Qnotes March 18, 2022

LGBTQ Local News, Voices and Community

MAR. 18 - MAR. 31, 2022|VOL 36, NO 24

FREE

Russia’s Invasion BIG PLANS of FOR 2022?

Ukraine Impacts the LGBTQ Community – pg 8

Caldwell Presbyterian United Methodist to build affordable Church splits over housing LGBTQ issues – pg 14

– pg 12

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

1

APRIL 9 • KNIGHT THEATER AT LEVINE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

BlumenthalArts.org • 704.372.1000 2

Qnotes

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

connect

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

contributors this issue

Writers: Judge John S Arrowood, Bil Browning, John Gallagher, L’Monique King, Jack Kirven, David Aaron Moore,Tyler Prescott, Erin Rook, Chris Rudisill, Rev. Mark Sandlin, Terri Schilchenmeyer, Molly Sprayrgen, Trinity, Will Wright, Jordan Wilkie

front page

Graphic Design by: Tommie Pressley Photography/Illustration: Wikipedia 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: Tommie Pressley, 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

inside this issue feature

8 Russia’s Invation of Ukraine 14 Caldwell Presbyterian Puts Money Where Heart Is

news

6 Charlotte Considers ending relationship with Russian Sister City 6 NC Uphold Domestic Violence 6 Pandemic Feelings 7 US Supreme Court Lets N.C. Redistricting Stand 8 Ukrainian LGBTQ Activist Capture Russian Soldiers 8 Hackers take over media 8 Transgender Woman in trouble 9 “Gay Executioner” Chechen Leader Killed in Ukraine 9 MCC and ACCEPT Romanina Mount Campaign 9 SC LGBT+ Chamber 12 A Religious Divorce is Happening Over LGBTQ Inclusion

a&e life

Understanding the Courts

Because of different election issues, the courts has been in the news a lot lately. In this article, we break down the court system.

PAGE 10

Leslie Oliver

Musician, singer,educator and artist are just a few words that come to mind to describe who Leslie Oliver is.

In this article, we take a closer look at Reverend Leslie Oliver.

PAGE 19

15 Out In Print

16 Nearly Half of Americans Have Lead Poisoning 18 Tell Trinity 19 Our People: Leslie Oliver

views

4 Biden’s State of the Union 5 Senators Burr and Tillis 10 Understanding the Courts

events

For event listings, visit goqnotes.com/events-calendar.

SUBSCRIBE!

Mar. 18 - Mar. 31, 2022 Vol 36 No 24

These rates only cover a portion of our true cost, however, our goal is to serve our community Mailed 1st class from Charlotte, NC, in sealed envelope.

Subscription Rates:

☐ 1 yr - 26 issues = $48 ☐ 1/2 yr - 13 issues = $34

Mail to: P.O. Box 221841, Charlotte, NC 28222

______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ name:

______________________________________________________ address:

state: zip: ______________________________________________________ city:

☐ mastercard ☐ visa ☐ discover ☐ american express ______________________________________________________ credit card – check one:

______________________________________________________

card #: exp. date: signature:

NOW FIND IN 63 CHARLOTTE-AREA FOOD LION AND HARRIS TEETER GROCERY STORES Now more new locations for pick-up to support our readers and advertisers.

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

3

views

Biden’s State of the Union Address Was a Reminder of Why He Was Elected Op Ed: President has a long list of things he wants, including the Equality Act

BY JOHN GALLAGHER | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he State of the Union address has always been a combination Christmas wish list and campaign speech. Hit the big issues, trumpet legislation you want, do a few obligatory hat tips to important constituencies, add a few notes of inspiration – and voila! You have a State of the Union address.

President Joe Biden checked all those boxes on Tuesday, March 1, with the addition of a somber start acknowledging the war in Ukraine. Biden also hit the main issues that are driving down his popularity (and not helping Democrats’ odds in the midterms either), primarily inflation. He acknowledged the pain that rising prices are causing Americans.

Biden also made a point of disavowing one idea that Republicans have been claiming is a Democratic policy. “We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police,” Biden said. “The answer is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.” Even Republicans had to stand for that.

4

Qnotes

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

The laundry list of proposals that Biden put forth is familiar. But the problem for Biden isn’t his ideas.

Capping the price of prescription drugs and lowering the cost of child care are incredibly popular policy proposals.

The problem is the Senate. With just a single vote margin, Democrats can’t overcome the threat of a filibuster from Republicans, which effectively kills most legislation. It doesn’t help that a Democrat like Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema not only doesn’t want to eliminate the filibus-

ter but is collecting big fat checks from pharma lobbyists opposed to Biden’s drug pricing proposal.

Nowhere is Biden’s powerlessness more apparent than in his call for the passage of the Equality Act, which would provide sweeping federal protections for LGBTQ people. Biden told Congress to get the bill “to my desk,” but that will likely never happen.

What Biden can do is use the bully pulpit of the presidency, and he did just that for trans youth targeted by vicious

state laws.

“The onslaught of state laws targeting transgender Americans and their families is wrong,” Biden said. “As I said last year, especially to our younger transgender Americans, I will always have your back as your President, so you can be yourself and reach your God-given potential.”

The speech was an opportunity to remind the nation’s voters why Biden won the election in 2020. He can instill a sense of security and empathy that people were missing from Trump. Biden’s accomplishments, however, are at the mercy of a Republican minority determined to grind government to a halt, knowing that’s the way they can regain power.

Still, if you ever wondered what difference a presidential election makes, just look at tonight’s State of the Union address. In contrast to the display of presidential gravitas from Joe Biden, we could have had Donald Trump telling us what a genius Vladimir Putin is.

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

views

Senators Burr and Tillis: We Are All Children of God Op Ed: LGBTQ North Carolinians Deserve Nondiscrimination Protections

BY REVEREND MARK SANDLIN | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

s a North Carolina Pastor, I believe it is past time for the federal government to ensure LGBTQ Americans protection from discrimination that the vast majority of our fellow citizens agree is wrong. Our U.S. senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, can play a pivotal role in making sure Congress acts in 2022.

I am Pastor of Greensboro’s Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, whose tradition of inclusiveness dates back decades. The congregation’s earliest efforts at diversity focused on racial inclusiveness. Our work today as a More Light Congregation — welcoming full participation by LGBTQ folks in our faith community — is a natural outgrowth of our commitment to social justice.

I became publicly outspoken in my advocacy of LGBTQ rights in 2012 when a North Carolina pastor proposed a terrifying — and ludicrous — proposal for separately fencing in all gay men and lesbians until they die out, unable to reproduce.

As a faith leader in this state, I could not remain silent as the Bible was misused to deny Jesus’ teaching that we are all chil-

dren of God. Over the past several years, the issue of LGBTQ rights became very personal for me. My eldest son, 25, is now completing his transition to his male gender identity. As a young child, Kayden was outgoing and confident, but later became withdrawn with obvious signs of depression. As he came to recognize his authentic gender identity, I was grateful I had the understanding and tools to be the parent he deserved to have. Kayden is now happier and more confident than I have ever known him to be.

The conservative family I came from was resistant to accepting the LGBTQ community. Watching Kayden go through his transition, however, changed them

— I now understand just how critical personal relationships are in swaying hearts and minds.

Our community, home to Greensboro College and UNC Greensboro, is a welcoming place for the LGBTQ community — this past July 1, the city’s fully inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance went into effect.

Still, I know of cases of discrimination, especially in the outlying rural areas of Guilford County. One unfortunate incident I recall in particular detail involved a man aggressively harassing a lesbian couple as “sinners” simply because they were holding hands. A bartender I know from the LGBTQ community was recently verbally harassed on the street outside his

establishment by a man who then sprayed lighter fluid on the building before being arrested for attempted arson.

Despite such incidents, North Carolina has no state laws protecting the LGBTQ community from discrimination or hate crimes. And the hurdles facing LGBTQ folks in the Piedmont Triad are not unique.

A 2020 survey makes clear that LGBTQ Americans — as many as one third in the previous year — experience concrete incidents of discrimination in their daily lives.

Discrimination places especially harsh burdens on transgender people, Black and Latino LGBTQ communities, youth and seniors.

I’m heartened to see that members of both parties are now voicing support for federal nondiscrimination legislation to protect the rights of our LGBTQ family members, friends and neighbors. Senators Burr and Tillis have the opportunity to help lead the effort to get this job done.

Nearly 400,000 LGBTQ North Carolinians — and many more who love them — are counting on them. : :

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

5

news

Charlotte Considers Ending Its Relationship With Russian Sister City As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, Charlotte is considering ending its relationship with its Russian sister city that’s been in place over three decades.

The Charlotte City Council will vote to end its ties with the city of Voronezh at its next business meeting, Mayor Vi Lyles said at a Feb. 28 council meeting. Several Ukrainian residents were in attendance at the meeting, including one who was draped in the national flag.

Lyles said Charlotte is home to about 1,000 Ukrainian nationals. The two sister cities have not communicated since summer 2015, she said. “We send this as a signal that we stand with you and we will stand with you no matter where we’re going in terms of this war,” Lyles said to

Charlotte’s Ukrainian residents.

Charlotte and Voronezh became sister cities in 1991. Charlotte has six other sister cities, in China, Germany, France, Peru, Poland and Ghana. Lyles’ announcement comes as Gov. Roy Cooper ordered state offices to terminate contracts with Russian companies, The News & Observer reported Monday. That directive also ordered the suspension of Russian alcohol sales at state liquor stores.

Lyudmyla Rekut, a Ukrainian-born Charlotte resident, said she hoped the city and state would do more to limit cash flow from North Carolina to Russia. Much of her family, including her sister, her parents and her parents-in-law, are still in Ukraine as Russia wages war. “We just need help,”

Pandemic May Feel Like a Wrap, but Impact Could Be Felt for Years to Come As of March 7, North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services confirms 1,140 people are currently hospitalized because of COVID-19 infection statewide.

That’s a substantial drop from the peak period of the pandemic. While masks for students are now optional in Mecklenburg County schools, restaurants cannot operate above a 50 percent capacity limitation and still must function under certain guidelines that include cleaning requirements, masks are specified distancing.

While dangers of infection still exist, our city, county and state, as well as the country, have seemingly taken an approach of learning to live with, rather than stomp out, the resilient COVID-19 virus.

However, recent evidence released

from a longterm study has shown the COVID-19 virus can cause damage far more extensive than its perceived immediate impact.

According to Oxford University’s School of Medicine, COVID-19 can cause possibly permanent brain damage.

That information isn’t exactly new, but

Charlotte’s soon to be ex: Russian sister city Voronezh.

Rekut said. “We need to be heard.”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched the sister city program as a way to help foster peace in the wake of World War II. The relationship between Voronezh and Charlotte has come into question before. In 2013, recently deceased Council member Claire Fallon asked the city to drop the relationship because of Russia’s harsh anti-LGBTQ laws, as reported in

QNotesCarolinas. Then Council member LaWana Mayfield and former Mayor Patsy Kinsey condemned the laws but did not take steps to sever ties, qnotes reported.

This article appears courtesy of our media partner The Charlotte Observer. info: https://bit.ly/3KGrplt — Will Wright

the study is the first conformational look at the brains of individuals who had not contracted COVID and then later did so.

As a result the scans taken before and then after show damage to parts of the brain tied to the sense of smell, a loss to the overall size of the brain equivalent to one to 10 years in aging and possible deficits in cognitive function.

“This study overcomes some of the major limitations of most brain related studies of COVID-19 today,

which rely on analysis and interpretation of a single time point in people who had COVID-19,” Dr Serena Spudich of Yale University told NBC News in an interview March 7.

“It is brain damage, but it is possible that it is reversible,” Gwenaëlle Douaud, an associate professor at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Oxford says in the study.

While this information provides us with no clear-cut future free of this potentially lethal coronavirus, one thing is certain: It is still with us.

While fewer people are wearing masks and businesses like nightclubs and pubs have reopened their doors to large crowds, authorities insist using common sense is still the best policy.

Maintaining social distancing and wearing masks in large crowds remains a good personal policy. info: bit.ly/35P8VAb — David Aaron Moore

NC Upholds Domestic Violence Protections for LGBTQ Couples In a victory for LGBTQ equality, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeals decision March 11, establishing that people in same-sex dating relationships cannot be excluded from domestic violence protections. The opinion in M.E. v. T.J was issued after the defendant appealed the December 2020 Court of Appeals decision holding that it was unconstitutional to exclude LGBTQ couples from domestic violence protections. North Carolina was the last state in the nation to deny certain domestic violence protections to those in same-sex dating relationships.

The ACLU of North Carolina and attorney Amily McCool of the Scharff Law Firm represent M.E., a survivor of domestic violence who was denied a protective order simply because the person who was verbally and physically threatening to her also happened to be a woman.

“No matter where we come from or who we love, we should all be able to agree that everyone deserves to have

6

Qnotes

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

protections from domestic violence,” said M.E. “I appreciate the state Supreme Court being clear that no one who is a victim of domestic violence will be denied their right to have protection.”

“We appreciate the North Carolina Supreme Court’s clarification that the Court of Appeals ruling stands undisturbed against meritless, merely technical attacks. Our state constitution provides robust protections against sex-based discrimination, including discrimination arising from sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Irena Como, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU of North Carolina. “In holding that the administration of justice prohibits the elevation of form over function, especially in domestic violence proceedings involving people who have been traumatized, today’s decision ensures that the legal system should conform to the needs of people, not the other way around.”

People in same-sex relationships are just as likely as people in opposite-sex

The NC Supreme Court made the state the 50th in the country to uphold domestic violence protection for romantically involved and married LGBTQ couples.

(Photo Credit: Facebook) relationships to be survivors of domestic violence. According to the North Carolina Department of Justice, more than 157,000 North Carolinians were survivors of domestic violence in 2014.

Attorney General Josh Stein, Governor Roy Cooper, the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Legal Aid of North Carolina, the North Carolina Justice Center, the Pauli

Murray LGBTQ+ Bar Association, and a group of ten former North Carolina District Court judges submitted amicus briefs in the case urging the court to uphold the Court of Appeals ruling that excluding same-sex dating couples from domestic violence protections is unconstitutional. info: bit.ly/3w2Wz27 — Qnotes Staff

news

U.S. Supreme Court Lets N.C. Redistricting Stand

N.C. congressional map settled for 2022 with only three U.S. justices favoring appeal by Republican legislators.

Decision leaves maps as state courts approved them.

N

orth Carolinians know, finally, what political maps they will use to elect representatives to the U.S. House in 2022.

On Monday evening, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from state Republican legislative leadership to stop an order from state courts from going into effect.

North Carolina will go forward with its primary elections on May 17, the candidate filing period that completed on Friday will stand, and a map drawn up by a panel of trial court judges will be used to elect the state’s 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, but only for this year’s election.

Three conservative justices, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, dissented and wrote they would have stopped that map from being used, instead reverting to the map the state Supreme Court declared an unconstitutional gerrymander and which would have all but guaranteed Republicans at least 10 of the state’s seats in the U.S. House.

The congressional maps in use for 2022 are most likely to result in seven Republican seats, six Democratic seats and one toss-up seat, according to the data of how voters in each district voted in previous elections.

“Today’s move by the court reinforces that legislatures do not have a ‘free pass’ to violate protections against partisan gerrymandering when drawing districts that undeniably hurt voters,” said Hilary Harris Klein, a voting rights lawyer at

BY JORDAN WILKIE | GUEST CONTRIBUTOR the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which represents one of the plaintiffs, good-governance group Common Cause,

In a press release Monday, North Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger suggested state Republican

in the lawsuit.

A fourth conservative justice, Brett Kavanaugh, agreed that state Republicans’ arguments were strong but said it would be too disruptive for the federal courts to intervene this close to an election.

“The issue is almost certain to keep arising until the Court definitively resolves it,” Kavanaugh wrote in his concurrence, which suggests the possibility the issue could likely be brought before judges again at a later date.

Republicans may still get that chance, just not as soon as they would have liked.

Kavanaugh suggested the case, or one raising similar constitutional questions, should be taken up for consideration in the next judicial term, which will get underway in the fall.

leadership may do just that.

“While we’re focusing on the 2022 elections, we will continue to evaluate this decision and next steps in this case,” Berger said.

Berger, along with House Speaker Tim Moore and other Republicans responsible for drawing the state’s political maps, were the defendants in the redistricting lawsuits.

Should the legislative Republicans request further review of the case, Kavanaugh, along with the three dissenting justices, have enough votes to put the case on the court’s docket, per the U.S. Supreme Court’s rules. To grant a stay, which is what Republican legislators requested in this filing, they would have needed five votes in favor.

Two more conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, voted with the majority this week.

But Roberts has previously expressed interest in the legal theory that North Carolina’s legislative Republicans used in this case.

Republican arguments rest on Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which says the “Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”

That should mean, North Carolina legislative Republicans argue, that state courts should not be able to put a check on the rules state legislatures make for federal elections. Only federal courts and Congress could check state legislative power over making those rules.

The justices also denied a request for review coming out of Pennsylvania, which raised similar legal questions.

North Carolina’s General Assembly will still get the chance to draw a new congressional map for the 2024 election cycle that, should it withstand lawsuits, could hold for the rest of the decade until the 2030 census triggers another round of redistricting.

This story was originally published

by Carolina Public Press. Carolina Public Press is an independent, in-depth and investigative nonprofit news service for North Carolina. : :

Connie J. Vetter, Esq. Attorney at Law PLLC Your LGBTQ+ Law Attorney

Talk/Text 704-333-4000 or online

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

7

news

Ukrainian LGBTQ Activists Capture Russian Soldiers LGBTQ Ukrainians captured a group of AWOL Russian soldiers hiding in a basement in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv Feb. 28. Activist Viktor Pylypenko said that the soldiers didn’t realize the basement they had chosen to hunker down in was also the office of a local LGBTQ group.

Pylypenko, a veteran who rejoined the army last week to aid in Ukrainian defense from Russia, said the LGBTQ group members both beat and captured the soldiers.

“We are confronting a tyrannical, homophobic enemy,” Pylypenko said.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, LGBTQ Ukrainians have been terrified for their future.

While Ukraine does not fully recognize LGBTQ rights – marriage equality is not legal, for example – the country has

come a lot farther than Russia, where LGBTQ people continue to be actively persecuted.

Marriage equality is not legal in Russia, nor do anti-discrimination protections exist for LGBTQ people. The country is also infamous for its “gay propaganda” law, which was signed by Putin in June 2013

Hackers Take Over Media to Broadcast “Putin in Drag” Meme Illegal in Russia Hackers took over Bulgarian media to broadcast a meme that Russian President Vladimir Putin loathes.

He hates it so much, he made it illegal to display inside the country. The graphic shows the dictator wearing makeup in front of a rainbow flag.

Hackers, activists and social media users have launched their own campaigns aimed at disrupting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as NATO and the West respond with crippling sanctions and companies flee.

The Kremlin has tried to stem the damage by blocking social media sites, making it illegal for the media to call the

war an “invasion” instead of a “special military operation,” and arresting thousands of anti-war protestors – all as the Russian economy starts to collapse and citizens flee before they’re conscripted or made destitute.

The meme was first posted online in 2013 to protest Putin’s “anti-gay propaganda” law that prohibited Russians from posting or broadcasting anything pro-LGBTQ. That same law has been used to prosecute a teenager for posting photos of shirtless men on social media.

The “extremist” graphic was banned in 2017, for “alleging non-standard sexual

Transgender Women in Ukraine in Trouble Ukrainian men aged 18-60 are not being allowed to leave the country – whether they want to or not – because they are being detained to create a larger defense force in the effort to fight the advancing Russian invasion. While more than one million women, children and others who don’t fall within the combat active requirement have escaped across borders to neighboring countries and beyond, transgender women like Zi Faámelu are finding themselves stuck.

Some of the surrounding countries require a passport to leave the country, while others will accept a standard driver’s license, and a small handful will allow passage with no travel ID whatsoever.

Faámelu’s passport and IDs, like many other Ukrainian trans women, still have a male designation stamp, which means she could be denied passage out of the country. Even if she could find a way out of Ukraine, she might not be allowed to cross into a neighboring country because of the

8

Qnotes

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

and prohibits the distribution/marketing of any LGBTQ content deemed “harmful” to minors.

And in Chechnya, a Russian republic, head of state Ramzan Kadyrov has spent years overseeing a horrific “purge” of LGBTQ people. Countless gay men and transgender people have been tortured and murdered at the hands of authorities.

The U.S. has also revealed that Russia has a “kill list” of Ukrainians it plans to murder or

orientation of the president of the Russian Federation.”

Just days ago, hackers took over the online stream of Bulgaria’s biggest broadcasters, which includes several sites allowed to be shown inside of Russia. According to reports, cyber warriors gained control by hacking into the sites’ hosting provider.

For 20 minutes, the group displayed the meme with the

detain. The list includes several LGBTQ people.

But as is the case with so many Ukrainian citizens right now, LGBTQ Ukrainians are stepping up to fight.

Veronika Limina, for example, works for an NGO that promotes LGBTQ rights in the military and has been running a camp to teach LGBTQ volunteer cadets the skills they need to fight. “I am angry,” she told The Daily Beast. “We will kill Putin.”

“Many LGBT+ activists, who have an experience of participation in the Euromaidan events, are joining the Territorial Defense forces or holding training in paramedical help,” she added.

“LGBT+ people who served in the army and military volunteers are ready to come back to their service. We are doing the same as the rest of the nation.”

This article appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQ Nation. info: https://bit.ly/3vWbjjm — QNotes Staff

This image of Putin in drag against a rainbow flag was shown throughout Russia for 20 minutes with the words ‘Make Love, Not War.’

lTGMT4.

But now, even leaving her apartment feels risky, given the pervasiveness of transphobia in Ukraine. But all of her friends have left, and she is starting to run low on food. incongruence “This is not between her a very rainbowlegal sex and friendly place… lived gender.

Lives for trans “If you people are very have male bleak here,” gender in especially in your passport, the midst of they will not increasing tenlet you go sions, Faámelu abroad. They told CBS News. will not let “Many people you through,” have guns and she told CBS weapons…

News.

It can be an Before excuse for the invasion, violence… This Faámelu is a very scary found some Transgender Ukrainian singer Zi Faámelu. situation.” success as a Her singer, apsituation is pearing on not unique. Getting an updated passport the Ukrainian singing competition show is not an easy process for transgender Star Factory, https://youtu.be/whpwn-

words, “Make Love, Not War.” Ukrainian officials have called on hacker groups to help them fend off the Russian invasion, urging them to take down Russian websites and scramble their communications capabilities.

This report appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQNation.com info: https://bit. ly/3I6vptM — Bil Browning

Ukrainians. Despite efforts to make the process less onerous, Human Rights Watch reports it is likely that transgender people are still required to undergo psychiatric observation as well as genderaffirming surgery to update their documents.

“I don’t want to go through that. This is humiliating for the world… I decided to keep my passport, keep male in my passport, and now I cannot leave this country,” Faámelu explained. “[It’s] a war within a war, truly.”

And if Russia wins its war against Ukraine, things may get even worse.

“Ukraine is a European country. We have a 10-year history of Pride marches, and as you know, in Russia, the situation is opposite,” Kyiv Pride project assistant Edward Reese told CBS News.

In the Russian republic of Chechnya, leaders attempted to “purge” LGBTQ people through murder and torture. And Russia’s post-invasion “kill list” reportedly includes multiple LGBTQ Ukrainians.

This report appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQNation.com info: https://bit.ly/35P8VAb — Erin Rook

news

“Gay Executioner” Chechen Leader Killed in Ukraine One of the leaders responsible for the horrific anti-LGBTQ purge in Chechnya was killed in Ukraine Feb. 26.

Magomed Tushayev was a top advisor to the Chechen head of state, Ramzan Kadyrov, who oversaw a horrific purge of LGBTQ people. Gay men and transgender people have been tortured and murdered at the hands of authorities.

Tushayev was directly involved in this campaign to eliminate LGBTQ people, according to the Los Angeles Blade.

His last known involvement took place in May 2021, when Chechen operatives abducted gay human rights activist Ibragim Selimkhanov from a train station in Moscow and forcibly brought him to Chechnya to question him about journalists and other activists who were helping LGBTQ people. Selimkhanov ultimately

escaped and made it back to Moscow.

Tushayev’s role in the abduction is unknown, but human rights organizations have confirmed his involvement.

Reports of the Chechen anti-LGBTQ crackdown first came from the independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta in December 2016.

Chechen authorities – most of whom are former military members who serve as the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s secret police force – often detain suspected queer men under the pretense of drug charges. Police then examine the men’s phone contacts for other suspects, using torture to get as much info as possible.

A 31-page report released in August 2017 by the Russian LGBT Network said torturers use “electrocution, beatings, starvation, dehydration, isolation, forced

MCC and ACCEPT Romania Mount Campaign to Help LGBTQ Ukrainians During the last week of February, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) <https://visitmccchurch.com/our-churches/> made an initial donation of $1300 to the organization ACCEPT Romania, <https://www.acceptromania.ro/> a nongovernmental human rights organization in Romania that works to defend and promote LGBTQ rights. ACCEPT is working with partner organizations in Moldova, Ukraine and other neighboring countries in an effort to provide safe exit for LGBTQ individuals seeking to leave Ukraine.

They’re also establishing new relationships with other countries in Europe who are receiving refugees. ACCEPT and our other MCC allies are on the ground to assist LGBTQ+ people and their families as they rush to evacuate the violence in their homeland.

LGBTQ individuals and those living with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe are particu-

As of now there are numerous LGBTQ people who have traveled for many days and miles to attempt border crossings to Moldova, and resettlement in places like Romania and other countries in the region with more positive larly vulnerable right attitudes towards the now. MCC stands in LGBTQ community. solidarity with them as The fear exists, still, they seek safety and that Russia’s current a swift and peaceaggression may yet ful resolution to the spill over into the Russian-Ukrainian other adjacent counconflict. tries, which are not Unknown numbers as equipped as even of LGBTQ individuals Ukraine is to resist.

Protesters with ACCEPT want are in harm’s way and Thus far, at least Russia out of Ukraine.

(Photo experiencing lifeone trans person Credit: Photographer Name) threatening realities and their pregnant every hour of the day. spouse have been MCC and ACCEPT successfully received across the Moldovan is currently requesting assistance for these border and are currently safe. Others are people in Ukraine to help with exit stratereportedly close to the border and hoping gies, medical care, food, shelter and other for refuge. life-sustaining essentials. Both organizaACCEPT Romania has funds to contions are working hard to save the lives tinue their efforts for another week or of LGBTQ people and those who live with so. Beyond that, they are counting on our HIV/AIDS or other debilitating conditions.

Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber holds Launch Party and Silent Auction Although the Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber has only been in existence a short time, the organization is quickly making its presence felt in the Upstate with its first major community event, a launch party and silent art auction, on March 18, beginning at 5:30 p.m. and continuing through 10:30 p.m.

The celebration will take place at the historic Southern Bleachery Mill, located at 250 Mill Street in Taylor, S.C. During the event, attendees can hear firsthand about the works and plans of the Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber, and enjoy local entertainment, beverages from Bar Margaret and Ilegal Mezcal and local art.

Nathan Brown, one of the organization’s founders, encourages people who are supporters and advocates for the LGBTQ community to attend and get involved as much as they’d like.

“Promoting healthy, productive connections is critical to our mission at the

nudity, homophoharassed, jailed, blackbic insults and mailed or killed if their misgendering” to suspected LGBTQ family punish detainees, members flee the region. confiscating their Chechnya is a Russian personal belongings republic, and Kadyrov and only allowing them has deployed Chechen to sleep three hours a fighters to Ukraine to asday on cold concrete sist in Putin’s efforts. floors. The men are not “The president [Putin] allowed to bathe or use took the right decision, toilets and they receive and we will carry out his Murderer of unknown no medical care. orders under any circumnumbers of LGBTQ Women have been stances,” said Kadyrov. individuals, Magomed Tushcaught in the crackdown ayeva, was killed in failed Tushayev was head of too, though they’re often Ukraine fight. the 141 motorized regileft to their families to ment of the Chechnya be abused, imprisoned National Guard when he or killed. Chechen auwas killed during a battle to take over an thorities subscribe to the Stalinist idea of international cargo airport near Kyiv. “shared responsibility,” blaming families This report appears courtesy of our for raising “public enemies” and punishing media partner LGBTQNation.com them if they don’t help persecute and murinfo: https://bit.ly/3hVzgz6 der relatives in so-called “honor killings.”

— Molly Sprayregen Families can also be imprisoned,

Upstate LGBT+ Chamber and essential to economic prosperity for the region,” Brown explains. “We really want all organizations, businesses and community partners to come out, celebrate and build a relationship with us. While the focus of this event is to celebrate our growth and build stronger networks, we will also share a few thoughts about our vision to create a more inclusive space for our communities. We’re thrilled to create a fun event encouraging diversity and unity and the prosperity both generate.”

The silent auction will feature multiple local artists who have graciously donated their work to benefit the advocacy efforts of the LGBT+ Chamber. Among them, Sunny Mullarkey, Sainte Claire, Maggie Macdonald, Signe and Genne Grushovenko, Ninja Picasso, Rae Clark, Adam Du Shole, Glory Day Loflin and Christian McKinney will be on display for the silent auction. The artists will show-

support to fund their ongoing efforts, even as the situation changes and needs shift.

If you would like to contribute financially to MCC and ACCEPT’s efforts, there are a variety of ways you can do so: If you would like to donate via PayPal, please visit: https://www. paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_ id=XGFV7SCBL7ARQ If you would like to transfer funds electronically from anywhere in the world, here are the relevant banking details: Bank Name: Lloyds Bank Sort Code: 30-90-54 Account #: 00150202 Account Name: Overseas Projects (UFMCC UK Project) IBAN: GB14LOYD30905404391875 BIC: LOYDGB21090 MCC will cover all costs associated with the administration of this fundraising campaign so that 100 percent of your donations will directly benefit the LGBTQ+ people of Ukraine, and their extended families. info: https://bit.ly/3IX7cqZ — QNotes Staff

case a range of Upstate LGBT+ original paintChamber founded ings and prints, as a 501c(6) nonutilizing several profit in 2021 amid different mixed the challenges of mediums. the global panAdam Du demic. With the Shole, whose help of dozens of works have volunteers, the been featured in chamber will work Greenville and as an advocate for Spartanburg, South Carolina’s Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber’s Launch party said the advocacy Upstate LGBTQ boasts drinks by Sarah from Bar Margaret. efforts by the business commu(Photo Credit: Environmental Portraits/ Will organization are nity by harnessing Crooks) needed. “I supeconomic potenport the Upstate tial and giving a LGBT+ Chamber [because] everyone voice to the community. deserves visibility and acceptance,” says The Chamber will work In concert Du Shole. “Not just tolerance, regardless with allied business professionals, who of their gender, race or sexuality.” recognize strength in diversity and hope Currently, there are no COVID reto facilitate growth for all members, both strictions for the event. However, with allies and LGBTQ. COVID-19 still impacting the region, For more information on the event chamber officials encourage people to on the Upstate LGBT+ Chamber, email take precautions to keep themselves and comms@upstatelgbt.org. others safe by wearing a mask and/or getinfo: https://bit.ly/37mQZxq ting vaccinated.

— Tyler Prescott

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

9

views

Understanding the Courts

There’s no time like the present to brush up on your knowledge of the state and federal judicial system

BY JUDGE JOHN S ARROWOOD | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he Courts have been in the news a lot lately regarding various election issues. With other high-profile matters in the news, it is probably a good time to brush up on your knowledge of the court systems. This article attempts to provide you with the nuts and bolts of our dual system of courts, federal and state.

established by Article IV of the North Carolina Constitution. The North Carolina Constitution establishes three divisions: a District Court Division, a Superior Court Division, and an Appellate Division.

•

Federal Courts The Federal Courts have original jurisdiction over cases related to Federal Statutes, the United States Constitution and treaties. Certain cases involving state, statutory or common law claims may be brought in the federal courts, as well, if all the plaintiffs are residents of states different from those than all the defendants (also known as “diversity of citizenship”) and the amount in controversary is more than $75,000. This is a very basic definition of a relatively complicated concept – there are books written and full-semester courses taught in law school about federal jurisdiction – but this should give you an idea about what types of cases are brought forth in federal court.

These cases start in a United States District Court. There are three districts in North Carolina: Western, Middle and Eastern. Judgements from district courts are appealed to the circuit courts of appeals. There are thirteen Circuits in the United States. Eleven of the Circuits are numbered – North Carolina is in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Additionally, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (commonly known as the D.C. Circuit) primarily hears issues of administrative and constitutional law. Finally, the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction over certain appeals, including patent cases and other specialized matters.

The Circuit Courts are usually the last word in a case unless the Supreme Court of the United States issues a Writ of Certiorari to hear the case. This requires the affirmative vote of four of the nine Justices to issue such a writ. The term “certiorari” is Latin for “to be made certain,” and simply means that a court has chosen, based on its own discretion, to grant judicial review of a decision of a lower court.

The decision of the Supreme Court of North Carolina is final in all cases that do not involve issues related to the United States Constitution.

When district courts issue opinions and make determinations of law, those opinions are not binding on other district or circuit courts. Similarly, circuit courts do not control each other, which means there are some variations – also known as splits – between circuits on certain legal issues. The Fourth Amendment and related privacy issues are the subject of several circuit splits.

These federal cases are handled by Article III judges,which refers to Article III of the United States Constitution. Article III federal judges are nominated by the president and must be confirmed by a majority vote of the United States Senate.

They can serve for life as long as they are not impeached and serve on either active or senior status.

District Court judges are selected the same way; however, in addition, the Senate has a rule of senatorial courtesy requiring that the Senators from a state approve of the appointment by the return to the judiciary committee of a “blue slip” indicating their support. This is true regardless of whether the senators are of the same party as the President and gives senators a tremendous amount of influence in deciding who is appointed to the district courts in their states.

There are no blue slip rules for Circuit Judges and Supreme Court Justices.

The Mecklenburg County District Courts, located in the Western District, There has six active federal judges. are nine

10

Qnotes

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

members of the United States Supreme Court. Each Circuit Court, however, has a different number initially approved by the Congress; for instance, the Fourth Circuit is authorized to have fifteen active judges. Three of those seats have traditionally been known as “North Carolina seats.” While the number each state gets is not dictated by statute, it has historically remained static in our district, with Virginia having four, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina having three each, and West Virginia having two. The Ninth Circuit, by contrast, is authorized to have twenty-nine active judges. Appeals at the circuit level are normally heard by a panel of three judges, unless a majority of the active judges of a circuit vote to hear a case en banc, in which all active judges hear the case on the same panel.

District Courts likewise have different numbers of authorized judges; for instance, the Western District, where Mecklenburg County resides, has six active federal judges. An interesting side note is that the Western District of North Carolina has never had anyone other than white men as Article III judges. District Court judges normally sit individually, however certain election law cases are heard by panels of three judges.

The federal system is also made up of certain non-Article III judges, such as bankruptcy and magistrate court judges.

Depending on the selected judge’s specific type of appointment by the Article III judges in their districts or circuits, the number of years they will serve is varied.

Their jurisdiction and numbers are beyond the scope of this article.

State Courts The courts most people encounter in their daily lives are our State Courts. North Carolina has what is called a unified Court System, which is the third branch of Government,

District Courts

The state District Courts of North Carolina have exclusive jurisdiction over civil cases involving less than $10,000.

These are jury trials and can be appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

District Court judges also conduct bench trials in all misdemeanor and traffic cases (appeals from those criminal cases are sent to the Superior Court for a jury trial).

District Court judges, sitting without a jury, also hear all divorce, custody, alimony, equitable distribution, termination of parental rights, juvenile and involuntary commitment cases. Appeals from those judgements go directly to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Generally, district court judges only hear cases in the judicial district from which they are elected. Additionally, state district court judges usually hear cases as the only judge presiding.

Each division of North Carolina district courts has a unique number of judges as established by the General Assembly. For instance, Mecklenburg County, the 26th District, has twenty-one District Court Judges elected in single-member seats county-wide – in partisan elections – for terms of four years.

•

Superior Courts

The Superior Court Division hears all civil cases (other than domestic relations cases detailed above) involving claims for more than $10,000, all felony criminal cases and appeals from district court proceedings in criminal and traffic cases.

All trials in Superior Court are jury trials in front of twelve jurors. Appeals from Superior Court cases are heard by the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

As with district courts, Superior Court districts have different numbers of judges as established by the General Assembly.

Mecklenburg County has eight Superior Court Judges, elected in eight separate divisions of the 26th judicial districts in partisan elections for eight-year terms.

Also elected by a 1/8 of the county, the Mecklenburg Superior Court judges, in six-month rotations, hold court in districts throughout the 5th judicial division that stretches from Mecklenburg County to the North Carolina/Tennessee state line.

Superior Court judges generally preside alone, however in cases involving challenges as to whether certain statutes are constitutional or challenges to election districts, they sit in panels of three. The three judges for each panel are designated by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

If a vacancy occurs in a District or Superior Court seat, the Governor appoints a successor to serve until the next election for members of the General Assembly.

•

Other State Courts

In addition to “Resident Superior Court Judges,” the Superior Court Division also contains a number of “Business Court Judges” that hear cases designated as complex business cases. There are currently five business court judges with one other seat approved, therefore. Those judges are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate for a term of five years. Appeals from Business Court cases go directly to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

There are also some “Special Superior Court Judges” that are appointed by the Governor, with confirmation by the Senate. These Special Judges are not attached to any district and are assigned to hold court statewide by the Chief Justice or their designee. They also serve five-year terms. Business and Special Judges can be reappointed once their terms expire if it is the pleasure of the then sitting Governor to do so, and their reappointment must be confirmed by the Senate.

There are also magistrate judges, who hear cases in the district courts, appointed by the Senior Resident Superior Court upon nomination of the Clerk of Court and are supervised by the Chief District Court Judge in a district. This article does not detail their duties; however, their decision can be appealed to the District Court.

Finally, in the trial divisions, the Clerk of Superior Court acts as the ex-officio Judge of Probate dealing with estate matters.

Clerks’ decisions may be appealed to the Superior Court.

•

Appellate Courts

The Appellate Court Division consists of the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

There are seven justices on the Supreme Court and fifteen judges on the Court of Appeals. These judges and justices are all elected in statewide partisan elections and serve for eight-year terms. If there is a vacancy in these offices, they are filled by the Governor and then must run at the next election for members of the General Assembly for a full eight-year term. An interesting side note is that, while the Supreme Court of North Carolina was established in 1818, the Court of Appeals was established in 1967.

The Court of Appeals sits in panels of three judges who hear cases from the District and Superior Courts, the North Carolina Industrial Commission, the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings, and the Utilities Commission (except as detailed below). This is the court of last resort, and final word, for approximately 85 to 90 percent of the appeals heard. There is also a provision that the Court of Appeals can vote to hear a case en banc, however the Court has not yet used that provision.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina sits as a panel of all seven members.

Justices are required to hear cases from the Business Court, criminal cases where the death penalty is imposed, general rate cases from the Utilities Commission, all cases in which there is 2-1 decision with a written dissent from the Court

of Appeals, and appeals from the Court of Appeals involving a state constitutional question.

For other cases to reach the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court must agree to take the cases via certiorari or a petition for discretionary review. In all other cases, the decision of the Court of Appeals is final.

The decision of the Supreme Court of North Carolina is final in all cases that do not involve issues related to the United States Constitution; in those cases, a party may seek certiorari from the Supreme Court of the Federal Courts have original jurisdiction over cases related to United States.

Federal Statutes, the United States Constitution, and treaties.

I hope this gives you a quick overview and Governor Michael Easley in 2007. When refresher of how our Judge Arrowood lost the election to retain various Courts are composed, and a basis his seat he returned to private practice at to understand their importance in your James McElroy & Diehl. In 2017, Governor everyday life.

Judge Arrowood is the only Mecklenburg Roy A. Cooper reappointed Judge Arrowood County resident in the Appellate Division to a vacancy to the Court. In 2018, Judge of the judiciary. Judge Arrowood was a law Arrowood won an eight year term on clerk, staff attorney and head of the staff at the Court of Appeals, becoming the first the North Carolina Court of Appeals prior to openly LGBTQ person to win a statewide spending 26 years as a commercial litigator election in the South. As a side note, Judge at James, McElroy & Diehl, PA in Charlotte.

Arrowood won the most votes of any other He was initially appointed a Special Superior candidate on the NC statewide ballot in The Court Judge and Court of Appeals Judge by 2018 election cycle. : :

Meet Aldersgate At Home WEBINAR THURSDAY, MARCH 31 | 2PM If aging in place is your goal, Aldersgate

Your fresh start starts here

At Home is the perfect solution. Executive

at Aldersgate, an age 62+ Life Plan Community.

services to you, in a program customized

Director Molly Martin explains how we bring top-rated health and lifestyle for you. Aldersgate At Home is private pay, but long-term care insurance may cover our services.

To RSVP, learn about more events or schedule a tour, call (704) 318-2018 or visit AldersgateLiving.org.

3800 Shamrock Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

11

news

A Religious Divorce is Happening Over LGBTQ Inclusion Congregations will branch off to form the Global Methodist Church in May

and Grace through Separation,” or Protocol. Key elements have not been decided, including a stipulation for the UMC to pay the new denomination $25 million or how to handle church property and assets.

“I think the separation between United Methodist and Global Methodist, while it is a sad thing in some ways, it is the right thing and it is the just thing,” says Pastor Julia Webb-Bowden of Elizabeth Street United Methodist Church, an affirming church in Durham. “I believe it is where we have been divinely guided at this point.”

Bowden says the split is much in line with society as a whole today. It is not the first time that denominations have faced internal struggles. In 1844, the Methodist

by Chris Rudisill Qnotes Contributor

D

isagreements in the United Methodist Church have been going on for years. For some, it is reminiscent of a long, messy divorce. That separation nearing its finality with feuds over land, money and 12.7 million children (or congregants).

In 2019, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. voted to keep and strengthen its ban on same-sex marriage and forbid members of the LGBTQ community from serving as clergy. Fiftyfour votes tipped the scales at the UMC’s national conference in St. Louis that year and set off a division between conservative and more affirming congregations.

For Beckie McCall, it was a heartbreaking decision. “I cannot be a member of a church where my son doesn’t have the same rights as I do,” she says. “I would never be a member of a country club where my son wasn’t allowed in the dining room, and that’s basically what you’re telling me about my son.”

It wasn’t an easy fight though. Her openly gay son wanted the family to make a stand, to leave the church. “That wasn’t the choice that I made. I had to stay and fight,” she recalls.

And they did for the time being, at their home church in Davidson, N.C. She started her journey by forming the Davidson United Methodist LGBTQIA Family & Friends group which meets once a month to “provide leadership for further understanding of human sexuality and affirmation of all people.”

But after launching the group, McCall learned that their pastor was not on their side in the argument over LGBTQ acceptance. She and her husband decided that it was time to leave.

In July 2021, Davidson United Methodist Church got a new Senior Pastor – one that provided a space where McCall’s family decided they could return.

David Hockett previously served as the District Superintendent of the Charlotte Metro area for the Church and has been a pastor in Greensboro, Salisbury, Concord

12

Qnotes

The LGBTQIA Friends and Family Group of Davidson United Methodist Church meets monthly to offer support, service and education to families in the community. (Photo Credit: Davidson United Methodist Church) and Boone. Hockett brought a more welcoming atmosphere, one where the McCalls and others found a church that included them.

One example of that inclusion was evident in a recent letter to the church where Hockett states a commitment to “radical hospitality – cultivating a culture in which no one is turned away and all have a seat at the table and are included in the life and mission of the Church.”

Separating Us and Them Last month the UMC postponed its General Conference for the third time, this time until 2024. The General Conference is the top policy-making body of the church and is a gathering of Methodists from over 40 countries. It typically meets every four

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

years to consider revisions to church law and policy, adopt resolutions on current issues and approve plans and budgets for church-wide programs and ministries.

This year’s conference would have also included a vote on the creation of a new denomination, the more conservative Global Methodist Church.

With news of another postponement, the Global Methodist Church announced its plans to officially launch in May. “Theologically conservative local churches and annual conferences want to be free of divisive and destructive debates, and to have the freedom to move forward together,” the Rev. Keith Boyette, chair of the GMC’s transitional leadership council, said in a statement.

The launch was part of an agreed upon plan called the “Protocol of Reconciliation

Pastor Julia Webb-Bowden, Elizabeth Street United Methodist Church

Episcopal Church split over slavery. A resolution from North Carolina delegates at the time stated, “unwarranted interference of the Northern portion of the Church with the subject of slavery alone, a sufficient cause for a division of our Church.”

North Carolina is made up of two conferences, or geographical areas, organized under the leadership of a bishop. The North Carolina Conference includes 56 counties in eastern North Carolina, from Elon to the coast, and the Western North Carolina Conference includes the 44 counties west to the Tennessee border.

While there is no exact number of churches in North Carolina that will disaffiliate over LGBTQ inclusion, some say

that approximately ten percent may leave for the Global Methodist Church. “There is a process a congregation must follow if they wish to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church,” explained Derek Leek, director of communications for the North Carolina Conference of the UMC. “Our Church Transformation Ministries Office holds consultations with churches that are considering disaffiliation. A few churches are asking about disaffiliation, but some aren’t definite.” Leek says that any figures would be speculation at this point.

According to Dr. Eli Branscome, the separation is also a reflection of society.

He recently led an open conversation on human sexuality with the Davidson United Methodist LGBTQIA Family & Friends group. “In my opinion, in my encounter with Methodists, they know the Bible fairly well, but they’re less likely to weaponize it,” says Dr. Branscome.

“With the politics of the last five years, the split in the country, I think we are in our second civil war and it’s showing up on all kinds of turf, especially churches.”

Bowden agrees. “It is not just homosexuality. It’s reproductive choice as well and there are some issues around church governance as well that are conflict points,” she says. “I think we’re hitting a point within American Christianity and mainland denominations where we’re just going to see a lot of churches have lived out their life cycles, and I think especially in rural communities and small towns, churches that disaffiliate – they will no longer have the mothership of a major denomination

that helps keep them afloat.”

A Path Forward

The Rev. Val Rosenquist, at left, and retired Bishop Melvin Talbert co-officiate at the wedding of Jim Wilborne and John Romano at First United Methodist Church in 2016.

(Photo Credit: Reconciling Ministries Network) Pastor Val Rosenquist leads the First United Methodist Church in Charlotte, a congregation that has been in the public eye over LGBTQ equality before. She faced a potential church trial in 2016 after officiating the wedding of John Romano and Jim Wilborne, who became the first same-sex couple in North Carolina to wed publicly.

“For my church here in Charlotte, it is such old news – being open and inclusive,” she says. Often called the “gay church,” Rosenquist prefers to say its an “everything church.” One look at its website and you will see what she means. First United Methodist

was the first reconciling church in Charlotte, and it has been thriving ever since.

While she admits it brings up a lot of old wounds for some, she is hopeful that the split will allow the Church to focus on other important things, like affordable housing, homelessness or the refugee crisis in Ukraine.

“When the dust settles, I do think it gives us the opportunity to be who so many have been wanting to be and have been quietly doing it undercover,” she says. “I think there will be a sense of relief there. There’s so much other work to be done.”

For Beckie McCall, that also means a space for peace and education. When asked about her decision to stay and fight in 2019, she says “Looking back, I’m glad I made the decision I did because many people have come to me and said, we didn’t have a church family to go to and now we feel like this is a good place for us to be.”

She believes Davidson (UMC) and the United Methodist Church will become a place of affirmation. There is an opportunity for the UMC to show other denominations what that looks like.

“I think that we are understanding that rather than being so dogmatic and not being willing to take a new look at scripture, we are at the point where we are ready to see religion more as Jesus wanted religion to be, or Jesus wanted spirituality to be,” says McCall.

“A higher power wants a personal relationship with each of us,” says Dr. Branscome. “I don’t think there is one dogma or one set of practices that make anybody more spiritual or healthy or

Staff

East Charlotte (Practice & Pharmacy Hours: 8am-5pm) 6010 East W.T. Harris Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28215

Richard T. Wynn, MD Primary Care Director and co-founder

Phone: 704-208-4134 Fax: 704-248-8068

Mandy Irvin, PharmD, CPP, AAHIVP Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner Jason L. Hardin, MSN, AGNP-C, AAHIVS Heather Manos, MD Shane Bentley, PharmD, CPP Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner Bill Kreft, PA-C Hana Kim, PA-C

well…It’s like baking a cake from scratch versus a Betty Crocker. You are still baking a cake if you dump a box and add an egg. Yeah, you baked a cake, but I think that’s what most religions are – it’s a cake mix and I don’t think that works for a lot of folks. If everybody is homogenous, that prefab religion works, but as soon as we start seeing people as individuals it all falls apart. We end up in feuds and we divide churches, and we start slinging names, and fists, and rules and regulations and separating churches, but that is when we are being less Christ-like. These problems would never exist if Christians acted like Christ.” : :

Locations

J. Wesley Thompson MHS, PA-C, AAHIVS, DFAAPA HIV Director and co-founder

Jerry A. Saunders, MD PhD

Dr. Eli Branscome

PrEP • PEP • LGBTrans Care • HIV Care Primary Care • Diabetes Care Accepting new patients daily! amitymed.org Amity Medical Group, Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that proudly serves the Charlotte community in providing medical care and linkage to community services to serve your daily needs.

South Charlotte (Practice Hours: 9am-6pm) 10508 Park Rd. • Suite 130 Charlotte, NC 28201 Phone: 704-208-4134 Fax: 704-248-7845 New Location! (Opening July 2021) 9835 Monroe Rd. • Suite B Charlotte, NC 28270

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

13

feature

Caldwell Presbyterian Church Puts Money Where Heart Is Local Church Spearheads Efforts to Ease Charlotte’s Affordable Housing Crisis

BY L’MONIQUE KING QNOTES STAFF WRITER

A

s the price of gas continues to go up, the Queen City’s affordable housing options seem to be moving in the opposite direction. While Charlotte continues to grow and receive an influx of folks primed to take up residence within newly built homes and the condo developments that are sprouting up all over, long term residents (and some new ones) are scrambling to find affordable housing.

What is affordable housing? By definition, affordable housing is residential space that doesn’t require a person or family to spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

According to charlottenc.gov, Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities in America. The Housing and Neighborhood Service tab on the page goes on to state: The U.N. recently projected [Charlotte] will be the fastest growing area in the U.S. through 2030. [In the meantime] the cost of renting or buying a home has skyrocketed, and many can’t keep up. This equates to our city needing an additional 32,000 units of affordable housing to meet the current need, which means more than 55,000 Charlotteans don’t currently have an affordable place to live. In less than 10 years [single family] home prices in Charlotte have risen from an average of 179K to the current average of 420K. As you might imagine, the COVID-19 pandemic has only made the situation worse.

Rising costs in home ownership, apartment rentals, limited affordable housing options and the pandemic’s impact on employment closures and restructuring have devastated many.

Nationwide, the Queen City is not the only place where residents are facing increased housing insecurity. Additionally, and as far too many already know, homelessness and the threat of losing secure housing is not a new issue.

Fortunately, communities rallying to find space and solutions isn’t either. In Charlotte, Caldwell Presbyterian Church is thoughtfully and diligently putting into practice a well-known biblical adage, “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you,” Mathew 7:12.

Caldwell Presbyterian Church is a vibrant inner-city church near uptown Charlotte. The church was founded 100 years ago in one of the earliest streetcar communities of the city. Reverend John Cleghorn is the pastor of the 350-member congregation that’s working collaboratively to assist in lightening the load of Charlotte’s homeless community.

Cleghorn spoke with qnotes, sharing info and insight on how the project began and where they are now in their journey of assisting community members in acquiring housing.

He explained how, about 10 years ago, a partnership with The Salvation Army to provide housing led to Caldwell utiliz-

14

Qnotes

Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Uptown Charlotte. (Photo Credit: Caldwell Presbyterian) ing one of their unoccupied buildings as a 50 bed shelter for homeless women.

According to Cleghorn, The Salvation Army managed it while the church provided the second-floor space of the Price building, a building located on the Caldwell Presbyterian Church’s campus.

Prior to this effort, the 12,000 square foot Price building was the church’s Sunday School building, which consisted primarily of classrooms. In years past, the church has used this space for other valiant community efforts, like the bilingual preschool Caldwell offered. As for the shelter, it was never intended to be a permanent residence and was eventually relocated to a more permanent building, the Salvation Army Center of Hope. “We were a band-aid, a bridge for overflow. We were only supposed to operate for six months but ended up operating for six years.

When the women moved back to a more permanent place, we took a look at what was needed and how God was leading us. We spent a year thinking about and trying to figure out how to address the folks at the lowest end of the income ladder,” said Cleghorn. Those “at the bottom” are people and families who earn 30 percent to 60 percent of an area’s median income. For Charlotte residents that means less than approximately $32,000 for an individual and/or $60,000 for a household.

Charlotte residents who earn $129,000 or more are in the city’s top 20 percent as earners – according to 2018 U.S. Census data. However, those aren’t quite the numbers that Reverend Cleghorn is concerned about. More often than not, you’ll find him focusing on numbers, such as 21 and six.

We’ll explain why in just a moment.

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

Stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, this effort has been in the works for a few years now, and once again strong partnership is at work in assisting area residents.

Caldwell Presbyterian Church has solicited the assistance of DreamKey Partners (a 40-year old non-profit organization that specializes in building affordable housing) to assist in converting the church’s Price building into a 21 (there’s that number) single occupancy “move in ready” dwelling. They’re also in conversation with Roof Above, Carolina’s CARE Partnership and the non-profit organization Supportive Housing Communities. The intent, according to Cleghorn, is to have partnering organizations “bring us residents, new neighbors and provide case management.”

As for why six is the other number on John Cleghorn’s mind? The estimated cost to make this all happen is expected to be six million dollars. So far, the church already has “commitments and hard promises” for 4.5 million of the six million required for the Permanent Supportive Housing project. About $800,000 was raised and contributed by congregants with the anticipation of one million from Myers Park United Methodist Church and the balance from state, city and county funding sources.

“It’s a wide mix of public, private, religious and philanthropic partners coming together to make this happen.”

If things go as planned, doors will open and residents can look forward to moving in during late 2023 – with no end or move out date required. Once the final 1.5 million dollars is acquired to finalize things, “They will be able to stay as long as they like. Some people will come for short term and some for long term and that will

be up to them. The funding that we are gathering calls this Permanent Supportive Housing. What that means is, these folks have issues and diagnoses wherein they need support and affordable housing.”

When it comes to philanthropy, altruism and plain old lending a helping hand, folks are motivated by different forces and factors. For Cleghorn, it’s all about faith. “Our faith compels us to reach out to the marginalized. We believe the gospel calls all believers to serve all those on the margins, those who are oppressed. Our experience with the homeless shelter tells us this is what we need to do with the assets we have to share.”

Cleghorn concludes by sharing his favorite (and particularly relevant in this case) Biblical scripture on the matter: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builder labors in vain,” Psalm 127:1.

For Cleghorn, his congregants, partners and supporters, “It’s an expression of our trust that God will complete this project – we’re just doing the footwork.” qnotes is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions producing I Can’t Afford to Live Here, a collaborative reporting project focused on solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all our reporting at charlottejournalism.org. : :

a&e

Ready When You Are Out in Print

BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Ready When You Are” by Gary Lonesborough c.2022, Scholastic PUSH $18.99 245 pages

L

oud thunder-booms.

Spiders and snakes. The number thirteen, clowns, cemeteries and heights.

There are a lot of things that you can fear, just as there are a lot of ways you can overcome phobias, if you want. Vanquish those shivers by taking classes, being brave or, as in the new novel, “Ready When You Are” by Gary Lonesborough, you can let someone gently help you.

If he had to admit it, seventeenyear-old Jackson Barley had a lovehate relationship with Christmas.

He loved its traditions, and because it was something out-ofthe-ordinary. When hanging out with your mates on the Mish is all you normally do, it’s nice to have the holidays to break up the same-old. But over Christmas break, his Aunty Pam always brought his cousins around and the house was full of little kids. Jackson loved his younger brother and his cousins, but man, could they make a racket!

This year, another thing was unusual: Aunty Pam arrived Christmas Eve with a teenager she was caring for, a boy named

Tomas who’d just gotten out of juvie. Of course, Jackson’s mother said that Tomas could bunk in Jackson’s room and that wasn’t cool, not at first. Jackson’s mind was elsewhere: His girlfriend broke up with him for reasons he couldn’t discuss.

For most of his life, he had known that he was “different.” He tried to be like other boys, but it just didn’t work that way, and he was afraid to even think about his feelings. And now there was this outlaw kid, another Aboriginal boy like him lying on a mattress in Jackson’s bedroom and, oh, Tomas was beautiful.

But Jackson wasn’t gay, or at least he wasn’t ready to be. He wanted a summer with his mates, and girls, but he wanted Tomas to kiss him, too. How could he be true to himself?

And what would people think?

There are three main characters inside “Ready When You Are”: Jackson, Tomas and alcohol.

Lots of alcohol, and teenagers who are often excessively drunk, which almost totally mars the sweetness of this novel. Put aside endless Outback parties and repetitous beach forays, though, and you might be charmed by this familiar-notfamiliar boy-meets-boy tale.

In placing his novel in an Aboriginal community, author Gary Lonesborough gives U.S. readers a unique setting and immersion in a culture where life feels more relaxed than perhaps they’re accustomed – but yet, coming-out struggles for gay teens still exist.

This leads to a story that, scene-forscene, is predictable and common in young adult romance novels – an aspect the genre’s most fervent readers passionately rely on. They’ll also love Jackson, a boy in a man’s skin who acts responsibly and genuinely, but who’s not yet too selfassured about it. Life through his eyes is the best part of this book.

Though you’ll likely find this novel in the young adult section, it’s absolutely appropriate for grown-ups with fond memories of first love. “Ready When You Are” has its lows, but it might also make your heart go boom. : :

JOIN THE

Equality NC Crew! #ENCCrew equalitync.org/membership

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

15

life

Nearly Half of Americans Have Lead Poisoning and the Elevated Levels Have Cascading Effects Health & Wellness

BY JACK KIRVEN QNOTES CONTRIBUTOR

R

ecently on WebMD.com, it was revealed that a study by The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study showing that 170,000,000 people (roughly half of all adults in the United States) were exposed to toxic levels of lead as children. In addition to this, 90% of the people in the study who were born between 1951 to 1980 had levels of the metal in their blood that exceeds the upper limit threshold established by the CDC. Specifically, those in The Lost Generation, The Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers encountered moderate levels of lead; however, Generation X was exposed to very high levels, and now Millennials and subsequent generations are exposed to very low levels.

Housing and fuel codes and standards were updated over the years; however, buildings of practically all kinds built prior to these changes will still — even today — have a higher chance of containing lead products. Whether it be paint, plumbing,

16

Qnotes

soldering or gasoline, these materials were not removed or replaced in one united effort across the nation. These components in buildings were extracted over the course of years, and in many cases residual lead still remained in various environments.

As a result, children during this time encountered lead at home and school, and also while being in proximity to a wide va-

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

riety of vehicles using leaded gas, including cars and buses. Given that lead has many adverse effects on health — particularly in the developing brains of children — it is important to recognize what the consequences and symptoms include. The study concluded that millions of people suffered losses in IQ levels. The average damage for people born between 1966-1970 equated to nearly 6 points.

This will also have broader implications for public health for many more years to come, because the damage lasts throughout a person’s entire life. In addition to mental skills, lead poisoning also harms the heart and kidneys. There is a marked increase in the risk for hypertension amongst those who experienced prolonged exposure to the heavy metal.

It is important to know the year your home was built. Whether it be a house, condominium, or apartment, those structures built before 1978 are particularly likely to still have lead present. There may be as many as 24,000,000 homes in the United States that still have peeling paint that contains lead within the paint itself, as well as lead dust that can be inhaled, rather than ingested.

It would be wise to have an older home inspected for lead prior to purchasing it.

Or, if you already own your home, you can

also perform lead tests with a kit. They are available in the paint sections of hardware stores. These can tell you whether or not lead is present, but they cannot measure the quantity or concentration. If you prefer to skip that step, there are environmental lab tests you can contract, or you can contact the local health department. They will be able to connect you with a licensed professional who can take more nuanced assessments.

If you find you do have lead in your home, there are ways to protect yourself and your family while the toxin is removed. To reduce exposure, make sure there are no chewable surfaces a child can reach. Cover, cordon, or block these areas, so that kids cannot come into physical contact with the paint. If possible, close and lock doors to prevent access to rooms with the contaminated paint. Regularly washing hands, toys, blankets, utensils, cups and other objects is a good idea. This will rinse lead dust off of surfaces. It is important to frequently mop floors, as well as using wet towels to clean windows. Something else that can reduce exposure is to remove all shoes upon entering the house (or leaving them in a garage or another place away from all interior spaces), because lead can leach into the ground around buildings that contain lead. Shoes can track the tainted soil or debris into the home.

The symptoms of lead poisoning can be mistaken for something else, so be sure to pay attention for the following in children: Learning difficulties, erratic moods, loss of appetite, weight loss, sluggishness, gastrointestinal pain, vomiting, constipation, hearing loss and seizures. With newborns, it would be wise to have lead levels tested when the baby is born premature, has lower than expected birth weight or is showing delayed physical growth.

Adults can experience joint pain, high blood pressure, memory loss, headaches, abdominal pain and mood disorders. Adult men might have lower sperm counts or abnormal sperm cells. Women can experience difficulties with pregnancy, especially miscarriages, stillbirths and premature deliveries. : :

Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

17

life

Jealousy: The Inevitable Destroyer Tell Trinity

BY TRINITY | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Dearest Trinity, My partner and I have enjoyed a very stable and comfortable two years of monogamy but their part time job of bartending at a local leather bar is making me jealous! I’m Brazilian and it’s natural for me to be jealous. Help!

Yours, Jealous Brazilian Boston, MA Dearest Jealous Brazilian, Everyone knows that Brazilians are hot-blooded, jealous types. Everyone also knows that just like a tornado, jealousy comes out of nowhere, has no course of action except to strike, then damages everything in its path. Listen Sweetie, try focusing on their stable commitment to monogamy, NOT their job. Wind down your feeling or you may end up forcing them to take cover, somewhere safer and less tumultuous than your relationship!

Kisses, Trinity Dear Trinity, Many years back, I saw you in Provincetown, MA giving the sermon, “From Drags to Riches.” You mentioned that you write and syndicate Tell Trinity, do shows, tour AND keep a full-time job! How can I do what you do?

Amazed San Francisco, CA Dear Amazed, Any artist, writer and/or actor will tell you that in between our many full-time jobs we make time for our dreams. When most people are out dancing till dawn, I’m home working on my dreams. But don’t

cry for me Argentina because the truth is I’m living my dreams, and living out our dreams means accepting its tedious, backbreaking, impractical work load. So Babie, if you want to do what I do, find time and make time to work on having your dreams come true!

ness! Now, until a house falls on your head, remember even Dorothy and Aunty Em had growing pains!

Kisses, Trinity Hello Trinity, One minute my boyfriend’s very attentive and the next he’s unaware of my mere existence. Help!

Yours, MEN (ugh!) Glens Falls, NY

DATING DILEMMA #577 Hey Trinity, My girlfriend and I had our first BIG fight. Does this mean it’s over?

Help, First Fight Topeka, KS Hey First Fight, Happilydating couples often think that they’re in “Oz”. Then comes the first fight when someone appears to be the Wicked Witch of the West but only a cowardly lion needs to run. When the yellow brick road appears gray it often leads to a newer understanding of your commitment.

Honey, fighting is normal and is often a healthy way two people let it all out. So let this fight make you two stronger. Practice communication, compromise and forgive-

hundred years:

Hello MEN (ugh!), You’re either very young or very new to the ways and woes of MEN! So Darling, here’s some tips for getting through the next hundred days or

Trinity’s Eye-Opening Tips For Understanding The Lame Activities Of Men 1. Inconsistency, selfishness and cold mood swings are side effects of MSG… and MEN! 2. If he’s madly in love with you and can’t stop thinking about you but acts like NOTHING’S going on then you’re definitely… with a man!

3. Emotional expressions are often found in woman, artists and many LIVING things but as for men, try again!

4. “MY needs, my freedom, my sexual desires, my side of the story...” are phrases most often spoken by... guess who!

5. SOME men are extremely kind, sensitive, warm and loving but these men are mostly found in… monasteries!

6. Cooking, cleaning, parenting and taking out the trash are things men find...

OTHER people to do!

7. If you’re (tired of) hearing, “I’m late,” “I forgot our date” or “Blah, blah, blah, it’s not my fault” then you are surely with a man!

8. Occasional FLINGS and apparent flirting, later accompanied by puppy dog eyes and expensive presents represent many genders but mostly… men!

9. Men often APPEAR as the clearheaded, practical, and passionate types... until the third month of dating!

10. Lastly, now that you know everything about men, don’t fret, because they can also be TRAINED to be… incredibly romantic!

With a Masters of Divinity, Reverend Trinity hosted “Spiritually Speaking” a weekly radio drama, performed globally and is now minister of WIG: Wild Inspirational Gatherings. Sponsored by: WIG Ministries, www.wigministries.org Gay Spirituality for the Next Generation! Send e-mails to: Trinity@telltrinity.com

BUSINESS CARDS AS LOW AS $22 FOR MORE INFORMATION, EMAIL ADSALES@QNOTESCAROLINAS.COM

18

Qnotes

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022

life

Leslie Oliver

Our People: Artist, Teacher, Street Preacher

BY L’MONIQUE KING QNOTES STAFF WRITER

R

everend Leslie “Pastor Isai” Oliver is more than her collar. She’s a musician, a gospel house music singer, a dynamic educator and artist who eats, sleeps and breathes all the adjectives and accolades that describe her.

Born and raised in Newark, N.J., she relocated to Charlotte in 2004. Oliver is an academician with multiple degrees.

To date she’s earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Rutgers University, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Full Sail University and a Master of Divinity in pastoral care from Union Presbyterian Seminary. She’s a busy woman who teaches full time for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and an Adjunct ESL professor at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC). While recently en route to Atlanta for a trip to showcase the percussion talents of a group of young people who are members of an impressive drum corps, she spoke with qnotes about her ministry, her teaching and her dream of a better future for girls and the women they will become.

How long have you been teaching?

I’ve been teaching since 2000. I teach Literary, Visual & Performing Arts to CMS students, but I do more than teaching kids how to paint and color. I teach them to express life as they see it. I affirm them. I empower them, because they need equipment, life skills, comprehension, not paint.

So, I’m giving them something they can use outside of standardized testing.

How did you get into the ministry?

My mom. I saw her do it and I’m a fourth generation “Servant Leader.” My mom did what her mom did. It started with my great-grandmother in Jim Crow Florida, my grandmother in post WWII New Jersey, my mother in the ghettos of the ‘70s and now my sister and I in the [new] millennium.

You’ve been seen ministering in outside public space and on social media. Why don’t you have a brick-and-mortar church with a Sunday morning congregation?

Authenticity is a cornerstone of my ministry.’ – Reverend Leslie Oliver (Photo Credit: Sarah J. Stephens) Jesus didn’t have one. He was a homeless hippie, who hung around with 12 dudes and was supported by a group of women. He was a social justice, liberated theologian who did most of his work outside. He rarely worked in doors.

What makes your ministry different from others?

Because I am the church. People want someone who knows what they’ve been through. People want to know that you identify with what they’ve been through – I can. People want relevant leadership. I’ve been the woman bent over, the woman at the well. So, I believe that through my authentic testimony, people see that, feel that and appreciate how I’m able to meet them right where they are. I speak their language. I’m a homegirl.

Do you think street ministry and/or internet ministry is the wave of the future?

I do believe more people will start doing this. The four walls, to me, is an illusion. The four walls mentality inhibits the spreading of the gospel in my opinion.

There’s so much more to spirituality than four walls.

Are you partnered?

Yes, I am recently engaged to my partner of 19 years.

Does your partner support your ministry?

Absolutely. Almost from the beginning, whatever I’ve been involved in, she’s been

my number one supporter. My partner, Michell Wyms, is my cheerleader. She’s the first to lend a hand, advice and admonish when necessary. And now, I get a chance to support her in the work she’s doing.

She’s launched [AllTURNatives] a youth non-profit mentorship organization. It includes a mime team and a drum line, along with other programs that focus on entrepreneurship and aggression replacement therapy.

How has your orientation impacted your ministry?

Authenticity is a cornerstone of my ministry. Being a Black Queer Womanist Theologian is revolutionary. It’s important to be revolutionary in these times. There’s no need to hide. [People] need to see me in my truth, and I bring that with me everywhere I go.

Any challenges being Queer clergy in this area of the country people often call the “Bible Belt?”

I don’t know, because I never cared.

I’m trying to impact lives, and I don’t have time to worry about what you think about mine. I’ve got students that are coming out or questioning their gender and they need support.

Does ministry influence your teaching?

My teaching is ministry. Working with children, empowering children is God’s work.

When you’re not teaching or minister-

ing, how do you find joy?

Through writing, poetry and art. It’s a release. Writing is oxygen and art is like blood flow. Both keep me alive.

With all that joy, is there anything that just infuriates you?

Oh yeah, when people underestimate the brilliance of women. Stop playing us like we’re stupid. Nothing exists without us. Earth is mother, its elements are mother nature, the first bones found as proof of civilization were those of a woman.

What I’m trying to say is, people try their best to judge or diminish us. Ain’t nobody got time to play small. You can’t stand us but you can’t stop looking, so stop underestimating our brilliance. I will not decrease! I wasn’t meant to be an ellipsis, I’m an exclamation mark.

Do you have a dream?

I do. I dream of a world that does not violate the essence of little brown girls.

That’s coming from the survivor in me.

When we do not affirm young girls at a very young age, from the moment that they can see – we violate their essence.

Tell them they are smart. Tell them they are beautiful. Protect them. Tell them you will keep them safe and mean it.

Other girls are entitled from birth, keep that same energy for our [Black and brown] girls; instead of sexualizing and ridiculing them. I have a [19-year-old] daughter, and this is my dream for her.

It’s a dream that’s being manifested and is in development because she certainly is sorting out [and] beginning to live through all those things.

What will Reverend Leslie be doing 10 years from now?

I’ll be empowering women – traveling, doing outreach and using my art for social justice – hopefully on the collegiate circuit.

Ten years from now, Reverend Leslie will be mirroring the life of Alma Thomas.

Alma Thomas became a visual artist at 68 years old after teaching for 30 years.

Anything you want readers to know about you?

I want them to know that when it comes to the souls of the people, I really am about that life. : :

FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION

Need help this tax season?

14 years of individual and small business tax & accounting experience

grimstadcpa.com 980-224-3124 richard@grimstadcpa.com

Become a foster parent today! chsnc.org/foster Mar. 18. - Mar. 31, 2022

Qnotes

19

20

Qnotes

Mar. 18.-Mar. 31, 2022