Quest Vol. 12 No. 22

*Quest News* Volume 12 No. 22 November 23, 2005 Compiled & written by Mike Fitzpatrick Top Story: Breaking News: Only Public Hearing on Marriage Ban Bill November 29! (click here) It’s Back: Republicans Begin Efforts To Pass Wisconsin Gay Marriage, Civil Union Ban Madison - The constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage is once again a live issue at the state Capitol. On November 17, State Senator Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Representative Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin) began asking lawmakers to cosponsor the amendment’s required second passage for a future statewide referendum. The deadline for cosponsors was November 21. Regardless of the number of co-sponsors, Capitol insiders expect the bill to be re-introduced prior to the holiday recess. The amendment must then go before legislative committee hearings and finally to the full Senate and Assembly. The entire process could rapidly unfold in early December or any time after mid-January. The committee hearings will provide the one opportunity for citizens to testify for or against the legislation. Both opponents and supporters of the bill expect easy passage in the Assembly. The senate vote is expected to be much closer, where Republicans hold a slimmer majority. The timing of the amendment’s sponsorship memo took many activists on both sides by surprise, but followed a week and a half of renewed interest in the amendment. Action Wisconsin and Center Advocates held one year “pre-anniversary” events the week of November 5, gaining statewide press coverage. On November 16 two of the state’s largest circulation papers - the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Madison’s Capital Times - simultaneously editorialized against the amendment. Both papers characterized the amendment’s scheduled November 2006 referendum vote as political trickery being used to impact the gubernatorial race. After noting that the amendment could have been voted on as early as Spring 2005, the Journal Sentinel opined: “The obvious strategy is to get residents who back the amendment so worked up that they’ll come to the polls in larger numbers than they would have otherwise and, while there, cast a ballot for the Republican candidate for governor.” Calling the GOP strategy a “disgusting tactic,” the Capital Times suggested the the Republicans “think that by appealing to the crudest bigotries, they can draw to the polls voters who will cast ballots for GOP contenders in close contests, and vote to amend the constitution in a hurtful way.” The Madison editorial, while noting that “there are still plenty of bigots, plenty of ignorant individuals and plenty of partisan hacks looking for ways to exploit the worst instincts of some voters,” pointed to the recent November elections that suggested that “the ranks of the anti-gay crowd are dwindling.” A number of Capitol insiders suggested the sudden issuance of the sponsorship memo was an attempt by the bill’s lead sponsors to regain “both mission and message control,” noting that the amount of recent negative spin on the marriage ban issue could tar the statewide GOP, mirroring public opinion surveys documenting the mounting statewide disgust with the Bush administration over the Iraq war and the handling of hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. “The way things are going for Republicans across the board right now, the votes to pass the amendment might not be there next Spring like they had planned,” one insider told Quest, referring to Assembly Leader John Gard’s June 2, 2005 letter to Julaine Appling of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin. In that document, the subject of a Quest exclusive report later picked up by the mainstream press statewide, Gard had outlined a Spring 2006 introduction strategy to the FRI Executive Director, whose is organizing support for the amendment. Appling recently shared that her group has shipped DVDs called “The Battle for Marriage in Wisconsin” to 4,000 mostly independent evangelical churches to help mobilize support. Appling also claimed church leaders already have gathered about 75,000 signatures backing the amendment. Christians For Equality, a coalition of mostly mainline Protestant congregations and denominations opposing the amendment, have seen success countering the FRI efforts with major votes by regional governing bodies of the state’s Presbyterian, United Methodist, United Church of Christ and Evangelical Lutheran denominations in addition to individual congregations. Despite the recent passage of a gay marriage ban in Texas, Action Wisconsin’s Executive Director Chris Ott remains confident the same outcome may not in Wisconsin’s future. “Unlike Wisconsin, Texas has never been a civil rights vanguard - for anybody,” Ott said following the November 8 vote, comparing the Texas tally to Maine’s vote to uphold its gay rights law by a more than 10% margin. “We can have a win in 2006 in Wisconsin too.” World & National News: No Dick Pix: Closet Case Mayor’s Computer Text Records Made Public Spokane - A judge has granted a newspaper’s request to make public the gay-themed contents of Spokane Mayor James West’s city-owned laptop computer, but prevented the release of 3,300 pictures from a gay-oriented website. On November 17 Adams County Superior Court Judge Richard Miller ordered the release of an index of the dates and times West used the computer to access Gay.com and other similar websites, but with individual Web addresses redacted to protect the privacy of third parties. West is the subject of a December 6 recall election because of a sex scandal involving gay men, and several news organizations have demanded the release of the contents of West’s computer under the state’s Open Public Records Act. “Clearly the public has the right to evaluate the mayor’s performance,” Miller said. “The dilemma this court finds itself in is: to release the pictures essentially releases the identity of the people in them. I don’t think that’s appropriate.” The judge reviewed the contents of the mayor’s hard drive. He said he found 3,300 photographs. About 100 of those were pictures of male genitalia or buttocks, and 11 were of simulated sex acts, the judge said. Many showed upper-torso pictures of shirtless men and there was no text with the photos, he added. The recall election charge alleges West abused his office by offering a City Hall internship, in expectation of sexual favors, to a person he met in a Gay.com chat room and believed to be an 18-year-old man. The chat partner was actually a computer expert hired by the Spokane Spokesman-Review to track West’s online activities. West has denied any wrongdoing. The judge’s decision came a day before the special election ballots were to be mailed. West fought release of the computer contents in question, contending they were private and that the internet sites were accessed during off-work hours. The Spokesman-Review, The Associated Press and several other media organizations had filed requests to view the contents of the hard drive. Oklahoma Man Sues Over Gay “Wife Swap” Episode Muskogee - An Oklahoma man is suing the producers of the television show “Wife Swap” for more than ten million dollars, saying he suffered when they sent a gay man to his home for the swap. The reality television show broadcast on ABC usually focuses on two heterosexual couples temporarily swapping wives with the differences and problems in the households becoming the theme for each show. Jeffrey Bedford of Haileyville said he was misled when a gay man was sent to his home. Bedford said he became emotionally distraught to the point of physical and mental illness. Bedford claims the people associated with the show told him his wife was leaving him and if he didn’t film the show they wouldn’t tell him his wife’s location or pay for her to be sent home. The suit also contends that during the episode when Bedford conducted his regular Bible study at his home for the Haileyville Baptist Church, the gay swap participant invited a gay coalition to take part in the study. The lawsuit names ABC, ABC owner Walt Disney Company and “Wife Swap” producer RDF Media. “ABC is confident that RDF Media, the producer of ‘Wife Swap,’ treats participants professionally and with respect,” ABC spokeswoman Anne Fort told Muskogee Phoenix reporter Donna Hales. “The show is meant to challenge a family’s norms and moreover, the agreement between the plaintiff and RDF specifically stated that the swapped spouse could be either male or female.” Fort noted that the episode hasn’t aired yet, but only because it hasn’t been scheduled. “We have a number of ‘Wife Swap’ episodes stockpiled,” Fort said. “Since each is self-contained, we don’t have to air them in any particular order, so I can’t predict when we’ll book this one.” Swedish Study Shows Oral Sex Linked To Cancer Stockholm - Certain cases of mouth cancer appear to be caused by a virus that can be contracted during oral sex, media reported here on November 16, quoting a new Swedish study. People who contract a high-risk variety of the human papilloma virus, HPV, during oral sex are more likely to fall ill with mouth cancer, according to a study conducted at the Malmoe University Faculty of Odontology in southern Sweden. “You should avoid having oral sex,” dentist and researcher Kerstin Rosenquist, who headed the study, told Swedish news agency TT. HPV is a wart virus that causes many cervical cancers, including endometrial cancer (in the uterus). Comparing 132 patients with mouth cancer with a control group of 320 healthy people, Rosenquist found that 36% of the cancer patients were carriers of HPV while only 1% of the control group had the virus. The main factors that contribute to mouth cancer, most commonly contracted by middle aged and older men, are smoking and drinking alcohol, scientists agree. “But in recent years the illness has been on the rise among young individuals and we don’t know why. But one could speculate that this virus (HPV) is one of the factors,” Rosenquist said. Her findings confirm other international studies in recent years. HRC Upset Over Congressional Budget Cuts’ Impact On HIV Health Care Washington, DC - - As the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention released startling new statistics about the impact of HIV and AIDS on communities of color and gay men, the U.S. House of Representatives put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans at risk November 18 in passing a budget reconciliation package that would slash Medicaid spending - forcing Americans to rely on the already stretched Ryan White CARE Act, according to the Human Rights Campaign. “Congress and the White House have abandoned their ‘compassionate’ side to the extremist conservatives,” HRC President Joe Solmonese said in a prepared statement. “The health of thousands of men, women and children are threatened when the far right wing unravels the health care safety net.” The razor thin vote of 217-215 came after new data was released from the CDC detailing racial disparities in infection rates. African-Americans are eight times more likely and Latinos three times more likely than whites to be diagnosed with the HIV. The data also shows increasing infection rates among men who have sex with men. “New evidence shows that HIV and AIDS continue to ravage men, women and children at alarming rates, yet Congress callously responds by slashing funding,” Solmonese said. The House version of the budget reconciliation package - unlike the Senate counterpart - would permit higher premiums and deductibles for many Americans who already find themselves on the edge of being able to seek quality care and treatment. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the vast majority of the savings will come from beneficiaries being forced to cut back on their use of health care services. The bill now goes to conference committee where the House and Senate versions will be reconciled. During this process, the cuts could either be restored or left as passed by the House. “Disastrous cuts to Medicaid combined with inadequate funding for federal HIV/AIDS efforts represent the Congressional leadership’s poor response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” Solmonese said. “Many courageous lawmakers from both parties opposed these draconian cuts and they should be applauded for their leadership.” Medicaid is the nation’s largest provider of HIV/AIDS treatment and care and Americans trimmed from the rolls will be forced to seek care through Ryan White CARE Act programs that are already overextended and under-funded. In fact, in many states, budgetary pressures have already forced AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) to cut costs by operating waiting lists or limiting the medications available to patients. The Congressional cuts came in the same week that several states and municipalities, including Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota, New York City and Washington DC also cut funds for HIV/AIDS services. Earlier this year Wisconsin bucked the national trends by increasing funds for HIV/AIDS care by one million dollars over the next biennium. North Carolina Baptists To Boot Gay Friendly Churches Winston-Salem - North Carolina’s largest religious organization voted overwhelmingly November 15 to kick out any member church that “knowingly affirms, approves or endorses homosexual behavior.” The largely conservative Baptist State Convention of North Carolina asked its board of directors to define what constitutes a church “in friendly cooperation with the convention and sympathetic to its purposes and work.” The 175 year old North Carolina convention counts 1.2 million Baptists in its association. It is the second largest association of Baptist churches in the nation. “I hope (the public) will take it to mean that North Carolina Baptists are voicing our biblical conviction ... (but also) that God offers love and forgiveness and healing,” the Rev. David Horton, pastor of Gate City Baptist Church in Greensboro, said after the vote. Horton is the outgoing state convention president. Other convention delegates who did not agree with the motion spoke strongly against it. “Could it be that homosexuality gains our attention primarily because it’s not ‘our’ sin?” said Rob Helton, a delegate from Cherry Point Baptist Church in Havelock. “If we write a policy (on homosexuality), it seems only fair and right that we write a policy on every sin in the Bible.” Jo Godfrey, a delegate from Emerywood Baptist Church in High Point, said the motion showed a lack of respect for Baptist heritage, which includes the autonomy of the local church. “This saddens me, but more importantly, we also show disrespect for the first and greatest commandment given in the New Testament: Love the Lord our God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself,” Godfrey said. “I hear no exceptions. Why are we exerting qualifications for members of the church and the Baptist State Convention?” The group before has sanctioned a church for having openly gay members. In 2003, the voluntary organization expelled a Cabarrus County church for accepting two gay men as members and later baptizing them. Other delegates who supported the plan spoke of a desensitization among Christians of what is sin. “I believe we must stand up for absolute truth, not relative truth or relative untruths ... as it seems so many others are willing to do,” said Bill Sanderson, pastor of Hephzibah Baptist Church in Wendell who made the original motion to exclude churches not “in cooperation” with the convention. State News: Parents Share Marriage Ban Concerns At GALAXY Dinner LaCrosse - More than fifty people heard the touching story of Carol and George Neill at a dinner held here November 16 at Hackberry’s Bistro. The event was sponsored by the restaurant, the Gay Alliance for La Crosse Area Youth at the YWCA (GALAXY) and Action Wisconsin. The Neills have biological daughters but also have taken in two unofficially adopted sons - Kurt Dyer and Roy Heath. The couple took in the teens after they were kicked out of their own homes because of their homosexual orientations. Carol’s biological daughters can marry men, she told the diners, and society will recognize those unions. However she explained her chosen sons cannot since they likely will enter same sex unions. Neill said the wording of the proposed amendment breaks her heart. The Neills hope the proposal never reaches the ballot. “There are moms like me everywhere, praying and hoping for a wonderful, loving, happy future for all their kids,” Carol Neill said. “Just like your mom does for you.” State Representative Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse), who was at the dinner, later responded by telling the group that she will vote against the ban. “I don’t feel comfortable in writing discrimination into the state constitution,” Shilling told dinner participants. “We are a progressive state. Why would we want to be known as a state that does this?” LGBT Groups Sponsor 4th Annual Thanksgiving Pot Luck Milwaukee - SAGE, Project Q, PFLAG, the Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee and Black & White Men Together are co-sponsoring the fourth annual Thanksgiving pot luck dinner Saturday, November 26. The dinner will be held at the Plymouth United Church of Christ, 2717 East Hampshire, from 4:30 - 7:30 PM. Dinner will be served at 5:30. Each of the sponsoring organizations will provide a fully cooked turkey. Those attending the meal whose last names begin with A-K are asked to bring a side dish. Names L-S are asked to provide a dessert and those whose names begin with T-Z are asked to provide beverages or breads. Last year over 100 of all ages and sexual orientations attended the event. Please call the SAGE/Milwaukee office at 224-0517 to advise if you plan to attend. SAGE Expects Santa At Annual Holiday Lunch Milwaukee - SAGE/Milwaukee will sponsor its annual Holiday Luncheon on Sunday, December 4 at the Astor Hotel, 924 Juneau Avenue here. The event will begin with an 11:30 AM reception and be followed by lunch at 12:30 PM. In addition to the great food, spectacular desserts, singing of carols and door prizes, attendees can also expect a visit from Santa Claus Tickets for the event will be $20 for SAGE members or $25 for non-members. Those making reservations will select from meals that include lemon breast of chicken, roast loin of pork, beef tenderloin tips or a vegetarian entrée. VISA and MasterCard will be accepted. RSVPs are requested by November 30 with entrée selection and payment to SAGE/Milwaukee, 1845 N. Farwell Ave., Ste. 220, Milwaukee, WI 53202. Those who wish to offer sponsorships for low income individuals or who wish more information are asked to call 414-224-0517. OutReach’s Pink Party Gets Pink Slip Madison - OutReach has announced that the 11th and final Pink Party is slated for December 31 at the Inn on the Park in downtown Madison. While the entertainment line-up is being finalized, there is no doubt that the LGBT community center serving Madison and the greater Dane County area will once again have an eclectic mix. “We plan to go out on top,” Nikki Baumblatt, OutReach Community Relations and Development Coordinator, said as she announced that this year will be the final year for the Pink Party. “The Pink Party has been a hot ticket for the past decade and we want to bring down the curtain while we’re still offering a high quality New Year’s Eve event to the the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied communities.” Entertainers Lynette and Tongue n Groove have signed on for the evening. According to Isthmus’ Music Review, “Tongue n Groove plays an infectious mix of R and B, funk, rock and groove tunes to get you dancing and sweating at night, but with lyrics that you will still respect in the morning.” OutReach will bring back the Drag King and Queen show emceed by the notorious Dreux Watermolen. Baumblatt promised those who are into the club scene will not be disappointed, as OutReach also plans to offer the best in club music. “We hope to draw over 1000 people to the Inn on the Park,” Baumblatt said. “We believe that anyone who took part in any of the previous ten parties will want to be there as we bid a fond farewell.” The party will run from 9 PM - 2AM with all proceeds from the evening going to support the programming and services of OutReach, Inc. For more information about the event, visit the Pink Party website at: www.pink-party.info for updates on entertainment, ticket prices, outlets, and sponsorship opportunities. Angels Of Hope MCC To Sell Christmas Trees Appleton - The Angels of Hope Metropolitan Community Church here is sponsoring a Christmas tree fundraiser. Live Christmas trees will be sold at the Appleton church site, 815 N. Richmond St. The tree lot will be open Monday through Saturday, from 4 -8 PM. The trees will sell for a $20 suggested donation. Varieties will include Blue Spruce, White Spruce, Balsam Fir, and Douglas Fir. The tree lot will open Monday, November 28. For more information about the sale, email Larry at: justfine@itol.com. Madison Women’s Coming-Out Group Forming Madison - A women’s coming out support group is forming in Madison and will begin meeting at OutReach Inc, 600 Williamson Street later in the year. The purpose of the group is to offer support women who are dealing with the realization that they are not heterosexual and how that affects their everyday lives. The support group will identify and discuss the stages of coming out and explore topics such as how to deal with family members, physical and sexual safety, legal rights and discrimination, and spirituality, among others. Two trained volunteers will facilitate each meeting. The group will meet Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM for 9 weeks starting in late December. Women who are interested in attending the meetings should call 608-255-8582 or e-mail at: programs@outreachinc.com by Wednesday, December 14. Messages should be directed to the attention of Natalie. Men’s Voices Milwaukee Sets Holiday Concert Milwaukee - Men’s Voices Milwaukee (MVM) will hold its 5th annual “Holiday Concert” on Saturday, December 10 at 8 PM at the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts on the UWM campus, 2419 E. Kenwood Ave. Themed “Frostiana, A Winter Night’s Journey,” the concert will feature settings of two well-known poems of Robert Frost. “The Randall Thompson musical settings of ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and ‘The Pasture’ are mirror reflections of each other stylistically and fit the Frost poems perfectly,” Artistic Director Jerrad J. Fenske said. The “Frostiana” concert is Fenske’s first as Artistic Director of Men’s Voices Milwaukee. Fenske is also organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee and is on the choral faculty of Cardinal Stritch University. MVM has been working hard this fall on vocal quality, according to MVM Board President Ray Schaefer. “Jerrad has been helping us develop our overall sound. All of us in the chorus have noticed the difference in our blend. We hope our audience will like what they hear this year,” Schaefer said. Thirty-five men are singing in this fall’s group. Principal accompanist for MVM is Joseph Paul Carpenter, well known keyboard and choral artist in the Milwaukee area and a Mr. Gay Southeastern WI-USA title holder. Additional instrumentalists and an artistic interpreter for the hearing impaired will add to the concert. Tickets are available from any MVM member or the box office at the Zelazo Center. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Alternately, $15 door tickets will be sold with the donation of four non-perishable food items for the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force. Men’s Voices Milwaukee is a choral ensemble dedicated to musical excellence by performing a broad range of men’s choral music. MVM is also committed to broadening and strengthening the LGBT choral movement in southeastern Wisconsin through performance, education and outreach activities. Fundraiser for Milwaukee Gay Arts Center Announced Milwaukee - In a unified show of support, the two actors who make up the cast of the “Puppetry of the Penis” will present two special, intimate “sneak peek” performances, Mondays, November 28 and December 5, beginning 9 PM at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, 703 South 2nd Street. In conjunction with gay-friendly Miramar Theatre, the boys decided they would lend support to help Milwaukee Gay Arts Center recoup some of its substantial loss, due to the unlawful shut-down of “Naked Boys Singing” by the Milwaukee Police Department Vice Squad back in August. The show has since reopened and runs weekends at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center through December 31st. “It’s our pleasure to help defend art. We must all band together to insure art is not censored, and our freedom of speech and expression are protected,” William Stace, owner of the Miramar Theatre said. The cost of this special fundraising “sneak peek” is just $10 and is limited to the first 200 respondents. For tickets to the special “sneak peek,” call 414-248-6481 or go online to order at: www.uncommontheatre.net. Seating is extremely limited for this very intimate performance. The full production of “Puppetry of the Penis” is being performed at the Miramar Theatre, 2844 N. Oakland Avenue, on Milwaukee’s East Side. The performance runs from November 29 through December 11. For information, visit the theatre’s website at: www.themiramartheatre.com. Angels Of Hope MCC To Host Interfaith World AIDS “Day To Remember” Green Bay - The Angels of Hope Metropolitan Community Church will host an interfaith commemoration of World AIDS Day on Thursday, December 1 from Noon to 7 PM at the church’s Green Bay site, 2607 Libal St. in Allouez. Those stopping at the church throughout the day may light a candle of remembrance for friends or family members who are either living with or have passed from HIV/AIDS. A community prayer service will be held at 6 PM at which time the names on the dedicated candles will be read and extinguished. The church has invited clergy members of the Green Bay faith community to join in the formal service. The Day To Remember is open to the public. Those who wish to have a candle dedicated to a loved one with are asked to email Angels of Hope at: info@mccchurch.org or aohmcc@netnet.net. Positive Voice Sets Holiday Parties Green Bay - With the holiday season fast approaching, Positive Voice has announced the return of two holiday traditions for the LGBT community of northeast Wisconsin: the 12th Annual Holiday Dinner, Auction and White Elephant Gift Exchange and the 11th Annual New Year’s Eve Dinner and Dance. The Holiday Dinner will be held Saturday, December 3 at the Eagle’s Nest on Nicolet Drive overlooking the east side of the bay in Green Bay. The cash bar will open at 6 PM, followed by a family style meal of chicken, baked cod and pasta primavera. The annual holiday auction of baked goods will continue throughout the evening. Following dinner, there will be the always hilarious white elephant gift exchange, an opportunity to humorously rid your home of the items you couldn’t even give away at a rummage sale but still weren’t worthy of the garbage can. Attendees are asked to bring at least two gift-wrapped items. Tickets will be $15 for Positive Voice members and $17 for non-members. Reservations must be postmarked by November 26 as walk-ins can not be accommodated. Registration forms are available at the PV office at 618 Stuart St, Green Bay, WI. You may also request a form by calling the group at 920-435-4404 or emailing them at: pvnew4glbt@aol.com Positive Voice’s 11th Annual New Year’s Eve Dinner & Dance will again be held at Liberty Hall, Hwy CE/College Avenue in Kimberly, just east of the Highway 441 exit. The event will open with a cash bar at 7 PM, followed by a buffet dinner at 8 and dancing from 9 PM until 12:30 AM. This year’s buffet choices include Italian Prime Rib of Beef, Chicken Marsala, Parmesan Potatoes, Confetti Rice Pilaf, Roasted Fresh Vegetables, along with assorted salads, rolls and desserts. The dance following the meal will be run by the Fun Factory Entertainment deejay service, offer complimentary beer and soda, a champagne toast at midnight and all the tiaras, hats and party favors to make celebrating the arrival of 2006 as gaily festive as you’d like. Door prizes also will be awarded throughout the evening. Tickets for the dinner/dance are $35 for PV members. Non-PV members tickets are $40. A dance-only rate is available upon request as is a $25 reduced student dinner/dance rate. Reservations are requested by December 27. Registration forms are available at the PV office at 618 Stuart St, Green Bay, WI. You may also request a form by calling the group at 920-435-4404 or emailing them at: pvnew4glbt@aol.com Feature Story: Out Indie Musician Eric Himan Tours Wisconsin Quest Interview by Mark Mariucci Eric Himan burst into the indie music scene at the beginning of this decade, acoustic guitar blazing, a soulful baritone wailing. What makes Eric Himan even more special, he’s an “out” performer – always has been. With a voice like Cat Stevens, inked arms that out-sleeve Tommy Lee and a guitar style akin to one of his musical idols, Ani DiFranco, Eric has been a young man (with a guitar) on a definite mission. Eric Himan’s mission began with playing music in coffee houses around Penn State University, where he was a student. culminating in the 2000 release of his first solo CD, “Eric Himan.” This stripped-down acoustic recording was originally crafted as an audience keepsake, but it became his calling card a the music was shared. Now, three CDs later, Eric Himan spends the year crisscrossing the country playing in a variety of venues, from clubs to Gay Pride Festival to LGBT Centers and bookstores. This November Eric makes his first-ever Milwaukee appearance, at a CD Launch and Signing party at Outwords Books, Gifts & Coffee. This will be an in-store CD signing and meet and greet! Then on Monday, November 28, Eric will be appearing Madison’s High Noon Saloon. Despite his hectic appearance schedule, Eric Himan was gracious enough to take time for to talk to Quest. Quest: You do a lot of Pride Festivals throughout the year? Himan: I do a lot of everything. (laughs) Everything from clubs to Prides to LGBT Centers. It is fun to mix it up. Quest: Was there any question that you would be an “out” performer? Himan: There was never a question with me. There was a question with everybody else. Friends of mine and family were always concerned about what attention would this bring. I just thought that I wasn’t going to be one of those people whose has a great career and at 35 is like, “Whoops, somebody found out and now my life is turned upside down. And I’ve betrayed everyone. This is who I am. When I was going up, there were hardly anybody in the gay world, it was all women that I looked up to, Melissa Etheridge, Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls, These are the people I looked up to. When you look at it from a male standpoint, there was nobody, at least nobody for me. Nobody who was doing what I wanted to do, nobody who understood. Quest: Do you feel there’s a difference playing before a gay audience versus playing before a straight audience? Himan: I don’t feel that there really is a different, I’m singing the same songs, I’m talking about the same things. I’ll be playing at a gay event, a Pride but there aren’t just gay people there. And at a straight event, there aren’t just straight people there.. Quest: How about a little background information. Where are you from? Himan: My Dad was in the military, so we bounced around a lot. Hence my life now. Quest: When did you begin performing? Himan: I started playing music – my Dad began teaching me when I was eight. I started writing songs when I was 13 or 14. It just sort of grew and grew and grew from there. Quest: Who were your early music influences? Himan: Early influences? I listened to a lot of music growing up, everything from pop music – Janet Jackson and stuff like that – everything that was MTV. Then I got into the “Woodstock” era of music. Janis Joplin was one of my first big influence. So, I think that when I feel I had more of a musician’s mentality. It was just the music, it was more than that. Janis Joplin was the first icon, you could say, that I related to, like her voice was so raw and she had so much soul and so much energy. She was so loud. One style of music takes you to another takes you to another takes you to another… and from her, the whole Woodstock era, everyone from Ritchie Havens to Joan Baez to Joni Mitchell & Bob Dylan, and all those people. And then somebody doing that kind of contemporary sound, Ani DiFranco. In high school I discovered her. A friend gave me a tape of her, the Indigo Girls where it led to where I began listening to everything from Jazz to Blues to Classic Rock… Quest: You did you first CD while still at school? Himan: I did a CD with a band when I was at school and after that I recorded my first solo CD . I didn’t really do anything with it. I wasn’t touring, I wasn’t doing anything, I was still going to school. It was my junior year. And then I graduated in 2001, with a lot of pressure from my family to do this or that…get a real job. I was trying really hard to get a job in New York City. The September 11th happened and I said, “I’m going back to State College of Pennsylvania where my friends are and I’m going to see what I can do with music and then I recorded the CD “I Go On.” That’s when I started playing colleges and then a few Prides and then it got bigger and bigger. And then “All For Show” came out in 2003 and that received some major publication attention. Then we released “Dark Horse” and then the “Live” CD a month ago. Quest: Do you have a song that best expresses the real Eric Himan, that shows your heart and soul? Himan: I think that there are songs at certain milestones, of who I was at certain points in my life. There’s a song on the “Live” CD called, “In My Shoes” and that was one of the first songs that I ever wrote a 17 or 18, or even earlier, at 16 or 17 and at that point I could say that I was naïve, very simple, “I want to fall in love. I want to be a couple.” I don’t know necessarily know what I needed. I just knew what I wanted. I think “In My Shoes” sums that up, that was who I was then. Now, I don’t know that there’s a song that I have that I can say, “That’s me. That’s who I am.” I think that I’m still trying to find that. I think that’s what keeps artists going, like you are always trying to write that song. Quest: For the last few years you’re been doing upwards to 100-plus events a year. What is it like to be on the road so much? Himan: At first it like anything, it’s like, ”Road trip, everybody in the car!” Then, after a year, it just becomes what I do. And when other people get in the car, I’m like, “You know, I’m going to be gone a month, right?” Now, it’s beginning to get a little more consistent. It is getting easier to do this fulltime. I go away for a month, then I come back and play closer to home. And then I’ll go all the way to the West Coast, like I will next month. I’m used to doing it. It’s my life. Top of Page Quest Home QNU Home

Breaking News: Only Public Hearing on Marriage Ban Bill November 29! (click here)

It’s Back: Republicans Begin Efforts To
Pass Wisconsin Gay Marriage, Civil Union Ban
Madison - The constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage is once again a live issue at the state Capitol. On November 17, State Senator Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Representative Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin) began asking lawmakers to cosponsor the Gard

amendment’s required second passage for a future statewide referendum. The deadline for cosponsors was November 21.
Regardless of the number of co-sponsors, Capitol insiders expect the bill to be re-introduced prior to the holiday recess. The amendment must then go before legislative committee hearings and finally to the full Senate and Assembly.
The entire process could rapidly unfold in early December or any time after mid-January. The committee hearings will provide the one opportunity for citizens to testify for or against the legislation. Both opponents and supporters of the bill expect easy passage in the Assembly. The senate vote is expected to be much closer, where Republicans hold a slimmer majority.
The timing of the amendment’s sponsorship memo took many activists on both sides by surprise, but followed a week and a half of renewed interest in the amendment. Action Wisconsin and Center Advocates held one year “pre-anniversary” events the week of November 5, gaining statewide press coverage.
On November 16 two of the state’s largest circulation papers - the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Madison’s Capital Times - simultaneously editorialized against the amendment. Both papers characterized the amendment’s scheduled November 2006 referendum vote as political trickery being used to impact the gubernatorial race.
After noting that the amendment could have been voted on as early as Spring 2005, the Journal Sentinel opined: “The obvious strategy is to get residents who back the amendment so worked up that they’ll come to the polls in larger numbers than they would have otherwise and, while there, cast a ballot for the Republican candidate for governor.”
Calling the GOP strategy a “disgusting tactic,” the Capital Times suggested the the Republicans “think that by appealing to the crudest bigotries, they can draw to the polls voters who will cast ballots for GOP contenders in close contests, and vote to amend the constitution in a hurtful way.”
The Madison editorial, while noting that “there are still plenty of bigots, plenty of ignorant individuals and plenty of partisan hacks looking for ways to exploit the worst instincts of some voters,” pointed to the recent November elections that suggested that “the ranks of the anti-gay crowd are dwindling.”
A number of Capitol insiders suggested the sudden issuance of the sponsorship memo was an attempt by the bill’s lead sponsors to regain “both mission and message control,” noting that the amount of recent negative spin on the marriage ban issue could tar the statewide GOP, mirroring public opinion surveys documenting the mounting statewide disgust with the Bush administration over the Iraq war and the handling of hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.
“The way things are going for Republicans across the board right now, the votes to pass the amendment might not be there next Spring like they had planned,” one insider told Quest, referring to Assembly Leader John Gard’s June 2, 2005 letter to Julaine Appling of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin. In that document, the subject of a Quest exclusive report later picked up by the mainstream press statewide, Gard had outlined a Spring 2006 introduction strategy to the FRI Executive Director, whose is organizing support for the amendment.
Appling recently shared that her group has shipped DVDs called “The Battle for Marriage in Wisconsin” to 4,000 mostly Ott

independent evangelical churches to help mobilize support. Appling also claimed church leaders already have gathered about 75,000 signatures backing the amendment.
Christians For Equality, a coalition of mostly mainline Protestant congregations and denominations opposing the amendment, have seen success countering the FRI efforts with major votes by regional governing bodies of the state’s Presbyterian, United Methodist, United Church of Christ and Evangelical Lutheran denominations in addition to individual congregations.
Despite the recent passage of a gay marriage ban in Texas, Action Wisconsin’s Executive Director Chris Ott remains confident the same outcome may not in Wisconsin’s future. “Unlike Wisconsin, Texas has never been a civil rights vanguard - for anybody,” Ott said following the November 8 vote, comparing the Texas tally to Maine’s vote to uphold its gay rights law by a more than 10% margin. “We can have a win in 2006 in Wisconsin too.”

No Dick Pix: Closet Case Mayor’s Computer Text Records Made Public
Spokane - A judge has granted a newspaper’s request to make public the gay-themed contents of Spokane Mayor James West’s city-owned laptop computer, but prevented the release of 3,300 pictures from a gay-oriented website.
On November 17 Adams County Superior Court Judge Richard Miller ordered the release of an index of the dates and times West West

used the computer to access Gay.com and other similar websites, but with individual Web addresses redacted to protect the privacy of third parties.
West is the subject of a December 6 recall election because of a sex scandal involving gay men, and several news organizations have demanded the release of the contents of West’s computer under the state’s Open Public Records Act.
“Clearly the public has the right to evaluate the mayor’s performance,” Miller said. “The dilemma this court finds itself in is: to release the pictures essentially releases the identity of the people in them. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
The judge reviewed the contents of the mayor’s hard drive. He said he found 3,300 photographs. About 100 of those were pictures of male genitalia or buttocks, and 11 were of simulated sex acts, the judge said. Many showed upper-torso pictures of shirtless men and there was no text with the photos, he added.
The recall election charge alleges West abused his office by offering a City Hall internship, in expectation of sexual favors, to a person he met in a Gay.com chat room and believed to be an 18-year-old man. The chat partner was actually a computer expert hired by the Spokane Spokesman-Review to track West’s online activities. West has denied any wrongdoing.
The judge’s decision came a day before the special election ballots were to be mailed. West fought release of the computer contents in question, contending they were private and that the internet sites were accessed during off-work hours. The Spokesman-Review, The Associated Press and several other media organizations had filed requests to view the contents of the hard drive.

Oklahoma Man Sues Over Gay “Wife Swap” Episode
Muskogee - An Oklahoma man is suing the producers of the television show “Wife Swap” for more than ten million dollars, saying he suffered when they sent a gay man to his home for the swap. The reality television show broadcast on ABC usually focuses on two heterosexual couples temporarily swapping wives with the differences and problems in the households becoming the theme for each show.
Jeffrey Bedford of Haileyville said he was misled when a gay man was sent to his home. Bedford said he became emotionally distraught to the point of physical and mental illness.
Bedford claims the people associated with the show told him his wife was leaving him and if he didn’t film the show they wouldn’t tell him his wife’s location or pay for her to be sent home.
The suit also contends that during the episode when Bedford conducted his regular Bible study at his home for the Haileyville Baptist Church, the gay swap participant invited a gay coalition to take part in the study.
The lawsuit names ABC, ABC owner Walt Disney Company and “Wife Swap” producer RDF Media. “ABC is confident that RDF Media, the producer of ‘Wife Swap,’ treats participants professionally and with respect,” ABC spokeswoman Anne Fort told Muskogee Phoenix reporter Donna Hales.
“The show is meant to challenge a family’s norms and moreover, the agreement between the plaintiff and RDF specifically stated that the swapped spouse could be either male or female.”
Fort noted that the episode hasn’t aired yet, but only because it hasn’t been scheduled. “We have a number of ‘Wife Swap’ episodes stockpiled,” Fort said. “Since each is self-contained, we don’t have to air them in any particular order, so I can’t predict when we’ll book this one.”

Swedish Study Shows Oral Sex Linked To Cancer
Stockholm - Certain cases of mouth cancer appear to be caused by a virus that can be contracted during oral sex, media reported here on November 16, quoting a new Swedish study.
People who contract a high-risk variety of the human papilloma virus, HPV, during oral sex are more likely to fall ill with mouth Lickin' Can Sicken?

cancer, according to a study conducted at the Malmoe University Faculty of Odontology in southern Sweden.
“You should avoid having oral sex,” dentist and researcher Kerstin Rosenquist, who headed the study, told Swedish news agency TT.
HPV is a wart virus that causes many cervical cancers, including endometrial cancer (in the uterus).
Comparing 132 patients with mouth cancer with a control group of 320 healthy people, Rosenquist found that 36% of the cancer patients were carriers of HPV while only 1% of the control group had the virus. The main factors that contribute to mouth cancer, most commonly contracted by middle aged and older men, are smoking and drinking alcohol, scientists agree.
“But in recent years the illness has been on the rise among young individuals and we don’t know why. But one could speculate that this virus (HPV) is one of the factors,” Rosenquist said.
Her findings confirm other international studies in recent years.

HRC Upset Over Congressional Budget Cuts’ Impact On HIV Health Care
Washington, DC - - As the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention released startling new statistics about the impact of HIV and AIDS on communities of color and gay men, the U.S. House of Representatives put the lives of hundreds of thousands of HRC

Americans at risk November 18 in passing a budget reconciliation package that would slash Medicaid spending - forcing Americans to rely on the already stretched Ryan White CARE Act, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
“Congress and the White House have abandoned their ‘compassionate’ side to the extremist conservatives,” HRC President Joe Solmonese said in a prepared statement. “The health of thousands of men, women and children are threatened when the far right wing unravels the health care safety net.”
The razor thin vote of 217-215 came after new data was released from the CDC detailing racial disparities in infection rates. African-Americans are eight times more likely and Latinos three times more likely than whites to be diagnosed with the HIV. The data also shows increasing infection rates among men who have sex with men.
“New evidence shows that HIV and AIDS continue to ravage men, women and children at alarming rates, yet Congress callously responds by slashing funding,” Solmonese said.
The House version of the budget reconciliation package - unlike the Senate counterpart - would permit higher premiums and deductibles for many Americans who already find themselves on the edge of being able to seek quality care and treatment. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the vast majority of the savings will come from beneficiaries being forced to cut back on their use of health care services. The bill now goes to conference committee where the House and Senate versions will be reconciled. During this process, the cuts could
either be restored or left as passed by the House.
“Disastrous cuts to Medicaid combined with inadequate funding for federal HIV/AIDS efforts represent the Congressional leadership’s poor response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” Solmonese said. “Many courageous lawmakers from both parties opposed these draconian cuts and
they should be applauded for their leadership.”
Medicaid is the nation’s largest provider of HIV/AIDS treatment and care and Americans trimmed from the rolls will be forced to seek care through Ryan White CARE Act programs that are already overextended and under-funded. In fact, in many states, budgetary pressures have already forced AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) to cut costs by operating waiting lists or limiting the medications available to patients.
The Congressional cuts came in the same week that several states and municipalities, including Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota, New York City and Washington DC also cut funds for HIV/AIDS services. Earlier this year Wisconsin bucked the national trends by increasing funds for HIV/AIDS care by one million dollars over the next biennium.

North Carolina Baptists To Boot Gay Friendly Churches
Winston-Salem - North Carolina’s largest religious organization voted overwhelmingly November 15 to kick out any member church that “knowingly affirms, approves or endorses homosexual behavior.” The largely conservative Baptist State Convention of North Carolina asked its board of directors to define what constitutes a church “in friendly cooperation with the convention and sympathetic to its purposes and work.”
The 175 year old North Carolina convention counts 1.2 million Baptists in its association. It is the second largest association of Baptist churches in the nation.
“I hope (the public) will take it to mean that North Carolina Baptists are voicing our biblical conviction ... (but also) that God offers love and forgiveness and healing,” the Rev. David Horton, pastor of Gate City Baptist Church in Greensboro, said after the vote. Horton is the outgoing state convention president.
Other convention delegates who did not agree with the motion spoke strongly against it. “Could it be that homosexuality gains our attention primarily because it’s not ‘our’ sin?” said Rob Helton, a delegate from Cherry Point Baptist Church in Havelock. “If we write a policy (on homosexuality), it seems only fair and right that we write a policy on every sin in the Bible.”
Jo Godfrey, a delegate from Emerywood Baptist Church in High Point, said the motion showed a lack of respect for Baptist heritage, which includes the autonomy of the local church. “This saddens me, but more importantly, we also show disrespect for the first and greatest commandment given in the New Testament: Love the Lord our God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself,” Godfrey said. “I hear no exceptions. Why are we exerting qualifications for members of the church and the Baptist State Convention?”
The group before has sanctioned a church for having openly gay members. In 2003, the voluntary organization expelled a Cabarrus County church for accepting two gay men as members and later baptizing them.
Other delegates who supported the plan spoke of a desensitization among Christians of what is sin. “I believe we must stand up for absolute truth, not relative truth or relative untruths ... as it seems so many others are willing to do,” said Bill Sanderson, pastor of Hephzibah Baptist Church in Wendell who made the original motion to exclude churches not “in cooperation” with the convention.

Parents Share Marriage Ban Concerns At GALAXY Dinner
LaCrosse - More than fifty people heard the touching story of Carol and George Neill at a dinner held here November 16 at Hackberry’s Bistro. The event was sponsored by the restaurant, the Gay Alliance for La Crosse Area Youth at the YWCA (GALAXY) and Action Wisconsin.
The Neills have biological daughters but also have taken in two unofficially adopted sons - Kurt Dyer and Roy Heath. The couple took in the teens after they were kicked out of their own homes because of their homosexual orientations.
Carol’s biological daughters can marry men, she told the diners, and society will recognize those unions. However she explained her chosen sons cannot since they likely will enter same sex unions.
Neill said the wording of the proposed amendment breaks her heart. The Neills hope the proposal never reaches the ballot. “There are moms like me everywhere, praying and hoping for a wonderful, loving, happy future for all their kids,” Carol Neill said. “Just like your mom does for you.”
State Representative Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse), who was at the dinner, later responded by telling the group that she will vote against the ban. “I don’t feel comfortable in writing discrimination into the state constitution,” Shilling told dinner participants. “We are a progressive state. Why would we want to be known as a state that does this?”

LGBT Groups Sponsor 4th Annual Thanksgiving Pot Luck
Milwaukee - SAGE, Project Q, PFLAG, the Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee and Black & White Men Together are co-sponsoring the fourth annual Thanksgiving pot luck dinner Saturday, November 26. The dinner will be held at the Plymouth United Church of Christ, 2717 East Hampshire, from 4:30 - 7:30 PM. Dinner will be served at 5:30.
Each of the sponsoring organizations will provide a fully cooked turkey. Those attending the meal whose last names begin with A-K are asked to bring a side dish. Names L-S are asked to provide a dessert and those whose names begin with T-Z are asked to provide beverages or breads. Last year over 100 of all ages and sexual orientations attended the event.
Please call the SAGE/Milwaukee office at 224-0517 to advise if you plan to attend.

SAGE Expects Santa At Annual Holiday Lunch
Milwaukee - SAGE/Milwaukee will sponsor its annual Holiday Luncheon on Sunday, December 4 at the Astor Hotel, 924 Juneau Avenue here. The event will begin with an 11:30 AM reception and be followed by lunch at 12:30 PM. In addition to the great food, spectacular desserts, singing of carols and door prizes, attendees can also expect a visit from Santa Claus
Tickets for the event will be $20 for SAGE members or $25 for non-members. Those making reservations will select from meals that include lemon breast of chicken, roast loin of pork, beef tenderloin tips or a vegetarian entrée. VISA and MasterCard will be accepted.
RSVPs are requested by November 30 with entrée selection and payment to SAGE/Milwaukee, 1845 N. Farwell Ave., Ste. 220, Milwaukee, WI 53202. Those who wish to offer sponsorships for low income individuals or who wish more information are asked to call 414-224-0517.

OutReach’s Pink Party Gets Pink Slip
Madison - OutReach has announced that the 11th and final Pink Party is slated for December 31 at the Inn on the Park in downtown Madison. While the entertainment line-up is being finalized, there is no doubt that the LGBT community center serving Madison and the greater Dane County area will once again have an eclectic mix.
“We plan to go out on top,” Nikki Baumblatt, OutReach Community Relations and Development Coordinator, said as she announced that this year will be the final year for the Pink Party. “The Pink Party has been a hot ticket for the past decade and we want to bring down the curtain while we’re still offering a high quality New Year’s Eve event to the the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied communities.”
Entertainers Lynette and Tongue n Groove have signed on for the evening. According to Isthmus’ Music Review, “Tongue n Groove plays an infectious mix of R and B, funk, rock and groove tunes to get you dancing
and sweating at night, but with lyrics that you will still respect in the morning.”
OutReach will bring back the Drag King and Queen show emceed by the notorious Dreux Watermolen. Baumblatt promised those who are into the club scene will not be disappointed, as OutReach also plans to offer the best in club music.
“We hope to draw over 1000 people to the Inn on the Park,” Baumblatt said. “We believe that anyone who took part in any of the previous ten parties will want to be there as we bid a fond farewell.”
The party will run from 9 PM - 2AM with all proceeds from the evening going to support the programming and services of OutReach, Inc. For more information about the event, visit the Pink Party website at: www.pink-party.info for updates on entertainment, ticket prices, outlets, and sponsorship opportunities.

Angels Of Hope MCC To Sell Christmas Trees
Appleton - The Angels of Hope Metropolitan Community Church here is sponsoring a Christmas tree fundraiser. Live Christmas trees will be sold at the Appleton church site, 815 N. Richmond St. The tree lot will be open Monday through Saturday, from 4 -8 PM. The trees will sell for a $20 suggested donation. Varieties will include Blue Spruce, White Spruce, Balsam Fir, and Douglas Fir.
The tree lot will open Monday, November 28. For more information about the sale, email Larry at: justfine@itol.com.

Madison Women’s Coming-Out Group Forming
Madison - A women’s coming out support group is forming in Madison and will begin meeting at OutReach Inc, 600 Williamson Street later in the year. The purpose of the group is to offer support women who are dealing with the realization that they are not heterosexual and how that affects their everyday lives.
The support group will identify and discuss the stages of coming out and explore topics such as how to deal with family members, physical and sexual safety, legal rights and discrimination, and spirituality, among
others.
Two trained volunteers will facilitate each meeting. The group will meet Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM for 9 weeks starting in late December. Women who are interested in attending the meetings should call 608-255-8582 or e-mail at: programs@outreachinc.com by Wednesday, December 14. Messages should be directed to the attention of Natalie.

Men’s Voices Milwaukee Sets Holiday Concert
Milwaukee - Men’s Voices Milwaukee (MVM) will hold its 5th annual “Holiday Concert” on Saturday, December 10 at 8 PM at the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts on the UWM campus, 2419 E. Kenwood Ave.
Themed “Frostiana, A Winter Night’s Journey,” the concert will feature settings of two well-known poems of Robert Frost. “The MVM

Randall Thompson musical settings of ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and ‘The Pasture’ are mirror reflections of each other stylistically and fit the Frost poems perfectly,” Artistic Director Jerrad J. Fenske said.
The “Frostiana” concert is Fenske’s first as Artistic Director of Men’s Voices Milwaukee. Fenske is also organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee and is on the choral faculty of Cardinal Stritch University.
MVM has been working hard this fall on vocal quality, according to MVM Board President Ray Schaefer. “Jerrad has been helping us develop our overall sound. All of us in the chorus have noticed the difference in our blend. We hope our audience will like what they hear this year,” Schaefer said.
Thirty-five men are singing in this fall’s group. Principal accompanist for MVM is Joseph Paul Carpenter, well known keyboard and choral artist in the Milwaukee area and a Mr. Gay Southeastern WI-USA title holder. Additional instrumentalists and an artistic interpreter for the hearing impaired will add to the concert.
Tickets are available from any MVM member or the box office at the Zelazo Center. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Alternately, $15 door tickets will be sold with the donation of four non-perishable food items for the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force.
Men’s Voices Milwaukee is a choral ensemble dedicated to musical excellence by performing a broad range of men’s choral music. MVM is also committed to broadening and strengthening the LGBT choral movement in southeastern Wisconsin through performance, education and outreach activities.

Fundraiser for Milwaukee Gay Arts Center Announced
Milwaukee - In a unified show of support, the two actors who make up the cast of the “Puppetry of the Penis” will present two special, intimate “sneak peek” performances, Mondays, November 28 and December 5, beginning 9 PM at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, 703 South 2nd Street.
In conjunction with gay-friendly Miramar Theatre, the boys decided they would lend support to help Milwaukee Gay Arts Center recoup some of its substantial loss, due to the unlawful shut-down of “Naked Boys Singing” by the Milwaukee Police Department Vice Squad back in August. The show has since reopened and runs weekends at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center through December 31st.
“It’s our pleasure to help defend art. We must all band together to insure art is not censored, and our freedom of speech and expression are protected,” William Stace, owner of the Miramar Theatre said.
The cost of this special fundraising “sneak peek” is just $10 and is limited to the first 200 respondents. For tickets to the special “sneak peek,” call 414-248-6481 or go online to order at: www.uncommontheatre.net. Seating is extremely limited for this very intimate performance.
The full production of “Puppetry of the Penis” is being performed at the Miramar Theatre, 2844 N. Oakland Avenue, on Milwaukee’s East Side. The performance runs from November 29 through December 11. For information, visit the theatre’s website at: www.themiramartheatre.com.

Angels Of Hope MCC To Host
Interfaith World AIDS “Day To Remember”
Green Bay - The Angels of Hope Metropolitan Community Church will host an interfaith commemoration of World AIDS Day on WAD Ribbon

Thursday, December 1 from Noon to 7 PM at the church’s Green Bay site, 2607 Libal St. in Allouez. Those stopping at the church throughout the day may light a candle of remembrance for friends or family members who are either living with or have passed from HIV/AIDS.
A community prayer service will be held at 6 PM at which time the names on the dedicated candles will be read and extinguished. The church has invited clergy members of the Green Bay faith community to join in the formal service.
The Day To Remember is open to the public. Those who wish to have a candle dedicated to a loved one with are asked to email Angels of Hope at: info@mccchurch.org or aohmcc@netnet.net.

Positive Voice Sets Holiday Parties
Green Bay - With the holiday season fast approaching, Positive Voice has announced the return of two holiday traditions for the LGBT community of northeast Wisconsin: the 12th Annual Holiday Dinner, Auction and White Elephant Gift Exchange and the 11th Annual New Year’s Eve Dinner and Dance.
The Holiday Dinner will be held Saturday, December 3 at the Eagle’s Nest on Nicolet Drive overlooking the east side of the bay in Green Bay. The cash bar will open at 6 PM, followed by a family style meal of chicken, baked cod and pasta primavera. The annual holiday auction of baked goods will continue throughout the evening.
Following dinner, there will be the always hilarious white elephant gift exchange, an opportunity to humorously rid your home of the items you couldn’t even give away at a rummage sale but still weren’t worthy of the garbage can. Attendees are asked to bring at least two gift-wrapped items.
Tickets will be $15 for Positive Voice members and $17 for non-members. Reservations must be postmarked by November 26 as walk-ins can not be accommodated. Registration forms are available at the PV office at 618 Stuart St, Green Bay, WI. You may also request a form by calling the group at 920-435-4404 or emailing them at: pvnew4glbt@aol.com
Positive Voice’s 11th Annual New Year’s Eve Dinner & Dance will again be held at Liberty Hall, Hwy CE/College Avenue in Kimberly, just east of the Highway 441 exit. The event will open with a cash bar at 7 PM, followed by a buffet dinner at 8 and dancing from 9 PM until 12:30 AM.
This year’s buffet choices include Italian Prime Rib of Beef, Chicken Marsala, Parmesan Potatoes, Confetti Rice Pilaf, Roasted Fresh Vegetables, along with assorted salads, rolls and desserts. The dance following the meal will be run by the Fun Factory Entertainment deejay service, offer complimentary beer and soda, a champagne toast at midnight and all the tiaras, hats and party favors to make celebrating the arrival of 2006 as gaily festive as you’d like. Door prizes also will be awarded throughout the evening.
Tickets for the dinner/dance are $35 for PV members. Non-PV members tickets are $40. A dance-only rate is available upon request as is a $25 reduced student dinner/dance rate. Reservations are requested by December 27. Registration forms are available at the PV office at 618 Stuart St, Green Bay, WI. You may also request a form by calling the group at 920-435-4404 or emailing them at: pvnew4glbt@aol.com

Eric Himan burst into the indie music scene at the beginning of this decade, acoustic guitar blazing, a soulful baritone wailing. What makes Eric Himan even more special, he’s an “out” performer – always has been. With a voice like Cat Stevens, inked arms that

out-sleeve Tommy Lee and a guitar style akin to one of his musical idols, Ani DiFranco, Eric has been a young man (with a guitar) on a definite mission.
Eric Himan’s mission began with playing music in coffee houses around Penn State University, where he was a student. culminating in the 2000 release of his first solo CD, “Eric Himan.” This stripped-down acoustic recording was originally crafted as an audience keepsake, but it became his calling card a the music was shared.
Now, three CDs later, Eric Himan spends the year crisscrossing the country playing in a variety of venues, from clubs to Gay Pride Festival to LGBT Centers and bookstores. This November Eric makes his first-ever Milwaukee appearance, at a CD Launch and Signing party at Outwords Books, Gifts & Coffee. This will be an in-store CD signing and meet and greet! Then on Monday, November 28, Eric will be appearing Madison’s High Noon Saloon.
Despite his hectic appearance schedule, Eric Himan was gracious enough to take time for to talk to Quest.
Quest: You do a lot of Pride Festivals throughout the year?
Himan: I do a lot of everything. (laughs) Everything from clubs to
Prides to LGBT Centers. It is fun to mix it up.
Quest: Was there any question that you would be an “out” performer?
Himan: There was never a question with me. There was a question with everybody else. Friends of mine and family were always concerned about what attention would this bring. I just thought that I wasn’t going to be one of those people whose has a great career and at 35 is like, “Whoops, somebody found out and now my life is turned upside down. And I’ve betrayed everyone. This is who I am. When I was going up, there were hardly anybody in the gay world, it was all women that I looked up to, Melissa Etheridge, Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls, These are the people I looked up to. When you look at it from a male standpoint, there was nobody, at least nobody for me. Nobody who was doing what I wanted to do, nobody who understood.
Quest: Do you feel there’s a difference playing before a gay audience versus playing before a straight audience?
Himan: I don’t feel that there really is a different, I’m singing the same songs, I’m talking about the same things. I’ll be playing at a gay event, a Pride but there aren’t just gay people there. And at a straight event, there aren’t just straight people there..
Quest: How about a little background information. Where are you from?
Himan: My Dad was in the military, so we bounced around a lot. Hence my life now.
Quest: When did you begin performing?
Himan: I started playing music – my Dad began teaching me when I was eight. I started writing songs when I was 13 or 14. It just sort of grew and grew and grew from there.
Quest: Who were your early music influences?
Himan: Early influences? I listened to a lot of music growing up, everything from pop music – Janet Jackson and stuff like that – everything that was MTV. Then I got into the “Woodstock” era of music. Janis Joplin was one of my first big influence. So, I think that when I feel I had more of a musician’s mentality. It was just the music, it was more than that. Janis Joplin was the first icon, you could say, that I related to, like her voice was so raw and she had so much soul and so much energy. She was so loud. One style of music takes you to another takes you to another takes you to another… and from her, the whole Woodstock era, everyone from Ritchie Havens to Joan Baez to Joni Mitchell & Bob Dylan, and all those people. And then somebody doing that kind of contemporary sound, Ani DiFranco. In high school I discovered her. A friend gave me a tape of her, the Indigo Girls where it led to where I began listening to everything from Jazz to Blues to Classic Rock…
Quest: You did you first CD while still at school?
Himan: I did a CD with a band when I was at school and after that I recorded my first solo CD . I didn’t really do anything with it. I wasn’t touring, I wasn’t doing anything, I was still going to school. It was my junior year. And then I graduated in 2001, with a lot of pressure from my family to do this or that…get a real job. I was trying really hard to get a job in New York City. The September 11th happened and I said, “I’m going back to State College of Pennsylvania where my friends are and I’m going to see what I can do with music and then I recorded the CD “I Go On.” That’s when I started playing colleges and then a few Prides and then it got bigger and bigger. And then “All For Show” came out in 2003 and that received some major publication attention. Then we released “Dark Horse” and then the “Live” CD a month ago.
Quest: Do you have a song that best expresses the real Eric Himan, that
shows your heart and soul?
Himan: I think that there are songs at certain milestones, of who I was at certain points in my life. There’s a song on the “Live” CD called, “In My Shoes” and that was one of the first songs that I ever wrote a 17 or 18, or even earlier, at 16 or 17 and at that point I could say that I was naïve, very simple, “I want to fall in love. I want to be a couple.” I don’t know necessarily know what I needed. I just knew what I wanted. I think “In My Shoes” sums that up, that was who I was then. Now, I don’t know that there’s a song that I have that I can say, “That’s me. That’s who I am.” I think that I’m still trying to find
that. I think that’s what keeps artists going, like you are always trying to write that song.
Quest: For the last few years you’re been doing upwards to 100-plus events a year. What is it like to be on the road so much?
Himan: At first it like anything, it’s like, ”Road trip, everybody in the car!” Then, after a year, it just becomes what I do. And when other people get in the car, I’m like, “You know, I’m going to be gone a month, right?” Now, it’s beginning to get a little more consistent. It is getting easier to do this fulltime. I go away for a month, then I come back and play closer to home. And then I’ll go all the way to the West Coast, like I will next month. I’m used to doing it. It’s my life.