North Carolina’s bathroom bill seemed like a bolt from nowhere. But it was three decades in the making. Originally published in Indy Week and Triad City Beat. Photos by Alex Boerner. I. Hell Breaks Loose Last year, when the Rev. Mykal Slack was preparing to move south to Durham, nearer to his and his wife’s families, […]
“A Stench in this Government Chamber”
Why the debate over North Carolina’s House Bill 2 feels all too familiar Originally published in Indy Week. Click here for Barry’s longer story about House Bill 2. I LOST A COUPLE OF HOURS yesterday in front of my computer, watching North Carolina’s culture wars unfold in real time. The state legislature had convened a […]
The Son God Gave Me
My child’s struggle to figure out who he was called everything I believed into question. With my strong faith and lots of soul-searching, the answers finally became clear. By Gina Kentopp as told to Barry Yeoman Originally published in Woman’s Day. WHEN MY SECOND CHILD, KYLE, was born in 1994, and the nurse told me […]
Reports from Moral Monday
During 2014, I reported on North Carolina’s Moral Monday movement, a faith-based organizing effort that is becoming a national model. The movement is spearheaded by the state NAACP with broad support from churches and issue-based organizations, including women’s, immigrant, environmental, LGBT, and labor groups. Most of the articles were published online by The American Prospect, illustrated by […]
Town and Country
On North Carolina’s Amendment One, the fault line was not racial—it was urban-rural. Originally published in The American Prospect. IN THE WEEK SINCE NORTH CAROLINA VOTERS adopted a constitutional amendment banning recognition of any “domestic legal union” other than heterosexual marriage, a consensus has formed among journalists about African-American complicity. According to this narrative, black voters let […]
The Morning After Amendment 1: Your World. And Mine.
Originally published in Indy Week. Reprinted in 27 Views of Durham (Eno Press). IF YOU DIDN’T PEEK AT THE NUMBERS ON THE TV INSIDE—where Amendment 1, North Carolina’s marriage amendment, was racking up a 22-point margin of victory—you might have imagined the scene outside Fullsteam brewery in Durham was a celebration Tuesday night. The air […]
Whitewash
In his new autobiography, Jesse Helms sees himself as a humanitarian—not a racist supporter of brutal right-wing regimes who turned obstructionism into a foreign policy. Originally published in Indy Week. I’VE ONLY MET JESSE HELMS ONCE. I was profiling him for two national magazines during his 1996 Senate race, and for two days I shadowed him […]
Beyond Betrayal
The vast majority of GOP leaders won’t be embracing gay Republicans any time soon. In fact, many of them still think they’re good for an easy laugh. Originally published in the online edition of Mother Jones. IN 1972, JAMES WAGSTAFF WAS A POSTER CHILD for the Republican Party—quite literally. Posing with a Dallas Cowboys fullback, the […]
A Mother Finds Her Voice
Judy Shepard, whose son Matthew was murdered because he was gay, has summoned the courage to share her story. Originally published in Us Weekly. ONE DAY LAST MAY, while she was in Toronto, Judy Shepard looked up and caught a glimpse of her older son crossing the street. Wearing khakis and a blue-checked shirt that hung loosely […]
Into the Closet
Can therapy make gay people straight? Originally published in Salon.com. THE NIGHT JOHN WESTCOTT WALKED into his first meeting of Eleutheros, he had no idea where his life was heading—but he knew that he desperately wanted it to change. “Pray for me,” he had announced to friends several months earlier. “I’m walking out of Egypt.” […]
