Qnotes issue, February 3, 2023

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16 What’s out there: Queer TV to stream in ‘23

4 Transgender people in rural America struggle to find doctors willing or able to provide care

6 Supreme Court may be forced to consider trans gender bathroom bans

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6 Collection of Andre Leon Talley to be auctioned by Christie’s

6 FDA moving forward with plan to allow gay and bi sexual men to donate blood with fewer restrictions

7 Winston-Salem Transman accepts job with Wildacres Leadership Initiative

7 Amy Grant hosts niece’s same-sex wedding; draws flack from Franklin Graham

7 Time Out Youth Deputy Executive Director resigns

8 More than 100 antiLGBTQ bills have already been proposed this year

‘We don’t want to leave’: If Obergefell is overturned, LGBTQ people in the South will bear the brunt

FDA moving forward with plan to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood with fewer restrictions

From a complete ban to limited restrictions, the FDA plans to remove even more limitations on MSM who want to donate blood. They’re now waiting the requisite 60 days to finalize new policy.

PAGE 6

LGBTQ people in the South will suffer the most if SCOTUS overturns Obergefell v. Hodges. Nearly all Southern states have both constitutional amendments and state statutes banning gay marriage.

PAGE 10

These rates only cover a portion of our true cost, however, our goal is to serve our community Mailed

If Obergefell is overturned, LGBTQ people in the South will bear the brunt

Transgender people in rural America struggle to find doctors willing

able to provide care

For Tammy Rainey, finding a health care provider who knows about gender-affirming care has been a challenge in the rural northern Mississippi town where she lives.

As a transgender woman, Rainey needs the hormone estrogen, which allows her to physically transition by developing more feminine features. But when she asked her doctor for an estrogen prescription, he said he couldn’t provide that type of care.

“He’s generally a good guy and doesn’t act prejudiced. He gets my name and pronouns right,” said Rainey. “But when I asked him about hormones, he said, ‘I just don’t feel like I know enough about that. I don’t want to get involved in that.’”

So Rainey drives around 170 miles round trip every six months to get a supply of estrogen from a clinic in Memphis, Tenn., to take home with her.

The obstacles Rainey overcomes to access care illustrate a type of medical inequity that transgender people who live in the rural U.S. often face: a general lack of education about trans-related care among small-town health professionals who might also be reluctant to learn.

“Medical communities across the country are seeing clearly that there is a knowledge gap in the provision of genderaffirming care,” said Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, a pediatrician who co-leads the Youth Multidisciplinary Gender Team at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Accurately counting the number of transgender people in rural America is hindered by a lack of U.S. census data and uniform state data. However, the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ issues, used 2014-17 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from selected ZIP codes in 35 states to estimate that roughly 1 in 6 transgender adults in the U.S. live in a rural area. When that report was released in 2019, there were an estimated 1.4 million transgender people aged 13 and older nationwide. That number is now at least 1.6 million, according to the Williams Institute, a nonprofit think tank at the UCLA School of Law.

One in three trans people in rural areas experienced discrimination by a health care provider in the year leading up to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey Report, according to an analysis by MAP. Additionally, a third of all trans individuals report having to teach their doctor about their health care needs to receive appropriate care, and 62% worry about being negatively judged by a health care provider because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to data collected by the Williams Institute and other organizations.

A lack of local rural providers knowledgeable in trans care can mean long

drives to gender-affirming clinics in metropolitan areas. Rural trans people are three times as likely as all transgender adults to travel 25 to 49 miles for routine care.

In Colorado, for example, many trans people outside Denver struggle to find proper care. Those who do have a trans-inclusive provider are more likely to receive wellness exams, less likely to delay care due to discrimination, and less likely to attempt suicide, according to results from the Colorado Transgender Health Survey published in 2018.

Much of the lack of care experienced by trans people is linked to insufficient education on LGBTQ+ health in medical schools across the country. In 2014, the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents 170 accredited medical schools in the United States and Canada, released its first curriculum guidelines on caring for LGBTQ+ patients. As of 2018, 76% of medical schools included LGBTQ health themes in their curriculum, with half providing three or fewer classes on this topic.

Perhaps because of this, almost 77% of students from 10 medical schools in New England felt “not competent” or “somewhat not competent” in treating gender minority patients, according to a 2018 pilot study. Another paper, published last year, found that even clinicians who work in trans-friendly clinics lack knowledge about hormones, gender-affirming surgical options and how to use appropriate pronouns and trans-inclusive language.

Throughout medical school, trans care was only briefly mentioned in endocrinology class, said Dr. Justin Bailey, who received his medical degree from UAB in

2021 and is now a resident there. “I don’t want to say the wrong thing or use the wrong pronouns, so I was hesitant and a little bit tepid in my approach to interviewing and treating this population of patients,” he said.

On top of insufficient medical school education, some practicing doctors don’t take the time to teach themselves about trans people, said Kathie Moehlig, founder of TransFamily Support Services, a nonprofit organization that offers a range of services to transgender people and their families. They are very well intentioned yet uneducated when it comes to transgender care, she said.

Some medical schools, like the one at UAB, have pushed for change. Since 2017, Ladinsky and her colleagues have worked to include trans people in their standardized patient program, which gives medical students hands-on experience and feedback by interacting with “patients” in simulated clinical environments.

For example, a trans individual acting as a patient will simulate acid reflux by pretending to have pain in their stomach and chest. Then, over the course of the examination, they will reveal that they are transgender.

In the early years of this program, some students’ bedside manner would change once the patient’s gender identity was revealed, said Elaine Stephens, a trans woman who participates in UAB’s standardized patient program. “Sometimes they would immediately start asking about sexual activity,” Stephens said.

Since UAB launched its program, students’ reactions have improved significantly, she said.

This progress is being replicated by other medical schools, said Moehlig. “But it’s a slow start, and these are large institutions that take a long time to move forward.”

Advocates also are working outside medical schools to improve care in rural areas. In Colorado, the nonprofit Extension for Community Health Outcomes, or ECHO Colorado, has been offering monthly virtual classes on genderaffirming care to rural providers since 2020. The classes became so popular that the organization created a four-week boot camp in 2021 for providers to learn about hormone therapy management, proper terminologies, surgical options and supporting patients’ mental health.

For many years, doctors failed to recognize the need to learn about genderaffirming care, said Dr. Caroline Kirsch, director of osteopathic education at the University of Wyoming Family Medicine Residency Program-Casper. In Casper, this led to “a number of patients traveling to Colorado to access care, which is a large burden for them financially,” said Kirsch, who has participated in the ECHO Colorado program.

“Things that haven’t been as well taught historically in medical school are things that I think many physicians feel anxious about initially,” she said. “The earlier you learn about this type of care in your career, the more likely you are to see its potential and be less anxious about it.”

Educating more providers about transrelated care has become increasingly vital in recent years as gender-affirming clinics nationwide experience a rise in harassment and threats. For instance, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Clinic for Transgender Health became the target of far-right hate on social media last year. After growing pressure from Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers, the clinic paused gender-affirmation surgeries on patients younger than 18, potentially leaving many trans kids without necessary care.

Stephens hopes to see more medical schools include coursework on trans health care. She also wishes for doctors to treat trans people as they would any other patient.

“Just provide quality health care,” she tells the medical students at UAB. “We need health care like everyone else does.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. ::

or

Finding a health care provider who knows about gender-affirming care can be a challenge the rural parts of the United States

Fake news and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment targets NC education

Political Voices

Misinformation and disinformation are fueling threats against our communities, particularly as right-wing extremists use false narratives to push for harmful legislation. From language like indoctrination to groomers, the LGBTQ+ community is being targeted with rhetoric and slurs that we haven’t heard in almost 50 years since the days of Anita Bryant. In this scenario where physical threats are being fueled by lies and hate speech, it is vital that our community and our allies work to counter false narratives with the truth – LGBTQ+ students deserve the freedom to be fully themselves at school and in sports and for their identities to be celebrated rather than erased from school curriculums. Instead, we’ve seen misinformation spread that is harmful to LGBTQ+ young people, often targeting the most marginalized students.

Let’s consider an example. Here in North Carolina, one of the more prominent spreaders of misinformation is Education First Alliance. Ed First Alliance, which has positioned itself as a reputable news source, is actually politically far-right and prone to making extreme claims, by

making completely false statements or taking information out of context to support an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. Promoting the narrative that age-appropriate education on gender and sexuality is “radicalizing” children, the group falsely claimed that teachers are being trained to “reduce heterosexism and cisgenderism” in school and that school social workers are promoting racial stereotypes by teaching students about white supremacy. The group also made the false claim that school psychologists are being trained to initiate secret conversations with students about their sexuality. Other misinformation from Ed First Alliance has included claims that children’s hospitals are “sterilizing” children without medical cause.

But the real role of organizations like Ed First, which has close links to former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, is to launder misinformation into the political discourse. A recent story involving Ed First Alliance illustrates their method. Last year, Ed First Alliance ran a scathing story highlighting an incident involving a high school student injured during a volleyball match, simply because the player who hit the ball was transgender. Ed First’s coverage led to the story getting picked up by national media, including Breitbart, the Washington Examiner and Fox News.

The situation has been repeated all around the country and used to justify

transphobic policies. Case in point: Here in North Carolina, New Hanover County school board members recently recommended forcing middle school students to go through an invasive process to participate in sports that align with their gender identities. Frequently, misinformation targets people at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. For example, the successes of two Black trans girls in Connecticut’s high school track and field programs has led to years of right wing disinformation and lawsuits, in line with the racist policing of Black women in athletics which we’ve seen over the years.

But these false narratives are not being shared in a vacuum – they’re serving a policy agenda which targets our communities. Last year in Fuquay-Varina, right-wing elected officials highlighted a flashcard explaining colors in a kindergarten classroom, which showed LGBTQ+ families. The news about the incident kicked off enough of a firestorm for the teacher, a beloved special education teacher, to resign. And the incident received extensive coverage in right-wing media all over the country. All of this from a set of inclusive flashcards!

The story of the flashcards points to another crucial strand of this issue – the way in which this disinformation is used to justify enacting discriminatory policy. To begin with, parents had become aware of the flashcard nearly a year in advance

of the news coverage – and right-wing elected officials sat on the news until it was electorally advantageous. And when the news of the flashcards finally broke, our opposition in the General Assembly used the flashcard situation as an excuse to call for the passage of HB 755–North Carolina’s own “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Misinformation causes direct harm to our community by invalidating LGBTQ+ identities and providing justification for an anti-LGBTQ+ policy agenda. Dangerous narratives also create an environment where far-right extremists are emboldened, a prime example being the recent targeting of drag shows with threats of violence in Moore County and throughout the country. The issue of misinformation goes far beyond mere rhetoric; it is a direct threat to the safety and rights of the LGBTQ+ community and its most marginalized members.

So we urge you to act. Think critically about the news you’re consuming. And always consider the source. Far-right political operatives are doing their best to pit those within the community against one another through fake news and strategic political endorsements. We must be careful not to fall prey to misinformation that endangers the LGBTQ+ community. Instead, we should unite in the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation. ::

Supreme Court may be forced to consider transgender bathroom bans

The Supreme Court may be forced to consider whether transgender people have the right to use public restrooms that correspond with their gender identity following a recent lower court decision.

Last month, a federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that Drew Adams, a transgender boy, is not entitled to use the boys’ bathroom at his public high school in Florida. As the New York Times reports, the decision came down to a 7-to-4 vote, with all seven of the court’s Republican-appointed judges voting in the majority and the four Democratappointed judges dissenting.

That decision conflicts with previous appeals court rulings in 2017 and 2020. In the 2017 case, the federal appeals court

in Chicago ruled in favor of a transgender boy. In 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of Gavin Grimm, whose Virginia high school banned him from using the boys’ restroom. In 2021, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in Grimm’s case. But if last month’s decision is appealed, the court may have to take up the issue due to the conflicting decisions of the different courts.

The Supreme Court touched on the bathroom issue in 2019 during arguments for Bostock v. Clayton County. That case involved whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. During arguments,

Collection of Andre Leon Talley to be auctioned by Christie’s

Beginning next month, Christie’s fine auction house of New York will present the collection of legendary fashion editor André Leon Talley.

The first out gay and Black man to hold the title of Creative Director of American Vogue, Talley was held in unprecedented esteem in the fashion industry and was a continuing source of pride in Durham, N.C., the city where he was raised by his grandmother.

Although he was born in 1948 in Washington, D.C., he was raised in Durham, N.C., by his maternal grandmother Binnie Francis Davis, who

worked as a maid at Duke University. His interest in fashion began when the two of them would attend church together. It was there he took notice of the high fashion Davis’ friends would wear to the Sunday services.

Not surprisingly, Talley’s refined taste extended well beyond fashion, as reflected in his own collection of personally acquired items, which includes haute

five of the justices brought up the issue of bathroom access, despite the fact that the case had nothing to do with the issue, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor calling the question “inevitable.”

Ultimately, the court ruled that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual and gender identity violates Title VII. But writing for the 6–3 majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch made it clear that the ruling did not address the question of bathroom or locker room access for transgender individuals.

“The court may wish to avoid this subject,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his dissenting opinion, “but it is a matter of concern to many people who are reticent about disrobing or using toilet facilities in the presence of individuals whom they regard as members of the opposite sex.”

Both Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas

While SCOTUS has repeatedly attempted to avoid any part of the transgender restroom battle, it appears they may be forced to weigh in on the decision soon.

CREDIT: Facebook

were ready to take up the appeal in Grimm’s case in 2021.

This article appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQ Nation. :: https://nyti.ms/3kVbWX5

Russell

couture, handbags, jewelry, fine art, literature and decorative arts. The collection is both glamorous and intimate, reflecting his decadeslong relationships with fellow icons including Karl Lagerfeld, Diane von Furstenberg, Ralph Rucci, Tom Ford, Diana Vreeland and Anna Wintour. Proceeds from the live and online auctions will benefit the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York and Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., both of which were close to Mr. Talley’s heart.

André Leon Talley’s estate will be sold in a live sale on Feb. 15 and an online sale that will run from Jan. 27 – Feb. 16.

https://bit.ly/3RkG3Dj

CREDIT: Qnotes Archives

FDA moving forward with plan to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood with fewer restrictions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Jan. 27 it is proposing a change from time-based deferrals to assessing blood donor eligibility using gender-inclusive, individual risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV. This proposal is in line with policies in place in countries like the United Kingdom and Canada.

These draft recommendations are based on the FDA’s careful review of available information, including data from other countries with similar HIV epidemiology that have instituted this approach, as well as ongoing surveillance of the U.S. blood supply. Based on the available data, the agency believes the implementation of the proposed individual risk-based questions will not compromise the safety or availability of the blood supply.

“Whether it’s for someone involved in a car accident, or for an individual with a life-threatening illness, blood donations save lives every day,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D.

“Maintaining a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products in the U.S. is paramount for the FDA, and this proposal for an individual risk assessment, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, will enable us to continue using the best science to do so.”

Under the new proposed guidelines, the time-based deferrals for men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with MSM would be eliminated and the current donor history questionnaire would be revised to ask all prospective donors about new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months.

Prospective donors who report having a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner in the past three months, would then be asked about a history of anal sex in the past three months. All prospective donors who report having a new sexual partner or more than one sexual partner and had anal sex in the past three months would be deferred from donation. A prospective donor who does not

report any of the above will likely be eligible to donate.

Those taking oral medications to prevent HIV infection such as PrEP or PEP would be deferred for three months from their most recent dose and those taking injectable PrEP to prevent HIV infection would be deferred for two years from their most recent injection because available data indicates the use of PrEP and PEP may delay detection of HIV by licensed screening tests for blood donations, potentially resulting in false negative results.

“Our approach to this work has always been, and will continue to be, based on the best available science and data. Over the years, this data-driven process has enabled us to revise our policies thereby increasing those eligible to donate blood while maintaining appropriate safeguards to protect recipients,” said Peter Marks,

—QNotes Staff

M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “We will continue to follow the best available scientific evidence to maintain an adequate supply of blood and minimize the risk of transmitting infectious diseases and are committed to finalizing this draft guidance as quickly as possible.”

As part of the FDA’s established process, the proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days. The agency will then review and consider before finalizing. :: https://nbcnews.to/3JrkAXr

Staff

Winston-Salem Trans leader accepts job with Wildacres Leadership Initiative

Liam Michael Hooper is known for many things. He’s an author, a gender theorist, theological activist, trans activist, advocate, educator, podcaster and public speaker. He holds a master’s degree in divinity and, as a trans man, brings a unique and fresh perspective to the interpretation of faith. Now he’s about to take on another title.

The Wildacres Leadership Initiative (WLI) recently announced that he had been chosen to serve as the assistant director for the organization.

For the uninitiated, the WLI trains, supports and convenes a statewide network of leaders to take action on the state’s most important issues, through civil dialogue and by engaging across differences to improve the lives of all North Carolina residents.

Established in 1946, the organization offers a residency program, an environmental artist and residence program, gatherings for artists, writers and musicians; educators, en-

vironmentalists and scientists; and interfaith leadership teams, among others.

Of particular importance is the Friday Fellowship Experience, a program that accepts leaders from across the state and brings them together to grow and learn in the context of relationship building. Participants are known as Friday Fellows, and they come from all walks of life.

A 2020-22 graduate of the program, Hooper’s primary responsibility at WLI will be to further engage Friday Fellows who have completed the program and worked with communities throughout the state to model and practice collaborative change aligned with the organization’s goals.

Prior to joining WLI, Hooper worked with communities all across the state. He first moved here as a child with his family in the late 1960s. He later studied visual arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, which led him to continued studies and work as a technician in the professional theater in Philadelphia. After

Amy Grant hosts niece’s same-sex wedding, draws flack from Franklin Graham

Amy Grant isn’t intimidated by the backlash she’s getting from North Carolina’s homophobic media evangelist Franklin Graham. It seems he’s a bit disenchanted with Grant’s decision to host her niece’s same-sex wedding and felt compelled to share his thoughts on Twitter.

This past November, the Grammywinning Christian pop singer, who also received the Kennedy Center Honors in December, spoke to The Washington Post about hosting the nuptials along with husband Vince Gill at their Tennessee farm. She said it would be her family’s “first bride and bride” wedding and recalled her reaction when her niece first came out, saying that it was a gift to her whole family that would widen their experience.

“Honestly, from a faith perspective, I do always say, ‘Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: love God and love each other,’” Grant said. “I mean, hey — that’s pretty simple.”

“I own a farm that I bought back in the ’90s and they were just looking for a beautiful place to get married,” she told People Magazine more recently. “So, [my niece] and Sam got married on the same hillside where Vince and I got married.”

Shortly thereafter Graham and other Christian conservatives took issue with Grant’s decision.

“Amy Grant announced that she & her husband Vince Gill are going to host a same-sex wedding on their farm for her niece,” Graham wrote on Twitter. “Yes, we are to love God & love each other. But if we love God, we will seek to obey His Word. Jesus told us, ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments’ (John 14:15). God defines what is sin, not us; & His Word is clear that homosexuality is sin.”

“For me, loving others also means caring about their souls & where they will spend eternity,” Franklin continued. “It means loving people enough to tell them the truth

Time Out Youth Deputy Executive Director resigns

O’Neale Atkinson, a previous editor of QNotes, and staffer at Charlotte’s former LGBTQ Center, has served in some form or fashion at Time Out Youth (TOY) for more than 10 years.

In a recent release from Time Out that included a video clip, Atkinson officially announced he had come to a decision last year that he was ready to resign from his position as Deputy Executive Director. Explaining that it was time for him to do something else, but seemingly unclear about exactly what it is he’s going to be doing in the future, his decision came about

the year following the appointment of TOY ED Sarah Mikhail,

An additional comment from an unidentified TOY staffer described Atkinson as an “avid gamer” and that he would be pursuing a “side gig.”

“I love Time Out Youth,” Atkinson said. “I have been so proud to be a part of the work this organization has done for the past 10 years.”

According to his video statement, his resignation from the Deputy Executive Director position became official at the end of January, although

returning to NC in 1987, Hooper graduated from Winston-Salem State University and began working in various settings as a case worker and crisis intervention counselor, therapist and clinical director serving vulnerable and underserved communities through the AIDS Task Force of Winston-Salem, Charter Behavioral Health Care, Diamond Health Care and, finally, Synergy Recovery in North Wilkesboro.

In 2010, Hooper shifted to focused, justice-seeking work in multiple community-based ways, including collaborations with the Campaign for Southern Equality, Equality NC, and various interfaith justice coalitions throughout the state and in 2015, he received a Master of Divinity from Wake Forest University.

These days Hooper and his spouse Diana live in Winston-Salem with their terrier, Dodi, where they strive for deeper connections to all our relations. They find such reward in family, friends, gardens, wandering creatures of all kinds and their local Jewish community. Their son is currently finishing his undergraduate work in social work at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee.

from the Word of God. The authority of God’s Word is something we can never compromise on.”

When asked about Graham’s comments, Grant shrugged off the criticism. “I never chase any of those rabbits down the rabbit hole,” she told People. “I love my family, I love those brides. They’re wonderful, our family is better, and you should be able to be who you are with your family, and be loved by them.”

A long-time LGBTQ ally, Grant explained her support to Pride Source in 2013. “I know that the religious community has not been very welcoming [to the LGBTQ community]. I just want to stress that the journey of faith brings us into community, but it’s really about one relationship. The journey of faith is just being willing and open to have a relationship with God. And everybody is welcome. Everybody.”

Meanwhile, as The Advocate reports, Christian grassroots organization Faithful America has started a petition in support of Grant, which has gotten over 15,000 signatures.

In addition to collaborative work with EqualityNC and Campaign for Southern Equality, Liam Hooper previously served with the AIDS Task Force of Winston-Salem before accepting the position with WLI. CREDIT: Facebook

In addition to Hooper’s recent hire, WLI also brought on board Beth Coleman as the lead faculty representative.

“I am so pleased these individuals have chosen to share their time and talents to further build connection and community across North Carolina,” says WLI Director Hunter Corn. “We are fortunate to have the energy and experience both Liam and Beth bring to WLI at this moment.”

https://bit.ly/3HFv6sS

would widen their experience.’

CREDIT: Screen Capture

bers of the religious right rake Amy Grant over the coals for supporting her niece and her relationship.”

“Graham’s words only served to inspire yet more hatred in others,” the petition continues, calling Grant’s decision to host her niece’s wedding “a beautiful act of pro-LGBTQ affirmation from an artist whose music means so much to so many American Christians.”

“Love is love, no matter what Franklin Graham says – and social justice Christians can’t just sit back and let powerful mem-

This story appears courtesy of our media partner LGBTQ Nation. Additional content relevant to regional readership added by QNotes staff. :: https://bit.ly/3kIJdo7

—John Russell

TOY indicated Atkinson has plans to continue working with the organization in a volunteer capacity.

“I’ve decided it’s time for me to do something a little bit different, so I am officially going to say farewell as your executive deputy director here at Time Out Youth and move on – kind of into whatever comes next for me in my journey.”

While Atkinson has released no further comment, one thing’s for sure, he’ll definitely be missed by fellow staffers and clients at Time Out Youth. Both TOY and QNotes wish him success in future endeavors. Hopefully, his talents will remain an integral part of the city’s LGBTQ landscape. :: https://bit.ly/3Jr6uoU

More than 100 anti-LGBTQ bills have already been proposed this year

One bill would fine people $1500 for using someone’s proper pronouns

Over 100 anti-LGBTQ bills have already been filed in state legislatures around the country in 2023. NBC News reported that the bills are concentrated in 22 states, with Texas leading the charge, followed by Missouri, North Dakota, and Oklahoma.

While North Carolina currently has no bills that have been introduced from the senate or the house, South Carolina has a total of 11 anti-trans bills that have been introduced in 2023 from both so far, covering such topics as preventing gender-affirming surgery on minors or providing hormone treatments that would delay the onset of puberty, blocking gender-affirming surgery for anyone 21 and under, blocking any public funding for gender-affirming surgery of any sort, requiring that any individual under 21 years of age must be encouraged to seek mental health treatment and not to seek gender affirming procedures, among others.

Most of the bills target trans youth, but this year, some of them are also looking to restrict health care for trans adults.

In Oklahoma, for example, a new bill called the “Millstone Act of 2023” has been

proposed to ban all forms of gender-affirming care for anyone under 26 years old. The bill targets healthcare providers and says anyone who violates the rule could face felony charges and have their medical license revoked.

In a statement to The Oklahoman, Bullard said gender-affirming surgery is “a permanent solution to a temporary problem” and called it a violation of doctors’ Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.

In reality, minors rarely undergo gender-affirming surgery, and the genderaffirming care they receive is reversible.

Additionally, a North Dakota Republican has introduced a bill that would fine people $1500 for using the correct pronouns for

trans people.

S.B. 2199 seeks to legally change the definition of gender, stating that “Words used to reference an individual’s sex, gender, gender identity, or gender expression, mean the individual’s determined sex at birth, male or female.”

Another Republican lawmaker, state Sen. Larry Luick, has also introduced a bill against using someone’s proper pronouns.

North Dakota lawmakers are also pushing several anti-trans bills to restrict genderaffirming care, limit transgender studentathletes from participating on sports teams, ban minors from seeing drag shows and expressly legalize conversion therapy.

In Texas, Republicans have introduced two bills that would ban instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in the

state’s public schools. The bills closely mirror Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, popularly known as “Don’t Say Gay.”

Another legislative trend this year targets drag queens, who have been continuously demonized by the far-right and repeatedly accused of being a threat to children.

In at least six states, bills have been introduced that would prevent minors from seeing drag shows and would label all places that host drag shows as a “sexuallyoriented business.”

“The rightward shift in state legislatures is really scary,” Chase Strangio, deputy director of the LGBT and HIV Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News. “We’re seeing continued erosion and efforts to restrain and constrict and limit bodily autonomy across the board.”

“There’s just a lot that I think people are taking for granted, particularly people who live in states like New York and California and aren’t paying attention to what’s going on in states like Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.”

This article appears courtesy of LGBTQ Nation. It has been edited for space constraints and regional specific content has been added by QNotes Staff. ::

Queer Career

New book explores sexuality and work in modern America

“Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America” by Margot Canaday

c. 2023, Princeton University Press

$35.00

312 pages

In a part of Margot Canaday’s new book, she describes the “refuge aspect of the queer work world” – one where LGBTQ people found jobs that allowed them a certain freedom of expression in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s.

“Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America” takes a historical look at the workplaces that were traditionally viewed as “straight spaces,” how Queer people passed sometimes secretly, sometimes not and at the places where others found work.

The book goes further than previous LGBTQ history pieces with an expansive look at sexual minorities in the American workforce. According to a press release, Canaday argues that Queer workers were more visible than hidden and, against the backdrop of state aggression, vulnerable to employer exploitation. She positions employment and fear of job loss as central to gay life in postwar America.

“Outside of the government, the relationship between employers and gay workers is more accurately characterized not as a witch hunt, however, but rather as a bargain in which employers tried not to see homosexuality among employees, and those employees tried not to be seen.

“The lack of formal legal protection made LGBTQ people vulnerable in occupational settings, but many who could blend in survived by adhering to this agreement, which mostly required discretion rather than an elaborate performance of straightness.

“Not looking too closely also enabled employers to benefit from the assets Queer employees brought to their jobs.”

Gay liberation and AIDS began to change these norms. Employees became less willing, or able, to remain invisible. Gay and lesbian professional caucuses formed around the same time and started organizing for protections, reaching into the corporate sector but with a continued discretion.

According to the book, “The National Association of Business Councils,” an umbrella organization of gay business groups, voted not to include the word ‘gay’ in its name because ‘many of our members are not out of the closet and would feel more at ease if joining did not entail disclosure.”

It wasn’t until the creation of the National Gay Task Force in the mid-1970s, that organizations started to put real pressure on big business through a survey it conducted of the hiring policies of Fortune 500 companies.

Canaday examines AT&T’s 1975 anti discrimination policy, one of the earliest formal policies banning discrimination

against gay and lesbians by a major corporation. Its origin is somewhat “murky” and was issued by a fairly conservative CEO. Many of the company’s employees didn’t even know it existed. Among other first-person accounts, Canaday includes the story of Bell Labs employees in the company’s research department and how they used early computer systems to find one another, initiating informal gay groups across the country.

Queer Career shows how LGBTQ history helps us understand the recent history of capitalism and labor. Canaday provides personal stories of LGBTQ workers and thorough research, rewrites our understanding of the Queer past.

According to the release, “while progress was not linear, by century’s end some gay workers rejected their former discretion and some employers eventually offered them protection unattained through law. Pushed by activists at the

corporate grass roots, business emerged at the forefront of employment rights for sexual minorities. It did so, at least in part, in response to the way that queer workers aligned with, and even prefigured, the labor system of late capitalism.”

Library Journal calls it a “fascinating and thought-provoking look into the relationship between sexual orientation and employment.”

“This beautifully written, deeply sophisticated and pathbreaking book unearths an entirely new body of evidence that captures the workplace experiences of a generation of gay and lesbian Americans whose stories have never been told,” said Serena Mayeri, author of “Reasoning from Race: Feminism, Law, and the Civil Rights Revolution.”

Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America is available this week at most online booksellers. Canaday is a professor of history at Princeton University and previously wrote The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in TwentiethCentury America.

This story is part of QNotes’ special project “OUTlook: Finding Solutions for LGBTQ Labor and Workplace Equality.” It is supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. ::

Justine

and TJ Price-O’Neil traveled hundreds of miles north to marry in 2010. But their home state of North Carolina did not legally recognize their marriage until 2014. Only then did all the unbearably delicate threads that had held their family together finally become strong enough to protect their future.

The couple had a daughter, Preston, in 2012. After Justine went part-time to focus on raising her, she lost her benefits — and without a legal marriage, wasn’t able to share TJ’s benefits. They paid at least a thousand dollars a month for fertility treatments to have their second child. The costs were literally and emotionally high.

At doctor’s offices, at work, Justine Price-O’Neil remembers getting skeptical looks whenever she referred to TJ as her wife — a look that said, “You know that doesn’t mean anything here.”

After a North Carolina federal judge struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage in the fall of 2014, less than a year before the Supreme Court federally guaranteed marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, that title — and a decade spent sharing a life together — now meant something in the eyes of the law.

Justine Price-O’Neil, newly on her wife’s insurance alongside their daughter, now had lower copayments for fertility treatments. The money they saved could go toward Preston’s college fund. Then, once their son Jones was born, both women were both able to put their names on his birth certificate — an option that wasn’t possible at Preston’s birth.

Price-O’Neil remembers progressive, accepting friends, those who kept up with the issues, being surprised at how many battles the couple had to fight before their marriage was deemed legal by the state. Some didn’t believe it at first, and others had never realized how difficult it was.

LGBTQ people in the South know that they would be disproportionately affected if the U.S. Supreme Court were to over-

turn Obergefell. Nearly all Southern states have both constitutional amendments and state statutes banning gay marriage on the books, according to the Movement Advancement Project, which tracks LGBTQ+ policy. An end to Obergefell would mean queer Southerners would have to travel farther to get married and get protections given by the Respect for Marriage Act. Couples who spoke to The 19th also fear that losing Obergefell would embolden the kind of harassment thought to be in the past.

They also know that their homes and communities in the South are worth fighting for — and feel that the Respect for Marriage Act is a step in the right direction to ensure future generations have less of a fight on their hands.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned this summer, and after Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court should revisit Obergefell and other landmark cases, LGBTQ legal experts and many others grew nervous about marriage equality.

That fear was strong enough to motivate Democrats and Republicans in Congress to reach an agreement to pass the Respect

for Marriage Act.

The act, which was signed into law by President Biden on December 13, 2022, will offer limited protection to LGBTQ couples if the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell, requiring states to recognize the legality of gay marriages performed in other states. That means if a couple like the Price-O’Neils lived in a state where same-sex marriage was illegal, and traveled to another state to get married and then came home, their home state would be obligated to afford them the same rights as any other married couple.

Although the Price-O’Neils were excited to see the Respect for Marriage Act passed, and hope its protections will hold if needed, Justine noted that it means couples would have to have the money and time to travel and possibly stay out of state. Many LGBTQ people, who overall have a higher poverty rate than straight and cisgender people, may simply not be able to overcome those barriers.

Importantly, LGBTQ people who are already married in those states would still continue to be married if Obergefell were overturned.

Matthew Griffin and Raymie Wolfe also know what it means to be gay in the South and to fight for their relationship to be recognized for what it is — that it often comes with a feeling of isolation.

The couple, now living in New Orleans, have been together for 17 years and got married in Hamblen County, Tennessee, the day that Obergefell was overturned. They returned to the county clerk who had twice denied them a marriage license and held a ceremony later that day at a neighbor’s farm, where their judge was in the middle of shoeing horses.

That experience, as well as joining protests backing same-sex marriage in the years prior, showed them that they weren’t as alone as they thought.

“I was really struck by the level of support that we have. And I think that level of support really runs counter to the narrative that everyone gets about LGBTQ people in the South,” Griffin said. “There is much more support and acceptance than I ever thought there was.”

The couple had planned to get married in Tennessee once it was legal, since they had watched friends get married in other states and then come back home with zero rights attached to that union. But although they experienced an unexpected amount of support from their neighbors — and found community in protest of the state laws — the post-Roe political landscape has made them again reflect on the unique threat of being queer in the South.

If Obergefell were to be overturned, people in the South would face more burdens, Griffin said — more states would be able to return to not performing marriages for LGBTQ people, due to state bans against same-sex marriage that have remained in place since Obergefell, but have been unenforceable since the landmark 2015 ruling. That disproportionate effect highlights the need for continued advocacy in the region.

Justine Price-O’Neil worries that, even

with protections from the Respect for Marriage Act in place, losing Obergefell would embolden the kind of homophobia that she experienced before her marriage was legal — and that it would be worse than before.

“Gay people would have to deal with more of that because people who are prejudiced and homophobic would feel validated in us losing that right. It would feel scary to live in a society like that again,” she said. In March 2016, the family had to move neighborhoods in North Carolina after a rock was thrown through their threemonth-old son’s second-story window. He wasn’t sleeping in his room that night.

“There was glass all over his room as I went in there to change his diaper and I was like, OK, we need to get out of here. So we called our realtor that day, and went around and found the house that we’re in now,” Price-O’Neil said. “That was I think the scariest moment that we felt targeted for being gay since we had our kids.”

While the couple has discussed moving now that losing Obergefell seems possible, they still love where they live. TJ Price-O’Neil was born and raised in North Carolina — and there’s a reason that some people stay in the South, Justine said. Family is close by, winter isn’t bitter cold,

who have been together for 40 years, have settled in the South, home for a long time has just been wherever the other is.

They met in 1981 while working at a hospice organization in Michigan. When Willoughby, a recent divorcee, couldn’t afford the plane fare back from Dallas for a family trip, Goldstein volunteered to drive with her. She bought a tent and sleeping bags for an impromptu camping trip where the two friends, soon-to-be girlfriends, spent three or four days on the road together. Their first night was spent setting up the tent by their car lights at a KOA Campground off the interstate in Arkansas, listening to semi-trucks.

“We just went on with our lives from that point, and it was wonderful,” Willoughby said. They quickly moved in together. They traveled to New York in 2012 to get married.

“I don’t think people appreciate what it’s like to be gay in a red state,” Goldstein said. “I think that’s difficult. I don’t know that a lot of young people would choose to move to this area and stay here.” Although they know and like their neighbors, they feel like they live in a mostly liberal bubble compared with the rest of the state.

For a long time, the couple was too nervous to talk to Willoughby’s children —

there’s parks in the area, and they can drive to the ocean or the mountains in a few hours.

“We love living here,” Justine PriceO’Neil said. “We don’t want to leave. You don’t want to be forced to leave just to be able to have rights and to be able to raise your children in a place that respects you.”

Griffin ultimately believes that the politics of the region does not define what its people believe — and that public opinion on LGBTQ rights and gay marriage has changed, especially due to local advocates.

The history of people in the South advocating for their own civil and human rights — including queer people and people of color — should not be understated, said Kierra Johnson, executive director of the National LGBTQ+ Task Force. More time, money and resources need to be spent on advocacy in the South to move those civil rights forward for the long haul, she said — support that should continue beyond the Respect for Marriage Act.

“State and local organizations are debilitatingly underfunded,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of reparation to do, repairing to do. We’ve got to catch up with ourselves.”

Barbara Goldstein and Ann Willoughby have lived in the same house in Durham, North Carolina, for 34 years, after traveling to the state together for graduate school.

Although Goldstein and Willoughby,

she had five — about their relationship. They regret that now.

“At the time, in the early 80s, it was just too scary to have that conversation. Ann was afraid that they would reject [her],” Goldstein said. They shared household and parenting duties, raising the kids — who are now middle-aged. At that time, living together in Michigan, they didn’t have any examples of how to talk with the children about their relationship.

“People just didn’t talk about it. It was generally a conservative state,” Goldstein said.

For Goldstein and Willoughby, the Respect for Marriage Act is an encouraging first step to protect LGBTQ people — but they hope that people won’t get complacent and think this law is enough.

The couple have three gay grandchildren, and they don’t want their grandchildren to have to fight to live normal lives, or have to share stories of what life was like when they weren’t able to get married. To finish the job that the Respect for Marriage Act started, protections should be passed that don’t require people to travel to another state to have their marriage recognized, Goldstein said. People in the South would be especially affected by such travel, she added.

“We want things to be different,” she said. ::

Unapologetically

Linton Walker is 35 years old. He came out at the age of 21 and was diagnosed just a year later as HIVpositive at 22.

Living in Atlanta in the late 2000s, he says he was unaware of the high level of risk being in a city with such a large LGBTQ community and, he is quick to confirm, he was not very well educated on safe sex practices and the dynamics of HIV in general.

After an epidemic that at that time had lasted more than two decades, it begs the question, why?

Walker’s response: “I was just not informed. I don’t think enough attention was given to it, certainly not in my high school health class, which touched on sex education, but I don’t think anyone in the class took it seriously and it went in one ear and out the other.

“I was also young. I was only 22 and I guess I was gullible and didn’t always make the best decisions. “Sometimes I let other people make choices for me. I had sex several times, unprotected, with several people. There was and still is a lot of stigma attached to HIV. People don’t want to have that conversation and take responsibility.”

That leads us to Walker’s venture into entrepreneurship and creating his own line of clothing and adult accessories. Technically, he’s launched two very different product lines: HIV Positive Lives Matter, a selection of t-shirts with messages designed to destigmatize HIV, and Unapologetically Positive, a line of adult accessories and general use goods, also designed to take his efforts a step further by removing the stigma between and against HIV-positive individuals.

Qnotes: Tell us about your line of products.

Linton Walker: I started off with a line of clothing, focusing on message t-shirts, called HIV Lives Matters, that I put up for sale online. Obviously, I was inspired by Black Lives Matters. I wanted people to understand that with the ‘HIV Lives Matter’ shirts, the ‘Got Tested’ shirts and the ‘HIV Undetectable’ shirts, they are something that can allow you to stand in your truth and be proud of who you are. Unapologetically Positive is something different, and I try not to be vulgar when I talk about it even though my line is out there a little bit <laughs>. We’ve got male units that are transparent and almost nine inches, silicone-based pleasure pockets water-based lube, masks and titanium bottles that keep your water cold and your coffee hot.

Qnotes: I know from our conversation that you had a ‘regular job’ before. What prompted you to go out on a limb and get creative?

of clothing and adult accessories

L.W: For many the stigma is still there even inside the community. Some people will not date you if you are HIV positive. I kissed a guy once before I told him I was HIV-positive and I thought he wanted to beat me up. There was another guy that I was really sincerely interested in and I hadn’t told him about my HIV status yet. When I did he rejected me because he said he didn’t want to date someone who was HIV positive. There’s definitely still a lot of stigma attached to people who are HIV positive, when they desire love or need love and they’re navigating through this world trying to find it. You’re afraid of rejection and this is where shame and hiding your own truth comes in. Because of the stigma attached to it even now, not all people are in a place where they can have a conversation about HIV. A lot of people just don’t want to talk about it and a lot of people don’t think about it. No matter whether they’re having protected or unprotected sex they just don’t want to get tested. My line of clothing is designed to push the envelope and make people talk about and think about when was the last time you were tested? We’re not having the conversation, and I feel like that’s where we’re going wrong as a people. It all starts with a conversation.

pany called Alibaba and contracted with individual designers to create the line of products. They were able to customize the product to my specifications and I worked with them directly to make sure that my designs were as I requested. I would give them a vision of what I wanted to see and then they would give me examples until I saw the specific level of quality I wanted it to be. I designed it and they created it.

Qnotes: What sent you on a path of marketing specifically to the HIVpositive community?

Excited about an upcoming trunk show February 12 (2 p.m. – 4 p.m.) at White Rabbit in Plaza-Midwood, Walker is anxious to share details about his clothing and accessories and the journey that brought him to where he is today.

LW: I’ve always wanted to do what I’m doing now, but I was too afraid or I didn’t have the finances to do exactly what I wanted to. I had saved an [adequate amount] of money in my bank account, and I knew there was nothing standing in the way of my dream, so I asked myself why not? If not now then when? If I don’t do this now, then when? I had this idea five years ago, so I realized it was time. And I took my own savings and invested them into the line.

QNotes: Did you design everything yourself?

LW: Everything you see here was designed by me. I worked with a com-

LW: I’ve always been an open book. When I found out that I was HIV-positive, I wanted to share my story. My ups and downs, my highs and lows. So when I shared my story [on social media] I realized that people began to follow me and would send me messages directly to my inbox telling me their stories and asking for words of encouragement. There were a lot of people who needed to get tested but were afraid to do it and other people who needed to be tested but just didn’t want to do it. Some people weren’t sure how to handle their emotions and others didn’t know how the news would impact their lives or their family situation. I’m not a professional person, I’m not a therapist. I can only speak from my experience. I can only speak from my heart as a person that is HIV positive and undetectable. Hearing other people’s stories and sharing mine with them I realized so many shared the same struggles and I wanted a way to get our messages and stories out there.

Qnotes: Do you think the stigma attached to HIV today is as bad as it was 20 years ago, when you were diagnosed?

Qnotes: Ultimately, what is your goal and message, and what do you want most to achieve with your products?

L.W: The lines are dedicated to those who are HIV-positive and our allies. I want them to be like a confidence booster. It’s to show you and tell you that you are the shit. You don’t have to doubt yourself. Know that your life and your dreams and your goals matter. That’s how I feel know, and it took me awhile to get there. I will celebrate 12 years of life after HIV February 2. That was my diagnosis date. Just because you’re positive, don’t allow other people to knock you out of the race. You can still have so many of the same experiences that other people have, you just have to be responsible. ::

Positive: a young man makes his dreams come true Charlotte resident Linton Walker works hard to create a line

We care about you and your family. The new COVID-19 booster is free and now available at Mecklenburg County Public Health locations and at most pharmacies in our community. Make sure you are up to date on your vaccinations and take a COVID test before gathering. If you test positive, stay home and get treatment. Visit our website or call our hotline for more information and to find vaccination locations near you. Covid doesn’t care, but we do.

PUBLIC HEALTH HOTLINE: 980-314-9400

HEALTH.MECKNC.GOV

Valentine’s gifts for the queers you love From chocolate and flowers to pillows and lingerie, there’s something for everyone

Spread the love this Valentine’s Day with these festive, fun and sometimes frisky gifts to fill all your special someones’ (hey, we don’t judge) hearts with happiness and felt appreciation.

Love Script Pillows

PillowScript’s royal-hued love script pillows – in muted green, red, blue or gray –imbue your personal space with optimism, openness and a velvety softness smoother than Cupid’s bare bottom. $50, PillowScript.com

Tale as Old as Time

You dip, she dips, he dips, they all dip these bite-size savories and sweets into BOSKA’s cheese and chocolate fondue sets equally suited for a sophisticated date night at home or as the centerpiece of a ’70s-inspired Galentine’s Day party. Better dust off the lava lamp. $33-$44, USA. Boska.com

Covered in Love

One might assume that a synonymous-with-sex brand like Playboy would already have a leg (or two) up on the adult-toy industry, but its recently launched, first-foray Playboy Pleasure line couldn’t be rushed: The inaugural collection includes vibrators with heating, tapping and thrusting functions; a spinning butt plug; multi-motor cock rings; toys with flickering tongues; solo strokers and a first-of-its-kind flapper shaft for the G-spot. You’re gonna need a bigger tarp. $26-$200, LoversStores.com

Skip the Stover’s and improve your chocolate-gifting game with limitededition Chinola bonbon and ganache chocolates, the melt-in-your-mouth collab between Dominican-sourced Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur and Vesta Chocolate, co-founded by Chef Roger Rodriguez. $25-$48, VestaChocolate.com

Lace Charms

At once slim and sleek, the Vincero Kairos and Eros Petite mesh and leatherbanded watches look stunning on a beauty or a beast. $99-$178, VinceroCollective.com

Kisses and hugs and on-the-couch snugs are instantly cozier in Sunday Citizen’s XOXO throw or the Mamas Blanket x Calhoun & Co.’s pink-andred girl-power blanket for wrapping up near-and-dear babes and broads. $170, SundayCitizen.co; $138, AustinMotelStore.com

Customize your kicks with splashes of sparkle when you outfit their laces with burnished beads and baubles – like Lace Charms’ Digital Pink Bundle, featuring gold stars and rosy bling-blings – fit for sneakerhead kweens and king-kings. $30-$75, LaceCharms.com

Happy Juice

You’ll get your lips kissed when you twirl a Sunkist on the stylish Verve

Culture artisan citrus juicer (available in gold, rose gold, and black), your new go-to hand-operated appliance that gilds the lily of an already decadent holiday brunch in bed. $98-$150, VerveCulture.com

Power Flowers

Big AND Beautiful

clocks in at #2, according to a survey of Clover app users), which is why he’s made it his mission to commemorate the occasion with signed, limited-edition prints of your fave romantic dining destinations, including Manhattan’s 12 Chairs Café and Abilene Bar, Jaleo in D.C., and London’s Noble Rot. $95, AllTheRestaurants.com

Bye-Bye Dry January

Lizzo launched a thousand hips with her body-positive lyrics and lifestyle, and you can continue that self-satisfying trend with Le Chic Miami’s hand-painted, more-to-love basswood Venus hoop earrings, available in three everywoman skin tones. $27, LeChicMiami.store

All the Restaurants

If Miley can buy herself flowers, so can you: Treat your resilient self to Perfect Plants’ bounty of blooms – including houseplants, trees, shrubs, hedges and a wide selection of coveted Drift rose bushes –that’ll keep your space fresh long after love stales. $40+, MyPerfectPlants.com

Gas You Up

Motivational neon signs that empower you to “Rise & Grind,” “LISTEN TO YOUR HEART,” “Hu$tle” and “BE A BAD ASS WITH A GOOD ASS” not only add pops of radiating light and liveliness to your home and office, but they just might reduce your therapy bill too. $200-$600, CustomNeon.com

Former New Yorker magazine editor turned self-taught artist John Donohue recognizes that most Americans’ first dates take place at restaurants (Starbucks is #1 while In-N-Out Burger

Build a more discerning home bar in 2023 with a curated selection of luxury liquors, including Empress 1908 and Jaisalmer gins, Rampur Double Cask and Bearface Triple Oak whiskies, Tequila Ocho Plata and L’etoile du Nord vodka. Prices vary, Drizly.com; TotalWine.com

Jaisalmer Gin Negroni

• 1.25 oz Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin

• 1 oz Camapri

• .75 oz Cocchi Torino Vermouth

• Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass.

• Add ice and stir until proper chill and dilution are achieved.

• Strain into a double rocks glass.

• Add a few large pieces of clear ice.

• Garnish with an orange twist.

One Love

Dateless for V-Day? Toast your single status – self-imposed independence should be celebrated (just ask Shakira) – with a bottle of Beau Joie Rosé Champagne and

poppable Doughp cookie dough bites, in upbeat flavors like Cinnamood, Brownie Beast, Cookie Monsta, and Red Velvet Vixen. $135, TotalWine.com; $12-$16, Doughp.com

Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBT lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets across the world. Connect with Mikey on Instagram @mikeyroxtravels ::

What’s out there: Queer TV to stream in ‘23

Despite the unpleasant political mudslinging that continues to grow from the far right towards the LGBTQ community in this country, the number of LGBTQ characters in existing and new television shows there’s still lots of love for our community. There are plenty of programs out there with queer content and lots to watch in 2023, from both continuing series, and some brand new ones.

We spent some time digging through our press releases and various streaming services websites and came up with a list of shows we’re certain will keep you entertained during the upcoming season. While the list is by no means exhaustive, it’s certain to keep you busy for the next year.

And

Just Like That

Season 2 HBO Max

Queers have loved Sex in the City for many years. HBO titillated us all with this follow-up to the series. Now they’ve re -

newed for a second season and lots of us are hoping to see another appearance by the non-binary character Che Diaz played by Sara Ramirez.

Elite Season 7 Netflix Series takes place in Las Encinas, a fictional high school where three working class students on scholarship programs try to find common ground with their wealthy classmates. Features a gay character named Omar played by actor Omar Ayuso.

Euphoria

Season 3 HBO

Euphoria explores the lives of high school students who are surrounded by a world of trauma, sex, social media, drugs and constant challenges. The series features queer supportive parents and characters representing

multiple aspects of the LGBTQ community, as well as those who identify as non-binary. If you haven’t seen it, binge watch and catch up for season three.

Hacks

Season 3 HBO Max

Bisexual actress Hannah Einbinder returns in the role of Ava for the third season of this program, coming to your home screen at some point in 2023.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Hulu

This popular post-apocalyptic series based on the book by Margaret Atwood has a storyline that has lived past the original book, which was published in the late 1980s. This series, which debuted in 2017, is about to come to a

close with its sixth season, which will be its last. The series has featured multiple LGBTQ characters during its run, with the lead character’s best friend Moira –who identifies as a lesbian – expected to return for the final chapter in this well produced but disturbing tale life in a Christian-facist North America.

Heart Stopper Season 2 Netflix

The muchloved gay male couple Charlie, as portrayed by Joe Locke, and Nick, played by actor Kit Connor will

Some new, some returning and others in their final season – there’s a bevy of programming for our community

Qnotes Staff Writer

return for a second season of the popular British and comedic coming-of-age Netflix series.

The Last of Us

Series Debut HBO

Post apocalyptic series kicked off January 15 is based on the successful Play Station-based game of the same name that follows the exploits of a jaded middle-aged man who smuggles a teenage girl named Ellie across a zombieinfested America. Stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Subplot includes Ellies lesbian romance with her best friend Riley.

Loki Season 2 Disney Plus

During season one viewers learned the title character identifies as pansexual. Although no renewal date has been specified, the streaming network has confirmed that Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Demartino will be returning for a second season, which is expected to be this year.

Never Have I Ever

Season 4 Netflix

This will be the final season for the series, which has included LGBTQ characters

Bobby, played by Lee Rodriguez, Addison played by Terry Hu and Eve as portrayed by Christina Kartchner. The series focuses on the experiences of an Indian American student coming to terms with the unexpected death of her father and the changing world around her.

9-1-1: Lone Star

Season 4 Fox

Renewed for 2023, this series that focuses on fictional fire, police and ambulance departments in Austin, Texas, features a gay couple played by an actor Ronen Rubenstein as TK and Rafael Silva as Carlos. There’s also regularly recurring appearances by trans actor Brian Michael Smith.

Queer Eye

Season 7 Netflix

This second generation American remake of what was originally a British television series is back for another season with five gay men sharing their opinions on just about anything. Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown and Tom France return as before.

RuPaul’s Drag Race

Season 15

MTV

Hard to believe this program has been on for so many years. But yes, it’s still

here and the drag queens keep coming and being cattier, more creative and funnier each year as RuPaul’s wigs and coture never cease to amaze.

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars

Season 8 Paramount Plus

Showcase for winners of the RuPaul’s Drag Race series to win a $100k cash prize and more fabulosity.

Severance

Season 2 Apple TV+

This much lauded dramatic series will return for a second season, although no specific date has yet to be set. Season 1 offered up a gay romance between Irving, as portrayed by John Turturro, and Christopher Walken in the role of Burt.

Sort of

Season 3 HBO Max

Series stars Bilal Baig as Sabi Mehboob, a non-binary millennial trying to balance their roles as a child of Pakistani immigrant parents, a bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore and café, and a caregiver to the young children of a professional couple. Renewal confirmed in December 2022 but no date set as of yet.

Velma

Series Debut

HBO Max

South Asian reinterpretation of the Scooby Doo franchise boasts a lesbian Daphne with a crush on Velma, who has two moms voiced over by lesbian comics Jane Lynch and Wanda Sykes. Series kicked off January 12.

The White Lotus

Season 3 HBO

Wildly popular with the LGBTQ community, this social satire which takes place at a tropical resort follows various guests and employees over a transformative week. Starring gay fave Jennifer Coleridge, the series has been renewed for yet another season, but the air date has not been specified.

Yellow Jackets

Season 3 Showtime

This series about a high school class of girls (mostly straight but a few lesbians) and a gay male teacher stranded on an island after a plane crash explores their struggle to survive. After two successful seasons it has been renewed for a third.

Young Royals

Netflix Season 2

Storyline takes place in a fictional European boarding school and focuses on the character Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and his romance with Simon Eriksson. Limited run and this is the last season, so binge and catch up, before it goes away. ::

Goodyear arts hopes to spread a model focused completely on

local artists

A space for collaboration between different art forms

Eight years ago, a group of local artists stumbled upon a unique opportunity – a developer offered them an abandoned Goodyear tire center as a home for their work. A space for collaboration and messiness became a program where artists support other artists.

Goodyear Arts is one of a growing number of on-the-ground organizations with the mission of growing local talent. Artist pop-up markets and non-traditional gallery shows regularly appear at Charlotte bars, breweries, event spaces and festivals like BOOM Charlotte! and Charlotte SHOUT!

Goodyear started as a warehouse experiment and evolved into a collective and residency program known for consistently taking risks, said director Eric Mullis. The collective seeks out artists who want to try non-traditional work and collaborate with peers from different disciplines.

“When Goodyear started eight years ago, it was kind of alone in its mission,” Mullis said. “But it’s definitely not anymore. Even at Camp North End, there’s BLKMRKTCLT and Dupp & Swat, which are two black-owned, small art galleries supporting local black artists. There’s the Charlotte Art League that’s doing a lot of good work. Charlotte has really changed in terms of the kind of organizations built around the idea of trying to support local artists and get them more access.”

Entirely Artist-Run

Goodyear was founded by Amy Bagwell, Graham Carew and Amy Herman.

Mullis has been with the center since the beginning, first in the residency program, then as a member of the collective. As a dancer and choreographer, Mullis understands the perspective of the artists they showcase, and that’s what makes Goodyear special, he said – the collective

is entirely artist-run.

Resident artists are selected in groups of three to four people in spring, summer and fall. In January, Goodyear sends out an open call for applications. The residencies are purposefully multi-disciplinary and showcase different art forms, from film to dance to painting.

Once the residency cohorts are selected, the artists get their own studios in Goodyear’s Camp North End location, where they work together and are paid. At the end of the season, they put together a show for the community.

The community comes out knowing they’ll see great art from up-and-coming Charlotte artists with no barriers to entry. Goodyear works to ensure that all shows are free and accessible.

“We’re in what was an Eckerd drugstore warehouse we’ve converted into a gallery and studio space, so that makes it kind of strange in a good way,” Mullis said. “We benefit a lot right now from being in Camp North End, which draws a really wonderfully diverse audience out every weekend and diverse in pretty much every way – age, sexual identity, race, ethnicity.”

Photographer Dana “Bliss” White

Photographer and software engineer Dana “Bliss” White of Huntersville was a resident in spring 2022. Before Goodyear, he hadn’t displayed work for large groups of people. “Opening night was extremely overwhelming,” White said. “So many people from Charlotte came to view and wanted to know my perspective, asking so many questions. So many people wanted to be a part of what I’d created, it was amazing.”

“When you’re around a creative com-

munity, you have the opportunity to trade ideas, share work, and bounce ideas and perspectives off of one another,” White said. “Although you’re in different disciplines, there’s that possibility to create one connected picture.”

The space itself was key to White’s growth. Living in Huntersville, he found it challenging to connect with artists and opportunities in Charlotte. The residency provided him a studio where he could create and collaborate.

Funding for Goodyear Arts

Goodyear Arts’ funding model is supported by local, regional and national grants; a membership program through Patreon, an online subscription platform; and donations from community members and organizations.

Access is a tricky barrier in the art world, and it can keep impressive local artists from getting a platform for their work. Mullis said Goodyear Arts solely focuses on supporting artists in the Charlotte area, and sometimes the Southeast region in general.

Other major art organizations in Charlotte often focus on bringing in artists nationwide and internationally, which is also important, Mullis said. Goodyear’s focus on Charlotte artists helps them get their foot in the door elsewhere.

White said his residency created connections that led to opportunities for gallery showings, projects and relationships with museums.

Quynh Vu: Room for Charlotte to Grow

Some artists believe Charlotte still has a ways to go, though. Quynh Vu, a Goodyear summer 2022 resident, said the city is up-and-coming, so it’s easy to be involved and easy to be seen. “That being said,” Vu said, “since it is so small, it feels like people take what they can get and don’t know their worth.”

“Something I think is super rad about Charlotte,” Vu said, “is taking a walk in the city or driving around the city and seeing my friends everywhere, not seeing them physically, but seeing their work everywhere.”

A January 2023 installation by Vu at the Mint Museum, titled “Softened Scars,” is part of its Constellation CLT program, which highlights talented local artists.

“Charlotte is starting to realize the value that artists can bring,” White said. “And if this can keep going, I think Charlotte would blossom into a huge artists’ haven, along with the community being there to support and make sure that it can thrive.”

Caroline Willlingham is a student in the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte, which provides the news service in support of community news. ::

Our people: Rev. Debra J. Hopkins

If you’re in the Charlotte area and interested in supporting the trans community, Rev. Debra Hopkins is a name that’s almost guaranteed to be mentioned or come to mind. Rev. Hopkins is originally from the neighborhood of Jamaica in Queens, N.Y., but she’s made her home in Charlotte for over a decade. She’s a proud parent of three successful adult children, elated grandparent to eight beacons of the future and a formidable trans advocate.

Bringing her own lived experience as a Black trans woman, a passion to empower and a religious faith that keeps her tethered to hope and resiliency, Hopkins has selflessly offered her compassion and services to the trans community and others in need. During this interview, she candidly shares her thoughts, disappointments and joys on what advocacy has been like single handedly operating a nonprofit organization aimed at uplifting a community forced to live on the margins.

L’Monique King: So, we know you’re originally from New York, but how did you end up in Charlotte?

Rev. Debra Hopkins: Oh, wow. Well, my journey from New York City took me to Atlanta, Georgia, then to Huntsville, Alabama, and then to Charlotte. I’ve been in Charlotte for 12 years now.

LMK: What drove you to ministry?

RDH: My late Junior High School years were very tumultuous years for me. I had little sense of belonging, along with trying to discover who I was inwardly and how that would be expressed outwardly.

During the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Stonewall Uprising, a teacher of mine discovered that I had a wonderful musical voice and thought I would do well in public speaking. It was these vehicles that led me on a spiritual path to begin singing with a choir, “The Voices of Spirit.” The experience of performing off Broadway was wonderful. It was through my engagement with the “Voices of Spirit” that I felt like I was being called to ministry, and it took off from there.

LMK: Are there any particular challenges for you as a trans clergy member?

RDH: That’s a difficult question, simply because everything in life – from my perspective, is a challenge. A challenge to offer hope to those who have no hope. To help provide an opening where doors have been closed. A challenge to show that God’s love resonates through all of us, when we aren’t about hate. It’s challenging to find the proper words when someone has lost a loved one or someone is chronically ill.

For me it’s not about gender. It’s not about one’s sexuality. It’s about one’s belonging and being accepted as we are. There is a creator that accepts us just as we are, and I try to help those who struggle with that with a message of love,

strength, peace and hope. But more importantly, that they belong, in spite of.

LMK: Most folks would agree that a sense of belonging is integral to a person’s sense of wellbeing. And as you stated, having that sense of belonging nurtured, particularly in religious circles, can be quite challenging for the LGBTQ+ community. What does the Bible say about being trans?

RDH: [Laughter] The bible speaks very openly about those in the trans community. People seem to miss this. It’s often why I tell many of our biblical scholars who are teaching and preaching surface scripture – get the shovel out and dig deeper. When we (not just the trans community, but the LGBTQIA community) look at Paul’s writing in the book of Romans Chapter 8, we are reminded that the creator loves us in spite of our struggles. We’ve given assurance that none of us are perfect, we all have struggles.

In the Book of Mathew Chapter 19 Jesus is talking to his disciples about divorces, and uses examples of eunuchs to explain acceptance of the trans community. Some will argue that Jesus is talking about marriage; I’m not arguing that. However, the text – in parables – is also talking about how hardness of the heart and how everyone will not necessarily receive or understand difference. He’s speaking of a community that is being treated poorly and vilified – eunuchs. The text mentions these people who were born this way in their mother’s womb, made by man or made by self.

LMK: Sounds like you’re able to use the Bible to show people that they can have a religious connection without being ostracized. Have you ever had any difficulties reconciling your faith with your gender identity?

RDH: I did actually. Those struggles took place in the 1980s. I was new to

ministry, got my degree, was teaching youth ministry, directing a youth choir and teaching elementary school children. I was [also] still coming to terms with who I was.

I struggled with passages of scripture that made me look at my identity and wrestle with it. I was depressed, lost sleep and became violent at times. I struggled with what I was seeing, hearing and had been taught to me for almost a decade.

LMK: How’d you overcome that struggle?

RDH: How I was able to overcome those struggles is still very present with me today. I indulged myself in deep study of scripture, prayer, fasting and meditation with the comfort of spirituals and hymns. It got to a point where through all these elements I was better able to find direction and make decisions and choices that continue to allow me to reach a spirit of peace or the spirit of letting something go.

LMK: Many of our readers know you for your connection to There’s Still Hope. Can you share a little on what There’s Still Hope does and offers?

RDH: There’s Still Hope was created because of the failure of the community, the city and state to address the evergrowing problem of trans identified adult homelessness. Being one who actually experienced homelessness, experienced the lack of avenues to “get you up out of the mud” I felt that it was important for me to give back to the community if I ever found a way to get out of the situation [of homelessness] I was in.

For six years I did this primarily by myself – providing emergency housing and then developed into transitional housing. The program worked with over 80 trans identified individuals providing housing, counseling, food and transportation assistance. But you can’t run a program for a sustained period of time by yourself. So I’ve come to a point where, because

of my health and my age, I’ve decided it’s time to contribute to my community in a different way. Today, There’s Still Hope exists through me with the provision of educational aspects.

I’m in transition right now. I’m working on a book and am doing speaking engagements on establishing non-profit organizations and diversity, equity and inclusion.

LMK: With a change in direction, it sounds like you might have more time for a personal life. Are you partnered or dating?

RDH: Dating for me frightens me, because of my age and the way I’ve been treated in the past. I’ve never really dated for any long period of time, especially since my partner of 22 years passed away in 2016. She was with me throughout my entire transition.

LMK: I’m sorry for your loss and noticed you said she. Does that mean you identify as lesbian?

RDH: Love is love, whatever rests on my heart in the way of love is probably where I’ll end up being. If you start attaching the baggage of what love is, you box yourself in a corner. I will admit to this, however, men scare me. I’ve seen how trans individuals have been treated over the years and tried to date a guy but have also dated women.

LMK: Have you made any accomplishments this past year that you’re particularly proud of?

RDH: On a personal level I’m proud of the fact that I was finally able to take ownership of self-care.

LMK: Who or what is your go-to when life gets rough?

RDH: This is interesting because for me, I live such a lonely life outside of the realm of what people see. I find my greatest solace is through prayer, meditation, music and writing. If you want to know my happy place, give me a piece of fried chicken, an umbrella and the beach….we good. It’s the most relaxed state I’m ever in – it’s calming and allows me to let things go.

LMK: In closing, what words of advice would you like to share with readers?

RDH: Galvanize. Create programs that are truly designed to address needs and create positive differences in the lives of those that suffer. It’s also important that our trans community understands that these programs are not for a handout but a help up and it’s important that you do your part. And lastly, stop allowing the misuse of a pronoun or a gender identity to push you to turn into a volcano of anger, hurt and frustration. That doesn’t make any dog-gone sense. It is incumbent upon you to defuse it and look beyond ignorance, lack of knowledge and stupidity. Don’t make it your own. You are here for a particular reason; you are here for a bigger purpose. ::

A Transgender minister shares hopes, fears and lessons learned