QnotesCarolinas

01/15/2026

A pedestrian killed Wednesday evening after being struck by a vehicle at an east Charlotte intersection has been identified as Lance Sotelo, 25, according to information confirmed by Qnotes.

The crash occurred near the intersection of East 36th Street and The Plaza.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reported the fatal crash involving a pedestrian shortly after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14.

Officers responded after receiving reports of a person struck by a vehicle.

“Our community has suffered a profound loss,” said Erica Chanel, a local drag performer and former Miss Charlotte Pride 2024.

https://buff.ly/SFkKHht

Charlotte mourns Lance Sotelo, MBA graduate killed in a hit‑and‑run; community rallies for safer streets and lasting remembrance.

01/15/2026

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is not planning to change its 2015 list of recommended vaccinations for children up to 18.

On Jan. 5, the CDC announced changes to its recommendations for vaccines for children and adolescents, cutting the list from 17 to 11.

Vaccines for RSV, hepatitis A and B, meningitis, COVID, rotavirus, and influenza are now recommended only for certain high-risk populations or after discussion with a doctor or nurse.

In its announcement, the CDC said the United States is a “global outlier” among developed countries for the number of vaccines it recommends.

https://buff.ly/YErAB5l

01/15/2026

For nearly three months, a small group of Buddhist monks has been walking across the United States, one step at a time, carrying a simple message: peace is not a destination, but a daily practice.

Now, their 2,300-mile Walk for Peace is getting ready to enter North Carolina, with Charlotte and nearby communities expected to see the monks in the next few weeks.

The journey began on October 26 in Fort Worth, Texas, and is scheduled to conclude in Washington, D.C. on February 13.

Along the way, the monks have and are continuing to travel through ten states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.

https://buff.ly/AXu086R

Buddhist monks’ 2,300‑mile Walk for Peace pauses in Charlotte, inviting quiet reflection on inner calm.

01/13/2026

In what is quickly becoming known as the shots heard round the world, American citizen Renee Nicole Good was shot dead January 7, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis.

That encounter has sparked more than a thousand protests across the nation, an outpouring of sympathy for Good's surviving family members and a continuing stream of rhetoric and false claims by the Trump administration.

https://buff.ly/gKqZtKp

ICE agent kills Renee Good in Minneapolis; protests erupt, Trump deflects, investigations launch.

01/10/2026

For the first time in North Carolina’s history, registered Republicans now outnumber registered Democrats.

According to the most recent voter registration snapshot from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Republicans edged ahead of Democrats by just over 2,000 voters as of January 3, 2026, marking a symbolic shift in a state long defined by Democratic registration dominance.

The raw numbers show how narrow the margin is. North Carolina now has 2,315,067 registered Republicans compared to 2,312,990 registered Democrats.

But the most consequential figure sits outside that rivalry. Nearly 3 million voters, about 39 percent of the electorate, are registered as unaffiliated, making them by far the largest bloc in the state.

Smaller parties account for a fraction of registrations, with Libertarians at just over 46,000 and Greens under 5,000.

https://buff.ly/FnVGVLu

NC Republicans now outnumber Democrats by ~2 K voters; unaffiliated voters remain the decisive 39 % bloc.

01/10/2026

Months into her campaign for governor of South Carolina, Rep. Nancy Mace is facing a problem that no amount of national attention has solved: a lack of enthusiasm from Republicans in her own state.

A recent Wall Street Journal report underscores how isolated Mace has become within South Carolina GOP circles. At a Clemson–South Carolina football game in late 2025, where more than two dozen Republican donors, operatives, and party leaders were interviewed, not a single person said they supported her bid. Several declined to comment altogether.

Former Mace campaign consultant Austin McCubbin put it bluntly: “Politics is the art of relationships.

She has no political relationships whatsoever in South Carolina.” Referring to one of Mace’s own interviews, he added, “Why are you running for governor and telling people you have no friends?”

https://buff.ly/y2RpGIW

Nancy Mace’s anti‑trans rhetoric fuels national buzz but leaves her without GOP support in South Carolina.

01/09/2026

For LGBTQ+ people, questions about identity are rarely shaped by pure curiosity.

They are shaped by pressure: what is acceptable, what is safe, and what is allowed to be named out loud without consequence.

A growing body of research suggests that psychedelic substances, when used in controlled and therapeutic settings, may help loosen those constraints, creating space for people to explore parts of themselves that have long been buried.

Recent reporting from the BBC highlights emerging evidence that psychedelics like psilocybin, M**A, and ketamine can prompt reflection around gender and sexual orientation.

Therapists and researchers stress that these substances do not “turn” people q***r or trans, but instead appear to lower psychological defenses, allowing individuals to engage honestly with questions they may have avoided or felt unable to articulate.

https://buff.ly/YsyEal3

**A ***rWellbeing

Therapeutic psychedelics may loosen mental barriers, helping LGBTQ+ people safely explore gender and sexual identity.

01/09/2026

Looking back over Charlotte's LGBTQ+ cultural history, some names are remembered, honored and revered.

Many in our community remember the names of individuals like political activist Don King, cultural contributor Dan Kirsch and drag legend Boom Boom LaTour.

Far too often, people who make a difference slip through the cracks.

They don't have awards named after them and the homage they deserve never happens. Not everyone needs that kind of attention, but it doesn't mean they're any less deserving.

https://buff.ly/dqFVXR0

***rTrailblazer

Robert Sheets founded QCQ, ran for Charlotte council twice, and championed Pride—an unsung LGBTQ+ pioneer.

01/07/2026

After spending much of 2025 advancing its sweeping right-wing blueprint known as Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation is already laying groundwork for what comes next.

Its 2025–2026 priorities make clear that LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender people and q***r families, remain central targets of the organization’s long-term political agenda.

The updated framework, titled Restoring America’s Promise, places much of its LGBTQ+-related language under a section called “Put Family First.”

In that section, the Heritage Foundation declares that “every child conceived deserves to be born to a married mother and father who will love, guide, and protect them throughout their lives.”

The document goes on to argue that “radical ideologies that deny social and biological truths about sexual embodiment, marriage, and unborn life poison our courts, our culture, and our laws.”

Read more at link👇

https://buff.ly/pdawuM3

***rAdvocacy

Heritage’s “Restoring America’s Promise” pushes a long‑term anti‑LGBTQ agenda, extending Project 2025 into 2026.

01/07/2026

Nicki Minaj built a career alongside an audience that included some of her loudest and most devoted supporters: LGBTQ+ fans who treated her music, aesthetics, and larger-than-life persona as part of the q***r cultural landscape.

She leaned into that relationship for years, from Pride performances to moments where she publicly framed herself as someone paying attention to women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and freedom of expression.

That history is what makes her political turn sting for many of the people who helped elevate her into “queen” status in the first place.

Over time, Minaj has increasingly used her platform to praise President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, amplify administration messaging, and take aim at Democrats. For LGBTQ+ fans who once saw her as a pop figure willing to stand alongside them, the shift has felt deeply personal.

Read more at link👇

https://buff.ly/l9lF4j0

***rCommunity

Nicki Minaj built a career alongside an audience that included some of her loudest and most devoted supporters: LGBTQ+ fans who treated her music, aesthetics, and larger-than-life persona as part of the q***r cultural landscape. She leaned into that relationship for years, from Pride performances to...

01/06/2026

The Trump administration will review frozen grants to universities without using its controversial standards that discouraged gender, race and sexual orientation initiatives and vaccine research.

In a settlement agreement filed in Massachusetts federal court December 29, the National Institutes of Health and a group of Democratic attorneys general who challenged the new criteria for grant funding said the NIH would consider grant applications made up to Sept. 29, 2025, without judging the efforts related to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, or vaccines.

Read more at link👇

https://buff.ly/IB64jZ0

Court‑backed settlement lets NIH review frozen grants without DEI or vaccine criteria through Sept 2025.

01/06/2026

Some states – including both North and South Carolina – have moved to ban gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth under 18, which has drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ folks and allies alike.

Now, under the direction of Donald Trump and fellow Republicans, the federal government is moving to ban that same care on a national level.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads Medicaid and Medicare, announced several moves to limit, restrict and effectively ban gender-affirming healthcare for trans minors a week before Christmas – including states where it is still legal.

Read more at link👇

https://buff.ly/1ULnu9K

Trump‑era federal move to block Medicaid/Medicare gender‑affirming care for trans minors sparks ACLU lawsuits and nationwide backlash.