THE FIGHT SOCAL'S LGBTQ MONTHLY MAGAZINE MAY 2016

THEROSTOWREPORT
PARTY LIKE
IT’S 1967
Have any of you readers
of THE FIGHT registered as
members of the American
Independent Party in
California? Apparently up to
75 percent of Party members
checked the box for the archconservatives
by mistake,
thinking they were signing
up to be “independents.”
Um, no. The AIP is a legacy
from the days of segregationist
George Wallace, and its
members are only allowed to
vote in the AIP primary. Actual
independent voters, who can
vote in the Democratic primary
if they like, are the people who
checked “no affiliation.” I have
some sympathy for the accidental
registrants, but not that
much. If you truly want to be
an “independent” voter, than
you do not pick a party. That’s
the whole point, right?
TAKE THAT NORTH
CAROLINA!
Moving on, it looks as if
our backlash against North
Carolina is gaining strength,
and could have an impact on
the state election this fall,
when Governor Pat McCrory
faces the pro-gay Attorney
General Roy Cooper. Cooper
was lagging a bit, but recent
polls show he is now running
slightly ahead of McCrory,
who has spent the last month
sputtering in shocked dismay
about the unfair overreaction
to HB2, his state’s innocent
common sense anti-GLBT law.
As of April 25, the North
Carolina legislature is back in
a so called “short session”
for an indefinite amount of
time, but it doesn’t look as
if recalcitrant lawmakers are
in any hurry to roll back HB2.
This despite almost universal
outrage, the cancellation of
numerous concerts, conventions
and events, the rollback
of corporate investments, and
even the possible withdrawal
JULHAS
MANNAN
of next year’s NBA championship.
The other day, the U.K.
Foreign Office even issued
a notification, warning LGBT
tourists of potential problems
if they visit North Carolina
or Mississippi. (Mississippi
followed North Carolina with a
“religious freedom” law that
gives a green light to many
forms of anti-gay bias.)
Meanwhile, as negative
publicity pervades the Tobacco
>> BY ANN ROSTOW