Queery

Lots of fun stuff this month!

2011-10-12T19:32:00.002-05:00

Dairyland's Cowboys and Cowgirls have rescheduled their October Saturday dance for October 22 at Club 5, 5 Applegate Court, from 5 to 10 p.m. There is a cover charge. Dairyland Cowboys and Cowgirls is a line-dance group for LGBT people and their friends

Singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon will be playing next Monday at the Red Gym on the UW Campus as part of the "Stew and Friends" Artist in Residence series. The Red Gym is located on Langdon Street next to the UW Memorial Union. The concert starts at 7 p.m. on Monday, October 17, and is free. For more information, go to www.toshireagon.comand look under "Tour Schedule."

The Goddess Women's Book Group meets tomorrow at 7 p.m., 4322 Buckeye Rd., in Madison. The October book will be Storyteller's Goddess: Tales of the Goddess and Her Wisdom from Around the World by Carolyn McVickar Edwards. The discussion is hosted by Jade River of the Re-formed Congregation of the Goddess—International. You do not have to read the book to attend.

Madison’s LGBT theater troupe StageQ needs a few people who can help with set construction over the next few weeks for the upcoming lesbian comedy, “Ghost of a Chance.” Please contact dale@StageQ.com for more information or to offer to assist.

OPEN, the Out Professional and Executive Network, will host a Member Appreciation Happy Hour and Networking Event at Plan B next Wednesday, October 19th at 5:30 PM. Plan B is located at 924 Williamson Street. There is a cover charge. To register in advance visit: www.openmadison.org/

Proud Theater - an award-winning and innovative youth theater program designed to foster self-expression and self-empowerment for Madison-area youth – is looking for new members. Proud theater is open to any youth ages 13 to 18 who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ), or who are the children of LGBTQ parents, or who are allies of the LGBTQ community at large. It currently has open enrollment through November 30. The group meets every Wednesday evening. For more information, call (608) 222-9086, write to proudtheater@gmail.com, or visit the website www.proudtheater.org

First Baptist Church, , 518 N. Franklin Ave. in Madison, hosts a Christian Fellowship Group for LGBT Singles two Wednesdays a month. The group includes prayer and time to socialize. For more information contact Rhianna Tibbetts at rheet@tds.net.

OutReach of Rock County has now started offering young adult services between the ages of 18-24ish with the help of GBLTA United! For more information contact Angie Rehling, OutReach Program Assistant, at OutReach at 608.255.8582 or by email angier@lgbtoutreach.org. You can also follow Rock County LGBT Outreach on Facebook.

Give us your feedback

2011-08-10T11:32:00.001-05:00

Queery, a weekly LGBT issues and news show on WORT-FM, wants to connect better with the various communities in Madison and is interested in your opinion. Please take a few moments NOW to complete our survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D6LD9GZ and let us know what you're most interested in hearing about regarding queer issues and coverage. The survey is very short and shouldn't take more than a few minutes tops.

Please share this survey link with anyone and everyone you know who cares about the LGBT community in Madison and beyond. Please complete the survey by August 25. Thank you.

Community Calendar for the week of June 22, 2011

2011-06-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

God-des and She will be playing this Friday, June 24 at the High Noon Saloon at Madison. The show starts at 9:00 PM.

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Gaia Moves is a new exercise group at OutReach open to Womyn. This group meets every first and third Monday at 7pm. Yoga mats will be provided. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes. Due to limited space this group is open to the first 10 arrivals on a first come basis. OutReach LGBT Community Center is located in the Gateway Mall at 600 Williamson Street in Madison. This part of Williamson Street is NOT currently under construction.

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OutReach and Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) are currently looking for men interested in joining a men's domestic violence support group. The group is an open, crisis-based peer support group for those experiencing or who have survived abuse. The group's location is confidential and is disclosed after an initial screening process. You can find out more at the OutReach website at www.lgbtoutreach.org.

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Rm2breathe is a program designed to help LGBT people stop smoking. If you're interested in participating, you can find out more at the OutReach website at www.lgbtoutreach.org.

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OMGqueer is soliciting fictional short stories about “being queer” from youth (14-24) across the nation. OMGqueer will strive for diversity with respect to the many identity categories that fall under the queer umbrella: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and so forth. Submissions will be judged on the quality of their narratives and diversity of voices. Specific submission guidelines can be found at www.omgqueer.com.

Methodist minister could be defrocked for Menominee same-sex wedding - and other news

2011-06-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

On Friday, the United Nations' Human Rights Council approved a resolution that expresses "grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity." 23 members voted in favor of the human rights resolution;19 voted against it.

A U.N. commission will document discriminatory laws, practices, and violence against individuals based on perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The commission has also been charged with making recommendations for "how international human rights law can be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

The recommendations are expected in December.

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Jarrett Barrios has resigned as president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination. The resignation came amid allegations that GLAAD was involved in a pay-to-play deal with AT&T. Six of 29 GLAAD's board members have also resigned.

On May 31, GLAAD sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission supporting AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile. AT&T had previously donated $50,000 to GLAAD.

GLAAD's support of AT&T led to widespread criticism from progressive bloggers. Critics said that the endorsement was outside the scope of GLAAD's mission, which is to ensure fair portrayal of LGBT people in the media. Critics also say the telecom merger could give AT&T too much control over the information that people can access over the internet.

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Today, a United Methodist Church panel found a northern Wisconsin minister guilty of violating church law. The minister, Amy DeLong, performed a wedding for a lesbian couple in Menominee in September 2009. She could be defrocked as a minister or face other sanctions.

However, the panel acquitted DeLong on a charge of being a "self-avowed practicing homosexual." DeLong is out as a lesbian and registered in a domestic partnership in November 2009, but the panel had no evidence that she was sexually active. Church doctrine allows gays and lesbians to serve as ministers if they are celibate.

DeLong is nationally known within the United Methodist Church as an advocate for LGBT inclusion.

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Gabe Javier is the new director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Campus Center at UW-Madison. Javier is currently the senior assistant director of the Spectrum Center at the University of Michigan. He will begin on Aug. 1, 2011.

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And last but not least, a Dane County circuit judge ruled on Monday that Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry does not violate the state's constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages. You can hear the full story at the beginning of Monday's In Our Backyard.

2011-06-08T19:06:00.002-05:00

We hope you're enjoying tonight's hour-long show! As promised, here's a link to PrideFest Milwaukee's website.

We hope you'll pledge to WORT tonight to keep great radio on the air. One of the thank-you gifts we're offering is Unhitched: Love, Marriage, and Family Values from West Hollywood to Western China by Judith Stacey. We had her on several weeks ago and had such a great time talking with her that she's back to talk about even more of the permutations of marriage and family that exist around the world.

Break the Silence rally this Friday

2011-04-14T11:00:00.003-05:00

Last night, we talked to Kassandra from the LGBT Campus Center at UW-Madison about Break the Silence, an event that will take place this Friday across Wisconsin. Here are more details:

On April 15, 2011 individuals from across Wisconsin will join to make a statewide commitment to put an end to LGBT bullying, homophobia and harassment. It is time that we take action and send a clear message that bullying and violence will not be tolerated in our schools. Because of this, we will gather at our state capitol, united, as students, faculty, staff, family, friends and community members, to collectively, on the National Day of Silence, take a stand to Break the Silence.

There has been a lot going on at our capitol and in our state, and while much energy has been devoted to addressing these current and important issues, we can't lose sight of the concerns that our communities continue to face. Bullying, and its broader impact, affects us all in different ways. This is not just something that negatively impacts LGBT communities; it also influences those who are perceived to be LGBT and those who are marginalized for multiple intersecting identities.

Break the Silence, Wisconsin is the first ever statewide gathering in conjunction with the National Day of Silence. Fair Wisconsin; Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE), and the University of Wisconsin System schools are all organizing to bring our communities together to participate in this monumental event. Buses will provide transportation for both students and community members from each of the UW System Schools.

Join us!

4PM Library Mall, 800 Langdon St. (across the street from Memorial Union), Madison WI (Meet in Silence)

5PM Rally on the capitol to Break the Silence.

Take a Stand. Be the Change. Stop the Silence.

http://lgbt.wisc.edu/stopthesilence/dayofsilence/

Break the Silence, Wisconsin on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/BTSWlgbt

Questions? Interested in joining a bus to Madison? Contact stopthesilencelgbtq@gmail.com.

HIV/AIDS resources for positive living from UW Health

2011-03-25T08:44:00.005-05:00

We hope you enjoyed our interview this Wednesday with UW Health HIV/AIDS educator Heidi Nass. You can find out more about the UW Health HIV/AIDS program at www.uwhealth.org/hivcare. The site also includes helpful videos of people talking about their experiences living with HIV/AIDS.

During the interview, Heidi mentioned a new organic cotton t-shirt (that's the design above) that UW Health will be selling for $12, with proceeds going to its education and outreach fund. Heidi said that people should be able to order it online soon.

Upcoming events: St. Patty's Day Party, Day of Silence, and more

2011-03-16T19:29:00.001-05:00

On Thursday March 17 Club 5 will host its “Go Green or Go Naked” St. Patrick’s Day party.
More information about that party and other events is at Club 5’s website www.club-5.com

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On Friday March 18, Plan B will host “God Save the Queens” a drag extravaganza that begins
at 10 PM. More information is available at Plan B’s website www.planbmadison.com

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OutReach is proud to announce a safe space opening in the Janesville area to support people who
identify as LGBT who reside in the Rock County area. Meetings will be held on Monday nights
from 6-8pm and the next meeting is scheduled for March 21st. For more information and the
location of the meeting, please contact Angie Rehling at angier@lgbtoutreach.org or call her at
OutReach at 608.255.8582.

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The LGBT Campus Center is organizing a silent march from Library Mall to the state capitol
on Day of Silence, April 15, to raise awareness about the impact of bullying, homophobia, and
transphobia in our schools. Students from across the state of Wisconsin will march to the capitol
together. As The statewide event will promote visibility of campus climate concerns and will
energize and unite students. Together, united...we will BREAK THE SILENCE. For details see:
http://lgbt.wisc.edu/stopthesilence/dayofsilence/

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Wisconsin’s Equality and Inclusion Lab’s LGBTQ Research Team is conducting
a survey about campus climate. For more information, or to participate, contact
lgbtq.weilab@education.wisc.edu.

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Queery is looking for volunteers. Become part of the area’s longest running locally produced
Queer radio program! For more information please contact Glenn or Molly at the station, 608-
256-2001 or see the WORT website at www.wort-fm.org.

StageQ presents: Make me a Song

2011-03-08T20:20:00.001-06:00

StageQ is presenting “Make Me a Song.” The musical revue includes
more than twenty hits from composer William Finn. Tunes from his
Falsettos series and the Tony Award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee are part of the show.

The show will run on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from March
11 – March 26 at the Bartell Theatre, 113 E Mifflin St, Madison WI.
There will also be a matinee show on Sunday March 20. If you attend
the March 24 performance you’ll hear a quick curtain speech about your
favorite local queer radio show, none other than Queery.

For reseervations or information check out StageQ’s web site at
www.stageq.com or call 608-661-9696 ext. 3.

Regarding sexual orientation language in the budget repair bill - it's not new

2011-02-24T11:33:00.004-06:00

Over the past 11 days, readers have been finding all sorts of non-budget items packed into Governor Walker's budget repair bill, including language that excludes lesbians, gays and bisexuals from affirmative action requirements that apply to government contractors.

However, this is not language that is new with Walker. It has appeared in bill after bill since sexual orientation became a protected class in Wisconsin in 1982. That's because the law made sexual orientation a protected class from discrimination only, not for affirmative action.

Fair Wisconsin released this statement to clear up confusion regarding this part of the budget bill:

Since the release of Governor Walker's anti-labor union-busting "Budget Repair Bill", we have heard from many supporters asking us about the anti-gay language that appears on page 8, line 18 (contained in Section 32):
"Except with respect to sexual orientation, the contractor further agrees to take affirmative action to ensure equal employment opportunities."
Although those words do appear in the bill, it is not a change in Wisconsin state law. Just to be clear: This is not a new challenge. Currently, sexual orientation is only a protected class only in our non-discrimination laws. Wisconsin has never considered it a part of its affirmative action laws.

Thank you to everyone who has brought it to our attention. It's inspiring to see so many people taking the time to review the bill critically in its entirety!

In fairness AND solidarity,
Katie Belanger
Executive Director

For more information on Wisconsin's law protecting lesbians, gays and bisexuals from certain forms of discrimination, see this page on the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development website.

This week's headlines

2011-02-23T19:19:00.000-06:00

President Obama announced today that his administration will no longer defend the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

Today’s announcement came after months of internal administration debate. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner that Obama has instructed the Justice Department not to defend DOMA because parts of it are unconstitutional.

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Last week, the LGBT rights group Fair Wisconsin came out against Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, which - among other things - would strip state and local public employees of almost all collective bargaining rights. Fair Wisconsin explained its stance in a public statement:

“Every time we've had a challenge, ... Labor has never failed to stand with us in our time of need.

“… This is our opportunity to thank these people – the same individuals who teach our children, care for our sick and even plow our streets – for their support by standing with them as they fight for their right to exist.

“Our government should never be in the business of taking away people's rights.”

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More and more large corporations, including Coca-Cola, Campbell Soup and Walt Disney, have expanded their insurance coverage to meet the needs of transgender workers. The trend follows a concerted push by transgender rights advocates to get employers and insurers to see sex reassignment the way the American Medical Association does – as a medically indicated, rather than optional, procedure. 85 large businesses cover the cost of at least one surgery related to Gender Identity Disorder, according to a 2010 survey by the Human Rights Campaign.

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A baby born to a surrogate mother in Ukraine – then stranded there for two years by bureaucracy – will soon come to Belgium to join his parents, a gay married couple. Peter Meurrens, one member of the couple, said his son, Samuel Ghilain, had received a Belgian passport Monday. Meurrens said the child, who has been living in an orphanage in Lviv, Ukraine, will fly into Belgium in the coming days to be reunited with his parents, who last saw him nearly a year ago. The Belgian Foreign Ministry’s decision to issue the passport followed a court decision saying bureaucrats had erred, and the boy, the biological child of Meurrens’ husband, Laurent Ghilain, was entitled to the document.

“Finally, I am starting to believe I will see him in a few days,” Meurrens said.

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Perry Moore, a co-producer of “The Chronicles of Narnia” film series and the author of an award-winning novel about a gay teenager with superpowers, was found unconscious in his bathroom and died later at a hospital, police said. He was 39. The cause of death will be determined by the city’s medical examiner, but no foul play was suspected. His father, Bill Moore, told The New York Daily News in Saturday editions that an initial autopsy was inconclusive. Moore had a varied career in television and in film, as producer, screenwriter and director. His 2007 novel, “Hero,” won the Lambda Literary Award for best novel for young gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children or adults.

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Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who previously argued that marriage equality will lead to the downfall of civilization, is bringing together right-wing groups and leading Republicans for his Conservative Principles Conference on March 26th in the premier caucus state. Potential presidential candidates, including Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, and John Bolton, will be joining the virulently anti-gay National Organization for Marriage for the conference. King says that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who believes schools should ban gay teachers, will keynote the event.

Gays for unions - both kinds

2011-02-23T15:59:00.003-06:00

Saw this sign at today's rally outside the Monona Terrace.

Last week, the LGBT rights group Fair Wisconsin came out against Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, which - among other things - would strip state and local public employees of almost all collective bargaining rights. Here's why, according to Fair Wisconsin:

Every time we've had a challenge, whether it's been the campaign against the 2006 constitutional amendment or vocal support of the domestic partner registry in 2009, Labor has never failed to stand with us in our time of need.

Yesterday, we heard about Governor Walker's plan to strip public employees' rights to organize and bargain collectively. This is our opportunity to thank these people – the same individuals who teach our children, care for our sick and even plow our streets – for their support by standing with them as they fight for their right to exist.

Our government should never be in the business of taking away people's rights.

Please join with Fair Wisconsin in contacting your legislators and asking them to protect our union brothers and sisters today.

UW-Madison seeks young adults to participate in survey on same-gender attraction

2011-02-07T11:10:00.001-06:00

Sabra Katz-Wise and is working on her dissertation with Dr. Janet Hyde at the University of Wisconsin – Madison to study past and current same-gender and other-gender attractions, behavior, and sexuality in young adults. They are interested in the experiences of young adults who identify with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, etc.), choose not to label their sexual orientation, or have experienced sexual or romantic attraction to someone of the same gender or to members of both genders at some point in the past.

Participation in this study consists of completing an online survey that will last approximately 30-45 minutes. To qualify for the study, you must be age 18-26, reside in Wisconsin, and meet ANY of the following criteria: (1) identify with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual, (2) prefer not to label your sexual orientation, or (3) have experienced attraction to someone of the same gender or to members of both genders in the past. This study has been approved by the University of Wisconsin – Madison IRB # SE-2010-0719.

If you are willing to be a part of this study, please click this link to complete the online survey:

https://uwmadison.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8ekm8aGHAo3bcOw

To thank you for your participation, you will be entered into a drawing for one of five $20 gift certificates to Amazon.com. If you have any questions, please contact Sabra Katz-Wise at katzwise@wisc.edu, or by phone at (608) 265-5414.

Upcoming events

2011-01-19T21:13:00.003-06:00

Our announcements got cut short tonight. Here are some of the great events coming up in our community.

On Tuesday January 25, 2011
Hormones/No Hormones: A Community discussion by GenderQueer Madison
8pm to 11pm at Outreach (600 Williamson St)

This meeting will be a chance for transgender and genderqueer people to discuss our personal decisions about hormone replacement therapy. There is often a divide in our communities between those of us who are on hormones and those of us who don't choose hormones, and/or can't afford HRT. We hope this conversation will be a bridge between us in accepting and supporting every path of transition and gender variance. Kael and Anders will facilitate. The facilitators are FTM identified but anyone who has thought about this question with regard to their own decision(s) is welcome to attend.

Also on Tuesday January 25, starting at 9pm at the Shamrock, the MGHA (Madison Gay Hockey Association) is holding a karaoke fundraiser to help raise money for the league. The MGHA plays every Sunday night, between 6:30pm and 10pm, at Hartmayer Ice Arena (1834 Commercial Ave).

Future Events to mark on your calendar:
Friday February 4, 2011
FUS Happy Dance put on by the First Unitarian Society

The LBGT Welcoming Committee is once again sponsoring the Happy Dance, our community-wide celebration of life and love. And once again, the fabulous Ladies Must Swing Band will provide that dancin' music as we roll up the rugs in the Atrium Auditorium on February 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. The entire FUS (First Unitarian Society) and Madison community, kids and all, are invited to this public event. There will be food and frolic as well as great music so bring the whole family and join us. Donations will be accepted at the door.

Thursday February 24, 2011
New Harvest Foundation Dinner Dance at the Edgewater Hotel. More information to come ...

Don't Ask Don't Tell: The repeal and what's next

2011-01-11T15:01:00.003-06:00

We just got off the phone with Cathy Renna, managing partner of Renna Communications, about the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The repeal, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama just before Christmas last year, came as a surprise to many on both sides of the issue. Many had resigned themselves to the idea that the repeal wouldn't be considered on the floor as a standalone bill, and that a lameduck Congress would stall on taking action. They were wrong on both counts.

Renna has been involved with the repeal movement for quite some time. She works with both the Palm Center, which conducts research on sexual minorities in the military, and OutServe, a group of LGBT Americans in active military service.

Although the repeal is now law, it hasn't been implemented yet. We talked about the timeline for implementation, the effects on people currently serving in the military and those who were discharged under DADT and the military's anti-sodomy regulations, and progress that still needs to be made for transgender service members and the same-sex partners of military personnel.

Want to hear our conversation? Join us tomorrow night on Queery at 7 p.m. on WORT 89.9 FM in Madison, Wis.

Queer events this week and beyond in Madison

2010-12-15T20:44:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow night at 6 p.m., Rainbow Families Madison has its regular meet-and-greet for all LGBT families and those interested in parenting. Children are welcome and encouraged to attend. The event is at Outreach Community Center, 600 Williamson St.

On Saturday, December 18, the Madison Area Transgender Group meets at 3pm at Outreach Community Center.

And, of course, at 8:00 p.m on Saturday, Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus opens for THE NYLONS at the Barrymore Theatre on Atwood St. For more information and tickets, go to www.barrymorelive.com

On Sunday, Dec. 19, at 3 p.m., Perfect Harmony presents Winter Glow, a full-length holiday concert at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, 5700 Pheasant Hill Road in Monona. Details and tickets are available at www.perfectharmonychorus.org/. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

Later on Sunday, OutThere LGBTA social group for young people ages 18-24ish meets at Outreach. For more details, e-mail outtheremadisonwi@gmail.com or visit www.outtheremadison.org

OutReach is partnering with Diverse and Resilient, a Milwaukee-based LGBT capacity-building organization, on an LGBT intimate-partner violence-reduction project. The first focus group is for lesbian-identified women. If you are interested in finding out more information or would like to join in the focus group, you can call the project coordinator Melissa Lemke at 414-219-5113 or email her at melissa.lemke@aurora.org.

A 15-week men’s coming-out support group is forming. The group will meet on a weeknight to be determined at 7pm. The purpose of the group is to offer support to men who are dealing with the realization that they are not heterosexual. The men’s coming out support group will identify and discuss the stages of coming out and explore topics such as how to deal with one’s own feelings about coming out, family members, physical and sexual safety, legal rights and discrimination, among others. Two trained volunteers will facilitate each meeting. Men who are interested in attending the meetings should leave a message for Roger with contact information at 575-1500 or e-mail rogerbadger@msn.com by Saturday, January 15th.

And last but not least, Queery is looking for volunteers. We need your help to keep this show strong and ensure that it represents the diverse voices of our community. Volunteers can help out on or off the air by reporting, writing news or announcements, updating our blog and Facebook page, coming up with show ideas, and more. If you’re interested in helping out, please email queery.wort@gmail.com or call Glen at 608-256-2001.

Tonight's Show: Prodigal Sons director and marriage equality demonstration

2010-07-21T21:39:00.002-05:00

We enjoyed speaking with Kimberly Reed, director of the documentary Prodigal Sons, who grew up as Paul McKarrow in small-town Montana. The film follows Kimberly's reunion with her brother Mark after a long estrangement and their differing relationships with the past: Kimberly wants to forget her conflicted years as Paul; but to Mark, who suffered a brain injury in his early 20s, those years are often more vivid and real than the present.

Prodigal Sons has won numerous awards and was named the best documentary of 2009 by Curve magazine. The Queery crew gives it top honors, too. The film was released to DVD today and can be ordered here.

We also talked with Lessa Marty and Liam Manjon from LGBTI Equality Now, which is organizing a rally and march next week to protest the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-marriage equality group that is coming to Madison on Tuesday, July 27.

Participants will gather at Library Mall (the campus end of State Street) for speakers, including State Representative Mark Pocan, whose marriage to his partner Philip Frank in Canada is not recognized by the state of Wisconsin. They'll then march to the Capitol to greet the National Organization for Marriage at noon. The counter protest will go until about 1 p.m.

For more information. please go to the March for Marriage Equality Facebook page. There will be a sign-making party at noon on Sunday, July 25, at Outreach, 600 Williamson St.

Show summary

2010-07-14T19:40:00.002-05:00

We hope you enjoyed tonight's show!

For more information about Outreach awards and events, call 255-8582 check out their Web site at www.lgbtoutreach.org. Nominations must be received by August 1, 2010.

For more information about The Game Show Show and purchasing tickets, click here.

And highlights from our announcements:

Please join OPEN Madison, the professional LGBT network, as it celebrates summer aboard the Betty Lou next Wednesday, July 21st. Launch is promptly at 5:30 p.m. from the dock at Machinery Row. Please note that you will need to park at public access lots nearby rather than in the Sardine parking lot. To sign up, check out OPEN Madison on Facebook.
Queery is looking for volunteers to help with all aspects of the show. Whether you dream of being on air or playing a behind-the-scenes role, we have a place for you. Please call 256-2001 and ask for Glen or Molly, or email queery.wort@gmail.com

Tonight's Show: The Game Show Show and Outreach Awards

2010-07-14T17:36:00.002-05:00

Tonight on Queery, we’re talking with Tara Ayres of Stage Q and Michael Bruno of WhoopDeDoo Productions about their upcoming play, The Game Show Show. Rumor has it there will be a ticket give-away.

We’ll also be talking with Harry Straetz from Outreach about its upcoming awards banquet this fall and how you can nominate individuals, organizations and businesses that have made outstanding contributions to Madison ’s LGBT community in the past year.

Protest National Organization for Marriage Coming to Madison

2010-07-08T20:31:00.003-05:00

If you follow us on Facebook, you may have already seen that several folks have been talking about being present when the inaptly named National Organization for Marriage, which is against marriage equality for committed adult couples, comes to Madison on July 27. The plans are coming together. Here's an email we received today from organizers:

Protest the Anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage in Madison!
Demand Full Equality for all LGBT people in Wisconsin and the United States!

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Meet on Library Mall at the UW campus on July 27th at 11:00am

March begins at 11:30am to meet them at the Capitol when they get there at 12:00pm

The right wing anti-gay marriage NOM is doing a national bus tour this summer to promote so called "Traditional Marriage". As outrageous as this sounds, they have decided to come to Madison WI to spread their hatred of LGBT people on July 27th. This is a slap in the face to everyone who supports equality in Wisconsin, especially after the recent court decision to uphold the discriminatory marriage ban.

We are having a protest organizing meeting on July 10th at 10am at Michelangelo's Coffee Shop on State St to help build the protest. Hope to see you there.

Here is the Facebook event for the protest and the organizing meeting. Invite all you equality supporting friends!

And on an unrelated note, sorry it's been so long since our last post. The show has still been going strong - it's just that our Web maven has been overwhelmed for the past few months with a job change. (Like all the programmers at WORT, our Web maven is a volunteer and has work outside of Queery, alas.) We're hoping to get back to more regular posting so you can know what's going on in our community between shows, get more information on subjects we cover on air, and learn what topics we'll be covering. For example, we're already looking forward to next week's show, which will include a preview of The Game Show Show from WhoopDeDoo Productions and queer theater group StageQ.

Off and Running: An American Coming of Age Story

2010-03-24T17:29:00.003-05:00

Tonight, we're speaking with Nicole Opper, director of the documentary Off and Running: An American Coming of Age Story:

With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers — one mixed-race and one Korean—Brooklyn teen Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. But when her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, she decides to contact her birth mother. This choice propels Avery into her own complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she’s always known. She begins staying away from home, starts skipping school, and risks losing her shot at the college track career she had always dreamed of. But when Avery decides to pick up the pieces of her life and make sense of her identity, the results are inspiring. OFF AND RUNNING follows Avery to the brink of adulthood, exploring the strength of family bonds and the lengths people must go to become themselves.

The film shows next Wednesday at the UW-Milwaukee Union Theater.

Tonight's news roundup

2010-03-17T19:14:00.000-05:00

The District of Columbia became the sixth jurisdiction in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage on March 3, but that could change if an attempt to rescind the law is successful. The law went into effect after being passed by D.C.'s city council and signed in December by Mayor Adrian Fenty. The Democratic-controlled Congress chose not to overturn the law during its 30-day period of review. Opponents of the law hope to take advantage of a section in the D.C. Charter that allows citizens to gather signatures to place the issue on the ballot -- something opponents have been trying for months to do, only to be thwarted by the D.C. Board of Elections and by various courts, which upheld the board's stance that such an initiative would "authorize discrimination" against homosexuals.
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Speaking of marriage, Nepal plans to offer same-sex couples the possibility of getting married at a Mount Everest base camp and of honeymooning on a Himalayan trek or adventure tour. Nepal also wants to cash in on a chunk of the multibillion-dollar gay tourist market.

John Tanzella of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association says that a growing segment of the gay tourism market craves adventure travel and exotic locations, especially to places seen as hospitable to gay travelers.
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Constance McMillen, a Mississippi high school student, made waves this past week when she said she wanted to bring her girlfriend to her high school prom. Instead of allowing McMillen to bring a same-sex date to the dance, school board members decided to cancel the event entirely. This past week, the American Civil Liberties Union and Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition teamed up to demand McMillen be allowed to attend. Kristy Bennett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi, says “Constance has a constitutional right to take the person she’s dating to the prom, just like any other student at any other public school.”
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General David Petraeus, the Army general who is managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, says “the time has come” for the military to rethink its current “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy toward gays in the military. Petraeus told a Senate panel Tuesday that he wants to see the results of an internal study ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates before any changes are made. Petraeus said he wants to know if allowing gays to serve openly might hurt recruiting and retention, or the military’s ability to fight.
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Claims that three-time US Olympic champion skater Johnny Weir was not included in the “Stars on Ice” cast because of his perceived sexual orientation are untrue, a representative for the figure skating tour said. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation started an online petition last week, saying Weir was being excluded from the tour because he was not “family friendly.” Weir has repeatedly avoided questions about his sexual orientation, saying people shouldn’t be defined by labels. “While Stars on Ice wishes it could accommodate many more talented skaters as part of our cast, the fact is we cannot sign every skater,” the Stars statement said.
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Prosecutors who have charged three cousins with a hate crime said they’re considering charging the suspects in 11 similar incidents. The cousins were charged with shooting a San Francisco man with a BB gun on February 26 because they thought he was gay.

The victim called police and said he’d been shot by a passing car. Police pulled the suspects over near the scene of the crime and found a “rifle-style” BB gun and a video camera inside the car. The video recording recovered by police shows the suspects shooting at other victims. The three men have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon with a hate crime enhancement, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, and attempted mayhem for the initial shooting. No serious injuries have been reported from the 11 additional shootings.
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This past Thursday, Judith Vazquez and Lol Kin Castaneda became the first same-sex couple to marry in Mexico under a new law that allows same-sex couples to wed and to adopt children. Several couples wed at the Municipal Palace in Mexico City, which legalized same-sex marriage in December.

Tonight's show: Milwaukee PrideFest, moving forward with equality

2010-03-17T14:36:00.003-05:00

Tonight, Justin Wilder be speaking with David Charpantier of Milkwaukee's Pridefest about what to expect at this year's festivities June 11-13.

We'll also be talking to Wisconsin delegates to this past weekend's Unite + Fight Midwest Equality Conference in Chicago. One result of the conference was to form the Unite + Fight Midwest Equality Network to help activists in the region work together. The network will be affiliated with the national grassroots group Equality Across America, which formed around last October's National Equality March in Washington, D.C. We'll find out more about actions we can look forward to in Wisconsin and how to get involved.

Wednesday show recap: LGBT youth, religion, weekend Equality Conference

2010-03-10T20:07:00.004-06:00

Thanks for joining us on tonight's show. We're grateful for all the pledges that will help WORT 89.9 FM keep on delivering great radio 24-7. We exceeded our goal for the night's show!

Our show was packed tonight. First, we spoke with Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton about her efforts to support LGBT youth in Wisconsin.

We worked with WIDE-LP 99.1 FM, a low-power community radio station that broadcasts on Madison's southwest side, to air excerpts from a talk by Doleta Chapru called "Gay-Affirming Religious Groups: Good News for Human Rights.” She spoke this past Sunday to the Humanist Union of Madison, which meets monthly at Prairie Unitarian Church on Madison’s west side. Her full talk will air on WIDE-LP at 10 a.m. on March 22 or, if you're not in its listening area, you can listen to the speech after it broadcasts by going to the station's Web site.

We also spoke about the Equality Across America Midwest conference taking place this weekend in Chicago. It's called Unite+Fight: Strategizing for LGBTQ Civil Rights and Equality, and registration for the weekend is just $15. Presenters will include Lt. Dan Choi, prominent activist against Don't Ask Don't Tell; Staceyann Chin, Jamaican-born queer performance artist and poet; and Adam Bouska, photographer and creator of the NO H8 campaign.

To find out about carpooling from Madison, go to the "Carpool from Madison to the Equality Across America Midwest Conference!" Facebook page or call 608.446.0273.

Tomorrow's show: Poet Staceyann Chin and Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton

2010-03-09T16:07:00.003-06:00

We're looking forward to tomorrow's show, when we'll be discussing Equality Across America: Midwest Conference 2010, which takes place in Chicago this weekend. The theme is Unite+Fight: Strategizing for LGBTQ Civil Rights and Equality.

Scheduled guests include poet and activist Staceyann Chin, who will be speaking at the weekend conference, and Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton on the well-being LGBT youth in Wisconsin.

Our show is on the last night of "For WORT It's Worth," the station's spring pledge drive. As of this writing, we are $16,000 short of our goal. If you haven't already donated, or if you have and can afford to give more, we hope you'll consider supporting LGBT programming on WORT. We've got plenty of great thank-you gifts for people who pledge at various levels.

Marriage in D.C.

2010-03-04T08:19:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was the first day for D.C. same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses. About 150 couples signed up, according to the Associated Press. They'll be able to legally marry on Tuesday, once the licenses are processed in accordance with the city's usual waiting period.

Last night's show: Thanks for supporting WORT!

2010-03-04T08:13:00.003-06:00

Thanks for the pledges last night. We met our goal! And Kathryn's feet got very cold because we don't waste your valuable donations on overheating the studio.

(If you didn't hear the show and wonder why Kathryn didn't just put on socks and shoes like a normal person would, you'll just have to listen to the archived episode, accessible for the next few weeks via our Web site's left-hand column.)

We're so glad to know you love WORT as much as we do!

Pledge tonight!

2010-03-03T18:19:00.001-06:00

Pledge during the show tonight - you can get leslie hall tickets and the satisfaction of knowing that you've supported local community radio. 608-256-2001 or www.wort-fm.org

Plus, we're featuring Neil Patick Harris. Even the girls among us think he's hot!

News roundup

2010-02-24T18:37:00.000-06:00

During the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference this week, one conservative, Ryan Sorba of the California Young Americans for Freedom, denounced CPAC for allowing the gay conservative group GOProud to co-sponsor the event and host a booth. After finishing his short speech, amidst booing from the crowd, he walked off the stage.

Said Sorba; "Just to change the subject for just a second, I'd like to condemn CPAC for bringing GOPride (sic) to this event," said Sorba. As the crowd booed, he responeded; "Bring it. Bring it. I love it. I love it. I love it.”

He continued; “Civil rights are grounded in natural rights.... Natural rights are grounded in human nature. Human nature is a rational substance in relationship. The intelligible end of the reproductive act is reproduction. Do you understand that? Civil rights, when they conflict with natural rights, are contrary.”

He left the stage to mostly boos.

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The Washington Post reports that Lutheran Church if fragmenting over the issue of gay marriage. Congregations at two Lutheran Churches in Edgar, Wisconsin debated the issue with one congregation voting to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the other barely voting to stay on. The two churches shared a common pastor with the departing one fired the pastor.

Pushing plans for the new Lutheran denomination is Lutheran CORE, an activist group that led opposition to the gay clergy policy. Critics say liberalizing policies toward homosexuality directly contradicts scripture. Lutheran CORE's website states it intends to “Uphold the Biblical norms for marriage, family and sexuality” and “sponsor conferences and seminars and will prepare theological papers related to marriage, family, and human sexuality.” The group hopes to have the new organization, the North American Lutheran Church, operating by August.

Of the 10,000 or so congregations in the ELCA, 220 have taken steps to leave with 28 congregations with 28 going through both required votes. Bishop Peter Rogness of the Saint Paul synod doesn't think it's a major upheaval. "Even if that number doubles or triples, it would still be less than 5 percent of the ELCA," said Rogness "So it's not as though a schism has happened, where we're a denomination split in half. Nothing on that magnitude is in the offing."

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Continuing on the religious theme, but on a more upbeat note, the Wisconsin State Journal reports that the John Knox Presbytery, a regional governing body the Presbyterian Church, voted to ordain a gay Madison man.

Members of the presbytery, which encompasses parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, voted 81 to 25 to ordain Scott Anderson. Anderson said he's been in a committed relationship with a man for 19 years. "I could see it having national implications, for sure," the Rev. Alex Thornburg of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Madison said of the vote. "Some will proclaim this decision the best thing in the world and others will say the church is dying. It will have its drama around it."

National church policy requires married candidates for ordination to take a vow of fidelity and single candidates - gay or straight - to take a vow of chastity. However, the church allows candidates for ordination to file an objection to a rule based on conscience. The presbytery then must decide the seriousness of the candidate's departures from official teaching. In Anderson's case, a majority of the presbytery decided his relationship status did not undermine essentials of church doctrine and that his departures from official teaching "were not serious enough to overshadow his many other gifts," Meunier said.

A May 15 ordination date has been set but could be delayed as Caledonia Presbyterian Church near Portage will challenge it through appeals process, said Whitman Brisky, a Chicago attorney representing the 60-member church. They cite the church rule barring the installation of a minister "who is engaged in an extramarital, sexual relationship," Brisky said.

In a statement submitted to the presbytery, Anderson wrote that the ministerial prohibition against gays and lesbians in committed relationships "represents a grievous misapplication of biblical teachings." This misinterpretation "is unfaithful to God's loving intentions for humankind and seriously undermines the church's gospel witness to gay and lesbian partners. I cannot in Christian conscience support it."

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The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler declared his opinion that the state must recognize same-sex marriages from other states. If the courts or General Assembly don't block his decision, gay marriages from other states would be legally recognized.

As stated in the Sun, under a principle known as "comity," states have historically offered reciprocity for legal, executive and judicial acts. The best example may be common-law marriages — a union created by cohabitation and agreement rather than the usual ceremony. Maryland recognizes the legality of such marriages from other states even though the law here does not actually provide for them.

The state ban on same-sex marriage still holds, but as the law never spoke to marriages created in other states, the principle of comity applies.

LGBT college conference in Madison this weekend

2010-02-18T07:53:00.002-06:00

The 2010 Midwest Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, and Ally College Conference takes place on the UW-Madison campus this weekend, Friday through Sunday. Featured speakers include Kate Bornstein, Imani Henry, Loren Cameron, Mia Mingus and WORT's very own Laura Gutknecht.

For more information, you can visit the conference Web site.

Tonight's show

2010-02-10T19:53:00.002-06:00

We spoke with Margaret Talbot of The New Yorker about the Proposition 8 trial. She has a great article on it you can read here.

Recreation of Prop. 8 trial launched

2010-02-03T12:37:00.005-06:00

Filmmakers John Ainsworth and John Ireland are using the transcript of January's federal Perry vs. Schwarzenegger trial proceedings as a script for their newest work. The video series brings life to arguments for and against California's Proposition 8, which revoked the right of same-sex couples to marry in that state.

The filmmakers launched the project after the U.S. Supreme Court forced the judge in the Prop. 8 case to withdraw plans to air video of the trial on YouTube.

Cast members include Tess Harper, Adrienne Barbeau and Jack Laufer. The initial episodes have already been posted to www.MarriageTrial.com.

Our Bodies, Ourselves seeks women's input

2010-02-02T11:21:00.003-06:00

From the Boston Women's Health Book Collective:

Our Bodies Ourselves is seeking up to two dozen women to participate in an online discussion on sexual relationships.

Stories and comments may be used anonymously in the next edition of “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” which will be published in 2011 by Simon & Schuster.

We are seeking the experience and wisdom of heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual and queer women. Perspectives from single women are encouraged, and you may define relationship as it applies to you, from monogamy to multiple partners. We are committed to including women of color, women with disabilities, trans women and women of many ages and backgrounds.

For more info or to sign up, go to the Our Bodies, Ourselves blog.

Jacob Meister steps out of Illinois senate race

2010-02-02T11:06:00.002-06:00

Jacob Meister, who was the only openly gay candidate running for the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama's old senate seat, has stepped out of the race. He is endorsing former opponent Alexi Giannoulias.

Edgerton church welcomes lesbian pastor

2010-02-01T12:13:00.002-06:00

Edgerton Congregational United Church of Christ has called the Rev. Lora Whitten as its pastor. A lifelong Christian, Whitten came out as a lesbian in 1998 and graduated from Eden Theological Seminary in Missouri in 2008, according to the Janesville Gazette.

United Church of Christ congregations have a long history of accepting LGBT people as candidates for ministry. As early as 1973, the denomination's executive council encouraged congregations not to disqualify ministerial candidates solely on the basis of sexual orientation.

No Viking-Packers make-out sessions during the Superbowl

2010-01-31T11:11:00.003-06:00

CBS has rejected an ad for ManCrunch.com, a men-only dating site, for airing during the Super Bowl. It features a Viking fan and Green Bay Packers fan who unexpectedly resolve their differences after brushing hands in a potato chip bowl.

Italy designates cell block for transgender prisoners

2010-01-29T11:15:00.002-06:00

Responding to human rights concerns, Italy will move about 30 transgender prisoners to a designated prison block in Tuscany, according to the United Kingdom's Daily Telegraph. The block was created to protect transgender prisoners from harassment from non-transgender inmates, advocates say.

Bisexuals no longer have to pay double the fee on eHarmony

2010-01-29T10:38:00.003-06:00

Good news for bisexuals who want to date via the internet and like eHarmony's faith-based matchmaking approach: The heterosexual dating service and its gay sister Web site, Compatible Partners, plan to settle a discrimination lawsuit by linking to each other and no longer requiring members to pay double fees to use both services, according to the Associated Press.

Show recap: Proposition 8 Trial Tracker

2010-01-27T19:32:00.007-06:00

We spoke with Rick Jacobs, founder of the Courage Campaign, who has been liveblogging from the federal trial challenging the constitutionality of California's amendment revoking the right of same-sex couples to marry in that state. You can follow Jacobs' blog here.

We had some technical issues with the sound during our news segment at the beginning of the show-so if you heard us live or on our podcast, you missed half of the news. Here's an edited version of the entire episode that somewhat fixes the problem.

On Feb. 10, we'll have New Yorker writer contributor Margaret Talbot, who has also attended the Proposition 8 trial, about new developments and how the case would fare before the U.S. Supreme Court. You can find her daily updates on the trial and surrounding issues here.

Human Right Campaign releases state-by-state report on LGBT equality

2010-01-27T09:05:00.003-06:00

The Human Rights Campaign has released its annual Equality from State to State report on laws in the 50 states affecting LGBT civil rights. Wisconsin highlights include proposed legislation to reduce bullying in schools and the establishment of domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. But - oops - the report mistakenly states that opposite-sex couples can also register as domestic partners. (Never fear, one of our intrepid reporters has called HRC asking that they correct the report, so maybe it will be fixed by the time you read it.)

You can download the report here.

Openly gay UW-Madison grad seeks Illinois senate seat

2010-01-26T10:03:00.004-06:00

Jacob Meister, who earned his law degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the only openly gay candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for Barack Obama's old senate seat in Illinois, according to NBC. You can read more about him here on the NBC news site.

This week on Queery: Prop. 8 on trial

2010-01-25T15:16:00.003-06:00

Do voters have the power to take civil rights away from minority groups? Is that what we mean when we talk about ‘democracy’? Those are the central questions at issue in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, a lawsuit challenging California’s Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that took away the established right of same-sex couples to marry in that state.

Join Queery on Wednesday, January 27, 7 p.m., as we speak with Rick Jacobs of California’s Courage Campaign. Jacobs has been attending the historic trial, providing moment-by-moment internet updates to readers around the world. We’ll talk about the testimony that could change the course of history. That’s Queery on WORT 89.9 FM.

UW-Whitewater police looking for perpetrators in Dec. 15 attack

2010-01-25T12:22:00.002-06:00

UW-Whitewater police say they welcome tips about a Dec. 15 attack on a woman whom the attackers thought was a lesbian. The attackers are described as three college-aged white males.

Lesbian co-parent wins shared custody in Kentucky

2010-01-25T11:40:00.002-06:00

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 21 that individuals who have played a parental role in a child's life but are not biological or adoptive parents can petition for shared custody. The ruling requires Phyllis Diane Picklesimer to share custody of her biological son with her former partner, A.J. Mullins.

Hawaii senate authorizes civil unions

2010-01-25T11:24:00.003-06:00

The Hawaii senate has passed a bill to establish civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples in the state. Civil union status would provide the same "rights, benefits and responsibilities" as marriage does under Hawaii law, but would have no legal status under federal law.

The bill now moves to the state's house of representatives.

Tonight's show: New Harvest Foundation

2010-01-20T16:52:00.002-06:00

Tonight on Queery, we'll talk with Tret Fure and Woody Carey, co-chairs of New Harvest Foundation, which provides grants to LGBT organizations in south central Wisconsin. We'll also have clips from a recent presentation in Madison by Dr. Adam Schesch, a local historian who’s studied global resistance movements. He thinks the same tactics can be used to forward LGBT liberation, including same-sex marriage.

Announcement:The UW-Madison Educational & Psychological Training Clinic offers low cost counseling services

2010-01-18T14:08:00.003-06:00

From OutReach:

The UW-Madison Educational & Psychological Training Clinic offers low cost counseling services

The UW Educational & Psychological Training Clinic (Rm 316, Educational Science Bldg, 1025 W. Johnson St.) in co-operation with OutReach, is making counseling services available on a sliding scale to the LGBTQ communities. The services are provided by counseling psychology graduate students and are supervised by licensed psychologists/counselors. They provide services to individuals, couples, and families with a variety of pressing concerns such as anxiety, depression, grief, and general life adjustment problems. Bi-lingual counselors and interpreters (Spanish) are also available. Clinic hours are 5-8pm Mondays and Wednesdays. For appointments and an initial screening please call 265-6120.

D.C. judge: No referendum on same-sex marriage

2010-01-18T11:16:00.002-06:00

From Human Rights Campaign:

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, applauded a D.C. Superior Court ruling that, for the second time, rejected a proposed initiative to roll back legislation passed by the D.C. Council extending marriage in the District to same-sex couples. In June, a D.C. Superior Court judge rejected a similar lawsuit with the same intent – to force a public vote on legislation that, at the time, allowed D.C. to recognize marriages by same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions.

[The Jan. 14] ruling upheld the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics’ ruling rejecting the proposed initiative as an improper subject matter for a public vote. The lawsuit was brought by several national anti-gay activists and backed by thirty-nine Republican members of Congress. The legislation extending marriage rights to same-sex couples in the District is set to become effective at the conclusion of the Congressional review period, likely in early March.

In her decision, Judge Macaluso determined that the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ruled properly that the proposed initiative would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act. Under D.C. law, no ballot initiative may authorize discrimination under the Human Rights Act, which, among other things, prohibits the government from denying services or benefits based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Petitioners had argued that D.C.’s human rights protections dating back to 1979 were invalid; however, Judge Macaluso ruled that the D.C. Council acted within its legal authority when it adopted these vital anti-discrimination provisions.

“This second, back-to-back ruling by the D.C. Superior Court is an overwhelming victory for fairness, the rule of law and the protection of all D.C. residents against discrimination,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “D.C. has the right to govern itself and make its own laws without the interference of thirty-nine Republican members of Congress, more interested in scoring cheap political points than in the everyday lives of D.C. residents. As D.C. law justifiably recognizes, no initiative should be permitted to strip away any individual’s civil rights. It is heartening that two different judges upheld the anti-discrimination protections wisely enacted by the Council more than thirty years ago. ”

The Campaign for All D.C. Families – a coalition of D.C. residents and allied civil rights organizations – along with D.C. Clergy United for Marriage Equality and four same-sex couples who reside in the District were granted friend-of-the-court status and filed a brief in support of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics and the District.

Solmonese concluded, “HRC will continue its strong support of the Campaign for All D.C. Families and D.C. Clergy United for Marriage Equality until marriage equality is a reality for everyone in the District.”

Tom Williamson of Covington & Burling LLP, counsel for the Campaign for All D.C. Families, stated, “Judge Macaluso applied the law impartially in this case, recognizing the D.C. Council’s right to define the initiative process consistent with the D.C. Charter. The decision upholds the Council’s right to broadly protect human rights for all District residents.”

Rev. Dr. Dennis Wiley, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church, said, “As a minister who’s been serving the Ward 8 community for over 40 years, I am pleased that the D.C. Superior Court has upheld the right of the D.C. Council to prohibit discrimination in our community. I think this decision will be a unifying moment that helps bring healing to many families in the District. Gay and lesbian families are an integral part of our community and our church.”

At this time, five states recognize marriage for same-sex couples under state law: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The D.C. marriage law is likely to become effective on March 2, 2009. Five states—California, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada—provide same-sex couples with access to the state level benefits and responsibilities of marriage, through either civil unions or domestic partnerships.

Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island and Wisconsin provide same-sex couples with limited rights and benefits. New York and Washington, D.C. recognize marriages of same-sex couples validly entered into outside of the jurisdiction.

California recognized marriage by same-sex couples between June and November of 2008, before voters approved Proposition 8, which purports to amend the state constitution to prohibit marriage equality. Couples married during that window remain married under California law, but all other same-sex couples can only receive a domestic partnership within the state. The state will recognize out of state same-sex marriages that occurred before November 5, 2008 as marriages and those that occurred on or after November 5, 2008 as domestic partnerships. The Proposition 8 vote has been challenged in federal court; a trial is currently underway in San Francisco.

Same-sex couples do not receive federal rights and benefits in any state. For an electronic map showing where marriage equality stands in the states, please visit: www.HRC.org/State_Laws.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens.

Hawaii set to vote this week on civil unions

2010-01-18T11:06:00.002-06:00

Hawaii's legislature is set to vote on creating civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples in the state. The Washington Post reports that a vote on the issue last year "easily won preliminary passage in the Legislature," but opponents - mostly from Catholic and evangelical Protestant groups - are holding protests in an effort to convince legislators to vote against civil unions this time.

Haiti quake devastates HIV support group for MSM

2010-01-16T11:28:00.001-06:00

The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission reports that the earthquake last Tuesday in Haiti killed 14 men at a meeting of SEROvie, a support group for HIV-positive men who have sex with men. IGLHRC is accepting donations on behalf of SEROvie so the organization can continue to offer services, as well as emergency aid.

How gay are we?

2010-01-15T06:51:00.005-06:00

The Advocate has named Madison the "5th Gayest City in America," which would be a great honor if it weren't for the sneaking suspicion one gets that they've never been here. To wit:

"Madison is often called the Berkeley of the Midwest—the east side is hippie-crunchy, there’s a brand-new gay dance club (Plan B), and heaps of cute blond dreadlocked nuevo organic farmer dudes can be found at the Willy Street Co-op or the Farmers’ Market drinking their own beer from mason jars."

Let's deconstruct this:

"Berkeley of the Midwest"- No, Berkeley is the "Madison of California."
"heaps of cute blond dreadlocked nuevo organic farmer dudes" - I don't know about "heaps"; most of the dreadlocked dudes at Willy Co-op have auburn to black hair. I only spot a blond one maybe every three shopping trips. Also, I'm not quite sure what "nuevo organic" means. As for the "farmer," the moniker could apply to, at maximum, one in ten dreadlocked dudes, which should be obvious since there are only two farms within city limits and most produce farmers from Mount Horeb don't come here daily.
"at the Willy Street Co-op ... drinking their own beer" - And getting thrown out. I don't know where Willy Co-op got this freewheeling reputation. It must have come from people who've never been there. The vibe at Willy is like Whole Foods, without the perniciousness.
"at ... the Farmers’ Market drinking ... beer from mason jars" - Um, I'm pretty sure that Wisconsin still has an open container law, because I see it being enforced all the time downtown. If we're going to drink our own beer in public, we're not going to do it from mason jars so that everyone can see what we're doing. We're going to drink it from plastic Canada Dry bottles.
"drinking their own beer from mason jars" - We homebrewers put our beer in Grolsch bottles, not mason jars. Anyone who has ever brewed knows that making beer in a mason jar invites explosions. You drink hooch from mason jars, and none of us would know anything about that, because distilling hooch at home is illegal.

By the way, the "gay" here seems to be intentional, focusing on gay men to the exclusion of LBTs - although the article confusingly alternates between using the term "gay" to mean "gay men" and using "gay" to mean "queers." For example, it apparently included Tammy Baldwin among Madison's "gay elected officials," but clearly wasn't counting her when it looked at "gay dating profiles per single male population" and probably wasn't referring to her, or women in general, when it looked at "cruising spots per capita."

Speaking of cruising spots, I've got to wonder how "cruising spots per capita" makes a city gay. Even assuming the cruising involves men only, a lot of the men involved in cruising don't view themselves as gay. That's why sexual health educators talk more often about their work with "men who have sex with men," not "gay men."

The Gayest City ranking criteria were: same-sex couple households per capita, statewide marriage equality, gay elected officials, gay dating profiles per single male population, gay bars per capita, cruising spots per capita and gay films in Netflix favorites.

Random Harvest is canceled tonight

2010-01-14T14:50:00.001-06:00

From StageQ:

Dear friend of StageQ,

Tonight's (Thursday) production of Random Harvest is canceled due to cast illness. You still have two more chances to see the show, on Friday and Saturday, so please come on out!

Tonight's Show: Queers in History

2010-01-13T12:56:00.002-06:00

Join us tonight for a conversation with Keith Stern, author of Queers in History, a new encyclopedia of 900 public and not-so-public LGBTQ people of note that Wired magazine calls "history and dish garnished lavishly with innuendo, riddled with sarcasm and schmooze."

Following the Prop. 8 trial

2010-01-11T14:45:00.004-06:00

You can't watch it on television, at least for now, so here are the next best things:

Portugal's parliament approves marriage equality

2010-01-11T14:17:00.002-06:00

Portugal's parliament has voted in favor of allowing same-sex couples to marry, but the law includes a caveat that prevents same-sex couples from adopting children.

The law is now in committee and will come back to parliament for a final vote before going to President Anibal Cavaco Silva for ratification. Cavaco Silva has indicated in the past that she is not in favor of allowing same-sex couples to marry.

You can read more about the vote at the BBC Web site.

New York senate rejects marriage equality

2010-01-08T08:33:00.002-06:00

The New Jersey Senate voted 20-14 against marriage equality last night. Five senators abstained from voting and one was absent. You can read more in this The New York Times article.

Wisconsin Capitol Pride seeks volunteers

2010-01-07T09:02:00.001-06:00

Wisconsin Capitol Pride is in search of volunteers for various fundraisers and the parade, as well as for the pride celebration. If interested,e-mail volunteer@wisonsincapitolpride.org.

Judge decides to broadcast federal marriage trial via YouTube

2010-01-07T08:27:00.004-06:00

A federal judge has decided to allow the trial on the constitutionality of California's Prop. 8 to be videotaped and broadcast on YouTube. You can read more about the decision here.

The trial will be a test of federal protections for minority groups. The plaintiffs will argue that Prop. 8, which removed the right of same-sex couples in California to wed, is a breach of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which requires states to provide equal protection under the law to all people within their jurisdictions.

Domestic partner registrations low in northwest Wisconsin

2010-01-06T08:30:00.004-06:00

Only 17 couples have registered as domestic partners in Wisconsin's seven northwest counties, according to an article in the Superior Telegram. Of these, Douglas County has the highest number of registered domestic partnerships, with six female couples and one male couple.

That compares with the statewide figure of 1,285 domestic partnerships.

News Jersey to vote on marriage equality Thursday

2010-01-06T08:27:00.002-06:00

The New Jersey senate has scheduled a vote on extending civil marriage rights to same-sex couples for Thursday. Read more here.

Announcements from OutReach

2010-01-01T12:19:00.005-06:00

The week's announcements and events from OutReach, Madison & south central Wisconsin’s LGBT Community Center at 600 Williamson Street, Suite P-1, Madison. OutReach will be closed, Friday, 1/1, and Saturday, 1/2 for the Holidays except for select group activity. Otherwise, office hours are M-F: 10am to 7pm, Saturday: 12-4pm.

All events are at OutReach unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday (1/3)

New Year’s All-Ages Potluck Celebration, 6-9pm: Join OutThere (18-24 year old LGBT social group) and OutReach for an all ages potluck to celebrate the end of the holidays and the beginning of a new decade!

Monday (1/4):

Living As A Gay Man 6pm
Bi the Way 7:30pm

Tuesday (1/5):

LGBTQ Al Anon Meeting (for family & friends of alcoholics) 5:30pm
Gq (GenderQueer) Group Meeting 8pm
Effective Strategies for LGBT Rights: New Directions, 7:00 pm on the Evjue Stage at the Bartell Theater, 113 E Mifflin Street in Madison: a presentation by Adam Schesch, Ph.D. on effective strategies for LGBT liberation. Dr. Schesch is a local historian who has studied global resistance struggles, and movements for liberation. He will be speaking about how to apply that cross-cultural experience to current battles for LGBT rights in this country, including same-sex marriage. There will be an open discussion with the audience following Dr. Schesch’s talk. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday (1/6):

Cross-dresser Support Group 7pm

Thursday (1/7):

Business Alliance Monthly Meeting 6pm
SalonQ Adult Discussion Group 7pm

Friday (1/8):

Madison Area Transgender Association Support Group 7pm

Saturday (1/9):

Women4Women Social Group 3-5pm: Begin the New Year by getting all of your legal protections in place. W4W will feature guest speakers from Krueger & Hernandez SC, Attorneys at Law who will talk about Civil Unions, Domestic Partnership, and Estate Planning for the LGBT Community. For more information about OutReach's Women4Women group, call Outreach at 255-8582 and leave a message or email: Donna at dw65@sbcglobal.net
LGBTQ Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Group Meeting (closed meeting--open to recovering alcoholics only--not family and friends) 6pm

Sunday (1/10):

OutThere (18-24) Social Group at 5pm

Monday (1/18)

In-service on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Resources for the LGBT Community, 6-7pm: Representatives from Domestic Abuse Intervention, Rape Crisis Center, and Meriter Hospital’s SANE Program will be on hand to answer your questions on resources available and LGBT access to those resources during this presentation. The general public is welcome and event is of no cost. Please RSVP if possible with Harry at OutReach (255-8582 or harrys@lgbtoutreach.org) as space is limited.

Upcoming: New Groups Starting at OutReach in the New Year

Queer Meditation Group will meet the 2nd & 4th Thursday at 7pm starting January 28th. Everyone in the LGBT community is welcome. Format:

-20 minute meditation, partially guided
-listen to a lecture
-discussion
-occasional guest speakers

The SOFFA Support Network is a drop-in peer support group for those people who find themselves in the significant other, friends, family or ally (SOFFA) role in a transperson’s life. The group is a place to share both the losses we experience in transitioning with our transperson, as well as embrace the joys. Topics covered in this group include identity politics, the process of grieving, coming out to friends and family, navigating relationship changes, and the legal rights for trans couples. This group is open to all people, whether they identify as straight or queer, as long as they are a SOFFA. The group will run every other Tuesday at 7pm at OutReach starting January 19th. For more information, contact Tiffany at t.drake77@yahoo.com

Reading, Writing & Relating LGBTQ Narratives is a workshop open to all LGBTQ adults that aims to bring together a diverse group of individuals for meaningful and thought-provoking dialogues in a welcoming environment. We will read and respond to LGBTQ literature, produce personal narratives by sharing our stories orally and/or in written form and—most importantly—have the opportunity to make connections with each other that both honor our differences and contribute positively to our sense of community as LGBTQ people.
Meetings will be held at OutReach starting in late January or early February on Wednesday nights (bi-weekly). For more information, become a fan on Facebook or write to: lgbtqnarratives@gmail.com.

Ongoing groups with funky schedules

SalonQ Adult Discussion Group January Schedule--all at 7pm -- Dates: 1/7, 1/12, 1/21, & 1/26 Come join us—come prepared to mix it up in an inclusive fashion with cool people in the comfy surroundings of OutReach. We are a weekly group alternating between Tuesday and Thursday nights. For info or to get on the e-mail list: call 255-8582 or e-mail Harry at harrys@lgbtoutreach.org

Q Cinema International Film Group—January Schedule---all at 6:30pm at OutReach

January 13th: Madam Sata (Brazil): A story inspired by the life of one of the most remarkable figures in Brazilian popular culture, João Francisco dos Santos (1900-1976). In turn, bandit, transvestite, street fighter, brothel cook, convict and father to seven adopted children, dos Santos--better known as Madame Satã--was also a notorious gay performer who pushed social boundaries in a volatile time. The story begins in 1932, in Rio de Janeiro's bohemian Lapa district, when João Francisco is about to achieve his dream: becoming a stage star. In the sordid yet lively world of Lapa--populated by pimps, prostitutes and other denizens of Rio's underworld.
January 27th: Fire (India): Taboo-busting drama about forbidden passion between two Indian wives. It is said that when this movie premiered in India , posters were torn down and there was a lot of public protest. This film powerfully demonstrates the struggle of two women in love in a culture so deeply entrenched in ritual and tradition. All this against a backdrop of an India which itself is struggling for freedom from these same values. This film is both political and personal and never too preachy or idealistic on either front. A true film such as this one deserves to be seen by all people of the world.

Community meeting on Tuesday

2010-01-01T12:15:00.001-06:00

StageQ, Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus, Our Lives Magazine, Gay-Straight Alliance for Safe Schools, Leztalkmadison, OutReach, Wisconsin Capitol Pride, the Business Alliance and AIDS Network announce a presentation by Adam Schesch, Ph.D. on effective strategies for LGBT liberation. Dr. Schesch is a local historian who has studied global resistance struggles, and movements for liberation. He will be speaking about how to apply that cross-cultural experience to current battles for LGBT rights in this country, including same-sex marriage. There will be an open discussion with the audience following Dr. Schesch’s talk. Come prepared to think, to talk and to plan!

The event will take place on Tuesday, January 5 at 7:00 pm on the Evjue stage at the Bartell Theater, 113 E Mifflin Street in Madison. The event is free and open to the public.

Next week's show: StageQ's Random Harvest

2009-12-17T12:34:00.002-06:00

Enjoy an evening of love, luck, ghosts and gays. StageQ, Madison's queer-focused theater, presents Random Harvest by Richard Willett Dec. 31 to Jan. 16. Amid newfound career success, playwright Aaron becomes obsessed with a suicide that's made the news and starts sleeptalking about the 1942 film Random Harvest. StageQ's artistic director Tara Ayres joins the Queery crew on Wednesday, Dec. 23, from 7-7:30 p.m. to talk about the play, the state of queer theater, and her company's spring performances. Listen in!

U.S. Senate committee expected to vote on domestic parnter benefits today

2009-12-16T08:51:00.002-06:00

According to On Top Magazine, the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote today on Tammy Baldwin's Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2000, which would extend domestic partner benefits to federal employees. The Web site reports that only seven of the 17 committee members are co-sponsors of the bill.

D.C. passes marriage equality bill

2009-12-16T08:03:00.002-06:00

From the Campaign for All D.C. Families:

Campaign for All D.C. Families praises marriage equality vote

Washington, D.C., December 15, 2009 - The D.C. City Council today voted for the second time as a full council in favor of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009. The bill, which will formally legalize marriage for gay and lesbian couples in the District of Columbia while protecting the rights of religious institutions to define marriage according to their own beliefs, will soon be signed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and finally go to Capitol Hill for Congressional review before becoming law.

Aisha Mills, president of the Campaign for All D.C. Families, released the following statement after the vote:

“This is a historic day for the District of Columbia. Equality for all DC residents has prevailed. The Council's decision today embodies the true essence of leadership. Thanks to their bold work, all DC families will have the same protections, opportunities and obligations under the law.

“Campaign for All DC Families applauds our City Council and the community leaders who have worked tirelessly for decades in the pursuit of equality for all DC families. Their unwavering commitment to fairness and equal rights for all loving, committed couples has brought us to this moment.

“But as we celebrate today, we are reminded that our work toward equality and social justice is not yet complete. We must remain vigilant to ensure that the Congress lets this law stand, and that our equality is not put to a vote in the district.”

Tonight's show: Madison LGBT sports leagues

2009-12-16T08:00:00.003-06:00

Join us tonight for a conversation with members of some of Madison's LGBT sports teams and leagues. Find out how to join or to cheer them on - both great ways to stay warm this winter.

Madison LGBT Oral History Project launches Web site

2009-12-08T13:04:00.002-06:00

Remember that fabulous show a while back when we interviewed the folks from the Madison LGBT Oral History Project? Well, if you want to find out more about what's happening now, or you want to participate, there's an easy way to contact them: lgbt.wisc.edu/ohp. It's just a simple page right now, but the group has plans for adding a timeline and historical photographs soon. Enjoy!

Research on LBTQ women's attitudes toward cancer

2009-12-07T12:12:00.001-06:00

We received the following notice from Outreach:

Ashley Mills, a Genetic Counseling student at Mount Sinai in New York , is conducting a research study survey which aims to understand cancer beliefs and attitudes, in addition to family history communication in the LGBTQ community. The survey takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete and is completely anonymous.

There have been few opportunities to investigate cancer beliefs and attitudes in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) female communities. The purpose of this study is to understand and analyze views on cancer and family communication in the female LGBTQ communities. The intended goal is to use the information analyzed to give health care professionals, such as genetic counselors, greater insight of community beliefs and attitudes in order to better serve and understand their patients who identify as LGBTQ. Addressing risk assessment, cancer worry and family history are the key components of cancer genetic counseling, with the goals of both addressing patient's psychological needs and influencing risk-reducing behaviors. Therefore, such insights could be useful for improving education, cultural competency, communication and appropriate clinical care.

Your participation is much appreciated! In order to participate, you must be female, over age 18.

You can find the survey online by simply clicking on the link below:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CRt9E4jCxOD_2fKJgpSRnqrQ_3d_3d

If you have any questions, at any time, or want to discuss any study-related concerns, please contact Ashley Mills at (212)241- 9414 or ashley.mills@mssm.edu

Update on gay UW-Parkside student who was beaten on Halloween

2009-12-07T10:04:00.003-06:00

Kenosha News ran this article on Friday giving an update on the situation of Jordan Miller, the UW-Parkside student who was beaten by four men while attending Halloween festivities in downtown Madison. Miller believes he was targeted because of his sexual orientation, about which a friend of his had commented loudly.

As a result of miscommunication between 911 dispatchers and law enforcement, police who responded on Halloween to a call about the beating didn't realize that Miller had been attacked and thought he had merely passed out drunk. Miller received no medical treatment that night for fractures to his vertebrae and police did not follow up with Miller to ask him about his attackers until almost three weeks after the crime took place.

Miller does not intend to intitiate any legal actions against Madison's emergency services and law enforcement units, according to his attorney, but is attempting to locate his attackers.

Saturday's Equality March at the Capitol

2009-12-07T09:51:00.003-06:00

Between 150 and 200 people participated in the Wisconsin Equality March on Saturday. The demands of the march included equal rights for LGBTI people under the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, repeal of Wisconsin's constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Char Hanson, one of the organizers of the march, sent Queery the following summary:

Everything with this march went great, the turn our was about 150-175 people. We went down State to the capitol and rallied without issue. The speakers were awesome. And the crowd although fully behind the rally and reasons, was well behaved and no problems occured. It is amazing to live here in Madison where LGBTIQ people have so much outstanding support, we need to bring that support and acceptance to the rest of the state and the rest of the country.

Coverage from other local press:

LGBT rights activists rally to show support - The Daily Cardinal

LGBT rights ralliers march to Capitol - The Badger Herald

Competition for Obey's House seat just gets weird

2009-12-03T16:38:00.002-06:00

Two Republicans vying for U.S. Rep. Dave Obey's seat are arguing over which one of them is less in favor of same-sex marriage.

Challenger Dan Mielke says his primary opponent Sean Duffy condones same-sex marriage because Duffy appeared in a satirical movie 11 years ago that involved a same-sex wedding. Mielke said he was bringing the issue up because marriage "is in my heart and in my soul and I cannot keep still."

Duffy, a former cast member of MTV's The Real World, responded, "Mielke knows I support traditional marriage and for him to suggest otherwise is a blatant lie."

You can read more about the argument here in a blog entry by Wisconsin Journal reporter Jason Stein.

LGBT soldiers can come out ... but only if they're testifying to Congress

2009-12-03T12:13:00.002-06:00

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., has introduced legislation to protect active duty service members who publicly identify themselves as LGBT if they do so while testifying before Congress. The bill is intended to allow LGBT service members to participate in congressional hearings scheduled for next year about the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which permits the discharge of any service member who comes out as non-heterosexual.

However, some activists who support LGB people in the military say that the legislation could have a potential downside: harassment of individuals who come out during the congressional investigation. Alexander Nichols, executive director of Servicemembers United, said that testifying could put active duty service members in danger from other members of their units.

You can read more in this story from the Associated Press.

Kathryn has to comment on Meredith Baxter Birney

2009-12-03T12:01:00.003-06:00

When I heard yesterday that Meredith Baxter Birney announced she was a lesbian on the Today Show, I thought, "Big whoop." The surprise came when she said she only figured out she was a lesbian seven years ago.

UW-Madison discusses LGBT issues

2009-12-03T11:46:00.003-06:00

The Badger Herald student newspaper ran an article yesterday about a Tuesday listening session that sought to identify ways to improve the campus environment for LGBT students. The session was sparsely attended, which some attributed to students' preparing for finals. Issues discussed included the need for faculty to become more aware of the presence of LGBT students in their classes and more sensitive to the assumptions that make about their students. You can read the full article here.

NY senate rejects marriage equality

2009-12-03T08:54:00.000-06:00

You've probably read it everywhere else already, but in case you haven't:

N.Y. gay marriage measure defeated - Boston Globe
Paterson: No Timetable To Try Again On Gay Marriage - New York Daily News
Gay-marriage opponents welcome NY bill's defeat - Associated Press

New LGBT newspaper for Wisconsin

2009-12-01T14:02:00.002-06:00

We wrote last week about the Wisconsin Gazette, our state's newest LGBT paper. Like its predecessors In Step and Wisconsin Light, the Gazette appears to be focused on Milwaukee and surrounds, at least for now. You can download the most recent issue at the Wisconsin Gazette website.

D.C. City Council votes for marriage equality

2009-12-01T13:45:00.003-06:00

From the Campaign for All D.C. Families:

The D.C. City Council voted for the first time as a full council in favor of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009. The bill, which will formally legalize same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia while protecting the rights of religious institutions to define marriage according to their own beliefs, will be voted on a final time later this month by the full council. The bill is expected to then be signed by Mayor Fenty and finally go to Capitol Hill for Congressional review before becoming law. Eleven of 13 council members voted in support of the bill.

Aisha Mills, President of the Campaign for All D.C. Families released the following statement:

"Today we celebrate the District of Columbia City Council's initial vote to extend marriage equality to all residents. When passed this important law will provide gay and lesbian couples the securities and protections of marriage and create a stronger community for all of us.

"Denying marriage protections to loving and committed couples here in the district, and elsewhere, puts them and their families in harm's way. I would to thank the Council and all of the advocates for their work on this first step toward ensuring that gay and lesbian couples are able to make a lifelong commitment to take care of and be responsible for one another."

As with any D.C. legislation, the U.S. Congress has the right to repeal the bill if enough senators and representatives get fired up against it. However, no such firing up occurred this summer when the D.C. council voted to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

Judge blocks Argentine fiances' wedding

2009-12-01T08:28:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, an Argentine federal judge blocked the marriage of Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre, scheduled for today. Judge Marta Gomez Alsina said the wedding must be delayed until the Supreme Court has had a chance to consider the case. Judge Gabriela Seijas, a Buenos Aires city judge, had ruled on Nov. 20 that prohibiting the men's marriage was a violation of Argentina's constitution.

The men say they will appear for their marriage appointment at the registry office today.

New LGBT publication in Wisconsin

2009-11-30T08:49:00.003-06:00

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports:

Wisconsin Gazette, Shorewood, a bi-weekly publication targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers, published its premiere issue Nov. 19. Distributed at more than 300 sites throughout metro Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine, Madison and other areas, Wisconsin Gazette is owned by Leonard J. Sobczak.

AIDS Memorial Quilt in Madison

2009-11-30T08:44:00.000-06:00

From HIVictorious:

AIDS Memorial Quilt. Remembering history to shape the future.

Overture Center Main Lobby
201 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Thursday, December 3, 2009
10:00 am – 10:00 pm

The AIDS Memorial Quilt is an expanding memorial to the lives of people lost to HIV/AIDS, created by those who loved them. It is the largest community art project in the world, totaling more than 45,500 individual panels that commemorate more than 91,000 people.

View 21 12′x12′ blocks of the captivating quilt in person, brought to Madison in recognition of World AIDS Day (December 1) by the UW Health HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Care Program, with financial support from Becker Law Office, the Wisconsin AIDS/HIV Program and our many generous allies and friends.

Wisconsin Equality March in Madison on Dec. 5

2009-11-26T04:47:00.001-06:00

This week's announcements

2009-11-25T19:15:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, Women4Women Goes to the Movies. Women4Women will meet at OutReach, 600 Williamson St., at its regularly scheduled time of 3:00 p.m. and decide which film to see. Following the film, folks will gather for coffee or a bite to eat to discuss the movie.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., Unified for Equality is meeting at Outreach Community Center, 600 Williamson St., to plan for the December 5 Marriage Equality March at Wisconsin’s capital.

Stay at Outreach afterward because, from 5:30 to 9:30 on Sunday, OutThere will hold a Thanksgiving weekend potluck People of all ages, races, genders, and sexual orientations are welcome to attend. A panel discussion on Spirituality and Religion will begin at 7:30.

After spending your entire weekend at Outreach, you can head east to MATC-Truax, where MATC Pride will host a Transgender Workshop to educate people of all gender identities and expressions about transgender issues. The workshop takes place on Monday, November 30 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at 3550 Anderson St. in Room 142.

And finally, Tuesday Dec. 1 is World Aids Day. AIDS Network invites you to its annual Volunteer Recognition Awards and Memorial Service from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Madison, 1609 University Avenue. Please contact AIDS Network at 608.252.6540 with any questions.

Tonight's Show: Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not

2009-11-25T12:53:00.001-06:00

Tonight on Queery, we'll be talking with Joanne Herman, a former columnist for The Advocate and author of the new book Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not. Join us for a great conversation about the T in LGBT.

Bishop Morlino shuns Catholic group on allegations that it supports gays and abortion

2009-11-24T08:20:00.004-06:00

LifeSiteNews.com, a news Web site geared toward religious conservatives, reported that Madison's Catholic bishop, Robert Morlino, is one of four bishops nationally that has decided to withhold diocesan funds from the national office of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). CCHD is an anti-poverty organization run by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and has come under attack recently for partnering with organizations that support or offer comprehensive sex education, including information about birth control, abortion and homosexuality, or tolerate homosexuality and socialism. Detractors state that CCHD should not be associating with such organizations, even if its funding does not directly support activities contrary to church teaching.

The CCHD says that its funding choices have been screened by the bishops and do not support contraceptives, abortion, or the promotion of homosexuality.

This past weekend, Madison did not participate in the annual special collection for CCHD, in which dioceses across the country ask local Catholics to make a special offering to the organization. This is the second year that Madison has not participated. According to LifeSiteNews:

As he did last year, Bishop Morlino chose to allocate the national campaign's portion of the [CCHD] collection to a different cause. Last year, the funds were sent to the Hurricane Ike recovery fund, and this year he allocated the contributions to the Little Sisters of the Poor, who have an international outreach to the elderly.

In a November 11th letter to the faithful of his diocese, Bishop Morlino assured them that the diocesan portion would continue to support "important tasks of assisting the poor of our own diocese."

He insisted, however, that their money would not be allowed to support groups violating Church teaching. "In light of recent discussions and protests regarding money from CCHD going to fund ACORN and other entities which do not uphold, and sometimes act in opposition to, the teachings of the Church," he said, "I feel it necessary to make clear that your money will not go to such groups."

Some CCHD detractors have demanded that CCHD end its partnership with the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera because of a report that it provided Spanish-language support to the Gay Neighbor campaign, which encourages Milwaukeeans to get to know LGBT people in their communities.

More anti-LGBT hate crimes reported

2009-11-24T08:14:00.002-06:00

An increasing number of hate crimes against sexual minorities are being reported to the FBI. It's unclear whether the number of these hate crimes is increasing or more of them are being reported. The Matthew Shepard Foundation released the following statement:

Annual statistics for 2008 collected by local law enforcement agencies nationwide show an 11 percent increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation, according to a report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

While the overall number of hate crimes of any kind grew by about 2 percent from 2007 to 2008, the 11 percent hike in anti-gay incidents, and a 9 percent increase in hate crimes based on religion, demonstrate the continuing danger posed by bias against others based on their differences.

The FBI report shows 7,783 hate crimes voluntarily reported to the agency by participating law enforcement agencies, involving a total of 9,691 victims. A majority (58 percent) of the 1,706 victims targeted for their sexual orientation were gay men.

Roughly a third of the cases were physical attacks, another third were intimidation and the remaining third were vandalism or property damage.

The FBI cautioned that year-to-year comparisons are difficult due to the change in the number of law enforcement agencies which chose to participate. The number of participating agencies rose by 449, or 3.4 percent, versus the prior year.

“While it is important to respect the cautions voiced by statistical analysts, the continuing, steady emergence of extremely violent anti-LGBT hate crimes in recent weeks also argues in favor of taking the increase seriously and redoubling prevention efforts,” said Jason Marsden, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Just in the prior week, authorities announced they were investigating the murder of Jorge Lopez in Puerto Rico as a hate crime, and a 16-year-old gay Houston high school student reported being assaulted with a metal pipe by a group of assailants despite having sought help from school administrators ahead of time due to rumors circulating about the planned attack. These are only two of the several anti-gay attacks reported in recent months, many of which have not been covered by mainstream media outlets.

“Coming just weeks after President Obama signed new, LGBT-inclusive hate crimes provisions, the rise in reported hate crimes against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is sobering, whether due to increased reporting or increased frequency of the crimes, or both,” Marsden said. “We all must do more to send the message that these attacks are unacceptable.”

Lutheran churches in Wisconsin discuss breaking off after pro-LGBT vote

2009-11-23T10:28:00.003-06:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published this article Thursday about a group that is seeking to break off of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) because it voted this summer to accept pastors who are in committed same-sex relationships.

Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal), based in Minnesota, is working on creating a new denomination for disaffected churches who are currently members of the ELCA. A few congregations in Wisconsin say they are considering leaving the ELCA, but no definite decisions have been made yet.

The ELCA and Lutheran CORE should not be confused with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), a separate denomination that holds to a more literal interpretation of the Bible, forbids the ordination of women, bars women from serving as voting members of church bodies that make decisions affecting men, and teaches that the theory of evolution is false. ELCA churches tend to interpret the Bible in its historical and social context, allow women to be voting members of church bodies and to be ordained, and tend not to take a stance on the origins of life, allowing both creationists and proponents of the theory of evolution to be members and promote their viewpoints.

Federal judge orders administration to provide health insurance to wife of lesbian court employee

2009-11-23T09:48:00.002-06:00

A federal appeals court judge has ordered the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to provide health care benefits to the wife of a lesbian federal attorney in California. The attorney, Karen Golinski, married Amy Cunninghis in California in 2008 when same-sex marriages were legal in that state.

According to Judge Alex Kozinski, a Reagan appointee, said that federal law requires the government to provide health insurance to the spouse of any covered employee who is legally married in his or her state of residence.

More info:
Obama Administration Ordered to Give Benefits to Lesbian Partner - Edge
Give in on same-sex benefits, judge orders feds - San Francisco Chronicle

Canada considers refugee statues for lesbian who fled U.S. Army

2009-11-23T09:23:00.003-06:00

Two years ago, Bethany Smith was outed by fellow soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky., after they saw her holding hands with a girlfriend at a local shopping mall. What followed was a barrage of physical attacks and threatening notes, at which point Smith figured that being dismissed with an honorable discharge under the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy would be just as well. However, her sargeant told her she would not be dismissed and that she would be deployed to Afghanistan with the same soldiers who were currently threatening her life.

Smith went AWOL and fled to Canada, took a new name, and is going through the Canadian courts trying to win asylum after the country's Immigration and Refugee Board rejected her claim. On Friday, a Canadian federal judge ordered the board to reconsider Smith's case because it had failed to consider the discrimination and harassment she faced in the military.

For more information:
Lesbian US war deserter wins stay of deportation - La Crosse Tribune
Pte. Bethany Smith Fled to Canada to Avoid Soldiers' Death Threats. Will They Let Her Stay? - Queerty

Puerto Rico murder may be prosecuted as hate crime

2009-11-19T09:23:00.003-06:00

Puerto Rican police have charged 26-year-old Juan Martinez Matos in the murder and mutilation of 19-year-old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado this past weekend. Martinez told police that he killed Lopez after discovering he was a man. Martinez said that he had approached Lopez for sex under the impression that Lopez was a woman.

Martinez is in jail under a $4 million bond. So far, the government has charged him with first-degree murder and weapons violations. LGBT activists and at least two New York congressional representatives are pushing law enforcement to try the case under Puerto Rico's 2002 hate crimes law, which has not been applied in the at least 10 anti-gay slayings that have occurred in the U.S. territory since its passage, according to Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

U.S. Representative Jose Serrano (D-NY), who was born in Puerto Rico, released this statement Tuesday about the murder:

“I strongly condemn this horrible crime and urge that it be treated as the heinous hate-crime that it is. Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to address just this type of offense. I urge the federal government to provide Puerto Rican authorities with assistance in this investigation. The parties responsible must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of either Puerto Rican law or our new federal hate crimes laws.

“I am particularly troubled by the alleged comments of one of the police investigators of this terrible act. Our justice system and our law enforcement officials should never allow their personal biases to interfere in their work investigating and enforcing the law.

“Gay teens in Puerto Rico, like gay teens anywhere, must be able to live in peace and feel safe in their communities. As a tolerant society, we must be vigilant about the rights of all and always ensure that the law is on the side of the vulnerable and the victimized.”

Some additional articles:
Murder charge filed in Puerto Rico teen slaying - Associated Press
Activists, politicians, urge Puerto Rican authorities to prosecute López murder as hate crime - Edge

This week's news roundup: Nov 18, 2010

2009-11-18T19:11:00.004-06:00

On Monday of this week, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker vetoed a proposal to look into allowing county employees to include domestic partners on their health insurance plans. Walker, who is running for governor in the 2010 race as a Republican, said that the county should not consider spending money on additional benefits at a time that it is trying to get its employees to accept stagnant wages and curtailed benefits in order to make up for budgetary shortfalls.

The County Board voted 13-6 to look into the cost of extending domestic partner benefits at its Nov. 5 meeting. It will decide tonight whether to override Walker’s veto. If it overrides the veto, the county would only look into the logistics and cost of providing benefits. A separate vote would be needed later to put the benefits in place.

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According to ABC News, Supreme Court Justice today told students at Ohio State University "Did any provision of the Constitution guarantee a right to abortion? No one thought so for almost two centuries after the founding. Did any provision in the Constitution guarantee a right to homosexual sodomy? Same answer."

Scalia failed to comment on the enshrinement of slavery in the Constitution as originally ratified. Nor did he mention the right of non-whites to be counted as citizens of the United States, the right of interracial couples to marry, and the right of African-Americans and women to vote without interference – most of which were not considered rights guaranteed under the Constitution until almost two centuries after the founding of our nation.

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University of Wisconsin-River Falls is planning to offer a new course on LGBT history and current issues. The course, which will be offered as part of the school’s women’s studies program, is being developed by the women’s studies coordinator and a psychology professor.

Women’s studies coordinator Michelle Parkinson says that a recent campus incident involving anti-gay graffiti shows that the community needs to learn more about LGBT issues. The course will be offered for the first time in Fall 2010 or Spring 2011. Parkinson said that she hopes this will be the first step toward offering a certificate in LGBT studies at UW-River Falls.

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In Alabama, a Tharptown High School prom committee member will likely be permitted to attend prom with her girlfried in spring, according to Alabama newspapers. School officials had previously told Cynthia Stewart that she would not be allowed to bring her girlfriend, who attends school in another district. After the American Civil Liberties Union contacted the school board, officials reversed their decision and said that the girlfriend will be allowed to attend as long as she passes the screening process required of all dates from outside the school district. Tharptown High School routinely checks the names of prom dates in the months before the dance to keep out students with behavioral problems or criminal records.

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Yesterday, Puerto Rican police arrested a suspect in the murder and decapitation of a 19-year-old gay man. The burned and dismembered body of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was found on a road outside of the town of Cayey this past weekend.

Puerto Rican Web site Primera Hora reported that police arrested a 28-year-old man and impounded two vehicles in the investigation. A representative of the FBI in Puerto Rico said that the bureau is assisting local police in the investigation and determining whether the crime was a violation of federal civil rights laws. Puerto Rican activists suspect that the murder was an anti-gay hate crime meant to frighten the LGBT community. If so, it could become the first case to be tried as a hate crime under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed into federal law on October 29.

While regional police director Hector Agosto condemned the crime as “ruthless,” police investigator Angel Rodriguez enraged Lopez’s friends and LGBT activists with his statement (translated from Spanish), “Someone like that, who does those kinds of things, and goes out in public, knows full well that this might happen to him.”

Many commentators said that Rodriguez was trying to justify the murder and should be taken off the case, but police director Agosto defended the investigator, saying his words had been twisted around and in no way were meant to disparage gays or lesbians.

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Several major American LGBT newspapers were shuttered this weekend as their holding company filed for bankruptcy. The papers include the 40-year-old Washington Blade, Atlanta’s 21-year-old Southern Voice, the 35-year-old Houston Voice, and the South Florida Blade, founded in 2000. Staffs of the defunct papers say they plan to start up new LGBT publications to serve their areas.

Window Media, the owner of the papers and no relation to Microsoft, gave no warning to the papers’ staffs. Even editors-in-chief showed up to work on Monday expecting to cover news, only to find that the locks on their buildings had been changed. They communicated news of their closings through Twitter.

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And on the more hopeful side, a 10-year-old in Arkansas made headlines when he refused to say the pledge of allegiance because, he said, he wouldn’t feel right saying there is “liberty and justice for all” when gays, lesbians, women and people of color are routinely denied both.

After a substitute teacher repeatedly nagged fifth-grader Will Phillips to stand up and pledge, he told her to go jump of a bridge. The school’s principal disciplined Phillips for talking disrespectfully to his teacher, but not for refusing to say the pledge. Phillips wrote a letter of apology to the teacher.

Phillips reports that some of his fellow students call him a “gaywad,” but says he will continue to refrain from saying the pledge until the United States truly does provide liberty and justice for all.

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Argentina may become the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriages. A male couple received a marriage license in Buenos Aires on Monday after a judge ruled that civil rights provisions in the country’s constitution override a ban on same-sex marriages.

The ruling applies only to the couple in question, but could be used as legal precedent by other same-sex couples seeking to be married.

Argentina's legislature is considering proposals to define marriage more inclusively so that same-sex couples can marry. The legislation is supported by the ruling party.
According to the Argentine Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Federation, 70% of surveyed Argentines support civil marriage for same-sex couples. Four jurisdictions in Argentina currently recognize civil unions. Uruguay is the only Latin American country where civil unions have legal status nationally.

Tonight's Show: Transgender Week of Remembrance

2009-11-18T14:26:00.003-06:00

Join us for Queery tonight as we talk to representatives from local LGBT campus groups about events they are planning around this year's Transgender Day of Remembrance. Get ready for a vigil this Friday, a film series about the intersection of race and gender, and in-depth workshops about transgender experiences. All activities are open to transgender and non-transgender alike.

Tonight's Show: Remembering David Runyon's "Nothing to Hide"

2009-11-11T20:15:00.001-06:00

We had a great time talking about Nothing to Hide, which at 20 years was the longest-running LGBT television program when its creator and producer, David Runyon, died in 2001. Scott Seyforth from the UW-Madison history department and Eric Allin of Madison’s public access television station WYOU, the home of Nothing to Hide, talked about the historical importance of the show, and we played a couple of show excerpts, including the speech of Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus when he signed the nation's first gay right's law in 1982.

On Friday, WYOU will be transferring the show's master tapes to UW-Madison Memorial Library so it’s accessible to historians and community members. Dedication festivities will be held on the library's 4th floor (featuring brand new cork planks, we're told) from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM on November 12. Featured speakers include U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin and State Representative Spencer Black.

This week's news roundup

2009-11-11T20:05:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, the American Medical Association passed a resolution calling for repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. The resolution received overwhelming support from AMA membership and virtually no opposition, even from the uniformed services representatives in attendance.

At issue before the AMA was the chilling effect that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has on the provider-patient relationship and the resulting impact on access to quality healthcare for active duty troops. Military medical providers have been compelled to divulge personal information about patients to military commanders, resulting in the widespread concern among troops regarding medical confidentiality. Sometimes troops opt to suffer in silence or hesitate to seek treatment for potentially life-threatening conditions out of fear for their careers, some have left the military to get proper treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other combat-related ailments.

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On Tuesday, the New York State Senate delayed a vote on a bill that would make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry there.

According to The New York Times, Governor David Paterson had placed the bill on the agenda for an emergency session Tuesday, and gay rights lobbied for an immediate vote. But supporters were having difficulty securing the 32 votes needed for approval in the Senate, and a dispute between the governor and legislative leaders over a budget deficit held up votes on major legislation.
Both supporters and opponents are taking advantage of the delay to lobby for votes.

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In Cleveland, Ohio, an LGBT rights group delivered more than 2,500 postcards to City Council members Monday to support legislation prohibiting discrimination against transgender citizens, according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Last year the council began tried to add transgender identity to the city's anti-discrimination laws. However, the move was shot down by a 13-7 vote.

Additional hearings on the measure are scheduled for later this month. Proponents are hopeful, citing that several Council members who oppose the legislation serve constituencies where a majority support it.

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A French court on Tuesday allowed a lesbian woman to adopt a child with her partner after 11 years of legal battle, according to the Reuters news agency.

French law allows single people to adopt but not same-sex couples. Some couples get around the ban by filing an application in the name of only one partner and checking the "single" box, but the woman was determined to have her right to adopt as a couple recognized by the courts.

She prevailed on Tuesday when an administrative tribunal in her town overruled the regional authorities, who had rejected the woman's application.
Supporters are optimistic that the ruling may eventually influence legislature on a national level.

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The findings of a new study from the RAND Corporation and the University of Florida regarding the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy challenges the assumption that allowing openly gay and lesbian military personnel to serve in the U.S. armed forces could harm military readiness.

The study surveyed military personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and found that having a gay or lesbian colleague in their unit had no significant impact on their unit’s cohesion or readiness.

About 20 percent of those polled said they were aware of a gay or lesbian member in their unit, and about half of those said their presence was well known. In addition, three-quarters of those surveyed said they felt comfortable or very comfortable in the presence of gays or lesbians.

The study found that just 40 percent of the military members surveyed expressed support for the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a reduction from previous surveys. 28 percent opposed it and 33 percent were neutral.

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The Jakarta Post reported today that a recent conference among moderate Muslim scholars in Indonesia has reached a consensus that there is no reason to reject homosexuals under Islam.

Some of the scholars said that condemnation of homosexuality by Muslims is based on narrow-minded interpretations of Islamic teaching. One speaker said that heterosexuality is a social construction that has ultimately led the majority to ban homosexuality. Others stated that homosexuality is from God and should be considered natural.

While several scholars in attendance maintained the view that Islam condemns homosexual behavior, many moderate Muslims see the conference as a major step toward LGBT tolerance for the religion.

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On Saturday night, the U.S. House passed HB 3962, a health care reform bill that includes a number of provisions of benefit the LGBT community and other minorities, reports 365gay.com.

Among these is a direction to the Department of Health and Human Services to address health disparities of a number of specific population groups, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It makes low-income HIV patients eligible for Medicare coverage earlier in their illness. And it prohibits discrimination in health care based on “personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.”

Some have expressed concern that the language of the provisions, championed by Representative Tammy Baldwin, does not specifically refer to LGBT individuals. Others see the legislation as a tremendous advance for the health needs of the LGBT community.

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has declined to hear an anti-gay group’s constitutional challenge to the recent law that created a domestic partner registry for gay couples. The suit, brought by the right-wing Wisconsin Family Action, claimed the registry violates a state Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage or any similar status. The court rejected the case without comment.

Lambda Legal and Fair Wisconsin, the two groups leading the defense of the registry, applauded the court’s decision. However, some legal experts point out that the suit is not necessarily dead; it can simply be initiated at the Circuit Court level instead, as is the usual course for such suits.

RI Governor uses the slippery slope argument to veto same-sex partners' funeral rights

2009-11-11T09:48:00.005-06:00

Rhode Island's governor, Don Carcieri, vetoed a law yesterday that would allow Rhode Islanders in same-sex relationships to make funeral arrangements for their deceased partners. His excuse?: "This bill represents a disturbing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage, which is not the preferred way to approach this issue."

Right. Planning a funeral is so much like being married.

Another tidbit from Carcieri: "If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnership, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the State of Rhode Island decide."

Because people's legal rights should always be subject to majority vote, right?

P.S. The Rhode Island legislature is expected to override the governor's veto in a close vote. Keep watching ...

Mormon church headquarters back LGBT rights law

2009-11-11T09:30:00.003-06:00

The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also known as the LDS church or Mormons) based in Salt Lake City, Utah, have given their support to a citywide ordinance to outlaw most housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Salt Lake City Council passed the ordinance unanimously last night. The church's stance can be partly explained by the exceptions that the law allows for religious organizations, which may continue to consider sexual orientation as a factor in employment.

"The church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage," said Michael Otterson, the director of public affairs for the LDS church. The LDS church gained national attention last year for its strong support of California's Proposition 8, which removed the right of same-sex couples to marry in that state.

Whether the rest of Utah will follow remains to be seen. Salt Lake City is among Utah's least religious and most socially liberal communities.

Auditions for SAPPHO IN LOVE by Carolyn Gage

2009-11-09T08:35:00.003-06:00

From StageQ:

StageQ is holding auditions for its production of comedic romp, SAPPHO IN LOVE, by Carolyn Gage. The play will be directed by Katy Conley. Auditions will be held on Monday and Tuesday, December 7th & 8th, 2009, with callbacks on Wednesday, December 9th.

Auditions are at 7:00 pm. They will take place at 148 E Wilson Street, first floor. Appointments may be arranged for a different date.

Actors will read from the script, and may be asked to work together in groups, so wear clothes to move in. Copies of the script are available upon request to sappho@stageq. com.

Roles are available for one girl, age 8 – 11, and at least 16 women, from late teens to late middle-age. There are roles for 5 or more naiads, and women who have acrobatic, modern dance or contact improv backgrounds are encouraged to audition for those.

Performance dates for SAPPHO IN LOVE are February 12 - 27, 2010. Rehearsals will begin January 4th.

Contact sappho@stageq. com or call 608.661.9696, ext 3 with questions.

SAPPHO IN LOVE is a riotous romp across the slippery terrain of Lesbian romance, as the goddesses on Olympus (Aphrodite, Artemis and Hera) come down to earth to recruit among Sappho and her followers on Lesbos. Classical comedy ensues.

Sherry Wolf on Maine's repeal of marriage equalty

2009-11-06T08:37:00.003-06:00

Sherry Wolf, who appeared on Queery a few weeks ago to discuss her new book Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics and Theory of LGBT Liberation, published an analysis of the Maine vote in the online edition of the Socialist Worker yesterday.

She argued that the vote reflects the lack of progressive organizing in rural areas and points to the need to guarantee civil rights at the federal level. She points out that, when the Supreme Court struck down laws against "interracial" marriage in 1967, only a fifth of Americans would have voted in favor of such marriages. This, she wrote, shows just how flawed it is to be subject civil rights to popular prejudices.

Next week's show: David Runyon

2009-11-04T19:21:00.001-06:00

On Nov. 11, we'll be talking to Scott Seyforth of UW-Madison and Barbara Bolan of WYOU about "Nothing to Hide," the longest-running LGBT television program anywhere at the time of the death of its producer, David Runyon, in 2001. The show ran on Madison's WYOU community television station and, in recognition of their historicity, the master tapes are being transferred to the UW-Madison Memorial Library and will be digitized for use by historians and community members. There will be a ceremony and celebration at the library on Nov. 13, and volunteers are needed to help move the tapes. (To volunteer, contact Barbara Bolan at 608-258-9644 and barbara.bolan@wyou.org.)

Here's more info from WYOU:

WYOU Community Television to Bequeath David Runyon’s “Nothing To Hide” Master Tapes to UW’s Memorial Library

Summary: 25 boxes filled with 800 Runyon master tapes will be carried on foot by WYOU to UW’s Memorial Library on Friday, November 13th for a bequeathal reception. Tammy Baldwin to speak. Will create largest archive of its kind in the nation.

Madison, WI – WYOU Community Television is pleased to announce that it will transfer ownership of the master video tapes of Nothing To Hide, the late David Runyon’s long-running television show, to the University of Wisconsin’s Memorial Library. A special reception marking the Memorial Library’s acquisition will take place on Friday, November 13th, from 4:30pm – 6:00pm in the Library’s 4th Floor Commons. Speakers set to commemorate the event include Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Representative Spencer Black, Wisconsin State Legislature, Ken Frazier, Director of the UW-Madison General Library System, and Richard Russell, political activist and one-time WYOU Board Chairman.

WYOU volunteers and community representatives will gather at 3:30pm at WYOU, located at 609 E.Washington Ave and transport 25 boxes of tapes in a procession across the Capitol Square, along State Street and ending at the UW’s Memorial Library, 728 State Street.

Nothing To Hide ran during prime-time on WYOU from 1981 – 2001. At the time of Runyon's death in 2001, "Nothing to Hide" was the longest-running LGBT television show anywhere in the world. David Runyon, the creator and producer of Nothing To Hide, honed his television and documentary skills at WYOU. The video tape archive is noteworthy for its range of topics. Included in the collection are lectures by nationally known authors and social critics, speeches by LGBT history-makers, and documentary footage covering local and regional events. Upon its acceptance into the Library System, the collection will become the largest LGBT cable access video archive of its kind in a public repository in the nation.

The preservation proposal for Runyon’s Nothing To Hide collection came from a group of faculty and staff at UW-Madison. Representatives of the proposal approached WYOU about its 800-tape collection as well as local LGBT advocacy center, Outreach, owner of 50 tapes from the collection. Outreach, Madison’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center is also donating tapes from its collection.

The Memorial Library will archive the collection, digitize the masters and place the shows in circulation for access by scholars, students and community members. This will create the largest public repository of such materials in the nation and will add another unique research collection to Memorial Library.

WYOU is the public access television station serving the city of Madison and Dane County in Wisconsin. The station has been a resource to the citizens of Madison since 1976 for the production and distribution of locally produced programs. WYOU producers include students and teachers, conservationists, social workers, accountants, activists, healthcare workers, independent filmmakers and members of local religious organizations. The WYOU mission is to stimulate and facilitate open community use of the public access station for the development of local television programming. The station educates the community in the use of digital cameras and editing software and provide facilities for independent producers to learn how to create programs.

Summary of arguments in yesterday's Wisconsin marriage amendment hearing

2009-11-04T09:54:00.002-06:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a brief article on the arguments made for and against the constitutionality of the referendum that resulted in the 2006 marriage amendment, which restricted marriage to heterosexual couples and put domestic partnerships and civil unions in legal limbo. The State Bar of Wisconsin has a more detailed report.

Marriage repealed in Maine

2009-11-04T08:40:00.002-06:00

Or, so it seems, with most of the vote in. Observers expect there will be a recount since the vote results so far are pretty close, with 53% voting to repeal the state law allowing same-sex marriage and 47% voting to uphold it. Here is an article at ABC News.

Much to the disappointment of the National Organization for Marriage, however, pro-equality folks plan to continue their stance in favor of civil rights and do not plan to commit mass suicide, while the population that stands against civil rights has an older demographic and is likely to shrink by natural attrition over the coming decades.