Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021
qnotes
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Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021
inside this issue
Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021 Vol 35 No 18
connect goqnotes.com
contributors this issue
Jack Kirven, LaWana Mayfield, Lainey Millen, QNotes Staff, Chris Rudisill, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Allison Scott, Sara Shariff, Trinity
front page
Graphic Design by Chris Rudisill Photography: QNotes Staff 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@goqnotes.com Nat’l Sales: Rivendell Media, ph 212.242.6863 Managing Editor: Jim Yarbrough, x201, editor@goqnotes.com Assoc. Editor: Lainey Millen, specialassignments@goqnotes.com Copy Editor: Maria Dominguez Production: Lainey Millen, x205, production@goqnotes.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.
charlotteobserver.com/1166/ a local news partner of The Charlotte Observer
feature 9
Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce Growth Continues as It Expands Its Services
2020 Person of the Year: A Commitment to the Queen City
The Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce announced its new officers, among them the hiring of Chad Turner as CEO/president, at the Queen City organization’s annual holiday event earlier in December.
news 5 qnotes Receives $130,000 in Funding from Google GNI Innovation Challenge 8 Chamber Hires First CEO, Unveils Future Plan Path 8 News Briefs
a&e 13 14
Tell Trinity Out in Print: ‘The Big Tow’
life 6 From 100 mph to COVID-19 7 Retrospective: Community Shares What It Has Learned, Lost and Gained in 2020 12 Health & Wellness: COVID-19 Vaccine
views 4 2021 Brings LGBTQ Folks Opportunities for Change 11 Legal Eagles: 2020 Changed Nearly Everything — Including the Law
events For event listings, visit goqnotes.com/events-calendar.
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Happy Holidays from the Staff of QNotes!
This past year has presented the world with countless challenges as we battle a pandemic and reposition ourselves for a new administration in the nation’s capitol. And, through it all, you have continued to support us. For that we extend our heartfelt thanks and send our holiday greetings to you for a peaceful, healthy and happy season. May the year ahead be filled with hope and renewal, along with a revitalized energy so we can continue to champion the rights of LGBTQ people. Let freedom, equality and justice ring throughout the land!
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Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021
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2021 Brings LGBTQ Folks Opportunities for Change Op-Ed
BY Allison Scott | Guest Contributor
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ith 2020 nearly behind us — and truly, the end can’t come soon enough for such an unspeakably awful year — I know that we’re all eager to turn the page and head into brighter times. My heart goes out to everyone impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and to everyone who has lost loved ones. In my work at the Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE), I’ve seen the need firsthand, hearing story after story of the myriad ways LGBTQ Southerners have been harmed by the pandemic, their health threatened, their incomes flattened, their lives made more chaotic than ever. Over the past nine months we’ve distributed more than $300,000 in grants to LGBTQ Southerners through our COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program, most to individuals in the form of $100 Emergency Assistance Grants — and every time we opened applications for these grants, we exhausted funding within hours, further evidence of the overwhelming need. The next few months won’t be easy, and there may be a long road to recovery, but as I join so many in mourning, I also feel hope for what’s possible. When it comes to the fight for lived and legal equality for LGBTQ people, especially in North and South Carolina, I’m hopeful that in 2021 we will see major opportunities for growth at the local, state and federal levels. Most immediately, I’m looking forward to the continued work that LGBTQ advocates, including our team at CSE and our partners at Equality North Carolina (ENC), will be doing alongside city councilors, mayors, and county commissioners in municipalities across the state of North Carolina. This month a key prong of HB142 expired, restoring power to towns, cities and counties to adopt LGBTQ-
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inclusive non-discrimination protections. We know that several local leaders are preparing to start the year off by considering passage of local non-discrimination ordinances, adding concrete protections for LGBTQ residents and sending a message that everyone is welcome. It’s the first time municipalities have had this power in almost five years. I don’t have to remind you about the embarrassment of 2016’s passage of House Bill 2 (HB2), which made North Carolina the number one name in transphobia on a global scale and was later replaced by the nearly identical HB142. The “bathroom bill,” as it became known, targeted transgender people like me for harassment, restricted us from using the restroom [of our choosing], and blocked cities and towns from passing LGBTQ protections. The law had a particularly devastating impact on Black and Brown transgender people, who already face disproportionately widespread transphobia and anti-transgender violence, in addition to grappling daily with racism and xenophobia. The expiration of the local ordinance moratorium means that every supporter of LGBTQ equality in North Carolina has a job to do: It’s up to all of us to push our local leaders to do the right thing and enact LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination protections. CSE and ENC have teamed up for the launch of NCisReady.org, an online platform through which you can contact your city council, mayor, and county commission and urge them to introduce and pass comprehensive non-discrimination ordinances. These local protections are vital — because at the state level in both North Carolina and South Carolina, and at the federal level, we all remain vulnerable to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Both
states and the federal government lack protections in key areas, including housing, public places like restaurants and stores, and in healthcare settings. This is true despite polling repeatedly showing that a supermajority of residents — 67 percent in North Carolina, 68 percent in South Carolina — support these protections. As we encourage our local leaders to update our policies, we must be engaging in the same hearty discussions with state lawmakers and our members of the United States Congress. I’m optimistic about what’s possible on the federal level, too. As all eyes remain on Georgia to see which party will control the United States Senate, it’s a relief that Joe Biden will be inaugurated on Jan. 20. The Biden-Harris Administration can get to work reversing the Trump Administration’s heinous antiLGBTQ actions and start pushing the country toward a more inclusive future again. We’ve seen commitments from the President-Elect to be a stalwart advocate for LGBTQ people, and the power of a pro-equality leader can’t be overstated. These are all potential bright spots of the new year — but no doubt, moving forward will require dedication from all of us. As we push for advancement on issues of LGBTQ equality, we must also sustain and strengthen the ongoing conversations that awakened this year in so many communities about racial justice and the need to dismantle White Supremacy and racism. I know how trying 2020 has been. But I’m hopeful and ready for the new year — and for all that we can do together to build communities where all of us can thrive. : : Allison Scott is the Director of Policy & Programs at the Campaign for Southern Equality.
news
QNotes Receives $130,000 in Funding from Google GNI Innovation Challenge Thirty-Four-Year-Old Pub to Launch Online Platform
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any LGBTQ publications have disappeared in the last 20 years due to increasing overhead and decreasing advertising revenue. There is a need in the LGBTQ community for an outlet to talk about more experiences that cross the lines of sex, race, gender, nationality and economic identities, and like early queer publications did, reflect the diversity and urgent needs of marginalized communities. For over 34 years, qnotes has provided affirming images and stories about LGBTQ people in Charlotte and throughout the Carolinas. It has connected the LGBTQ community to news stories that did not often get covered in mainstream press. Despite the difficult economic years and periods of extreme prejudice, the publication has continued to operate, often with no full-time staff to represent the population it serves. Today’s LGBTQ communities in North and South Carolina need a news outlet that celebrates their unique and diverse voices and lived experiences. In 2021, qnotes will launch qnotescarolinas.org as a new online platform to engage and involve the community in sharing those stories throughout the Carolinas. It will start with a news platform that is fed by current freelance reporters and the parttime staff of qnotes. It will include the development of volunteer community editorial committees to help guide decisions on topics and identify underserved reporting needs in the community. Funding from the Google GNI Innovation Challenge will allow the organization to build out this new website and offer storytelling and community reporting workshops. It will also cover engineering and software costs associated with building out interactive portals where readers and journalists can take part in meaningful conversations through community forums, as well as supporting each other. The project starts with pilot programs in the Charlotte region and Central North Carolina. That model will allow for future expansion across the Carolinas. The Google News Initiative’s North American Innovation Challenge received 215 applications from the U.S. and Canada. “It is especially important this year to tackle innovative ideas, and the 33 projects we’re funding look at diversity, equity and inclusion through many different lenses, all focused around the communities they serve,” said LaToya Drake, head of media representation at Google News Initiative, in a blogpost on Dec. 15.
BY QNotes Staff pushed back into the closet.” The project will provide a new connection for the LGBTQ community, empower people to share their lived experiences, bring to light new and upcoming journalists in the South and better connect communities to the Early LGBTQ press started because of a need to inform, news they need and deserve. The projeducate and create visibility of queer ect will also seek to amplify the voices people and the early Gay Rights of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People Movement. Publications like ONE and of Color) journalists and the stories of The Ladder were the first nationallyrural families. distributed publications and were The long-term goal will be to create created by volunteer staff and a news and storytelling opportunities in mailed in brown paper to provide a communities across North and South level of necessary discretion to the Carolina with a sliding scale membership reader. “In the early years, those that allows sustainability and financial publications addressed the growsupport of LGBTQ journalists, while ening fight against discrimination and couraging open forums that give voice to abuse while providing an outlet for people across the two states. people to share their lived experienc“The project focuses on the same dees, poetry and often private thoughts sire and need that we had at our foundand feelings,” says Chris Rudisill, who ing — to show that local journalism can will serve as the project manager for shape lives, connect communities and qnotescarolinas.org. create positive change,” says Yarbrough. The Advocate would follow in The team will have to raise addithe 1960s, inspired by a growing tional funds for the qnotescarolinas.org number of police raids on queer project to support freelance journalists establishments leading up to the arts. entertainment. news. views. and a full-time online editor. Contact Jim Stonewall Uprising. In the 1980s, Yarbrough at publisher@goqnotes.com they gave visibility to HIV/AIDS, to learn more or donate directly to givebutter.com/qnota virus that was ravaging the community. Later that escarolinas to support this effort. decade, publications like BLK: The National Black Lesbian and Gay Newsmagazine filled an unmet need for Black About qnotescarolinas.org LGBTQ voices. “These early publications reflected the diLaunching in 2021, qnotescarolinas.org is a new onversity and urgent needs of the LGBTQ community,” says line platform sharing the unique and diverse stories and Rudisill. “Despite the economic toil that has caused many lived experiences of LGBTQ Carolinians while amplifying to fold over the past decade, a select number of LGBTQ their often-underrepresented struggles. The platform newspapers and magazines have held on, providing a will provide a community-sourced and involved hypervoice to communities that remain underrepresented in local news organization that includes the voices of BIPOC traditional media.” journalists and the stories of rural families; will reach qnotes has been serving the LGBTQ community of people where they are, despite socio-economic barriers North and South Carolina since 1983, when it launched that prevent them from getting news that matters; and as a community newsletter. “We realize it is time for our will serve as a recorded history of LGBTQ people living publication to evolve,” says Jim Yarbrough, publisher of in the South. Starting in the Charlotte and Central North qnotes. “Similar to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, there is Carolina regions, the model will allow for future expana growing need in the LGBTQ community to ensure that sion across the Carolinas. : : our voices are heard and that our experiences are not
Community Voices & Recorded History
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From 100 mph to COVID-19 A Former Elected Official Journey By LaWana Mayfield | Guest Contributor
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ec. 4, 2019 was my last official meeting on the Charlotte City Council. My closing remarks included words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” in which he highlighted his “shattered dreams.” It was interesting to me to see the many Black faces in the auditorium who frowned as I read Dr. King’s words along with my immediate recognition of the irony. As I read I also felt “disappointment” in fellow and former elected officials who are too afraid to fight for Black access to equity or even to say the words “Black people” when discussing economic growth and contract allocations. From 2011-2019 I worked tirelessly for the district I was elected to represent as the City of Charlotte’s second African-American female and first openly LGBTQ elected official on city council. I felt that who I brought into each room was the activist who had worked in the community on issues of equity and access for over 25 years. I helped to move “Ban the Box” which was written by the community through city council in my first term, created a districtfocused job fair that would become a staple through the entirety of my service and led the adoption of “domestic partner” benefits for city employees. As I look back at different points of my eight years, I served on upward of 19 plus different committees, commissions, boards in leadership roles locally, statewide and nationally. It was not unrealistic for me to start my day before 8 a.m. and return home as late as 9:30 p.m. in the evenings, along with Saturdays and Sundays. I acknowledge my schedule was what I made it — I made a conscious decision to show up as much as possible when called upon by residents for assistance. I attended many neighborhood meetings, ribbon cuttings, community meetings to hear resident concerns regarding the impact of potential re-zoning impacts to be better prepared to represent their concerns. There was a time towards the end of my eight years of service where it seemed I was receiving more calls from residents outside of my area than from the specific district in which I was elected. I was not upset about it, I loved service; I enjoyed the role of service and fought for small businesses along with specifically Black-owned small business, to create access to the billions of wealth afforded to non-Black-owned businesses in the Charlotte area. Starting off 2020 with a “bang” as I was gearing up to turn the BIG 5-0H, readying for my birthday party and taking time off after working non-stop for eight years, a reality check slowly slipped in. I realized my stress levels were extremely high, I replayed media’s reporting on my comments and questions of equity along with the social media posts and emails received. It started slowly dissipating. There was no way to know just two months later a pandemic would stop the world as we know it. As my stress level slowly melted away, the realization of fighting for Diverse Price Point Housing, as I saw all the signs of impending gentrification displacing many
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This past year has been an action-packed journey that has ended up at the end with a pandemic that has yet to see an end and challenges that test everyone’s reserves and resolve. (Photo Credit: Björn Wylezich via Adobe Stock) of my neighbors, dominated my thoughts. I was slowly being re-consumed by the many thoughts of those I was not able to help, along with wondering how to continue to make an impact in my community. The sad and unwavering truth I learned as an local elected official is that the wealthy receive constant discounts and waivers when those attempting to access equity are told, “You don’t have enough experience,” (as with the African-American led organization that did not receive the Eastland Mall bid); “We are moving in a different direction” (like the small business that jumped through all the hoops for an airport bid and was still denied for the airport to keep the same company that had grown additional businesses from the contract); and some receive no response at all. Although I was a ‘no” vote to a 20 plus year-old business which had expanded with multiple restaurants and saw personal financial growth have their rent in Uptown Charlotte reduced from $3,500 to $500 a month due to a council vote, I wondered how to create those type of opportunities for true “small businesses.” I wanted to understand why no one questioned all of the vacant ground floor space along taxpayer-funded light rail stations that were over-priced and not accessible to small business. So I tested a theory, after speaking with the head of City Real Estate. He stated to me “these spaces were not meant to make money, we just needed to add them for the parking deck approval.” I submitted a proposal to lease a space. I was bumped around to real estate staff, then to an agent paid by contract to lease the spaces and after weeks of a runaround (I did not use my former title to cut any corners) was told the rental would be $25 a square foot for a space that had been vacant over two years. I countered this offer only to wait many more months before receiving a response.
Over the six months of this back and forth I, like many, watched as our city experienced more police violence against its residents, community protests for police reform, evictions due to lack of employment which was COVID-related, landlords refusing to accept state monies to cover rent payments because the owner would need to sign waivers to not evict or raise the rents, loss of housing affordable to those earning under $60,000 annually and small business closures while big businesses received PPP funds to stay afloat. What I experienced with attempting to work with the City of Charlotte is no different that what I heard from many in the community over the eight years I served in office and why I fought for access. I wanted to experience it for myself, to better understand the truths I already knew. And that is “painting a mural” is better than actually creating access and equity for the minority community. It sounds good for a campaign ad but is rarely implemented because it is a true disrupter of “bias” which, when I upset that balance, was many a time alone. I reflect on the many conversations had in regards to development, re-zoning, who has a voice in rooms discussing equity and inclusion, what relational vs. transactional looks and feels like, and with pride I honor my successes and mourn my losses. I see in community members daily the positive impact I made all while maneuvering a schedule filled with meetings. As I attempt to maintain through a pandemic that has taken over 300,000 lives — many being the lives of by poor, lower income, elderly, Black and Latino/a communities. Seeing daily on the news Black bodies be abused and assaulted by police officers sworn to protect and serve, while career politicians who have become millionaires during their elected services are the same ones deciding that “Defund the Police” is not acceptable language, or did not think to apply enforceable sanctions for major corporation or church misuse of PPP funds. Nine months into the pandemic, multiple vaccines are either being fast-tracked through FDA or in discussion for approval. Masks are mandated to protect ourselves and each other, small gatherings only and lots of at-home time. Welcome to the new normal. I was challenged like many to get up each day, brush my teeth, get dressed, comb my hair — you know the daily tasks. I am no longer stressing as much as I see more people helping each other as the holidays are upon us. I have had the opportunity to help others through food bank donations, passing out food to the homeless, giving out scarves in tent city and lots of Zoom calls in pajama bottoms and business tops. I am getting comfortable with meetings online, guiding people through negotiating with local government and returning to my passion of volunteering in the community. : : LaWana Mayfield is a recovering elected official who served on the Charlotte (N.C.) City Council and is a video podcaster.
Retrospective: Community Shares What It Has Learned, Lost and Gained in 2020 Voices from QNotes Readers
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By Qnotes Staff
in a parking garage. Those four his past year has rehearsals helped us reconnect been a challengwith each other and with our ing and chaotic music. It helped us find a way for one that will go down our souls to sing out loud. in many a history book That’s what I’ve gained from yet to be written as a the pandemic (in addition to a frightful mess. From whole bunch of new technical protests to a worldskills), a renewed sense that muwide pandemic to sic connects us and allows us to horrendous pushback express our innermost feelings. from a governmental It’s a tremendous gift, and in the administration that future, we’ll treasure it each time was hell-bent on stripwe gather to summon music out ping the rights of a of thin air. sector of its citizenry, the minds of everyone Buck Jones have had to deal with What a challenge 2020 has been for everyone. (Photo Credit: concepts via Adobe Stock) Author so many issues, too Paris, France many to name. One can only think of that optimistic that the full side is ascendant, qnotes asked ancient Chinese curse, “May You Live In which gives me hope we can recover from the community to share what they have Interesting Times,” when remembering the pandemic and build back even better. learned, lost and gained from their experithe year that was 2020. For many of us, 2020 marks my retirement and the end ences in 2020. Here is a sampling of those the challenges pushed us to our limits. In of my work at the City, with 2021 the year who were gracious enough to share their my case, as a small business owner runof new beginnings for me as well as the thoughts. ning a small café, our livelihood is in the country. I learned to trust that issues I care about will be advanced by others that care Jermaine Nakia Lee as well. And for that trust, that I journey Dad, Songwriter, Playwright, Director, with others who will carry us forward, I am Producer, Community Activist very grateful. Charlotte, N.C. Thank you 2020 for the abundance of John C. Quillin fear, isolation, uncertainty and heartache Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte, Managing you provided without ceasing. I am grateArtistic Director; Carolina Voices’ ful for that interruption of EVERYTHING Impromptu, Director because it forced me to recalibrate: to The pandemic dealt us a body-blow: re-evaluate relationships, to self-reflect, we lost our ability to sing together, which re-imagine my future, cling to loved ones is at the very core of who we as the Gay and not take LIFE for granted. Thank you Men’s Chorus of Charlotte are. Singing, kindly... but good riddance. it turns out, is an extremely effective way of transmitting COVID, so face-toTom Warshauer face rehearsals and performances were Assistant Director, Community out of the question. We held rehearsals Engagement – Housing & Neighborhood over Zoom, we tried utilizing specialized Services, City of Charlotte rehearsal software, we’ve even produced Charlotte, N.C. virtual events and music, but this is a far, Half full, half empty. I learned that just far cry from our regular experiences. over half the country wants reason, equity Eventually, we managed to have a few and civility to return to the public realm. in-person, socially-distanced rehearsals And the other half seems empty. I live
balance. Facing financial ruin, my husband and I struggle to remain optimistic but also realistic about our situation, and have learned to focus on what we can actually do. I can choose to be nice or a grouch. I can smile, or “smize” with my eyes over my face-mask, or I can wallow in self-pity. It might sound la-dee-dah, but it works. Psychologists say that the most stressful moments in life are when facing health challenges, financial worries and lip-synching for your life on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Maybe that last one is for only a select few, but I could also add that this year also brought stress with the election. But again, just focusing on what you can control — wearing a face-mask, washing hands, social distancing, not spending any money on non-necessities, cutting back on expenses, negotiating with creditors, voting early, and making sure your friends voted early — is the biggest lesson I learned. If I can’t control it, I refuse to worry about it. In the meantime, I’m going to work on my wardrobe “reveal” for “RuPaul’s” runway. This queen is going to be ready for 2021! : :
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Chamber Hires First CEO, Unveils Future Plan Path Chad Turner Assumes Helm of Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce BY Lainey Millen | QNotes Staff Writer Others serving the orgaCHARLOTTE, N.C. — At the 2020 Annual nization are: Xzaviar Boston, Meeting the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of director of Communications; Commerce on Dec. 15, it was announced Jason Morton, director of that after serving three terms as president, Education and Programs; Chad Turner was unanimously selected as Becky Knight, director of the chamber’s first staff member in the role Education and Programs; of chief executive officer. Gabby Staskiewicz and Rosa As the newly hired CEO, Turner, who Berger, directors of workinghas been a business consultant and human OUT (BRG/ERG/Affinity resources professional during his career, Groups); Cristal Robinson, diis tasked with managing the day-to-day rector of Advocacy and Policy; operations of the organization, and deand Nate Turner, director velopment of community and corporate of LGBTE® Certification and relationships to foster continued and Supplier Diversity. sustainable growth, the organization said. The chamber board also “The chamber has experienced exponential announced that on Jan. 1, growth under his leadership as president 2020 they will open their ofand he and the new chair will work in fices in Southend in the newtandem to see the organization to the next ly-renovated Hearts Beat as level. By establishing a president/CEO of One Foundation building. The our chamber, we are letting the community offices will be open Monday know that we are invested in the long futhrough Friday and offers ture of this organization” said Erin Barbee, meeting and office space as director of Public Policy and Advocacy. well as parking and access to Also, the chamber announced that Ciara a board room and networking Lilly was appointed as chair of the Board of area. In his new role, Turner Directors, after serving two terms as vice will be working in a “part-time president and director of supplier diversity position currently, with fulland certification. In her new role, Lilly will time hours” as he grows into oversee the board of directors, set the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce his new responsibilities. agenda and continue managing the supCEO/President Chad Turner The upcoming year marks plier diversity and certification program. the second year of a two-year “The wealth of knowledge and experience planning project for regionalizthat she brings to this role will enhance the ing the chamber. The chamber overall mission of the organization as the will begin building chapters in chamber continues to grow,” the organizathe Blue Ridge (Asheville), Triad tion shared. (Winston Salem, High Point), In addition, Tiffany Keaton from TIAA South Carolina (Rock Hill/Fort was elected as the vice chair for Internal Mill, Charleston and Columbia) Affairs, Jennifer Carbuto from Jen Carbuto and possibly more. “Each will Designs was re-elected as vice chair for have a leadership team and a liaison to our board as we build External Affairs, Bryan VanHuystee of Chase Bank was out this regional version,” Turner stated. The move will expand re-elected as director of Finance and at-large board membership and offer greater opportunities for corporate members elected included Rosa Berger from Fifth Third partners to access LGBTBE® Certified businesses for procureBank, Bryan Segers from First Citizens Bank, Dawn Pugh ment. There are no plans at present to move into the “vibrant from Dawn Pugh Team Realty and Jade Reese from Jade and engaged” Raleigh Chamber and the eastern section of the Reese, LLC.
state as the Raleigh Chamber will continue to service those areas, Turner said. “We are fortunate to have someone of Ciara’s caliber and experience to lead our board,” said Turner. “We are at a critical moment and we need dynamic leadership to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead. Ciara is a supplier diversity visionary with a proven track record of success. She is a powerful communicator who is member focused and outcomes driven. Furthermore, as CEO I look forward to working with her and charting the course for a vibrant and robust chamber that is game changing for our small businesses, professionals and community.” He also shared, “Our public policy and advocacy directors will be working with elected officials to see LGBTQ-owned businesses gaining access to the city and county supplier diversity programs … growing our base of LGBT Business Enterprises through certification and training to provide better opportunities for contracting.” Turner added, “I am honored and excited to lead an organization that places diversity, equity and inclusion at the forefront of all we do. We have built a chamber that every person can be proud of. I believe the LGBT Chamber matters — it matters to Charlotte, North Carolina and the broader LGBTQ community.” He also shared what he wants to see in the future. “I have more than 15 years of executive human resources and non-profit experience. I believe that the work and the successes over the past few years in member and corporate growth will continue and only be enhanced as we move forward with a staff person focusing on the day to day.” Speaking on behalf of the board while making the announcement about Turner’s hiring, Lilly said, “Not only does Chad have a proven track record of success but, he just gets it. He understands that we need to invest in our businesses and the people. He understands that the work we do now lays the foundation for LGBTQ individuals and allies for generations to come.” Turner was a previous qnotes Person of the Year in 2015. She continued, “I have witnessed the progressive growth of our organization and could not be prouder of what we have accomplished. Together with our dynamic board, and Chad’s sound leadership, I look forward to serving as board chair and playing a supporting role in the continued success of the organization. This is a significant moment in the history of our organization; a moment that is truly indicative of the great things that lie ahead.” info: clgbtcc.org.
BRIEFS Peach State bar named landmark
The Associated Press reported that Atlanta, Ga.’s Atlanta Eagle has been designated a historic landmark, the city’s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said. It is the first to be recognized and protected from the Deep South.
info: bit.ly/38vWaIq.
March slated for January
The Womxn’s March on Raleigh will be held on Jan. 23, 2021 and is now accepting contributions toward the effort. Visit bit.ly/3aEErAS to donate.
info: bit.ly/34PKizZ.
TOY begins national ED search
Time Out Youth Center has officially launched its search for a new executive director as a result of the departure of longtime head Rodney Tucker’s departure earlier this year. They have selected Kevin Chase Executive Search Group to handle the effort. In the meantime, the organization is being run by O’Neale Atkinson who stepped into
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the executive director role during the transition. Atkinson has been with the organization since 2013.
info: timeoutyouth.org.
Black Institute kicks off Creating Change
The National Black Justice Coalition has announced that its annual Black Institute will take place on Jan. 28, 2021. The Black Institute is a part of the National LGBTQ Task Force’s 33rd annual Creating Change Conference, being held from Jan. 28-31, 2021. This is the first virtual event for the annual conference.
info: nbjc.org. thetaskforce.org/creatingchange.
Trans Xmas tune released
Trans Trenderz have released their “It’s a Very Trans Christmas” music and video from a Black transgender-led record label. Listeners can access the audio at transtrenderz.lnk.to/iavtc and the video at youtu.
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be/10wmUNYxVuk.
info: transtrenderz.com.
New ED named
The Equality Federation and Equality Federation Institute Board of Directors announced that Fran Hutchins has been hired as the incoming executive director. Hutchins has served as deputy director since 2016. She will be the first queer, mixed-race Asian American to lead the organization.
info: equalityfederation.org.
Film launches online
Producers have released their “A Heart’s Calling” online. The film short tells the story of coming out in the face of pushback by a young man’s church and family. It is free to watch and can be accessed online at bit. ly/3h68UJz.
info: facebook.com/aheartscalling.
Book focuses on bilingual storyline
On Jan. 20, 2021, “Pepito Has a Doll,” written
by Jesús Canchola Sánchez, will be released and centers on the experience of a shy, young boy who lives with this grandmother. Pepito only has one friend, that of his doll Lola, until Miguel appears. The script unfolds in a bilingual format (English and Spanish) and showcases LGBTQ characterizations.
info: pepitohasadoll.com.
Travel awards voting open
The Fifth Annual Gay Travel Awards, sponsored by Andrew Christian, is currently open to voters who can “show their love” for favorite destinations, airlines, accommodations, car rental vendors and more. To make selections, visit gaytravelawards.com/vote.
info: gaytravel.com.
Stars featured in UK film
A new feature film, “Supernova,” will be released in theaters on Jan. 29, 2021 and stars Colin Firth and StanleyTucci as leads in the gay-themed feature.
info: bit.ly/37E33Ib.
life
A Commitment to the Queen City Connie Vetter, QNotes 2020 Person of the Year
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BY Chris Rudisill | QNotes Contributor
Her last internship in the wenty years ago, Corretta program brought her to Charlotte, Scott King spoke to a crowd where she has “proudly” resided at Ebenezer Baptist Church ever since. “I fell in love with in Atlanta, Ga. while opening Charlotte,” remembers Vetter. “It the city’s Martin Luther King Day just felt like home.” observances. Remembering her Tailoring her practice around late husband’s legacy to service, her strengths, Vetter focused she urged a nation to envision a on estate planning, family and society filled with compassion. adoption rights and adult guard“The greatness of a community ianship. She focuses on the needs is most accurately measured by of LGBTQ individuals and couples the compassionate actions of its and is an experienced mediator. members,” she stated. She always has a personalEach year, qnotes selects a ized approach, something she person or organization that is calls a “client-focused practice.” benefitting the LGBTQ community Vetter remembers a moment through service or by breaking recently crying over a letter that down barriers in the region. Many came from a client. While she have stepped up this year to supmay not be changing the laws like port a community wading through she dreamed of as an early law a pandemic and one can idenstudent, Vetter is definitely helptify numerous instances where ing people understand their legal compassion has prevailed over rights and protections. “I get hugs despair. Yet, one person stood from my clients, and that’s not out, with years of service to the something a lot of attorneys get,” LGBTQ community and a sense of reflects Vetter. mentorship that’s now impacting She is a member of the North the city’s leaders of tomorrow. Carolina State Bar, Mecklenburg Since coming to Charlotte in County Bar, National LGBT Bar 1993, Connie Vetter has served in Association, National LGBT Bar nearly 20 community organizations Family Law Institute and is on the in a board or committee member board of directors for the Pauli role, not to mention the countMurray LGBTQ+ Bar Association. less times she has volunteered In 2016, Mecklenburg County Bar her skills as one of the city’s most honored Vetter with the Julius recognizable LGBTQ attorneys. Chambers Diversity Champion “Connie is more than just a pilAward, something she points lar of our community,” said Chad out was as much for them as Turner, the president and CEO of it was for her. “That was them the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of (Mecklenburg County Bar) putting Commerce. “She has been an intheir ‘money where their mouth tegral contributor to the progress was,’” says Vetter. and growth of our city.” She has also presented a numVetter grew up in small farm ber of legal workshops on topics town in Illinois before moving to ranging from LGBTQ parenting to Ohio in her early teens after her HIV/AIDS to transgender equality father, a chemical engineer, had and LGBTQ diversity. In 2003, she been transferred with his compresented on LGBT Civil Rights pany. “We moved from my little at the National Conference for 1,200-person town to a suburb of Community and Justice and at the Cincinnati where there were more Attorney and community leader Connie Vetter, Civil Rights Youth Conference. people in my high school than in qnotes’ 2020 Person of the Year. the town I grew up in,” says Vetter. (Photo Credit: qnotes staff) She remembers hating it at the time, but realizes now the abundance of educational opportunities she would have there Before marriage equality, Vetter successfully helped get compared to those in her hometown. domestic partnership benefits for city and county employees, She went on to Ohio State University and came out orders that were both rescinded after the 2015 U.S. Supreme in her senior year. After graduating with a Bachelors in Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. journalism, Vetter and her girlfriend at the time moved Hodges. Her professional skills proved beneficial and allowed to Boston, Mass. She got a job with the Bay State Banner, her an inside track to city and county attorneys. an independent newspaper serving the Black community Like many people, Vetter still remembers the moment since 1965. the Obergefell decision came down, as well as the time “That was phenomenal — as a 22-year-old, white waiting when marriage equality passed in N.C. the year lesbian Midwesterner to be dropped into Dorchester and before in 2014. “I’ve marched in the streets, marched Roxbury … and be the only white face … was a wonderful in Washington, marched in Charlotte,” she says. “In my experience,” says Vetter. lifetime, we’ve gone from getting kicked out of the military She then decided to go to law school with the idea of … heck, we’ve gone from it being listed as a mental illness, bringing cases that would change laws, or impact litigato where we are now — to our private intimate relations tion, similar to the work of organizations like the ACLU, being unlawful to not anymore.” Lambda Legal and National Center for Lesbian Rights. She has worked with Time Out Youth Center for She graduated from Northwestern University Law School years and was a board member of OutCharlotte from in 1993, and quickly realized that while the work of those 1995-1997. From 1997 to 1998 she worked as a hotorganizations was hugely important, it wasn’t her strong line peer counselor for the Charlotte Gay and Lesbian suit. “I don’t like litigation,” she says laughingly. “That was Switchboard. In 2007, she helped envision Charlotte’s going to be a big problem.” Lesbian and Gay Community Center and served on its
Board of Trustees through 2009. She served on the Charlotte LGBTQ Steering Committee until earlier this year. From 2015 to 2016, she was a volunteer server at the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte’s First Sunday Dinners and has been part of the Pet Therapy Team at Carolinas Medical Center and Hospitality House. Vetter has also supported philanthropy in Charlotte’s LGBTQ community as a board member of The Wesley Mancini Foundation and on the annual meeting event planning committee for the Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund. “I like sitting on boards of directors,” says Vetter. “I like doing what I can.” Numerous honors include the Don King Community Service Award in 1999, the Righteous Woman Award in 2004 from New Life MCC, ACLU of North Carolina’s Sharon Thompson Award in 2013 and being named as part of “25 in 25” by the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce in 2017.
Uplifting the Community
Following a public outcry to the financial and organizational mismanagement of MeckPac earlier this year Vetter was able to bring the community together when few could see beyond the bitter entanglements that were quickly dividing a community. William Loftin spoke to qnotes about Vetter’s leadership saying “You could not have honored a better human being.” Loftin is the former chair of Charlotte Black Pride and the current transitional chair of MeckPAC. He has seen firsthand the breadth of Vetter’s activism, philanthropy and “love of community.” “As leaders, we sometimes allow egos and pride to get in the way of us truly reaching our objectives and uplifting the community,” he said. “Connie sees beyond all of that and, because of her humility and willingness to work across every divide, she will continue to leave a mark upon the many lives in the LGBTQIA+ community of Charlotte.” Vetter and Bishop Tonyia M. Rawls recently resurrected the local Change Agents Lunch (formerly known as the “leader’s lunch”) and she has tried to create opportunities for members of the community to come together and talk. Vetter served as co-chair of MeckPAC, then called the Mecklenburg Gay & Lesbian Political Action Committee, from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2003 to 2006. In 2005, she spoke to qnotes about the organization, “With hate groups ready to limit and take away basic human rights of LGBT citizens, we need to keep working to elect and educate local elected officials.” see Vetter on 14
A Lifetime of Change
Connie Vetter was the recipient of the Julius Chambers Diversity Champion Award from the Mecklenburg County Bar Association. (Photo Credit: Facebook)
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2020 Changed Nearly Everything — Including the Law Legal Eagles: A Year of Challenges and Wins BY Sara Shariff, attorney | guest WRITER
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n a year like 2020, you might assume there’s been little to no good news the entire year. But there have been many significant and positive legal changes in the U.S. this year. All eyes were on the presidential election, but many state elections held referendum votes that will not only directly change the laws in those states, but will likely also cause rippling effects upon policies throughout the country. I anticipate we’ll feel some of those effects in North Carolina. Let’s look at some of the highlights of the year.
state and local ballot measures. But the continued gridlock and polarized partisanship at the national level has made nationwide change a slow or impossible task. These state and local ballot measures are truly indicative of the growing discontent with current legal norms and the ever-increasing momentum for change.
Legal Changes Post-Pandemic?
With the sudden panic of uncertainty in our daily lives that COVID-19 brought, state governments needed to implement emergency directives quickly. North Carolina established relief programs such LGBTQ Protections as financial assistance for mortgage payments, addiIn June, the U.S. Supreme Court came to a tional tax credits for families with qualifying children decision in Bostock v. Clayton County and ruled who have had childcare costs, and arrangements that LGBTQ individuals shall be protected under for free meals that children received in person at existing anti-discrimination laws. The court’s deschools before the pandemic hit. These policies cision found that discrimination based on someare temporary, but they’ve resulted in changes in one’s sexual orientation is essentially discriminathe state’s spending and might eventually lead to tion based on sex. This new legal precedence permanent changes in the state’s budget. extends existing protections from sex-based This past year has seen numerous changes in laws for the LGBTQ community and Permanent policy changes will be necessary discrimination to LGBTQ individuals. beyond. (Photo Credit: Zerbo via Adobe Stock) here and elsewhere now that major gaps in the The Supreme Court came to this decision before system have been made apparent. For instance, the appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who the lasting impact of the pandemic on small busiThis could potentially garner more support at a nationhas had a more conservative judicial record before nesses will require much more than the previous stimulus al level for increasing the federal minimum wage, a change joining the Supreme Court. There will likely be a shift in balact. Though the stimulus package included small business initiated by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this ance for the court with the passing of progressive Justice Ruth loans, it wasn’t as effective as intended. year when they passed an act to raise the minimum wage Bader Ginsburg and this addition of a conservative justice in There have been ongoing state, local and national from $7.25 to $15 an hour. The Raise the Wage Act did not her place. It is uncommon to have the same issue brought legislative discussions on policy and legal changes to boost pass the Senate, though, so the federal minimum wage again before the Supreme Court after a recent decision, so businesses, aid schools, continue judicial suspensions of remains the same for now. the Bostock v. Clayton County decision will hopefully remain evictions, and help individuals and communities adjust to safe from judicial scrutiny by the recent conservative majority. changes brought by the pandemic. No doubt these will From Legalizing Marijuana to Criminal need to continue well into 2021. Justice Reforms Minimum Wage Many changes were thrust upon us this year, some far Other states passed referendum votes on a wide range One of the most significant policy shifts comes from more welcome than others. If there is one major takeaway of issues. numerous ballot initiatives passed for increased minifrom the legal changes in 2020, it’s that change can be Four states legalized marijuana. Oregon decriminalmum wages. made from an individual level and does not need to start ized small quantities of certain drugs and established adThis trend started earlier in 2020 with 28 states and from the highest levels of government. That’s a valuable diction treatment programs using marijuana tax revenues. 48 cities and counties increasing their minimum wages, lesson for everyone to remember. : : Some states adopted new measures for criminal justice according to the National Employment Law Project. It conreform. Others made changes to state election laws through tinued through the November elections, with more states Sara Shariff is an attorney with Hull and Chandler in Charlotte redistricting and using ranked-choice voting, which allows voting to increase their minimum wages. Floridians voted who practices business law and estate planning law. Her fields voters to select several candidates in order of preference. to increase their state minimum wage to $15 per hour, of expertise include business formation, contracts, corporate Not many years ago, it would have been surprising joining only a few other jurisdictions that have increased transitions and mergers and acquisitions. to see so many significant legal changes passing through the minimum wage that high.
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Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021
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COVID-19 Vaccine
Health & Wellness: Two Local Residents Volunteer for Testing BY Jack Kirven | qnotes contributor
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COVID-19, review and fter only nine months signing of consent forms, there are already mulweight, height, body tiple potentially-viable vacmass calculations, blood cines available around the drawing, and finally, my world to inoculate people one and only injection. against the novel coronaAfter the injection, virus. Some have been fast I was monitored for 30 tracked by the Food and minutes for reactions. Drug Administration for The process took four usage in the United States, hours. I have had two with 100,000,000 doses follow ups, both included being shipped to all the signing updated consent states across the nation. forms and my blood samThe logistics of distribution ples being drawn. Twice are complex, and various weekly I sign into my jurisdictions are still trying StudyHub app, and reply to formulate parameters for to questions concerning deciding who gets the shots any COVID-19 symptoms. first. But in the midst of all Thank goodness, I have this, there are people exClinical trial volunteers have helped make the fast-track to the introduction of not had symptoms. pressing concern about the vaccines to combat COVID-19 a reality. PC: The study requires speed with which the medi(Photo Credit: Lubo Ivanko via Adobe Stock) in-person medical ofcine was invented, and who fice visits, five-minute are saying they won’t take it telephone check-ups even once it is available. how the vaccines were tested, this author and entering data via a phone application. This raises the question: How do reached out to two local residents who Study requires the completion of a total people who have already been through participated in the trials. of seven scheduled in-person visits, and the trials feel when they hear that people One volunteer, Paola Corcoran, is a about 24 safety telephone calls over apstill want to wait until others have taken CIS-female upper-level executive for a proximately 25 months. The first two visits it? Have these volunteers not already large financial services company. The othwere four weeks apart (mid-September been through that process on behalf of er who replied, Daniel Sams, is a CIS-male 2020 and mid-October) for first shot and the wider public? To understand better small business owner who is very active second shot. The in-person visits after the in the LGBTQ community. Even with their first two visits are months apart. relatively divergent backgrounds, their experiences were largely similar, and this JK: Once you had the injections, did you will hopefully address concerns people notice any responses in your body? If may have about race, class and gender in yes, what were they? terms of how the vaccine trials worked. DS: I had no response to the injection site, nor did I feel any side effects. I strongly Jack Kirven: How did you come to parbelieve I received the placebo. ticipate in the vaccine trials? How did PC: For me there were no side effects you hear about them? noted. Daniel Sams: I responded to an advertisement for participants on Facebook, about JK: Have you ever learned whether you five months ago. A recruiter from Wake got the vaccine or a placebo? If they Research contacted me in September don’t tell you, how do you know wheth2020. er you should get more injections? Paola Corcoran: I read an article in The DS: That’s a very good question. The New York Times that discussed how candiJohnson & Johnson Phase 3 ENSEMBLE dates were being recruited for the vaccine Trial of its Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine trials. The article contained a link to the Candidate is a single shot, unlike the other “COVID-19 Prevention Network” (coronacandidates. viruspreventionnetwork.com). I went to My motivation for participating was the aforementioned link and took a survey in hopes of getting vaccinated as soon under the website’s “CoVPN Volunteer as possible. I work at Legends Nightclub Screening Registry.” After a month and a Complex in Raleigh, N.C. As owner of the half, I got a call from a company (Javara BOXER AND BRIEF gear store within the Research) that was carrying out the study club, I’m in constant contact with people, for Moderna, and they explained the proand wanted to set an example by joining cess and what the study entailed, at which this study. point I agreed to participate. Five days after the injection, I had a COVID-19 antibody test through LabCorp. JK: There are multiple companies develThe results were negative for COVID-19 anoping vaccines — which one did you do? tibodies. I learned afterward that five days DS: Johnson & Johnson Phase 3 ENSEMBLE does not allow enough time for antibodies Trial of its Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to build. I had a second COVID-19 antibody Candidate in the U.S. test over a month later. Those results were PC: Moderna — mRNA-1273 vaccine. negative for COVID-19 antibodies. I strongly believe I received the placebo. JK: When did you do the session? Was PC: No, not yet. We were informed that there only one? If there were follow once the Moderna vaccine is available for ups, how often did they happen, and general use, participants can ask to be what were they for? unblinded to figure out if they want to be DS: At 1 p.m. on Monday, Oct 5, 2020, I had my first meeting at Wake Research in Raleigh, N.C. They conducted my intake see Vaccine on 14 screening, which included a test for
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Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021
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Making Haste Out of Hate Tell Trinity
BY Trinity | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Hello Trinity, I hate my job, but I make too much money. I hate my apartment, but my rent’s cheap, I can’t go anywhere because of COVID-19, and I hate my boyfriend, but I can’t leave him for many reasons. As a “Man On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” is there anything I can do to at least find happiness in unhappiness? Yours, Full of Hate, Provincetown, MA Hello Full of Hate, Feeling trapped is awful, BUT changing all that can be a wonderful adventure. First and foremost, take a vacation and clear your mind. Second, do things that you like, i.e., exercise, sleep, take an online cooking class. Third, pray or meditate for change. Lastly, when Dorothy Campbell was trying to get out of Oz and back to Kansas, she stumbled upon Glinda who said, “You’ve always had the power to go home (or change your situation). You just didn’t know how to do it!” And to you, pumpkin, I say the same thing! Learn how to change your situation. XOXO, Trinity Dearest Trinity, After three years of living with the same guy, he suddenly announced to me that he wants to try new things to enhance our rela-
tionship. I can’t believe this but… he wants to tie me up. Is he crazy, or am I old fashioned? Yours, Untie Me, Baltimore, MD Dearest Untie Me, Yes, he’s crazy and, yes, you’re old fashioned but that shouldn’t stop you. If it was my boyfriend and he wanted to tie me up in a safe, romantic atmosphere, and we had a safe word (a word that stops everything, mine is, “Jerusalem”) then I say yes, why not! If we can invent the wheel and the computer chip, then why not try this! Honey, do everything once or twice — or
at least for a whole night. In the words of Leo Buscaglia, author of the book “LOVE,” “Live, live, live for God sakes (don’t be right but), live!” (Be sure to listen to your partner during one of these experiences and/ or see if you can stretch your comfort zone just a little bit and check out my cartoon for how I’d handle the situation.) Kisses, Trinity To Madam Trinity, Is it wrong to marry for money? Money Worries, Des Moines, IA To Money Worries, Is it wrong to want to be comfortable, worry free and have anything you want? Of course not. But is it wrong to make believe you love someone even though you can’t stand them? Of course, it is! The only way you should marry for money is if you at least like the guy and see a positive future for the both of you. Love comes and goes with time, but diamonds are forever. People marry for crazier things like getting pregnant, becoming a TV celebrity or making their parents happy. So, darling, don’t end up waiting for perfection when your future is at stake. Love, Trinity Dear Trinity, I’ll be throwing my very first (small, masked, social distanced and outdoor) party as someone who is newly single. Any ideas? Yours, Single, Austin, TX Dear Single, I guess your other half used to do the
party throwing. So, since it’s you and me, babe, here are:
Trinity’s Uptown Tips for Hosting a Party
1. I know it’s your house, but put the sex books and toys AWAY! 2. Serve yourself is fine, but cook for yourself is unacceptable! 3. A party without background music is like a funeral with a punk band! 4. If dinner’s late, appetizers and drinks are MANDATORY! 5. Having to use a dirty bathroom as a guest is like having to use a rectal thermometer as a stirrer. 6. Potluck hosts should never expect the guests to bring the main course or drinks. 7. “Does this cigarette bother you,” always means YES! All smokers including you, should smoke outside and 50 feet away! 8. Women or anyone in high heel shoes always gets invited to be seated first! 9. A drunk and sloppy host promises an unforgettable finale to your partyhosting career! 10. A nd, lastly, LOCK the humping dog(s) in the bedroom, please! : : 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, Gay Spirituality for the Next Generation! Learn more at telltrinity.com. Send emails to: trinity@telltrinity.com.
Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021
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‘The Big Tow: An Unlikely Romance’ Out in Print
BY terri schlichenmeyer | CONTRIBUTING WRITER “The Big Tow: An Unlikely Romance” by Ann McMan ©2020, Bywater Books $17.95 340 pages
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wo wheels hooked. That was your vehicle: two wheels on the ground, the other two in the air, safely attached to a bar hooked on both ends to a big truck. Oh, how you hate shredded tires, check-engine lights, busted radiators, dead batteries, and the guy with the rig, but in the new book “The Big Tow” by Ann McMan, a wired starter isn’t the only thing that’s hot. Vera “Nick” Nicholson had put in her time. After six years at Turner, Witherspoon, Anders and Tyler, Attorneys at Law, Nick thought she might’ve achieved partner, but no. Instead, because she was the firm’s only “brown” employee and because senior partners figured “floor-scraping assignments” would be “second nature” to her, that’s what she got — like, for instance, the latest case, a stolen car. Nick didn’t know jack about stolen cars. She had no contacts there in North Carolina to ask for help. And that’s how she ended up at National Recovery Bureau, a back-lot repo business run by a chainsmoking, no-nonsense older woman with zero patience, and a guy named Fast Eddie. For $500, they helped Nick find the car.
When Fast Eddie enticed her with 10 G’s in cash for “profit sharing,” that was a big surprise. So was the offer of a part-time job from NRB. And so was the co-worker NRB assigned to Nick, a gorgeous blonde named Frankie. She had a killer body and enough imagination to figure out how to complete the toughest cases. Meanwhile, Nick used her imagination to think about Frankie’s killer body. Despite the danger and the hassle, working for NRB did have its benefits: the money was great and the company was even better, and Nick cautiously allowed herself to fall in love. She and Frankie were becoming more than just partners at work; they were a couple that happened to work together, and they did a good job. But there was something off about Fast Eddie... Despite that it leans a bit toward wordiness and could have used maybe one less caper, “The Big Tow” is a true delight — but not for the reasons you might think. Author Ann McMan’s two main characters are certainly likable: Nick is one of those people you want in your corner, and Frankie seems like someone you’d have drinks with. The real appeal of this book, though, lies in the world surrounding these two. The dispatcher at NRB and Nick’s gay roommate are spit-out-your-coffee funny, and you must read this book to learn who Carol Jenkins is. There are dotty mothers, wise fathers, a goth girl at a funeral home and a Yoda-type butcher who speaks in hints. Though he’s really basically a caricature, even Fast Eddie is someone you’ll look for as you’re reading this book.
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She has helped elect LGBTQaffirmative candidates to the Charlotte mayor’s office, Charlotte City Council, Mecklenburg County Commission, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board and served on the boards of Equality North Carolina and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee. From
Connie Vetter has been a proud participant at Charlotte Pride Parades over the years. (Photo Credit: Facebook)
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Ann McMan is a Lambda Literary Award winning author who resides in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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This is the kind of story that, if it happened to you, you’d get plenty of mileage out of it at your next party. It’s got romance, action, humor, and theft — how can you go wrong? Start “The Big Tow” and you’ll be hooked. : :
2011 to 2013, Vetter was on the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas Gala steering committee and served as Gala co-chair from 2012 to 2013. When asked what’s next, Vetter says it’s going to require “more of us telling our stories.” Referring to the Bostock v Clayton County Supreme Court decision, she believes that more people will feel comfortable to come out at work. “It’s hard to fear what you know. The more that we’re able to be ourselves, the better,” she says. “But, we also have to not accept things that aren’t acceptable — to understand our power and to speak our truth.” Within the community, she points out that the LGBTQ community needs to deal with its own racism and sexism. Even though she may be starting to pass the torch in some ways, Vetter is still volunteering, and we likely haven’t seen the last of her leadership. Since the beginning of COVID-19, she’s been helping with Hearts Beat as One working in the food pantry and does fence builds with the United for Animals. The historical and institutional knowledge that Vetter brings to the city’s LGBTQ community can be a valuable asset. “You will not find many LGBTQ community members that have not engaged, connected with or been affected by her great work,” says Turner. “Her impression and mark in the area of LGBTQ rights, equity and beyond have truly made Charlotte a better place for us all.” As Loftin said, “We are better because of her.” : :
Dec. 25, 2020 - Jan. 7, 2021
vaccinated (if they received the placebo), or take no action (if they received the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine). JK: Have you had any further contact since the vaccine has been approved? DS: The Johnson & Johnson Phase 3 ENSEMBLE Trial of its Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate is still ongoing, and has not been approved. PC: No, not yet. I do know that Moderna filed an application for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on Nov. 30, 2020, and the FDA will meet with vaccine experts on Dec. 17, 2020 to discuss the study results and related info. Similar to the Pfizer vaccine (EUA was approved Dec. 12, 2020), I’d expect the FDA to grant the EUA to Moderna as well, since both vaccines use similar formulation. JK: Do you have any particular reaction to hearing that there are people who won’t take the vaccine until others have had it? DS: I completely understand the fear people have, as the vaccines have been politically gaslighted. However, I have faith in the development process of the vaccines, the companies behind them, the steady leadership of Gov. Cooper and Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, M.D., M.PH. My wish is for us to get past those fears, set the example for others and get vaccinated as soon as the state of North Carolina makes it available to us. PC: I understand some people may be apprehensive about the unknown (side effects of vaccine, efficacy of vaccine,
etc.), but unless volunteers participate in the vaccine trial, I don’t see a path forward. How can we expect a path forward and expect life to get back to normal without a vaccine? JK: Would you volunteer for something like this again? DS: Yes, absolutely. PC: I would if it was as critical or urgent, as it has been with COVID-19 pandemic. JK: Do you have anything else you would like to share that hasn’t already been mentioned? DS: Wear a cloth mask over your nose and mouth. Wait six feet apart. Avoid close contact. Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer. PC: I am glad I participated in the vaccine trial, even if when unblinded I learn I received the placebo. The process was necessary for the vaccine companies to fast-track a process that can take years. There is such an urgency right now, and the world is trying to figure out a path forward and how society can get back to some sense of normalcy after enduring nine months of atypical life — lockdowns, travel restrictions, rising unemployment, severe impact to the economy, etc. : : Jack Kirven completed the MFA in Dance at UCLA, and earned certification as a personal trainer through NASM. His wellness philosophy is founded upon integrated lifestyles as opposed to isolated workouts. Visit him at jackkirven.com and INTEGRE8Twellness.com.
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