October 2 Gay City News

OCTOBER 2 - 8, 2008 VOLUME SEVEN, ISSUE 40

■ 527 BOMBERS

The attack squads keep flying, but low

P. 2

■ NEW BEGINNINGS

Stanford Makishi shakes up Baryshnikov Arts

P. 29

■ HIV BARRED STILL

Feds sidestep repeal of immigration ban

P. 6

YOUR FREE WEEKLY

NEWSPAPER

© GAY CITY NEWS 2008 • COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WIG OUT!20

S E RV I N G G AY, L E S B I A N , B I A N D T R A N S G E N D E R E D N E W YO R K • W W W. G AY C I T Y N E W S . C O M

AMERICA’S LARGEST C IRCULATION GAY AND LESBIAN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER!

For One Evening, Iraq Vet Play Focuses

on Gay Soldier’s Experiences

■ HUMAN RIGHTS

Key Gay Leader Slain in Iraq

BY DOUG IRELAND

A key figure in the clan-destine Baghdad net-work of the association

Iraqi LGBT was assassinated by an anti-gay Islamist death squad ten days ago.

Bashar, a 27-year-old grad-uate of Baghdad’s Academy of Fine Arts, was machine-gunned while getting a hair-cut, making him the 17th Iraqi LGBT underground gay activ-ist to be murdered in the lethal campaign of “sexual cleans-ing” that has killed hundreds

kes

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Gay CityNEWSNEWSTM

P. 7

Surging Emotions

■ EDITORIAL

Mike, Mike, Mike■ 14

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■ PROM & PROPER

Trans student suit goes forward

■ 10——————————————

■ REHAB LAST STEP

End coming for “Forbidden Broadway”

■ 22——————————————

■ EARTHWORTH

Tere O’Connor’s grounded dance

■ 27——————————————

GAY IRAQ WAR VETERAN AND PEACE ACTIVIST JEFF KEY POINTS OUT WHERE HE WAS POSTED, DURING TUESDAY’S POST-PLAY PANEL

BY MICHAEL T. LUONGO

There are many stories in Iraq. The play “In Conflict,” based on the book of the same name by journal-

ist Yvonne Latty, highlights an incredibly diverse array of them. Produced by The Culture Project, an organization known for its provocative stagings on current events, such as George Packer’s “Betrayed,” the play’s performance on September 30 was accompanied by a panel that focused on its gay character, the real life soldier John Ball, Jr. “Fighting to Exist: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” a discussion that followed the eve-ning’s performance, looked at the lives of gay and lesbian military service members.

The stage for the production is Spartan

— a giant map of Iraq with a distractingly misspelled Euphrates River in the mid-dle, interspersed with walls painted with fading American flags. The play centers on the words of the 11 actors recounting interviews Latty completed with soldiers who had returned from Iraq.

A vast range of characters come onto stage, giving stirring soliloquies punc-tuated by intense body language. Latty serves as a moderator during the produc-tion by visiting the stage on video screens, giving commentary before some of the interviews. She wanted to do the project because she had not been hearing from the soldiers themselves in the media cov-erage of the Iraq War.

The interviews took place in hotels, res-

taurants, army bases, apartments, and most poignantly, within the Walter Reed Medical Center, which is described as looking like an apocalyptic college cam-pus given the age and dress of the young men and women missing arms, legs, and, in one instance, even half a face.

The characters are drawn from many ethnicities, economic backgrounds, and regions of the country. Tammy Duck-worth, played by Suyeon Kim, is a mixed race Thai and Caucasian woman who lost her legs, but jokes that she can find “high heel prosthetics” and loves watching “America’s Top Model” and “Tyra Banks” as she recovers.

Reflecting on the one-year anniversary of her Alive Day, the day she survived the

2 - 8 OCT 2008

7 DAYS7 NIGHTS

Flying Under the Political Radar527s, villains of ’04 race, going strong, but keeping low profile

2/ Politics

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE

In 2004, the Swift Boat Vet-erans and POWs for Truth raised over $22 million dol-

lars to counter both the “phony war crimes charges” the group said Massachusetts Senator John Kerry made against Viet-nam veterans and the Demo-cratic presidential candidate’s “exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam.”

While the Swift Boat name is now associated with a dishon-est political attack, the group raised doubts about Kerry in the minds of some voters by tarnishing his status as a vet-eran of the Vietnam War.

In 2008, other 527 groups like the Swift Boat Vets have raised and spent tens of mil-lions of dollars and it is likely that any given voter will never hear from most of these groups or be aware of the messages they are distributing elsewhere across the country.

“There is no accountability,” said D. Sunshine Hillygus, the author, along with Todd G. Shields, of “The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presi-dential Campaigns” and a pro-

fessor of government at Har-vard University. “They have no fear of backlash, they have no fear of saying something that crosses a line... They are doing things that a candidate can’t do.”

The 527 organizations, tax-exempt groups named for the part of the Internal Revenue Service code under which they are established, can raise unlimited amounts of money, but they are barred from expressly advocating for

the election or defeat of federal candidates. These groups have raised millions in the 2008 election cycle.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), which operates the website opensecrets.org, from the start of 2007 through the end of June of 2008, 527s have raised just over $304 million. Those groups raised $246 mil-lion during the same period in the 2004 election cycle.

Conservative 527s have

raised $98.2 million this cycle compared to $54.6 million in 2004. Liberal groups raised $175 million in 2004 and $171 million this year.

Among those 527s that are focused on federal races, liber-als raised $92 million this elec-tion cycle compared to $125 million in 2004, while conser-vatives raised $43.1 million this year compared to $20.5 million four years ago.

The growth this year is driv-en by conservative 527 groups.

“It’s the Obama campaign discouraging 527s because they want to control the money and they want to con-trol the message,” said Mark Glaze, a principal at the Raben Group, a public affairs firm in Washington, DC. “It’s also a reaction to 2004, when major Democratic donors wrote checks for tens of mil-lions to 527s and didn’t get a victory out of it.”

According to data com-piled by CRP, the vast major-ity of the money raised by June has already been spent. These groups have undoubt-

� OCT 2, continued on p.8

THU.OCT.2POLITICSNot Actually the Candidates

In the first of its “Meet the Candi-dates” nights of this election season, the LGBT Community Center pres-ents representatives of the presidential candidates. 208 W. 13th St., 6:30-8:30 p.m.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

DANCEWheeldon’s Second Act

Morphoses/The Wheeldon Com-pany presents its second annual sea-son, featuring works by artistic direc-tor Christopher Wheeldon. Canadian choreographer Emily Molnar presents a US premiere of a new work, and works by Lightfoot León and Sir Frederick Ash-ton are also on the program. Dancers include Tyler Angle, Leanne Benjamin, Gonzalo Garcia, Craig Hall, Maria Kow-roski, Edwaard Liang, Tiler Peck, Teresa Reichlen, Edward Watson, and Wendy Whelan. The company will perform to live music each evening, including performances with full orchestra com-prised of members of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. New York City Center, W. 55th St., btwn. Sixth & Seventh Aves. Oct. 2-4, 8 p.m.; Oct. 4, 2 p.m.; Oct. 5, 3 p.m. Tickets are $30-$110 at NYCityCenter.org or 212-581-1212.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

FILMCelluloid Never Dies

Unseen Cinema is a ten-year project that represents the largest film preser-vation effort ever, led by the Anthology Film Archives and comprising 60 of the world’s largest film archive institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, the British Film Institute, and George Eastman House. Maya Stendhal Gallery hosts “Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894 – 1941,” a program orga-nized by film curator Bruce Posner and film historian Robert A. Haller. The collection today stands at 180 films that run to more than 20 hours in total. Maya Stendhal Gallery, 545 W. 20th St. Program runs through Oct. 4. For a complete schedule, visit mayastend-halgallery.com or call 212-366-1549

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

PERFORMANCEVaudelesque!

Down and dirty meets brains and heart as the Fancy Boys sing, dance, and strip in a hilarious, risqué, and all-the-way gay vaudeville/burlesque extravaganza. David Pevsner, one the creators of “Naked Boys Singing,” in

� 527S, continued on p.11

John O’Neill wielding the Swift Boat Veterans book he wrote taking aim at John Kerry, “Unfit For Command,” in an appearance at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club in 2004.

Biden, k.d. Headed to SohoVeep nominee, Alberta lesbian chanteuse headline big gay fundraiser

BY PAUL SCHINDLER

At an October 6 recep-tion at the Soho home of Judy and Steven

Gluckstern, between 80 and 120 members of New York’s LGBT community will pay $10,000 each to spend time with Democratic vice presi-dential nominee Joe Biden and several senior advisers to Barack Obama, including out gay deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand.

The event will raise money for the Obama Victory Fund, a joint enterprise of the presi-dential nominee’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee that allows donors to give more than the $2,300 limit on direct contributions to a candidate, and is one, Hil-debrand said, of “not enough” such events being held with LGBT crowds across the coun-try.

“On the fundraising side, we haven’t done a lot of events that are specific to one commu-

nity or another,” he explained. The size and affluence of

New York’s gay community likely made a high-tariff event of this size more feasible here than in most American cit-ies — and it certainly couldn’t have hurt that k.d. lang was available to calm folks down in the event that they have to wait for Biden’s arrival.

But gay money is being raised in group settings else-where as well. As Hildebrand spoke to Gay City News by tele-phone on October 1, he was just about to walk into a room with a group of LGBT donors in Las Vegas “to pitch for some serious money.”

But, he explained, most efforts with LGBT voters are focused on registering them, developing get-out-the-vote efforts, and recruiting volun-teers.

“In the LGBT community, too many are not registered,” said Hildebrand, a South Dakota native who previously led that state’s Democratic

Party, as well as Minnesota’s, and served as political director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Hildebrand offered his expe-rience the evening before being in Las Vegas as emblematic of much of the effort the cam-paign focuses on targeting gay

voters. In Denver, he invited Mayor John Hickenlooper on a visit to the Wrangler, a gay bar, where they met about 35 patrons, “100 percent of them” Obama supporters, including several volunteers.

“We recruited a couple more volunteers,” Hildebrand said.

Asked whether he thinks that Republican nominee John McCain is as polarizing a figure for LGBT Americans as was President George W. Bush — whose support for a federal constitutional amend-ment barring gay marriage caused even the Log Cabin Republicans to withhold their endorsement in 2004 — Hil-debrand said of the choice between the Democratic and Republican tickets, “The more, especially, that people learn about Sarah Palin, it becomes more clear.” He mentioned the GOP vice presidential nomi-nee’s comments to CBS’ Katie Couric last week about homo-

� BIDEN, continued on p.5

Delaware Senator Joe Biden will be in Soho Monday evening for a $10,000-a-head gay fundraiser.

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 32 – 8 OCT 2008

4 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM2 – 8 OCT 2008

Cathryn’s Tuscan Grill One of the best Italian Restaurants in the US, as rated by the Zagat Survey, Cathryn’s is sure to please. After receiving the Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator, Cathryn’s now has a lovely informal wine tasting every Tuesday evening and delicious $16.09 lunches M-F. The freshest ingre-dients combined with a brilliant chef, create culi-nary splendor at this lovely restaurant tucked away along a garden walkway in Cold Spring. Cathryn’s is rated “Very Good” by The New York Times and graciously welcomes all Hudson Valley Getaways travelers. We are open seven days.

91 Main Street | Cold Spring, NY 10516845-265-5582 | www.TuscanGrill.com

The Bird & Bottle Inn and RestaurantThis historical 1761 pre-revolutionary Inn with oak plank fl oors and wood beam ceilings takes you back in time to stagecoaches, the Pony Express, and Washington’s army. Fabulous fi replaces create a romantic and intimate setting where you will enjoy the freshest seasonal autumn game fare. Enjoy the Tavern Menu, Saturday and Sunday Brunch, or Fine Dining creations Thursday through Sunday in cozy dining rooms. Our award winning Ameri-can cuisine delights even the most sophisticated palate. Join us at the bar for cocktails or an evening nightcap. Make all your spe-cial occasions memorable at one of the fi nest Inn’s in America.

1123 Old Albany Post Road (Route 9) | Garrison, NY 10524845-424-2333 | www.thebirdandbottleinn.com

The GarrisonLocated an hour north of New York City in the picturesque Hudson Highlands, The Garrison is a 300-acre property with sweeping views of the Hud-son River and surrounding mountainous landscape. The Garrison offers guests an 18-hole golf course with stunning views, a critically-acclaimed fi ne din-ing restaurant called Valley, overnight accommoda-tions in the four-room Inn, private event spaces, and a day spa and yoga center. A relaxing refuge that offers an abundance of outdoor and nearby cultural activities, The Garrison is perfect for a restorative weekend getaway of spa treatments, outdoor activities, and fabulous cuisine. We’d be delighted to host your LGBT celebration!

2015 Route 9 Garrison, NY 10524845-424-3604 | www.thegarrison.com

To Adver tise Contact: Lee Castoro - 646-452-2505 - [email protected]

Come to Where the Country Begins... Come to Putnam CountyCold Spring-on-HudsonStep back in time in historic Cold Spring, a quaint vil-lage nestled in the Hudson Highlands, that caters to the shopper, the diner, the outdoorsy and the history buff. Stroll along tree-lined Main St. or ride the jaunty green trolley. Visit art and antiques galleries, charming boutiques, gift and novelty stores. Hike the Highlands and tour historic Manitoga or Boscobel Restoration, home of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Please call for a free travel guide and events calendar. No car necessary, take Metro-North Hudson Line.

Putnam Visitors Bureau | 110 Old Route 6 | Carmel, NY 105121-800-470-4854 | www.VisitPutnam.org

Autumn in the

Hudson Valley

Thunder Ridge Ski AreaEnjoy the beautiful autumn foliage at Thunder Ridge Ski Area’s Fall Festival Weekends. Satur-days & Sunday, October 18, 19, 25 & 26. Ride a chairlift to the top of the mountain, take a scenic hayride, pick a pumpkin, visit with farm animals and check out the antique farm equipment. Even a lights-on Haunted House for the little ghoulies! Only one hour north of NYC or save gas and take the 11:49am Metro-North Train from Grand Cen-tral to Patterson, NY and catch the free shuttle to the mountain.

137 Birch Hill Road | Patterson, NY 12563845-878-4100 | www.thunderridgeski.com

Le Petit Chateau InnOne –half mile to Culinary Institute of America, Le Petit Chateau is nestled amongst trees and a beautiful pond in Hyde Park. ur CIA Chefs impart techniques while preparing breakfast. Artisanal Cheese Plates from Hudson Valley purveyors and French wine prepare you for a relaxed escape. Our rooms have modern amenities with beautiful linens, private baths, cable TV, Wireless Internet Our fi replaces make romantic getaways. Antique shopping, local arts and crafts in our quaint villages, experience a slower pace of life. Biking, cross country skiing, and hiking. Concierge services: Private Chef Dinners and Lunches, Sea-sonal Packages, and restaurant reservations at the CIA.

39 West Dorsey Lane | Hyde Park, NY 12538845-437-4688 | www.lepetitchateauinn.com

The Pig Hill InnOur European hospitality is sure to relieve the pressures of your everyday routine. From our gor-geous individually decorated rooms to the peace-fulness of our garden terrace you will enjoy privacy and romance while our staff pampers you. When you return home you will feel refreshed, relaxed and rejuvenated. Cold Spring-on-Hudson is eas-ily reached from New York City by train or car. This quaint little Hudson River town is home to fi ne dining, antique shops, boutiques, art galler-ies, theatre festivals, hiking trails, numerous historic attractions and so much more. Come for a weekend getaway or stay for a whole week!

73 Main Street | Cold Spring, NY 10516845-265-9247 | www.pighillinn.com


sexuality being a choice and he also noted her church’s support for a pro-gram to “pray the gay away.”

Hildebrand recalled that clips of Tina Fey spoofing Palin on “Saturday Night Live” were looping randomly on the jumbo TV monitors at the Wrangler Tuesday evening.

Responding to a follow-up question about McCain specifically, Hildebrand said, “We need to make sure that vot-ers are educated and clear on the dif-ferences,” which he said ranged from passing the proposed federal Employ-ment Non-Discrimination Act to end-ing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to broader issues such as making universal affordable healthcare a reality.

Hildebrand does feel that there has been a huge shift in LGBT attitudes toward Obama since the early days of the Democratic primary contest, when, he said, Hillary Clinton was, “no ques-tion,” the favorite.

“A lot of people felt they knew her and felt very comfortable with her,” he recalled, “while they didn’t know Barack so well.”

Hildebrand would not say in so many words that the recent crisis in the credit markets signaled a funda-mental new dynamic in the race for the White House, but argued, “More Americans feel like Barack under-stands what they are going through than that John McCain does.”

He was adamant in dismissing a report out of Britain this week that senior Obama staff believe that an

Electoral College landslide is in the off-ing for their candidate.

“God no,” Hildebrand said when asked about that characterization. “We’re hoping and praying every day that we can get to 270. The battle-ground states are razor thin and things change day to day. We all feel urgency.”

The last high-profile Obama cam-paign event in New York involving the LGBT community was Michelle Obama’s June 26 keynote address to the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, held at the Waldorf. The candidate’s wife told that group, “We are all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union.” The group raised more than a million dollars for the Demo-cratic Party.

As well-heeled Obama supporters awaited Monday evening’s festivities, a grassroots group known as Obama Pride NYC issued its weekly update, laying out details for voter registration efforts in Harlem and at NYU, City Col-lege, and Hunter College, weekly Satur-day bus trips to canvas in Center City Philadelphia, and trainings available in Queens through Camp Obama for those willing to devote extended numbers of days to volunteering on the campaign.

For more information on Obama Pride NYC, visit http://nyc.lgbt4o-bama.com. For tickets to the October 6 soiree, visit https://donate.barack-obama.com/page/contribute/Oct-6Biden.

The Cold Spring Depot

This Fall, take one of the most beauti-ful train rides in the world—visit Cold Spring in Autumn. Upon your arrival to Cold Spring, check out the historic train station built in 1884. “The Cold Spring Depot Restaurant” hosts an Oktoberfest celebration all October, featuring Oktoberfest Bier, authentic German food, and an Oompah Band playing in the Gazebo next to the outdoor clam bar. Sit under umbrella tables as the 68 trains rush by. The De-pot offers a variety of American foods including steaks, seafood, comfort food, and homemade desserts. Dur-ing the winter enjoy the warm atmo-sphere of two fi replaces and the library setting of the Depot balcony. Eat, drink and be merry at a fun place to enjoy the warm Fall days and crisp Fall evenings. The Depot is 25 years old but the food is brought in fresh every day.

1 Depot Square | Cold Spring, NY 10516845-265-5000 | www.coldspringdepot.com

Autumn in the

Hudson Valley

Robert A. McCaffrey Realty Inc.Robert A. McCaffrey Realty Inc. was estab-lished in 1987 and is a major realtor serving Philipstown (Garrison, Cold Spring), Putnam, Dutchess and Or-ange Counties. Offering a wide range of proper-ties, from luxurious Hud-son River estates to village cottages, residential and commercial, R. A. McCaffrey Realty is es-pecially active in the luxury market. Our offi ce team of associate brokers and sales agents, all local residents, can provide the personalized, knowledgeable service you deserve. Mr. McCaffrey is a fourth generation resident of Philipstown and can provide answers to any questions about the area.

143 Main St. | Cold Spring, NY 10516845-265-4113 | www.mccaffreyrealty.com

Hudson Valley: A True EscapeBy: Lee A. Castoro

Growing up in the Hudson Valley, one might think that I know all there is about this beautiful region, however, I often fi nd something new to explore or some historic element to uncover. The area undoubtedly has a rich, vibrant past—the beautiful Hudson is indeed America’s river, so vital for our independence and our formation as a nation. The breathtak-ing mountains & highlands have inspired many notable American artists and everyday New Yorkers take the 1-hour train ride to fi nd a haven, a refuge from the hustle of Manhattan. An hour-and-a-half north in Hyde Park you’ll fi nd FDR’s home and The Culinary Institute of America. Le Petit Chateau Inn offers customizable CIA gourmet-cooking classes on premises and an outstanding environment which will make you want to turn off the Blackberry. Down south in Putnam County you’ll fi nd 2 gems—Cold Spring and Garrison. The quaint village of Cold Spring is an antique-lover’s dream, with rows of eclectic and decorative shops and some fi ne culi-nary treasures. Cathryn’s Tuscan Grill was recently voted one of the fi nest Italian restaurants in the US and features an award-winning wine list. The Cold Spring Depot offers a family-friendly

atmosphere in the original historic train depot and serves casual wholesome favorites. The Pig Hill Inn is a “gem within a gem”. The lovely, tastefully decorated boutique B&B is the per-fect place to unwind after a day of shopping, kayaking or hiking, with the kindest innkeepers in the business. If you’re looking for a second home or a permanent escape from Manhattan, allow Bob at Robert McCaffrey Realty to show you some of the fi nest homes available. In nearby Garrison you’ll be inspired. This quaint hamlet provides incredible pan-oramic views of the region. Boscobel, a beautiful federal period mansion offers museum tours. The Russel Wright Design Center/Manitoga is an architectural masterpiece. The Bird & Bottle Inn is absolutely stunning. Centuries old and fully re-stored, the Inn has an exceptional menu and picturesque grounds to host your spe-cial occasion. Nearby, The Garrison Resort offers everything you’ll need for a per-fect getaway—fabulous food, an 18-hole golf course, spa and exceptional cuisine. Whatever it is you desire in an escape, a Hudson Valley autumn will most surely provide. The area is by far, one of the most decorated and beautiful in America, and deservingly so. For more information about the region, contact Putnam Visitors Bureau and Dutchess County Tourism. Metro North takes you there from Grand Central in about an hour.

✓ THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2ND, 6:30 PM Presidential Forum with Representatives from the Campaigns, moderated by Richard Kim, Associate Editor, The Nation. Stay, get some munchies and watch the VP debates with us, on the Big Screen at 9 PM.

✓ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH, 6:30 PM NYS Legislators (Manhattan) Forum moderated by Paul Schindler, Editor-In-Chief, Gay City News . Stay, get some munchies and watch the Presidential debates with us, on the Big Screen at 9 PM

✓ THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16TH, 6:30 PM Congressional (Manhattan) Candidates Forum moderated by Marcus Mabry of The New York Times.

✓ ELECTION NIGHT PARTY Tuesday, November 4, 6:30 PM Come watch the returns on the Big Screen and celebrate.

So Be Sexy and Come to the Center for our

Candidate ForumsSponsored by the Center and Gay Men’s Health Crisis

Catch all the action on our live webcast at www.gaycenter.org/election2008

� BIDEN, from p.2

2 - 8 OCT 2008

HIV Ban Amended, Not LiftedAs federal health officials ponder ending US entry bar, Homeland Security tinkers

6/ Politics

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE

A federal regulation that creates a new waiver program for HIV-posi-

tive visitors to the US and was finalized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is drawing objections from gay groups who say the federal government should instead be moving toward ending the HIV travel ban entirely.

“The timing of these regula-tions is deeply troubling,” said Victoria Neilson, legal direc-tor of Immigration Equality, a group that aids gay immi-grants, in a statement. “In July, Congress issued a bipar-tisan message to this adminis-tration: remove HIV as a bar-rier to travel and immigration. Instead of simply ending the HIV travel ban, the adminis-tration is again treating HIV differently from any other medical condition.”

The US has banned HIV-positive visitors and immi-grants since 1987, when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added HIV to the list of communica-ble diseases that bar entry. In 1993, Congress enacted a law that required HHS to keep HIV on that list, but that law was repealed in July. HHS must still remove HIV from its list to end the ban.

HIV-positive travelers have

always been able to obtain waivers to the ban, but that process is seen as cumber-some and intrusive. DHS, which oversees entry into the US, proposed the new waiver program late last year saying it would streamline the waiver efforts. Groups objected to the new program.

“It’s a Band-Aid on a major problem,” said Brian Moult-on, associate counsel at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s leading gay lobbying group. “It’s purport-edly going to make it easier for people to get short-term, less than 30 days, entry into the country.”

On September 20, an HHS spokeswoman, noting Con-gress’ repeal of the 1993 law, told the Associated Press, “We’re working hard to revise the regulation and it’s our goal to have it completed during this administration.”

The spokeswoman, Holly Babin, said that remov-ing HIV from the list was “a time-consuming process, and we are giving it the atten-tion it deserves in an effort to anticipate all issues and get it right.”

When DHS issued the final regulation on the waiver pro-gram on September 29, the agency stated in the regula-tion text, “HIV remains on that list until HHS amends its

regulation. HHS has indicated its intention to do so; pending such action, any alien who is HIV-positive is still inadmis-sible to the United States.”

What may further compli-cate any effort to take HIV off the HHS list during the remaining four months of the Bush administration is a May 9 memo from Joshua Bolten, the White House chief of staff, to all federal agencies telling them that any new regulations had to be proposed by June 1 and finalized by November 1.

The only exceptions were for “extraordinary circumstanc-es,” Bolten wrote. While the memo is not a rule or law, it is an additional hurdle that any proposed regulation must overcome.

Babin and a second HHS spokesperson did not respond to emails and a call seeking confirmation of her comments to the Associated Press. Gay City News also asked if the Bolten memo was creating an obstacle to HHS taking HIV off the list.

All of this is frustrating for activists who have fought for years to get the ban lifted. The ban has long been seen as retrograde and at odds with common sense public health practice.

The ban was or ig inal-ly championed by the late Jesse Helms, a conservative North Carolina senator with a long anti-gay record. That it remains in force five years after Helms left office is par-ticularly galling for some.

The fact that a second fed-eral agency has now put in place a new waiver program that is seen as not improving on the original waiver effort is also frustrating.

“We are on the eve of lift-ing this ban once and for all,” Neilson said in the statement. “Why is the administration setting new waiver require-ments in stone now? The time has come for this adminis-tration to finish the job that Congress started this sum-mer. It’s time to lift the HIV ban.”

HRC’s Moulton said his group remained hopeful that HHS would act.

“It doesn’t make us less hopeful, but it is frustrating that they would use the time and energy of the government to do this when we know that HHS can use its authority to lift the ban entirely,” he said.

Is Josh Bolten, seen here with President George W. Bush, the official responsible for delay-ing the end of the HIV immigration ban?

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Ecuador Constitution, Including Gay Rights, Passes

Ecuador’s new constitution was ratified by 64 percent of vot-ers this week, a big victory for leftist President Rafael Correa. Most of the news coverage has focused on provisions allowing for socialization of the economy and for him to run for two more terms, but the document also includes provisions protecting lesbian and gay rights and autho-rizing civil unions for same-sex couples, giving them marriage in all but name.

Lambda Sues City Over Sex Stings

Lambda Legal has filed a fed-eral lawsuit against Johnson City, Tennessee, and its police chief for conduct following mass arrests of men in a public sex sting opera-

tion in October 2007. Lambda called the practice of releasing photos of 40 alleged perpetra-tors, including its client Kenneth Giles, to the press “highly unusu-al” compared to the department’s customary practices.

Staff attorney Greg Nevins said in a release, “In America, the police do not get to add an extra punishment to people they don’t like,” adding that the department “went out of its way to humiliate Mr. Giles and caused irreparable damage.”

Local news media ran the pictures of the suspects, along with their names and addresses. Lambda reviewed 600 press releases by the department over a one-year period and found “none pertaining to arrests were accom-panied by photos or personally approved by the chief.”

One of the men arrested in the sting killed himself, and several others lost their jobs, including

Giles, who worked at a Veterans Administration hospital.

Schwarzenegger:Screw Harvey Milk

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have established a Harvey Milk Day in the state, honoring the San Francisco supervisor and gay rights leader who was assassinated in 1978 along with

Mayor George Moscone by for-mer Supervisor Dan White at City Hall. Milk is also the subject of a new biopic directed by Gus Van Sant called “Milk,” starring Sean Penn in the title role and due to premiere November 26.

I n h i s v e t o m e s s a g e , Schwarzenegger, who bowed to right-wing pressure not to desig-nate a “day of significance” for Milk, said that he felt it was more appropriate for Milk to be “recog-nized at the local level.”

Bush Opposes Partner Benefits for Fed Employees

The first Congressional hear-ing on legislation to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees was held September 24 at the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Four of the five wit-nesses favored it. The naysayer,

according to the Washington Post, was Howard Weizmann of the Office of Personnel Man-agement, who at first took no position on it, but “had nothing good to say about it.” Within ten minutes, however, he said the Bush Administration opposed it because it “could lead to fraud and abuse,” citing the film, “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” about two New York City firefighters who live together pretending to be gay to get domestic partner benefits.

“This is not farfetched,” Weiz-mann said.

Leonard Hirsh of the group Federal GLOBE, representing LGBT employees, told the news-paper, “It is an insult to suggest there is any added likelihood of fraud from LGBT employees,” noting that “a higher level of certification” is required under the bill than for heterosexual employees.

Gay US Big at UN Can’t Get Respect

Richard Grenell, the longtime spokesman for the US ambas-sadorial mission to the United Nations, tried unsuccessfully for four years to get his domestic partner’s name included in his

NEWS BRIEFS By ANDY HUMM

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HARVEY MILK

RICHARD GRENELL

2 - 8 OCT 2008

Surging EmotionsFor one evening, Iraq vet play focuses on gay soldier’s experiences

Military /7

attack that so injured her, and comparing her plight to that of others in Walter Reed, she adds, “I have my face and my brain. This is better than what my life could be.”

In 2006, Duckworth ran a very competitive race — los-ing by just two points — for an open congressional seat in the suburbs of Chicago.

Ty Simmons, played by Tom Rader, was a Vietnam vet-eran who gives perspective on the war to the much younger soldiers he commands, and serves as a second moderator.

Damon Williams plays two African-American soldiers, both from New York. Herold Noel of the South Bronx is one of them. He became an alco-holic after killing a woman because he thought she had a bomb in her hands. Instead, it was a baby who rolled onto the road. As Noel reached forward to save it, trucks and tanks ran over it in succession, split-ting it in half, “the head going one way, its body another.”

Noel says he is no “baby killer,” but the image of the woman haunts him and his relationship with his own wife and baby. He has no visible wounds, but says he needs a

“prosthetic mind,” because he has left “the physical war and now I’m in the mental one.”

The main message that comes from the play is the disconnect Americans have with returning Iraq veterans. One soldier, Kelly Dougherty, played by Amanda Holston, was presented as a naïve sub-urban white teenager. She said in her monologue that she “was shopping at Macy’s,” to buy shoes with friends when she came home on leave. When she finally returned from Iraq for good, she found that talking about the war was pointless and her friends “care more about who’s going to be the next ‘American Idol.’”

The soliloquy of John Ball, Jr., played by openly gay actor Timothy Chambers, highlights his own confusion and inter-nalized homophobia, which made him decide not to reen-list. He explains, “I excelled at my job,” as a communications

specialist at the beginning of the war. Still, his sexuality was not an issue on a daily basis, he said, since “no one thinks about sex,” in the midst of bat-tle. “I just don’t know how you could.”

Ball worries though that if the commanders knew, “I was gay, I could lose everything,” including “the rights I fought for.”

Ball’s life became a focus of the discussion held after the play, when Chambers was joined by Jeff Key, a gay sol-dier who had served in Iraq and wrote a play called “The Eyes of Babylon,” about his experiences there, and by Jen-nifer Hogg of the Service Wom-en’s Action Network and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The experiences of the three panelists varied, with Hogg explaining that she received a strong and terrible awaken-ing to what the Army would be like in 2000, when Bush won the election and her com-manding officer announced, “Thank God Bush is in office now. We’re gonna get rid of all the fags in the military.”

At the time, she said she had short hair, and “typical dyke glasses,” making her wonder how vulnerable she would be. Hogg made sure

to point out that while men seem to be the focus of the issue in the news, female sol-diers are statistically more vulnerable to the policy.

Key, saying that when you’re in combat, you can hear the “air coming out of their lungs, as close as two human beings can be,” said he could not fathom lying about who he was. “The Marine Corps was a paragon of American masculinity,” he said, but added that his expe-rience being out to some of his fellow marines was not as difficult as it was for others. It was “very much about who I am,” he explained, saying his fellow soldiers “knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, I’d give my life to them.”

Key, a peace advocate who founded the Mehadi Founda-tion, a non-profit organiza-tion helping Iraq War veter-ans struggling with post-trau-matic stress-related drug and alcohol abuse, said, “I came out to leave the war,” add-ing, “non-conflict resolution is the only way.” He stressed his belief that even when the ban is lifted, homophobia in the military will magically end, pointing to lingering rac-ism 60 years after President Harry Truman ended segre-

gation in the ranks. “The mili-tary draws the very best and the very worst of us,” he said.

Chambers said that while rehearsing the role of John Ball, Jr., he was able to meet some of his fellow soldiers, for whom “it didn’t really matter. John had a very good experi-ence.” Chambers also felt that in playing the role, he was speaking for others, explain-ing, “There are many people wanting to tell the same story but can’t.” He finds it empow-ering to be their voice, espe-cially at a venue just around the corner from Stonewall, “where it all began.” Cham-bers has found that veter-ans who come to see the play speak to him about soldiers they worked with who were gay.

One of the soldiers por-trayed in the play developed a new mindset about gays in the military after seeing his performance. The real life Ty Simmons, Key said, told him he had a gay soldier in his unit and now realizes that he “did his part like everyone else, and he was right there every step of the way.”

Chambers added that Sim-mons also told him, “For every one of your stories, 10,000 people are behind you.”

IN CONFLICTThe Barrow Street Theatre27 Barrow St. at Seventh Ave. So.Wed., Thu., 8 p.m., Fri., Sat., 9 p.m.Sat., 4 p.m.; Oct. 5, 5 p.m.Through Nov. 16$35; $15 for students 212-352-3101 or cultureproject.org

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entry in the UN’s Blue Book refer-ence guide, the Advocate report-ed. He was finally told by State Department lawyer Richard Visek that such a listing would be a vio-lation of the Defense of Marriage Act, which forbids federal recog-nition of same-sex marriage.

Iran Prexy: Still Going Down on Gays

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, appeared on the “Democracy Now” radio and TV show last week and acknowl-edged there “might be a few” gay people in his country, but that homosexuality is “an unlikable and foreign act” that “shakes the foundations of society,” “robs humanity,” and “brings about disease,” reported Juan Gonza-lez, who conducted the interview with Amy Goodman.

Last year, speaking at Colum-bia University, Ahmadinejad declared there were no homo-sexual people in his country.

“It should be of no pride to American society to say they

defend something like [homo-sexuality],” he said last week. “Just because some people want to get votes, they are willing to overlook every morality.” He also claimed that the teenage boys famously hanged for being gay in 2005 “were drug traffickers or they killed someone else.”

Victory Fund Endorses 100 LGBT Candidates

The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund has endorsed a record 100 LGBT candidates for public office across the nation. Among them are two viable candidates for

US Congress — Linda Ketner in South Carolina and Jared Polis in Colorado — as well as Kate Brown for Oregon Secretary of State.

For the full list, go to victory-fund.org.

Coming Out Day is October 11

In case you haven’t gotten around to it, the 20th National Coming Out Day is October 11. The day was established in 1988 to commemorate the first anni-versary of the second national march on Washington for LGBT rights that drew more than half a million to the nation’s capital.

ESPA Backs Democratic Senate Challenger Upstate

The Empire State Pride Agen-da, New York’s LGBT lobby group, endorsed David Nachbar, a Dem-ocrat, against six-term incumbent Republican Jim Alesi in a race in the 55th State Senate District, which includes portions of Mon-roe County adjacent to Rochester.

The group cited the Democrat’s work at Bausch & Lomb secur-ing corporate policies protecting LGBT rights and providing domes-tic partner benefits, as well as his commitment to marriage equality.

Alesi is “strongly opposed to marriage equality,” the Pride Agenda release said, “and has gone so far as to be a public supporter and co-sponsor the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.” He also opposes measures to protect transgender rights and to establish an anti-bullying law covering public schools. Alesi voted against the Sexual Orien-tation Non-Discrimination Act in 2002.

Nachbar said, “I will unequiv-ocally support any measure that will contribute to full equality for LGBT people under law.”

ESPA’s support for Nachbar is part of an all-out effort this year to secure a Democrat majority in the Senate, the first in 40 years. The Republican majority stalled votes on a gay rights bill and hate crimes bill for many years and is still blocking votes on marriage equality and transgender rights.

Two weeks ago, the Pride

Agenda endorsed another Rochester-area Democrat, Rick Dollinger, who is look to take out incumbent Republican Joe Robach.

For more information on ESPA endorsements in state legislative races, go to prideagenda.org.

Palin Cries Over Gay Priest

When Sarah Palin visited Ground Zero in downtown New York, she encountered Daily News columnist Michael Daly, who was there signing his new biography of Father Mychal Judge, the out gay fire chaplain who perished in the catastro-phe. He inscribed a copy for her and reported, “Her eyes welled again as she gazed at the photo of anguished first responders car-rying him from the fiery ruin.”

Palin Let Victims Pay for Rape Tests

You probably don’t need much more information on Sarah Palin’s right-wing deeds, but when she was mayor of Wasilla, the town began “billing sexual assault vic-

tims for the cost of rape kits and forensic exams,” the New York Times reported. This was a viola-tion of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, drafted by Joe Biden, that denied federal grants to states that made victims pay for these exams. Palin’s run-ning mate, John McCain, voted against the Biden bill.

The Alaska Legislature passed a bill in 2000 to stop Wasilla and other towns for charging for these exams. It was signed by Demo-cratic Governor Tony Knowles.

The Times reported that there

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SARAH PALIN

JARED POLIS

2 - 8 OCT 2008

7 DAYS7 NIGHTS

Key Gay Leader Slain in IraqLondon-based LGBT refugee group says killing will “cripple” movement

8/ Human Rights

of Iraqi queers since October 2005. At that time, Grand Aya-tollah Ali al-Sistani, the octo-genarian spiritual chief of all Iraqi Shiite Muslims, issued a death-to-all-gays fatwa.

Bashar’s last name cannot be published out of concern for the safety of his family.

“There were four killers, all wearing black masks,” said Ali Hili, the 35-year-old gay Iraqi exile who is the London-based coordinator and co-founder of the all-volunteer Iraqi LGBT, which has members through-out Iraq, runs safe houses for those threatened with death by the fundamentalist mur-der squads, and documents the ever-escalating campaign of anti-gay assassinations in Iraq.

To date, Iraqi LGBT’s net-work of underground gay activ-ists has been able to assemble documentation of 487 deliber-ate murders of Iraqis targeted by the death squads because they were known or believed to be gay, lesbian, or transgen-dered. That figure may well be only the tip of the iceberg, given the difficulty of their investiga-tions in an utltra-homophobic society riven by armed conflict among ethnic and religious groups.

According to investigations by Iraqi LGBT members in Baghdad, “A car with the four killers pulled up outside the barber shop where Bashar was getting a haircut,” Hili told Gay City News by telephone from London. “They called him by his name, ordered the other people in the barber shop to move away from him, and then sprayed him with their machine guns, leaving his bloody corpse riddled with bullets.”

“Bashar was very close to me, and I can‘t stop weeping,” said Hili, adding, “I knew him since 1994, when he began coming to the record shop I was then running in Bagh-dad, and we became very close friends. Bashar was hand-some, very funny, and camp, with a great heart that never knew hate. His nickname was ‘Madonna’ because he was such a great fan of hers.”

The murder of Bashar “will cripple us for sure,” Hili told this reporter. “He used to run one of our safe houses, but then we paid for him to learn bookkeeping and fiscal man-

agement, and in June he took over administration of all our financial matters in Iraq, track-ing every transfer of funds from London for our work there and making sure that every penny was used to maximum effect. This is such a terrible tragedy, they hit us so hard.”

Hili continued, “About a week before he was murdered, Bashar said that he was very scared for himself and his family because he had begun receiving death threats. He was the sole support of his four sisters and his seriously disabled mother, who cannot speak or walk. After Bashar was killed, the family fled back to their home town of Mosul.”

These recent death threats

followed publication this summer of an interview with Bashar by freelance Austra-lian journalist Clive Simmons in the glossy Australian gay monthly DNA. Even though Bashar was identified with the pseudonym “Harth Jobory” in the article, a photograph of him appeared with it. The magazine said it had written permission from Bashar for use of the photo, which the slain man had provided.

Bashar’s comrades in the underground Baghdad Iraqi LGBT network suspect that a copy of the DNA article was obtained by the Ministry of Interior and passed to one of the death squads of the for-mer Badr Corps, although that is impossible to confirm. Last year, the Badr Corps — the fierce military arm of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the largest Shiite political group, which recognizes Sistani as their political and spiritual guide -- was integrated into the Ministry of Interior. Its death squads now operate with full police powers and the panoply of technical and intelligence resources available in the Min-istry.

In the DNA interv iew, Bashar recounted his experi-ences while working as a trans-lator for US military police in Iraq who were training Iraqi

police. He also recounted his kidnapping by Islamist funda-mentalists last year.

“The soldiers used to talk about the freedom in America and how great life was there, but they used to make jokes about gays,” Bashar told DNA. “The Americans who patrolled the streets threw a bottle of water at my friend and I because we were gay. They were driving by in their Hum-vees, and they had these win-dows where they could look out from, and I could see that they were laughing at us and calling us fags. They’d said that when they came here they would change things — they would liberate us — and here they were disrespecting us.”

“Nevertheless,” Bashar con-tinued, “I began working inside the Green Zone as a transla-tor for the American military police, who were teaching the Iraqi police how to use weap-ons. They gave me a hard time. They were very negative people. One day, my American friend told me, ‘All the people talk about you.’ I said, ‘Why? I do a good job.’ He said, ‘They are not open-minded people. They are not predisposed to accept gay people teaching the police.”

So, Bashar recounted to the Australian journalist, “I went to see the chief of the Ameri-can company who had hired the translators to clarify the situation, but he was an assh-ole. He just looked me up and down and said, ‘You are a dis-ease. A piece of shit. We have no place for people like you. We have enough faggots fucking each other in San Francisco.’”

Bashar subsequently went to work translating for other army contingents at the Camp Delta base in southern Iraq, where one night the taxi he was traveling in was stopped by five militiamen loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the funda-mentalist extremist cleric who has egged on his own anti-gay death squads.

“They put a cape over my face and drove me somewhere,” Bashar told DNA, “and when

we got there, they took off my clothes and started beating me. They kept me naked for three days. I cried for hours. I couldn’t sleep. They didn’t give me any food or water. During the beatings I just tuned out and kept thinking of the lyrics of Madonna songs — especial-ly the ‘Erotica’ album — and that gave me the courage to go through what they did to me.

“They beat me every two or three hours for 10 minutes at a time. They pissed on me many times. I said, ‘Please God, I want to die. I come from a good family.’ They said I was gay and that they had orders to kill gays and lesbians wher-ever they found them. Then they said they wanted to fuck me. I refused and they gang-raped me. There were ten of them, and they came in the room one after the other. One of them was so drunk that he threw up on me... This went on for 12 days. ”

Bashar was eventually released, naked, to an interro-gator ordered to murder him. But knowing Bashar’s family, the interrogator instead beat him relentlessly and then took a photograph of his bloodied face to make it seem as if he had killed him.

“I told one of the Americans in charge of security inside the base what had really hap-pened to me,” Bashar recount-ed to the Australian journalist, “and that I hadn’t been able to sleep or eat very well since, but he just laughed at me. He said, ‘You’re lucky to have had ten dicks in 12 days.’”

Bashar expressed his dis-illusionment with the US occupier. “I was a fool back in 2003,” he told DNA. “I stood in the street and applauded the American troops when they entered Baghdad. But America is living in denial about what it has done to our country…

“You think you’ve done such a great thing ‘liberating’ us from Saddam, but where is the freedom for gay men and women? Sure, we are free — free to live in hiding, free to run for our lives, and free to die for the ‘crime’ of being gay. You in the West do not think about your freedom. It’s nothing to you. But there is a price to be paid for freedom.”

And Bashar ultimately paid that price in a hail of machine gun bullets.


� OCT 2, from p.2

collaboration with Bruce Vilanch, pres-ents “The Fancy Boys Follies,” with a cast featuring Jim J. Bullock (Wilbur Turnblad on Broadway in “Hairspray,” the West Coast cast of “When Pigs Fly,” and, way back when, Monroe Ficus on ABC’s “Too Close For Comfort” with Ted Knight). 45th Street Theatre, 354 W. 45th St. Sep. 29, Oct. 2-3, 8 p.m.; Oct. 1 & 5, 1 p.m.; Oct. 4, 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 at ova-tiontix.com or 212-352-3101.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

THEATERAs the Band Warmed Up

Four men, one disease, and astonish-ing heart set the stage for a journey that will alter perspectives on an epidemic that continues to affect gay men. Set in the early 1980s, “A Quiet End” explores the lives of three men — a teacher, an aspiring jazz pianist, and an unemployed actor — sharing a rundown apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. All have lost their jobs and been shunned by their families because they have AIDS. The unexpected appearance in the apartment of an ex-boyfriend — uncertain about his own future — opens a poignant and thought-provoking evening of theater. For the first time in almost two decades, The Rapscallion Theatre Collective brings Robin Swados’ play, freshly revised especially for this production. back to New York, directed by Tom Rothacker. EndTimes Underground @ the Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St., btwn. Lafayette St. & Bowery. Oct. 2-4, 8 p.m.; Oct. 4-5, 2p.m. Tickets are $18 at SmartTix.com or 212-868-4444.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Defiantly PacifistMallory Catlett conceived and directs

“Oh What War,” written by Jason Craig and composer Lisa Dove, based on Joan Littlewood’s work of the same name that examined the folly and atrocity of World War I through popular song, clowning, and visual project. In a radically re-imag-ined take on Littlewood, featuring a band of deserters stuck in No Man’s Land, providing an underground entertainment in a flagrant disobedience to author-ity. Presented by Here Arts Center and the Juggernaut Theatre Company, 145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St., one block below Spring St. Sept. 25-26, 29-30; Oct. 1-4, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 at here.org or 212-352-3101.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

FRI.OCT.3HUMAN RIGHTSWarsaw Insider

A start-up New York City chap-ter of Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (KPH), or the Polish Campaign Against

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“I could see that the Americans who patrolled the streets were

laughing at us and calling us fags.”


Please join honorary chairs Carson Kressley, Alan Cumming and Justin Bond for a cocktail party and auction benefiting the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth.

Special Thanks to

Chelsea Art Museum556 W. 22nd StreetNew York, NY

Featuring a performance by Sandra Bernhard

Host CommitteeJames Ashton, Maggie Collier, Ryan J. Davis, Brian Ellner, Charles Graver, Brad Hoylman, Michael T. Isbell, Thomas R. Koveleskie, Alice Rich Lewis, Jon Mallow, Greg Mann, John Samuels, Jeffery Self, Franklin Stevens, Andy Ward, Roberto Redondo and Daryl Wesoloski, David Raleigh and

Rick Bahl, Doug Wingo and Tim Legg

October 6, 2008 at 7pm

A Benefit for the Ali Forney Center

Tickets start at $150 To purchase go to www.aliforneycenter.org

Tuesday, 10/7 7 - 9 pm The Graduate Center, Skylight Room Rm. 9100

Sonia Corrêa, Coordinator of Sexuality Policy Watch, Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association Richard Parker, Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University

Rosalind Petchesky, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, CUNY

Sexuality, Health, And Human Rights: Join the authors to celebrate the publication of this ground breaking work. The book provides a critical analysis of shifting theoretical perspectives and activist strategies regarding sexual politics and their larger geopolitical context in the twenty-first century.

Book Launch

Tuesday, 10/14 7 - 9 pm The Graduate Center, Rm. C198

Lisa C. Moore, Publisher RedBone Press; Terry Rowden, Professor of African-American Literature, College of Staten Island (CUNY); Jafari Sinclaire Allen, Assistant

Professor of Anthropology & African American Studies, Yale University; La Marr Jurelle Bruce, PhD Student, African-American Studies/

American Studies, Yale University

Reclamation: The Value of Black Gay writing: In the Life and Brother to Brother, two seminal works of Black Gay writing, out of print for many years, but have recently been reissued by RedBone Press. Join esteemed scholars and the book publisher as they discuss the impact ofblack gay writers on the community and academia.

LGBTQ Studies Panel

Friday, 10/24 7 - 9 pm The Graduate Center, Segal Theatre

Locally Queer:

CLAGS/CINEMAROSA Film Screening

A Screening and Panel Discussion on Queer Cinema by New York Independent Filmmakers. Join us as we collaborate with CINEMAROSA(www.cinemarosa.org) to explore independent queer filmmaking in New York.

Panelists: Pauline Park, co-founder New York Association of Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), and attending fi lmmakers.

Moderator: Hector Canonge, Founder and Executive Director, CINEMAROSA.

PARTICIPANT DIRECTORS:Larry Tung, Envisioning Justice; D. Almoradie & C.Q. Ramilo, Green Stalk;

Craig Cobb, Hustler WP; Mark Thiedeman, Swimsuit; John Goodwin, Fabulousity.

programsVisit www.clags.org for more information

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016 [email protected] www.clags.org 212 817 1955

Wheelchair Accessible For more information call 212 817 7777 Call the Clags Office for other arrangementsNearest subways: B, D, F, V, N, Q, R, W to 34th Street; 6 to 33rd Street

Iraqi LGBT is desperate for money to continue its life-sav-ing work, expand its capacity to document the murders by the anti-gay death squads, and publicize the Iraqi gay cause.

Hili explained that activ-ists in Iraq have survived on donations from a Dutch government-funded human rights group, a gay American philanthropist and congres-sional candidate, and a Chi-cago foundation.

“For the last few months, our safe houses — we recently opened a new one in a north-east suburb of Baghdad, and

now have three — have been funded by the Dutch human rights group HIVOS,” he said from London. “And we also got a second $5,000 contri-bution from Jared Polis,” the openly gay Internet multimil-lionaire and philanthropist who this summer won a Dem-ocratic primary for Congress from Colorado and is favored to be elected in November.

In addition, the Heartland Alliance, a large Chicago-based foundation, is funding four safe-house flats for gay Iraqi exiles in a neighboring Arab country, which cannot be named for security rea-sons.

“But,” said Hili, “the HIVOS

funding ends in December, and we don’t know how we’ll be able to keep our Iraqi safe houses open after that. And our London operation doesn’t have a single pound — we can’t even afford to print bro-chures or leaflets or publicize our website. We also need equipment for our investiga-tions inside Iraq — comput-ers, scanners, cell phones, and the like. ”

Americans who want to donate to help Iraqi LGBT save lives and publicize the plight of queer Iraqis have two options. Direct dona-tions may be made using a credit card via a secure Pay Pal button on the Iraqi LGBT

web site at http://iraqilgb-tuk.blogspot.com/. US citi-zens who want to make a tax-deductible contribution may do so through the Heartland Alliance, a tax-exempt group which has agreed to act as a fiscal agent in the United States for Iraqi LGBT, “with 100 percent of donations going directly to beneficia-ries in Iraq and neighboring countries,” according to Sean Casey, coordinator of Heart-land’s Iraqi LGBT fund. Dona-tions may be sent by check

payable to Heartland Alliance and earmarked “Iraqi LGBT” at the following address:

Iraqi LGBT, c/o Sean Casey Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights208 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 1818Chicago, IL 60604

D o u g I r e l a n d c a n b e reached through his blog, DIRELAND, at http://dire-land.typepad.com/.

� RIGHTS, from p.8

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2 - 8 OCT 2008

7 DAYS7 NIGHTS

Prom Dress a Federal CaseTrans student can pursue claim for being barred from the dance

10/ Legal

BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD

In a September 25 ruling, a federal judge in Gary, Indi-ana, gave a green light to a

lawsuit by a transsexual high school student suing over his principal’s refusal to allow him to attend the prom in a dress.

US District Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen, of the Northern District of Indian, denied public school administrators’ motion to dismiss the suit filed by Kevin “K.K.” Logan against the Gary Community School Cor-poration. The court found that the defendants had not met the high standard for a motion to dismiss, which essentially is that they show that the plaintiff has no plausible claim.

Lambda Legal represents Logan.

According to the complaint, Logan identifies as a gay trans-sexual youth who prefers to wear feminine attire, and did so throughout his senior year at West Side High School in Gary. It is an interesting sign of the times that Logan claims he encountered no substantial problems at school due to his attire, finding both teachers and fellow students generally

supportive. Even the assistant principal stated no objections when Logan inquired about wearing a dress to the prom.

But principal Diana Rouse stated her objection, directing that Logan wear a pants suit

rather than a prom dress.Despite this, Logan arrived

at the prom wearing a dress similar to those worn by the girls in attendance, and was denied entry at Rouse’s direc-tion. Several students aware of what was going on left the prom and spent part of the evening in the parking lot with Logan to show their solidarity, before he returned home without having been allowed to enter.

After the prom, Logan demanded to know what school policy restricted his dressing for the event, and was shown “School Board Policy #319,” which deems

“inappropriate” clothing that signals “sexual orientation.”

Logan raised a variety of claims in his suit, asserting violation of his First Amend-ment free speech rights, his Fourteenth Amendment

equal protection rights, and his right to be free of sex dis-crimination by an education-al institution under Title IX of the Higher Education Amend-ments Act.

He also sought a declaration from the court invalidating the school’s policy and an injunc-tion against its operation. Logan sought damages for his exclusion from the prom.

The school district’s motion to dismiss raised several argu-ments that have routinely been rejected by other courts in litigation that raises consti-tutional challenges to school policies. Many school dis-

tricts, in response to lawsuits, challenged the jurisdiction of the court and asserted that its officials enjoy immunity in their professional conduct.

Van Bokkelen succinctly disposed of all of these argu-ments, pointing out that reaching any conclusion on the ultimate validity of Logan’s claims would be premature before the facts of the case are developed through pre-trial discovery. The court’s ruling means that Kevin Logan and Lambda Legal will get their day in court unless the school board comes to its senses, realizes that school boards usually lose these kinds of cases, and offers a reasonable settlement.

The school board seems to be placing most of its reliance on a recent decision from the Chicago-based 7th Cir-cuit, which has jurisdiction over Northern Indiana, which expressed unhappiness about federal judges intervening in such disputes between school officials and students, even as it ruled against a school’s disciplinary action barring anti-gay T-shirts. That ruling did not deter Van Bokkelen.


� OCT 3, from p.8

Homophobia, a group fighting for LGBT rights in that former Soviet bloc nation, hosts an evening of film, including “Coming Out in Poland,” a short docu-mentary segment that was part of the public television “In the Life” episode screened in April, and “Jesus Would Be King,” an episode of a queer show aired on national television in Czech Republic, which takes a comical yet poignant look at the LGBT situation in Poland from the vantage point of their Czech neighbors. A discussion will follow with “Jesus Would Be King” director Daniel Kupsovsky and KPH representatives. LGBT Commu-nity Center, 208 W. 13th St., 6 p.m. reception; 7 p.m. program. Tickets are $10 at gaycenter.org.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

GALLERYUncover the Clues

Gabriela Alva curates “Crime Drama,” a show of new work from Andrew Robinson, whose 20-plus-year history in ceramic arts leads the show, mingling with painting, sculp-ture, and installation. As the title infers, crimes, or imperfect histories, are explored through sculptural mul-timedia portraits and objects that serve to suggest secretive narratives begging to be discovered. Eye Level Gallery at Victor Osborne Atelier, 364 Leonard St. at Withers St., Williamsburg. Opening reception, with cocktails and DJ, tonight, 8-11 p.m. Mon.-Fri, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through Nov. 1. 347-463-9716.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

The Even CoupleWhile students in London, Gilbert

and George met in 1967 and began to create art together, developing a uniquely recognizable style both in their pictures and in their presenta-tions of themselves as living sculp-tures. Over 40 years, they developed a new format that created large scale pictures, visually and emotionally powerful, through a unique creative process. The Brooklyn Museum is the final venue in an international tour that marks the first retrospective of the artists’ work in more than 20 years. The exhibition was organized by Tate Modern, London, with the col-laboration of the artists, who consider this to be the definitive presentation of their art. 200 Eastern Parkway at Washington Ave. near Grand Army Plaza. Wed.-Fri., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (until 11 p.m. first Sat.); Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Exhibition runs through Jan. 11. Admission is $8; $4 for students & seniors.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Het Couple Loses For OnceUnmarried straight luvahs can’t deduct partner benefits


An Oregon tax magis-trate ruled on Septem-ber 24 that unmarried

different-sex couples are not entitled to a benefit that the Oregon Legislature has provid-ed to same-sex couples.

Rejecting an appeal of a rul-ing from the Department of Revenue, Magistrate Dan Rob-inson found that the Legisla-ture did not violate the Oregon Constitution when it autho-rized state employees with same-sex partners to deduct the value of domestic partner-ship benefits provided to their partners in filing their state income tax return, but refused to provide the same benefit to unmarried different sex part-ners of employees.

The statute was a response to a 1998 decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals, Tanner v. Oregon Health Ser-vices University, which had ruled that the equality provi-

sions of the Oregon Constitu-tion required the state to pro-vide spousal benefit rights for same-sex domestic partners of its employees. The Legisla-ture responded to the court decision, which the Oregon Supreme Court declined to review, by enacting provisions to extend such rights.

Federal tax law requires that the value of benefits received by domestic partners of employees be reported as income of the employee, sub-ject to tax. The Oregon statute is intended to provide as much equality as possible under state law by exempting the value of the benefits from state tax, but only for same-sex part-ners. The Oregon Legislature, of course, cannot change the federal requirement that the value be included as income.

Yvonne Haldeman’s unmar-ried male partner receives such benefits, and she tried to subtract their value on her Oregon state income tax form

for 2006, but the Department of Revenue disallowed the sub-traction, and asserted a tax claim against the value of the benefits. Haldeman argued on appeal that by not extending to her the same economic benefit given to employees with same-sex partners, the state was, in a different manner, violating the equality requirement.

Robinson first had to deter-mine the level of judicial scru-tiny appropriate to evaluat-ing Haldeman’s claim. In the 1998 Tanner case, he found, the court determined that gay people have suffered a his-tory of discrimination, so a discriminatory motive can be inferred when they are denied treatment equal to non-gay people. Consequently, that 1998 court applied height-ened scrutiny to the state’s claim that it need not provide equal benefits, placing a high burden on the state to justify its discriminatory practice.

In contrast, Robinson found

that unmarried heterosexu-als have not generally been subjected to the same kind of discrimination, so they are not a suspect class entitled to heightened scrutiny of any policy that disadvantage them.

Robinson concluded that the Oregon policy would sur-vive constitutional challenge if the state had a rational basis for excluding different-sex couples from the tax benefit offered gay couples. He found that the state’s interest in pro-moting marriage — an interest that does not include same-sex couples, who under Oregon law are not allowed to marry — was directly applicable to an unmarried different-sex cou-ple and would justify depriving them of the benefit. The couple could easily qualify for non-taxable spousal benefits by marrying, and in Robinson’s analysis that would further the public policy interests of the state of Oregon.

Logan claims he encountered no substantial problems at

school due to his attire

2 - 8 OCT 2008

7 DAYS7 NIGHTS

edly continued fundraising since then and will likely spend millions more before November 4.

“I can guarantee you that it’s being spent in the battle-ground states and in the states that have initiatives on the bal-lot,” Hillygus said.

The Swift Boaters were well known in 2004, but most of the spending by 527 groups went unnoticed in that election year.

“It received a lot more atten-

tion in 2004 because it was new,” Hillygus said.

While John McCain and Barack Obama have both been targeted by 527 groups in attack ads this year, most of the spending by those groups will probably stay below the wider public’s radar.

“They are concentrating their efforts,” Hillygus said. “It is not going broadly. It is going to very narrow segments of the population.”

In “The Persuadable Voter,” Hillygus and Shields argue that political campaigns, politi-

cal action committees, 527 groups, and other political organizations increasingly tar-get small groups of voters with specialized messages.

While Americans imagine they are seeing the entire pres-idential race playing out on the cable and network news, in newspapers and magazines, or at political events, in fact, vot-ers are being targeted in direct mail, on local radio and televi-sion, or on local cable systems with unique messages.

Shields and Hillygus found that, in 2004, Kerry and

Republican George W. Bush took positions on 75 different issues in a wide variety of direct mail pieces they sent to specific voters. The candidates avoided alienating other voters by com-municating those stances in a way that only the targeted audi-ence would see. The 527 groups do that as well.

As November 4 draws closer, the ads from 527 groups will likely get uglier.

“You will see in the last three weeks of the campaign the dirtiest stuff coming out,” Hillygus said.

Perspective /11

crisis /cri-sis/ (noun): the turning point for better or for worse in an acute disease or epidemic; a radical change in status; an unstable time in which a decisive change is impending.

A s we all know, the AIDS and HIV crisis is at epi-demic proportions here

in New York State, especially in the African-American commu-nity. People of Color In Crisis (POCC) has been at the center of that fight for more than 20 years, focusing on the needs of gay men of color in New York City. The organization has been responsible for some of the most innovative programs that have addressed the needs of this community — work that has saved lives.

During the last year, POCC has faced a genuine internal and funding crisis. The organi-zation, though programmati-cally solid, was in a complete state of disarray internally. The business systems at the agency were nonexistent, and years of neglect in focusing on critical operational issues were taking their toll.

A new Board of Directors at POCC that has been in place for just under a year has been working diligently to correct the situation and restore the agency to solid footing. We have been conducting exten-sive internal research and audits to develop a viable solu-tion for the issues at POCC.

Our goals are simple: To install solid leadership at the agency, to develop a strong fundraising and financial plan, and, most importantly, to build a solid work plan to ensure that the contributions that the agency makes in serv-ing the African-American gay community of New York City continue.

We started by installing

new, experienced leadership at the agency. Evelyn Wil-liams, an executive with years of experience, was named our interim executive director dur-ing the summer. The skills she has brought to the table have

already begun to affect the agency in a positive manner. With her help, we have put solid financial reporting and business systems in place to insure the financial integrity of POCC.

The word “transparency” has been thrown at me since day one of my involvement with POCC. As the Board of Directors continues it exami-nation of POCC operations, it has come to recognize that although the word transparent has often been used, it was sel-dom practiced. POCC’s record, though accomplished, has been marred with backdoor dealing, personal and political agendas, and out and out lying from all directions.

It is a new day at POCC. The Board has made it clear that we will not accept, participate in, or condone this type of behavior, as it has nothing to do with the goals of the organi-zation or the community that it serves.

In the interests of “transpar-ency,” let me be clear that no one who has reached out to the Board in an honest, upfront way to actually help this orga-nization has been turned away. Unfortunately, we have had very few instances of people

or organizations extending a genuine helping hand to POCC during this tough period. All we have heard (and continue to hear) is gossip and chatter from private circles about “how bad the situation is at POCC.”

Ironically, most of this con-versation comes from the very individuals whom we expected to come to the aid of the orga-nization and not participate in attempts to dismantle it.

An article that appeared in the September 18-24 issue of Gay City News (“What’s Next for POCC?”) really concerned me. It was suggested that the current Board of Directors is somehow not engaging the community and not addressing the present state of affairs at POCC.

From day one, we have dealt with our funders and the com-munity in the most honest and upfront way possible. We believe that this was in the best interest of the agency and the people that we serve. We wanted to be clear and honest with everyone about the issues that existed at POCC, and even looked to our government funders at the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State of New York to be a part of the “team” that came up with the solution guaranteeing the future of the organization.

However, as we work to cor-rect the problems at POCC, we are not finding support from these funders or from certain members of our com-

munity. What we are finding instead looks like a deliber-ate but veiled attempt to end the important work of POCC. We question the commitment that those who have failed to offer their support have to the African-American gay com-munity of New York City and to the work that POCC does to ensure that the AIDS crisis does not continue to grow. We question the true value that they place on the lives being lost in our communities to AIDS and HIV.

We need the assistance of the community if POCC is to continue to provide the services that have addressed our criti-cal needs for years. We need all of you to reach out to gov-ernment officials at all levels to say that we will not stand for their not acting to ensure that agencies like POCC continue to exist to serve our needs.

We need all of you to con-tinue to believe in and support the work of POCC. In turn, our promise to you is that we will restore integrity to the agency’s operations. We will continue to bring innovative, relevant, evidence-based HIV preven-tion programming to the com-munity that we serve. This is a pivotal moment in the life of POCC. Please stand with us.

We welcome any positive suggestions that anyone might have as we work to rebuild POCC, a critical organization in the history of our commu-nity. We are in a health crisis, and we must work together to make sure that our communi-ty is served during it and that this crisis comes to an end some day soon.

David Watkins is chair of the Board of Directors of People of Color in Crisis (POCC), an HIV prevention group based in Brooklyn. He can be reached at [email protected].


� OCT 3, from p.10

RELATIONSHIPSHug the One You’re With

Polyamorous NYC celebrates a weekend of awareness about different options for those striving to enjoy both fidelity and satisfaction. The three days of events begin with a “Super Massive Cuddle Party,” Oct. 3, 8 p.m. sharp (late arrivals will not be admitted), LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St. On Sat., Oct. 4, there will be a Poly Pride Rally with performers and speakers, including Tristan Taormino of the Village Voice, at Central Park’s Great Hill, W. 106th St. & Central Park W., noon-6 p.m. That evening, a “Pride After-Party” will be held at One River Place, 650 W. 42nd St., third fl., 9 p.m.-1 a.m. On Sun., Oct. 5, there will be readings and book sign-ings at Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St., btwn. Stanton & Riv-ington Sts., 12:30-2:30 p.m. for com-plete information, visit www.poly-nice.com/pride.html.

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MUSICHouse Strauss

Sopranos Angela Adragna and Erin Carr present “Semi-Strauss,” an eve-ning of art songs by Richard Strauss, Joseph Marx, and Darius Milhaud. Christ & St. Stephen’s Church, 120 W 69th St., btwn. Broadway & Columbus Ave., 8 p.m. Admission is $15; $10 for students & seniors.

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THEATERNo Olive, Please

Basil Twist’s innovative puppetry unites with drag diva Joey Arias’ leg-endary voice to transport audiences to unpredictable worlds, channeling ecstatic desires, lavish nightmares, and bizarre premonitions. “Arias With a Twist” is a feast for the senses, cen-tering on rare songs and reinventions of popular favorites. HERE Arts Center, 145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St., one block below Spring St. Wed.-Sun., 9 .m. through Dec. 31. Tickets are $35-$100 at here.org or 212-352-3101. More information at http://www.basiltwist.com.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Golden OldiesWriter and director Roger Bean’s

“The Marvelous Wonderettes” is a cotton candy-colored, non-stop musi-cal comedy featuring the iconic sounds of the ’50s and the story of four wide-eyed young girls who dream big to match. The songs include “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Lip-stick on Your Collar,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” “It’s My Party,” and “It’s

What’s At Stake at POCCBY DAVID WATKINS

■ FIGHTING AIDS

“In the interests of ‘transparency,’ let me be clear that no one who has reached out in an honest, upfront

way to actually help has been turned away.”

� 527S, from p.2

2 - 8 OCT 2008

Big Win For Montana Co-ParentLesbian ex entitled to continuing parental role, financial compensation

12/ Legal


A Montana trial judge ruled on September 29 that a lesbian co-

parent is entitled to continued parental contact with the chil-dren adopted by her former partner, as well as compensa-tion for her financial contribu-tion to the house they occupied together with the children for many years.

Missoula County District Judge Ed McLean went beyond traditional constitutional anal-ysis to find that the children’s rights to continued contact with both of their mothers were an important part of the analysis. The American Civil Liberties Union participated in representing the co-parent seeking to establish her paren-tal rights over the opposition of her former partner.

According to McLean’s lengthy factual recitation, Michelle Kulstad and Barba-ra Maniaci met in Montana,

where Kulstad was visiting on business from Seattle, in late 1995. Kulstad eventually moved to Montana, living with Maniaci and making major contributions to finishing con-struction on her house, which included a home office for her chiropractic practice.

The couple exchanged rings in 1996 and lived together until the fall of 2006.

During that time, Maniaci adopted a boy and a girl, in both instances with the under-standing, McLean found, that Kulstad would also serve as a parent to the child. Based on expert testimony, the judge concluded that the children bonded with Kulstad and regarded her as a mother, despite Maniaci’s efforts after the breakup to prevent them from seeing her ex-partner. Maniaci even tried to indoctri-nate the children by repeatedly playing a tape recording recit-ing that Kulstad was not their mother.

Maniaci argued that the women did not have a mutual, committed relationship, but McLean found all the relevant evidence supported the conclu-sion that they did, and that the children considered Kulstad’s

relatives to be part of their fam-ily. He also found, based on the expert testimony, that the chil-dren would be psychologically harmed if they were perma-nently deprived of contact with Kulstad — especially the boy, who was adopted out of a bad family situation.

Having reached these factual conclusions, McLean was able to look to the relatively pro-gressive wording of Montana

statutes, which seem to have been drafted with the existence of non-traditional families in mind. As summarized by the judge, Montana provides that “persons who have previously established a parent-child

relationship that is in the best interests of the child to contin-ue” can file to establish a legal parental interest.

McClean also found plenty of precedent to support the idea that “it is constitutionally problematic to discriminate against children based on con-ditions they cannot control.” He concluded that the children had no control over who was adopting them and who was

providing parental care.The judge noted that Mon-

tana law protects the con-stitutional rights of children when “a parent has acted in a manner contrary to the child-parent relationship.” McLean found Maniaci’s conduct had been contrary to Kulstad’s parental relationship with the children, providing further cause for judicial intervention in the ex-couple’s dispute.

McLean had already, while the case was pending, ordered that Kulstad be allowed to resume regular parenting contact with the children, and this week concluded that the schedule established be con-tinued until the court makes a permanent decision on custo-dy, visitation, and other paren-tal rights. In the meantime, Kulstad is recognized as hav-ing equal rights with Maniaci to participate in decision-mak-ing for the children regard-

November 16, 2008 - Central ParkHelp us continue to provide meals and nutrition counseling to men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-altering illnesses

www.racetodeliver.org

God’s Love We Deliver

15th Annual Race to Deliver

� MONTANA, continued on p.18

Michelle Kulstad easily met the requirements of establishing that she was a de facto parent of the two children, the judge found.

2 - 8 OCT 2008

■ LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

14/ EditorialMike, Mike, Mike

BY PAUL SCHINDLERPUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER

JOHN W. SUTTER646.452.2500

[email protected]

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDERTROY MASTERS646.452.2502

[email protected]

EDITOR IN-CHIEF & CO-FOUNDERPAUL SCHINDLER

[email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITORDuncan Osborne

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSChristopher Byrne (Theater), Susie Day,

Doug Ireland (International),Brian McCormick (Dance),

Dean P. Wrzeszcz

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSBetsy Andrews, Seth J. Bookey,

Anthony M.Brown, Kelly Jean Cogswell,Dean Daderko, Tate Dougherty, Andres Duque, Michael Ehrhardt, Steve Erickson, Nick Feitel,

Jim Fouratt, Joe Fyfe, Deborah Garwood, Erasmo Guerra, Emily Harney, Andrey Henkin, Frank Holiday, Andy Humm, James Jorden,

Brendan Keane, David Kennerley, Gary M. Kramer, Arthur S. Leonard, Rachael Liberman, Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass,

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David Shengold, Gus Solomons Jr., David Spiher, Drew B. Straub, Stefen Styrsky, Jerry Tallmer,

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[email protected] City News, The Newspaper Serving Gay and Lesbian NYC, is pub-lishedby Community Media, LLC. Send all inquiries to: Gay City News, 145 Sixth Ave., First Fl., NYC 10013 Phone: 646.452.2500 Written permission of the publisher must be obtained before any of the contents of this paper, in part or whole, can be reproduced or redistributed. All contents (c) 2008 Gay City News.

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Gay City News is a registered trademark of Community Media, LLC.John W. Sutter, President

Fax: 646.452.2501;E-mail: [email protected]

TOWARD A GAY HEALTH AGENDA

September 30, 2008To the Editor:

Thank you for Duncan Osborne’s “HIV Advocates Demand Re-Gaying of Pre-vention,” (Sep. 25-Oct. 1). On LifeLube.org, we are encour-aging folks from around the country to share their ideas regarding what a 2009 Gay Men’s Health Agenda should include — the policies and programs that gay men need and deserve to keep our com-munities healthy. I encour-age Gay City News readers to weigh in. All the feedback will be presented at the National

Gay Men’s Health Summit in Seattle, October 17 – 21, and it is our hope that a docu-ment — a road map — will emerge that we can use to advocate for sane, sound, resourced, affirming health policy.

Jim PickettAIDS Foundation of Chicago

HIV AND DISABILITY


Arthur S. Leonard’s Sept. 25, 2008 article “Insur -er’s Abuse of Discretion in

AIDS Case” (Sep. 25-Oct. 1) obscured the real problem with “psychiatric” diagno-ses in HIV cases. Also, the judge’s opinion ignored how the Social Security Adminis-tration treated HIV differently in 1998.

By the early 1990s, i t became easier for HIV-posi-tive people to qualify for SSA disability payments thanks to political pressure from AIDS activists. Everybody assumed an HIV diagnosis would quickly lead to AIDS and death.

In 1996, effective anti-HIV drug therapy became avail-able. A few years later, peri-odic SSA case reviews found

many HIV-positive people were no longer disabled and they went back to work. However, some people are disabled by the drug’s side effects.

Unfortunately, many doc-tors will document only a psychiatric diagnosis, such as “somatization disorder” or depression, as in the Beck-strand case. In addition to being humiliated with only a psychiatric diagnosis, HIV-positive people will often lose their corporate disability insurance payments because few plans cover long-term psychiatric disabilities.

■ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Rudy Giuliani and Ed Koch aren’t always wrong, but any time

these two wise guys are on the same page, enthusiasti-cally plugging a policy idea, it gives me pause. So it is with their approval of Michael Bloomberg’s plan to press for a City Council override of term limits — imposed by voters in two referenda in the 1990s — so that he can seek another four years as mayor.

The term-limit debate is a maddeningly circular affair in which both sides can lay claim to speak on behalf of the people’s right to choose. I am not a big fan of term limits, subscribing to the oft-cited criticism that we already have them and they’re called elec-tions. Still, it is hard not to look at the staggering incum-bent reelection percentages in the State Legislature — and in days past, the City Council — and wonder how to inject new blood into our government.

The rationale for Bloomberg staying on — his success in continuing to reduce crime, the improved civic mood com-pared to the racially-divisive Giuliani days, and the city’s seeming immunity from the drastic tumble in home val-ues elsewhere — has been bolstered considerably in the view of third-term advocates by the recent Wall Street cri-sis. A billionaire who built a media empire after a career at Salomon Brothers, the mayor is widely trusted to rally the confidence of New York’s cap-tains of finance and industry.

Two likely 2009 Demo-cratic mayoral candidates,

Congressman Anthony Wein-er and Comp-troller William Thompson, are characterizing Bloomberg’s plan as a power grab, one that illegally sidesteps the will of the people with the vote of a simple majority of the 51-member City Council, 35 of whom themselves are liable to term limits next year. Christine Quinn, the out les-bian City Council speaker,

also a potential ’09 mayoral candidate, has been more circumspect. Last December, she seemed to rule the idea out, calling it “anti-democratic and anti-reform,” but more recently has been coy, say-ing she hasn’t heard from the mayor or seen a legisla-tive proposal from him. Other Council members want to introduce legislation, but she would likely have the ability to block that. There is specula-tion that in light of the recent City Council member items budget scandal Quinn might be happy to spend another four years as speaker before going before voters citywide.

Good government groups — led by Dick Dadey at Citizens Union and Gene Russianoff at the New York Public Inter-

est Research Group — have b e e n h a r s h in cr i t ic iz ing what they say is Bloomberg’s effort to subvert the will of vot-

ers. Their objections ought to be seriously listened to. The New York Times — which on Wednesday stated, with-out explanation, that it is not “nearly as uncomfortable” with the idea as it was in past editorials — responded that “if

the voters don’t like the result, they can register their views at the polls.” But the mayor and the Council certainly had the chance to put the term limit question before voters this November. It’s too late for that now — and those advocating Council action should explain why they chose not to go to the voters.

The most disturbing ele-ment in a plan that already smells self-serving is that it would apply only to the 2009 election; after that, the two-term limit would again be operative. The mayor’s people think that the Council amend-ing a law enacted by voters rather than doing away with it altogether would be less lia-ble to legal challenge. But the prospect of Bloomberg and

the Council telling New York-ers that they deserve three terms but nobody else does is not pretty.

Whether folks who favor giving New Yorkers a chance to vote for Bloomberg again are more democratic than those who are defending a verdict rendered twice by vot-ers here is a question that could be debated endlessly. What concerns me more is the instinct that says once a crisis strikes, there is only one person who can address it. After 9/11, Giuliani tried to extend his term by three months because nobody could fill his shoes. Now, all three daily newspapers, 13 months before an election, seem to be saying that only Bloomberg can govern with Wall Street threatened.

Instead of dwell ing on Bloomberg’s failures at West Side redevelopment or Ground Zero rebuilding or on his unconscionable suppression of dissent during the 2004 Republican Convention, I would instead draw attention to the complete lack of evidence that he has fulfilled his promise to lobby the Republican-con-trolled State Senate to move a marriage equality bill its leaders steadfastly oppose. If the mayor wants to win over skeptics in the gay community regarding his hopes for a third term, the new Albany legislative session in January presents an oppor-tunity. He could, at last, get in the game, to press the Senate, regardless of which party is then in control, to take the final step needed to make our right to marry a reality.

� LETTERS, continued on p.18

The prospect of Bloomberg and the Council telling New Yorkers that they deserve three terms but nobody else

does is not pretty.

2 - 8 OCT 2008

Identity Politics, Bankrupt?BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL

■ A DYKE ABROAD

The Bailout and ObamaBY NATHAN RILEY

■ ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Perspective /15

R emember that scene in “Star Wars” where L u k e S k y w a l k e r,

Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacka are trapped in the garbage compacter room and barely escape as it closes in ominously on all sides?

That’s the perfect metaphor for Identity Politics 2008 — all of us minorities trapped in a shrinking box of trash in which the crushing walls represent not just society, but commu-nity inquisitors demanding our qualifications. Are we gay enough, black enough, female enough to deserve liberation?

This week, the sacrificial queer was Mike Buse, chief of staff of Senator John McCain. Mike Rogers outed the guy on his blog, while encouraging a

call-in campaign to the right-wing group Focus on the Fam-ily asking readers to “thank them for supporting John McCain even though he has gay Americans in high places on his staff, including his chief of staff.”

You can imagine the out-raged fundamentalists, the angry phone calls to the McCa-in campaign, all the homopho-bic hate generated against Buse. Maybe next Rogers’ll get a list of McCain staffers of color and encourage people to call the John Birch Society. Hell, why not call the Klan if it’ll help bring down McCain?

Just a couple of weeks ago, a huge wave of so-called femi-nists unleashed their misog-yny and hate against Sarah

Palin, attacking not just her politics, but her very existence. Wendy Doniger’s Washing-ton Post article declared that despite her baby-producing womb, Palin’s “greatest hypoc-risy is in her pretense that she is a woman...”

The National Organization for Women’s Kim Gandy actu-ally issued a press release announcing that “as the chair of NOW’s Political Action Com-mittee, I am frequently asked whether NOW supports women candidates just because they are women. This gives me an opportunity to once again answer that question with an emphatic ‘No.’”

Apparently it’s the “National Organization for Only Those Women Who Agree with All

Our Policies.”I’m not above bigotry-tinged

sneering myself, dismissing the 2000 Republican National Convention packed with black faces, and Bush’s “Cabinet of Color” as mere sideshows to attract black and Hispanic vot-ers to the Republican Party. I nodded in agreement when I heard Colin Powell or Condi Rice get called Oreos and trai-tors by other people of color.

At the time, it didn’t bother me when black Maryland con-servative Michael S. Steele was pelted with Oreos, called an Uncle Tom, and portrayed as a black-faced minstrel during his 2006 bid for US Senate. No problem, said black Baltimore Democrat, State Senator Lisa A. Gladden: “Party trumps

race, especially on the national level.” Except when, as earlier this year, it’s Jesse Jackson accusing Obama of talking down to black people and “act-ing like he’s white.”

Stanley Crouch, an Afri-can American writer, thinks the greatest threat of identity politics is that it blinds par-ticipants to context and inter-connectedness. We don’t see the national debt, the dangers of selling out to corporations or unions, or the problems of competing with China and India in the global market-place. “Though they live in the United States, those are not their problems,” he wrote. “Identity politics is indepen-

Our politics are foul, making it is easy to second-guess deci-

sions.Last week life imitated bad

movies. The solemn Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, got down on one knee, pleading with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pass the Wall Street bailout bill.

Was it touching or was it crafty? There is no right answer.

The seamy side of politics is on display. The big obscen-ity — after telling Americans for years that accessible health care is too expensive, the pow-ers that be are suddenly saying that $700 billion are available to help the richest companies in the United States.

It is a squalid way to do busi-ness.

And just to rub it in, the Republican administration and the Democratic Congress draft-ing the bill wouldn’t help people facing bankruptcy and losing their homes. Is it any won-der that 95 Democrats voted against the Wall Street bailout?

And there is self-dealing. In the middle of September, for one brief moment, a big invest-ment house, Lehman Broth-ers, was treated like it was a sick person with a big medical bill or a family about to lose its home to the bill collector. It went bankrupt. It was on the weekend of September 13–14 that Lehman was left high and dry.

The crisis worsened and even a blue chip company, one of the only 30 firms listed in the Dow industrial average, failed. On Monday, September 15, it became clear that insurance giant AIG would collapse. Two days later, the Federal Reserve took control of the company in an $85 billion bailout and the stock market crashed. The SP 500 index of the largest com-panies in the US market hit a four-year low of 1,156.

The market reversed the next day and went higher, but another major Wall Street play-er, Goldman Sachs, spent part of the day trading for less than $90. It had traded for $200 just this past May.

I kid you not — this all hap-pened in six days. On Saturday and Sunday, Lehman failed; by Monday, the crisis had clearly worsened. On Wednes-day, stocks crashed, and even Thursday’s recovery did not assuage fears at Goldman.

On Friday, Paulson came forward with his $700 billion rescue, which he would man-age alone.

This was the man who didn’t save Lehman, who then bailed out AIG, and who now was res-

cuing all of Wall Street.Paulson used to run Gold-

man Sachs.Observers on Wall Street

immediately assumed that Goldman Sachs’ stock price plunge led him to change his mind. That didn’t mean he was wrong about the bailout; it meant everything has a double meaning.

Last Sunday, September 21, the New York Times presented confirming evidence: “Goldman,

a Wall Street stalwart that had seemed immune to its rivals’ woes, was AIG’s largest trading partner, according to six people close to the insurer. A collapse of the insurer threatened to leave a hole of as much as $20 billion in Goldman’s side.”

The bailout drafted by Paul-son was “the mother of all power grabs,” in the words of one writer at the Times.

None of this is secret. It was right there in the nation’s paper of record. Wall Streeters and members of Congress knew all about it. And it made no dif-ference. For all the tinkering with the Paulson package this past weekend, they left him in charge. This is the American way; other countries would give

such awesome responsibilities only to a career public servant, not to an industry insider just in from the cold.

Why would Paulson be granted all this power? He serves at the pleasures of the president and, especially with the oversight Congress added to the package, is answerable to Capitol Hill. A Treasury sec-retary overseeing this program would be in a golden fish bowl, with all eyes on him. In other words, screw up and he could be removed.

But this is not the most important reason. The big rea-son the US government has-tened to forge this new power center — no matter how ineptly in Monday’s first swipe — is that we are all connected.

It is wrong to stick sick peo-ple with medical bills they can-not pay, adding financial inse-curities to the pain of illness. It is wrong to force people out of their homes because they can’t keep up with their payments, especially when fraudulent loan deals were thrust upon them. And it is wrong not to bail out Wall Street when its crisis could lead to a depres-sion, unemployment, bank-rupt cities, and strained social service capacities in states from coast to coast.

There is a crucial difference between the Democratic “no” voters, and the Republican “no” voters. The Democrats wanted more people rescued. The Republicans were against

rescues. They cited free market principles and speculated that the package would burden their children with debt.

The Monday market crash wasn’t speculation, it was fact. The day Congress rejected the bailout, $1.2 trillion dollars in assets disappeared. The SP 500 sank to yet another low of 1,106. The bailout might cost — and then again it might not cost — $700 billion. Doing nothing cost nearly double that. Money lost to pension funds, mutual funds, and millionaires.

We are all in this togeth-er, even if we don’t get equal shares. It is harder for a poor person to live without a job than it is for a rich person to get by on a smaller fortune, but we all must cooperate or things fall apart, and the weak get hurt the most.

Monday’s vote also meant the US didn’t do its part in an international effort from Ice-land to Russia to Asia and Latin America to rescue the world’s credit markets. This is dumb for a nation whose prodigious national debt is financed by foreigners.

As Congress goes back to work on Thursday, we need to be mindful of our common-ality of interest — and this principle must apply to health care, housing, education, and business practices. Next year, we may have the opportu-nity to pressure a Democratic president to put this principle into practice.

� COGSWELL, continued on p.18

There is a crucial difference between the Democratic “no” voters, and the

Republican “no” voters.


Lyman-Eyer GalleryContemporary & Modern Fine Art

Landscape, Abstraction, Male & Female Figu-rative, Still Life & Sculpture by 35 national art-ists. Please visit in person or peruse our web site to experience our wide selection of fi ne art & download our 2008 Exhibition Brochure and Event Schedule. I hope to visit with you soon.

- James Lyman, Director.

P.O. Box 492432 Commercial StreetProvincetown, MA 02657508-487-3937www.lymaneyerart.com

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Ernden Fine Art GalleryErnden Fine Art Gallery is a cutting edge modern and contem-porary art gallery located in the heart of the Gallery District in historic Provincetown, MA. Provincetown is the oldest estab-lished artist colony in the USA and Ernden is among one of the fi nest galleries representing 15 artists whose creative expres-sion both tell their story while as the same time enlightening the viewer. Our summer hours are daily from noon-4pm and 7-11pm. For further information call 508-487-6700 or email us at [email protected].

397 Commercial StreetProvincetown, MA 02657Phone/Fax: 508-487-6700, 1-888-304-ARTS | www.ernden.com

The Crown & AnchorProvincetown’s Premier Entertainment Complex, located in the heart of P-Town, The Crown & An-chor features six unique bar venues including the town’s largest nightclub (Paramount), the town’s only video bar (Wave), a cabaret venue, a poolside bar with heated pool, a piano bar and an ever-popular leather bar (The Vault). The Crown also features the Central House Bar & Grille—a year-round restaurant offering lunch and dinner—and the Crown & Anchor Inn—a waterfront hotel with eighteen rooms and luxury suites.

247 Commercial Street | Provincetown, MA 02657 508-487-1430 | www.onlyatthecrown.com

Bowersock GalleryBowersock Gallery represents Provincetown artists, as well as, regional and nationally known Artists and Artisans from New England, with artists whom are members of The Guild of Bos-ton Artists, Copley Society of Art, National Sculpture Society and Pastel Society of America. Featuring Fine Art highlighted for both the contemporary, modern, abstract and classic col-lector. Painting by Dustan Knight, “Bonnies Susan”, Medium; Watercolor. Art Opening; Dream of Music & Art, Reception 7 to 9 Friday, September 12th. Artist Dustan Knight and Lauren Pollaro featuring music provided by Susan Moreabito. Through October 7th. Open Year round!

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Bubala’s by the BayBubala’s is a buzzing bistro, gateway to the West End of Provincetown. It has earned its reputation for serving fantastic food made with high quality ingredients, fl avored with a big dash of fun. Burg-ers to lobsters, exotic salads to rack of lamb, you could eat here every day of your visit and not have the same thing twice. Brunch, lunch, and dinner daily, with free parking. The bar offers martinis, specialty drinks, beers, a celebrated wine list and live music nightly in season. Whether you prefer water view seats inside or a ringside street scene table outside, Bubala’s delivers big time!

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ProvincetownN E W E N G L A N D ’ S PA R A D I S E

Untitled No. 5, by Keith Breitfeller

Black Sea, by Jeannie Motherwell

March Branches, by CJ Lori


7 DAYS7 NIGHTS

dent of our common fate as Americans.”

Increasingly, I think the greatest problem in identity politics is that most of the focus these days is on the “politics,” claiming territory, enforcing ideologies, and excluding anyone whom the gatekeepers determine don’t meet the one or two accept-able ways to be gay or black or female.

We dispense with “identity” any time it’s inconvenient. In fact, we are disturbingly com-fortable using tools of bigotry against each other, like when activists like Mike Rogers (and Michelangelo Signorile) incited homophobia against McCain’s gay staffer or when black Democrats throw race-based insults at conservative politicians of color.

Feminists re fus ing to acknowledge Sarah Palin as a woman incite misogyny

against all of us and create echoes of those times when dykes — and poor women and women of color — were excluded from the women’s club.

Frankly, NOW still pre-fers we pass. Mouth the right platitudes. Never admit to having shot at squirrels with a BB gun. Pretend that our primary issue is abortion.

I’d dump the cesspool of identity politics if I could. The conundrum is that to

end prejudice and make change in society there’s no other choice but to suppress our individuality and orga-nize around that artificial “identity,” even if the color of our skin, our reproductive organs, or sexual orientation hide nearly irreconcilable dif-ferences.

To succeed at all, we need to start from scratch, reject politics, reject hate, find our few inches of common ground, plant respect there.



In His Kiss.” Who knows, maybe you’ll find some way to queer it all in your mind. That’s probably not too far from the underlying conceit here. Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St. Mon., Tue., Fri., Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; Wed., Sat., Sun., 3 p.m. Tickets are $75 at telecharge.com or 212-239-6200, with limited $25 student seats at the box office (cash only) one hour prior to cur-tain.

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PERFORMANCECarnival, South Street Style

Ross Mollison once again presents Spiegelworld’s annual summer carni-val at the South Street Seaport, Pier 17. Spiegelworld delivers a non-stop program of groundbreaking shows, intimate concerts, brazen burlesque, top DJs, and great dining. Among three shows, Spiegelworld will present the world premiere of “Désir,” a theatrical circus experience inspired by the sexu-al, intellectual, and artistic adventures of early 20th century Paris. “Absinthe,” the acro-burlesque production, returns once again this year, reprising its hit runs of the last two years. Gay City News critic Gus Solomons, jr., wrote, “In ‘Absinthe,’ awesome stunts stirred into a tangy batter of raunchiness kept the crowd shuttling between awed ovations and belly laughs, while ‘Désir’ relies more for its impact on elegant execution and the physical beauty of its talented cast of scantily clad acrobats.” Pier 17 is located at the South Street Seaport on the East River right below the Brooklyn Bridge. Through Nov. 2. Tickets range from $25-$69 at spiegelworld.com or 212-279-4200. Consult the website for com-plete performance schedule details.

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Quick, Before the Cops Break the Door In

The self-style downtown king of comedy, drag king Murray Hill, neo-burlesque star Angie Pontani, and her Pontani Sisters headline “This is Bur-lesque,” an uproarious evening fea-turing bodacious beauties and sultry singers doing swing. The experience harkens back to the days of speak-easy, Tin Pan Alley, and vaudeville. Corio, 337 W. Broadway at Grand St. Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Fri, 11 p.m. Tickets are $25 at smarttix.com. Group purchases at 212-966-3901.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

SAT.OCT.4ACTIVISMWhat Do We Want?

“Out Now” is an artistic attempt to explore the possibilities for a sym-pathetic cultural backdrop to press for

� COGSWELL, from p.15

Fortunately, the govern-ment’s SSA disability and Medicare payments do not discriminate thanks to Sena-tor Ted Kennedy and other Democrats.

Thomas KraemerCorvallis, Oregon

NO NEED TO BE LEFT OUT

September 26, 2008 To the Editor:

Thank you for an insightful and informative article (“The Religious Left’s Clear-Eyed Vision,” by Nathan Riley, Sep. 25-Oct. 1). I’m not as articulate as Nathan when addressing political issues, but I see the gist of his argu-ment reflected in the make up of the United Method-ist Church (UMC) I belong to. Even though we are very conscious of social justice issues, and active in serving the severely disenfranchised (the homeless and those suf-fering from substance addic-tion), the administrative body refuses to take the necessary step and declare our worship-ing body to be fully open and inclusive.

I believe the hesitation on their part is out of a mis-placed respect for the moral beliefs and ultimately the support of older members in our congregation. I also dis-agree with Jim Wallis’ stance on gay rights, to the point of canceling my subscription to his magazine and sermon

prep website. As deeply as it saddens me, I now, especially now, feel it necessary to press the issue and investigate other venues to serve. There are very wonderful, declared inclusive congregations here in Colum-bus, thank goodness.

Bill SeiberColumbus, Ohio

PLEASE USE A COASTER


Thanks to Dean P. Wrzeszcz for an interesting and fun piece (“Jonesing for Airtime, Sep. 25-Oct 1). I liked the combination of describing the event and the musings on gay life.

Kathy FlahertyNew York City


Dean turned a night at the park into a beautifully com-posed op ed. Keep it up. I’ll keep looking for your pieces in Gay City News.

Bill CosiverJackson Heights

GREEN WITH PRIDE

September 25, 2008 I agreeI’ve been a fan of Kelly Cog-

swell’s writing in the Gay City News for a while (“Voting My Conscience,” Sep. 18-24). I agree with you completely and my husband and I are

voting for the Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKin-ney. Where’s the self-respect in voting for a candidate that is against your rights?

Mark WoodwardLenox, Massachusetts

NOT TO NEEDLE YOU, BUT…


Christopher Byrne, in “The Revolution Will Be Sung — Sort Of,” Sep. 25-Oct. 1), forgot to mention the short but won-derfully believable depiction of the role of the seamstress, played by MacKenzie Mauzy, along with her beautiful voice.

Linda WhiteRaleigh, North Carolina

LUCKY TO GET THE RIGHT TABLE


I ’m g lad about Lucky Cheng’s relocation (“Lucky Cheng’s Movin’ On Up,” by Patrick Hedlund, Sep. 25-Oct. 1). Hopefully, it will be wheel-chair-accessible. The current location is not.

Anthony TrocchiaBrooklyn

CONSERVATIVE IMBECILE

September 29, 2008To the Editor:If ever we needed reminding

of the imbecility and bigotry of conservatives, this letter is it (“We Can’t Work It Out,” Let-ters to the Editor, Sep. 25-Oct. 1). “Our brains still function” — the funniest line in this entire brainless diatribe.

George De StefanoLong Island City

CORRECTIONIn “More Sparring on Bul-

lying,” by Andy Humm (Sep. 11-17), a story looking at complaints that the new anti-bullying regulation promul-gated by the Department of Education, introduced in a program called “Respect for All,” is not as comprehen-sive as the Dignity for All Schools Act passed several years ago over Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto, but never implemented, Gay City News included the new program’s failure to tackle bullying on school buses. In fact, the reg-ulation clearly applies to any behavior by students “while traveling on vehicles funded by the Department of Educa-tion.”

WRITE US!Address letters to the editor, of no more than 250 words, to:[email protected] ;Or fax them to 646-452-2501;Or mail them to 145 Sixth Ave., 1st fl., New York 10013.Please include your phone number, for confirmation pur-poses only. The editors reserve the right to edit all letters due to space constraints.

� LETTERS, from p.14

ing such things as “education, activities, day care, health care (including medical, dental and psychological) and spiritual development.”

In making his rul ing, McLean relied not only on Mon-tana statutes, but also on the common law concept of the de facto parent, finding that past State Supreme Court decisions

had embraced the concept, as far back as 1938. Kulstad easily met the requirements of establishing that she was a de facto parent of the two chil-dren, the judge found. McLean also found that by every statu-tory factor the court is obliged to evaluate in making parent-ing decisions, Kulstad would prevail.

A “guardian ad l i tem” appointed to supervise Kul-

stad’s visitation program will eventually recommend a final parenting schedule to the court.

In ruling on the financial issues raised by the couple’s breakup, McLean resorted to general equitable principles, finding that Kulstad’s signifi-cant financial contribution to the house, which Maniaci will retain as her residence, should be compensated. The court

also found that Maniaci “took advantage of Ms. Kulstad” in other ways, and was “unjustly enriched.” McLean calculated the restitution damages at more than $100,000. It is unlike-ly that Maniaci can pay that amount right off, so the court gave Kulstad a judgment lien against the house and said she is entitled to ten percent annual interest on the balance due her until it is paid off by Maniaci.

� MONTANA, from p.12

2 - 8 OCT 2008 Film /19With Gays on His SideA love made possible by a queer trio of matchmakers

BY GARY M. KRAMER

It’s queer eye for the straight couple in “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Play-

list.” In this winning if predict-able romantic comedy, a trio of gay guys helps a pair of hete-ros find love (or something like it) over one night in New York. Based on the novel co-written by out author David Levithan (with Rachel Cohn), “Nick and Norah” features another terrific performance from Michel Cera (of “Arrested Development” fame) and a fine turn from his co-star, Kat Dennings.

Cera plays Nick, a teenager who is still smarting from his break-up with Tris (Alexis Dziena). One Friday afternoon, his gay band mates, Thom (Aaron Yoo) and Dev (Rafi Gav-ron), turn up to rouse him from his depression.

“It’s awful being straight,” Nick whines when they arrive to ask him to play a gig in New York City that night –– never mind that their band, The

Jerk-Offs, still needs a drum-mer. When the duo tells Nick that his favorite band, Where’s Fluffy, is performing in New York that evening, he agrees to the nightclub gig.

During their show, Dev, the sexy lead singer in the band, strips off his T-shirt and throws it into the crowd, where guys fight over it. Nick’s ex, Tris, turns up with a new guy, causing him angst. And Norah (Kat Dennings) walks over to Nick and asks him to be her boyfriend for five min-utes. Nick and Norah bond over their love for the band Where’s Fluffy and decide to find the mystery show. Mean-while, Norah’s friend Caroline (Ari Graynor) gets drunk and

NICK AND NORAH’SINFINITE PLAYLISTDirected by Peter SolletColumbia PicturesOpening Oct. 3 citywide

Aaron Yoo as Thom, Rafi Gavron Dev, and Michael Cera as Nick are the band The Jerk-offs in Peter Sollett’s “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.”

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� MATCHMAKERS, continued on p.23

131 East 10th Stre e t ( c o r n e r of Second Av e n u e )Call 674-6377 for more information Fr. Pr i e s t - i n - C h a rg e

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Bring your pets for blessing!

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St. Francis DayC e l e b r a t i o nSunday, October 2nd

John Denaro,

1:00 pm Blessing of the Animals Service held outside in St. Mark’s West Yard

Mime Troupe David + Jennifer Bianco, and singer Larry Marshall, Jeannine Otis, music director

Bring your pets for blessing!

8th11:00 am WORSHIP SERVICE

Caroline Cutroneo, guitarist, Renoly Santiago, singer

Illustration by Fritz Eichenberg - Design by Duane Stapp

St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery

Call 674-6377 for more information

Weekly Sunday Services: 9 am (Traditional), 11 am (Celebration) 3 pm (Mandarin) and 7 pm (Praise & Worship)

11 am features ASL interpreter (first and last Sunday of each month only)446 West 36th St. bet. 9th & 10th Ave. NY, NY 10018 212-629-7440

website: www.mccny.org email: [email protected]

Metropolitan Community Church of New York

Worth Believing!Metropolitan Community Church of New York is the Spiritual Center of the Queer community

in New York City. Our congregation offers a range of celebrations, outreach programs and support services, including Homeless Youth Services and the Sylvia Rivera Food Pantry.

CHECK OUT www.MCCNY.org for information about our progams, services, and events, including CHURCH LADY BINGO and MCCNY'S JACKSON HALL ART GALLERY.

The Reverend Pat Bumgardner, Pastor

a church of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people - open to all

281 W 12th St @ 4th St. NYC 212-243-9041

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gaycitynews.com

2 - 8 OCT 2008

Paris Still BurningA fresh look at the house ball scene reveals heart beneath the hype

20/ Theater

BY DAVID KENNERLEY

Back in 1990, the edgy documentary “Paris Is Burning” exposed the

gloriously gritty underworld of urban house balls, and soon after, Madonna thrust a hyper-stylized version into the cultural mainstream with her legendary video, “Vogue.”

Now, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, who won accolades last year for “The Brothers Size,” is revisiting the realm with “Wig Out!,” a play about drag houses and the incestu-ous interpersonal dramas lead-ing up to a do-or-die dance-off.

But how to replicate an authentic ball without sanitiz-ing the raw energy, or alienat-ing an uninitiated audience? You may remember “Taboo,” Rosie O’Donnell’s $10 million Broadway misfire, whose take on the heady 1980s club scene came off as a lame Disney sideshow.

In “Wig Out!,” all the ele-ments are in place to earn its titular exclamation point. Tina Landau, known for her deft handling of experimen-tal works such “Iphigenia 2.0” and “Stonewall: Night Varia-tions,” was tapped to direct.

Landau has assembled a lively cast with talent to spare — some recognizable faces, if not names, from cable TV, like Erik King from the Showtime sensation “Dexter” and Nathan Lee Graham from HBO’s “The Comeback.” What’s more, larg-er-than-life Daniel T. Booth, known as the drag queen “Sweetie,” was summoned to add much-needed street cred to the endeavor.

Thanks to James Schuette, the Vineyard has been cleverly reconfigured to evoke a fabu-lous dance club, with a run-way stretching into the audi-ence and seats added onstage. The playing area is opened up to reveal nooks in the wings, high and low, to expand the action. Glitter balls abound.

As for plotting, “Wig Out!” offers two parallel story arcs. There’s the young Eric (Andre Holland) who meets Ms. Nina (Clifton Oliver), a stunning transgendered member of the House of Light, on a sub-way. Despite initially being, er, wigged out, Eric becomes seduced into her world. But how far will he let himself go?

And then there’s the mat-ter of whether the House of Light will get its various acts

together to win the big show-down with archrival House of Di’ Abolique at the Cinderella Ball, with only one day to pre-pare. Intertwined are subplots involving ex-lovers and would-be lovers too cumbersome to describe here.

With so much going on, how could all of these zesty ingredi-ents possibly blend together? There are a few lumps. On one level, the story is derivative and facile, threatening to devolve into a hackneyed “Bring It On”-style contest. The book is unfocused and some scenes meant to dazzle, fizzle.

Insinuating themselves into the proceedings is a trio of bubbly beauties known as The Fates 3 (Angela Grovey, McK-enzie Frye, Rebecca Naomi Jones), who offer narration and sly commentary. Trouble is, these gals detract from the momentum and annoy as much as entertain.

And while there are some t ru l y i nsp i r ed mus i ca l moments, like Booth’s fero-cious lip-synching turns on the catwalk (in jaw-droppingly wicked costumes by Toni-Les-lie James), make no mistake, “Wig Out!” is not a full fledged musical, which might frustrate some theatergoers.

Standouts include Joshua Cruz as Venus, whose climac-tic contortion act is truly eye-popping; the burly Erik King as Lucian, the strict house “father,” and Graham as Rey-Rey, the wise transgendered house “mother.” Kudos are also in order for Holland, whose natural, understated delivery is a poignant contrast to the more theatrical personas.

Although Landau is credited with the musical direction, she encouraged cast members to contribute their own dance moves, which surely pumped up the authenticity.

And I would be remiss in not tipping my hat to Wendy Parson, who designed the incredible wigs.

But wait — it turns out this ambitious show has more than flamboyance on its mind. “Wig Out!” is about fashioning

substitute structures when original families falter. It’s about respecting elders and tradition. It’s about the quest for realness in an artificial world.

Deeper still, the work is a meditation on masculinity, constantly trying on various definitions to see what fits. Besides a rich drag dialect spiced with “gurl” and “honey” and “fierce,” McCraney has infused the dialogue with won-derfully poetic passages where characters reminisce about childhood urges to cross or

bust gender boundaries. On several occasions, couples openly struggle with the top/bottom power dialectic in their relationships.

What’s more, in a house of gays, Lucian is a raging homo-phobe, using the word “faggot” to deride feminine men. He asserts, “We need more men around here.” When he learns of the tryst between Eric and Ms. Nina, he snarls, “C’mon you let that fem dick get up in your back! That freak! I thought you said you like dudes.”

Despite its flaws, the ambi-tiously askew “Wig Out!” is a fascinating, emotionally reso-nant portrayal from a bold new voice.

But be warned, with its fusil-lade of obscure cultural refer-ences, “Wig Out!” just may be this season’s “[title of show],” which also played at the Vine-yard. To assist the clueless, the creators have inserted a handy glossary about the house ball scene in the program.

But if you don’t know who Effie, Shelby, Ms. Nottage, or Stew are, you’re on your own.

WIG OUT!Vineyard Theatre108 E. 15th St.,Btwn. Union Sq. E. & Irving Pl.Tue. At 7 p.m., Wed-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sat., Sun. at 3 p.m. Through Oct.19$20-$55; 212-353-0303Or vineyardtheatre.org

Clifton Oliver (center) as Ms. Nina and Angela Grovey, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and McKenzie Frye as The Fates 3

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Erik King as Lucian, the house father, and Nathan Lee Graham as Rey-Rey, the house mother.

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Tickets start at $500. Guests must RSVP and be 21 or older to attend.

HONORING

MERCEDES-BENZ WILLOW HOUSE USA, LLC a program of Safe Horizon

ESPACE 635 West 42nd Street

between 11th and 12th Avenues

6:30 PM 7:30 PM Dinner & Awards Presentation

Cocktail attire

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2008

Tickets can be purchased online at www.courageawards.eventbrite.com

For more information: (212) 219-0111 [email protected] www.avp.org

Beverages provided by

THE NEW YORK CITY ANTI-VIOLENCE PROJECT is dedicated to eliminating hate violence, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities through counseling, advocacy,

organizing, and public education.

A benefit for the Anti-Violence Project

2008 COURAGE AWARDS

2 - 8 OCT 2008

7 DAYS7 NIGHTS



urgent action toward ending the Iraq War. Artists participating include Friends of William Blake, a loose-knit New York artists’ collective who in the past col-laborated on “The New Yorkers’ Guide to Military Recruitment in the Five Bor-oughs” and “The People’s Guide to the Republican National Convention”; peace activist Kathy Kelly; artist and writer Trevor Paglen; video, sculpture, and performance artists Martha Rosler and Natascha Sadr Haghighian; interactivity pioneer Rirkrit Tiravanija; writer and art-ist Jala Toufic; and Berlin and New York-based artist Anton Vidokle. E-flux, 41 Essex St., btwn. Grand & Essex Sts., Tue.-Sat. noon –6 p.m. through Nov. 8. Kathy Kelly will give a lecture on the project at Cooper Union, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. Patrick Cockburn will speak there Oct. 22, 7 p.m. For more information, visit e-flux.com or call 212-619-3356.

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GALLERYFleshing Out Street Life

Catherine Opie’s body of photo-graphic work, created since the early 1990s, spans such diverse genres as studio portraiture, landscape photog-raphy, and urban street photography to explore notions of communal, sexual, and cultural identity. From her early por-traits of queer subcultures to her expan-sive urban landscapes, Opie has offered profound insights into the conditions in which communities form and the terms by which they are defined. Guggen-heim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave. at E. 89th St., Sat.-Wed., 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m.; Fri., 10 a.m.-7:45 p.m. Through Jan. 7. Admission is $18; $15 for students & seniors; pay what you wish Fri. after 5:45 p.m. The LGBT Community Center presents a survey of Opie’s exhibit and career in its Second Tuesday series, Nov. 11, 6 p.m. 208 W. 13th St. Tickets are $10 at gaycenter.org.

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The Dude Next Story

Los Angeles photographer Blake Lit-tle’s new exhibit “The Company of Men” is inspired by what Rank Rodriguez in Butt Magazine called “a shadow world, a buddy system way below the radar, yet one that is all around us… a micro-society developed over the Internet.” All across the country, Little’s subjects were shot in their own clothes, in their own homes — the antithesis of a celeb-rity shoot. Each man represents someone totally comfortable in his own skin, with a kind of intrinsic, unconscious mascu-linity. Wessel + O’Connor Fine Art, 111 Front St. at Adams St., DUMBO. Exhibit runs through Nov. 1, Wed.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Three Not to Be MissedStorms, storm troopers, and gales of laughter

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BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE

“The Tempest” at CSC gets off to a rocky start — and I’m not

just talking about the titular storm. Shakespeare’s dark romance has arguably some of the Bard’s best poetry, and its themes of love, loss, and the hope of redemption are at once lyrical and melancholy. Combining what we would today call “magical realism” with spoken arias and comic set pieces, it is anything but a naturalistic work.

Yet, Mandy Patinkin as Prospero, the exiled and usurped Duke of Milan living with his daughter on a remote island who raises the storm to bring his enemies into his world, plays the first scenes with naturalistic intensity that doesn’t fit well with the language. It is as if he is work-ing against it, which could make for a very long evening, indeed.

In very short order, howev-er, Brian Kulick’s production finds its sea legs in the poetry, and the roughness of the first scenes transmutes to magic as the story unfolds. Through his magic, Prospero forces the sea to deliver his evil brother, the king of Naples, and all their retinue to land on the island. He then effects the meeting of the King’s son, Ferdinand, with his daughter, Miranda, with the hope of marrying them off.

Prospero also thwarts a political coup on the island as Truinculo, a jester, and Stefa-no, a butler, thinking they are alone, decide to set themselves up as a new monarchy and to make the island’s inhabitants — namely, the wild Caliban — their subjects.

Shakespea r e r e tu r ns to familiar territory — the redemptive power of nature versus the world of the court, the tweaking of power, and, of course, romantic love. But “The Tempest” is tempered by an undercurrent — the knowledge that all will pass away and that even Prospero (who many believe is Shake-speare in autobiographical mode), who has created all the drama, must ultimately free his spirit, here represented by the sprite Ariel, and be stilled by death.

There is a pervasive melan-choly in the piece that requires delicate handling as we revisit

familiar territory, knowing it’s the last time — for Prospero and for us.

Fortunately, once the pro-duction finds its voice, it becomes engaging and delight-ful. Patinkin’s performance, in particular, acquires nuance and depth, and he even sings, though only briefly, and it is beautiful and haunting. (The original music by Christian Frederickson adds immeasur-ably to the piece.) Ultimately, realism and poetry meld in a mature and graceful portrayal of the character.

The lyricism of the play real-ly comes to life with the arrival of the King’s son, Ferdinand. Stark Sands gives a magnifi-cent performance in the role, balancing youth and poetry, his naiveté standing in stark contrast to Prospero’s age and experience. Sands achieves the abstract romance of Shake-speare while seeming to be a real person — no easy feat.

Elisabeth Waterston does a fine job as Miranda, especially in her awe at the discovery of the human world from which she’s been divorced. Ferdi-nand and Miranda are Shake-speare’s hope for a better future, and we see it in these two performances.

As Trinculo, Tony Torn is a consistent delight, and Steven Rattazzi as Stefano is every bit as good, giving the comedy freshness. Angel Desai is love-ly as Ariel, and the rest of the company well cast and more than capable.

The spare set by Jian Jung, which includes an ever -changing sky on a flat that hangs above the stage, works

wonderfully, and all things conspire to bring this voyage safely, and richly, home.

Tovah Feldshuh is one of those actresses who can, with the most sub-

tle of gestures, reduce one to

tears or lift one to heights of laughter and spirit, and she does it without seeming to work. Her fierce intensity and her economy in performance

THE TEMPESTCSC136 E. 13th St.Tue.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sat., Sun. at 2 p.m.$70, $75; 212-352-3101

IRENA’S VOW55 Lexington Ave. at 25th St.Mon. at 8 p.m.; Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.;Sat,. Sun. at 3 p.m.$65; 212-352-3101

FORBIDDEN BROADWAY GOES TO REHAB47th Street Theatre304 W. 47th St.Mon., Tue., Fri., Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sun. at 3 & 7:30 p.m.; Wed. at 2 p.m.; Sat. at 4 p.m.$65; 212-239-6200

Tovah Feldshuh’s performance in “Irena’s Vow” is not to be missed..

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Christina Bianco, Jared Bradshaw in “Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab,” the final phase in a treasured tradition that will end in January.

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needs rescuing. The queer boys — including a

nameless hunk (Jonathan B. Wright) that Dev picked up — make a plan: get Caroline home safely so Nick and Norah can get to know one another. Dev sets Norah up with an underwire bra to entice their buddy, and Thom counsels Nick that he should not screw things up with this potential new girlfriend.

“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” is a shaggy dog story, but most view-ers will settle into the charms of the film and its characters and forgive the lapses into contrivance and pre-dictability. Of course, nothing goes

as planned. The bandmates lose Caroline, and Nick and Norah have a fight and end up reuniting with their respective exes.

And while the film’s humor stoops to such lows as a gross-out moment in which a very drunk Caroline fishes her cell phone — and her gum — out a filthy bus station toilet, there are several amusing bits. One running conversation has the band members trying to think of new names for their group — “Dickache” is one sugges-tion, and another idea involves the words “fist” and “assholes.” There is even a drag queen Christmas show that features a queer version of “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

Although the gay guys in “Nick

and Norah” mainly serve as a kind of Greek chorus, it’s notable that they are never played as stereotypes. (One throwaway line suggests Cera’s Nick is gay because of his haircut and style of dress). The nameless hunk in the queer trio is the brawn of the group — head-butting a guy annoying Norah — while Thom is the brains. Dev is left to take up the final role; he’s the cute one.

When Thom tells Nick that all he needs to do to win Norah’s heart is to hold her hand, his sentiment is echoed by the sight of a lesbian couple walking hand-in-hand. It’s a sweet moment in a film that has as many smiles as it does laughs.

And if “Nick and Norah” does not

feature a same-sex couple at its cen-ter, at least the pair of straights are endearing. Cera, as usual, is all awk-ward pauses and hesitancy, and he employs his crack comic timing and dry sense of humor to great effect. He is puppy-dog adorable, even when he looks like a deer caught in headlights — as he does whenever Tris shows up.

Co-star Dennings is also magnetic, and her character’s self-confidence makes her attractive to both viewers and to Nick.

In support, Gavron, Wright, and Yoo are irresistible. And like the gay bandmates in this queer-friendly film, audiences will root for Nick and Norah’s infinite romance.

� MATCHMAKERS, from p.19

–– though I suspect she could effort-lessly blow out the back wall of the theater if she chose –– combined with a precisely articulated inner life make her performance in the new play “Ire-na’s Vow” something that is not to be missed.

The play is based on the true story of Irena Gut Opdyke, a 19-year-old Catholic Pole caught up in the Nazi occupation, forced to serve an officer of the Third Reich as a housekeeper. Her faith leads her to try to hide and rescue 13 Jews right under the nose of her oppressors.

The story is framed as a flashback, with Irena recounting her story as the play begins. Feldshuh, however age-

less she may appear, is not 19, and therein lies the play’s unique power. As she movingly takes on the per-sona of the young girl, one can never lose sight of the fact that her faith is what carries her, even when she has no idea what to do next. Irena moves fluidly in and out of the story, but Feldshuh doesn’t “play” 19. Instead, she lets the passion that motivated her then inspire her presence, mak-ing this a play not about outwitting the Nazis so much as a tribute to the human spirit and the power of belief.

Michael Parva has directed with skill and subtlety. The company sup-porting Feldshuh is exceptional, and the story riveting. There is tension and suspense and moments that are truly, organically moving.

Irena tells us that after she escaped, she had put her memories away, and it was only years later when confront-ed by those who denied the Holocaust that she spoke out. It is a story that needs to be told, not just to remember the atrocities of the Holocaust, but to remind us of the scope and power of the human spirit.

“Forbidden Broadway” has announced that after this run in January, it will be

shutting down permanently. This is your wake-up call. This is not, after all, a New York staple that will always be there, so run out now.

The latest version is called “For-bidden Broadway Goes to Rehab,” and it is as sharp and gut-busting-

ly hilarious as ever and a laugh-filled antidote for rough times — on and off the stage. There’s lots of new material, and the company — Christina Bianco, Jared Bradshaw, Gina Kreiezmar, and Michael West — is out of this world.

Satirical riches abound, and each performer has his or her shining moment as an impressionist and a spectacular singer that left me dou-bled over and gasping for breath — in a good way. Bianco, however, merits special praise for her spot-on take on Kristen Chenoweth.

Don’t let this wonderful institu-tion slip away without experienc-ing it — at least once. Or preferably often. There’s too much fun here for just one visit.

� THREE PIECES, from p.22


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Masculine & Feminine In One

Multi-media artist Larissa Bates uses the iconic image of a young wrestler to represent both the masculine and femi-nine characteristics of a male. In Bates’ world, purposely devoid of females, the wrestlers are known as “MotherMen,” representing the male maternal figure. Using media from papier-mâché to video, the artist places specific focus on ritual and rites of passage. Monya Rowe Galley, 526 W. 26th St., #605. Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. through Oct. 18.

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Ancient SpiritJonathan Soloman Bressler, born in

France and raised in New York City, was the child of two painters who would often take him to the Metropolitan Museum’s Egyptian, Roman, and Greek galleries. These images of ancient art as well as trends in art, like Pop art and Op art dur-ing the 1960s, left a lasting impression. His work, a culmination of these early influences, is constructed of recycled materials such as paper, aluminum cans, and found objects layered on stretched canvas or wooden panels. These mate-rials are glued or fastened into a par-ticular silhouette of a subject, and then a background is added. The entire piece is then subdued with glazes and then care-fully rendered in an oil wash to clarify the image. The result gives the viewer a dynamic yet subtle union between classical imagery and illusive patterns bringing these subjects of the ancient world into an entirely modern visual. The LGBT Community Center’s Campbell Soady Gallery presents Bressler’s work, 208 W. 13th St. On exhibit through November.

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PERFORMANCEGo Ask Alice About the Bathtub Gin

The Peach Tartes, the self-styled juici-est burlesque troupe in town, presents two nights at the Spiegeltent. Tonight, they present “Peel for Repeal,” a Prohi-bition-era extravaganza. Next Sat., they present “Alice in Spiegel Land: A Bur-lesque Adventure,” which will take you down a rabbit hole to se the most curious thing you ever saw in your whole life. The Deluxe @ Spiegelworld, Pier 17, South Street Seaport, on the East River right below the Brooklyn Bridge. Oct. 4, 11, 9 p.m. Tickets are $15ickets at ticketcentral.com or 212.279.4200.

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SUN.OCT.5POLITICSYes, We Can

Barack the Vote!: Sunday, October 5th: Join Daniel Nardicio and company at their gay phone bank for Barack the

BY DAVID NOH

Real glamour, so essen-tial to, but, really, so rare in opera these

days, held definite sway at the gala for the 125th Metropoli-tan Opera season on Septem-ber 22. Renée Fleming, as she was promised by the former Joe Volpe regime, ruled as star of the evening, singing scenes from “La Traviata,” “Manon,” and “Capriccio” (respectively gowned by Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, and John Gal-liano), the first time in Met his-tory that such an honor was accorded to one woman.

Such privilege has defi-nitely stirred envy among cer-tain rival Met sopranos (one of whom recently remarked, “I want Renee’s career!”) as well as that inexhaustible anti-Fleming claque who never tire of deriding her, say, for the jazzy liberties she’s sometimes taken with the repertoire.

Callas and Teresa Stratas may have been more dramati-cally intuitive actresses than Fleming but, for sheer musi-cality and lustrous sound, I’d like to know what other living soprano could have pulled off the feat of these highly differ-ent roles in three languages. She was rendingly poignant in the second act of “Travi-ata,” which sits perfectly on her voice; deliciously seduc-tive and then impassioned as “Manon”; and in “Capricccio,” possessed a profoundly mov-ing sense of burgeoning self-discovery, chic to die for in a blonde pageboy and Galliano Deco wrap and simple black sheath and gloves that echoed Rita Hayworth’s “Gilda,” which in turn was inspired by John Singer Sargent’s portrait of “Madame X.”

Lacroix’s costumes were gor-geously lighter-than-air and in the grand, unashamedly balls-out 19th century tradition of gala diva-wear (of course, Violetta would wear chiffon and a diamond parure in the country), but Lagerfeld rather phoned in an almost drably simple dix-huitieme number that faded right into the gray-ish color scheme of the set.

The Times’ Anthony Tom-masini proudly –– and stu-pidly, I think –– announced his ignorance of fashion (i.e., cos-tuming) in his review, totally missing the crucial point that Manon here should be the absolute Queen of Parisian fashion, but in this venerable Jean-Pierre Ponnelle produc-

tion, with its anachronistic mix of Rococo and Empire styles, Lagerfeld gave her the oldest-looking dress on the stage.

There were gowns galore in the audience, as well –– every-where you looked, on a pleth-ora of stars. It was the kind of night where, if you blinked, you missed Faye Dunaway or Jane Fonda (who left after the first act). Rufus Wainwright, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, Julianna Margulies, Blythe Danner, Christina Baranski, Vera Wang, Barbara Walters, and supermodels Liv Tyler and Helena Christensen (in a typically everything-but-the kitchen-sink gown by escort Zac Posen) were there, but the most beautiful woman present

had to be Christie Brinkley, looking every inch the trium-phant messy-divorce survi-vor, in a strapless, skintight Jacques Fath-esque sheath, accompanied by her adorable little son.

Intermission was spent among Fleming’s entourage, which included her best friend from college, Sue Shardt, who told me the diva had spent the day dressing her up for the night, in a borrowed Vivi-enne Westwood gown and Han Feng shawl. When I asked if, as music students at SUNY Potsdam, she could have envi-sioned her pal’s future, said, “Maybe not on this scale, but Renée was always singing beautifully, even by herself, in

the middle of a field.” Fleming’s personal styl-

ist, the legendary Freddie Leiba told me, “I got involved with her about six years ago. Before that, I don’t think she had much interest in fashion. She liked those architectural things by Miyake, but with her now, I’m inspired by Maria Callas, who was the best-dressed opera star of her time. For tonight, the designers sent us their sketches six months ago for approval and there were certain tweakings.”

Leiba, part Chinese-Trin-idadian, moved to London at a young age and then New York, where he fell in with the Warhol crowd and worked for Interview magazine with art-ists like Richard Bernstein and Ara Gallant.

“All of them dead. I’m the one that’s left,” he observed and, when I asked him his opinion of those other, over-blown celebrity stylists –– some with reality TV shows of their own –– now thriving in the very career which he originated, he sniffed, “It’s all self-promotion, with them putting themselves forward as much as the client. I don’t approve. I’m now work-ing on a new fashion magazine with the New York Observer, which will feature Renée.”

Upstairs, on the Grand Tier, Martha Stewart was mixing up a special Fleming cocktail for mezzo Susan Graham, doing diva handmaiden-HD TV host-ess duty for the live telecast and, as we left the theater, we were treated to samples of “La Voce,” Fleming’s new perfume, also debuting that night. Quel freakin’ nuit!

Composer John Kander, an absolute opera-lover him-self, told me that “Capriccio” was one of his favorites, for its theme of which is most vital, the music or the words? He fondly recalled glori-ous productions with Simon Keenlyside and the late Jerry Hadley, and observed, “What incredible pressure this must be for Renee.”

I asked Kander about the last of the four musicals in his trunk written with the late lyri-cist Fred Ebb and the possibility of it, like the other three, getting a post-Ebb production. “That’s ‘Minstrel Show,” he said, “and we’re working on a workshop of it. As for Chita Rivera in ‘The Visit’ coming to New York after our very successful DC run, well, do you have $2 million?”

� COMEDY, continued on p.25

■ IN THE NOH

1 Night, 1 Diva, 3 RolesIn musical comedy bliss, Martine, Ava scramble for most gorgeous

Christie Brinkley was easily the most beautiful star at the September 22 opening gala for the Met’s 125th season.

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Martine Carol, the pudding-faced French sexpot in Max Ophuls’ “Lola Montez” (1955), lacked the charisma or sensitivity Vivien Leigh, for example, could have brought to the role

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Funnily enough, I was asked that same question later that night by York Theatre’s James Mor-

gan, when I inquired as to the possibil-ity of his enchanting revival of the 1976 musical “Enter Laughing” transferring to Broadway. Run, don’t walk to this show, which just got extended, as Josh Grisetti, 26, gives one of the great-est comic performances I have ever seen as an aspiring Bronx actor (read writer Carl Reiner), and, as pure icing, the great George Irving, 85, reprises his original role with magisterial comic delivery, especially on the ribald clas-sic, “Butler’s Song.”

I asked Irving how many times he’s sung this and he said, “I’ve lost count. They have me doing it at weddings, bar mitzvahs, funerals, you name it!”

The entire production is cast and directed to loony perfection, and the cloud of musical comedy bliss I was on got extended when I caught Paper Mills’ “Oklahoma” on Sept. 21. Call me xeno-phobic, but there are certain shows that need to be directed by an Ameri-can (especially after the hapless recent Brit-helmed productions of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Company,” and “Catered Affair”), and James Brennan (respon-

sible for last season’s winning “Kiss Me Kate”) instilled it with a youthful verve and randiness that made this warhorse look like a fresh filly again.

Brynn O’Malley was the best Lau-rey I’ve ever seen, a real feisty country miss, with belt and lyric high notes, far from the buttery blandness of Shir-ley Jones in the 1955 film or the 2002 revival’s Josefina Gabrielle, that triple threat who couldn’t sing, dance, or act. Adam Monley (Curly) and Andrew Varela (a very sexy, sympathetic Jud) made juicy romantic rivals, while Brian Sears brought true Tennessee charm to Will Parker and Megan Sikora was a hilariously horny Ado Annie.

While not quite as ecstasy-inducing as these shows, “The Marvelous Wonder-

ettes” may likely outrun both of them for, in its way, this ’50s-60s jukebox musical is as easily crowd-pleasing as “Mama Mia.” The storyline about a high school girl group and their reunion may be inane, but there’s no gainsaying the considerable vocal talent onstage.

Farah Alvin did a bang-up “Mr. Lee,” Bets Malone dropped her air-head comic voice to growl out a very respectable “Respect,” and Beth

Malone had major pipes as well as a Cheri Oteri-like comic rambunc-tiousness on “It’s My Party.” As long as there are any four young actresses in New York who can really sing this profusion of beloved pop standards, this show may enjoy as long a stay as that mediocrity which preceded it at the Westside Theatre, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” (12 years!).

Max Ophuls’ “Lola Montez” (1955), which is at The New York Film Festival and sub-

sequently being revived at Film Forum (Oct. 10-30) in a spectacularly restored 35mm print, has been hailed by some as the greatest film of all time. Re-seeing it after many years, this crit-ic begs to differ –– it’s not a patch on

Gay travel to Peru and . . . Machu Picchu

8 days / 7 nights March 6-13 and Nov. 20-27, 2009 $3,495* with 4+ travelers Amazon Rainforest Extension: 5d/4n $1,985 with 4+ travelers *Int’l airfare to Peru not included

www.ecoimagephototravel.com Cell: 917-757-8609 [email protected]

Travel in comfort and style to the ‘lost city’ of the Incas, Machu Picchu. Enjoy 3-5 star hotels, a boutique Sacred Valley resort and travel first class on the Hiram Bingham Orient Express train. Visit remote Quechua Indian villages, shop at colorful local craft markets and savor wonderful Peruvian cuisine and wine.

Options can include horseback excursions to remote Inca sites, paragliding, hot stone massage and river rafting through the Urubamba--the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

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Ava Gardner, “the most beautiful animal in the world,” stars in Albert Lewin’s “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman” (1951), showing at the New York Film Festival.

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You should definitely treat yourself to this utterly mad, Technicolor hot fudge sundae.

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Damp RealityLance Hammer’s contribution to new cinema is drably beautiful and real

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Vote. Call folks in Ohio, Virginia, and Texas (Texas?) to pull out the votes for hope. Nardicio’s dancers will mean-while be showing you which lever to pull. Sugarland, 221 N. Ninth St. Brooklyn, btwn. Driggs Ave. & Roe-bling St. (Bedford Ave. stop on the L train), 4 p.m. on. For more information, call 866-314-2748.

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CABARETCartesian Sensibility

Cynthia Crane’s new show, “I’m Con-fused, Therefore I Am,” is an exploration of the human condition as expressed in the music of Sondheim, Rogers and Hammerstein, Harburg and Arlen, and Ervin Drake. Paul Greenwood is on piano, Boots Maleson on bass. Met-ropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St. Oct. 5, 4 p.m.; Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m. The music charge is $20. Reservations at 212-206-0440 or metropolitanroom.com.

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MON.OCT.6YOUTHFocusing on Solutions

The Hetrick-Martin Institute and IBM present a ground-breaking event entitled “Innovation Education: Advancing the Educational Experience of LGBT Youth,” a gather of leaders in the corporate world, foundations, government, academia, and the nonprofit sector to discuss new approaches to enhancing and enrich-ing the educational experience of LGBT youth, a population historically discon-nected from education services. Confer-ence participants — including Dennis M. Walcott, New York City deputy mayor for Education and Community Development, Jeanne Mullgrav, commissioner of the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development; and Thomas Krever, Hetrick-Martin executive direc-tor — will focus on means to develop a supportive, diverse educational setting and to harness the incredible potential of technology as an agent of positive change. W Hotel Union Square, 201 Park Ave. So. at E. 17th St., 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. To RSVP, email your name and phone number to [email protected]. For more information, contact Nicole Wilder at 212-674-2600, ext. 260 or [email protected].

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BENEFIT Value Families

PFLAG NYC, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays of New York, holds its 35th anniversary awards dinner, with a cocktail hour and din-

BY NICHOLAS FEITEL

In the wake of last week’s presidential debate, Barack Obama has accused John

McCain of not once mentioning the middle class. Whatever the truth of that specific charge, the more significant point is what it is that neither candi-date mentioned — the experi-ence of real people. At election time, millions of people are reduced to generalities, and a nation as diverse as America is divided between “middle-class” and “working-class,” “intellectuals” and “small-town America,” and, perhaps most troubling, “Americans” and “minorities.”

Not only are these terms gross over-simplifications in describing the lives and liveli-hoods of ordinary people and their families, but the distinc-tions themselves and how they are positioned in opposition to each other instills in the minds of America the notion that somewhere right in our midst is our most dangerous antago-nist.

Perhaps the current Ameri-can New Wave in film is a reaction to these sorts of dis-tinctions. The term is tricky; encompassing varying films with divergent themes. Some have been descr ibed as mumblecore, a term used to describe mostly the comedies of the genre — such as “Mutual Appreciation” and “Baghead.” Others have been described simply as naturalistic or New American, much like a restau-rant that serves new potatoes or native duck confit.

Regardless of their differenc-es, however, these films share a focus on telling the stories of characters who come across

as believably real people, in an unspectacular narrative fash-ion. They ask more of the audi-ence, refusing to let it escape, but in return they offer a more honest experience. To group these films, I will call their style Aggressive American Natural-ism — a simplification, but one I think that does them justice.

Of these new filmmakers, we have seen Andrew Bujalski, who has risen to semi-wonkish prominence in his indie crowd, and Kelly Reichardt, whose films “Old Joy” and “Wendy and Lucy” have been widely embraced by critics as exciting examples of “new” filmmaking. Another filmmaker has joined Reichardt and Bujalski in their ascendancy, with a mastery of personal narrative and honest emotion — Lance Hammer.

Hammer’s new film “Bal-last” has a story so small that it could easily happen in real life and be ignored by almost all. Yet Hammer achieves broader resonance from the personal ramifications of the story

A man commits suicide in Mississippi. His twin, Law-rence (Michael Smith), owns a gas station but, unable to bear his brother death, retreats within his home. Meanwhile, his widowed sister-in-law, Marlee (Tarra Riggs), vio-lently strikes out emotionally at everything and everyone she can find, including her son, James (JimMyron Ross), whose life of petty crime lands him in a patch or two of trou-ble.

This world is aggressively drab, soaked with water. The Mississippi Delta here appears as a world in which it either is raining or has just rained. Hammer lends his damp world realism by shooting the entire film without the use of cine-matic lights. Instead of a tradi-tional cinematic world, we get a setting bleak without hope — even if in the end it, too, is a Hollywood creation.

There is no real happy end-ing for these people. James suffers for his youthful trans-gressions as he might not have in a more ideal world. Lawrence never really does gain the connection he so des-perately needs. The only thing gained here is subsistence, a vague hope that things might go all right for as long as possi-ble, before they don’t anymore.

Strangely enough, “Ballast” could be called “mumblecore,” if only because the actors often don’t say their lines at discern-able levels. That creates the impression that we are eaves-

dropping, that we are hear-ing what we shouldn’t. Really, though, we hear what we need to hear.

In its drabness, in its ordi-nariness, Hammer has crafted a beautiful film, more political than buzz words, more real than reality TV. It shows how people can’t be classified so easily, that life doesn’t end so neatly, that maybe instead of watching a person go from A to B on screen we can just sit with them in their lives for a while and experience.

In any appraisal of this cin-ematic era, “Ballast” should be held up with Reichardt’s “Wendy and Lucy” and Bujal-ski’s “Funny Ha Ha” as a film successful in evoking the peculiar nature of Amer-ica today. We could use more films like these, more words in our discourse that speak like them — of our experiences as individuals, rather than as members of the divisive cat-egories that have become our burden to bear.

Michael Smith is Lawrence, a gas station owner in the Mississippi overcome by his grief at the suicide of his twin brother.

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BALLASTDirected by Lance HammerAlluvial Film Company Film ForumThrough Oct. 14

real Ophuls masterworks like “The Earrings of Madame De,” “Letter from an Unknown Woman,” or “Caught.”

Although visually stunning, the script is airlessly clever, cursory, and completely lack-ing in emotional depth –– but the real problem is its star. Martine Carol, the pudding-faced French sexpot Ophuls was forced to work with, totally lacks the charisma or sensitivity that an actress like Vivien Leigh, playing another historical seductress, Emma Hamilton, in “That Hamilton

Woman,” had in such spades that, in a matter of seconds, anyone succumbed.

Even Carol’s costumes, which, in any other Ophuls film, would have been sub-l ime, as done by Marcel Escoffier (also responsible for some of the monstrosi-ties Joan Sutherland wore in opera) instead of Ophuls’ usual, brilliant collabora-tor, Georges Annenkov, are pedestrian when not down-right vulgar. Ergo, the film is like a beautiful setting with a paste gem at its center, to be seen for the extraordinary cir-cus framing device –– which

must have influenced Bob Fosse’s “Cabaret” –– but defi-nitely something to be puzzled over afterwards in the crisp autumn air.

Equally visually amaz-ing, Albert Lewin’s “Pandora and the Fly-

ing Dutchman” (1951) is also being shown in a restored print at the Film Festival (October 10, introduced by Martin Scorsese). I remem-ber when they revived it in Paris all summer long, years ago, and I begged my friend, the late fashion designer Pat-rick Kelly, to go with me. “No,

child,” he said. “Once was more than enough. Let’s catch the restored ‘New York, New York,’ instead.”

I now know what he meant, but you should definitely treat yourself to this utterly mad, Technicolor hot fudge sundae, a reworking of the famous leg-end, starring James Mason at his most sexily brooding and, as she was known at the time, “the most beautiful animal in the world,” Ava Gardner, so luscious here to make you feel drugged just looking at her.

Contac t Dav id Noh a t [email protected].

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ner. Michelle Clunie (“Queer as Folk”) and Nick Kenkel (“Legally Blonde” and “Broadway Bares”) are masters of ceremony in honoring Dirk McCall, executive director of the Greenwich Vil-lage-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks, the Imperial Court of New York, and Prudential Financial. Tribeca Rooftop, 2 Desbrosses St. at Hudson St., just below Canal St., 6-10 p.m. Tickets begin at $250 at pflagnyc.org.

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TELEVISION“In the Life,” the award-winning

public television monthly LGBT maga-zine celebrates the launch of its 17th season. The season premiere gala will honor comedian and toastmistress general with its Pioneer Award and shows previews of the programs com-ing up in the next few months. Wine, imported beer, and hors d’oeuvres from Café Sabarsky will be served. Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Ave. at E. 86th St., 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tickets are $250 at inthelifetv.org or 212-255-6097.

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MUSICSmoky Voice

The ever-surprising Lea DeLaria, comedian, comic actress, currently starring on ABC’s “One Life to Live,” and in recent years an awesome cabaret chanteuse, celebrates her new Ghostlight Records CD, “The Live Smoke Sessions,” with two nights — where else? — at the jazz club Smoke. “I styled this CD on the old-school live recordings,” DeLaria said of her latest offering. “It is my hope that this CD will take you back to 1948 and the Village Vanguard.” DeLaria will be joined by Gil Gold-stein on piano, Seamus Blake on sax-ophone, and BBC “Jazz Singer of the Year” Ian Shaw on vocals. Smoke, 2751 Broadway, btwn. W. 105th & W. 106th St., 8 & 9:30 p.m. The cover charge is $28, with a $20 food and drink minimum. For reservations, visit smokejazz.com or call 212-864-6662.

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Springer & SprayKatrina Rose, last seen on stage

at Carnegie Hall in “Jerry Springer the Opera,” and who also played Tracy Turn-blad in the Las Vegas production of “Hair-spray,” serves up a full set of Broadway’s hottest tunes in the new edition of Scott Nevins’ “Curtain Call.” Splash, 50 W. 17th St., 11:30 p.m. Admission is free until 10 p.m.; $5 afterward. Get there early to grab a seat to enjoy “Musical Mondays,” a mad video encyclopedia of show tunes at their finest.

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O’Connor’s EarthworkArchitectural paradigm informs an intimate quartet’s society

Dance /27

BY GUS SOLOMONS JR

The ingredients of Tere O’Connor ’s dances inc lude obsess i ve

movement motifs, dancers speaking, and eclectic musi-cal accompaniment. Like a master chef, he whips them up into kinetic excursions that are in equal parts baf-fling, provocative, and even emotionally moving.

His Bessie Award-winning “Rammed Earth” –– made in 2007 and inspired by con-temporary architecture, where “concepts of adapt-ability and human interac-tion drive design” –– received a well-deserved encore run, September 24-28, at Barysh-nikov Arts Center. This is per-haps his most accomplished work to date.

In architecture, rammed earth is a construction meth-od used mainly in arid areas, where walls are created by forming earth mixed with a stabilizer –– in some cultures, animal blood –– and compact-ing it into frames in desired configurations. When cement is the stabilizer, you get con-crete.

O’Connor’s unique style invests mundane gestures with an inner life that gives them implicit drama. And thanks to the vivid personali-ties of his wonderful dancers –– who contribute movement –– pathos and fun erupt. There are moments of vio-lence –– Christopher Williams repeatedly shoving Matthew Rogers into a wall. And there are tender ones –– Hilary Clark sweetly molding Wil-liams into sculptural poses.

The specific images that are motivating the eccentric actions remain covert. Are Rogers and Heather Olson rustling up dinner or setting up some complicated machin-ery when they lean against a wall and pantomime madly with their hands? What makes Rogers and Clark’s slow, side-by-side descent from stand-ing to lying down so poignant? What’s the inner dialog that causes a faint smile to flicker across Clark’s face, as she runs with the group like Olym-pic sprinters in oval paths?

O’Connor ’s hour - long dance unfolds in four scenes, from the scattered configura-tion where they begin in the double-size studio into a line along one long wall, then into

two rows at each narrow end, and finally into four rows at one end like a conventional theater. In each scene, part of the audience — about 40 at a time and at the dancers’ instruction — rearranges its chairs.

The f irst section is an extended unison phrase that weaves intricately among the audience chairs; it starts slowly and gradually builds to a fast-running crescendo before subsiding again.

The second section is like watching a Cinemascope screen; the dancers use the long wall for support to chal-lenge gravity. Olson and Clark brace as they grab their legs and stretch them over their heads like cheerleaders. Wil-liams exploits his hyper-flex-ibility, willowing like a deep-sea anemone while tilted at a 60-degree angle.

The heart of section three is a virtuosic double duet, filled with difficult balance and control that reminds us how technically skilled these dancers are –– a fact that tends to be obscured by their

charming presences and quirky interpretation.

In the final part, they hud-dle at the far end of the space, like refugees, pinned in a harsh spotlight.

The success of O’Connor’s work owes as much to his remarkable dancers’ per -formances as to his own consummate vision of what dance can be. Clark is an ample woman who moves with gentle determination. Olson possesses a wide-eyed, baby-doll visage and elegantly spidery limbs.

Rogers has an angelic face, the torso of a faun, and the legs of a racehorse. Williams –– happily sporting a new, symmetrical haircut –– seems to pierce the objects of his focus with laser rays, and he moves with the reckless con-fidence of someone whose physical control is absolute.

The four dancers form a tight-knit, engagingly dys-functional family. At one point, Rogers sashays around like a cocktail waitress, mum-bling to himself, and the oth-ers, watching him, mumble

back.In fact, the dancers talk

a lot to each other, not to be understood by us, but to rein-force their special rapport. We realize how deeply we’ve been drawn into O’Connor’s world each time, like a splash of cold water in the face, the dancers announce, “You can move your chairs now.” It’s like being slapped awake from a delightful dream.

Michael O’Connor and Brian McDevitt shape the space with l ighting that transforms it from mundane to mysteriously intimate to monumentally vast with the seemingly simplest of means –– large instruments, placed high up and on the floor, and a grid of utilitarian incan-descent bulbs in plastic bas-kets, hung from the ceiling on orange electric cables.

Composer James Baker breaks the silence propi-tiously with instrumental snippets, one reminiscent of Bernard Hermann’s eerie movie music, and another a discourse on black and white bears.

The revival of Tere O’Connor’s 2007 “Rammed Earth” shows of the choreographer at his best.

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The Mansion Inn A beautifully restored 1865 Victorian manor home, located on the banks of the Delaware River in historic New Hope, PA, known for its art and antiques shopping. The Mansion Inn is a perfect location for your civil union, family reunion, business meeting or just a leisure trip. The Inn offers award-winning fi ne dining on premises and luxurious rooms and amenities.

Visit our sister property: The Majestic Hotel, 19 Main Avenue, Ocean Grove, NJ 07756. 732-775-6100. www.majesticoceangrove.com (walking distance of Asbury Park).

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To Advertise Contact: Lee Castoro - 646-452-2505 - [email protected]

Lexington House B&BOne of the things we like about New Hope is that all B&B’s are gay-friendly. But The Lexington House is also gay-owned. And only one B&B can be ranked #1 in New Hope on www.TripAdvisor.com, and that’s The Lexington House. Come visit us and fi nd out why. Mention this ad and receive 5% off of a two-night stay. Or come visit for three nights and get the fourth night free (both offers good until the end of November, 2008). You might enter as strangers, but will leave as friends. We look forward to meeting you! -Mike and Ed

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Hotel Du VillageWe are a country inn, nestled in the Bucks County countryside, just one and a half miles north of New Hope providing easy ac-cess to the many fi ne shops and entertainment in the area. Our inn offers 20 rooms, all with private bath and air conditioning and a bridal suite for weddings. The inn is located on the same grounds as the restaurant, making it convenient for visitors af-ter a day in town. We also provide a continental breakfast for guests staying at the inn. Our restaurant, specializing in country French cuisine, is open for dinner every evening with the excep-tions of Monday and Tuesday. We are very proud supporters of the LGBT community and look forward to greeting you!

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J&W Gallery – Fine ArtCelebrating it’s 11th year in 2008, this sophisticated yet re-laxed space is now the oldest Fine Art Gallery in New Hope. Opened in 1997 by Joseph Licata and Walter Czajkowski, it rep-resents over 30 established and emerging artists in oils, mixed-media and photography. Featured Provincetown artist: Michael McGuire: oils, Sept. 26 - Oct. 27. Opening reception: Saturday, Sept. 27, 6-9pm. Visit the Gallery and see why it is known as “The Destination for Fine Art in New Hope”. Come and cele-brate the Arts every Second Saturday of the month for special ex-hibitions, food and entertainment: 9/13,10/11,11/8 & 12/13.

20 West Bridge Street New Hope, PA 18938215-862-5119 | www.jwgallery.com

Michael McGuire - Lone Shack - 36x36, oil on canvas, 2008.

Gallery Piquel Featuring Bronze Sculpture, Contemporary Oil Paint-ings and original “Wearable Art” Jewelry, Gallery Piquel presents the work of an array of international and lo-cal artists. Some hold positions of honor in important Museum and Corporate Collections, while others are just emerging on the art scene. Each has a unique point of view and their work has that special “something” to engage and inspire.

Open Friday-Sunday 12pm-5pm or later, often on other days and happily by appointment.

39 North Main Street New Hope, PA 18938 215-862-3523 | www.gallerypiquel.com

“Zuider Zee”, egg tempera & oil on panel, by M. Briscoe.

Reinboth & CompanyReinboth is a luxury interior design and retail stu-dio that started in 1992 in Lambertville, NJ. To-day, Reinboth is the standard-bearer of good taste and sumptuous living in the region. Specializing in the modern aesthetic, Reinboth has designed several upscale residential and commercial projects in Northern New Jersey, Princeton, Bucks County, South Carolina, New York City, Florida, and the Hamptons. Scott Reinboth, as the principal design-er, works with a team that takes inspiration from fashion design, great architecture, fi ne hotels, and clients’ ever changing lifestyles. These infl uences allow the Reinboth team to implement successfully non-traditional solutions to traditional challenges.

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Bucks County, PAJim Briggs, Associate Broker, GRI, CRS, AHLS, Prudential Fox & Roach RealtorsExperience the country life in Bucks County, PA. From the his-toric covered bridges, quaint antique homes or new low main-tenance townhouse, New Hope and vicinity is the perfect week-end retreat. I’ll share my 30+ year knowledge of the area and real estate expertise. I have a vested interest in the community and do my best to give back by my extensive community involve-ment and comprehensive service as a real estate professional.

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2 - 8 OCT 2008

New BeginningsStanford Makishi and OtherShore liven up the dance world

Dance /29

BY BRIAN MCCORMICK

Joining the ranks of the many new (and returning) per-forming arts executive direc-tors around the city, Stanford Makishi quietly took over at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in January of 2008.

Makishi, who danced with Trisha Brown for seven years and then worked in her com-pany’s administration before making a career at Carn-egie Hall, succeeded found-ing director Christina Sterner, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s partner on many ventures, including the White Oak Dance Project.

“Carnegie Hall was a great place to work,” said Makishi in an interview with Gay City News. “I thought I was a lifer. The top musicians are lining up to perform there. I was sur-rounded by great, overquali-fied, smart people who are all really good at their jobs and who all lead interesting lives. I loved going to work.”

“When this opportunity

arose,” Makishi added, “it was like a long courtship. I had many meals and other meet-ings with Misha over three-and-a-half months until the handshake. He really wanted to know who I was. Our con-versations were primarily about art —film, music, the-ater, dance, visual arts — and travel.”

The first few months Maki-shi “worked in the shadow” of Sterner, but in the past few months, he has emerged, shining his leadership on busi-ness and artistic matters. The non-profit organization is in the final stages of purchas-ing its space — three floors of studio and office space and a 299-seat theater in the 37 Arts

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OTHERSHOREBaryshnikov Arts Center450 W. 37th St.Oct. 9-11 at 8 p.m.;Oct. 12 at 3 p.m.$20; 212-279-4200 or bacnyc.org

Brandi Norton, Miguel Anaya, and Sonja Kostich dance in the new company OtherShore.

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TUE.OCT.7POLITICSAlbany Aims

In the second of its “Meet the Can-didates” nights of this election season, the LGBT Community Center pres-ents Manhattan candidates for the State Assembly and Senate. Gay City News editor in chief Paul Schindler moderates. 208 W. 13th St., 6:30-8:30 p.m.

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HUMAN RIGHTS Parades & Polka

The New York City chapter of Kam-pania Przeciw Homofobii (KPH), or the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia, a group fighting for LGBT rights in that former Soviet bloc nation, hosts a con-ference looking at the LGBT movement in Eastern Europe through the perspec-tive of pride parades. Are “Western” concepts of activism ill-suited for the Eastern European context? What needs to be done in the region to further LGBT rights, and how can American support be given? Panelists include Adrian Coman of the International Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Scott Long of Human Rights Watch, transgender activist Kellan Baker, and KPH’s Marta Abramowicz and Greg Czarnecki, both of whom live in Poland. Synergos, 51 Madison Ave. at E. 27th St., 21st fl., 4-7 p.m. A Polish dance party, “Shake Your Polka,” follows at Mehanata-Bulgarian Bar, 113 Ludlow St., btwn. Rivington & Delancey Sts., 9 p.m. Voluntary contribution at the door. For more information, contact KPH – NY members Anna Kondracka at 347-204-0065, [email protected] or Daniel Domagala at 917-587-3018 or [email protected].

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GALLERYTwo Takes on Heroism

The 24 images in “Greek Heroes: Digital Images” are created from pho-tographs of statues, mostly of ancient Greek heroes in museums in the US and in Europe. Ron Csuha’s tenet in putting this show together is that a great work of art has two important qualities — one that makes it interest-ing or beautiful from a distance, so that it will grab your attention immediately, and another that makes it equally inter-esting or beautiful when viewed close up. The Campbell Soady Gallery at the LGBT Community Center holds a reception for the opening of this exhi-bition, 208 W. 13th St., 6-7:30 p.m. Through Nov.

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complex.“Owning the space makes it

easier to say [to artists] please come,” said Makishi. “Peo-ple are clamoring to rent the space.”

This month, BAC further distinguishes itself by present-ing the debut of OtherShore. It is a new dance company formed by two dancers in their mid-30s for dancers in their mid-30s; Brandi Norton and Sonja Kostich want to continue dancing — on their own terms.

“There’s no way I’d get into a ballet company,” declared Kostich, whose credits include ABT, San Francisco Ballet, and White Oak. “It’s not nor-mal for a ballet dancer at age 36 to go to an audition.” While the situation is not exactly the same for modern dancers, for-mer Trisha Brown Company dancer Norton said the oppor-tunities for dancers her age are much more limited.

“Rather than trying to get into a company,” she said, “we wanted to create an opportu-nity that might not be too com-mon elsewhere.”

Joining Norton and Kostich is a seasoned group of dancers, including Miguel Anaya, Peter Brandenhoff, Robbie Cook, Elizabeth DeMent, and Rosa-lynde LeBlanc. For their first performance, OtherShore will perform new works created by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar of Big Dance Theater, Edwaard Liang, and Stacy Matthew Spence, another TBCO alumni.

Big Dance Theater is not

known for choreographing for repertory companies, but Kostich said when she moved back to New York five years ago and saw the company, she wanted to do that work. Par-son and Lazar were the first picks. Spence was an obvious choice, and Liang rounded out the selection the women were seeking. Jennifer Tipton is doing the lighting. Mark Kosta-bi is also contributing.

“The proposal they sub-mitted was very impressive,” Makishi said of Norton and Kostich.

In addition to presenting the work, BAC also gave the new company a residency. They know they have to prove them-selves, but it helps to have space.

“It feels like home,” said Kos-tich.

“We exist for artists,” said Makishi. “Everything we do is consistent with developing a presence as a lab for emerging and international artists, and others that don’t have a loud voice here in New York.

While it might seem on the surface that only those with pre-existing connections to Trisha Brown or Misha are the benefactors of BAC, that’s clearly not the case.

“Shortly after I got here,” said Makishi, “I saw Richard Siegal perform. I loved what I saw in ‘As If Stranger,’ and had the opportunity to meet him through his manager. I asked him if we could help in any way.”

Siegal and his group, The Bakery, just finished a resi-

dency there, as did Nell Bryer, Alissa Cardone, Lorraine Chapman, and Bronwen MacArthur. In the early sum-mer, Yvonne Rainer was in residence working with Emily Coates, Patricia Hoffbauer, and Pat Catterson, and Opera Omnia had use of BAC studios in August.

In mid-October, Studio Six Theater Company with Dmitry Troyanovsky will come in for

two weeks, followed by photog-rapher David Leach and chore-ographer Stephanie Nelson.

As for the long-term vision, Makishi points to Misha.

“Look at the last 20 years,” he said. “White Oak itself was always evolving, and was not in spirit the same at the end. If anything can be said about the center so far, in it’s three years of life, it’s that this is a place to explore risks.”

Stanford Makishi is the executive director of the Baryshnikov Arts Center, a non-profit orga-nization providing unique opportunities for emerging and mid-career artists from around the world and across disciplines.

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gaycitynews.com

is no record of Palin speaking out against the practice of her town.

Clinton, Nadler Endorse Housing for People with HIV

New York C i t y, wh ich provides housing for people w i th A IDS , has res i s ted calls from Housing Works and other groups to extend that housing to people who have HIV but not an AIDS diagnosis. Now New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Manhattan/ Brooklyn Repre-sentative Jerry Nadler, both Democrats, have introduced a concurrent resolution in Congress “stating the need for quality housing nation-wide for people living with HIV/AIDS.”

Beyond the health benefits to people with HIV themselves, Nadler said in a release, “What’s more, housing is a basic human right which has been proven to increase healthy practices that limit the spread

of this disease.” In 2007, Chris-tine Quinn, the out lesbian City Council speaker, told Gay City News, “It’s a very radical shift to decide that housing is the best prevention tool available,” in explaining her opposition to the Housing Works push for HIV housing.

Hawaiian Gay Leader Dies

William E. Woods, who was known as the father of the Hawaiian gay rights movement, has died at the age of 58 after a long illness. He was the founder of the Gay and Lesbian Center and its executive director for 17 years. He founded and ran the Gay and Lesbian Education and Advocacy Foundation in 1990 and was very active in the fight for marriage equality in the state.

A lower court in Hawaii found a state constitutional basis for opening marriage to same-sex couples, but voters there soon adopted an amend-ment allowing the Legislature to regulate marriage, which it promptly did by limiting it to different-sex couples. Hawaii then adopted a system of lim-

ited “reciprocal benefits” for gay couples.

Active in Democratic politics, he ran unsuccessfully for the state House of Representatives from Kalihi in 2006.

Woods was the founder of the Honolulu Gay Support Group that has been meeting continu-ously for 36 years. He headed the GLBT Caucus in the state Democratic Party.

He is survived by his hus-band, Lance W. Baterman, whom he married in Vancouver in 2003.

New Leader for AIDS Group

The Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) has hired Vanessa Brocato, an attorney who got her start with the Stop AIDS Project in Chicago, as its new executive director. She was most recent-ly the assistant director for prevention policy at Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York and has also worked for AmfAR, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US, Washington’s Whitman-Walk-er Clinic, and the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow-

ship Program. In 2007, Brocato was on

the coordinating team for the Women Deliver conference on maternal health in London, working to bring women with HIV and others to the table. She replaces Julie Davids, the founding executive director of the group.

AA for Inclusive ENDA

American Ai r l ines has endorsed the federal Employ-ment Non-Discrimination Act and wants it to include pro-tections on the basis of gen-der identity and expression as well as sexual orientation. “The principles fostered by ENDA are consistent with our corporate principles in treat-ing all employees with fair-ness and respect,” the com-pany wrote.

TGI Friday Fined for HIV Discrimination

The TGI Friday restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, was fined $5,000 for firing its gen-eral manager, James McCray, because he is HIV-positive, in

2006. He said the firing fol-lowed his disclosure of his HIV status; the restaurant said it was due to his job conduct and integrity.

The Alexandria Human Rights Commission sided with McCray. Its decision is subject to review by the city’s circuit court.

McCray has said that he is contemplating filing a federal lawsuit against Carlson Restau-rants, owners of the TGI Friday chain, under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Lesbian MP Marries

Eagle, a Labour represen-tative from Wallasey in west central England, is the first woman member of Parlia-ment in Britain to enter a civil partnership, marrying Marie Exall, an engineer with British Telecom, on September 29. They have been partners for 18 years.

Eagle was one of the prin-cipal proponents of the civil partners law enacted in 2005.

The first gay male MP to obtain a civil partnership was Tory Alan Duncan last year.

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ELECTRICAL SERVICES

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To place a classified ad call646-452-2485

Your Ad HereYour Ad HereYour Ad HereYour Ad HereYour Ad HereYour Ad HereYour Ad HereYour Ad HereYour Ad HereTo place a classified ad call

646-452-2485

REAL ESTATE

EMPLOYMENT

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IMPRISONMENTCALL KAPLAN & KAPLAN16 COURT STREETSUITE 2305BROOKLYN, N Y 11241718-596-8800

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GayCityNews.com


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October 2 Gay City News

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