We Are Back: CRANE re-energizes, re-mobilizes and re-engages after Amendment One passage
Published May 17, 2012 | 
The Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE) is back.
Despite radical attempts to ignore our existence, now is the time for LGBTQI people to stand up.
On Thursday, May 17 2012 — a little over one week after our community’s historic loss on May 8 — CRANE stepped up to provide a visible presence of our community’s sadness, anger and frustration. We turned our feelings of loss into a time to act. As night turned to day, thousands of people driving into Uptown Charlotte on Independence Blvd. saw our message for equality.
We are re-energizing, re-mobilizing and re-engaging to bring voice in solidarity and action in pride to create full civil and social equality for Charlotte’s and North Carolina’s LGBTQI community.
Charlotte has long lacked a strong, well-organized and well-connected grassroots activism community that engages in direct action and protest. In the past, CRANE has helped to fill that void, but we’ve left that gap unbridged for far too long.
No more.
If May 8 and the passage of Amendment One has taught us anything, it’s that we can never keep silent, we can never sit down and we can never shut up. Amendment One is not the end of this fight. LGBTQI people can be fired, kicked out of their homes, denied public services and discriminated against in public accommodations.
Our collective muscle — the feet on the streets, the voices in the town square, the lobbying in city hall — can make a difference. As Charlotte’s local political advocacy group, MeckPAC, recently said, “We’ve lost one battle, but we’re not losing any more.”
Together with the work of other community organizations, CRANE will step up and bring loud and consistent LGBTQI voices for equality back to Charlotte’s streets and neighborhoods.
As we move forward, we welcome your ideas, suggestions and input. We want you to be involved in our planning and decision making. We want to see and feel your presence.
Stay tuned for more updates by subscribing to our announcements-only Google Group via the subscription box to the right or click here to join the Google Group. If you’re interested in becoming a part of our planning team, contact us and we’ll fill you in on the details of our future planning meetings.
Advisory 5.17.2012: Charlotte LGBTQI activists to install morning rush hour protest art, speak out against Amendment One
Published May 16, 2012 | 
Activists with the Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE, www.rainbowaction.org) are re-mobilizing after the May 8, 2012, vote to approve a discriminatory constitutional amendment.
On Thursday morning before rush hour, activists will install protest art speaking out against Amendment One. The art will be visible to motorists from the inbound lanes of one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares. As the morning commute picks up at 7 a.m., the activists will be present the Hawthorne Ln. bridge over Independence Blvd. where they will stand the overpass’ sidewalk with a banner reading “EQUALITY WILL PREVAIL!”
The May 17 action is the first of several small- and large-scale direct actions and other initiatives meant to raise awareness and agitate toward positive, LGBTQI-inclusive change in Charlotte and North Carolina.
Citizens are encouraged to join CRANE at 7 a.m. at the Hawthorne Ln. bridge and bring American flags, North Carolina flags and rainbow flags.
WHAT: Protest Art & Banner
WHEN: Thursday, May 17, 2012, activists present with banner at 7 a.m.
WHERE: Hawthorne Ln. bridge over Independence Blvd., Charlotte, NC
WHO: Organizers with Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE)
ABOUT CRANE: CRANE is an informal network and coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) activists and community members in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. The group’s past actions since 2008 include several protests, rallies and forums, and its signature actions on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010 in which the activists collected and delivered five complete sets of 13,500 plastic toy soldiers – each representing one service member dismissed under the anti-gay policy – to U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan and U.S. Reps. Sue Myrick, Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell. Learn more about the group at rainbowaction.org.
Posted in Media & Press | 
Amendment One, Charlotte, marriage equality, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina | 
1 CommentFriday: Eric Alva speaks in Charlotte
Published February 23, 2010 | On Friday, Feb. 26, CRANE and the Human Rights Campaign will stage a rally and awareness event on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the anti-gay law which prevents openly lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans from serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Openly gay veteran Eric Alva, a former U.S. Marine staff sergeant, will be with us and other gay vets and community members for our press conference at 4:30 p.m.
Alva, 37, a native of San Antonio, was sworn into the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 19 years old after attending community college. He graduated from Southwest High School in 1989.
Alva served in the Marine Corps for 13 years, and was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marines. At the age of 22, he was deployed to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope. Over the years he was stationed from California to Japan. He was deployed to the Middle East in January of 2003.
On March, 21, 2003, the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom; Marine Staff Sgt. Alva was traveling in Iraq in a convoy to Basra with his battalion – where he was in charge of 11 Marines – when he stepped on a landmine, breaking his right arm and damaging his leg so badly that it needed to be amputated. Alva was awarded a Purple Heart and received a medical discharge from the military.
Alva, the first American wounded in the war in Iraq, has been on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and various TV news shows and has appeared in People magazine and major newspapers.
Alva, is an avid scuba diver and likes to ski as well. Alva graduated from college in May of 2008, with a Bachelor of Social Work degree. Currently, he is studying for a master’s degree in social work in San Antonio, where he lives with his partner, Darrell, to continue, he says, to work for social justice.
On Friday, Feb. 26, Alva will join CRANE in raising local awareness on this national issue. Learn more about our event, when CRANE will kick-off our “March on Myrick” campaign.
Photos: Valentine to Bill James
Published February 17, 2010 | 
We were able to snag a couple photos of our special, heart-shaped Valentine’s Day card to Bill James before presenting it to him at the Mecklenburg County Commission meeting on Feb. 16.
In the photo at right, CRANE organizer and card maker extraordinaire Laura Maschal holds the card open. The message reads, “Commissioner James, May you always feel loved no matter who you may love.” The front of the card read, “Gay is OK.”
CRANE organizers on WBT’s Keith Larson Show
Published February 17, 2010 | 
Don’t miss CRANE organizers Lacey Williams and Matt Comer on today’s Keith Larson Show, shortly after 10 a.m.
Catch it on WBT News-Talk 1110 AM or listen live online.
Yesterday, Lacey and CRANE organizer Laura Maschal presented anti-gay Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James with a Valentine’s Day card from the gay community. The message was simple enough: “Gay is OK.”
“We’d like to present Commissioner James with a Valentine’s card from the gay and gay-friendly community in Charlotte with the hope that with loving support, and maybe some tough love, he can turn his attitudes around in 2010,” Laura said in our press release yesterday morning. “We’ll keep on checking in with him throughout the year to make sure he stops using anti-gay slurs and begins to open his eyes to the power of love in our community.”
See our media advisory for more of the details and listen to Laura’s interview with WFAE yesterday.
Posted in Media & Press | Bill James, Charlotte, Keith Larson, Mecklenburg County, WBT | Leave a commentListen: CRANE on WFAE today (Updated)
Published February 16, 2010 | 
CRANE organizer Laura Maschal had the chance to speak with WFAE 90.7 FM reporter Lisa Miller this morning, concerning CRANE’s Valentine’s card gift to anti-gay Mecklenburg Commissioner Bill James at tonight’s meeting of the County Commissioners.
Miller’s report aired at the bottom of the 5:00 hour on Feb. 16, 2010, during the station’s broadcast of “All Things Considered.”
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You can tune into WFAE at 90.7 FM or listen live online anytime.
Be sure to check out this morning’s media advisory for the details.
Posted in Media & Press | Bill James, Charlotte, Lisa Miller, Mecklenburg County, WFAE | Leave a commentCRANE on Charlotte Observer
Published February 16, 2010 | 
News of CRANE’s Valentine’s card gift to anti-gay Mecklenburg Commissioner Bill James made the front page of CharlotteObserver.com today.
Observer staffer Doug Miller took to the paper’s Paper Trail blog with a note about tonight’s presentation to James. CRANE organizers Lacey Williams and Laura Maschal will be present with other community members to remind James of the “power of love in our community.”
More details in this morning’s media advisory, and be sure to tune into WFAE 90.7 FM today between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Posted in Media & Press | Bill James, Charlotte, Charlotte Observer, Doug Miller, Mecklenburg County | Leave a commentAdvisory: Gay community members tell anti-gay Bill James, ‘We love you’
Published February 16, 2010 | 
MEDIA ADVISORY
February 16, 2010
Gay community members to Bill James: We love you
Grassroots activist to present anti-gay commissioner with Valentine’s present
CHARLOTTE — Feb. 16, 2010 — Grassroots activists with Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE) will present conservative, anti-gay Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James a special Valentine’s card at the County Commissioners meeting. Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community were at the receiving end of James’ anti-gay comments and slurs in December.
On Tuesday, CRANE organizers Laura Maschal and Lacey Williams hope James will open up and reconsider his stances on LGBT equality. Maschal’s and Williams’ Valentine’s card will contain signatures and thoughts from local LGBT community members.
“We’d like to present Commissioner James with a Valentine’s card from the gay and gay-friendly community in Charlotte with the hope that with loving support, and maybe some tough love, he can turn his attitudes around in 2010,” Maschal says. “We’ll keep on checking in with him throughout the year to make sure he stops using anti-gay slurs and begins to open his eyes to the power of love in our community.”
At the County Commissioners meeting on Dec. 15, 2009, during debate on proposed domestic partner benefits for LGBT city employees and their partners, James leaned over to fellow Commissioner Vilma Leake and said, “Your son was a homo, really?” His comments in response to Leake’s emotional story of her son and his death were outrageous and inappropriate, yet James offered no apology. In fact, he continued to make outrageous statements to local media outlets in the days following the meeting. James’ latest comments are but a few in a long history of abusive rhetoric directed at LGBT citizens and residents in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
The Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE), www.rainbowaction.org, is a grassroots coalition of activists and community members working toward civil and social equality for Charlotte’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community.
More detailed information on CRANE and its list of upcoming events, including a public demonstration on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” can be found online at www.rainbowaction.org.
Words matter
CRANE organizer Lacey Williams and I had the chance to chat with Keith Larson during his show on WBT News-Talk 1110 AM on Wednesday. Larson’s invite to us was extended after CRANE presented Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James a special Valentine’s Day card saying “Gay is OK” and imploring James to lay aside his anti-gay rhetoric and begin treating all Mecklenburg County citizens with the respect and dignity they deserve.
On Larson’s show, we got into a great conversation about words, slurs and labels. Where did they come from? What do they mean? Do they matter? How confusing is all this?
It was a great educational moment for our community, Charlotte’s straight community and Larson’s listeners. Continue reading →