Matt Hill Comer

My editorial, as posted on QNotes‘ InsideSource blog, July 17, 2008:

The recent flap over the “South Carolina is so gay” British ad campaign has left the heads of LGBT citizens in the Carolinas spinning.

What the hell happened and how’d it happen so fast? One minute, South Carolina’s going about its “Dixie”-whistling ways and the next it’s busting out with Barbra Streisand show tunes and musicals. Then, out of nowhere, the politicians take over and the Pink Palmetto is slammed back in the closet.

The story broken by Q-Notes — that the directive to do away with the “So Gay” campaign came straight from the office of Gov. Mark Sanford — puts a continued national spotlight on the Palmetto State.

Rumor has it that Gov. Sanford is on the short list in the Republican veepstakes. His name keeps popping up in GOP circles and his small government, anti-tax, libertarian-esque record would compliment Sen. John McCain.

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My editorial from Q-Notes‘ July 12 issue:

Hardcore. Metal. Punk. Emo. Indie. I don’t know what the differences are between these music styles — hell, I grew up listening to Country and Southern Gospel. But, I can say without the tiniest doubt that some of the absolutely fabulous band members in these genres are among the hottest creations on God’s green earth.

This comes to mind because I was recently searching high and low for a queer punk (or whatever) band based in the Carolinas to profile as part of this issue’s Q-Living featured topic — which is music. Unfortunately, my search came up empty. I couldn’t find a single one.

Despite the apparent lack of queer punk/emo/screamo/whatever bands, I was surprised by the scope of the overwhelmingly active indie music scene in the two states.

Via DirtySouthBlog.com and MySpace.com’s band profiles, I peeked into a world I’ve never been too familiar with. To say the least, there are some great sounding artists around our parts. A good portion of them have full concert schedules working small-to-mid-sized nightclubs spread across the Carolinas and elsewhere.

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On June 20, 2008, I was honored to be invited to speak at a small panel discussion on LGBT students and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. The event was hosted by the Interweave Committee of the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem. A Mount Tabor High School student and Dr. Janet Joyner, a founder of the former GLSEN Winston-Salem chapter, participated. Schools Superintendent Dr. Don Martin (pictured left) and Board of Education member Elisabeth Motsinger were present.

My remarks are printed below:

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From Q-Notes‘ June 28 issue:

I was recently angered by a phone conversation I was privy to regarding a certain television star popular with the LGBT community. I won’t go into details, but what upset me — and still upsets me now — was learning about the reaction this bisexual star has to requests to attend Pride festivals.

The star’s agent said his client “doesn’t do Prides.”

Excuse me? A bisexual star who owes their career to the gay community doesn’t do Prides? My response upon hearing this was anything but non-judgmental. “That damned highfalutin’ Hollywood queer,” I exclaimed.

And that’s exactly how I feel. All too often I see successful LGBT folks turning their backs on the community who put them where they are. At least I can console myself with the fact that it’s just celebrity B.S.

When politicians pull this crap, I really get upset. Unlike television and movie stars, elected officials are just that: elected. They are hand-picked by the American public to work for our interests. When they work against us, in favor of their own interests, it’s maddening.

To be honest, I’m not sure I should be surprised when political operatives turn on the citizenry, we all see how quickly they turn on their own supporters and friends.

I’m sure former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who recently came forward criticizing and exposing the Bush Administration’s failures, is feeling pretty lonely about now. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he felt as though he’d been spurned by an angry lover.

Instead of being welcomed as the truest of true Americans — one who’ll stand up for our ideals and principles despite the cost — McClellan’s been cut off. When he thinks about D.C. now, I wouldn’t be surprised if all he sees is a vision of thousands of cold shoulders and turned backs.

But, I digress…back to my highfalutin’ queers. The pretentiousness of our bisexual star, I’m afraid, exists not only in Hollywood — or New York, San Francisco, Atlanta or any number of other gay meccas. Sadly, the stench of this same shallow and ungrateful attitude can be found here at home in the Carolinas, too.

If the LGBT community ever hopes to become united with one powerful voice so that we might actually be able to achieve some real and meaningful change, our oh-so-fabulous, highfalutin’ queens are going to have to get off their high horses and step back down into the trenches.

Roll up your sleeves and pant legs, folks. There’s work to be done.

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My editorial from Q-Notes‘ May 31 issue:

This issue marks the end of my eighth month at Q-Notes. Three-fourths of the way to a full year’s work and the newness has begun to fade. I’m finding my opportunity here both rewarding and challenging. Unfortunately, frustration is an emotion I’m getting to know rather well through my job.
Let me explain.

Q-Notes covers a large area — two entire states, in fact. In total, our coverage area encompasses an 85,885 square-mile expanse that more than 13 million people call home. Just about one million or more LGBT people live in towns stretching from east to west, north to south.

At the same time, we are a small paper. Although we’ve got plans in the works, we currently have just one office — in Charlotte. Despite the Queen City’s central location to both Carolinas, we can’t travel everywhere.

While complaints about news and event coverage are occasionally lodged from every community in the two states, the greatest discontent comes from North Carolina’s Triangle area, once home to The Front Page, a paper that merged with Q-Notes in 2006.

As much as we’d like to, we can’t cover it all. Between attempting to sync events with our news cycle and balancing space and time limitations, we try our best to give you the most possible and most relevant news, politics, features, entertainment, arts coverage and more.

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