QNotes Feb. 15-28, 2013

Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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Feb. 15-28 . 2013

inside

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Feb. 15-28, 2013 Vol 27 No 21

arts. entertainment. news. views.

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contributors this issue

Paige Braddock, Rosendo Brown, Matt Comer, Kisha Fox, Nicole Grier, Kevin Grooms/Miss Della, Charlene Lichtenstein, Lainey Millen, David Stout, Trinity, Brett Webb-Mitchell

front page Graphic Design by Matt Comer & Lainey Millen. Photo: Persona PR & Creative Entertainment Agency

news & features 6 9 9 9

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News Notes: Regional Briefs The southern frontier Brief nod to gays in ‘State of City’ Org ceases operation

spring a&e guide 11 12 14 15 16

Community Harmony Interview with Alex Newell Beyonce to visit Charlotte Charlotte stage Classical sound and motion

a&e / life&style

16 Drag Rag 17 Tell Trinity 18 Out in the Stars 19 20 Questions 22 Fabulance 23 Jane’s World 23 Q events calendar

opinions & views 4 4 5 5

Editor’s Note TalkBack On Being a Gay Parent Community Voices

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Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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editor’s note

by Matt Comer matt@goqnotes.com

Misplaced Council priorities in Panthers plan The Charlotte City Council desperately needs a good ol’ fashion come-to-Jesus moment. It’s time to look deep into the mirror and ask themselves, “Is my service being performed for the whole of my constituency or, rather, for the already-advantaged few? What are my priorities? Am I being accountable to those who elected me? Am I responsibly and respectfully carrying out the sacred duties assigned to a person elected by voters to this position of leadership?”

Those questions, asked in light of the ongoing intransigence on the Capital Improvement Plan and the recent eagerness to fork over nearly $144 million for Carolina Panthers stadium upgrades, have clear and obvious answers: In Charlotte, the rich get richer — behind closed doors and on the backs of everyone else.

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Openness & accountability Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson’s recent request for city money originally came in at $125 million. Yet, Council has seen fit to give him nearly $19 million more, all while taxpayers have yet had the opportunity to see exactly what their $144 million will be buying. Council should have demanded: If you are going to ask for that much in taxpayer funds, we will have to show our citizens — the real people from whom our rightful authority derives — how you plan on spending it before we endorse a plan approving the expenditure.

Instead, Council thought it was better to discuss the matter in closed-door meetings, safely tucked away from public scrutiny where, I’m assuming, the brandy was flowing freely and smoke from fancy, imported cigars was lightly swirling around Council members’ heads.

As a community and a city, Charlotte faces a lot of massive problems affecting our current and future growth. But, it is this lack of openness and transparency that must be addressed first. No other challenge in this city can be properly addressed if our elected representatives are not first willing to actually do the work with which citizens have entrusted them in an open, honest, transparent and collaborative manner.

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The rich get richer Though openness and transparency is chief among Charlotte’s challenges, recent events have clearly demonstrated a much larger, more difficult problem: Council members have gravely misplaced their priorities as public servants, all to the continued benefit of millionaires and detriment of average citizens.

In less than a month, Council considered, debated and voted to endorse a business plan giving nearly $144 million to a business worth $1 billion owned by a man with an estimated worth of $500 million — the same business which is able to offer its dozens of players anywhere from one-year to six-year contracts with salaries totaling nearly $680 million.

Now, contrast that with the Council’s months-long stalling on the proposed Capital Improvement Plan, the progressive, forwardthinking strategy first put forward by nowretired City Manager Curt Walton and other city staff. If passed, the plan would have invested money in the city’s future growth and financial well-being by addressing seriously and long-neglected infrastructure needs and other projects.

Walton’s progressive plan had been in the works for months. Council members had seen presentation after presentation and spreadsheet after spreadsheet on the proposed spending. And, without even the slightest forewarning or inkling of trouble, the proposal devolved into silly back-and-forth bickering and was quickly shot down when it came to a vote last summer.

For months now, members of City Council and Mayor Anthony Foxx have been wrangling over the details of the Capital Improvement Plan. In December, they voted to postpone any further discussion on it.

Why does Council find itself so eagerly considering and approving a plan to give $144 million to a business that will be shelling out nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in salaries while at the same time continually stalling on a plan to spend much-needed money on citywide projects that will benefit the majority of citizens and residents — people who make far,

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far less each year than the eight-figure salaries most Panthers players are taking home?

From the outside looking in — hell, from any rational perspective — the Council’s quick, efficient and closed-door management of the Panthers’ request when compared to the Council’s slow and dysfunctional management of the Capital Improvement Plan reeks of the absolutely corrupting power of moneyed access and privilege. Are you a millionaire business owner who wants millions in taxpayer dollars for the private use of supporting your $1 billion business? Well, buddy, come on in and sit right down and we’ll take care of you in a jiffy! Yet, if you are Regular Joe and Average Jane who needs better roads and sidewalks or more affordable housing options in a city with sky-rocketing rents and poverty rates, all it seems you’ll hear from the city is, “Eh, take a hike and we’ll deal with you later.”

Setting priorities It is important for citizens and City Council members alike to seriously question the ways in which this plan to support the Panthers has come about and whether our city’s public servants have the best interest of all their constituents in mind.

While thousands of citizens are living

talkback

Letters to the editor and comments from goqnotes.com and facebook.com/ qnotescarolinas. Web comments are not edited for grammar or punctuation.

Don’t y’all be sleeping on Unique OR Glee... both are making HISTORY for the likes of our COMMUNITY.…

— Q Michael Dewalt, Facebook, Feb. 10, in response to news of our interview this issue with Alex Newell of “Glee.”

A great read into the past. Nice work!

— Tim Dill, Facebook, Feb. 1, in response to our annual Love & Lust Sex Issue.

Given that we are an open part of our communities, living and not hiding from the law, being elected to public office and serving openly in the military — is wanton sex better?

NOT TO ME! — Ernest Fleming, goqnotes.com, Feb. 6, in response to our Love & Lust Sex Issue QPoll: “Will sexual freedom of 1970s return?”

I am incredibly disappointed and disturbed by the tenor of this article. Gay men should not be

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www.charlottebusinessguild.org Feb. 15-28 . 2013

fostered or adding fuel to hysteria around sex offenders or child pornography, but should instead be exercising a hyper-vigilant suspicion of and critical eye toward such discourses.

— Kent Brintnall, Feb. 6, in response to our coverage of EMIRE House and founder Brian Brigham. Read Kintnall’s full thoughts in the comments section at goqnotes.com/20987/.

Sorry but this person knows exactly what the law says he can and cannot do. If his intentions are honest then he understands he cannot be active in the organization he founded. To do so just makes it appear as if he is still trying to surround himself with vulnerable young men, even if they are legal adults.

Mr. Brigham would do well to reengage the recovery process that will encourage better judgement and keep him out of jail.

— Dr. Jimmy, Feb. 8, in response to our followup coverage of EMIRE House and founder Brian Brigham at goqnotes.com/21000/.

Charlotte Business Guild Monthly Dinner/Town Hall Now is the time to speak your mind!

In true Town Hall style, tell us: How can CBG better serve you?

All are invited! Attendance is FREE! Fabulous food/beer/wine available for purchase.

Date: Tuesday, February 19 Time: Cocktails/Dinner begin 5:30 pm/Program begins 6:30 pm Place: Check out the NEW NoDa-located LGBT Community Center, 2508 N. Davidson Street

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in poverty and as city infrastructure is left neglected, the City Council has done relatively little to begin effectively addressing city-wide challenges and finding solutions that will encourage Charlotte’s growth.

Ultimately, this choice doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition. We can support both the Panthers and take steps to ensure all our citizens are being supported. We can encourage the economic stimulus that is a locallybased national sports franchise while at the same time addressing serious economic and infrastructure problems that affect mostly low- and middle-income people.

All it takes is will and a determination by City Council that they will not let the needs of the many go unaddressed while they make plans to benefit the wealthy few on the very backs of those who can least afford it.

Which priorities do our government and our elected leaders find most important?

So far, even the most social-justice-minded members of Council seem to favor the needs of the city’s wealthy over those of the average citizen. If Charlotte truly desires change, if it truly desires a city that lifts everyone up, then Council must admit that there is only one obvious answer: No money for millionaires, until the Capital Improvement Plan is passed. : :

views

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on being a gay parent

by Brett Webb-Mitchell qnotes contributor

The D.C.-N.C. Connection What do North Carolina lesbian and gay couples do when the laws of the state make adopting a child by both people in a same-sex relationship nearly impossible? Where do they go when the laws and constitution of NC make it impossible for LGBTQ couples to wed, let alone live in a domestic partnership or civil union of any kind, shape or form? Where do gay couples in a significant long-term relationship go when they are desirous of being dads through surrogacy? Where do lesbian or gay couples go if they want to have both of their names on their infant’s birth certificate?

Simple: North Carolina individuals or couples go to Washington, D.C.! Washington, D.C. has become the marriage and birth sanctuary or haven for many North Carolina LGBTQ individuals and couples who wish to wed, have receptions, give birth to a child or have a child through surrogacy.

I know I’m a little slow on trends, but this is a definite trend. It was unbeknownst to me until the last few weeks when “D.C.” started to arise when talking to gay and lesbian couples who were either getting married, having a child, adopting a child or having a

community voices

by Kisha Fox and Nicole Grier

Positive growth through community service Greetings, from the respectful women of paste, soap and other hygiene-related prodChi Psi Omega Fraternity, Inc.! An organizaucts. The gratitude on the faces of the people tion that, while still very young, has begun at each of these locations is unexplainable. to turn up the heat in the LGBTQ community.

The experience shared was life-changing and Born on June 25, 2011, by four distinct women concluded 2012 on an extremely high note.

— Roberta Kerr, Melinda Dixon, Samantha Chi Psi Omega also adopted Hamilton Mercer and Diana Nutter — Chi Psi Omega is St. and neighboring streets located in the a positive space for dominant lesbian women NC Music Factory area. Each quarter, those to promote equality and awareness in the streets are cleaned as part of the Keep LGBTQ community. Since establishment, Charlotte Beautiful initiative. Every third the organization prides itself on community Sunday of the month we present Spoken service outreach.

Word Sunday in the The organization’s private room of Wet “I am honored to be a part of an orgaOne Community Cares Willie’s. This is a nization that not only embraces each other, project began in 2011 monthly fundraiser and progressed into a but embraces the community with the same hosted as an open community-wide effort level of honor. This organization provides an mic to allow the opportunity for dominant lesbian women to to assist the area community to come better themselves, inside and out! I am a Chi homeless by collectout and share their Psi Omega woman, and will be until I die.” ing and distributing talents. The organiza— Kisha Fox tion’s Back to School toiletries and nonperishable foods to drive starts every year the homeless. Over 300 care packages were around May and runs through August. This is distributed through Crisis Assistance Ministry a time where school supplies are collected; Free Store and the Men’s Shelter to the city’s funds are raised through car washes. homeless community during the project. The Last June, the organization began care packages included socks, gloves, lotion, quarterly community forums at the LGBT deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, toothbrush/ Community Center. The forums are the organi-

BUILD THROUGH

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child through surrogacy. The first inkling about D.C. being the hot place to marry came about when I looked through the photo album of a recently married couple of men who are gay and deaf. I realized that I knew three or four other couples who had recently wed in D.C. This led to the second “aha” moment when talking to a lesbian couple who were wed in D.C., claimed “residency” in the city itself before they were wedded (and have recently moved to N.C.), and plan to go back “up” to D.C. when their child (they are expectant parents) is born. Why D.C.? Because both names of the mothers can be on the birth certificate when a child is born in a D.C. hospital. I’ve now known three North Carolina lesbian couples who had their child in D.C. for this very reason. And, their N.C. families gladly trooped up to the city to celebrate the festive day of birth, in which the caravan then came back down with a new citizen of N.C. Lastly, a gay friend and his new partner

who have both always wanted a child have been working with lawyers and a surrogacy service in D.C., and they are expecting a child in October 2013. Will they be recognized as the “moms” and “dads” legally in N.C.?

Apparently, there is already legal precedent in N.C. for recognizing either gay or lesbian parents when children born in other cities and states where it is legal to have both dads and both moms on the birth certificate.

“Necessity” and “desire” are the “mother” of invention, says the old tired cliché. And, on this matter, I’m glad that North Carolinians who love living in this state have found a way of both fulfilling their desire to be parents and securing their rights as parents through other creative means. I hope other wannabe couples and parents take advantage when other states are seeing the inevitable reality of this country, that we, who are LGBTQI, are slowly but surely becoming equal citizens of these United States. : :

zation’s gift back to community because they year and brings awareness of the impact are free to attend and local professionals are of bullying through assemblies at local brought in to form the panel to discuss various schools. Assemblies consist of a Charlottetopics of concern to the LGBTQ community.

Mecklenburg Police officer and a licensed Past forums consisted of topics ranging from therapist teaching children the importance safe sex to domestic violence. In September of bullying awareness and prevention. Last of 2012, Chi Psi year, Kennedy Charter Omega was honored Schools hosted the I “I joined Chi Psi Omega Fraternity to be to be a part of the Am You Campaign. The Democratic National apart of a movement that is changing the campaign was such a LGBTQ community as a whole. These women Convention by sponsuccess that Kennedy soring qnotes’ cover- have taught me the importance of self and Charter began an the importance of sharing with others that are in-house anti-bullying age of this historic less fortunate. I am most humbled to represent program after the event for Charlotte. these meaningful colors of green and yellow.” school recognized the Chi Psi Omega — Nicole Grier need. Chi Psi Omega is also growing!

Our membership Fraternity, Inc. is curhas more than doubled since incorporation. rently seeking other schools with a need for The first membership line, The New Edition, this program to mentor students on bullying to crossed in the Spring of 2012 bringing Tania host the I Am You Campaign.

Cox, Christina Whitner and Devon Copeland Please, visit our website, chipsiomega into an incredible movement. In December fraternity.org, for more information on the 2012, two new women were added to Chi Psi organization or to apply for membership. : : Omega Fraternity, Inc.’s journey to bridge gaps — Kisha Fox, a native of Charlotte, and Nicole in society and within the LGBTQ community Grier, a native of Nashville, Tenn., are members of itself. Kisha Fox and Nicole Grier became the Chi Psi Omega Fraternity, Inc. Grier graduated from Dynamic Duo, adding to the elite group of Independence High School in 1994 and is currently women who are changing the meaning of serenrolled at Central Piedmont Community College vice within the LGBTQ community and abroad. studying business. She is the owner of SMOKN-G’s This year, Chi Psi Omega will host its Catering and Event Planning Services. Fox graduannual I Am You Campaign beginning in ated high school in 2000 and attended the University March. I Am You is an anti-bullying camof North Carolina-Charlotte, where she studied kinesiology and interdisciplinary health studies. paign which runs until the end of the school

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news notes: carolinas. nation. world. compiled by Lainey Millen | David Stout | Matt Comer

Charlotte Chorus raises voices

CHARLOTTE — One Voice Chorus’ Sotto Voce will present “Telescopic Hearts, Love Knows No Boundaries” on Feb. 17, 4 p.m., at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Center City campus, 320 E. 9th St. The ensemble’s recital tells the story of the love, how it expands to sometimes amazing places.

Proceeds from the event will go to support the university’s Multicultural Resource Center.

The chorus has also scheduled two more concerts this spring. “Songs of Wisdom” will be held on April 6, 7:30 p.m., at First United Methodist Church, 501 N. Tryon St., in partnership with the American Guild of Organists.

“Hollywood Squares: British Invasion” will take place on June 6-8, 7:30 p.m., at the North Carolina Dance Theatre, 701 N. Tryon St. info/tickets: onevoicechorus.com — L.M.

Arts show to benefit TOY

CHARLOTTE — Time Out Youth (TOY) will present their sixth annual “Celebration of the Arts” to be held on March 2, 7:30 p.m., at Theatre Charlotte, 501 Queens Rd. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with an open bar.

Talent comes from Charlotte and New York City. They included at press time: Hardin Minor (mime), Stephen Seay (actor and director), Rachael Houdek (performer), Jason Barney (singer/actor/dancer), Veda Covington (actor/singer), Chris Hannibal (magician/ comedian), Tania Kelly (actress) & Robot Johnson (sketch comedy), Annie Vereen (dancer) and Helen Russell (singer).

“Charlotte has so many talented performers and we are excited to once again showcase some of the best in ‘Celebration of the Arts.’ This year’s show is a mix of talented vocals, comedy and some unique performances including dance and magic. It’s an evening that’s sure to entertain,” Vito Abate, show producer told TOY. He added, “All of the performers are excited to share the stage and donate their skills to help Time Out Youth.”

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General seating tickets are available for $25 in advance through TOY, 1900 The Plaza, or at the door. Call Rodney Tucker, executive director, at 704-344-8335 or email rtucker@ timeoutyouth.org to learn more. info: timeoutyouth.org — L.M.

Triangle Kleinschmidt seeks third term

CHAPEL HILL — Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt announced on Feb. 7 that he would run for reelection this year, filing campaign paperwork at the Orange County Board of Elections to run for a third term.

“Being Mayor of Chapel Hill over the past three years has been the one of most challenging, yet rewarding experience of my life,” Kleinschmidt said, according to a release. “It is my intention to file for re-election in July in the hope the citizens will allow me to continue to serve and move forward with the hard work we have invested in Chapel Hill together as a community.”

Kleinschmidt’s campaign says Chapel Hill has made significant policy advancements and won several awards during his tenure as mayor. The town has adopted their Chapel 2020 plan, expanded the Chapel Hill Public Library and was named one of Money magazine’s Best Places to Live. The city has also been able to maintain its AAA bond raiting and received significant grant funding totaling $7.5 million for new hybrid buses and transportation planning.

Kleinschmidt is Chapel Hill’s first openly gay mayor. He has been endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. Kleinschmidt was first elected mayor in 2009, after serving two terms on the town council from 2001-2009.

— M.C.

Focus group slated

RALEIGH — The Gay and Gray Initiative of the LGBT Center of Raleigh, 411 Hillsborough St., will hold a focus group on Feb. 20, 7-8:30 p.m., to gauge how the group has done in the past and to examine plans for the future.

Feedback is important. People who have

HRC Gala approaching Mandy Patinkin, who stars in the Showtime series ‘Homeland’ filmed in the Charlotte area, will keynote the annual Human Rights Campaign North Carolina Gala on Feb. 23.

Photo Credit: Kent Smith, Showtime.

CHARLOTTE — The Human Rights Campaign North Carolina Gala will be held on Feb. 23, 5:30 p.m., at the Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College St. This year’s theme is “Mission: Equality.” The Gala committee will welcome 1,600 expected gay and straight ally participants. The event is co-chaired by Ann Hopper, Zuni Johnson, Jason McCraw and Connie Vetter.

Tony and Emmy Award Winner Mandy Patinkin will be the keynote speaker. He is one of the stars of Showtime’s “Homeland,” playing CIA Division Chief Saul Berenson. The series is filmed in the Charlotte region.

Alex Newell, best known these days as Wade “Unique” Adams on FOX’s “Glee,” will provide entertainment. See the feature on him on page 12.

Award honorees this year are Rev. Dr. William Barber and Campaign for Southern Equality. Barber, president of the N.C. chapter of the NAACP, was a strong advocate against Amendment One and voiced his disdain without hesitation. The Campaign for Southern Equality, based in Asheville, promotes LGBT rights in the South. It currently travels across the South advocating for federal equality. Its latest campaign on marriage has garnered significant regional and national attention among civil rights proponents and mainstream media.

Prior to the dinner, a silent auction will take place while attendees enjoy a cash bar and more. The Westin Charlotte, 601 S. College St., serves as the host hotel for the weekend’s festivities.

Tickets are $225 for regularly priced tickets plus service fee at hrccarolina.org. It includes a one-year general membership to HRC. A full list of prices is available online (premium, Federal Club member, major donor, student, senior and active duty military). Seats sell out fast, so purchase quickly.

— L.M.

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goqnotes.com/to/news not participated previously are encouraged to attend. Sign up at meetup.com/http-www-lgbtcenterofraleigh-com-site-programs-seniors/ events/102506262/.

Other events slated for February at the center are: • F em, Butch or Blend…Express Yourself!, Fullstream Brewery, 726 Rigsbee Ave., Durham, 7 p.m.

An official Out!Raleigh event benefiting the Human Rights Campaign and the center features spoken word and performance art.

Contributions appreciated at the door.

• LGBT Generations, at the center, 2 p.m.

The first meeting for LGBT parents and children. Will meet monthly on every fourth Sunday. info: Les Geller, vice chairman, lgeller@ lgbtcenterofraleigh.com — L.M.

Church starts youth ministry

RALEIGH — St. John’s MCC, 805 Glenwood Ave., has announced that it will begin a children’s ministry on Feb. 17.

Church services will be held on the first and third Sundays of the month at 11 a.m.

Rick Grissom will co-lead the ministry.

They are currently looking for a variety of items to make the ministry more successful.

They include: manila envelopes (unfolded letter size or slightly larger), eight-pack boxes of crayons, snacks and sandwich baggies, white paper in reams, construction paper, #2 pencils, small erasers, glue sticks, oak tag paper, religious-themed stickers and one electric pencil sharpener. Items should be taken to the church office.

To learn more about this new youth program, email rigrisso@yahoo.com. info: stjohnsmcc.org — L.M.

and Washington voted for marriage equality.

So, what changed? A new report from Political Research Associates, “The Right’s Marriage Message: Talking Tolerance, Marketing Inequality,” says the Right’s messaging shifted away from what had proven successful in previous campaigns, even as marriage advocates learned from previous failures.

Report author David Dodge, equality activist and researcher, observed: “While this election will likely be looked back upon as a turning point for the marriage equality movement, it is important to remember that none of these victories were won in a landslide. [National Organization for Marriage] and its right-wing affiliates will not concede future battles simply because they are unaccustomed to electoral defeat. Rather, these groups will learn from their mistakes in order to prepare for future campaigns, several of which are just around the corner in states including Indiana and Oregon.”

— D.S.

Boy Scout leaders punt on equality

NEW YORK, N.Y. — After more than a week of reports that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) would consider lifting its national ban on gay Scouts and leaders, on Feb. 6 the organization’s Board of Directors decided in a closed door meeting to stall. Instead of taking action, they voted to form a task force to study the issue. According to a later statement, the move will delay a vote on the ban until the group’s national meeting in May. Poll results released the same day by Quinnipiac University revealed a strong majority of U.S. voters believe it is time for the BSA to end its anti-gay policy. Just 33 percent of voters said the ban should remain in place.

A coalition of gay and straight Scouts and Scout leaders along with scores of equal rights groups have been working for more than nine months to convince BSA leaders to repeal the policy. Over 1.4 million people have signed petitions on Change.org calling for the

BSA to reverse its position.

— D.S.

Anti-gay law moving forward

MOSCOW, Russia — Representatives of LGBT rights group ILGA-Europe are concerned with what looks to be the impending approval by the Russian federal parliament of a bill aimed at banning “propaganda of homosexuality” in Russia.

If passed, the law will make it illegal nationwide for any organization or individual to publish an article, hold an event or in any way publicly discuss LGBT issues. An overwhelming majority of the members of Parliament (388 out of 390 present for the vote) supported the draft legislation, with one voting against and one abstention.

ILGA-Europe leaders also denounced recent acts of violence in Russia against LGBTI rights advocates and their supporters.

— D.S.

National/Global No breakfast of champions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — To the dismay of many within the LGBT community, President Barack Obama joined numerous House and Senate members at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. As always, the Feb. 7 event was hosted by The Fellowship Foundation — a conservative Christian organization that is known to support barbaric anti-gay legislation around the world, including Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill.

“For another year, President Obama has chosen to set aside his stated values of inclusion in order to attend the National Prayer Breakfast — an event rooted in hatred of LGBT people and covered up by pastries and coffee,” said Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEQUAL. “There are so many communities of faith that fully embrace LGBT people and that are rooted in social justice — we really don’t understand why President Obama continues to give his permission for ‘The Family’ to support killing LGBT folks abroad.”

— D.S.

Report examines marriage wins

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — For over a decade and a half, same-sex marriage advocates experienced a long and almost unbroken series of defeats at the ballot box, but in fall 2012, things changed. Not only did Minnesota voters defeat a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but majorities in Maine, Maryland,

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The southern frontier LGBT and progressive organizing in the South highlighted at this year’s Creating Change conference

by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com

[Ed. Note — Our editor, Matt Comer, recently spent five days in Atlanta covering the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change conference. His interviews with some leaders at the conference appear in the follow-up report below.]

ATLANTA — Staffers with North Carolina’s statewide equality organization were in force at this year’s Creating Change, the annual conference of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Equality North Carolina staffers said they had been

Southerners on New Ground Co-Director Paulina Helm-Hernandez, of Atlanta, discusses the importance of intersectional work among LGBT and immigrant communities in Georgia. File Photo.

heartened by what seemed like a growing attention among organizers and attendees of the event to issues of progressive and LGBT organizing in the South.

“I don’t know if it was intentional having this conference in the South or in Atlanta, but certainly there’s been a message that not only can we not abandon the South, but the South is the new gay frontier in terms of rural organizing and in communities of color and bringing them together through faith networks,” said Equality North Carolina Communications Director Jen Jones, who is attended the conference with three other staffers from the group.

The conference, the largest national gathering of LGBT activists and organizers, was held in late January and came nearly three months after November’s marriage equality victories in Maine, Maryland and Washington.

In Minnesota, voters rejected an anti-LGBT state constitutional amendment banning marriage recognition.

“The fact that the conference is in Atlanta makes a big statement, especially coming off the marriage wins in the rest of the country,” said Ben Church, Equality North Carolina’s new deputy director of organizing. “To have the conference in the heart of the South seems intentional and really positive.”

Jones thinks the lessons learned from last May’s amendment campaign in North Carolina helped shape the four later campaigns.

“We really, even before Maryland and

see Progressives on 10

Brief nod to gays in ‘State of City’

by Matt Comer :: editor@goqnotes.com

CHARLOTTE— Mayor Anthony Foxx gave his annual State of the City address on Feb. 4, hitting hard on a variety of local topics including the controversial streetcar project and other infrastructure needs.

The mayor, a Democrat, also included a brief mention of the gay community, following in the footsteps of President Barack Obama, who became the first president to address the LGBT community in an inaugural address.

“As your mayor, I serve the most diverse citizenry in our history — Republicans, Independents and Democrats, the young and old, Hispanics and Asians, blacks and whites, the rich, poor and middle-class, straight and gay, people from every walk of life you can imagine,” Foxx said according to prepared remarks later released to media. “My charge — our charge as a Charlotte City Council — is to ensure that every man, woman and child has a chance to succeed, to fulfill what their talents and abilities can lead them to accomplish.”

Representatives of the Mecklenburg LGBT Political Action Committee (MeckPAC) said

they were encouraged by the mayor’s remarks.

“Mayor Foxx recognizes what comprises a diverse community and he recognizes that the gay community (including the transgender community) is part of that diversity,” MeckPAC Chair Scott Bishop said via email.

The City of Charlotte has taken recent steps to become more LGBT inclusive. In 2010, now-retired City Manager Curt Walton added sexual orientation to the city’s non-discrimination Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx delivers his state of the city address policy. In December, before on Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. his retirement, he also added Photo Credit: Charlotte Observer – Jeff Siner, jsiner@charlotteobserver.com protections for transgender ear for the LGBT community and encourages workers. The City Council us to advance change for the community in also approved a budget last year including Charlotte.” He said the mayor fully supported health and other benefits for same-sex partanti-discrimination efforts and the addition of ners of city employees. domestic partner benefits.

Bishop said Foxx “consistently has an

Org ceases operations

by Matt Comer matt@goqnotes.com

CHARLOTTE — The founder of a new non-profit organization formed to work with young adults has said his group is ceasing operations after scrutiny from this newspaper and others.

“Envy My Illumination and Realize Excellence” House (EMIRE House) was established in 2012 by Charlotte’s Brian Brigham, who said he wanted to help young people ages 18-26 create lives free from drugs, alcohol and crime. His project would have provided housing and support.

An investigation by qnotes found that Brigham, a registered sex offender, had been indicted by a South Carolina federal court on three separate child sex offenses. In April 1999, he pleaded guilty to two counts of enticing two minors, a 13-year-old male and 16-year-old male, and one count of possessing child pornography. He served a federal prison sentence until 2006. In addition to several other run-ins with the law, Brigham had also been convicted in 2010 in Union County, N.C., on three felony fraud charges of obtaining property by false pretenses.

A report exploring Brigham and EMIRE House was published on Feb. 5. A follow-up on Feb. 6 revealed several gaps among local law enforcement’s knowledge of some offenders’ criminal histories and local LGBT organizations’ youth safety policies.

Brigham had described EMIRE House as his opportunity to make amends for his past mistakes and make a difference in other people’s lives. He said he should not be judged by his past and was deserving of a second chance.

After the coverage earlier this month, unconfirmed reports to qnotes indicated that Brigham had apparently decided to either cease his involvement with EMIRE House or to close the organization. The EMIRE house website had been taken offline and a fundraising website had also been taken down.

Brigham confirmed to qnotes on Feb. 9 that EMIRE House was ceasing operations, noting that recent news reports had made it difficult for him to continue. He said the money he has raised would be dispensed according to the wishes of an uncle and a friend who were helping him establish the organization. : : more: You can read the original Feb. 5 report at goqnotes.com/20987/ and the Feb. 6 follow-up story at goqnotes.com/21000/.

Despite the recent progress, the City Council has yet to hold an affirmative public vote on any single matter of LGBT equality or inclusion. The last time the City Council itself publicly considered a stand-alone LGBT measure was in November 1992, when it voted down a proposal to amend its public accommodations ordinance. more: Read the full version of this article online at goqnotes.com/20899/ for more on Foxx’s State of the City address, where you can also find a link to read his full prepared remarks.

Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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Progressives converge on Atlanta continued from page 9

Minnesota, were able to harness the power of the faith networks like never before,” she said. “We dispelled the myth of gays vs.

African-Americans. We really tapped into an especially huge campus system in North Carolina to get young people out to vote like never before.”

Though North Carolina lost, organizers here learned important lessons, she said.

That loss, however, has reinforced negative stereotypes about the South.

“I still don’t think national LGBT organizations appreciate the unique challenges of organizing in the South,” said Equality North Carolina Executive Director Stuart Campbell. “Many still write-off the South, but the tide is turning.”

Campbell cited Republican-led Virginia state Senate’s recent passage of employment protections on the basis of sexual orientation.

“Virginia shows there are opportunities for the South to take important strides toward equality,” Stuart said.

The conference had a strong showing of southern attendees, likely bolstered by its location in Atlanta and the active nature of the local host committee. But, Sarah Reece, director of the Task Force’s Academy for Leadership and Action, said the large showing might also be a result of other factors.

“A big piece of is what is already happening on the ground in a host city or a region when Creating Change comes to town and the moment in the movement where we are,” Reece said in an interview via telephone the week after the conference. “You put all that together, shake it up and have a Creating Change and you’re going to get the results of that.”

In addition to dozens of conference participants from North and South Carolina, regional groups like Southerners on New Ground (SONG) were present. The Atlanta-

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based SONG kicked off their weekend of activities at the conference with a session on southern organizing.

“There is time now for us to build a southern freedom movement, given the shifting landscape in the South and in the country,” SONG Senior Strategist Kai Lumumba Barrow, of Durham, told a crowd of more than 50 participants gathered for their session the South, politics, sex and god.

“We work in a place — this region, this land, this culture — that has a legacy of both slavery and the most extraordinary civil rights resistance movement,” SONG Senior Strategist Suzanne Pharr told a room of more than 50 session participants. “We live in a place you could say is a place of contradiction, but in some ways it isn’t because both of those connect to each other. There are not good or bad guys. This is a complexity we live every day.”

Reece said The Task Force agrees. It’s keenly aware of the South’s special place in progressive politics.

“The Task Force has been the progressive voice for the LGBT community and has striven to be the LGBT voice of the progressive community,” she said. In their work, The Task Force, like SONG and other southern regional groups, have attempted to highlight the intersections between issues like LGBT rights, immigration rights and reproductive choice.

“It hits a different note when you have this conversation in the South, which has been used as the training ground for the rightwing opposition over the years,” Reece said. “You’re having this conversation about these intersections in the place in the country where people have lived the intersections and taught the rest of the country what it means to live in these intersections and organize at the intersections.”

Equality North Carolina’s Church thinks it’s time for organizations, activists, bloggers and others to take notice of the South.

“A lot of people have this mentality of ‘Oh, well, that’s the South,’” Church said. “But, organizing in the South is unique. It’s special to me personally because this is our home.

The options are either be complacent and live your live going through the moves or do something about it.”

More people are getting involved, Church said. Change is happening.

Reece recognizes that progress can be viewed through different lenses.

“Red, blue or purple – what does your state look like? The South can get a bad wrap at times when you see a slew of red,” she said. “There is progress being made in the South all the time. If we just look at the narrow definition of progress just by looking at the make-up of legislatures [then] we don’t lift up and look underneath and see the great work organizations like Southerners on New Ground and Highlander Center are doing to make progress every day.”

The message throughout the conference from southern attendees was one of strength and perseverance. Equality North Carolina’s Jones thinks southern history prepares southern organizers for political and social justice achievements that are often harder to win in the South. Those lessons are important for others across the country as well.

“There has to be a realization that if we’re going to get the Employment NonDiscrimination Act or marriage equality or safe schools in other states without it, then we have to apply lessons the South has been learning decades longer than the rest of the country,” Jones said. “Specifically, that’s perseverance … [and] a narrative of learned lessons of working together against oppressive forces and of marginalized groups forming civil rights movements.”

Organizers at The Task Force know there is more work to be done.

“Last year was not a win for everyone in our community,” Reece said, noting losses on topics ranging from immigration and reproductive rights to the death penalty and non-discrimination laws. “We have to be ever-vigilant in making sure we are doing the good and hard work of one-on-one relationship building to tell our personal stories and built a climate of changing hearts and minds.

The lesson we can take from the South – it is about how we treat each other. Even though policy change is happening we know that it doesn’t translate into culture change fast enough for it to always matter in people’s daily lives. As [Task Force Executive Director] Rea Carey said at Creating Change, the work is not over and there is still work to be done.” : :

PLASH YOUR BUSINESS

WITH US

spring a&e guide goqnotes.com/to/arts

community harmony Local LGBT and friendly choral and band groups Local LGBT choral groups and the Charlotte Pride Band have a doozy of a spring season ahead of them, with exciting performances planned through June.

Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte 3/30 // ‘The Big Gay Sing’

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte promises hilarious costumes, outrageous choreography and plenty of community choral harmony in its first “The Big Gay Sing.”

Director John Quillin and members have pulled together over 100 performers from a variety of community organizations, like the Charlotte Royals rugby team, Southern Country Charlotte and the Charlotte Roller Girls, among others, for this special night.

The inspiration for the night of communal singing was inspired by New York City’s Gay Men’s Chorus, says Quillin.

“We’re sort of taking it to the next level,” Quillin says. “We’re bringing folks on stage you don’t usually find on a concert stage… and it gives a chance for us to connect to groups in town we’ve not had an opportunity to work with before but also gives them access to an audience they may not have had before.”

Quillin promises the night’s program will be

interesting, including songs from a variety of genres. The chorus will also be encouraging audience participation.

“We hope they will be prepared to sing along,” Quillin says. “We’ve actually put these songs in keys that are friendly to singing along and we’ll project words for a bunch of the songs, probably all but about four numbers.”

The chorus has also been preparing with choreography, including a number for “Hey, Mickey.”

“It’s been more fun than a barrel of monkeys,” Quillin says with a laugh. “I cannot wait unitl they’re on stage doing that!”

The concert will be emceed

by Roxy C. Moorecox, featuring special guests from the Charlotte Pride Band, the Charlotte Royals Rugby Team, the Charlotte Roller Girls, Southern Country Charlotte and local youth. Guest star Jacques Snyman (pictured), of South Africa, will perform with the chorus.

“The Big Gay Sing” will be held March 30, 8:04 p.m., Halton Theater, CPCC. Tickets $20-$30.

For more information or ticket purchases, visit gmccharlotte.org.

One Voice Chorus 2/17 // ‘Telescopic Hearts’ One Voice’s small ensemble, Sotto Voce, performs. UNC-Charlotte Uptown.

3/6 // ‘Songs of Wisdom’ One Voice Chorus will partner with the American Guild of Organists and perform half a concert of choral/organ works and half a concert featuring “Song of Wisdom from Old Turtle,” a children’s book with a touching message about peace. First United Methodist Church.

6/6-8 // ‘Hollywood Squares’ It is back! One Voice will have a visit from the Queen (no, not Elton John), Amy Winehouse and others! Of course, the music will all be a “British Invasion” spanning from the Beatles to Adele. It’s one rowdy show one bloody well would not want to miss! N.C. Dance Theatre.

For more information on performance l ocations, ticket prices and purchasing and more, visit onevoicechorus.com.

Charlotte Pride Band 2/23 // ‘Moment in Time’ The Charlotte Pride Band presents “A Moment in Time: Music of Poetry and Prose,” honoring the works of Shakespeare, Poe and Kipling. Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m. Myers Park Baptist Church. Tickets $13-$22.50.

For more information or ticket purchases, visit charlotteprideband.org.

— Show and performance descriptions and synopses courtesy various marketing materials

Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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One on one: Alex Newell ‘Glee’ cast member Alex Newell heads to Charlotte for annual HRC Gala Alex Newell, who plays “Wade ‘Unique’ Adams” on FOX’s hit show “Glee” from creator Ryan Murphy, will be lighting up Charlotte audiences on Feb. 23 when he takes the stage at the annual Human Rights Campaign North Carolina Gala at the Charlotte Convention Center. qnotes got the opportunity to speak with Newell before his arrival in the Queen City and chatted about his high school days, his passion for music, his experience on “Glee” and his love for RuPaul and her “Drag Race.” qnotes: Thanks for chatting today. We’re all so excited about your upcoming visit to Charlotte. Have you ever been to North Carolina before?

Alex Newell: I’ve been through it. When I was younger, me and my mother would always drive through the east coast to go to Alabama where our family is. We’ve made stops there, but I was too young to remember.

Are you looking forward to coming to Charlotte? Have any plans while you’re in town?

I’m not going to be there that long, but I hope to squeeze in what I can.

How did your appearance at the HRC Gala come about? Are you excited about it?

I’ve gone to a lot of the HRC events. I go and sing at all the ones I get invited to. I’ve been to Chicago and San Diego and now Charlotte. It’s one of those things I hold near and dear to my heart. Whenever I get the opportunity, I never shoot it down. It’s something I always love to go and do.

High school is not that long in the past for you…

I’m 20 now, so just one year ago.

What was your experience like there? Were you out? Were you ever bullied?

I was bullied, in a sense. I was different and the school had never seen anything like me.

When people see something different, they tend to shut down and they don’t know what to do about it. I’m just so different and have such a large personality and I’m always loud and if I have a problem, I say it. It was easy for people to pick out things to attack me with. But, in my sophomore year, I stopped letting it get to me. I sang a song at mass — I went to a Catholic high school — and I turned from the gay kid at school who was loud and obnoxious to the singer of our generation.

I’ve heard you played football in high school. Is that true?

That’s not true, but I saw that, too (laughs).

Were you involved in any sports.

No, not at all. I don’t know what sports are. But, I did try out for Pop Warner when I was six, but they rejected me for some reason, even though they aren’t supposed to reject anyone.

Really, so music has always been your real passion?

It always has been.

You were accepted to Berklee, but decided to move to Los Angeles, instead?

Yes, I was accepted to Berklee School of Music. I was packing my bags and getting ready to go and I had made friends there already and then I got the phone call that I had to move out here. It was like a slap in the face, but I was like, “Oh my God!” Is higher education still on your list of things to do?

Of course. I’ve always wanted to go to college and learn how to be better at what I know how to do already and be the best at it. I might go back and do something different now.

Photo courtesy Persona PR and Creative Entertainment Agency.

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When you first went on “The Glee Project,” did you know what character you might be considered for?

Never. But, I always had a dream of a character I would play and it would be Mercedes’ brother. But, never, there was never anything I had my mind set on or that I knew Ryan would think of.

see next page u

spring a&e guide goqnotes.com/to/arts When was it that you found out you’d be playing Unique?

Oh my goodness. It was sometime in February of last year. I got a call and they didn’t tell me. They just said I’d be getting my script. But I didn’t find out until a couple nights later when I got the script and found out my character and was just beside myself and so excited.

“Glee” has broken many barriers, for example showing a same-sex teenage couple on TV. Will Unique get the opportunity to break through a barrier with a love interest or a crush?

I don’t know. I’m still asking that question myself. It’s going to happen one day. It will be unexpected for everyone and mainly it will be unexpected for me.

Unique is a transgender character and as an actor you have to do some female impersonation when Unique is able to be herself on the show. Had you done female impersonation prior to joining the show?

Kind of yes and no. I played Motormouth Maybelle in “Hairspray,” but that was after “The Glee Project” and before “Glee.” People think that I have [done drag] and they fight me down to the death saying that I have, but I had literally never done it. I do it sometimes now outside of my job only because I feel like it’s kind of a learning experience. If I do go out and do it outside of my job, I’m practicing for when I do it at my job. I’ll walk around in high heels randomly just so when I go to work, I’m not falling down during a scene.

How do you think you’ll prepare for the script?

I don’t know. It’s like how I prepare for any script I get. You just have to read it, look at it, take it in and swallow it and say, “Let’s do it.”

When you are able to appear as Unique at public events, do you think you’re able to send a positive message to young people who are transgender or who maybe don’t quite fit into the gender stereotypes of society?

I would hope so. I want people to know that it is okay to wear what you want as long as you’re being yourself. I can wear heels and still be Alex. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing or not wearing, you can still be yourself. That’s all I care about, is someone striving to be themselves.

Are you in a relationship now? How does the so-called show biz affect relationships?

No, not at all. I’m not. I’ve watched everyone else on the show juggle, trying to have a relationship. It’s kind of hard to look if you’re single and it’s even harder to keep a relationship on the show because you’re working so hard and long hours.

What’s your favorite song or performance that you’ve been able to do on the show?

There’s so many! I just did one and I absolutely loved it but I can’t talk about it. I want to say that “Locked Out of Heaven” was fun, but my all-time favorite was “Boogie Shoes,” because it was my very first one and I hold it so near and dear to my heart.

Who is your favorite musical artist?

Oh, Beyonce. Hands down!

What did you think about her Super Bowl performance?

Absolutely stunning!

You know, there’s lots of controversy about some unflattering photos of Beyonce from the Super Bowl. Do you think reporters should just give it up and take the photos down?

Oh, they’re always looking for something to make somone that perfect look bad. It doesn’t matter. Everyone already knows that she’s amazing and beautiful!

Who is your favorite character on the show?

Other than myself (laughs)?

Yes, other than yourself (laughs).

Oh my goodness. I’d really have to say Marley Rose because she has so much heart. There’s not a person on the show who has that much heart and is that pure and genuine with everything they have to say.

You’ll be starring in a new movie coming out soon, “Geography Club,” based on the novel

by Brent Hartinger. Can you tell us anything about your character Ike? It’s this teenage boy who knows he’s gay, but wants everyone else to think he’s straight. It’s funny how he goes through the whole movie where he’ll start out saying he’s straight, but by the end of the movie he’s 100 percent gay and everyone is like, “We already know that,” because he’s so flambouyant and out there.

Since you’ve moved to L.A., have you met any celebrities who are maybe among your favorites? People you’ve always wanted to meet?

Oh my goodness, there are so many! I met Loretta Devine. I absolutely love her! Sofia Vergara was standing like 10 feet away from me at the SAG Awards and I like almost died. And, Anne Hathaway. And, I met Sarah Highland from “Modern Family.” She’s really sweet.

There’s so many, especially at the SAG Awards.

Do you watch “RuPaul’s Drag Race”?

Always! “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is my show.

Monday nights, if I’m not working, I’m right in front of the television watching it. I love RuPaul.

I went to the all-star premiere for this last season. I feel for them because I know what it is like to work to look pretty and have someone say that you don’t look that pretty or have someone say they don’t like your outfit and I’m like I don’t like it worse and you just put me in it! I feel for them all the time and root for them because I know exactly how it is.

If you ever got the opportunity to be a guest star or make an appearance on “Drag Race,” would you do it?

I would do it in a heartbeat! They couldn’t stop me. I’d be at the studio before they even told me what time I’d have to be there.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

If I’m not still on “Glee,” I want to do Broadway.

I want to do another film. Maybe another TV show. In five years, I’ll only be 25. : : — Interview by Matt Comer Questions & research by Kode Brown

Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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Beyonce will tour in Charlotte in July Beyonce’s first multi-city tour in more than three years will include a stop in Charlotte, officials with the “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” announced on Feb. 4.

Beyonce, the feature act during the Feb. 3 Super Bowl halftime show and a headline-maker for her rendition of the National Anthem during President Obama’s inauguration, will perform July 27 at Time-Warner Cable Arena. That is a Saturday night.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Feb. 15 at Time-Warner Cable Arena’s website, at the arena box office, and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

The tour begins April 15 with a number of stops in Europe, including four nights at London’s O2 Arena.

The first show in the United States is June 28 in Los Angeles.

Organizers say Beyonce’s tour will be “bigger in scope” than any of her previous tours. It will last nearly a year, with the second segment including concerts in Latin America, Australia and Asia. She hasn’t been on the road since her “I Am World” Tour in 2009.

That tour attracted 1.1 million fans at 100-plus shows in 32 countries.

Beyonce has won 16 Grammy awards, with four No. 1 solo albums. She was honored by Billboard magazine as the Top Female Artist and Top Radio Song Artist of the decade from 2000 to 2009. : : — Charlotte Observer staff reports.

Reprinted via Charlotte News Alliance.

Photo Credit: Parkwood Pictures Entertainment. Licensed CC. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

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spring a&e guide goqnotes.com/to/arts

charlotte stage Local theater groups ramp up spring season

Pictured (l to r) are Brett Gentile, John W. Price, and Jeremy DeCarlos.

Photo Credit: George Hendricks Photography

2/20-3/9 // CHARLOTTE ‘The Whipping Man’ A wounded confederate soldier comes back to his ravaged plantation following the Civil War to find his family missing and two of his former slaves still there. This play shows the interaction between these men, as no one understands how to interact since the emancipation. They are reminded that they are “family” bound by their shared faith as they get ready to celebrate Passover together. As the three men wait for the family’s return, they wrestle with their shared past as master and slave, digging up longburied family secrets along the way, as well as new ones. Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte. actorstheatrecharlotte.org.

2/21-3/23 // CHARLOTTE ‘The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity’ Professional wrestling comes to the theatre stage as Chad Deity makes his elaborate entrance in Charlotte! Mace is a great professional wrestler, but he is not the champion — that’s the impossibly charismatic Chad Deity. When Mace discovers a young Indian-American Brooklyn kid whose charisma rivals that of the champ, Mace decides to get him a job in the company. Only problem is, the boss has a very specific plan to put the duo onscreen as terrorists.

Kristoffer Diaz’s “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” is a serious minded comedy about wrestling, geopolitics and raisin bread. Carolina Actors Studio Theatre. nccast.com.

3/22-4/7 // CHARLOTTE ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ A dark comedy, “Who’s Afraid” portrays husband and wife George and Martha in a searing night of dangerous fun and games. By the evening’s end, a stunning revelation provides a climax that has shocked audiences for years.

Theatre Charlotte. theatrecharlotte.org.

3/28-4/27 // CHARLOTTE ‘Miss Witherspoon’ Veronica found the 1990’s to be a frightening place. She was minding her own business when Skylab came crashing down to earth only feet from where she was standing. Every man she has ever dated has failed her. She has tried anti-depressants, but she is antidepressant resistant! Giant chickens cross her path chanting “The Sky Is Falling” … and now after death when she expected just to live peacefully in heaven forever and ever, Tibetan forces there keep trying to make her reincarnate. Only now she finds the world even scarier than when she was alive! Carolina Actors Studio Theatre. nicest.com.

4/10-27 // CHARLOTTE ‘The Exit Interview’ Professor Dick Figg’s exit interview gets off to a rocky start when a masked gunman runs amok through campus. This deliriously witty play ricochets through Brechtian interludes, politicized cheerleaders, a pompous newsman and two German doctors before reaching its farcical conclusion. If you have ever wanted to know the answer to the question, “why does God hate civil servants?,” then you must see this comic look at uncertainty and isolation. Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte. actorstheatrecharlotte.org.

5/9-6/1 // CHARLOTTE ‘Proof’ CAST presents the story of Catherine, a troubled young woman who has spent years caring for her father, a brilliant, but unstable mathematician. Following his death, she must deal with the arrival of her estranged sister and the attentions of her father’s former student who hopes to find valuable work in the notebooks he left behind. A burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious

see Charlotte on 17 Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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classical sound and motion Symphony, Opera and Dance 3/2 // RALEIGH Kenny G Fresh off of the release of his 13th studio album, “Heart and Soul,” Grammy Awardwinner Kenny G joins the North Carolina Symphony to perform the music that has made him one of the premier artists in contemporary jazz. Treat yourself to a concert to remember.

Meymandi Concert Hall. ncsymphony.org.

3/7-17 // CHARLOTTE ‘Peter Pan’ The North Carolina Dance Theatre presents Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s “Peter Pan.” Knight Theatre. ncdance.org.

3/7-24 // RALEIGH ‘Rite of Spring’ Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s “The Right of Spring.” Also featuring Zalman Raffael’s new hip hop ballet, “A Street Symphony.” Fletcher Opera Theater. carolinaballet.com.

3/23 // CHARLOTTE Natalie Merchant Over the past 30 years, Natalie Merchant’s distinctive voice, gift for storytelling through music and unique stage presence have earned her a place among America’s most respected artists. She joins the Symphony for selections from her latest album, “Leave Your Sleep,” plus favorites from her solo career and days with 10,000 Maniacs. Belk Theater. charlottesymphony.org.

4/18-26 // RALEIGH ‘Fancy Free’/’Carolina Jamboree’ “Fancy Free,” the first ballet choreographed

by Jerome Robbins, took New York by storm and propelled Robbins into a household name and led to a life of work on Broadway, in the movies, and in ballet. Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s “Carolina Jamboree” with the The Red Clay Ramblers is one of the programs that makes Carolina Ballet unique; the combination of ballet and bluegrass will have you dancing in the aisles. Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. carolinaballet.com.

4/25-27 // CHARLOTTE Contemporary Fusion An eclectic evening of dance brings together the works of three choreographers including the return of Jiri Bubenicek. The talented young choreographer who last worked with Dance Theatre in March 2011 returns to create a work for the company. Knight Theater. ncdance.org.

4/26-27 // CHARLOTTE Jussen brothers Youthful pianists, brothers Arthur and Lucas Jussen, join the Charlotte Symphony, Christopher Warren-Green conducting, for Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegal’s Merry Pranks, Mozart’s COncert No. 10 for Two Pianos and Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony No. 4.

Belk Theater. charlottesymphony.org.

5/3-4 // CHARLOTTE Symphonic Cinema Music Director Christopher Warren-Green takes over the Pops podium to lead the Orchestra through an evening of film favorites that will span the decades. The program includes selections from The Godfather, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean, iconic

drag rag

by Miss Della qnotes contributor

The skies are reigning men and women!

Ah, yes, boys and girls, we meet again.

I hope love is in the air, or something like that, as we celebrate the Valentine’s Day season.

Where to begin? I wanted to mention a great night I had out last month when I went out to see a Big Girls show at Scorpio — Victoria Parker was in town and she was joined by Big Shirli bringing her sexy back and Miss Tara Storm with her drag mother Tiffany emceeing. It was good to visit with Da Pig and find out how L.A. is treating her.

She tells me living there is wonderful and that doing drag is quite different. Seems everyone wants to not only be a star of the stage, but also a mainstream superstar.

Doesn’t surprise me. Porkchop, good luck — you can have it. Hopefully, we’ll see you in a movie or on a TV show soon if that’s what you heart desires.

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That same evening, I met three visitors in the audience who were in town from Atlantic City for a convention and they came out to see Victoria. Joe Ballesteros from the Miss’d America pageant and a resort in Atlantic City came with two pretty famous impersonators in their own right — Jason CoZmo, who does Dolly Parton and Lucille Ball, and the legendary Liza Minelli illusionist, Phyl Craig, who often meets up with Dame Liza for high tea and chit-chat, and I, thank you. Still trying to find Joe’s number so I can call and whisper sweet nothings in his ear — nothing like a hot businessman, right?

I know by the time this comes out Alyssa Edwards will have already been to Scorpio as the first visiting queen from Season 5 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” but I am so excited to see my good sister. If you saw the first episode, I know you’ll agree that the look

Dutch pianists, brothers Arthur and Lucas Jussen, will perform with the Charlotte Symphony in April.

Photo Credit: Press photos, Alek (alek.nl).

scores from the pen of John Williams, and more. Belk Theater. charlottesymphony.org.

5/4 // CHARLOTTE ‘Once Upon a Time’ The Charlotte Symphony joins students from the North Carolina Dance Theatre for a morning performance presenting beloved fairytales, including Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Frog Prince” by the Brothers Grimm, the Russian folktale “The Firebird” and others. Knight Theater. charlottesymphony.org.

on her face was priceless when Coco Montrese walked in the door. I’m sure you know Coco was Alyssa’s first alternate at Miss America, then Coco took over duties after Alyssa was basically dethroned for business reasons. That’s okay — she was still a fierce Miss U.S.ofA., which she won on her first attempt. I hope this Texas firecracker will be back in Charlotte (or nearby) again and again.

Still harping on Scorpio, I recently had the pleasure and privilege of judging the Miss Scorpio pageant and had a great evening with fellow judges Big Mama B, Kerri Nichols and Miss U.S.ofA. at Large Dorae Saunders (all three former winners) and the current Mr. Scorpio, the handsome rascal Monte St. James. The ever-exquisite and super-sweet Eden Parque Divine relinquished her crown that night and I must say, damn, her make-up, hair, and wardrobe get better every time I see her, if that’s even possible. The hair she wore for her give-up number with that sick-o-ning gown was off the damn hook, baby. Eden ended up crowning that wild and crazy Valarie Rockwell who portrayed Honey Boo Boo Child for presentation and it was a holler! Valarie’s runners-up included Leah Halston of Cincinatti and

5/10-12 // CHARLOTTE Beethoven’s Ninth The Oratorio Singers of Charlotte join the Charlotte Symphony for their season finale and performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Belk Theater. charlottesymphony.org.

— Show and performance descriptions and synopses courtesy various marketing materials.

Monica Lovitt from right here in the Queen City. Formers who were on-hand to perform included NC All-American Goddess Tia Douglas, Dorae Saunders, Amber Rochelle St. James and Elaine Davis.

On a national level, I can tell you I need to be in touch with my sister Mokha Montrese, the reigning Entertainer of the Year, for prelim tea, but she did recently have Miss Mid TriStates, which Vanity won with RU Juleene DeLaRouge. I can’t wait for Mokha’s trip to N.C. for the prelim here in the spring! Love that queen (as if you didn’t know)! Also, on the U.S.ofA. scene, Alina Malletti recently won Arizona and her RU was former Miss Continental Domanique Chappelle.

Would you believe all the rest is Continental tea? They are updating their website these days — how exciting!

I’ll be all over the board with it, so pay attention, okay? Ha! Winners and runners up are: TN PLUS, Karrabelle and RU India Michaels; Dreamgirl PLUS, Farrah N. Hyte; Dreamgirl Elite, Sherri Payne; NY Elite, Tyler Alexander; NJ PLUS, Cristal Skky; NJ Elite, Miss Dena Cass; KY PLUS, Tatianna DeLaRouge; Tri-State PLUS,

see Drag Rag on 23

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Charlotte stage continued from page 15

notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: how much of her father’s madness — or genius — did she inherit?

Carolina Actors Studio Theatre. nccast.com.

5/17-6/2 // CHARLOTTE ‘Avenue Q’ “Avenue Q” is a laugh-out-loud musical that tells the timeless story of a recent college graduate named Princeton who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way

Backstage

out on Avenue Q. He soon discovers that although the residents seem nice, it’s clear that this is not your ordinary neighborhood.

Together, Princeton and his new-found friends struggle to find jobs, dates and their ever-elusive purpose in life. Theatre Charlotte. theatrecharlotte.org.

6/5-22 // CHARLOTTE ‘The Divine Sister’ An outrageous comic homage to all nun films,

7/10-14 // CHARLOTTE ‘Willy Wonka Jr.’ For three weeks this summer, approximately 30 participants, age 9-14, will work with pro-

fessional directors, choreographers, designers, technicians and performers experiencing and creating musical theatre. This summer intensive will culminate in public performances of Roald Dahl’s “Willy Wonka Jr.” Theatre Charlotte. theatrecharlotte.org.

— Show and performance descriptions and synopses courtesy various marketing materials.

See page 23 for student performances from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College.

Pl Marketplace az aM idw ood

Backstage is located at 2005 Central Ave. New to Plaza-Midwood by way of Asheville’s Lexington Ave., Backstage is a tribute to the performing arts through vintage glam apparel, collectibles, accessories and antiques. “To die for” floor-length sequined, beaded gowns, embellished tailcoats and elegant top hats are among owner J.B. Craycraft’s original designs.

Every decade of the 20th century is represented in the store. This includes authentic pieces from the Titanic era, the Roaring ’20s, 1930s formalwear and smoking jackets, 1940s WWII military uniforms, 1950s varsity jackets and poodle shirts, 1960s “Dating Game” sports jackets, 1970s disco and 1980s over-the-top glam.

Glittering vintage rhinestone jewelry (“they don’t make ‘em like they usta”) and unique, original necklaces, bracelets, rings and ear wear abound in the large ceiling-to-floor lighted case. Don’t forget to ask for the vintage and retro eyeglass frames.

Shaving mugs and brushes, straight razors and mustache cups with soaps fill the antique bow-glass curio. Flasks, naughty whiskey jugs, martini shakers, hand-carved exotic pipes next to the absinthe spoons, pocket watches, cuff links, cigarette holders and cigarette cases shine out from the tall corner curio cabinet.

Unique to Backstage — “Everything is for sale, everything is for rent and we have a 30-day layaway,” says J.B. “You don’t have to spend a fortune to step out in suave, vintage style.”

Backstage is a must-see, opulent eye-full of outrageous theatrical drama, fun and frolic.

It is open Wednesday-Sunday, Noon to 6-7 p.m. and by appointment on Monday-Tuesday. Call 704-376-4300 for more information.

Feb. 15-28 . 2013

C harlotte

Glitzy, glamour, furs, feathers and fantasies galore

“The Divine Sister” is a gleefully twisted tale about a resolute Mother Superior. While trying to build a new school for her convent, she must cope with a young postulant who experiences “visions,” a sensitive schoolboy in need of mentoring, a mysterious nun from Berlin and a former suitor intent on luring her from her vows. Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte. actorstheatrecharlotte.org.

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tell trinity

by Trinity :: qnotes contributor :: trinity@telltrinity.com

I forgive you. Now, go away.

Hello Trinity, My best friend did something horrible to me two years and we never talked after that.

Now, we work together, so I’m forced to talk to him. Help!

Forgive Him/Forgive Him Not, Flushing, NY Hello Forgive Him/Not, Once, after a huge argument with my father, I stormed out yelling, “I forgive you and now I’m gonna go and figure out how!” Eventually, I

knew I’d forgive him, but I didn’t want to waste time. Forgiveness isn’t about giving your money to a man who stole from you, it’s about saying or feeling, “I release you. Now, go away!” Once you do this, whether it feels true for you in the moment or not, you suddenly begin to release your connection, allowing you to live without anger, resentment or fear.

It’s all about you and, honey, who needs that garbage anyway!

Hey Trinity, My girlfriend is always pushing me into trying new things, going to new places, even eating different foods. How do I get her to love me for the woman I am, not for who she wants me to be?

Fine The Way I Am, Baltimore, MD Hey Fine…I Am, You mean she wants you to step out of your comfort zone, experience life differently, even have the world be your oyster rather than be a mussel trapped in a clam. Darling, we all need to embrace challenge, diversity, even danger. Some people spend life being great at things they’re already great at, but only a few can chase things they’re unfamiliar with. These people are called

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gurus, prophets and shamans. Now, take a deep breath, grab your girlfriend’s hand and start flying! (My cartoon can show you ways to expand yourself.)

Dear Trinity, A year ago, I got really drunk and slept with my college roommate. Does that mean I’m g…g…gay?

Not Too Drunk To Remember, Gainesville, FL Dear Not Too Drunk, It takes much more than one drunken night to claim any prestigious gay title. Let time pass and see if you crave these feelings again.

Unless you know deep down inside whether you’re gay or not, then you’ll have to wait or keep searching for the answer. Also, sweetie, fear only fear itself because life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing. Oh, and don’t drink so much next time!

Dearest Trinity, I love traveling and visiting friends, but recently I got a nasty letter from a friend telling me that I was a lousy guest and that I better learn some houseguest manners.

Any advice?

House Guest Troubles, San Francisco, CA Dearest House Guest Troubles Don’t you just hate those letters! Why didn’t they just tell you what was wrong then?

Baby, I guess they’re only human.

So, here are:

Trinity’s Successful Tips For Being The Perfect Houseguest 1. Always arrive with a gift. Don’t wait till you leave ‘cause it may be too late.

2. Clean up after yourself and them. It’s nice to be pampered by the pampered.

3. Ask questions about the house rules. Don’t wait for them to yell…I mean tell you.

4. Don’t spend your entire time in their house and/or in their lives. Too much company is company that’s “Too much!”

5. Don’t tell them how to live or decorate better, but rather buy something you think would fit nicely in their home.

6. If you use the phone or answer the door take unbelievably great messages.

7. If you’re there for a few days, make them, bring them or take them out to dinner.

8. Spend time with them if possible. Never crash, get smashed, trash and dash! (Ref. back to #7) 9. Before you leave, clean up the space(s) that you used, i.e. bathroom, bedroom and kitchen.

10. L astly, a thank you card or call is a must.

This is a Trinity top ten tip you can trust. : : info:With a Masters of Divinity, Reverend Trinity hosted “Spiritually Speaking” a weekly radio drama performed globally and is now minister of sponsor, WIG: Wild Inspirational Gatherings, wigministries. org. Learn more at telltrinity.com.

a&e

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out in the stars

by Charlene Lichtenstein :: qnotes contributor

February 15 - 28 The Sun moves into romantic, intuitive Pisces as we wear our rose colored glasses to peer into the future. There is nothing wrong with a dose of optimism. After all, who knows where your heart will lead? Let’s hope into temptation!

AQUARIUS (01.21-02.19) Right now things make otherwise generous Aqueerians downright cheap. There is something about your finances (or lack thereof) that makes you very fiscally inclined now. Afraid of not having enough? Don’t worry. Plan as if you were preparing for early retirement. But, forget the lottery. This can only be accomplished by buckling down and belting up.

Oh, goody.

PISCES (02.20-03.20) Guppies feel the yoke of responsibility tugging at their necks but don’t worry — you are also infused with optimism and confidence. Breathe free and soar, at least for the next few weeks or so.

Get out there and meet as many new people as possible. This is the time for fabulous adventures and new bosom buddies if you grab at the opportunity.

ARIES (03.21-04.20) Gay Rams love to be in the spotlight. So, why have you been so shy? What are you trying to hide? It’s now time to remove that fig leaf. The fates fixate on you and shine a penetrating spotlight on all that you are trying to avoid in your life.

Good thing too — why not turn over a new leaf with the debut of the true lavender you.

Fig leaf forbidden. It’s time to risk exposure.

TAURUS (04.21-05.21) Queer Bulls are plopped right into the epicenter of the social scene. Lucky you. You now have popularity plus and can make the most out of any friendship. Plan some extraordinary events to celebrate the upcoming spring season and resolve to expand your social circle into a globe. Also, fill it with a bunch of triangles and maybe even a few squares.

GEMINI (05.22-06.21) No sooner do your plans for expansion take a sharp turn than you decide to apply yourself to buffing your corporate star. Pink Twins find that it’s a good time for major moves and shakes. Will you try to crush a boss in your turf battle?

Be prepared for all possibilities — accept the punishment or commandeer the offensive. How offensive do you need to be?

CANCER (06.22-07.23) On the one hand, this is a great time for you to escape and recharge your engines. On the other hand, you can stay close to home and just expand your base of operations. Gay Crabs feel part of the greater Pride collective and should reach out and touch someone. All for one and one for all! Well, maybe all except a couple of snotty you-know-whos.

LEO (07.24-08.23) Just when you were ready to dive head first into a heady hot tub of honeys, you might stop and consider possible heartache. Foolish, proud Lion! There are no risks when there are no expectations. Enjoy the flirtations for what they are — fun, frothy and forgettable. How can it be anything else when all you are wearing are the smudges of your valentine chocolates?

VIRGO (08.24-09.23) Queer Virgins are encouraged to line up their love matches and see how they stack up. One-to-one relationships are highlighted now. So, either make the most out of current partnerships or pluck your soulmate from the bunch on the vine. Treat others the way you want to be treated and don’t allow yourself to be a doormat. (Unless that’s your thing!)

LIBRA (09.24-10.23) Proud Libras often become bored with details, but now you cannot escape from them. They pile up on your desk and demand attention. Deal with them now so they won’t bog you down and cramp your style. And, what about your health, diet and exercise? Get those gams

in gear and promise yourself a new you with a bod that stops traffic. Do I see a pile up or a detour?

SCORPIO (10.24-11.22) They say that genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. And, now, proud Scorps can create an inspiring masterpiece…primarily through sheer will, determination and sweat. Seek expressive and fun-filled outlets to exercise your artistic muse.

You’re in a creative riff that can adapt to any medium. Gee, I wonder if nude body painting counts?

SAGITTARIUS (11.23-12.22) Use the time to concentrate on family and domestic issues.

Gay Archers are now more practical, steady and a bit aloof which serves you well in any highly-charged emotional encounter. The fact is that there are those who continue to fob their issues on you. Don’t let them. It’s a fresh new you. Go out and spoil some welldeserving folks.

CAPRICORN (12.23-01.20) Got an opinion? Let’s hear it. Pink Caps manage to sound balanced and knowledgeable in almost any subject for a change. Will you use your gift of gab for selfish or altruistic pursuits? Let’s hope that the prospect of heightened karma entices you to use your good vibes for the benefit of the community rather than solely for personal gain. Alas, we can only hope. : : © 2013 Madam Lichtenstein, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Entertainment. info: Visit TheStarryEye.com for e-greetings, horoscopes and Pride jewelry.

My book “HerScopes: A Guide To Astrology For Lesbians” from Simon & Schuster is available at bookstores and major booksites.

Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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life

goqnotes.com/to/life

20 Questions Dr. Rhett Brown, Charlotte

by David Stout :: david@goqnotes.com

Pay attention, boys and girls. When this column gets up to 88 miles per hour, Doc Brown is gonna show us some serious shi… wait -— what’s that? What do you mean I’m thinking of the wrong person? Isn’t this Dr. Emmett Brown, inventor of the flux capacitor.

It’s not? Then who is our featured subject this issue?!?

Oh, I see. It’s Dr. Rhett Brown, founder of Presbyterian Family Medicine-Midtown.

Ok, that’s cool too. Dr. Brown-who-doesn’thave-a- time-machine-made-out-of-a-DeLorean has been named one of the top 100 doctors in Charlotte. He’s also a past president of Time Out Youth. He lives with his partner Carl Brinson and is a self-professed TV junkie. As always, there’s much more to learn about our victi…subject — so keep reading, dear readers, for more of the real Doc Brown.

If you could practice in any branch of medicine other than your own, what would it be?

Emergency medicine. Like family medicine, the ED physician cares for patients of all ages and all body systems. However, the ED physician does not develop a relationship with a patient or a family over a long period of time. I have patients that I delivered who are now graduat-

ing from college. How great is that!

What is your favorite book series?

“Run With The Horsemen” trilogy by Ferrol Sams. The author is a family physician in rural Georgia who wrote this wonderfully touching and humorous trilogy of growing up on a farm in south Georgia, serving in WWII and finally becoming a physician.

What’s the sexiest accent in the world?

A Scottish accent perks me up every time.

Which do you enjoy playing more: Pinball, a classic arcade game or foosball?

Pinball for sure.

How do these films rank based on the number of times you’ve seen them: “Apocalypse Now,” “The Hurt Locker,” “M*A*S*H,” “Saving Private Ryan”?

It would be “Saving Private Ryan” followed by “M*A*S*H” and then “Apocalypse Now” and “The Hurt Locker” in last.

Have you ever seen a scorpion in its natural habitat?

I have worked with a few whose stingers I had to avoid, but have never seen a real scorpion in the wild.

How old is the last swimsuit you purchased or were given?

Just one year. I lost 30 pounds and splurged on something new.

What food do you always eat with mustard on it?

Definitely hot dogs.

Growing up, were you a regular viewer of the ABC Afterschool Specials?

Yes, I am a TV junkie.

Have you ever had to retrieve an item from a patient that was…shall we say, stuck “up there”?

Yes…and let’s leave it at that.

Is there a deck of playing cards in your home right now?

There’s one in there somewhere…..

What style of dancing do you wish you were great at?

I’d love to be great at the Two-Step.

Have you ever ridden in a dune buggy?

Yes, on vacation at Myrtle Beach in the early ’70s.

see 20 Questions on 22

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Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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20 Questions continued from page 20

Which is greater, your waist size in inches or the number of times you’ve eaten at an Olive Garden?

Unfortunately, it’s a tie!

Popcorn, peanuts or cotton candy?

Life is too short…why choose just one?

Which famous person needs to be added to the “should be seen and not heard” list?

That’s an easy one — Rush Limbaugh.

Have you ever fallen asleep in an outdoor hammock?

Absolutely. One of the best places to nap.

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Feb. 15-28 . 2013

Do you think ventriloquists are entertaining?

It depends on whether I can see their lips moving.

Would you rather have a bird in your hand or two birds in your bush?

One in the hand. There are other things I prefer in my bush.

How did the number of patients you saw this flu season stack up against previous years?

This was the busiest flu season in at least five years. It kept my office hopping. : :

Around Town Feb. 23 • Charlotte HRC Gala The Human Rights Campaign presents its annual North Carolina Gala.

Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College St. Tickets and more information at hrccarolina.org.

March 2 • Charlotte ‘Celebration of the Arts’ Time Out Youth host a unique variety show produced by Vito Abate and featuring singers, dancers, actors and other performance artists from Charlotte. Proceeds benefit Time Out Youth. Theatre Charlotte, 501 Queens Rd. $25. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for cocktails. Two-act show begins at 7:30 p.m. timeoutyouth.org.

Feb. 16 • Charlotte Community Inaugural Ball The Mecklenburg Democratic Party hosts a Community Inaugural ball, a celebration of the Democratic spirit and a chance to experience the excitement of the Obama presidency. The Ritz-Carlton, 201 E. Trade St. $44/general. $35/ senior and Young Democrat. $125/VIP reception and event admission. RSVP and order tickets via headquarters@mecklenburg democrat.org or call 704-525-5843.

Feb. 17 • Charlotte One Voice Chorus One Voice Chorus small ensemble Sotto Voce presents “Telescopic Hearts.” Proceeds benefit UNC-Charlotte’s Multicultural Resource Center. UNC-Charlotte Center City, 320 E. 9th St. $15. onevoicechorus.com.

Feb. 17 • Durham Fem, Butch or Blend A spoken word and performance art experience with The LGBT Center of Raleigh and Her HRC. Fullsteam Brewery, 726 Rigsbee Ave. Suggested donation of $15 at door or advance at femmebutchblend.eventbrite.com.

Feb. 22 • Charlotte Kickoff to HRC Gala Takeover kicks off weekend festivities for the Human Rights Campaign Carolina Gala at The Westin, 601 S. College St. 7-11 p.m. hrccarolina.org.

Feb. 22 • Charlotte Chi Psi night out Chi Psi Omega Fraternity, Inc., hosts a night out with the Charlotte Bobcats as they play the Chicago Bulls. Portion of ticket proceeds benefit Chi Psi Omega. $30. For more information, visit facebook.com/ events/156770227807055/.

Feb. 22 • Salisbury Pride fundraiser Salisbury Pride hits up the Salisbury Wine Shop for a wine and beer tasting fundraiser.

Heavy hors d’oeuvres and silent auction.

Salisbury Wine Shop, 106 S. Main St. $30/ advance. $35/door. salisburypride.org.

Feb. 23 • Charlotte Charlotte Pride Band Charlotte Pride Band presents “A Moment in Time: Music of Poetry and Prose,” inspired by literary greats like Shakespeare, Kipling and Poe. Myers Park Baptist Church, 1900 Queens Rd. 2:30 p.m. charlotteprideband.org.

Feb. 23 • Charlotte HRC after parties Several official after parties following the Human Rights Campaign Carolina Gala will be held at a variety of locations in Charlotte.

For more information, visit goqnotes.com/ calendar/ and hrccarolina.org.

Feb. 24 • Charlotte Center potluck The organizers of Charlotte Bear Dinner team up with the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte to host a community potluck benefitting the Center. Pork BBQ, beans and broccoli slaw to be served. Community members encouraged to bring other dishes. A donation box will be available to benefit the Center.

LGBT Community Center of Charlotte, 2508 N. Davidson St. 704-333-0144. gaycharlotte.com.

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events goqnotes.com/qguide/events

March 8 • Hickory SCC goes to Cabaret Southern Country Charlotte takes its cowboy-kickin’ dance moves to Hickory’s Club Cabaret, 101 N. Center St. $5/SCC members. $10/non-members. southerncountrycharlotte.com.

March 9 • Charlotte Coffee Talk HRC Charlotte hosts a Coffee Talk for Equality.

No program, no fundraising — just an open invitation to share a cup of coffee together.

Caribou Coffee, 1531 East Blvd. 9-11 a.m.

Student spring theatre Theatre students at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College will present a variety of shows this spring. At the university, check out their April 11-13 performance of “romeo.juliet,” a deconstruction of the 400-year-old classic

by William Shakespeare. And CPCC presents “Fences” in April, a 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winner for drama. For more information on student theatre this spring, visit arts.cpcc.edu/ performing-arts/theatre and coaa.uncc.edu/ academics/department-of-theatre

Submit your event to our calendar!

You can submit your event online at goqnotes.com/eventsubmit/ and get a three-for-one entry.

All Charlotte-area events will appear on each of the three calendars at qnotes (goqnotes. com), the LGBT Center (gaycharlotte.com) and Visit Gay Charlotte (visitgaycharlotte.com).

Drag Rag continued from page 16

National Holiday; Treasure Coast Elite, Trish Stevens; Minnesota PLUS, Cheyenne Valentino and RU Sasha Dupree Rodgers; All-Star Elite, Tasha Long; All- Star PLUS Alicia Markstone; Heart of America Elite, Kourtney Van Wales with RU Fantasia; Heart of America PLUS, Dramatica and runners-up Deserea Demarco and Mimi Mattel; Miss Pacific Coast, Jasmine Master; Mr. Pacific Coast, C.A. Lopez; Pacific Coast PLUS, Summer Breeze, and Elite Khadesia Alexander; and, finally, Miss California, Kylee West Williams; Mr. California, Eric Balenciaga; Miss California PLUS, Savannah Sommers; and Miss California Elite, Kat Van D’Hurst.

In closing, I wanted to mention how happy I am for Roxy C. Moorecox who recently did a one-woman show called “Bang!” for two nights at Actor’s Theatre here on Stonewall. Roxy has been keeping the friendly skies busy, going to Chicago and L.A. to do her act and is making plans now to go across the pond to London. She calls it a tell-enough instead of a tell-all show, and actually comes out as her creator Clay to sing three numbers at the very end. Keep up the good work, queen!

Stay tuned for important news in the next Rag! : : info: Drop me a line, OK? TheTeaMissD@yahoo.com

Feb. 15-28 . 2013

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