PRESS

They Are Your Neighbors
By Brent Lanford ~ Cover Story, Charleston City Paper ~ August 2003

“On August 2, 2003, at 7 p.m., members of the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA), and
a few of the group’s heterosexual supporters, gathered at Shady Mae’s to watch the broadcast of Sunhead Project's video production We Are Your Neighbors.

John C. Calhoun glowered at us from atop his pedestal in Marion Square Park as we filed in to the bar at the corner of King and Calhoun streets. Inside, the mostly middle-aged crowd would not have looked out of place at a suburban cookout. The room grew quiet as people gathered around the banks of television sets usually devoted to soundless sporting events. There were no gyrating leather-clad buttocks, no saucy drag queens, no glamorous lipstick lesbians — just a stream of earnest faces pleading to be treated like human beings. The Charlestonians in the program, broadcast immediately following NBC Nightly News, talked about serving in the military, going to church, raising their kids, and coming out to their parents.

The video’s final scene featured 84-year old Julien “Jerry” Hayes of Mount Pleasant. Seated in a rocking chair, he summed up the video’s message: “Gay people are just like other people, and we’re good … sex is not dirty, it’s the culmination of love. I think people should disassociate homosexuality with sex. That’s not what it’s all about. It’s about love … loving your fellow man.” The woman sitting next to me dabbed her eyes.

After the credits rolled, 26-year old Jason Guerra, reflecting on his appearance in the video, told me, “It’s the final stage of coming out of the closet.” It was touching but also a little sad. Here in 21st century Charleston, so proud of its sophistication and cosmopolitan culture, these people’s simple plea for a little dignity and respect still came off as a brave display of optimism.

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

"All of the stories were wonderful, diverse and compelling. The way the material was organized left you with a keen understanding of the rights and protections we do not enjoy and the ways in which we are truly second class citizens."

Joan M. Garry
Executive Director, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

PRESS

They Are Your Neighbors
By Brent Lanford ~ Cover Story, Charleston City Paper ~ August 2003

“On August 2, 2003, at 7 p.m., members of the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA), and
a few of the group’s heterosexual supporters, gathered at Shady Mae’s to watch the broadcast of Sunhead Project's video production We Are Your Neighbors.

John C. Calhoun glowered at us from atop his pedestal in Marion Square Park as we filed in to the bar at the corner of King and Calhoun streets. Inside, the mostly middle-aged crowd would not have looked out of place at a suburban cookout. The room grew quiet as people gathered around the banks of television sets usually devoted to soundless sporting events. There were no gyrating leather-clad buttocks, no saucy drag queens, no glamorous lipstick lesbians — just a stream of earnest faces pleading to be treated like human beings. The Charlestonians in the program, broadcast immediately following NBC Nightly News, talked about serving in the military, going to church, raising their kids, and coming out to their parents.

The video’s final scene featured 84-year old Julien “Jerry” Hayes of Mount Pleasant. Seated in a rocking chair, he summed up the video’s message: “Gay people are just like other people, and we’re good … sex is not dirty, it’s the culmination of love. I think people should disassociate homosexuality with sex. That’s not what it’s all about. It’s about love … loving your fellow man.” The woman sitting next to me dabbed her eyes.

After the credits rolled, 26-year old Jason Guerra, reflecting on his appearance in the video, told me, “It’s the final stage of coming out of the closet.” It was touching but also a little sad. Here in 21st century Charleston, so proud of its sophistication and cosmopolitan culture, these people’s simple plea for a little dignity and respect still came off as a brave display of optimism.

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

"All of the stories were wonderful, diverse and compelling. The way the material was organized left you with a keen understanding of the rights and protections we do not enjoy and the ways in which we are truly second class citizens."

Joan M. Garry
Executive Director, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

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