Gay leader’s arrest raises questions for community organization

From Q-Notes, Carolinas’ multimedia LGBT news source (May 31 issue):

Former ART leader arrested for embezzlement

Triad group looking into any potential improprieties
by Matt Comer | May 31st, 2008

Photo Credit: N.C. Department of Revenue

For 20 years, Alternative Resources of the Triad (ART) has been a fixture in Triad-area LGBT organizing, support and education. Founded in 1988 by a former executive director of Triad Health Project, ART was at one time among the largest and most effective LGBT organizations in an area encompassing three cities, several small towns and an LGBT community that is often disconnected by geography and politics.

For more than a decade the Gay and Lesbian Hotline of the Triad was operated by ART and was the organization’s primary community service. When the late 1990s brought a wave of growth in LGBT support online, ART followed the lead of other groups, moving their referral systems from phone-based operations to the internet.

In recent years, ART has also expanded its mission to include more events and activities geared toward creating social outlets for the LGBT community. The Greensboro Out at the Movies series was started in 2005 and the group recently held its second annual Triad Pride festival.

Despite their success in adapting to 21st century LGBT organizing, the organization is now falling under the shadow of alleged misdeeds by former board officer John Johnson, who was charged May 20 with embezzlement of North Carolina and Guilford County sales tax.

Read the rest at Q-Notes Online.

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