North Carolina County Undoes Anti-Gay Funding Bans
PlanetOut,
February 24, 1999
The Dark Ages of Mecklenberg County, North Carolina have come to an end with the
anti-gay Commission majority ousted by the voters, so arts and sexuality counseling funds
have been restored.
The "gang of five" majority that had driven an anti-gay conservative social
agenda on the Mecklenberg County, North Carolina Commission shrank to a lone voice after
the November elections, and by a pair of 8 - 1 votes the Commission resolved to undo the
worst of the damage on February 16. Separate resolutions revoked 1997 restrictions on
funding to the arts that portrayed "perverted forms of sexuality" that
"deviate from the value and societal role of the traditional American family"
and restrictions on funding counseling on sexuality for minors without parental consent.
Both hotly-contested restrictions had been put in place out of homophobic concerns. The
arts controversy was triggered by the Charlotte Repertory Theatre’s production of the
Pulitzer Prize-winning gay/AIDS-themed "Angels in America" (which broke all
local box office records during its run). The parental consent debate was set off by fears
that counselors might offer youth an accepting view of homosexuality, and before its
language was cleaned up for legal purposes the measure specifically banned provision of
information about homosexuality, oral sex and "crimes against nature" as defined
by the state sodomy law. The low point of those debates came when then-Commissioner,
then-Democrat, and "gang of five" swing vote Hoyle Martin said in 1996 that,
"If I had my way, we’d shove these people [gays and lesbians] off the face of
the earth" -- a remark he apologized for only in June 1998, after failing to collect
enough signatures to qualify to run for reelection. In December ! 1997, Martin’s
swing vote dumped Democrat Parker Helms from the Commission Chair, specifically because of
Helms’ support for an openly gay candidate. Helms was returned to the Chair by the
new Commission.
Although the arts in the city of Charlotte and in Mecklenberg County benefited from a
27% upsurge of private contributions as a result of the controversy, the loss of the
County funding delayed development plans of the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Arts and Sciences
Council, an umbrella group with an expert review panel that distributes funds to several
dozen assorted organizations. While expecting to have its traditional annual $2.5-million
in annual County funds restored when the new budget is approved in June, the Council is
already lobbying for hefty increases from both the city and the County to expand into new
projects (a half-million from each, representing 23% more from the city and 20% more from
the county).
Commissioner Helms, who himself has served on the Arts and Sciences Council, told the
gay-friendly "Charlotte Observer" that the repeal of the arts restrictions
"simply sent out a message that arts and cultural activities are an important part of
this community’s character. It opens up the door to return to that process
[distribution of public funds by the Council] that worked so effectively over a long
period." Of the repeal of the parental consent requirement he said, "I think it
will send a clear message ... that this board says we have confidence in our professionals
and that they will do their jobs."
Of the erstwhile conservative "gang of five," only Republican Bill James won
reelection, providing the lone "nay" of the two repeal votes. Republican Tom
Bush did not seek reelection to the Commission, opting instead to run for Congress. Martin
failed to qualify for the ballot as an independent and the other two Republicans were
soundly defeated. The two strongest arts funding supporters on the Council, Democrats
Helms and Becky Carney, were the top vote-getters.
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