QNC Magazine Comes Back Out To UNC Campus

The Queer Network for Change participated in National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, but Lambda, its literary magazine, stayed in the closet until Monday.

Amanda Hall, co-chairwoman of QNC, said the publication was supposed to accompany the other events, such as the Oct. 11 march, but because of a technical delay, it came out a week and a half late.

The magazine used to be a common publication on campus, but it became defunct about a year and a half ago because of QNC's inability to find an editor.

At QNC's second meeting this year, Hall said members got excited about bringing the magazine back so the community could become familiar with the organization again.

She said she hopes that those who are hesitant to come to QNC's meetings can pick up an issue and read about gay and lesbian concerns on their own time.

Sophomore Jesse Davidson, a writer and an editor of Lambda, said his reason for contributing to the magazine is to help make UNC aware of the queer presence and of queer issues. "My goal is to help organize Lambda and get other people to contribute to it rather than write for it myself," he said.

Hall said the magazine's format is a little different this time. Poetry, prose and art are included along with pieces dedicated to issues facing gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.

The first edition includes articles dealing with gays in the Boy Scouts and why the Greek symbol lambda is associated with the GLBT community. It was distributed randomly throughout campus and next to The Daily Tar Heel drop boxes.

Lambda also serves as a forum for the GLBT community and QNC to express their opinions on issues such as the need for a building to serve as a center for group activities.

"Out of four large universities, including (University of Virginia), (University of California at Los Angeles), (University of California at Berkeley) and (University of Michigan), three of them have an active, staffed GLBT center," said Sarah Stokes, a second-year graduate student and a writer for Lambda. "UNC is pretty much the only university that doesn't provide one."

The magazine's funding comes from student fees and advertisements, which will eventually be the main source of income for the publication. Meanwhile, the Campus Y is helping to get Lambda back on its feet by providing a useful facility. "We have a long history of supporting independent student publications," said Rudy Kleysteuber, co-president of Campus Y. "We felt that Lambda's mission coincided with our mission, which is the pursuit of social justice."

Sarah Levin-Richardson, a junior and co-chairwoman of QNC, said she was not too concerned about Lambda not being published Oct. 11 as scheduled.

"The main thing is that it's finally coming out."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.