibility — and therefore, all liability — for securing reprint permission for copyrighted text, photographs and illustrations or trademarks published in their ads. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, writers, cartoonists we publish is neither inferred nor implied. The appearance of names or photographs does not indicate the subject’s sexual orientation. Qnotes nor its publisher assumes liability for typographical error or omission, beyond offering to run a correction. Official editorial positions are expressed in staff editorials and editorial notations and are determined by editorial staff. The opinions of contributing writers and guest columnists do not necessarily represent the opinions of Qnotes or its staff. Qnotes accepts unsolicited editorial, but cannot take responsibility for its return. Editor reserves the right to accept and reject material as well as edit for clarity, brevity.

news life

MAGA Congressmanelect George Santos admits to some lies, ignores other questionable claims

New Durham Public Schools policy to support LGBTQ students wins accolades

substation shooting, federal regulator orders review of security standards

Charlotte Catholic School tries to wriggle out of responsibility for teacher’s firing

The Plus Collective opens 2023 grant cycle on January 9

Ukraine passes legislation banning LGBTQ+ hate speech in media

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control is over capacity with dogs

a&e

Our people

Former RAIN staffer Johnathan Wilson moves to the Mecklenburg County Health Department where he serves as Program Health Supervisor; advises readers to ‘find and immerse yourself in environments that allow you to be you.’

PAGE 19

Multiple members of the Qnotes production team talk about their hopes and ideas for the coming year. From losing weight, getting in shape and finding more me time to new ideas for content, presentation and creating your best creative environment.

PAGE 14

views events

Writers: Greg Childress, Pastor Emily Hartner, Stephan Horbelt, L’ Monique King, David Aaron Moore, Catherine Muccigrosso, Chris Rudisill, John Russell, Gregg Shapiro, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Daniel Villarreal, Robert Zullo

page Graphic Design by: Will Kimbrough Photography/Illustration: Screen Capture

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate on Twitter reaches unprecedented heights

Since Elon Musk takeover, other platforms considered as potential replacements

By Stephan Horbelt|Contributing Writer

To be fair, Twitter wasn’t exactly some bastion of LGBTQ+ safety and well-being before it was acquired by Elon Musk, but since the billionaire took over the social platform this past October, anti-LGBTQ+ hate has reached never-before-seen highs. While confronting hate and harassment on mainstream social platforms is nothing new for many Queer people, the current state of Twitter seems to be a different beast entirely. The Queer community has been caught in the crossfire of an imploding platform, and we’re finally forced to confront our own tech loyalties. Should LGBTQ+ people leave Twitter? If so, where will they go?

The facts around Twitter’s sharp uptick in hate speech are truly sobering.

As The New York Times reports based on findings from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the AntiDefamation League and other digital safety groups, the use of slurs against gay men on Twitter have risen from an average of 2,506 times per day to 3,964 times a day since Musk’s takeover. It’s also worth noting that LGBTQ+ people aren’t the only community bearing the brunt of increased hate speech on the platform; slurs against Jews and the Black community have also massively spiked.

Some of that hate speech can be attributed to a newfound sense of “anything goes” content standards on the platform. Musk, who claims to be a “free speech absolutist” has long been critical of Twitter’s policies monitoring hate speech, harassment and misinformation, publicly claiming he wished to do away with those policies altogether. Upon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the platform was flooded with content pushing the boundaries of what was previously unacceptable.

More hate speech came from a large number of re-platformed and new, previously disallowed accounts on Twitter. Not only have Islamic State accounts (regularly removed prior to Musk) flooded back onto the app, but QAnon accounts were able to pay for verified status, something that granted them a veneer of legitimate discourse.

High-profile personalities with track records of spreading hate – among them Donald Trump, Jordan Peterson and Kanye West – also contributed to an increase in hate speech (West most famously, though his account was later removed from the platform yet again). And lesser-known anti-LGBTQ+ figures, too, like James Lindsay, who refers to himself as “America’s top Christian nationalist” and regularly spouts transphobic talking points.

A separate report from Media Matters and GLAAD found that usage of the antiLGBTQ+ slur “groomer” has increased substantially since Musk’s takeover.

Specifically, the report names nine right-wing accounts (Tim Pool, Jack

who collectively saw a 1,200% increase in retweets of tweets containing the slur. It’s worth noting that on pre-Musk Twitter, the platform’s policies against hateful content did apply to the term “groomer” when it was used to reference trans people and the trans experience.

Twitter accounts of LGBTQ+ individuals, organizations and websites have also seen sharp increases in hateful rhetoric lobbed at them, particularly with mentions of the “groomer” slur. Media Matters notes one account (though doesn’t say which one) saw an increase of over 225,000% in the slur’s use against them.

With anti-LGBTQ+ violence on the rise in the United States, it is clear online discourse – including what transpires on Twitter – has real-world consequences.

So what’s wrong with “free speech”?

Massive social media platforms have existed for long enough that research on what follows lax moderation policies has been extensive, and the effects are wellknown (though perhaps not to Elon Musk). While “free speech absolutism” sounds like a fair, lofty goal, in actuality it silences marginalized voices.

There’s obvious harm to a person’s and community’s well-being when they endure hate, harassment and discrimination on these large social platforms. But also, when hatred flows unfettered on a platform, this forces marginalized groups to self-silence, or at least alter how they engage and interact online. There’s a longstanding direct correlation between how “openly queer” a user’s profile and content appears to be and

the amount of unsolicited hate it receives; not just on Twitter but on all mainstream, heteronormative social platforms.

When dogpiling, doxxing and swatting become common occurrences against marginalized groups on a platform like Twitter – sometimes even leading people to take their own lives after being subjected to organized online harassment campaigns — it’s clear that “free speech absolutism” does not result in a free exchange of ideas or civil discourse around difficult topics; it results in the uptick of hateful rhetoric that has now been well-documented on Twitter over the last two months.

Ultimately, it’s unclear what will happen in terms of Twitter’s content moderation policies. With the platform hemorrhaging advertising dollars due to issues of brand safety, it’s very possible the platform will eventually lean back into policies against hateful content. But at this point, even if Musk did an about-face and advocated for the removal of hate and harassment once more, he has laid-off, fired or watched the resignation of more than half of his company’s staff. Many of those employees were the same team members tasked with removing such content.

On Dec. 12, Twitter officially disbanded its Trust & Safety Council, a group of around 100 researchers and human rights activists that advised the platform on issues of content and human rights, including the removal of child sexual abuse material, suicide prevention and general online safety.

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which keeps track of antisemitic content on Twitter and the removal of those posts, since Musk’s takeover

Twitter now takes action on only half the reported tweets it did previously, from 60 to 30 percent.

“His actions to date show that he is not committed to a transparent process where he incorporates the best practices we have learned from civil society groups,” says Yael Eisenstat, ADL Vice President. “Instead he has emboldened racists, homophobes and antisemites.”

So now what? Where do LGBTQ+ people go?

If Twitter remains a toxic hellscape for LGBTQ+ people, what does that mean in terms of the community’s digital presence there? What action should Queer people take when a platform ignores active harm against marginalized groups? And what minimum duty of care do these tech industry behemoths owe to the users who regularly entrust them with such valuable aspects of their social and professional lives?

These are of course questions every individual queer person must ask and answer for themselves. While many LGBTQ+ Twitter users have already “jumped ship” from the platform, others have stayed and have no plans to leave. But since Musk’s Twitter takeover, many platforms have come to the forefront as potential replacements, including Hive, Mastodon, Discord and the Queer-ownedand-operated platform SPACES.

“It’s no secret that Elon’s acquisition of Twitter has been polarizing,” Shon Washington tells LGBTQ+ Nation. A gay Black veteran and longtime Twitter user, Washington currently has nearly 70,000 followers on the platform. “Outside of the uptick in anti-LGBTQ hate speech, dude is simply an unlikeable person with problematic perspectives. For me, this isn’t simply about a difference of opinion. This is about respecting and protecting the dignity of queer people, which frankly has gone unseen.”

For Washington, the previous two months of nonstop drama on Twitter, and Musk’s own viral shenanigans – which have included sharing homophobic misinformation following the brutal attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul, and urging Americans to elect Republicans in November’s U.S. midterms – have been more than enough reason to examine other platforms.

“I began experimenting with other apps where I can continue to connect with the Queer community,” Washington says.

“So far: Mastodon is too convoluted, Hive has security issues that leave users’ data vulnerable, and finding Queer communities on Discord is too challenging.”

The platform where Washington ended up is SPACES, a new platform launched this past March by the same team that

Posobiec, Jake Shield, Gays Against Groomers, Blaire White, Allie Beth Stuckey, Andy Ngo, Seth Dillon, Mike Cernovich)

Previously banned on Twitter, the anti-LGBTQ slur ‘groomer’ has returned and increased substantially since Elon Musk’s takeover. CREDIT: Facebook

Gay MAGA Congressman-elect George Santos admits to some lies, ignores other questionable claims

By Daniel Villarreal|Contributing Writer

Out gay Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY) has admitted lying to voters about some parts of his resume, but didn’t address other alleged falsehoods in his backstory. He also said he wouldn’t give up his seat even though Democrats have said that he should.

“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” he said on Monday, according to the New York Post, adding, “I am not a criminal… This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”

Among the falsehoods he fessed up to is the fact that he never graduated from Baruch College. “I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning. I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume,” he said. “I own up to that … We do stupid things in life.”

He also admitted that he never worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. He now claims that, while working as vice president for a company called Link Bridge, he helped make “capital introductions” between clients and investors who were at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

“I will be clearer about that,” he said. “It was stated poorly.”

Indeed, his campaign website had “poorly” stated that he “began working at Citigroup as an associate and quickly advanced to become an associate asset manager in the real asset division of the firm.” Link Bridge didn’t respond to media requests for clarification.

He also admitted that he was indeed married to a woman from 2012 until they divorced in 2017. He had told USA Today in October that he had “never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade.”

He didn’t mention his ex-wife ever during his two election bids. “I’m very much gay,” he said on Monday. “I’m okay with my sexuality. People change. I’m one of those people who change.”

The publication The Daily Beast failed to find a marriage record for Santos to the man he currently refers to as his husband. When asked about why he doesn’t

built the 35-million-user-strong Queer social network Hornet. Described as “a group-chat app for building and finding queer communities,” the app is unlike most other platforms vying for Twitter deserters in that it specifically caters to LGBTQ+ users and has made ensuring the safety and well-being of queer people a primary objective. Naturally, a platform built for LGBTQ+ people and allies is likely to host less homophobia and transphobia, but the app is also blazing a new path with initiatives like its 10-point safety pledge for LGBTQ+ safety, a first for the tech industry.

“On SPACES I don’t have to worry about homophobic and transphobic hate speech,” Washington says. “I don’t have to play

reside at the Queens, N.Y., address in his district where he was registered to vote, the Post reported, “Santos also admitted to lying when he claimed that he owned 13 different properties, saying he now resides at his sister’s place in Huntington but is looking to purchase his own place.”

He also threw his own dead grandmother under the bus when asked about the claim that his grandparents escaped the Nazi Holocaust. Genealogical records threw doubt on this claim, suggesting they might have resided in Brazil rather than having fled from Europe. He now says the claim came from his deceased grandmother’s stories.

Even though he has previously identified as a nonobservant Jew in the past, he now says that he never claimed he was

‘Where’s Waldo’ when seeking out fellow LGBTQ nerds or meatheads, because it’s an app exclusively for us. So finding Queer communities for my broad range of interests and experiences has been pretty easy.”

In addition to being a user on SPACES, Washington has also created popular communities on the platform for weightlifters, Star Trek fans, heavy metal lovers and a few private Spaces for Queer men to share adult content.

For many of the LGBTQ+ people currently on SPACES, the fact that the platform is owned and operated by a Queer company and serves the Queer community specifically offers a welcomed sense of relief given the current social media landscape.

“I’m really big in fandom spaces, like Star Wars and the MCU, and to be openly

Jewish (but rather “Jew-ish”), noting that his grandmother told him that she converted from Judaism to Catholicism.

He also explained his claim that he lost four employees in the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting. The New York Times found that none of the shooting’s 49 victims seemed to be associated with any of his businesses. He now says that at the time of their deaths, the four “employees” were in the process of being hired for his company (which he didn’t name) when they died in the shooting. He provided no additional information to back up his claim.

Numerous discrepancies in Santos’ past remain. No records seem to back up his claim that his mother escaped the south tower of the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,

Queer in those spaces is not always easy,” says Bryan Berry, host of Pink Milk, a podcast dedicated to talking about Star Wars through a Queer lens. Berry has also created a community on SPACES for the same fandom. “Trying to celebrate [these fandoms] online is a hard thing to do, because it doesn’t take more than two tweets for homophobic slurs to be thrown your way. And so places like SPACES give us a really wonderful opportunity to be very queer and celebrate ourselves.”

The need for more diversity in available social platforms – specifically apps built by and for queer people – is also something that Ashlee Marie Preston considers important and long overdue. Preston, a media personality, longtime activist and social impact strategist, was also the first openly trans

2001. No records seem to back up his claim that he founded a charity called Friends of Pets nor that he attended New York University.

The New York Times also noted that, even though he denied ever having cashed stolen checks in Brazil, he didn’t explain why Brazilian court records alleged otherwise. Nor did he explain how he was able to lend himself $700,000 to his congressional campaign despite owing landlords and creditors thousands in the past.

Democrats like outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and upcoming House Democratic Minority Leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY) have said that Santos isn’t fit to serve in Congress and should resign.

“George Santos should resign as congressman-elect,” tweeted Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). “If he refuses, Congress should expel him. He should also be investigated by authorities. Just about every aspect of his life appears to be a lie.”

“George Santos admits his life story is a complete fabrication,” said Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). “His pitiful confession should not distract us from concerns about possible criminality and corruption.”

However, Santos has refused and Republican Congress members have stayed silent about his falsehoods. In fact, the Post cited an “unnamed senior GOP leadership aide” who said that Republicans joked about all of Santos’ discrepancies.

“As far as questions about George in general, that was always something that was brought up whenever we talked about this race,” the aide told the Post.

“It was a running joke at a certain point. This is the second time he’s run and these issues we assumed would be worked out by the voters.”

Nevertheless, New York State Attorney General Tish James is reportedly looking into whether Santos broke any laws through his past claims.

This article appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQ Nation. ::

person to run for state office in California.

“I’m a strong proponent of the adage ‘Go where the love is,’” she says. “In fact, that’s what led me to social media nearly 13 years ago. In a world blanketed in biases, the digital space afforded me the opportunity to be my most authentic self – and build community around my truth. These days the injustices of the analog world have saturated our online safe spaces, and the hate and harassment Queer and trans people endure has been exacerbated.”

“We’re long overdue for an exodus away from platforms that profit from our pain,” says Preston. “We deserve Queer and trans spaces that build us up, not tear us down.”

This article appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQ Nation. ::

Purportedly ‘out’ gay Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY) has confirmed lying about much of his professional and personal background, but still expects to retain seat. CREDIT: Facebook

New Durham Public Schools policy to support LGBTQ students wins accolades

Queer author and former DPS student says such a policy ‘would have made a world of difference in my childhood’

By Greg Childress |Contributing Writer

As a Durham middle school student in the late 1990s, Maximillian Matthews struggled to find his sexual identity. Matthews, who identifies as queer, was bullied and taunted. He felt unseen and unsupported by teachers, counselors and school administrators.

At age 12 or 13, while grieving the death of his father, Matthews considered taking his own life. He decided against it because he is an only child and didn’t want to leave his mother to grieve the loss of his dad alone.

His father’s death, the struggle with his identity and sexuality, along with not understanding what was happening to him emotionally and mentally, sent Matthews spiraling to a dark place.

“It [the accumulation of suicidal thoughts] was a combination of all of that and not having someone to talk to who could understand me,” Matthews told Policy Watch. “It just made me not want to be here.”

Matthews shared his story with Policy Watch less than a week after the Durham County Board of Education unanimously approved a new “Gender Supports” policy to strengthen existing rules against discrimination. Modeled after a policy adopted in Orange County in 2020, the DPS policy emphasizes ways school leaders can support transgender students and non-binary students, who are most likely to be harmed by bullying, taunting and discriminatory policies and practices.

“What Durham Public Schools just passed would have made a world of difference in my childhood,” Matthews said. “I wouldn’t have been as vulnerable. I would have felt a sense of protection. I would have felt supported by my teachers, my staff and administrators whereas I actually felt invisible and alone and in need of help navigating all of those internal battles happening inside of me.”

As North Carolina goes, Durham is one of the state’s more progressive cities. It has a reputation for being an affirming and welcoming place where members of its LGBTQ community feel freer to live and love as they choose.

But despite the city’s longstanding reputation, some LGBTQ students, like Matthews many years ago, and their parents don’t always feel supported by DPS. Students complain that administrators, teachers and other school personnel often ignore their pronoun preferences, while some schools fail to provide genderneutral bathrooms and other resources to help students feel safe.

As was the case with Matthews when he attended DPS schools, LGBTQ students are bullied by classmates and are victims of verbal attacks. A big problem today, the parents and students contend, is that DPS has lacked a uniform policy about

After a recent meeting with students, staff and teachers, the Durham County Board of Education unanimously approved a new ‘Gender Supports’ policy to strengthen existing rules against discrimination.

CREDIT: WRAL Screen Capture

how such matters should be handled. The district’s recommended guidelines for addressing LGBTQ students and staff concerns aren’t always followed, and some school leaders don’t know they exist, parents say.

“It’s as simple as kids wanting to use their pronouns in schools and being told they couldn’t share their pronouns in the classroom,” explained Anne SutkowiHemstreet, the founder and director of Rainbow Collective for Change, a grassroots initiative in Durham created to build safe and equitable spaces for LGBTQ+ and gender diverse children and families.

Sutkowi-Hemstreet’s organization helped to steer DPS toward the policy the board unanimously approved last week. She said parents are often told by principals that they can’t implement policies or practices to support LGBTQ students because they haven’t been approved by DPS.

“That’s what school principals fall back on all of the time,” Sutkowi-Hemstreet said. “They [principals] needed to hear that we [the school board] are affirming of you making your spaces gender and LGBTQ-inclusive.”

Parents and students give some schools high marks for creating environments LGBTQ students feel respected and supported. Other schools need work, they say.

School board Chairwoman Bettina Umstead acknowledged that schools have different approaches to supporting LGBTQ students.

“The policy creates opportunities for us to standardize a little bit across [the district],” Umstead said.

The new policy is a starting point, Umstead said, and the district will continue to provide and strengthen administrator and teacher training so that they

can provide students with the support they need.

“As language changes and how students identify change, we need to make sure that we are in line with the most recent and appropriate language and conversations,” Umstead said.

She also said it’s important that students feel respected and supported. “The policy really outlines what we expect to see from staff when it comes to making sure that we’re respecting students and their names and their identity and what they bring to school.”

Dylan Evans, president of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at the School of Creative Studies (SCS) in Durham, discussed the inconsistencies during a recent school board meeting.

“I fought for gender-neutral bathrooms and respect from teachers, but the problem with these efforts is that there needs to be policy in place,” Evans said before the board’s vote. “These changes are not going to be effective or worthwhile without you guys passing a policy. One or two teachers in my entire school are not enough to create a safe space for the dozens of kids that go to my school and there are hundreds [of LGBTQ students] that exist within the entire Durham Public School System.”

It’s unclear how many LGBTQ students attend DPS schools. Data from the 2020 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System published by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimate there are 63,000 students ages 13-17 in North Carolina who identify as LGBT or about 10% of the children in that age group. Nationally, more than 1.9 million youth ages 13-17 identify as LGBTQ.

A Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education

Network (GLSEN) sponsored study found that four of five LGBTQ students reported experiencing frequent harassment in school based on their appearance or perceived sexual orientation. Inclusive anti-bullying and harassment policies, supportive school faculty, and the presence of school clubs like Gay-Straight Alliances lead to safer schools and better school performance, the study found.

Kristen Street, an SCS media coordinator and faculty advisor for GSA, told Policy Watch that SCS continues to work out the kinks in the school’s genderneutral bathroom policy.

The policy adopted by the school board will be life-changing for many students, Street said. Before its adoption, students, parents and school leaders had to create and enforce policies around LGBTQ issues, she said.

District administrators required proof that a school needed genderneutral bathrooms, for example, Street said.

“Now with this policy having passed, there’s more support at a district level, so it’s not on students to have to reinvent the wheel every time they want to be recognized for who they are at school,” Street said.

The new DPS policy comes during troubling times for the nation’s LGBTQ citizens, who are increasingly facing attacks from politicians and even physical violence. Last month, five people were killed at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. The alleged shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, faces five murder charges and five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury.

Despite its unanimous approval, there was criticism of the new DPS policy at the board’s recent meeting, some of it rooted in religion.

“You’re asking Christian teachers that are a part of your system … to wink when you have homosexual boys who want to go into the girl’s room because they want to change their gender,” former Republican school board candidate Victoria Peterson told the school board.

At the same time, however, a growing number of Republicans have joined with Democrats to support LGBTQ equality. The Respect for Marriage Act signed into law by President Biden last week, for example, won bipartisan support in Congress — including ‘aye’ votes from both of North Carolina’s Republican senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis. The law ensures that if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn the cases that legalized same-sex and interracial marriages, the federal government and states would continue recognizing those unions.

After substation shooting, federal regulator orders review of security standards

Recent North Carolina attack helps spur new national initiative

By Robert Zullo, NC Policy Watch |Contributing Writer

Less than two weeks after gunfire damaged two Duke Energy substations in Moore County, knocking out power to about 45,000 people, federal regulators have ordered a review of security standards at electric transmission facilities and control centers.

Last Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which sets and enforces reliability standards for the bulk power system in the U.S., Canada and part of Mexico, to review existing “physical security” rules for the components of the power system.

The order, which requires NERC to deliver within 120 days its report on the effectiveness and applicability of current standards and whether improvements are necessary, comes amid reports of similar attacks at other sites across the country.

Earlier this year, three men in Ohio pleaded guilty to planning an attack on electric substations as part of a white supremacist plot. In November, shots were fired at an American Electric Power substation near Centerburg, Ohio, knocking out power, a local news outlet reported. The FBI is also investigating a string of attacks at substations that happened in Washington and Oregon, per The Seattle Times.

“One, it reminds us that we need to take physical security into account just as we do cyber security,” FERC Chairman Richard Glick said last week at the commission meeting, cautioning that the motives for the Moore County attack and some similar incidents elsewhere remain murky and under investigation by local and state law enforcement.

“But in the meantime I think it’s a good idea and this is a good step of trying to reassess our existing physical security standards and whether changes need to

Metcalf substation in California, FERC approved a physical security reliability standard for owners of electric transmission facilities. The standard requires utilities and other transmission owners to conduct regular risk assessments on transmission stations and substations “that, if rendered inoperable or damaged, could result in instability, uncontrolled separation or cascading within an interconnection,” Mark Hegerle, director of FERC’s Division of Operation and Planning Standards, told the commission.

That means facilities that could create hazards for the larger grid if they are knocked out, a risk not posed by the North Carolina outages, said Rachel Sherrard, a spokeswoman for NERC.

“The assets in North Carolina were not

is what the standards are designed to protect from,” she said. “However, this does raise the question of the need to review an event that impacts several non-critical assets that collectively can have impact beyond any single asset failure.”

Substations serve a variety of purposes, including stepping down voltage from the transmission system that transports electricity across long distances to the distribution wires that bring into homes and businesses. Asked if the shootings had made Duke re-examine how it protects substations, a spokeswoman said the company wouldn’t discuss specific security measures.

“We have multiple layers of security across our system that allow us to monitor and protect critical infrastructure,” the spokeswoman, Logan Kureczka, wrote in an email. “As the largest grid operator in the country, our responsibility to protect the power grid is paramount, and our

security evolves as threats do.”

In a statement earlier this month, the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, which describes itself as the “principal liaison between leadership in the federal government and in the electric power sector,” said investor-owned electric companies, electric cooperatives and public power utilities “continuously monitor and prepare for threats to the grid and other infrastructure.”

The organization, which coordinates efforts to guard against threats to critical infrastructure to improve the reliability and resilience of the grid, said it was working with law enforcement investigating the attacks.

“Understanding what happened in North Carolina will be important to minimize future threats and to keep our industry’s defenses at the forefront,” the organization said.

FERC Commissioner Mark Christie, a former Virginia utility regulator, said attacks on transformers, the drum-shaped devices on utility poles that lower the voltage before electricity is delivered to residences and businesses, are relatively common.

“They’re vulnerable to a drunk with a gun and an attitude. We have a lot of incidents of that. That’s not unusual,” he said. “The substations are a different ballgame. … A transformer knocks out a block or two. A substation, several tens of thousands of people.”

Noting that it was likely that NERC would come back with a recommendation to upgrade security standards, Christie said he hoped the Department of Energy would find a way to use grid resilience money from the bipartisan infrastructure law to lessen the blow for electric ratepayers.

“It’s going to cost money and I hope this doesn’t all flow through to ratepayers,” he said.

This article appears courtesy of our media partner NC Policy Watch. ::

evidence links the outage to a local drag show.

Charlotte Catholic School tries to wriggle out of responsibility for teacher’s firing

According to a report released Dec. 13 by Law360, Charlotte Catholic High School has asked the Fourth Circuit Court to undo a Title VII victory for Lonnie Billard, an English and drama teacher who sued the school for firing him after he announced his upcoming wedding on social media.

In the case Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School, Charlotte Catholic claims it should be allowed to fire civilian employees and given blanket exemption from the law as a religious institution.

A federal court in North Carolina previously ruled Sept. 3, 2021, that Charlotte Catholic High School violated Title VII when

it fired Billard for announcing his plans in a Facebook post in 2014 to marry his longtime same-sex partner, Richard Donham.

At the time he was fired, Billard had retired, but was continuing to serve as a regular substitute teacher. According to a report in the Charlotte Observer, Billard began working for the school in 2001, had never attempted to hide his sexual orientation and was also chosen as teacher of the year in 2012.

“After all this time, I have a sense of relief and a sense of vindication. I wish I could have remained in teaching all this time,” said Billard, the lead plaintiff in

The Plus Collective opens 2023 grant cycle on January 9

The Plus Collective (TPC), a collective giving and endowment fund of Foundation For The Carolinas and one of the largest funders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) organizations and issues in North Carolina, has announced its 17th grant cycle will begin on Jan. 9, 2023.

Since 2007, TPC has awarded grants to organizations serving the LGBTQ community in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area through its grant programs:

Basic Operating Grants provide unrestricted operating funds to build capacity and strengthen the effectiveness of 501(c) (3) organizations whose primary objective is to provide services or benefits to the LGBTQ community.

Programs, Projects and Events (PP&E) Grants are awarded up to $7,500 to

encourage 501(c)(3) organizations to serve the LGBTQ community either directly or in partnership with another 501(c)(3) organization.

Grassroots Grants are awarded up to $2,000 to build capacity and strengthen the effectiveness of startup organizations with or without 501(c) (3) status serving the LGBTQ+ community. Previous recipients of TPC’s Basic Operating and PP&E Grants are not eligible to apply.

Grant application guides are currently available online at fftcgrants.communityforce.com, Beginning Jan. 9, grant applications will be available. Grassroots Grant applications are taken throughout the year. Detailed information is also available at thepluscollective.org/guidelines.

The deadline for submission of com-

Ukraine passes legislation banning LGBTQ+ hate speech in media

Ukrainian lawmakers recently passed a bill that would ban hate speech and incitement based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The media regulation bill was unanimously approved on Dec. 15.

“It’s a big step for Ukraine, to start adoption of our legislation to European values,” Olena Shevchenko, chair of Ukrainian LGBTQ and intersex rights group Insight, told The Washington Blade. “We hope our government will recognize LGBTQI people as equal as soon as possible.”

In August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated his support for same-sex civil partnerships and potentially same-sex marriage.

“All people are free and equal in their dignity and rights,” Zelensky said at the time. His comments came in response to an official petition to his office regarding the issue of legalized same-sex marriage. Zelensky noted that while Article 51 of the Ukrainian constitution states that “marriage is based on the free consent

of a woman and a man” and that the country’s constitution cannot be changed during the ongoing war with Russia, he directed Ukraine’s prime minister to look into the matter.

“I asked Prime Minister [Denys] Shmyhal to address the issue raised in the electronic petition and to inform me of relevant decisions,” he said.

“In the modern world, the level of a democratic society is measured, among other things, through state policy aimed at ensuring equal rights for all citizens,” Zelensky added.

Ukraine has banned employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity since 2015, and Zelensky promised that he would continue to fight anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination after he met with President Joe Biden at the White House last year.

The moves toward LGBTQ+ equality in Ukraine stand in contrast to Russia’s recent crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights. Earlier

the case. “Today’s decision validates that I did nothing wrong by being a gay man.”

Billard, who was in his 60s at the time, was fired by Catholic High School; he is now 76 and facing serious health challenges.

Earlier in December, a coalition of Christian organizations and churches – in support of Billard and all LGBTQ teachers from across the state of North Carolina – urged the Fourth Circuit to uphold the Title VII victory against Catholic High School. This case is continuing to unfold and the

application-related questions, contact Tiara Miles at tmiles@fftc.org.

To date, The Plus Collective has distributed over $1,800,000 to local organizations and programs. For more information, visit thepluscollective.org.

pleted applications is 12:00 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2023. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

For more information about the grant application process, including to request a Grassroots Grant application or any

Foundation For The Carolinas is a nonprofit community foundation serving donors and a broad range of charitable purposes in North and South Carolina. With assets of $3.7 billion, the Foundation encourages and makes possible philanthropic giving by individuals of all means to benefit their communities. :: https://bit.ly/3WFVmbI

this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law expanding the country’s prohibition on LGBTQ+ “propaganda.”

The law effectively outlaws any public expression of LGBTQ+ identity in Russia by banning “any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an at-

tempt to promote homosexuality in public, online, or in films, books or advertising.”

This article appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQ Nation. ::

https://bit.ly/3QcnC35

story will be updated as it is released. https://bit.ly/3VDmarQ —David Aaron Moore

Lonnie Billard and Richard Donham.

CREDIT: Facebook

Zelensky vs. Putin: Ukrainian President Zelensky has emerged as supportive of LGBTQ rights, while Russian President Putin has prohibited any public expression of LGBTQ+ identity.

CREDIT: Facebook

—David Aaron Moore

Visit the Plus Collective’s website for more details.

CREDIT: Screen Capture

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control over capacity with dogs

Adopt a pet, make a new friend and free up kennel space for other needy canines

By David Aaron Moore Qnotes Staff Writer

The trickle down impact of the COVID pandemic – unemployment leading to financial challenges, and in some cases even homelessness – continues to impact Charlotte Metro residents and the city’s canine population. Some residents simply can’t afford the cost of pet ownership because of vast economic inflation.

For others – many who adopted puppies during the nearly two years of pandemic shutdown – the small, cute and easy to handle pooches grew up into large, strong and energetic young adults that can be extremely challenging for many individuals to properly care for and control. Far too often that results in inexperienced pet owners surrendering their animals to the local animal control center.

As of the last week in December, Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Animal Care & Control’s (AC&C) dog kennels are completely full with dogs in need of a new home.

During the past two years, AC&C has sent out numerous pleas for adoptions, fostering and breaking news about the kennels being near or over-capacity while the staff is tasked with making life or death decisions because of the overabundance of stray and owner-surrendered dogs coming into the shelter from Charlotte and Mecklenburg county.

“On a day that we are happy to have 20 dog adoptions/fosters going out the door, at the same time we have 15 strays/owner surrenders coming in and sadly we see no light at the end of this very long tunnel,” says Melissa Knicely, Communications and Outreach Manager at AC&C.

Currently, AC&C is caring for 208 dogs at the shelter, 47 dogs in foster care and 27 dogs on a staycation. That’s a total of 282 dogs they’re caring for.

Because of the massive lack of space issue and capacity for care, as of Dec. 20, 2022, AC&C was forced to suspend acceptance of owner-surrendered dogs. “We simply do not have room for them,” said Dr. Josh Fisher, Director of Animal Care & Control. “AC&C officers are doing everything they can to get lost pets home in the community before bringing them into the shelter, but between lost dogs that we are unable to find an owner, long-term case dogs, and dogs that pose a public safety risk to our community, our kennels are at capacity.”

According to North Carolina General State Statutes (G.S. 19A-32.1), stray/lost animals received by an animal shelter or an agent of an animal shelter shall be held for a minimum period of 72 hours in order to allow time for the owner to find their pet.

AC&C has the following housing areas for dogs: stray/lost, bite quarantines, treatment for sickness investigations/cases and adoption kennels. Stray/lost dogs are not

able to transition into adoption kennels until after the legal 72-hour hold is complete. However, AC&C does not have any room in adoption to move approximately 41 dogs that have completed their 72-hour hold, have had a medical exam, and are ready to move into the adoption area.

As of the last week in December, AC&C had seven stray/lost dogs just coming into the shelter, but only two open kennels available. That means there is no room for dogs to be owner-surrendered and why the program is currently being halted. In the future, owner surrender requests will be considered on an available kennel space basis. At the rate the dog intake is climbing, it’s likely they won’t have space for surrenders for the foreseeable future.

What if I already have an appointment booked?

You will be receiving a call from an AC&C representative to cancel those appointments as well as a link to websites that provide the ability to post your pet for adoption, a guide for making flyers and places to share them.

How can I help combat this situation?

Ensure your pets are spayed and neutered (low-cost Spay/Neuter options are available in Charlotte-Mecklenburg).

Have your pets microchipped and make sure the registration is up to date and in the AC&C local database.

Make sure your pet wears an identification tag at all times (come by AC&C for a free tag).

If you find a lost pet, take it to a vet or one of our Microchip Checkpoint Stations to have it scanned for a chip. No luck finding the owner? Make a report to AC&C then foster your new friend while you continue to look for its owner.

Foster a dog (which frees up a kennel here at the shelter for the next dog).

Adopt a dog (a win for the dog, for the next dog waiting on a kennel, and a

win for you).

AC&C often runs adoption specials on all animals. Check out their website to learn what kind of adoption specials are available. ::

Need a new friend? Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control might just have who you’re looking for!

How a mentorship program is helping first gen college students and grads succeed

Firstly organization is leveling the playing field with a focus on social capital

by Chris Rudisill Qnotes Staff Writer

Kevin Hu’s family moved from rural China to the United States in hopes of a better future when he was only three years old. “We were tired of being poor,” said Hu in a recent Zoom conversation.

After high school, Kevin, the oldest son in his family, went to the University of California at Irvine. After graduation, he got a job in consulting and was doing pretty well.

“Consultants make a lot of money,” says Hu. His salary had already exceeded that of his entire family’s household income. In a matter of just a few years, he had been promoted twice.

“I was making so much money and more money than I knew what to do with – more money than I thought I’d ever be making growing up.”

Hu said that at the time he could have seen himself staying at the company for years to come, possibly until retirement. A great life lay ahead, but the complacency scared him, and he felt somewhat guilty about his success.

“My mom and dad are mostly in the same financial situation as like 10-20 years ago when we moved to the States.”

Only 10 percent of low-income, first-generation college students actually graduate on time. According to EAB, a college research group formerly known as the Education Advisory Board, that percentage is within six years, and part of the problem is that “these students are likely unfamiliar with the ‘hidden curriculum’ that determines students’ success in their first year of college, which includes navigating higher education bureaucracy and practicing good study skills.”

In college, Hu had noticed that other first-generation students around him weren’t doing as well as he was. “I know they’re smart, they’re a lot smarter than I am. But for some, they didn’t get the same educational outcomes from higher education.”

For Hu, mentorship made a big difference.

A 2011 study of more than 13,000 college-student records found that students who used mentoring and coaching services were 10 to 15 percent more likely to go on to another year of college. It’s something that Hu said helped him succeed.

While not yet out of the closet, Hu was dealing with multiple overlapping elements of his identity that set him apart from other students. As a first-generation Asian American Queer student, he was facing some major challenges, but on top of it all he didn’t have the financial means that others at UC Irvine came to campus with.

“The students who need the most sup-

port – your first-generation students are low income, they’re the ones that aren’t getting the outcomes from it. At the same time, they’re paying as much tuition as everyone else.” Hu acknowledges that fed-

in-state tuition, Hu still had to take out loans. He worked 15 to 20 hours a week, driving 30 minutes to and from an internship out of town that aligned with his studies and career goals. Here is this fulltime, hard-working student taking a full load of classes and working during his free time, all the while trying to cut costs at every step of the way. It was a lot – and it impacted him academically and physically.

“I wasn’t taking care of my body. I was very thin.” Hu says his diet consisted primarily of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and instant ramen.

Step Toward Entrepreneurship

With newly found success following graduation, Hu started thinking about ways that he could help others who were in similar situations in college. “What am I doing to help my community and the people who need this kind of support?” asked Hu.

keep from being an outcast again among the students who were more financially better off.

All of this led to launching Firstly, a mentorship platform with the goal of accelerating social capital for better career success. The company is designed to increase student retention and job placement rates.

According to Hu, the project focuses a lot on psychological safety as a foundation for mentorships. Its program model addresses four of six social determinants of learning to empower college students and professionals from all backgrounds.

When Hu was in undergrad, he had two good mentors. “My mentor, Andrew, just checked up on me all throughout college, he made sure that I was okay.” It wasn’t just about academics either. It was also a personal check-in. His mentor also honed in on what it was like coming from a low-income family.

Hu joined an Asian-American fraternity when he was at school. A lot of his fellow frat brothers came from more affluent families. “They would always go out and spend a lot of money on food, on drinks, on you know these music shows, and I just pretended that I didn’t want to join them or didn’t want to go because I didn’t want to deal with the shame or embarrassment of admitting that I do want to go, I just can’t afford this right now, you know, given my situation.”

Hu spent a lot of time hiding himself from others.

“I believed that I needed to hide my socioeconomic status, because I believed that if people knew how poor I was, they wouldn’t want to be friends with me.”

It was a heavy weight to bear throughout college.

According to EAB, first generation students make up nearly a third of U.S. undergraduates and they need more than financial support. Some may not even know they’re first-generation. “Many firstgeneration students simply do not know where to turn for help, even when colleges have a wealth of resources available.

Firstly helps to create pathways to those resources.

The organization’s goals include:

Quality education: Complement learning with real-life experience.

Decent work and economic growth: Increase student persistence and job placement.

Reduced inequalities: Socioeconomic inclusion in college and career.

eral student grant programs help but says that there is clearly a gap. If it weren’t for government programs like the Pell Grant, for instance, financially he wouldn’t have been able to afford college at all.

Despite the grant and the benefits of

He applied and was admitted to the University of California Haas MBA program on a full tuition scholarship and his path toward entrepreneurship was starting to take place.

There were even fewer first-generation students in the MBA program though. Just participating in the culture surrounding grad school, Hu dipped into his savings to

It’s a small team, with Hu launching initiatives including their primary peer-topeer program, where the Firstly staff work with a college partner to recruit students who are underclassmen as mentees and students who are upperclassmen to serve as mentors. Other members of the team include Stacey Li who was previously the COO of a career coaching startup and Cory

Kevin Hu founded his first mentorship program when he was 20 years old. CREDIT: Courtesy of Firstly

Baig, who previously worked at an HR-tech startup and founded a resource group for LGBTQ and allied staff. Hu’s brother helps with coding the online platform.

Firstly currently has partnerships with UC Irvine, Cal State East Bay, Chaminade University of Honolulu and Williams Patterson University, in addition to nonprofit organizations and employers in states across the country. According to their website, students at Firstly already report a 75 percent job placement rate and 54 percent increase in confidence.

“We found that peer to peer learning is really helpful in building that sense of belonging and building a student’s confidence so that later on they engage with more campus resources,” says Hu. This is especially important for first gen students who Hu said are often existing like him, hiding their socio-economic status and struggling with loneliness. The program isn’t specifically for LGBTQ students, but Hu’s experience plays a major role in his perspective when designing the program.

“Just being Queer and low income, and Asian, it’s obviously a lot to balance and figure out.” When he got into the MBA program at Haas, he found a supportive environment that allowed him to come to terms with his queer identity and he was empowered by other students to share his story.

“But, you know, all throughout college, I wasn’t concerned as much about my Queer identity. The immediate need was being first gen and low income and how I had to eat to survive and find a way to balance college with working and eating and all that.” All of this has given him time

to process the multiple aspects of his identity. He hopes that as Firstly grows, it can also look at ways to specifically support LGBTQ students who are facing issues of socio-economic disparity. Hu hopes that LGBTQ campus centers will see how they

can pull in Firstly to help this community of students, even though they as a whole may not be first generation students. “We’ve developed this framework from the lens of socio-economic inclusion, but that applies to all of your other students too,” says Hu.

Launching a Solution

Even though Hu found success quickly as a consultant, entrepreneurship has brought back some of those earlier financial challenges. He’s had to move back in with his parents and has been pitching the Firstly idea to investors in what’s referred to as a “pre-seed round” to get the company off the ground. “It feels like a step back. But, you know, I think it’s important,” says Hu.

He’s not sure others in his position would make a similar decision. “To grow up poor, and then start a career and have money and then want to revert back to that phase is, it’s tough.”

It’s an important problem for what Hu sees as his community. “And I feel like if I don’t seize this moment, it’s fleeting. When am I going to have this opportunity to create revenue generating social impact and social change?” he says. “I can’t miss out on that opportunity, not just for the money but what this can mean for other students like me, other students who grew up hungry, who grew up poor, and who had such a hard time fitting in the rigorous academic and career environments they’ve broken into.”

For many new students, college and the next steps toward a career can be daunting, but with Hu’s plan there might be a network of support that increases opportunity for economic mobility among first-generation communities. ::

Photo of Kevin Hu and his younger brother after the family immigrated from rural China. CREDIT: Courtesy of Kevin Hu.

“It is just the common denominator of unmet needs.”

Remembering those we lost in 2022

LGBTQ community members and allies among those that passed

by David Aaron Moore Qnotes Staff Writer

At some point in our lives that time will come: when the gig’s up, you kick the bucket or push up daisies, go six feet under or bite the dust, take your last breath, a long walk off a short pier or maybe cash in your chips.

It may sound like you just had a conversation with a threatening gangster, but those are all supposed to be euphemisms designed to make saying that someone has died a little less harsh. Somehow, they don’t seem to soften the impact very well.

This is a story we do every year. It’s not particularly pleasant, and it’s definitely not a lot of fun, though it can be interesting.

But then, the loss of a life isn’t such a positive thing, though reflecting back on it can be rewarding.

It doesn’t matter if they were a local individual that you may have known personally or a famous recording artist, writer, actor, philosopher or political figure who somehow impacted your life through their work, the loss can still be painful. Despite the discomfort, it’s important to remember the contributions they all made and celebrate what we can.

Here’s to those we lost in 2022, thanks for making our world a better place to be!

Dwayne Hickman

May 18, 1934 - Jan. 9, 2022

Dwayne Hickman starred in the television series “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” alongside Bob Denver (perhaps better known in the role of Gilligan in the TV series “Gilligan’s Island”) and Sheila Kuehl. His friendship with Kuehl, who later came out as a lesbian during her terms of office in the California House and the California state senate, took him down the path of advocate and ally for the LGBTQ community. At the age of 87, Hickman died of natural causes.

Ronnie Spector

Aug. 10, 1943 - Jan. 12, 2022

The lead singer of the group Ronnie and The Ronettes was married to convicted murderer and musical genius Phil Spector before seeking a divorce on the grounds of extreme mental cruelty. The Ronettes’ 1964 hit song “Be My Baby” and her return to the musical industry 20 years later in a duet with singer Eddie Money with the song “Take Me Home Tonight” cemented her place in music history and as an ally to the LGBTQ community. According to family members, Spector died after a brief battle with cancer.

Andre Leon Talley

Oct. 16, 1948Jan. 18, 2022

An American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director and editor-at-large

of Vogue magazine, Talley worked with the company from 1983 to 2013. The openly gay fashion denizen served as a stylist for President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. As well, he authored three books and received the coveted North Carolina award for his role in literature. His death was the result of a heart attack brought on by a bout with the COVID-19 virus.

Thierry Mugler

Dec. 21, 1948Jan. 23, 2022

Mugler was a French fashion designer, whose over the top creations provided women with clothing like they’d never seen before: in essence, disguises that were reminiscent of cars, robots, aliens and insects. His career spanned six decades and his couture graced the frames of such celebrated individuals as Grace Jones, Diana Ross, Tipping Hedren, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Celine Dion among many others. He was the height of avant-garde fashion in the 1980s and ‘90s and created costuming for music videos and motion pictures, as well. The openly gay Mugler died of natural causes at his residence in Vincennes, France.

Cheslie Kryst April 28, 1991Jan. 30, 2022

Kryst was a successful attorney, a former Miss North Carolina, a former Miss USA and a 2019 top 10 contender for the title of Miss Universe.

In recent years she had made regular appearances as an entertainment news correspondent for the television program Extra. She was a tireless supporter of human equality and always an advocate for individuals in need. Her life, from the outside, was considered by many to be nothing short of magical.

But Chelsie Kryst had a secret she kept from everyone. While her mother confirmed that she was indeed highfunctioning, Kryst suffered from crippling depression and her parents were unaware of just how bad things were. Before throwing herself from the 30th floor balcony of her apartment, she sent a final text message to her mother. “First, I’m sorry. By the time you get this, I won’t

be alive anymore, and it makes me even more sad to write this because I know it will hurt you the most. I love you, mom, and you are my best friend and the person I’ve lived for, for years. I wish I could stay with you but I cannot bear the crushing weight of persistent sadness, hopelessness and loneliness any longer...”

Urvashi Vaid Oct. 8 1958May 14, 2022

Although she was born in India, LGBTQ rights activist writer and lawyer Urvashi Vaid became an American citizen. She was an expert in sexuality and gender issues and served as a consultant in matters of social justice. She had been partnered to comic Kate Clinton since 1988 at the time of her death earlier this year. Of particular note, she spent 10 years with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the country. While serving as the organization’s executive director, she disrupted a presidential press conference being held by George H.W. Bush with a sign that read “Talk is cheap. AIDS funding is not.” According to a report in the New York Times Vaid’s death was the result of breast cancer.

Nichelle Nichols Dec. 28, 1932July 30, 2022

The legendary actress who was beloved by many as Lieutenant Uhura on the original series of Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” was a civil rights advocate and an unequivocal ally to the LGBTQ community. At the age of 89, she died from natural causes.

Olivia Newton-John

Sept. 26, 1948Aug. 8, 2022

A BritishAustralian actress, singer and activist, Newton-John was a fourtime Grammy winner whose career included 15 top singles and one of the most celebrated starring roles in film history in the movie “Grease.” In later years she appeared in two gay themed films, “It’s My Party” (1996) and “Sordid Lives” (2000) and further confirmed her friendship with the LGBTQ community in an interview: “Of course I

love my gay audience. They’re like family. They’ve always been there for me, and they’ve always been very loyal. They’re not just a great audience, they’re friends.” Newton-John’s death was the result of a long-term occurring battle with cancer.

Anne Heche

May 25, 1969Aug. 11, 2022

The bisexual actress captured the world’s attention when she became openly involved with out comic Ellen DeGeneres. The relationship didn’t last very long, and not many people were particularly surprised. Heche reportedly had a history of mental illness and unpredictable behavior. After splitting with DeGeneres she went on to marry Coley Laffoon and have children, though she maintained she still considered herself a part of the LGBTQ community. While her death was ruled an accident by the LA coroner, it is unlikely we will ever know why Heche was driving at close to 90 miles an hour before slamming her car into a house and causing a fire that would result in Heche’s death and the destruction of the home.

Oct. 16, 1925 - Oct. 11,

2022

Angela Lansbury was a tireless advocate for the LGBTQ community. She raised millions during the height of the AIDS pandemic, and, like all good LGBTQ icons, she was even married to a gay man briefly. Although her marriage to Richard Cromwell only lasted a year, they remained friends until his death in 1960. As a stage actress, Lansbury was best known for her roles in “Mame” and “Sweeney Todd.” In film, she captured the world’s attention in “The Manchurian Candidate. On television, she captured the hearts of queer fans and the rest of America in the television series “Murder, She Wrote.” Just days short of her 97th birthday, her passing was due to natural causes.

Angela Lansbury

Leslie Jordan

April 29, 1955Oct. 24, 2022

Leslie Jordan used to joke that he couldn’t hide his sexual orientation no matter how hard he tried, so he always lived his life as an openly gay man. Perhaps best known for his role as the closeted character Beverly Leslie on the television series “Will and Grace” he also laid claim to fame via the staged, film and television series versions of “Sordid Lives” playing the character of Brother Boy. Other appearances included shows such as “Murphy Brown,” “Star Trek: Voyager” “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” and more recently “American Horror Story.”

Early in the morning on the date of his death, Jordan had been on his way to shoot scenes for the television series he was working on at the time, “Call Me Kat” when his car slammed into a building at Cahuenga Boulevard and Romain Street in Los Angeles. It is believed he experienced a medical episode that led to the crash. Jordan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Collins

School Class of 1965, the UNC-Chapel Hill Undergraduate Class of 1965 (with a degree in history) and UNC law school’s Class of 1972. One of his more notable accomplishments for the LGBTQ community was founding and serving as president of the NC Gay and Lesbian Attorneys Association. After leaving ENC, he remained an active member of the Hickory Community Relations Council and the president of the Green Park neighborhood association; he was also a three-term elder at Northminster Presbyterian Church. Farthing’s death was likely the result of complications from heart failure.

Irene Cara March 18, 1959Nov. 25, 2022

March 27, 1960 - Nov. 14, 2022

A popular female impersonator and drag diva throughout North Carolina, and the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States, Collins captured national attention when he was asked by country music performer Reba McEntire to join her tour. She posted the following words on Twitter just after his passing. “In the early ‘90s, I saw Coti Collins/David Lowman impersonating me as part of the Cowboys LaCage show in downtown Nashville. He was incredible. When we were coming up with ideas for our 1996 tour, we decided to take David on the road with us. We’ve stayed in contact ever since and I was so saddened to hear about his passing this week. We recently had the chance to visit for a few moments and I am so glad we did. Rest in peace, David.” Collins’ cause of death remains unknown.

Ed Farthing

July 2, 1947Nov. 21, 2022

Former Equality NC (ENC) co-director Ed Farthing served his community through ENC from 2003 to 2008. A long time resident of Hickory, he was born in Greensboro and was a graduate of the Grimsley High

An American singer, songwriter and actress of African, Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage, she first captured industry attention when she appeared on Broadway and later in the film version of “Sparkle.” Just a few short years later she would appear in the film version of the movie “Fame,” (1980) singing the title track and other songs on the movie’s soundtrack album. The song shot to the top of the pop and dance charts, thrusting Cara into the spotlight and making way for other hits to follow such as “Out Here, On My Own,” “Flashdance: What a Feeling” (1983) and “Breakdance,” (1984) among others, but mainstream success was to be elusive, as the record label refused to pay her due and she was blacklisted when she chose to fight back. She eventually won, but the path to victory was a long financial challenge. In the 2000s, Cara made multiple appearances at LGBTQ Pride events around the country, playing to the audiences who loved her best. In all of the reports that have been released since her death the cause is still listed as unknown.

Upon his arrival here in 1986, Van Mourik initially took a position with Carowinds as the stage director for the entertainment theme park. By the early 1990s, however, he changed directions, and snagged the role of associate editor for QNotes. From 1992 to 2000 he would juggle the dual roles of editor (with QNotes) and graphic designer for another local gay publication known as Blue Knights, which he would later focus on entirely. During the final years of Blue Knights (now defunct), he would return to QNotes, this time offering his talents as a graphic designer from 1998 to 2000. Later that same year he made the decision to hop over to White Rabbit Books, where he initially worked as a sales clerk before transitioning into the store manager position. In total, he spent 10 years there, and was always ready to greet potential customers with a friendly smile and kind words. Van Mourik’s death was sudden and unexpected. Aside from a close friend confirming he had complained of physical discomfort in recent weeks, no information has been released to confirm his cause of death.

Marquis Jackson

Dec. 12, 1989 - Dec. 12, 2022

Born and raised in South Carolina, trans man Marquis Jackson, 33, later relocated to Philadelphia, Penn., where he became deeply involved in transgender activism, supporting Philadelphia’s William Way Center and the Transgender Legal Defense Fund. Jackson’s body, with facial lacerations and cranial wounds, was discovered in a Philadelphia neighborhood known as Nicetown. Police are investigating his death as a homicide, indicating he may have been dead for as long as 48 hours before his body was found. A suspect in Jackson’s murder was reportedly detained, but released due to lack of evidence.

Judy Tenuta

Nov. 7, 1949 - Oct. 6, 2022

Stand up comic, actress, singer and accordion player Tenuta always acted like she really wanted to be a gay man. She loved the LGBTQ community, enjoyed performing for them and never missed a chance to fight for queer rights. Known to her fans as the “Love Goddess” and the “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” she appeared with gay writer and celebutante Bruce Vilanch in the movie “Sister Mary” and made multiple appearances on the daytime soap opera “General Hospital.” She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 72.

Henry Berg-Brousseau 1999 - Dec. 16, 2022

A transgender activist and deputy press secretary for politics at the Human Rights Campaign, Berg-Brousseau was only 24 when he made the decision to end his own life. His mother, Kentucky state senator Karen Berg, confirmed that her son died by suicide in his home after struggling for years with his mental health — “not because he was trans,” she wrote, “but ... from his difficulty finding acceptance.” After working at HRC since his college graduation in 2021, he had recently been promoted, “but that could not undo the brokenness that he already felt,” she wrote. “On a daily basis at his job, Henry would be aware of the hateful and vile anti-trans messaging being circulated around this country and focused at his workplace.”

Sept. 25, 1929 - Dec. 30, 2022

Walters was a legend. She began working professionally as a journalist in 1951 and continued to do so until her retirement in 2015. For many years she was revered for her interviewing capabilities and she was well-liked among television viewers. She hosted multiple programs including NBC’s Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20 and The View.

While there are other journalists in the broadcast News field who have an outstanding history, Walters was different. As a woman and a journalist, her career remains unparalleled. She interviewed impossible to pin down people, asked the hard questions and got the answers most could not.

On both a personal and professional level she took a special interest in the fight for LGBTQ civil rights and never hesitated to confront anyone she perceived as homophobic or simply bigoted when it came to the issue. It was her coverage of the controversy surrounding the restaurant chain Cracker Barrel and her personal admission that she had no intention of eating at the restaurant until the issue was resolved and LGBTQ employees could once again rest easy knowing their jobs would not be snatched out from under them because of their sexual orientation.

Barbara Walters died in her Manhattan home after an accomplished career and a full and lengthy life. ::

Coti

also known as David Lohman

Dan Van Mourik

Nov. 8, 1948 - Oct. 15, 2022

Barbara Walters

Qnotes’ staff share their thoughts and hopes for 2023

Funny, poignant, melancholy and sincere – it’s all here as we head into the New Year from the people that bring you Qnotes

By Qnotes Staff|Contributing Writer

Initially, my plan for this submission was to have no New Year’s resolutions. Why disappoint myself? Most of us will not honor them within days of making the resolutions, so why bother? For fun perhaps a few will commit to their resolution, but I don’t know of anyone that ever has. Perhaps I am just too cynical. But since everyone is going to have a New Year’s resolution, mine will be “not be cynical.” Sure, that’s going to happen. I doubt it. It’s not. It’s just not. Oops, there I go being cynical again. I am sure many of you are hoping to commit to your resolution and I hope you can, because I’ve already broken mine just by writing this during the last week of December. But that was when it was still 2022, so maybe there’s hope for me yet! I’ll plan for the best and wish all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. Now that last part wasn’t so cynical, was it?

Will Kimbrough is the graphic designer and layout assistant for QNotes.

My first new year’s resolution is to read more books in the upcoming year. My second New Year’s resolution is to get in the gym on a more consistent basis. Hopefully, I can adhere to these resolutions better than in years past.

L’Monique King is a staff writer and columnist for QNotes.

I don’t often make resolutions, but I always have New Year goals. For 2023 I aim to be much more intentional about self-care. For me, self-care is actually an umbrella term for many smaller goals: I know I need to be more focused upon, such as prioritizing worklife balance, drinking more water, practicing yoga more frequently and working towards bolstering that IRA. With QNotes, I enjoy writing feature articles and the Our People Column very much. I feel I have found a journalism family that inspires my continued growth as a writer, while creating bonds I hope last forever.

David Aaron Moore is a news and features writer and the senior content editor for QNotes.

New Year’s resolutions, huh? I know my goal of attaining time travel in the 21st century remains unlikely, so I have lowered the bar and set more realistic, attainable goals. I pledge to be a better companion to those I am involved with and take more responsibility for my relationships. I’m excited about spending quality time with my energetic new canine pal Della. I must divest myself of objects I do not need. As we move into 2023, I will work diligently with current staff and new additions to QNotes as we plan for the future path of what the publication and website will become. Without fail, I will complete two literary projects I have left simmering on the back burner far too long and continue to sing the praises of Arcadia Publishing for regularly issued royalty checks for a book that has been reprinted so many times I’ve lost count. I will also convince my handyman Armando to finish painting the ceiling in my writing studio and that doom is imminent if he doesn’t pick up the pace. Lastly, I will continue my efforts to make more people laugh as I go through the world every day, because laughing just makes you feel better.

Chris Rudisill is the Audience and Digital Engagement Manager for QNotes.

As 2022 comes to a close, I have taken some extra time this week to think about the coming year and also reflect on how much my life has changed over the course of a pandemic. I officially crossed over to my late 40s this year (46) – now significantly closer to that big 5-0, which has been an important marker for me the past decade. My resolutions this year include the obligatory losing weight and getting back in shape. I was successful in the past year about getting back into the gym, but still have a long way to go. I hope to focus more on healthier foods this year and being conscious about the food I eat, or more importantly where it comes from. Shopping local markets, growing my own food, and minimizing the visits to fast food restaurants. We are lucky to live in an area that has its fill of local farms

and I plan to take advantage of them. The big promise I plan to ring the New Year in with is a commitment to more life-work balance. This is a joint promise for me and my husband and it means date nights go on the calendar, vacations are already being planned and I plan to prioritize those afternoon walks or trips to the gym (see resolution #1). Happy New Year!

Gregg Shapiro is a frequent QNotes contributor.

My 2023 New Year’s resolutions don’t stray too far from the predictable, or the ones that predictably fail, but I’m willing to set some realistic goals. Eat better and exercise more. Walking is my exercise of choice (aside from jumping to conclusions and running up bills!) and is something I can do pretty much year-round living in South Florida. Finding a better work/life balance, which can be challenging working from home, is something I strive for on a regular basis. Being a more attentive, patient and grateful spouse. My husband Rick and I have been together 30 years (legally married since 2013) and it’s important not to take anything for granted. I also need to focus on completing some book projects. My book, “Fear of Muses” was published in March 2022 by Souvenir Spoon Books, and my next book, “The Light Remains,” is scheduled for 2024 publication. However, there are a couple of other book projects in the works that need more attention. Finally, after the traumas and tragedies of the pandemic, I have to be more willing to engage socially with family and friends and move away from isolating. Oh, and cuddling more with our fur baby Coco.

Bailey Sides

is a proofreader and copy editor for QNotes.

Making resolutions for the New Year has always been a difficult task for me, so I decided to take a different approach: Instead of making resolutions I will do, I’m going to make resolutions I won’t do. In the New Year, I won’t speak to those who don’t want to listen, and I won’t search for validation from those who refuse to acknowledge me. Like many Queer people brought up in the church, my relationship with family started to disintegrate around

the time it became clear I wasn’t going to follow in the footsteps of my conservative, fundamentalist Christian relatives. To them, my perspectives and opinions quickly became synonymous with those of Satan, so much so that at the age of 14 my mother asked me if I had become possessed by a demon. That hurt for sure, yet in my naïveté I held onto the hope that someday my mother would recognize me as a whole individual; but that hasn’t happened, and I now realize it likely never will. I’m now celebrating the tenth year of my demonic possession. I have spent enough time apart from my family to understand myself separately from them and I’m finally starting to heal. If you’re feeling ostracized from your family, please take the time to support yourself and find others who support you because you are perfect as you are.

Jim Yarbrough has been involved with QNotes since the first newsprint issue in June 1986. He has been the publisher since 1989 and has served as editor for the past five years.

I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions; however, I have been thinking for a few months that it’s time to make some changes in my life. I’ve not thought about these changes as being a New Year’s resolution until the last QNotes staff meeting, when someone suggested the QNotes staff write their own resolutions for the paper this year. Most of us have things we want to do and yet life and work gets in the way. Finding a good balance is difficult for some of us. I intend to do a better job in 2023. With that said, I have been so excited about the work QNotes has done in the last three years. It has really been awesome. Not to mention the work we have done for over 37 years now. We have some great people working together doing some really amazing work. I am very proud of our team and where the paper is now, but I know there is still lots of work to do. On a personal level, I want to read more books, get more exercise and spend more time doing things other than work. I’m ready to cut back some. This does not mean I am leaving QNotes. It means, after 37 years, it’s time to bring on some new folks to help out. We need to look at the future of this paper. Our community still needs this resource. So, if you are a writer, administrator or a sales person there may be a place for you at QNotes that just might be the answer to your New Year’s resolution. ::

Jimmy Cobb is the Bookkeeper for QNotes and White Rabbit Books.

A case for a sabbatical Spiritual Reflections

By Pastor Emily Hartner Qnotes Contributing Writer

I’m going on sabbatical this month. It’s not something I had planned to do, at least not this soon. It was, instead, something that was gifted to me from my denomination’s regional governing body: a six-week “mini” sabbatical for rest and renewal. It does indeed feel like a gift. Our denominational leaders who have sought to support clergy in, what feels like every way possible over the past three years of “covidtide,” recognized that we were all tired. Like, spiritually tired. Like, trying to pour from an empty cup tired. And so, in an effort to help us find some renewal, the synod (our term for the regional governing body) has pledged to cover the expenses related to a sabbatical (specifically, the cost of a supply pastor who will provide leadership in my congregation for six weeks).

When I mentioned the appeal of this sabbatical to my husband, who works in the corporate world, he accused me of “not wanting to live in this world.” I think he thought my desire was to live the life of a hermit, escaping all the responsibilities that come with having a job and a family. I immediately became defensive (of course). “No,” I rebutted, “I just need to take a step back so that I can live in this world and live in it with energy.”

He did bring up a good point, though: With the exception of university professors and clergy, not many people are given the opportunity to take a sabbatical. There’s usually no mention of it in the corporate world, and I can understand how it can feel unfair. But, as one col-

league remarked, reflecting on this seeming inequality, “Maybe the church isn’t the problem.” Perhaps all of us need a sabbatical from time to time. Maybe even you. Maybe especially you.

Though I can’t navigate the nitty gritty details of your specific situation and/or responsibilities with employment, children, family, etc., consider this column as “A Case for a Sabbatical.” And, since the word sabbatical comes from the same word for Sabbath, and if you are familiar with the book of Exodus, then you might remember that God was the one who made the first case for it, and that it was not optional, but a command. “Remember the

sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work” (Exodus 20:8-10).

Though commandments come across as rules that must be followed, Jesus would later, in Mark’s gospel, refer to the Sabbath as a gift; the sabbath was made for us, and not the other way around (Mark 2:27). The book of Isaiah refers to the Sabbath as a delight. I know we live in a workaholic society, but the chance to pause occasionally from such work should come to us as a welcomed gift.

Our work, of course, is also a gift from

God. And if it aligns well with our own skills, talents and passions, and intersects with what the world needs, then our work has an amazing ability to bring us great fulfillment. But we can’t work at the same pace all of the time. Our bodies and spirits need time to rejuvenate.

Last year I was part of a group of colleagues who spent one day a month living sabbath. We met in the morning, spent a couple of hours working in a community, shared a delicious farm to table lunch, and spent two hours in silence before parting ways at the end of the day. On one warm spring day, during the two hours of silence, I spread a blanket out on the grass near a lake. That morning, the news had reported the number of bodies found in Ukraine after Russia had invaded and my heart was feeling heavy. But lying in the grass, I began to notice things I don’t typically notice: the sunlight shimmering on the water, the ants crawling up and down blades of grass, the chirping of the birds, the warm-but-not-yet-hot sun. At one point, a groundhog wandered up behind me and made its way into the woods. Sabbath gives us a different perspective in this world. It enables us to see the gifts of creation, the small wonders happening around us all the time. In gratitude we trust that, despite all that would indicate otherwise, the Creator can sustain us in this life.

I don’t know exactly how I’ll spend my sabbatical, other than reading and praying. But my hope is that it gives me the time to delight in the gifts God has given me, so that my faith is renewed and my hope is restored.

Maybe you too could carve out a little sabbatical time in this new year even if it’s only an hour or so per week, so that your faith is restored as well. Blessings on the new year. ::

Charlotte’s oldest restaurant will lose its home after its building gets sold

Historic eatery has served breakfast and lunch since 1926

By Catherine Muccigrosso|Contributing Writer

Charlotte’s oldest restaurant is losing its home, and its fate remains uncertain. The building that’s home to the nearly century-old uptown hot dog spot Green’s Lunch has been listed for sale for $3 million. The iconic eatery has been slinging dogs since 1926 at 309 W. 4th Street. Since 1975 it has been run by the Katopodis family.

The building where the nearly 1,600-square-foot restaurant serves breakfast and lunch was listed for sale by Sands Investment Group.

Green’s Lunch will close the restaurant following a sale of the property, Saeed Moghadam, listing broker with Sands Investment Group, confirmed to The Charlotte Observer Wednesday. “The business will not remain there,” he said. “But Green’s may show up in another Charlotte location.”

Moghadam expects a developer could buy the property and available adjacent lots to build a new high rise, and he sees opportunity for a mix of hotel, offices, retail and residences.

The

Meanwhile, Matthews, who has written a book – “Another World” – that explores how institutions have failed Black queer, trans and gender-nonconforming people, believes the DPS policy will be transformative for students.

“I look forward to seeing how it’s implemented and the actual actions and training and how the training will impact the curriculum,” Matthews said.

He welcomes the progress made but wishes that it had come sooner.

“This is why I share my story,” Matthews said. “I wish I had heard a similar story when I was a child.”

Findings from the 2021 National School Climate Survey include:

Schools remain hostile for LGBTQ students. The majority of LGBTQ+ students who attended school in-person at some

point during the 2021-2022 academic year (83.1 percent) experienced in-person harassment or assault based on personal characteristics, including sexual orientation, gender expression, gender, religion, actual or perceived race and ethnicity, and actual or perceived disability.

Fewer resources are available for LGBTQ+ students. The percentage of LGBTQ+ students who have a GSA available at their school has dropped significantly since 2019. Access to LGBTQ+ inclusive books and resources and the number of supportive school personnel also decreased.

Bullying and harassment goes beyond the classroom. Students who were in onlineonly learning environments during the pandemic experienced higher rates of online harassment based on sexual orientation, gender and gender expression than those who were in hybrid-learning environments.

and Tommy Holevas, according to Mecklenburg County property records.

Last year, the property was listed for sale for $2.5 million. At that time, owner Joanna Sikiotis told CharlotteFive she planned to work out a deal to stay and keep Green’s Lunch open. In August, Sikiotis told The Charlotte Observer the restaurant was struggling with higher costs, fewer workers and supply chain issues.

Skitotis could not be reached for comment. She has owned the business since 1989 when her father, Philip Katopodis, retired in 1989. He died in September. Skitiotis told Charlotte Axios recently that the restaurant’s future is “up in the air right now.” Charlotte has seen several other longtime restaurants close including The Charlotte Cafe, Mr. K’s and Price’s Chicken Coop. ::

School policies discriminate against LGBTQ students, especially transgender and nonbinary students. Most LGBTQ+ students (58.9%) experienced LGBTQ+related discriminatory policies or practices at school. There has been an increase since 2019 in restrictions on students’ use of name and pronouns and clothing based on gender norms.

Anti-LGBTQ harassment and hostile school environments directly harm mental health and academic performance. A hostile school climate affects students’ academic success and mental health.

Nearly one-third (32.2 percent) of LGBTQ+ students missed at least one day of school in the last month due to feeling unsafe.

LGBTQ+ students also reported having lower self-esteem and higher levels of depression, as a result of the harassment.

This story appears courtesy of our media partner NC Policy Watch. ::

one-story brick front building with a side mural is owned by GL Fourth LLC, owned by Jerri Katopodis Holevas

Just a few years short of its 100th anniversary, Charlotte’s oldest restaurant may close before it reaches that landmark date.

CREDIT: Facebook

Durham schools continued from page 6

‘Mad Honey’ Out in Print

by Terri Schlichenmeyer Qnotes Contributing Writer

Honey” by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

You’ve never been one to follow all the buzz.

Gossip is not very reliable anyhow, and you have better things to do than celebrity-watch. This star does that, and that star’s embroiled in scandal, nobody has any privacy anymore. Nah, that ho-hum has never been your thing. As in the new novel “Mad Honey” by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, the hive is rarely right.

If you move slow enough and don’t make any sudden moves, honeybees are generally peaceful creatures. Olivia McAfee knows this, and that’s why she often visits her hives without a protective suit: she’s relatively sure she won’t get stung.

That’s not the case when it comes to her son, Asher. A senior in high school, her

eighteen-yearold can be prickly sometimes, and sometimes, stings are a part of parenting a teenager. This, Liv knows, is one of those times: Asher’s in love, and it’s not going well.

Nineteenyear-old Lily Campanello arrived in town with her mother at the end of the summer, and she and Asher have had a stormy relationship since they started going out. Liv hates to see Asher so upset, but she knows that love is complicated. She loved Asher’s father, despite the fact that she spent too much time hiding the bruises

she got from him.

Asher knew he’d messed up. When he found Lily’s father, a man she hadn’t seen in years, he’d meant to surprise her but the surprise was on Asher: Lily was angry and she wouldn’t exactly say why. She just walked, almost ran away, and she wouldn’t talk about it. She wouldn’t even answer Asher’s texts and now he was getting angry. Should he worry about her, or just go to her house?

He chose the latter.

It was the middle of the night when

the police came for him. They handcuffed Asher before they gave him his shoes, and hauled him away without a coat on a freezing night.

Olivia McAfee knows that mad honey is the result of bad foraging. It should be sweet, but it’s deadly. By the time you realize that, there’s no going back.

You know how your mind tries to figure out the ending of a book long before you’re even a third of the way there?

Curiously, that doesn’t happen with “Mad Honey.” The story is too enjoyable not to savor and besides, you know what’s going to happen anyway, right?

Or not.

Nope, authors Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan sneak a two-fer surprise inside this book. The first one explodes with the force of a beehive full of nitroglycerin. The second is that you’ll still be left feeling smug enough to think you know how this culminates. Or not, but still: More distractions, more mini-explosions unspool with the right frequency to keep you happily eager to see how wrong you were.

This is one of those novels that’s done before you’re ready for it, leaving you slack-jawed when you close the back cover. “Mad Honey” is pretty sweet. Read it, and you’ll bee very happy. ::

Moby thick Screen Savor

by Gregg Shapiro Qnotes Contributing Writer

Acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky has distinguished himself by not shying away from difficult or disturbing subject matter. Since his 1998 feature-length debut “π,” he’s tackled drug addiction, obsessive/self-destructive behavior, descents into madness and violent psychological horror, all with equal aplomb.

Aronofsky’s latest, “The Whale” (A24), is a different animal (if you will) altogether. Based on gay playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s play of the same name, with a screenplay by Hunter, the movie is stifling and stagey, which is conceivably intentional as the main character, the morbidly obese Charlie (Brendan Fraser giving a career comeback performance that is almost guaranteed an Oscar nomination), has extremely limited mobility.

However, the setting – Charlie’s ramshackle Idaho apartment – isn’t the lone source of the movie’s issues. Often, it’s the dialogue and the actors’ movements; there are lots of clunky scenes where an offended or distraught character stops in the doorway mid-exit (per the original stage directions, one assumes) and waits

for the next line. Are these awkward and repetitive scenes the fault of the director or the screenwriter who adapted his own stage play?

Viewers can decide for themselves, as “The Whale” is certainly worth seeing for Fraser’s performance alone. His portrayal of Charlie is spectacular. The expressiveness in his eyes and facial

expressions – he is suffering, physically and emotionally – are among the most authentic we’ve seen on screen this year.

The titular beast is the one from Melville’s “Moby Dick,” the subject of which is a term paper that has a soothing effect on housebound Charlie, as his body, specifically his heart and blood pressure, take its toll. Charlie is a gay

man who left his wife Mary (Samantha Morton) and young daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) years earlier for a male lover (and former student) named Allen.

Charlie has never recovered from the loss of Allen, whose death by suicide was precipitated by his family’s involvement in a cult-like Christian church.

Allen’s sister Liz (Hong Chau), a nurse, has remained close to Charlie. So close, in fact, that she’s the one standing by helplessly as Charlie eats himself into oblivion. Choking on meatball subs, gobbling down two pizzas multiple slices at a time, devouring bags of candy bars, and so on.

Charlie, whose attempt to eat his sadness, is interrupted by the arrival of Thomas (Ty Simpkins), who claims to be a missionary from the same fanatical church that led to Allen’s early demise. Additionally, Charlie, aware that the end of his life is near, has made an effort to reconnect with Ellie, the daughter he hasn’t seen in seven years. Now a sullen high schooler, Ellie doesn’t make it easy on Charlie.

What follows is a devastating portrait of reconciliation and failure. Often difficult to watch and absorb without looking away, “The Whale” ultimately stays afloat because of Fraser’s sensitive work. ::

Brendan Frasier plays a depressed gay man with an eating disorder in ‘The Whale.’

CREDIT: A24/Protozoa

by L’Monique King Qnotes Staff Writer

Native Charlottean Johnathan “Johnny” Wilson has been an active contributor to Charlotte’s health and wellness scene for quite some time. As a young Black gay professional, “weirdly fascinated by cheetahs because they’re fast, fierce and never trying to [be] the biggest or baddest,” Wilson is routinely spotted around town making a name for himself. Wilson is so invested in the Charlotte community that he never plans on leaving. Well, at least not for a very long time when he hopes to retire to Australia. In the meantime, he wants to see the fruits of the labor of so much hard work. For Wilson, “to uproot myself and try to do what I do somewhere else is just preposterous.” During this candid interview, Wilson takes a look back at what 2022 has been like for him in Charlotte and his aspirations for 2023.

LMK: What was most challenging for you this past year?

JW: 2022 has been a year of transition. Throughout this year, that word [transition] just flashes in my head for so many different reasons. Not only did I switch jobs, but the day I left my job at RAIN I was also moving into a new house. I was also able to transition out of my relationship.

The funny thing is, because I had to pack the night before and be at a new job the next day, I hired movers to help. I then put sticky notes on all the things I wanted to take with me. Some things were staying because my ex was still going to be living at the house. Well, it’s been six months and I’m still finding sticky notes in my new

Our people: Johnathan Wilson

A year in review of health, wellness and hope

house. [Bursts into laughter] I’m haunted by them, haunted by sticky notes.

LMK: When many people hear your name, they think of RAIN, the HIV organization you were employed by for years. What’s your transition from RAIN to the Mecklenburg County Health Department been like?

JW: Hard. It was a very hard transition.

It was a decision that I was sitting on for two and a half months before making. I was actually offered the position in April of 2022, but I wasn’t quite sure at that time what I wanted to do. The county graciously waited for me to make my decision.

LMK: What held you back from accepting immediately?

JW: One of the things that was laying so heavily on my mind was my clients. Clients that I’d been working with for years and years. I had one client in particular that I knew I did not do my best in assisting them in becoming self-sufficient. This was a very challenging client and one of my best clients. So, leaving [RAIN] without feeling like I was able to assist her in transitioning in her journey to something better was tough. That still bothers me to this day – that I’m not able to see that movement in her life like I’ve seen with other clients.

LMK: What’s your role at the health department? What do you do there?

JW: My title is Program Health Supervisor and what my focus is, what I get paid to do, is monitor the EHE (Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative) HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) contract. EHE is an initiative that was created to help complement and enhance the Ryan White program. Typically, I’m looking over the internal budget for the county and I’m also looking at how our sub recipients manage their budgets and their programs. Sub recipients are organizations that are funded to serve individuals under the EHE contract. I also supervise the linkage to care program for the county.

LMK: Linkage to Care sounds like where you’re most able to be creative. Is it?

JW: Well, actually I’m able to be creative within both [roles]. Not only am I monitoring the EHE HRSA grant but I’m also able to create different intervention programs along with funding existing intervention programs. I woke up one morning and

Mecklenburg County had received its first case of Monkeypox, with more on the horizon. I received a phone call from Angela Lee, Assistant Health Director stating that Dr. Washington the Health Director would like to have a meeting with me. I was nervous, I couldn’t think of what they might have wanted. At the meeting I was asked, “What are we going to do about the Monkeypox response?” So, I gave my ideas in regard to what I would like to see happen. My thoughts were, we can’t wait for people to come to the health department to get their vaccines. The waiting list was already above 2000 people.

So, I took it back to my old outreach days, bringing health to the public, going into the community and giving them what they need. At first, we were looking at having information at clubs and different venues, but that’s not what I had in mind. I wanted to have nurses working with us, providing vaccines on the spot. From there I started contacting prior contacts and suggested that one of the promoters I’d previously worked with have a field day. It took off from there. The event was called the LGBT Field Day. It was held on Harding University High School’s campus. It was the first of many mobile Monkeypox vaccination [clinics]. That first day we vaccinated about 100 people, a success I’m proud of.

LMK: As a young Black gay male in HIV prevention, what do you think is the greatest challenge in ending the epidemic of HIV for the southeast?

JW: Ummm, it changes. But for me, I feel like the challenge is we as workers, as organizations, as leaders and individual entities are not able to collaborate in a way that the community can see and feel change.

LMK: What solution would you suggest in combating this issue?

JW: It’s going to take time, turf and trust in order to say that we are actually collaborating. When we talk about time, it’s going to take time to participate in

meetings to see what the collaboration will look like and define measurable goals. When I say give up turf, I’m talking about clients. Not that they are property but the mindset of clients belonging to particular organizations needs to be given up. And then, trust. You have to be able to trust the intentions of others in order to be able to work together. Knowing that we’re all working toward the same goal and we all have each other’s best interest at heart.

LMK: Sounds like you’ve put some serious thought into that and have had a full year. Any resolutions for 2023?

JW: Yes [chuckles]. My resolutions are going to sound so cliché. Definitely getting back into the gym. Hopefully finding a partner. Doesn’t have to be a man.

LMK: Expanding your options to include dating women? Is that a new thing for you?

JW: No, not necessarily a new thing. It’s more about being sexually fluid. It seems like it’s ok for women to be fluid in a way that most men cannot. Most times when I am communicating with a woman and let them know that I’ve been with men, it’s a deal breaker. However, if a woman were to say to me or any men that I know that they’ve been with another woman, we as men don’t even think twice about it because it’s always seen as sexy. It’s a whole different story.

LMK: So how do you identify?

JW: I identify as gay male. For me personally, I take it back to the Genderbread man/person. My [gender] expression and my sexuality don’t define my love interest and vice versa. Society has boxes that we check off or don’t check off and it’s just easier for me to go with gay male, and not have to constantly explain how I’ve primarily been with men, not just sexually but romantically.

LMK: With so much on your plate, down time and most certainly needed to remain diligent and sane. How do you spend your down time?

JW: This job requires a lot of us. A lot of talking, interacting. I love doing it, but it can be draining. So, for me, if I have a big event where I have to talk and present, I go home after and sleep for a day and a half. Sleep is what I typically do with down-time. The way folks say they can outdrink somebody, I can out sleep somebody in a heartbeat.

LMK: Any final thoughts for readers?

JW: I’ve always been able to thrive in an environment that has allowed me to be authentically me. Though there may be some red tape in working with the county they are allowing me to change the color of the tape. So, my final thought would be to find and immerse yourself within environments that allow you to be you –that is the only way that companies and organizations are going to be able to stay relevant and innovative. ::

Johnny Wilson is the Program Health Supervisor for Mecklenburg County. CREDIT: Facebook

The ‘genderbread’ person. CREDIT : Illustration courtesy: Sam Killerman/http:// itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/aboutthe-blog/