Bent Alaska

Paula Poundstone returns to Alaska: March shows in Juneau, Anchorage, & Fairbanks

Bent Alaska — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:39:34 +0000

Stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone visited Fairbanks last August with the cast and crew of NPR’s news quiz show, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! She liked it so well that she’s coming back to Alaska in March, with shows in Juneau (March 15), Anchorage (March 16), and Fairbanks (March 17).

Appearing on stage with a stool, a microphone, and a can of Diet Pepsi, Paula Poundstone is famous for her razor-sharp wit and spontaneity. The Boston Globe said, “Poundstone improvises with a crowd like a Jazz musician…swinging in unexpected directions without a plan, without a net.” Paula is so quick and unassuming that audience members at her live shows often leave complaining that their cheeks hurt from laughter and debating whether the random people she talked to were “plants.”

Poundstone appeared in January at Portland’s Aladdin Theatre. In advance of her concert there, Aimee Genter of Oregon’s LGBTQ newsmagazine just out leapt at the chance to write about her:

As a baby dykeling, I was obsessed with my holy trinity of stand-up royalty: Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres and Paula Poundstone. Now, you may see Ms. Poundstone in my holy trinity and jump to an assumption or two. And who would blame you? Those ties. Those gaudy suits. Her liberal political humor. They all point to one conclusion.

But you know what happens when you assume, right?

“I’m totally an asexual human being. I haven’t dated anyone,” Poundstone told the Dallas Voice in 2007. In her memoir, There’s Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say, she wrote, “The idea that I’d get to my bed and there’d be someone in there with whom I was supposed to have an activity is horrifying to me. It’s a safe bet that I’m not good at sex, that I do it wrong.”

How, then, did she become a gay icon?

Most likely it is her masculine fashion sense, mixed with a sardonic sense of humor. I, personally, pick my gay icons based on who makes me tingle. It’s not scientific, but it’s right 9 out of 10 times. Paula Poundstone is the anomaly—the woman who lives her life as she wants to, not as she thinks people want her to be.

Her concerts run approximately 2 hours without intermission. Get your tickets!

Juneau

Date/time: Thursday, March 15. Doors open 6:30 PM; show begins 8:00 PM.
Location: Centennial Hall Convention Center, 101 Egan Drive, Juneau (see map)
Cost of admission: $30 advance/$35 day of show & door. $5 from each ticket sold will be donated to KTOO Radio. Purchase tickets at fla.vor.us
Age restriction: Must be 21 years or older, or with legal parent. Alcohol will be served.

Anchorage

Date/time: Friday, March 16, 7:30-9:30 PM
Location: Sydney Laurence Theatre, Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, 621 West 6th Avenue, Anchorage (see map)
Cost of admission: $36.50. Purchase tickets at Centertix

Fairbanks

Date/time: Saturday, March 17, 7:00 PM
Location: Davis Concert Hall, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK (see map)
Cost of admission: Adults: $25; Children/Military/Seniors/Students: $15 (ID required for military/students and may be requested for children/seniors). Purchase tickets through UAF Summer Sessions (see webpage for details).

Photo credit: Paula Poundstone, 2 February 2008 by Phil Konstantin via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed to the public domain.

Is your event not on our calendar? No matter where you are in the state, if you’re running an event of interest to the LGBTQA community, we’d be glad to put it on the Bent Alaska events calendar. If you use Google Calendar, you can subscribe to our calendar at http://bit.ly/bentcalendar.

Juneau Rollergirls defend their home turf against the Yukon Rollergirls Saturday

Bent Alaska — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:45:34 +0000

The Juneau Rollergirls will face off against the Yukon Rollergirls in their very first international roller derby bout on Saturday, February 18. Come cheer on the Juneau travel team as they defend their home turf against their Canadian neighbors.

Juneau Rollergirls are “looking for redemption” after their heavy loss of 283-41 to Rage City’s Dirty Polli’s in January, according to Klas Stolpe of the Juneau Empire. But that loss looked a lot worse than it really was:

“One of the things that really stood out in our Anchorage bout is that while we were a little bit behind in the strategic areas, we do have the strength and speed to play,” JRG Julie Sanbei, aka Just Julie, said. “We are just a little green. We don’t want Juneau to get the impression we don’t know what we are doing. We just played an undefeated team up there. Juneau and Yukon will be evenly matched.”

Added Kim Glasow, aka Catapult Kim, “We knew we were going to get slaughtered, they had been around a long time and are one of the most competitive teams in the North West. We figured it would be a great learning experience and it was.

Yukon Rollergirls, nearly two years old as a team, has had two sanctioned bouts and took the victory in both, one against the Edmonton Oil City Derby Girls (a rookie team) in January 2011, and one against the Fairbanks Rollergirls last September.

Bent Alaska is pulling for Juneau. Good luck!

Date/time: Saturday, February 18, 6:00-8:30 PM
Location: Centennial Hall Convention Center, 101 Egan Drive, Juneau (see map)
Cost of admission: $20. Tickets are no longer available online — 25 tickets will be released at the door — arrive early and good luck! 5% of proceeds go to a local charity.
Age restriction: Must be 21 or older or with a parent to attend; there will be a no-host bar.
Further info: see the Juneau Rollergirls Facebook page or website

Drag Camp 2012: Drag your way to the top!

Bent Alaska — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:02:32 +0000

Anchorage MPowerment Project (Amp Anchorage), in conjunction with The Friday Night Diva Variety Show and Mad Myrna’s, presents Drag Camp 2012: Drag your way to the top! — an opportunity for young men to become the drag divas of their dreams. Drag Camp and competition will be held on successive Saturdays, Feb. 18 and 25.

At Drag Camp, there will be hair and makeup professionals available to help you get your drag on, and seasoned drag queens to help you acquire that swagger on the runway. Participation is limited only by the amount of room available in the Four A’s conference room. An “all fun/no fund” event. Participants must provide their own hair, dress, shoes, and makeup mirrors. There will be enough experience in the room to help make your drag dream come true!

The following week, come watch the fledgling divas at the Drag Camp competition! Contestants must have their own garments, accessories, hair, and shoes; have one song read to go; and must not have performed previously at the Friday Night Variety Show. The winning new drag queen will be offered a SPECIAL GUEST spot in Anchorage’s wildly popular Friday Night Diva Variety Show at Mad Myrna’s the following Friday.

Drag Camp 2012

Date/time: Saturday, February 18, 2:00-5:00 PM
Location: Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s),1057 West Fireweed Lane, Anchorage, AK (see map)
Cost of admission: No cost. All fun, no fund!
Further info: see Facebook events page

Competition

Date/time: Saturday, February 25, 8:00 PM
Location: Mad Myrna’s, 530 E. 5th Ave. in downtown Anchorage (see map)
Cost of admission: $10.00
Age restriction: Mad Myrna’s is a bar! Must be 21 with valid identification to enter.
Further info: see Facebook events page

Peter J. Gomes, minister and theologian (Black History Month)

Bent Alaska — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:23:16 +0000

Peter J. Gomes, a “Christian who happens as well to be gay,” was a minister and professor at Harvard University who argued that the Bible is not racist, anti-Semitic, anti-feminist, or anti-gay. Bent Alaska presents his story as part of our celebration of Black History Month 2012, with thanks to GLAAD and the Equality Forum.

Peter J. Gomes

“There can be no light without the darkness out of which it shines.”

Peter J. Gomes (born May 22, 1942; died February 28, 2011) offered a look at religion from a distinctive perspective. Gomes, a minister and professor at Harvard University, argued that the Bible is not racist, anti-Semitic, anti-feminist, or anti-gay.

Born in Plymouth, MA, Gomes took an early interest in Puritan history and religion. He spent hours at the local library researching the Mayflower and prominent leaders of the time, such as William Bradford. His father was from the Cape Verde Islands and his mother was African-American. He was baptized a Roman Catholic, but later became an American Baptist. He graduated from Bates College in 1965, received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from Harvard Divinity School in 1968, he also studied at the University of Cambridge, where he was an Honorary Fellow and where the Gomes Lectureship was established in his honor. He was ordained by the First Baptist Church of Plymouth, and in 1970 became Pusey Minister in Harvard University’s nondenominational Memorial Church. In 1974 he was made Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard. His teaching and research interests included the Bible, the history of the ancient Christian church, worship, homiletics, and the black American experience.

In 1991, Peninsula, a conservative Harvard magazine, published a 56-page issue largely critical of homosexuality which led to a rash of harassment and slurs against gay men and lesbians on campus. Gomes, a self-described cultural conservative and registered Republican, stunned the Harvard community by denouncing the magazine and coming out publicly as a gay man at Harvard’s Memorial Church, stating that he was “a Christian who happens as well to be gay.” A small group called Concerned Christians at Harvard immediately called for his resignation, but Gomes received support from the Harvard administration. Gomes, who had never married and was celibate by choice, nevertheless took on a new task. As he later told the Washington Post,

I now have an unambiguous vocation — a mission — to address the religious causes and roots of homophobia, I will devote the rest of my life to addressing the “religious case” against gays.

Gomes held 33 honorary degrees. Religion and American Life named him Clergy of the Year in 1998, and he won the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award from Harvard in 2001. Gomes gave the benediction at the second inauguration of President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration and delivered the National Cathedral sermon at the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush. In 2006 he switched parties to become a Democrat in support of the candidacy of Deval L. Patrick, who became the first black governor of Massachusetts. Gomes preached at his inauguration.

As remembered by the Washington Post‘s Alexandra Petri after his death,

Libraries were an atmosphere the reverend clearly found congenial — the Bible, he noted on multiple occasions, was not a textbook, but a library.

But he was most at home behind the immense wooden lectern, from which his thunderous, widely imitated, but never surpassed, voice boomed out over the assembled throngs.

As an undergraduate, I found myself stumbling into Memorial Church in the admonitory light of a few Sunday mornings. His sermons were always bracing, delivered with a mixture of Old Testament fire and New Testament warmth

Gomes was a widely-published author. Of the ten volumes of sermons and numerous articles and papers he has written, two of his works — The Good Book and Sermons — became New York Times and national bestsellers. The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart (1996) was described this way in a Publishers Weekly review: “His mission in this cogent exercise in nonsectarian Christian apologetics is to help reverse the current decline in biblical literacy by reclaiming the Bible from theological stodginess and lay laziness.” The second of its three parts, called “The Use and Abuse of the Bible,” went into depth about how scriptural passages had been misused in the defense of racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, and antigay prejudice. Sermons: Biblical Wisdom For Daily Living (1998) collected 40 of Gomes’ favorite sermons, guiding its readers through the year by way of the Christian calendar, beginning with Advent. His last book, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What’s So Good About the Good News? (2008), asks why Christians insist upon making Jesus the object of their attention rather than heeding his message:

The question should not be, “What would Jesus do?” but, rather, more dangerously, “What would Jesus have me do?” The onus is not on Jesus but on us, for Jesus did not come to ask semi-divine human beings to do impossible things. He came to ask human beings to live up to their full humanity; he wants us to live in the full implication of our human gifts, and that is far more demanding.

Peter J. Gomes was hospitalized in January 2011 after suffering a stroke, dying on February 28, 2011 at age 68.

On June 15, 2008 at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, Rev. Gomes discussed why he believed Jesus would have supported same-sex marriage. Watch:

For more about Peter J. Gomes, visit his LGBT History Month page, his Wikipedia article, or his obituaries at the Harvard Gazette or the New York Times.

Photo credit: Peter J. Gomes. Used under license through the Equality Forum.

St. Mary’s hosts discussions on anti-LGBT discrimination & Proposition 5

Bent Alaska — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:42:39 +0000

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church will host two discussions on successive Sundays (February 19 and 26) on discrimination against LGBT Alaskans and on Proposition 5, the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative. On Friday, March 2, Christians for Equality will hold a Prayer Rally for Equality, also at St. Mary’s.

A presentation about discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) Alaskans will be hosted by St. Mary’s Episcopal Church during the Adult Education hour, Sunday, Feb. 19, from 10:30-11:30 AM. Rev. Drew Phoenix, one of the clergy leaders of Christians for Equality, will discuss how discrimination impacts the lives of all citizens and answer questions. Please join the conversation as we explore this important issue.

All are welcome. The Youth Group is serving a pancake breakfast so grab a plate of great food and participate in the discussion! The pancake breakfast is a fundraiser for the Youth Group’s trip to Malawi in May — St. Mary’s is a partner with Malawi Children’s Village — an organization that provides care and education to kids orphaned by AIDS and who may be HIV-positive themselves.

On the following Sunday, Feb. 26, discussion will focus on the anti-discrimination initiative on the April 3 municipal ballot. If passed, Proposition 5, the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative, will amend Anchorage’s equal rights code to provide the same legal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity that are already provided based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, physical disability, and mental disability. All are welcome.

Date/time: Sunday, February 19 and Sunday, February 26, 10:30–11:30 AM
Location: Pillsbury Hall, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 2222 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK (see map). Pillsbury Hall is in the main building (A-frame) — enter as if you’re going to the sanctuary, and church members will help you find your way.
Further info: see the St. Mary’s Episcopal Church website

On Friday, March 2, Christians for Equality will be putting on a Prayer Rally for Equality in support of One Anchorage and Prop. 5, the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative, also at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. This is for ALL people. Many, many GLBTQ folks have been hurt by churches, we are trying to do our part to stand with our sisters and brothers, friends and neighbors in this struggle for equal rights for ALL.

Date/time: Friday, March 2, 7:00 PM
Location: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 2222 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK (see map)
Further info: see Christians for Equality Facebook page

No related posts.

Savage Love Live in Anchorage: A photoessay

Bent Alaska — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:50:13 +0000

by Mel Green

Dan Savage’s column today recounts how he “headed north last week to do Savage Love Live — a rapid-fire, slightly tipsy Q&A session — at the University of Alaska Anchorage. It was my third visit to UAA and it was a blast.” It was a blast for his audience, too.

Savage Love Live was presented by UAA Student Services as part of UAA’s Healthy Sexuality Week. As predicted, the show sold out.

Dan Savage is the author of four books and co-editor with his husband Terry Miller of a fifth. Three were on sale at the event. (Didn’t get yours? See our post announcing this event for details on all five.)

It wasn’t only Dan Savage at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium talking about healthy sexuality. Here’s a couple of volunteers with a Health Sexuality Valentine.

I call the next photo “Pushing sexual buttons.” They were a dollar apiece.

The Alliance for Reproductive Justice was there with a table full of information.

One Anchorage volunteers were also on hand with information about Ballot Proposition 5 — the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative — and were prepared to register voters. Anchorage voters must be registered by March 4 in order to vote in the April 3 municipal election.

I decided to livetweet the event. I soon became aware that KTVA photojournalist Ken Fankhauser (@photogfank), who I’d started following back when he was one of the livetweeters of the Anthony Rollins trial, was also livetweeting, with KTVA Channel 11 (@KTVA) retweeting, so I brought KTVA’s attention to my presence there too. KTVA thoughtfully brought its own followers’ attention to my feed:

open a new window, and follow @yksin for the uncensored livetweeting of the #dansavage show and compare it to #KTVAs @photogfank #

Which isn’t to say I didn’t censor my own language somewhat in my tweets. Dan Savage’s talks are known for their frank and uncensored discussion of sexuality — as a sign posted at the entrance to the building (and shared by @photogfank via yfrog) stated: “This lecture will contain explicit language & sexual content. Patron discretion is advised.”

The place filled up —

— and a representative of UAA Student Services came onstage to introduce Dan Savage.

She told us the ground rules: no flash photography (no problem: I never use flash if I can help it) and no texting. Uh oh. What about livetweeting? The friend I came with, to my right, didn’t mind me tweeting. I asked my neighbor to my left. Nope, she said she wouldn’t be bothered either. And so I tweeted:

Starting. Rules say no texting but my neighbors are ok with me livetweetin #

Ken Fankauser also decided to continue:

Just told no txting . what ever im hanging in there. #

And KTVA reported:

uh-oh, rules about no testing during the #dansavage show? @yksin is rebelling, we’ll see what @photogfank can pull off… #

But enough about our rulebreaking. The real point is: Dan Savage arrived onstage, starting the evening with a little comedy about getting the mic to work, joking that maybe he’d just keep listening to whatever he had on his iPod.

But he got the mic turned on and started for real, telling us, “Thanks for having my tawdry gay ass back” to rousing applause.

The way a Savage Love Live talk starts is for audience members to write questions down on slips of paper before the show begins — here’s one of the question boxes —

— and then all the slips with their questions are collected and given to Dan, who works his way, as best he can, through every question. Works his way: a work full of humor, salty words, and audience laughter, to be sure — but remember: this was for Healthy Sexuality Week at UAA, and healthy sexuality is a work that Savage, whatever humor is involved, has taken seriously for years.

Here he is reading an audience question:

Questions ran the gamut of human sexuality and relationships. Here’s a few examples — but please excuse me if my account of his answers doesn’t match the frank, funny, and frequently R- or X-rated language he used:

Question: A self-defined lesbian wondered if she could still call herself a lesbian when she was having sex (very satisfying sex) with her ex-girlfriend’s brother. Answer: you can call yourself one, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be believed. Though on the spectrum of sexual orientation, statistically speaking it seems that more women than men are bisexual; but many might “round themselves up” to identify as lesbians. In any case, it’s perfectly okay if you want to have sex with a guy — but it’s very bad news indeed, potentially very very hurtful, to have it with the brother of your ex. Especially since your ex-girlfriend is also a parent to your child.

Question: A UAA student who was “unyieldingly lusting” after a male UAA professor, who had backed away from their flirtation as soon as he learned she was a student, asked whether it was still okay to pursue him, since UAA has not non-fraternization policy? Answer: even if there is no non-fraternization policy, that professor has good reasons for being wary of a sexual relationship with a student: respect that, and back off.

Question: A straight person asking whether s/he should refrain from marrying until marriage equality was established for same-sex couples. Answer: Get married to the one you love, but consider following the example of some friends of his by including in your vows a quote from the 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision which legalized same-sex marriage there. If there are anti-marriage equality attendees at the wedding, chances are they’ll agree completely with the sentiments in the decision — and will be completely red-faced and, perhaps, consciousness-raised — when you reveal their source.

Savage said the quote he was referring to could be found with a Google search on his blog. I promised in Twitter I’d look it up — and here it is, from his Savage Love column, titled “Hets, Get Married,” of October 8, 2009, in which Savage described his friend’s wedding and the reading from the court decision:

“Marriage is a vital social institution,” the reading began. “The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support. Civil marriage is at once a deeply personal commitment to another human being and a highly public celebration of the ideals of mutuality, companionship, intimacy, fidelity, and family. Because it fulfills yearnings for security, safe haven, and connection that express our common humanity, civil marriage is an esteemed institution and the decision whether and whom to marry is among life’s momentous acts of self-definition.”

So touching, so true, and so universal—who could argue with those sentiments? Everyone at the wedding was nodding. And the reading continued…

“It is undoubtedly for these concrete reasons, as well as for its intimately personal significance, that civil marriage has long been termed a ‘civil right.’ Without the right to choose to marry, one is excluded from the full range of human experience.”

After the reading—which was done by a gay friend of the couple—the officiant identified the source: It was from the 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in that state. It was a lovely gesture: The gay couples at the wedding were touched and the hetero couples were reminded of the injustice that gay couples face. It would be wonderful if this passage from the Massachusetts court’s ruling on marriage equality caught on as a wedding reading….

Here’s the question I asked (pardon the scribbles: it’s not because I don’t know how to spell S/santorum, it’s because my Sharpie slipped & I had to make corrections) —

Question: Which is more dangerous to your health — big S Santorum or little s santorum? A reference, of course, to former U.S. Senator and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum’s “Google problem” wherein searches on Google (and other search engines) for the past several years have consistently placed a less-than-complimentary redefinition of his surname at or very near the top of search results. This, thanks to a campaign by Savage and his fans following antigay comments in 2003 by Santorum in which Santorum equated same-sex marriage with pedophilia and bestiality.

Answer: For little s santorum, it’s easy enough to take a shower. Big S Santorum is clearly a much greater threat to your health and everybody else’s. To take just a couple of instances why: (1) Santorum’s well-known antigay rhetoric and political positions; (2) Santorum is also against reproductive freedom — he’s not only anti-abortion even in cases of rape, but against contraception, too, on the grounds birth control grants “a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.” Santorum essentially believes that sex is only for procreation — which flies into the face of how healthy human sexuality really works. Meanwhile, over 99% of all U.S. women aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method, and 62% of the 62 million women in that age group currently use some form of contraception. Big S Santorum is drawing a line that the vast majority of his fellow Catholics don’t draw: only 8% of Catholics consider contraceptive use to be morally wrong.

Rick Santorum wasn’t the only GOP presidential candidate who drew Savage’s fire. A later audience question asked whether Savage or his readers had any redefinitions of Newt Gingrich‘s or Mitt Romney’s surname. Savage pointed out that Gingrich already had a new name: Swingrich, in honor (or dishonor) of Gingrich’s history of serial cheating on his wives. The term was apparently coined on Joe. My. God. on January 19, the same day that Gingrich’s second wife Marianne told ABC’s Nightline that she had declined to accept Gingrich’s suggestion of an open marriage after he had already been having an affair for six years with House of Representatives staffer Callista Bisek. Later the same day the term was defined by one of Savage’s readers, and also that day it entered the lexicon of the Urban Dictionary:

A “swingrich” is a CPOS (Cheating Piece Of Shit) masquerading as a swinger/polyamorous person.

“I thought he was ethically nonmonogamous but he was just a swingrich.”

Savage also had harsh words for Callista, who became Gingrich’s third wife, and who is often described in the press as “devoutly Catholic,” in spite of her 6-year extramarital affair with Gingrich before his divorce from Marianne:

Devoutly Catholic doesn’t mean you’re f***ing with a married man.

Savage never got to Romney, though apparently Romney has also developed a Google problem (not, however, attributable to Savage).

But most of the evening was devoted not to hypocritical politicians, but to sex and sexuality. Q: If someone finds out they are gay, do they need to come out publicly? A: “Yes.” Being out is about self respect and integrity. Q: Have you noticed any patterns with people with choking fetishes? A: “You don’t have to do anal. Anal is an elective.” (But here’s some suggestions on how to do it safely and happily, if you do want to try it.) A: Yes, They die young. Don’t do it. Q: My partner wants to experiment with anal sex, but I’m nervous about it. Q: How to I explain same-sex couples to kids? A: “Kids aren’t confused. Well-taken-care-of kids live in a love bubble, and see everything that way.”

And especially (as tweeted by @photogfank), “Use your words”and “embrace the awkwardness. It will help when it gets weird.” That advice, recurrent throughout, really struck me: frank sexual R- and X-rated language, whatever: he’s talking here about the private stuff between people that can be so scary, but that can on the other hand be so joyful and so sharing and intimate and loving; and I tweeted: “There is more compassion in this talk, about people’s fears and love, than I’ve ever seen from antisex puritans.”

And I stand by that.

As enjoyable as the Q&A itself was watching two skilled ASL interpreters at work.

Savage answered many of other questions, more than I can get to — but see his February 15 Savage Love column for a wide assortment from the audience of UAA students, staff, faculty, and members of the public.

But there is one more question he was asked, that needs some coverage here. Just the night before his talk, Savage had been at a One Anchorage fundraiser, and he’d written on on his blog that morning about the long fight we’ve had here in Anchorage to achieve basic civil rights protections against discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations. (See Bent Alaska’s followup on his post, too.) In his blog post, he called upon his readers to donate to One Anchorage:

We scored major victories in California and Washington state this week. But the LGBT community in Anchorage is still struggling to achieve the most basic civil rights protections. The LGBT community in Alaska needs this victory—Alaska is the only state on the nation that has never had an openly gay elected official, there are no state-wide laws that protect LGBT people, there is no anti-LGBT hate-crimes legislation up here, there are no domestic-partnership registries of any kind anywhere in the state. The LGBT community up here needs this victory and they need our support.

Help out if you can.

At his talk he announced that his call for support had already resulted in $3,000 more raised for One Anchorage.

He also had some advice for us:

If you lose April 3, don’t despair. Equality is what this country means. Fight till you win.

If the antigay/antitrans crowd is sick of hearing from us, he said, we’d be much more quiet if we just had our equal rights. Until then — make noise.

That’s how Washington got marriage equality. It’s not over until it’s over, it’s not over until we win.

His last task of the evening was to set a task for us: “Get out your cell phone,” he instructed us, “and open up your email, and email Steve.abeln@anchoragepress.com that we want Savage Love back in the Anchorage Press.”

(Audience members helpfully added: write or call Anchorage Press advertisers, too.)

The talk ended with a standing ovation.

Afterwards, I found my friend Heather Aronno, one half of the team behind the blog Alaska Commons, wearing a nicely designed Alaska Common Wear t-shirt dating back from 2009, when Anchorage was caught up in the fight over AO-64, the Anchorage Equal Right Initiative.

Dan Savage wrote about that guy in his blog post. Don’t you think he needs one of these t-shirts too?

But whether or not he gets on, take One Anchorage volunteer Gayle Schuh’s advice: If you’re a resident of the Municipality of Anchorage and aren’t already registered to vote, then get registered. The deadline is March 4.

Absentee by-mail applications are available at the One Anchorage website. Applications must be received in the Municipal Clerk’s office at least 7 days prior to the election (March 27). Apply early to receive your ballot in time. Voted ballots must be postmarked no later than election day (April 3).

Vote on April 3.

My livetweets from Savage Love Live

All my tweets included the hashtag #dansavage, but I’ve removed it here in most cases for readability. KTVA photojournalist Ken Fankhauser (@photogfank) was also livetweeting, and KTVA Channel 11 (@KTVA) was retweeting most of his, & some of mine.

My question for Dan Savage @ Wendy Williamson Auditorium http://t.co/70t3VMbF#
Wendy Williamson Auditorium at UAA is filling up – #DanSavage talk is sold out. #
Looks like I’m not the only one livetweeting #dansavage – so is the crew from @ktva #
@brendanjkelley & @photogfank also here at #dansavage for @KTVA . I’m here tweeting as me, but it’s also for @bentalaska #
Place is almost full for #dansavage @ Wendy Williamson Auditorium http://t.co/VNmYaUAd #
@KTVA @brendanjkelley @photogfank @bentalaska Ah poor Brendan. So much for having ‘droids heh in reply to KTVA #
Starting. Rules say no texting but my neighbors are ok with me livetweetin #
#dansavage “Thanks for having my tawdry gay ass back.” #
Dan Savage at UAA http://t.co/KkI0UXIn #
He just asked me question! He says big S Santorum is more dangerous to your health than little s santorum #
That special upside down hug between man/woman called a 69 is sodomy according to many old state laws #
Big S Santorum wants to illegalize any non procreative sex #
Dan Savage at UAA @ Wendy Williamson Auditorium http://t.co/vMDBuItV #
Stick up for your foreskin, but male circumcision is not the equivalent of female circumcision #
Straight folks can marry & still support marriage equality by reading portion of 2003 MA court decision as part of your vows #
Suggested quote can be googled on Dan’s blog. I’ll try to remember for a @bentalaska blog post #
RT @photogfank: So hard to tweet with pg rating at #dansavage trying my best. >> No kidding! #
To masturbate or not to masturbate: Don’t fail your vagina! #
“If someone finds out they are gay, do they need to come out publicly?” “Yes.” #
Being out is about self respect and integrity. #
Very funny to watch ASL interpretation of “shoving your prolapsed anus back into your butt.” #dansavage (I bet @KTVA won’t retweet this #
“give your money to One Anchorage. Vote on April 3.” #
Uncomplimentary words for Prevo. #
Dan’s blog this morning already raised $3000 for One Anchorage. #
There is more compassion in this talk, about people’s fears and love, than I’ve ever seen from antisex puritans. My opinion. #
“Have you noticed any patterns with people with choking fetishes?” “Yes, They die young.” #
Gingrich’s 3rd wife: “Devoutly Catholic doesn’t mean you’re [having sex] with a married man” (who’s not your husband) #
Gingrich –> Swingrich #
Why is Santorum such a homphobe? Because he wants to [have gay sex] (Dan actually used more gayforward words) #
Jill, happy Valentine’s Day, from Ken. #
Explaining same sex couples to kids: kids aren’t confused. Well taken care of kids live in a love bubble, see everything that way #
“You don’t have to do anal. Anal is an elective.” #
Ooh someone is unyieldingly lusting after a UAA professor! #
Why doesn’t UAA have a non fraternizing policy? Anyway, Dan’s advice: back off. #
Eddie Burke is retweeting Brendan &, predictably, making with the ignorant. #
Dan spent last Christmas in Whitefish, MT — that’s where I was born #
Dan tells us all to get out our cellphones & email Steve.abeln@anchoragepress.com “we want Savage Love back in the Press” #
“if you lose April 3, don’t despair. Equality is what this country means.” fight till we win. Yeah. #
That’s how Washington got marriage equality. It’s not over until it’s over, it’s not over until we win. #
RT @cutthroatcoco: Theme of the night: Strap-ons & Mashed Potatoes. #
Great talk! Thanks Dan! #
@photogfank I would never think you were so stupid as Eddie Burke’s tweet. (which I wont dignify w/ a retweet myself) in reply to photogfank #
My tweets should automatically compile on my blog, & I’ll repost w/ story & more pics at http://t.co/Epr3LaFg tomorrow #

A Valentine’s Day wedding at the Empire State Building

Mel Green — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:16:53 +0000

by Mel Green

Anchorage residents Stephanie Figarelle and Lela McArthur today became the first same-sex couple to wed atop the historic Empire State Building in New York City, one of two same-sex couples to marry there today. Same-sex marriage became legal in New York on on July 24, 2011.

The other same-sex pair married today were New Yorkers Phil Fung and Shawn Klein. Two heterosexual couples also wed today at the Empire State Building: Angela Vega and Lubin Masibay of San Francisco and Paula Cubero and Enrique Catter of Greenwich, Connecticut.

Figarelle and McArthur are both personal trainers; Figarelle is owner of a local business, Figarelle’s Fitness. They met in an anatomy class at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and Figarelle proposed last September at Point Woronzof, where they later taped their application video for a contest on Facebook called “Wings of Love” which won them their place as one of four couples married at the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day, the only day of the year when weddings are performed there. Their wedding was arranged by celebrity wedding planner Colin Cowie of Colin Cowie Weddings.

Their nuptials first became news with Jill Burke’s story in the Alaska Dispatch on January 30 (republished today), two weeks before the wedding. But today their wedding is national and international news too, with the Associated Press story carried on numerous news sites around the country including Huffington Post, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Anchorage Daily News, among others. There are also stories at the Mail Online in the UK (lots of photos), the Los Angeles Times, and Reuters. (Bent Alaska cannot reproduce the photos here due to copyright restrictions.) Alaska blog and Bent Alaska friend The Mudflats shared the news earlier today.

According to The Mail’s story:

After the ceremony, the couple commented what a landmark day it was for them, noting inequalities that exist in many states, including their home state of Alaska.

‘It’s unfortunate it’s not more understood or accepted in our country. Love is genderless. It’s two souls, that’s it,’ Ms Figarelle told the Associated Press.

Colin Cowie, too, voiced his disappointment that the couple could not get married in Alaska. ‘I think it’s rather sad that someone has to travel to New York to get married because they don’t have the ability to do so legally,’ he said.

Alaska was one of the first two states, along with Hawaii, to enshrine marriage discrimination in its state constitution with the passage of Ballot Measure 2 in 1998. Figarelle’s and McArthur’s wedding comes as Anchorage residents continue to fight for basic civil rights protections with Proposition 5, the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative, which if passed will amend Anchorage’s equal rights code to provide the same legal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity that are already provided based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, physical disability, and mental disability. The measure is on the April 3 municipal ballot.

Congratulations, Steph and Lela! — and congratulations to the other happy couples!

The AP’s coverage includes a video of the wedding. Watch:

Here’s their video filmed last November at Point Woronzof.

Photo of Empire State Building (30 Aug 3020) by Mimono1997 via Wikipedia; used in accordance with GNU Free Documentation License.

Ask Lambda Legal: Transitioning at Work

Bent Alaska — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:24:33 +0000

In this month’s “Ask Lambda Legal” column, Lambda Legal answers a question from a transgender woman about employment discrimination when transitioning at work.

“Ask Lambda Legal” is a monthly column on legal questions affecting members of the LGBT community. Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.

Ask Lambda Legal
Transitioning at Work

By Greg Nevins, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal

Q: I’m a transgender woman, and it is time for me to transition at work but I am concerned about being able to keep my job. Will the law protect me from the discrimination I might face because I’m transitioning?

A: As far as we’ve come in the march towards equality, there are still many legal hurdles for the transgender community, particularly when it comes to employment—but we’re making significant progress in the courts.

A recent Lambda Legal case, Glenn v. Brumby et al. is an example of a positive ruling where a transgender woman faced discrimination when she found the courage to transition at work. Vandy Beth Glenn was working as a legislative editor in Atlanta, Georgia for two years. After working with her doctor and establishing that gender transition was necessary (Vandy Beth was assigned male sex at birth, but has a female gender identity), she informed her immediate supervisor at the Georgia Assembly’s Office of Legislative Counsel that she planned to transition. The head of the office subsequently called her to his office, confirmed that she intended to transition, and fired her on the spot.

Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Vandy Beth, asserting that her termination was a result of sex discrimination – a violation of the United States equal protection guarantee. On December 6, 2011, only five days after a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments, they unanimously upheld a District Court ruling that the Georgia General Assembly had discriminated against Vandy Beth based on her nonconformity with gender stereotypes occurring as a result of her intent to transition and live in accordance with her female gender identity. Three days after the ruling, she returned to work.

Lambda Legal is very excited by the impact of our victory in Glenn v. Brumby et al, but there is still a lot of work to be done to advance workplace equality for transgender people.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia prohibit discrimination in private and public employment on the basis of gender identity / expression: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont. A growing number of cities and counties have implemented non-discrimination ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity for both public and private employees in the absence of a comparable state law.

To learn more about your rights at work how to transition at work smoothly read the newest edition to our Transgender Rights Toolkit: Workplace Rights & Wrongs.

For information on Lambda Legal’s work with transgender rights, see lambdalegal.org/issues/transgender-rights

If you have any questions, or feel you have been discriminated against because of your sexual orientation or gender identity/expression, please contact our help desk at 1-866-542-8336 or http://lambdalegal.org/help.

Dan Savage speaks out for One Anchorage

Mel Green — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:44:40 +0000

by Mel Green | reposted at Progressive Alaska

Looks like Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller will soon be recognized as legally married in their home state of Washington. But today Dan’s in Anchorage — and he’s no happier than we are about Alaska’s lack of basic civil rights protections for LGBT people.

Dan Savage (center) with Trevor Storrs (left) and Jeffrey Mittman of the One Anchorage leadership team at a One Anchorage fundraiser, 8 February 2011. Photo courtesy One Anchorage.

“Washington State Got Marriage Equality This Week—But Anchorage Doesn’t Even Have Basic Civil Rights Protections for LGBT People.” That’s how Washington resident Dan Savage — currently in Anchorage for his third visit to University of Alaska Anchorage — began a blog post this morning, fresh from a fundraiser last night for One Anchorage, the group behind the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative.

Now on the April 3 Anchorage municipal election ballot as Proposition 5, the initiative, if passed, will amend Anchorage’s equal rights code to provide the same legal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity that are already provided based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, physical disability, and mental disability.

Savage’s blog post delivers a complete history of the 37-year fight to gain basic civil rights protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender residents of the Municipality of Anchorage — going all the way back, in fact, to 1975-76, when the Municipality was created through combining the governments of the city of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Area Borough. Back then, and for a total of three times in Anchorage history so far, equal protection under the law for at least some LGBTQ people in Anchorage was granted, only to be stripped away again. Most recently, we gained and then lost our rights with the 2009 equal rights ordinance, AO-64, which passed the Anchorage Assembly by a vote of 7 to 4, only to be vetoed by Mayor Dan Sullivan. (Sullivan is also up for a vote on April 3, as he runs for reelection against Assemblymember Paul Honeman.)

Savage takes special note of the “massive carveout for religious organizations and churches” provided in Proposition 5. Under Title 5 of Anchorage’s municipal code, religious organizations and institutions already have a special right to discriminate in certain contexts, if the discrimination is “reasonably calculated to promote the religious principles” of the religious organization:

5.20.090 – Religious exemptions.

It shall be lawful for a bona fide religious or denominational institution, organization, corporation, association, educational institution, or society, to limit, select or give preferential treatment in employment, admissions, accommodations, advantages, facilities, benefits, or services, to persons of the same religion or denomination, that is reasonably calculated to promote the religious principles for which it is established or maintained. Such organizations otherwise remain subject to the other provisions in this title with regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, or physical or mental disability. [Emphasis added]

The ballot initiative, if passed, will do nothing to change this section. Thus, outside the exemptions specifically spelled out in this section of Title 5, religious organizations are bound to all other provisions of Title 5 with respect to all the personal characteristics covered in the law — except sexual orientation and transgender identity. In other words, religious organizations will be permitted to discriminate against LGBT people, whether or not that discrimination is “reasonably calculated to promote the religious principles” of that organization.

That’s a massive carveout, all right. Under Title 5, the Anchorage Baptist Temple can’t refuse to hire a Jewish or Muslim janitor solely because he or she is Jewish or Muslim, unless it can convince a court that janitorial work has something to do with the promotion of ABT’s religious principles. But ABT will continue to be able to discriminate freely against gay or transgender persons without any justification whatsoever.

But, as Savage goes on to explain, initiative opponents still still aren’t happy:

But the religious bigots — [Jerry] Prevo [of the Anchorage Baptist Temple] and [Jim] Minnery [of Alaska Family Council] — are arguing that this special right to discriminate against LGBT people doesn’t go far enough. (And it is a special right: religious groups and individuals in Anchorage are not allowed to discriminate against women, racial minorities, Jewish people, the disabled, the elderly, etc., etc., even if they believe — sincerely! religiously! — that women shouldn’t work outside the home, people be allowed to marry outside their race, the Jews are going to hell, etc., etc.)

Savage is referring to claims made by religious conservatives — with the support of the Alliance Defense Fund, a national antigay/antitrans legal aid group which, among other things, is attempting to defend California’s Prop 8 — that private business owners which are not religious organizations should have the special right to discriminate in hiring, doing business, or renting properties with people whose sexual orientation or gender identity goes against their religious beliefs.

Savage also takes note of the virulent and ugly anti-transgender propaganda we’re likely to see as April 3 approaches, just as we did in 2009:

One Anchorage reps are bracing themselves for the inevitable fear-mongering that will target trans people and the trans-inclusive language in their initiative. When similar initiatives were on the ballot in in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Gainesville, Florida, the haters ran television ads at the last minute that showed men following little girls into public restrooms and distributed flyers with pictures of men in dresses that said the law would “require” schools to hire these men to teach your children. Those ads are coming to Anchorage.

Voters in Kalamazoo and Gainesville extended civil rights protections to their LGBT citizens because the pro-gay campaigns in those cities were able to get on TV with ads calling bullshit on the haters and refuting their lies.

Which is what, Savage says, One Anchorage also intends to do:

To combat the inevitable, last-minute anti-gay/anti-trans hate campaign, One Anchorage is raising money to get television ads on the air up here in the last weeks of the campaign. They’re asking people to consider donating $35—one dollar for each year that Anchorage has been fighting for equality and basic civil rights protections. (There are no limits on campaign donations for initiatives up here, so if you’re moved to donate $350 or $3500 or $3,500,000, please don’t hesitate.) There’s also the 35/35/35 Club: Ask 35 friends to donate $35 each. You can set up your own page at One Anchorage and you’ll get a fundraising thermometer of your very own!

Thanks to Savage’s column, more national attention is being brought to the fight One Anchorage and its volunteers are doing here in Alaska.

Thanks, Dan! We in Anchorage look forward to seeing you tonight.

Don’t forget the upcoming Dine Out for Equality fundraisers at Snow City Cafe, and Sacks Cafe & Restaurant. And don’t forget to vote on April 3.

Snow City Cafe

Date/time: Tuesday, February 14, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Location: Snow City Cafe, 1034 West 4th Avenue Anchorage, AK (see map)

Sacks Cafe & Restaurant

Date/time: Monday, February 27, 5:30 PM to closing
Location: Sacks Cafe & Restaurant, 328 G Street, Anchorage, AK (see map)

Saturday night in Fairbanks: Two events to shake out the cabin fever

Bent Alaska — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:26:32 +0000

Fairbanksans have two opportunities to shake out their cabin fever on Saturday, Feb. 11: a Valentine’s Day Dance Party benefiting the Interior AIDS Association; and Fairbanks Rollergirls presents the 2012 Zombie Prom, benefiting the Interior Alaska Center for Nonviolent Living.

Valentine’s Day Dance Party at UUFF

Join us for a Valentine’s Day dance party at the UUFF — a night of dancing with two DJs and a live band! Light refreshments will be served and all proceeds benefit the Interior AIDS Association.

Founded in 1988 by a group of concerned Fairbanksans, the Interior AIDS Association (IAA) is the only community-based, nonprofit organization in interior Alaska that focuses solely on HIV-related prevention, case management, and other support services. Because federal funds for HIV prevention in Alaska were cut in half last year, IAA relies more than ever on donations — so come have fun, and help support HIV prevention in Interior Alaska!

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks (UUFF) is a welcoming, open and affirming congregation, where people of all races, religious backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender expressions are welcome to come just as they are.

Date/time: Saturday, February 11, 9:30 PM to 1:30 AM
Location: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks (UUFF), 4448 Pikes Landing Road, Fairbanks (see map)
Cost of admission: $15. All proceeds benefit the Interior AIDS Association.
Further info: see Facebook events page

2012 Zombie Prom: Lifestyles of the Dead and Famous

Come dressed as your favorite noteworthy ‘un-dead’ and dance the night away with the Fairbanks Rollergirls and music by DJ Teal. There will be food, drinks and prizes for best costume/best couple’s costume! Prom photographer will be there to take prom photos!

This event sells out so buy early! Those who buy online are entitled to a free party favor at will call on the night of the event.

A portion of the proceeds benefit the Interior Alaska Center for Nonviolent Living, a 24/7 domestic violence and sexual assault emergency shelter in Fairbanks.

Date/time: Saturday, February 11, 7:00 PM to midnight
Location: Edgewater Room at Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge, 477 Pikes Landing Road, Fairbanks, AK (see map)
Cost of admission: $25/person or $40/couple. A portion of the proceeds benefit Interior AK Center for Nonviolent Living. Tickets available online at www.brownpapertickets.com or at the door
Age restriction: This is a 18+ event, 21+ to drink, please bring ID regardless of age,
Further info: see Facebook events page