Headlines: Custody decision overturned, 2008 expectations, ‘Holy Bullies’ and ‘Senator No’
by Matt | January 15th, 2008 |Headlines from the Jan. 12 issue of Q-Notes, the leading LGBT news source for North & South Carolina:
2008: A look ahead
Expectations for the LGBT community
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
From almost-made-it legislation and Capitol Hill lobbying to youth activism and national movements for equality, 2007 laid the groundwork for real, substantive improvements for the national LGBT community. Now, it’s time to look forward to 2008 and the positive accomplishments we will hopefully see in this year. Read more...
Appeals Court overturns custody restriction
Family court judge opposed gay dad’s ‘deviant lifestyle’
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court ruling limiting the visitation rights of a gay father. The lower court placed prohibitive travel restrictions on the father because the presiding judge did not “condone [the] Husband’s alternative lifestyle.”
In 1992, Ernest Matthew West and Mary Denise West were married. In 2002, Ernest lost his job in Columbia and was sent to Dallas, Texas. He eventually moved to Maimi, Fla., where he became involved in an affair with a man.
In 2004, Mary initiated divorce proceedings. Fearing the affair would damage his ability to see his children and disadvantage him during divorce hearings, Ernest denied the existence of the affair until a week before the final hearing in the divorce case. Read more…
S.C. author takes on the anti-gay industry
Alvin McEwen’s new book details the Religious Right’s distortion tactics
by Jack Kirven . Q-Notes staff
There is a distinction between spirituality and bigotry based on “sacred” prejudices. This point is the focus of author Alvin McEwen’s new book, “Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Exposing the Lies of the Anti-Gay Industry.”
Boiling the work down to a central thesis, McEwen says “there has been a consistent war waged on the gay community by people who hide behind their pseudo-religious beliefs.”
McEwen posits that because it is not possible in this country to create laws that purely further religious thought, opponents of LGBT equality seek other means to demonize our community.
“Once these groups dehumanize LGBT people it then becomes easier to create a sense of need for regulations based on assumed religious justifications.” Read more…
Wilson documentary explores ‘Senator No’
UNC-TV doc on Sen. Jesse Helms airs Jan. 15 TONIGHT!
compiled by Q-Notes staff
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — “No American politician is more controversial, beloved in some quarters and hated in others, than Jesse Helms,” declared The Almanac of American Politics as the arch-conservative Republican neared the end of his 30-year U.S. Senate career.
On Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 9 p.m., UNC-TV premieres “Senator No: Jesse Helms,” a 90-minute biographical documentary from independent filmmaker John Wilson. The film chronicles Helms’ life from his humble childhood in Monroe, to his two decades as an outspoken print and television editorialist, to his five contentious terms in the U.S. Senate and the fierce political battles that landed him there.
“Whether you like him or dislike him,” political scientist Larry Sabato says in the film, “he was at the heart of the conservative movement that changed America from the 1970s to today.” Read more…
Check out the rest of the headlines and news at www.q-notes.com.
Matt, 22, is an LGBT journalist, activist and youth advocate currently living and working in Charlotte, N.C., where he serves as the Editor of Q-Notes, the Carolinas' LGBT news source. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Matt attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is still continuing to pursue his bachelors degree. He is the Owner & Editor of InterstateQ.com and has been active in LGBT advocacy work since the age of 14.
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