Note from Joe - Saw the preview of Kids

Note from Joe, 1995.

A lot of the notes I got from Joe were on leftover pieces of campaign literature from past elections. Even more so than when he backed Jim Hunt against Jesse Helms in 1984, Joe put his heart and soul into supporting Harvey Gantt's two campaigns against Helms for US Senate.

Birth of gay rights movement observed: 13th annual Stonewall Supper

Commemorates riots, raises money for local groups

Chapel Hill Herald, June 23, 1995

By MARK SCHULTZ

CHAPEL HILL -- There's a time to party and a time to get political, the former head of North Carolina's gay political-action committee told about 75 people at the 13th-annual Stonewall Supper this week.

The supper is held each June in Chapel Hill to commemorate the Stonewall riots in New York City, generally regarded as the birth of the modern gay rights movement. This year's speaker was Derek Charles Livingston, the former director of N.C. Pride PAC and one of the organizers of the 1993 National March on Washington.

"We spend millions on all-gay cruises, all-lesbian cruises, we support several magazines, the most successful of which have virtually no political content," Livingston said.

"And yet Sharon Bottoms [a lesbian mother denied custody] is still separated from her son, Jesse Helms can hold the Ryan White Act hostage, and the Supreme Court says one group of Irish can discriminate against another group of Irish."

"The party's over -- go home," Livingston said. "It is time to go home to every institution and demand our recognition and what belongs to us."

The Stonewall Supper began in a Carrboro restaurant with about two dozen people in 1983. Organized by a committee headed by former Town Council Member Joe Herzenberg, the event raises money for community groups, this year the new Triangle Gay Men's Chorus and Durham's Lesbian and Gay Health Project's breast cancer program.

As he does each year, Herzenberg recapped the year's achievements. Topping the 23-item list, he cited domestic partnership legislation in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, adding sexual orientation to the city schools' multicultural program and U.S. Rep. Fred Heineman's pledge not to discriminate against gays and lesbians in his office hiring.

Carrboro Alderman Mike Nelson received mention and applause for his recent trip with other elected gay and lesbian officials to Washington, D.C., and for his work getting domestic partners recognized in Carrboro.

"I think we've come a long way," Herzenberg said. "Although, of course, there's still a long way to go."

Livingston linked discrimination against gays and lesbians to sexism and racism and said the gay community must build coalitions and also work against these prejudices within the gay movement.

For example, the NAACP supported the March on Washington and Coretta Scott King supported lifting the ban on gay people in the military, Livingston said. "When we fail to support these organizations in favor of a myopic view, we hurt ourselves," he said.

"There is a time to party and celebrate and dance," Livingston said. "But in life there is a time for party and time for work and there is much work to be done in North Carolina."

Detailed plan for Chapel Hill museum ready

The News & Observer, May 29, 1995

By JANE STANCILL

CHAPEL HILL -- A plan for the town's first permanent history museum is taking shape.

After months of research, a museum study committee appointed by the Town Council last year has come up with a detailed proposal for a Chapel Hill museum.

The group's report says a museum could be up and running in two years if the town donates the former library on Franklin Street for its use. Support would come through grants from business and government, and private donations.

...

The idea first gained popularity last year during the town's bicentennial celebration. Museum backers asked for space in the town's old library, and before long, yard signs popped up all over town supporting the notion of a museum. About $30,000 in pledges also poured in.

A 12-member study committee spent the past year researching museum funding possibilities and visiting other museums across North Carolina. Members spent more than 1,000 hours on the task.

They were encouraged by what they found. They looked at eight museums in North Carolina, with annual budgets ranging from $120,000 to $5.3 million. A few were in small towns.

"There are towns with far less in financial resources than we have that have made quite a go of their museums," said committee member Joe Herzenberg.

Some are run by local governments; others are owned and operated by non-profit corporations.

Herzenberg and other members think the non-profit organization may be the better way to go.

"I'm not the first one to say this is not the best time for local governments to be thinking about taking on new departments," Herzenberg said.

The key, committee members say, will be the use of the old library. Having a place to begin part-time museum operations is the only way to get major support through grants and corporate donations.

During the two-year beginning phase, the museum would probably require about $44,000 in operating money each year, the committee estimated.

...

Herzenberg said the success of the bicentennial demonstrated the town's interest in history.

"We've only begun to tap the barrel of volunteers in this town," he said. "The main questions are time and money. But I think there are a lot of interested and clever people who want to make this happen."

Gays, lesbians ask to reword partners plan: Proposal due before council

Chapel Hill Herald, April 24, 1995

By SHARON BROOKS HODGE

CHAPEL HILL -- While generally pleased with a domestic partners policy the Town Council is expected to consider tonight, the Orange Lesbian and Gay Association will recommend minor changes.

The association, with about 10 active members and some 200 on its mailing list, is a political group that lobbies for gay rights. The group met Thursday night to discuss proposed changes in town policies that would broaden the rights of gay and lesbian town employees.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation has been prohibited in Chapel Hill's hiring practices for two decades, but some benefits -- such as medical coverage -- remain out of reach for partners of gay workers.

If passed, the domestic partners policy would allow unmarried couples to register with the town. It also would allow town employees to use sick leave to care for a gay or lesbian partner.

Such partners first must provide documents, such as a joint mortgage, proving financial and legal ties. Providing sick leave would cost Chapel Hill about $6,700 annually, Town Manager Cal Horton said.

Horton is also recommending that domestic partners be defined as: "Two individuals who live together in an intimate, long-term relationship of infinite duration, with an exclusive mutual commitment equivalent to that of marriage."

That wording is more restrictive than a similar policy Carrboro's Board of Aldermen adopted in September. Carrboro, which became the first municipality in the state to extend formal, legal recognition to unwed couples, does not stipulate that they have a "long-term relationship of infinite duration."

Association member Joe Herzenberg, a former Town Council member, said reaction to the policy was "generally positive."

But several lawyers associated with the group "went over it with a microscope and prepared a small list of things they'd like to see changed," Herzenberg said. Suggested changes included the proposed definition of a domestic partnership.

Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, who met with a small association contingent Friday, said he was aware of members' concerns. However, he said he does not think that there is any substantive difference between the Chapel Hill and Carrboro definitions of domestic partners.

"We came up with a definition that we thought was appropriate. Just because it isn't the same as Carrboro's doesn't mean there's something wrong with it," he said.

Doug Ferguson, also an association member, said he does not want the dialogue Monday to turn into "quibbling over details." Consequently the group may recommend delaying a vote while specific issues are ironed out, he added.

Ferguson described the registration of domestic partners as being mostly symbolic. But it will become increasingly important as more private companies extend benefits to couples who have registration certificates, he said.

In a memo to the council, Horton said that eight town employees would extend health insurance to same gender partners, if allowed. Another 22 employees would do so for partners of the opposite sex. But the town does not have clear authority to insure domestic partners, Horton and Karpinos said.

Ferguson said association members disagree with the town's interpretation of state law.

Also the policy proposed by Karpinos and Horton does not mention children of the domestic partnerships, which is something Herzenberg said the association would like to see included.

"It's a minor, but significant issue," he said. Herzenberg said he believes tonight's meeting will proceed without controversy.

In Carrboro, the issue drew opposition from members of a local church. But during the eight years Herzenberg served on the Chapel Hill Town Council, only two people voiced any opposition to "anything gay related," he said.

"Chapel Hill is a town that is tolerant and accepts diversity," Herzenberg said.

Chapel Hill may expand rights of gays

The News & Observer, April 21, 1995

CHAPEL HILL -- For 20 years, the town of Chapel Hill has had a policy that prohibits discrimination against its gay employees.

Now town leaders are considering going further, extending some benefits to gay employees and allowing gay residents to register their unions officially. If enacted, the policies would be among the most liberal in the state. On Monday night, the Chapel Hill Town Council will consider a series of policies that would affect its employees. Among them:

- Allowing paid sick leave to care for partners.
-Redefining the word "family" in the development ordinance to include registered domestic partners.
-Prohibiting supervisory relationships between employees who are domestic partners.
-Requiring domestic partners of elected leaders to disclose their real estate holdings.

Chapel Hill Council member Mark Chilton, who proposed the changes last year, said it's a matter of fairness.

"I think that essentially this is recognition on the part of our town government that families are a lot different and more complex in the 1990s than they were in the 1950s," he said. "It is perhaps even overdue."

...

On Thursday, gay leaders applauded Chapel Hill's initiative.

Former Town Council member Joe Herzenberg, who was the town's first openly gay elected official, recalled the story of a town employee who had been fired from a previous job in another state because he was gay. When the man moved to Chapel Hill, he was protected by the town's anti-discrimination clause.

"Some people kind of growl at things that are symbolic, but I think symbolic things are very important," he said. "This isn't just symbolic. Some people will benefit from this, will feel better and have better lives."

Franklin St. 'Pure' post a sign of times gone by

Chapel Hill Herald, March 26, 1995

Q: There's a tall, metal signpost standing between the Kinko's Copies and Walker's Funeral Home properties on West Franklin Street that has intrigued me since I moved to the Triangle seven years ago.

The rusting, circular sign has the word "Pure" written in large black letters on a white background., with smaller letters spelling out "The Pure Oil Company, U.S.A." around the sign's outer edge.

Did a gas station or oil company used to stand on this site? Does Pure Oil Co. still exist? Why is the sign still standing if Pure isn't?

A: Q&A contacted (unofficial) Town Historian Joe Herzenberg for some information on this mystery. As expected, he knew the history of Pure Oil.

According to Herzenberg, the whole building which now houses a restaurant, a convenience store and Kinko's used to be the Pure Oil Company gas station and garage.

About 15 or 20 years ago when Pizza Hut moved in, they were persuaded to incorporate themselves into the original structure instead of tearing it down.

"I guess that was in the mid-'70s," Herzenberg said. "I remember going to a meeting to protest."

As for the sign, apparently it's been kept as a memento of times past. Pizza Hut is gone without a trace but the Pure Oil sign remains.

Where would we be without Hinton James?

Chapel Hill Herald, Feb. 12, 1995 - Letter to the Editor

In the old days, during the argument, mainly with the University of Georgia, over which state university came first, Frank Graham put it this way: the University of North Carolina was "the first state university to open its doors," and those are the very words on the state highway historical marker on East Franklin Street at the foot of McCorkle Place.

And it was on Feb. 12, 1795, that Hinton James, after his trek up from Wilmington, arrived in Chapel Hill, became the first student here, and thus initiated the active life of the University. After two hundred years of comings and goings, it is appropriate to acknowledge this anniversary and to express our gratitude to the two centuries of students who have provided the main reason for our town (and now for Carrboro too).

Joe Herzenberg
Chapel Hill

Gun control drive resumes

The News & Observer, Jan. 31, 1995

CHAPEL HILL -- Even though Chapel Hill has the toughest gun law in the state, some town residents say it's not enough.

In the wake of last week's shooting rampage that left two dead and three wounded, gun control was again on the Chapel Hill Town Council's agenda Monday. A petition with about 1,000 signatures was submitted calling for an outright ban on all guns in Chapel Hill.

...

Others suggested the council start with something a little more modest, such as passing an ordinance that would prohibit someone from carrying a large gun in the town limits.

"It seems to me a lot of people in Chapel Hill think if someone walked around the neighborhood with a large gun, that is threatening," said Joe Herzenberg, a former Town Council member and Cobb Terrace resident who made the first 911 call to police when the shooting started last week.

"It did occur to me that what that guy was doing was not illegal until he started shooting. I think that's wrong and I think most people in Chapel Hill think that's wrong."

911 tapes tell what witnesses saw

Chapel Hill Herald, Jan. 28, 1995

The following is a transcript of the first two 911 calls -- of about 20 -- from residents reporting the shooting spree on Henderson Street Thursday.

The first call, from Joe Herzenberg, former Town Council member, came in at 1:48 p.m. Herzenberg, calm and articulate, was calling from his home at 6 Cobb Terrace.

...

Operator: Orange County 911. This is J.P.

Joe Herzenberg: There is someone with what looks like a rifle.

O: Where at?

JH: On Henderson Street, at the intersection of Henderson and North. In downtown Chapel Hill.

O: Henderson and North?

JH: Henderson and North, yes.

O: OK.

JH: He's been firing. He's fired about seven times. I can't see him well enough to describe him.

O: Can you tell if it's a white guy or a black guy?

JH: He's white.

O: And that just happened?

JH: Just now.

O: Hold on just a moment.

JH: I'm going to go look, I'll come right back. (pause) I can't see him.

O: OK. Can you tell me if it's a white male or a black male?

JH: White male.

O: White male. Can you tell me any other description of him?

JH: He had, it looked like a blue, dark blue coat on with a hood.

O: OK. Which direction was he walking?

JH: He was walking south, toward town, toward Franklin Street.

O: Can you tell me about how old he was?

JH: No. I would guess he's under 30 but I'm not sure.

O: OK. Can you tell me any more about him? Just carrying the rifle? Shooting the rifle?

JH: He's still shooting it. I mean, it looked like a rifle. It might have been an air gun or something. I'm not very knowledgeable about those kinds of things.

O: OK. What is your name, sir?

JH: My name is Joe Herzenberg. (spells it)

O: And your telephone number?

JH: (gives it)

O: OK, we've got officers in the area now. Thank you.

...

Street of death - Gunman kills 2, wounds 2 others

Chapel Hill Herald, Jan. 27, 1995

By SUSAN BROILI and RAY GRONBERG

CHAPEL HILL -- Two people are dead and three wounded after a man opened fire on passers-by, vehicles and police at Thursday afternoon on Henderson Street.

The shootings appeared to be random, according to police officials.

...

The gunman allegedly began at Cobb Terrace, an extension of Henderson Street, and walked towards Franklin Street carrying a WWII-type, M-1 30-06 high-powered, semi-automatic rifle.

"I just happened to look out my window. There was nobody else on the street," said Cobb Terrace resident Joe Herzenberg, one of the first to call 911.

"He was carrying this rifle, and I was thinking, 'Is it illegal to carry a rifle on the street?' " Herzenberg said.

"And while I was thinking, he turned to the house next door and started firing on it. ... He was actually killing somebody."

The gunman shot and killed two people -- first Ralph Walker, who was standing on the front porch of a rooming house at 2 Cobb Terrace, and then, a man on a bicycle, who died in front of Phi Mu Sorority on Henderson Street, police officials and eyewitnesses said.

Gunman kills 2 at UNC

Two are killed and two injured as a gunman sprays bullets over two blocks near the UNC-Chapel Hill campus

Greensboro News & Record, Jan. 27, 1995, Page A1

Joe Herzenberg looked out from his second-floor window and was astonished to see a man walking along Henderson Street casually clutching a semi-automatic rifle.

"I really wondered whether he was violating the law," Herzenberg says.

That question became academic seconds later.

"He started firing at the house next door," says 53-year-old Herzenberg, a former Chapel Hill town council member. And the man kept on firing for the next 10 minutes, aiming at people and autos ...

Neighbors, community gather for AIDS home's open house

Chapel Hill Herald, Jan. 23, 1995

By SUSAN BROILI

CARRBORO -- Throngs of people literally created a warm reception on a cold Sunday afternoon for the AIDS Service Agency of Orange County's open house.

Cars lined both sides of North Greensboro Street for several blocks as neighbors, agency members and supporters came to see what had taken three years to realize: a home for people who have AIDS.

"There was such a need. I never really lost hope that it would be built some day," Agency President Joe Herzenberg said.

In about two weeks, the first residents are expected to move into the one-story brick house at 1700 N. Greensboro St., according to Herzenberg.

...

"They've done a wonderful job. They've managed to make what could have been a clinical environment very homey," Mike Nelson said. He helped during the fall fundraiser at Crooks Corner which raised $25,000, according to Nelson.

For many of the residents, it will mean a roof over their heads rather than sleeping on the streets and in cars.

"If you're too sick to work and you don't have the support of family, it's awfully hard to pay rent and buy food," Nelson said.

"We probably need 10 homes," he added.

Neighbors tour group home for people with AIDS

The News & Observer, Jan. 23, 1995

CARRBORO -- A new group home for people with AIDS welcomed friends, politicians, supporters and neighbors, some of whom once opposed its construction, during an open house Sunday afternoon. Well-wishers as well as the curious toured the six-bedroom house at North Greensboro Street and Robert Hunt Drive. The house is intended to provide a less expensive alternative to a hospital forpeople with AIDS who desire a homelike place to live while receiving treatment.

...

The road to opening the house has been filled with roadblocks, said Joe Herzenberg, a member of the board of directors. "This has been a long and very frustrating experience, but we're happy," he said.

After being turned down repeatedly for grants and facing opposition from the neighbors, the board was excited when construction actually began, Herzenberg said. "When they were building it, I came out here almost every day to see every brick added," he said.

Republicans gear up to take over: Chapel Hill ponders loss of Lee, Price

The News & Observer, page A1, Nov. 10, 1994

CHAPEL HILL -- Most people just didn't want to believe it. In one incredible day, Chapel Hill lost two of its longtime influential and popular politicians -- state Sen. Howard Lee and U.S. Rep. David Price.

Come the first of the year, Moore County residents Teena Little and Fred Hobbs will speak for Orange County in the state Senate while Raleigh Republican Fred Heineman will represent the county in Congress. On Wednesday, residents were trying to sort out what the changes would mean to them, while leaders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill worried about the defeat of two of its staunch Democratic supporters.

...

Townspeople are also skeptical about whether the new leaders will be responsive to Chapel Hill interests, although its state representatives, Anne Barnes and Joe Hackney, will return to office.

"The relationship at best will be considerably more distant," said former Town Council member Joe Herzenberg. "Across the board, whether it's education, or social service programs, various civil rights issues -- almost everything we hold in high esteem -- the people who represent us in the next two years will be considerably less sympathetic than David and Howard have been."

...

To some extent, some Chapel Hill residents may feel some responsibility for the losses. In most Orange County precincts, voters picked Price 2-to-1. Lee and Hobbs both ran well in Orange, with Lee the top vote getter.

But Little and Heineman rode heavy Republican support outside Orange County to claim victory. Some said if turnout in Orange had been higher, perhaps Price and Lee could have squeaked out victories.

"We may have not been working hard enough for our candidates," Herzenberg said. "We may have been sitting back and taking it too easy."

Post-Bag: Faulkner

Washington Post, Oct. 16, 1994

READINGS

By Michael Dirda

LAST month a desperate Dorothy Stokeley cried out for help, plaintively requesting advice on how to appreciate the work of William Faulkner, especially Absalom, Absalom! Loyal Faulknerians have ridden, or rather written, to the rescue. Several, including William C. Slattery (Washington) and Joseph Herzenberg (Chapel Hill, N.C.), recommend Edmond Volpe's A Reader's Guide to William Faulkner.

Lecturer to argue against gay rights

The News & Observer, Oct. 10, 1994, Page B6

CHAPEL HILL -- Just last weekend, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance sponsored a conference at Chapel Hill High to promote greater sensitivity of the hardships and pressures faced by gay students.

Tonight, it's equal time for the conservatives. Bill Horn, who travels the country's Christian speaker circuit, will lecture on "The Gay Agenda in America and the Public Schools" at 7 p.m. at Phillips Middle School on Estes Drive. He wants to push gays back into the closet.

The Christian Coalition of Orange County invited Horn, a sportscaster who is more famous for his anti-gay videos than his baseball coverage.

...

"I think in this political climate in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and even the whole county, that sort of opposition is likely to backfire," said Joe Herzenberg, the first openly gay elected official in the state. "It offends people so much I don't think it's effective."

Horn's organization, The Report, produced "The Gay Agenda" last year.

The video consists of interviews with former homosexuals, medical experts and clips from gay pride parades showing men strutting half-naked down city streets or dressed up as women, gesturing obscenely.

The video drew national attention when conservative activists used it to build opposition to gay rights ballot measures and to President Clinton's proposal to drop the ban on gays in the military. Since then, Horn and his small production company, have produced several other anti-gay videos, including one
on the public schools.

"When you talk about homosexuals, you don't just get the attorneys and school teachers," he said. "You get the transvestites, the people from ACT-Up, the QUEERs, SLUTs. Unfortunately, the other ones are not in leadership positions. If you have such good decent people, why aren't they stopping the people going in those parades?"

...

Postcard from Arkansas starring Hillary

Postcard courtesy of Mark Donahue.

Despite victory, Lee feels betrayed by voters

The News & Observer, May 5, 1994

By TODD NELSON & SUSAN KAUFFMAN, STAFF WRITERS

CHAPEL HILL -- Fresh from a down-to-the-wire primary victory, a bitter and angry Howard Lee focused Wednesday on the votes he didn't get.

Recapturing the Democratic nomination hardly seemed to satisfy the incumbent District 16 state senator. Instead, Lee made a point of skewering some longtime liberal supporters who publicly deserted him for allegedly becoming too conservative.

"The people who know me know that I expect people to express their thoughts," Lee said. "I'm disappointed in all those people who did express them in that they did it openly, never allowing me the opportunity to talk with them one-on-one to explain whatever differences they felt they had. I felt that was disrespectful. I would have done that for them."

Lee, 59, a former Chapel Hill mayor and state senator since 1990, finished first in Tuesday's three-way Democratic primary. He and the second-place finisher, Southern Pines civil engineer Fred Hobbs, will meet Southern Pines Republican Teena Little in the November election for two District 16 Senate seats.

Although he dismissed the criticism as coming from a small group, Lee bristled at the liberal backlash.

"It's hard to believe people would want to dump in such a callous fashion someone who's lived the American dream," Lee said Tuesday night. He wondered why the critics hadn't aired their complaints to him.

"I don't feel I've ever had a chance to defend myself with these people," he said. "I'm very accessible. I have an answering machine, I'm listed in the phone book, I play tennis. If people seriously wanted to see if we'd drifted, there were many ways to work through it."

...

Lee said some of his critics focused on single issues such as workers' comp, gay rights or gun control.

"Each one has his or her own particular issue; if I was not right on that, I was not right on anything," Lee said.

Joe Herzenberg, a gay former Chapel Hill Town Council member who supported Margaret Pollard, said he thought Lee had dismissed his concerns, which he said went beyond gay rights. "When he called me, I rattled off 12 issues. I didn't even mention gay rights. He has heard from us."

Lawyer Adam Stein, who took Lee to task over workers' comp, said Lee didn't respond to his letters; he found other candidates more accessible.

...

Despite his anger, Lee said he is willing to overlook the split as he campaigns for another term.

Howard Lee hears new sound: voters grumbling

The News & Observer, April 21, 1994

By TODD NELSON, STAFF WRITER

CHAPEL HILL -- Win or lose, state Sen. Howard Lee has carried Orange County every time he has run for office in a long, ground-breaking political career.

This year, however, he is hearing some rumblings of discontent from his home county as he campaigns for renomination in a three-way Democratic primary in the 16th Senate District.

"I don't think it adds up to any serious trouble," Lee said Wednesday. "I've never lost this county in any election I've run. I have a lot of friends in Orange County, and I have a lot of friends in Chapel Hill -- a lot of people who are not going to judge me on one issue."

While Lee continues to enjoy broad support, some longtime supporters nonetheless are finding themselves in a new, perhaps unexpected position -- splitting with him on issues ranging from a state lottery to gun control.

Feeling taken for granted and having grown increasingly disenchanted with Lee's record, the one-time supporters are now backing others in the May 3 primary.

"With the case of someone like Howard, people remember him as a liberal icon here, the first black mayor of a town in the South in the late 1960s," said Joe Herzenberg, a former member of the Chapel Hill Town Council. "I wouldn't be surprised if most people still do vote for him, but I think there's an increasing erosion in his support."

Herzenberg said he thought he might have been isolated in his misgivings until he started hearing more dissatisfaction in recent months.

"When I started realizing I wasn't alone was when I started hearing people say, 'I have to confess that Howard does not represent me any more,'" said Herzenberg, who is supporting Margaret Pollard in the Senate race.

Lee, 59, was appointed to the Senate in 1990 from the 16th District, which covers all of Orange, Chatham and Moore counties and parts of Lee and Randolph counties. Lee narrowly won re-election two years ago along with Sen. Russell Walker of Asheboro, who will retire at the end of this term.

Also running in the Democratic primary are Pollard, a former Wake County health educator from Moncure, and Fred Hobbs, a civil engineer from Southern Pines.

The two top Democratic voter-getters will face Republican Teena Little of Southern Pines in the November general election.

...

"I represent the majority of the people in the best fashion I can," Lee said. "Many people realize that it would be a disservice to vote out one of the strongest members of the Senate over some very narrow views held by some people."

Breaking points:

For some former Lee backers, disagreements on issues such as gun control, a local equal rights provision and a state lottery have been the breaking points.

Beverly Kawalec, who campaigned for Lee when he was first running for mayor in the 1960s, said she is working for Hobbs this year. A strong advocate of gun control, Kawalec said Hobbs understands her point of view on the issue better than Lee.

"It seems to me such an important issue that it has been a major factor in my decision," Kawalec said. "I'm not voting against Howard, I'm voting for Fred Hobbs. I believe he is right on the issues. He can represent me well."

Lee said the misunderstanding over his position arose when he introduced a strict gun control measure that included a provision legalizing the carrying of concealed weapons under limited circumstances.

...

Most baffling of all, Lee said, is the criticism he took for his handling of a bill to allow the town of Chapel Hill to add an equal rights statement to its charter -- a statement that included a gay rights provision.

Lee said he and the other members of the local legislative delegation agreed to remove the statement to save other local bills that otherwise would have died in committee.

"It's unfortunate that some people will make a decision based on a narrow span of issues," he said.

Gays believe film overdue

The News & Observer, Jan. 20, 1994

It has taken far longer than many in the Triangle's gay community had hoped, but they say they're glad they can now see a realistic version of themselves in their neighborhood movie theater.

For that, they thank "Philadelphia," the movie starring Tom Hanks as a gay lawyer fired for having AIDS, and Denzel Washington as the attorney who takes the case against Hanks' bosses. The film, says Lucy Harris of the Durham-based Lesbian and Gay Health Project, is wonderful.

"Everyone needs to see this movie," says Harris. "It shows real life -- real, live gay folks living with AIDS and with everything that means, not with a lot of glamour or trying to be gross, but in a way that celebrates our reality."

...

Chapel Hill's Mark Donahue rates the film high for its realistic portrayal of how AIDS can ravage not only a person's body, but his mind as well. "A lot of these scenes show people as they really are, and how they change over time," he says.

Former Chapel Hill Town Council member and gay political activist Joe Herzenberg is happy with the movie for the way it portrays gay characters. Instead of relying on stereotypes that reinforce negative images of gays, "Philadelphia" allows Tom Hanks' gay lawyer to be an ordinary homosexual facing extraordinary circumstances.

"It was clearly a Hollywood movie in the grand tradition of the underdog triumphing over evil," Herzenberg says. "It's excellent company to be in."

While Herzenberg says he can't find much fault with the movie, he says he can understand why others might. "It's often said about gay public officials that they're not 'gay enough' to suit their gay constituents, and too gay to suit their straight constituents," he says. "I could see how people would say that of this movie."

Donahue agrees, saying the studio definitely played it safe with the advertising: the posters and the early trailers downplay the movie's gay angle. "From what you saw before going to the movie, all you knew is that it was a courtroom drama," he says. "The ads don't mention AIDS, they don't mention homosexuality. They were banking on the star power of Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, which I guess is shrewd on their part."