Quest Vol. 13 No. 10

*Quest News* Volume 13 No. 10 June 8, 2006 Compiled & written by Mike Fitzpatrick Top Story: PrideFest Kicks Off Milwaukee’s Summer Of Festivals Margaret Cho Pre-Show Gets Pride Idol, Political Update Milwaukee - PrideFest kicks off Milwaukee’s lakefront festival season June 9 - 11 with three nights of major entertainment, more than 100 performances and activities and over 150 food and merchandise vendors. PrideFest is Wisconsin’s largest celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture and community and is held annually at the Henry W. Maier Festival Grounds on Milwaukee’s lakefront. Tickets are $12 daily and $25 for a Weekend Pass at www.pridefest.com. Children under 12 get in free (accompanied by a parent or guardian). After paring down to two days in 2004, PrideFest returns to form by bringing Friday night back to the schedule with The Community Gathering, a kick-off celebration for Pride weekend featuring internationally acclaimed comedienne Margaret Cho. Friday night’s program also will highlight Voices for a Fair Wisconsin, featuring representatives of the Fair Wisconsin statewide coalition working to educate the community about the proposed state constitutional amendment to ban civil unions. Two dollars from every admission Friday night will be donated to the coalition. Fair Wisconsin’s exclusive “meet and greet” with Cho will be held immediately following the comedienne’s show, and was nearly sold out at Quest’s deadline. Additional entertainment Friday night will include Lady Bunny, creator of Wigstock, the renowned festival of camp that delighted up to 40,000 New Yorkers every Labor Day, gay rapper LISP, and a sneak preview of Pride Idol. In addition, the Pump! Dance Pavilion will kick off the summer’s hottest outdoor dance party with an upgraded sound and light system, and fireworks will light up the sky at approximately 9:30 PM. PrideFest gets into full swing on Saturday, June 10th with six stages of entertainment and educational activities. Saturday’s musical lineup features hitmakers Berlin (“Take My Breath Away,” “No More Words,” “The Metro”), Martha Wash (“It’s Raining Men”, “Gonna Make Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”) and Bow Wow Wow (“I Want Candy”) performing the headliner show at the Miller Lite Pavilion, as well as many independent favorites like Jill Sobule, Jinx Titanic, the Cathy Richardson Band, and Tret Fure, MorrisonPoe, and comedian Bruce Daniels. Sunday’s headline performances will feature the sophisticated sounds of powerhouse group En Vogue (“Hold On”, “My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It)”, “Free Your Mind”, “Whatta Man”). Opening act will be Belgian dance-pop duo DHT featuring Edmée, who had one of the year’s biggest radio hits, “Listen to Your Heart.” Other entertainment highlights include comedienne Michele Balan, who is appearing on this summer’s NBC program, “Last Comic Standing”; Milwaukee favorite Pamela Means; internationally acclaimed blues guitarist Sue DaBaco and her band Wise Fools; and the finals for PrideFest’s very popular Pride Idol talent contest. Family and youth activities are scheduled Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, including visits from the Humane Society and a youth dance contest, “So You Think You Can Prance?” Educational and information panels will be held throughout the weekend at the Stonewall Pavilion and will feature discussions on health topics, a presentation on transgender identity, Latina/Latino poetry performances, and even a graduation ceremony for students from Milwaukee’s Alliance School. New this year, PrideFest features a martini bar with premium beverages Effen Vodka, Hendricks Gin and Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum, as well as five wine selections from Intermezzo Wine Bar. The wine bar will feature coffee, wine and cold beverages in a relaxing garden environment. PrideFest will also add the Rainbow Pavilion, a full stage at the north end of the grounds, and the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center (MGAC) Cafe and Wine Bar, the Milwaukee LGBT History Project and selections from the Milwaukee Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. This year’s event marks PrideFest’s first festival following the retirement last October of debt incurred in 2003. As a result of a reorganization and successful 2004 and 2005 festivals, PrideFest has emerged bigger and stronger than ever. Festival hours are: Friday from6 PM to Midnight; Saturday from 11 AM to Midnight; and Sunday from 11 AM to 10PM. PrideFest will offer free entrance with donation of four non-perishable food items Saturday and Sunday, 11 AM to 1PM. Donations will benefit the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin’s Food Pantries in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Kenosha and LaCrosse. Children under 12 accompanied by a parent or guardian receive free admission all weekend. The full schedule for PrideFest is available at www.pridefest.com. Expanded Milwaukee Pride Parade Set To Roll June 11 Milwaukee - An expanded route filled with colorful banners, major corporate sponsorships, greater cooperation with PrideFest and the theme of “Pride Not Prejudice” will mark the 2006 edition of the Milwaukee Gay Pride Parade (MGPP) to be held Sunday, June 11. Line-up for the parade will begin at Noon with a 2 PM step-off. The route has been expanded to cover most of Walker’s Point area along 2nd Street, from Greenfield to Lapham Avenues. The city of Milwaukee has authorized the display of large gay pride banners have been hung along the parade route since May 24 and will remain through June 18. The banners will feature the pride parade’s logo. MGPP has announced some of the parade units to appear in this year’s event. The Great Lakes Harley Riders will kick off the march. Among the units following the leather motorcycle men will be Pride Idol, STD Specialties, Men’s Voices Milwaukee, ASAP Financial, ARCW and ROTC. Among the Wisconsin clubs and bars with units in the parade will be Harbor Room,Tazzbah, Avante Garde, Brew City Bears, Club Icon, Mona’s, Woody’s, Boom, The Shelter, M & M Club, Pegs and Triangle. Among the Wisconsin media on the parade route will be OutBound and Quest. Major sponsorships for this year’s parade include the Miller Brewing Company, Joseph Pabst, American United Taxi Co. and the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. Media sponsors include Quest, Outbound and Queer Life. MGPP has also seen also stressed greater cooperation with the PrideFest. “The parade remains separate but is coordinating with PrideFest this year,” MGPP founder and outgoing chair James Kuchta told Quest. “Both groups want the parade to enhance PrideFest weekend. The parade is another means to draw people to the area and to PrideFest on its closing day.” Bush Backs Amendment Banning Gay Marriage - Again Washington, D.C. - President Bush again promoted a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on June 5, the eve of a scheduled Senate vote on the cause that is dear to his conservative backers. The press conference was announced as Quest goes to press. Bush has supported previous versions of the marriage amendment, including mentioning it in a State Of The Union address. The amendment would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages. To become law, the proposal would need two-thirds support in the Senate and House, and then be ratified by at least 38 state legislatures. However, at Quest’s deadline it stood little chance of passing the 100-member Senate, where proponents are struggling to get even 50 votes. Several Republicans oppose the measure, and so far only one Democrat Senator. Ben Nelson of Nebraska had said he would vote for it. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the amendment on May 18 along party lines after a shouting match between a Democrat and the chairman, Senator. Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania). He bid Senator. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin)”good riddance” after Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment and his intention to leave the meeting. A slim majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press from March. But the poll also showed attitudes are changing: 63% opposed gay marriage in February 2004. Those poll results don’t reflect how people might feel about amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage. This November, initiatives banning same-sex marriages are expected to be on the ballot in Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. In 2004, 13 states approved initiatives prohibiting gay marriage or civil unions, with 11 states casting votes on Election Day. Bush benefited as religious conservatives turned out to vote and helped him defeat Democratic Senator. John Kerry in 2004. In Ohio, an initiative rejecting the legality of civil unions won handily. The same state tipped the election to Bush. “The president firmly believes that marriage is an enduring and sacred institution between men and women and has supported measures to protect the sanctity of marriage,” White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said in announcing th press conference. Bush has lost support among conservatives who blame the White House and Congress for runaway government spending, illegal immigration and lack of action on social issues such as the gay marriage amendment. Opponents of the amendment objected to Bush promoting a measure they said amounts to discrimination. “This is fundamentally both a civil rights and religious freedom issue and the president’s position of supporting amending the constitution is just dead wrong,” said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “This is simply to give ammunition to the so-called religious right just to show that the president is still with them.” Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese characterized the President’s support of the GOP-backed marriage ban as a disgraceful diversionary tactic. “It’s a national disgrace that President Bush has yet again bowed to the far-right extremists. Instead of addressing the real challenges facing American families - from record-high gas prices, bankrupting health care costs and an endless and costly war in Iraq - the President will further divide this country and put the far-right extremists’ interests ahead of the American people’s well-being,” Solmonese said. Two groups hosted a “coast to coast” bridge walk in support of gay marriage June 3 in response to the planned Senate vote deciding whether to ban same sex marriage. Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) and Marriage Equality New York (MENY) hosted simultaneous walks across the Brooklyn Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples. “On June 5th, anti-equality forces in the US Senate are again bringing the discriminatory Federal Marriage Constitutional Amendment for a vote,” MEUSA Executive Director Davina Kotulski said. “We have gathered together the diverse array of those in favor of liberty, justice and marriage equality to redouble our outreach and educational efforts.” “The Coast-to-Coast Bridge Walks are raising visibility and educate fair-minded Americans about the 1400 protections that come with civil marriage and the harms that befall same-sex couples because of marriage discrimination,” Kotulski added. World & National News: Rankings Show New Mexico, New York As The Most Pro-Gay States New York - New Mexico and New York share the top spot in a new ranking compiled by three liberal advocacy groups that analyzes laws dealing with gay rights and reproductive rights. Ohio and South Dakota are tied for last. Wisconsin ranked 31st, and Minnesota ranked 29th. Most efforts to gauge state positions on such socially divisive topics stick to one theme, but the rankings released May 31 look at two hot-button issues in hopes of encouraging new alliances between gay-rights and abortion-rights groups. Reactions to the report varied. Alexis Blizman, a New Mexico gay-rights activist, said her state deserved its position in part because of its “live and let live attitude.” A conservative Republican legislator from South Dakota, state Senator. Lee Schoenbeck, described the results as “a badge of honor.” Many in Massachusetts were surprised at the state’s sixth place ranking. “I find that hard to swallow,” state Senator Bob Hedlund said. Hedlund is one of only six Republicans in the Massachusetts Senate. “We’re the only state that has legalized gay marriage, so I don’t know how the hell that doesn’t make us the most liberal.” Therein lies the point of the study, according to Jason Cianciotto of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, one of three liberal advocacy groups that compiled the rankings. “It shows there needs to be an intersection among human rights issues, including reproductive freedom,” Cianciotto said. “It’s not just about whether same sex couples can get married.” The state that brought the country the Kennedys and Mike Dukakis in a tank lost points on the liberal scale for a law that requires mandatory parental involvement in minors’ abortions and a provision that prohibits state-funded insurance coverage of abortion. The state scored an obvious home run for its gay marriage law. The rankings were compiled by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and two abortion-rights groups, Ipas and the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. States were scored cumulatively based on 25 laws, ranging from restrictions on abortion to recognition of same-sex partnerships to the availability of emergency contraception. Officials from the advocacy groups said the rankings call attention to sharp discrepancies among the states. New York High Court Hears Gay Marriage Case Albany - Lawyers for same-sex couples seeking the right to marry in New York told the state’s highest court May 31 they are being treated as “unequal citizens” and denied a constitutional right. The 44 couples want the Court of Appeals to follow the lead of high court judges in neighboring Massachusetts and rule that New York’s constitution gives same-sex couples the same right to wed that straight couples have always had. “We are evolving as a society,” Terence Kindlon, one of the lawyers representing the couples in four lawsuits before the court said. “And just because we did something 200 years ago, or 100 years ago or 50 years ago, it’s not necessarily a good justification to do it now.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg weighed in on the case prior to the hearing, coming out strongly in favor of gay marriage - and vowing the city will perform same-sex wedding ceremonies, if allowed. The Republican mayor used his weekly Sunday radio address on Memorial Day weekend to say he is “firmly opposed” to any constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage. “The U.S. Constitution should be something that unites, rather than divides Americans,” Bloomberg said. “I do not believe that government should be in the business of telling people who they can and can’t marry.” The mayor took pains to give his comments local context, referring to a lawsuit due before the state Court of Appeals that focuses on five same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses in New York City. The couples have lost in lower appeals courts and are at odds with Governor. George Pataki’s health department and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office, which claim New York law prohibits issuing licenses to same-sex couples. The cases argued May 31 were filed two years ago, when gay marriage controversies flared up from Boston to San Francisco. A decision from the court could come in a month or two. Moscow Mayor Defends Banning Gay Parade Moscow - Moscow’s influential mayor said May 30 that his city banned gay activists from holding a parade because it is morally cleaner than the West, which is caught up in “mad licentiousness”. Gay activists tried to hold their protest against homophobia and discrimination at the weekend despite the ban, but were detained by police, abused by militant Christians and attacked by neo-fascists. They had wanted to lay flowers at the grave of the unknown warrior, a monument to those who died defeating Nazi Germany, but police blocked their path. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said such an action would have been a desecration of the sacred monument, and rejected Western criticism of his ban as prejudiced and homophobic. “Our way of life, our morals and our tradition -- our morals are cleaner in all ways. The West has something to learn from us and should not race along in this mad licentiousness,” he told Moscow radio, according to local news agencies. We may have a democratic country, but we live in an organized country and an organized city.” The protest on May 27, which was intended as a Gay Pride solidarity event as have become common in Western capitals, degenerated into a scrum with women hurling eggs and fruit at the activists, while shouting “Moscow is not Sodom.” Riot police arrested several dozen neo-fascist skinheads who wanted to break up the protest. Luzhkov, who has run Russia’s capital almost as a private fiefdom since 1992, said his anticipation of such a public reaction to the gays’ plans had led him to ban the march to ensure the safety of all. “These gays wanted to lay flowers at the grave of the unknown warrior. This is a provocation. It is desecration of a sacred place,” he said. He rejected the gays’ argument that the eternal flame is a monument to all those oppressed by fascism. “These gays go there, and openly go up to the monument. It is a contamination. People burst through and of course they beat them up,” he said. Gay activists, who were arrested when they arrived at the park with flowers, said the mere fact of holding the protest was a victory. Anglican Bishop: “Bible Supports Gay Partnerships” Oxford - Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, has declared that anti-gay proponents in the churches need to be “converted” to see that same-sex unions are supported by a faithful, modern reading of the Bible. Harries also reaffirmed his conviction that an openly gay man should be allowed to be appointed a bishop – as has already happened in the USA, with Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. In an May 28 interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Bishop Harries, who is one of the Church of England’s most senior bishops, and who retired last week, continued: “It’s difficult to have gay partnerships fully accepted by the Church, a Church in which evangelicals are a valued part, if they are so strongly opposed to it. There has to be a conversion to a new way to see that gay partnerships are not contrary to biblical truth. They are congruous with the deepest biblical truths, about faithfulness and stability.” Giles Fraser, the chair of Inclusive Church - a UK group encouraging greater inclusion of gay men and women in church life - responded to Harries’ interview. “His comments will be received with joy by the majority of ordinary churchgoers. It is absolutely clear that the Church needs to have a more welcoming and loving attitude to gays,” Fraser said. The Anglican Communion is currently embroiled in an altercation over the Bishop of Guildford, John Gladwin, who was forced to cut short a pastoral and aid visit to Kenya when the media accused him of belonging to “a gay club,” actually the respected group Changing Attitude. David Peak, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Secretary for International Development, is going to Kenya to try to calm the escalating row. George Takei To Serve As Chicago Pride Parade’s Grand Marshal Chicago - George Takei, openly gay actor and activist, is the Grand Marshal for this year’s Chicago 37th Annual Pride Parade on Sunday June 25 at 12 Noon. George is best known for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu on the classic television series, Star Trek and in six subsequent Star Trek films. He made international headlines when he came out to the public last Fall. This Spring, he embarked on a national speaking tour as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Coming Out Project during which he shared his story and encouraged others to talk about their lives as well. George has more than 30 feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles to his credit. Recognized worldwide as a member of the original Star Trek cast, he received a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame in 1986. George’s distinctive voice is featured in Walt Disney Pictures’ full-length animated features Mulan and Mulan II, Star Trek audio novel recordings, Fox Television’s The Simpsons, Futurama, and in numerous voice-overs and narrations. Earlier this year he appeared as announcer and on-air personality on the debut week of the Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Recently, he had a starring role in a Los Angeles production of Equus, as well as an appearance on the final season of NBC’s Will and Grace. A community activist, George is a member of the HRC which works for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. He also serves as chair of the council of governors of East West Players, the nation’s foremost Asian Pacific American theater. He is chairman emeritus of the board of trustees of the Japanese American National Museum and a past member of the advisory committee of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program. As told in his 1994 autobiography, To the Stars, George was born in Los Angeles, California. With the outbreak of World War II, he and his family together with 120,000 other Japanese Americans were placed behind barbed-wire enclosures of United States internment camps for several years. His family eventually returned to his native Los Angeles, which shaped his acting career. As part of his HRC tour, he discusses his life as a gay Japanese-American. He speaks about the fact that he is taking a stand against anti-gay bigotry. He talks about how diversity is a strength of this country and that there has got to be a recognition of people with different orientations. His HRC duties have sometimes included 14 hour days at multiple appearances around the country meeting and greeting LGBT community members and allies. Part of the audience often includes Star Trek fans of all ages. Over the years, to keep fit, George has been an avid runner. He has been involved in a Los Angeles based LGBT running group. Always a political activist, George ran for the Los Angeles City Council in 1973, losing by a small percentage. He was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, serving from 1973 to 1984. He also served as vice president of the American Public Transit Association. George and his life partner of 19 years, Brad Altman are residents of Los Angeles, and will be riding in a front vehicle in this year’s parade. PRIDEChicago is also reminding potential parade entries, that the parade registration cut-off date is June 10, or until all 250 allocated positions are filled, whichever comes first. For more information, the email, phone number and website are: pridechgo@aol.com, 773-348-8243 and www.chicagopridecalendar.org Seattle Sees Dueling Gay Pride Festivals Seattle - The Seattle Pride festival has long been known as a big, colorful, outrageous weekend-long party on Capitol Hill, the city’s district. However, two different organizations have planned separate, simultaneous Pride festivities for the same weekend of June 23-25, with events split among Capitol Hill, Seattle Center and downtown. Some believe the outcome has also split the gay community during a time traditionally marked by celebration at a time when many feel the need for unity has never been more critical. For 31 years, Seattle Out and Proud, which recently changed its name from the Seattle Pride Committee, had produced the popular Broadway parade and accompanying festivities in Volunteer Park. Last year the group announced it would move this year’s parade to Fourth Avenue downtown and the accompanying festivities to the much bigger Seattle Center. In announcing the change, organizers said the festival had outgrown the Capitol Hill area . The parade was too long for Broadway and festival-goers crammed uncomfortably into Volunteer Park. What’s more, garbage and parking were big problems. But the venue change outraged many longtime festival supporters, particularly Capitol Hill businesses that depended on a weekend-long surge in business. Some compared the neighborly atmosphere of Capitol Hill, the heart of the area’s gay community, to the sterile, tourist-driven nature of Seattle Center. To accommodate those who want festivities to stay on Capitol Hill, the Capitol Hill-based Seattle LGBT Community Center has planned a series of events, including a march along the traditional route on Broadway. That group also picked up two major longtime sponsors of the original festivities: Microsoft and Anheuser-Busch wholesaler K&L. Last month Seattle Out told the community center and Seattle Gay News to stop using the term “Seattle Pride” in connection with its events, saying the Capitol Hill group was interfering with its ability to operate. The divisiveness comes as many local in the gay community and their allies prepare for a possible fight on a referendum to repeal an anti-discrimination law the Legislature passed this year. They are also awaiting a decision from the state Supreme Court on whether same-sex couples in Washington should be allowed to legally marry. “This thing is dividing the community; it really is,” reigning Mr. Gay Seattle said. Lovelace is also a volunteer coordinator for a gay-rights activist group called ActionNW. Longtime gay-rights activist Bill Dubay said he supports and will participate in both the downtown and Capitol Hill festivals: “The last thing we need to do when we’re circling the wagons is to point the guns inward.” Officials from both organizations downplay any dissension between them, saying more Pride activities throughout the city are a good thing. “Throughout this we really have maintained a position of wanting people to participate as much as possible,” Shannon Thomas, Executive Director of the LGBT Community Center said. “We just want people out there, downtown, up the Hill, back downtown.” Among the events that will remain on Capitol Hill, Queerfest, a music festival, is planned for Volunteer Park on Saturday. On Saturday evening, organizers plan a march from Seattle Central Community College to Volunteer Park, which will include the traditional Dyke March. “There are multiple communities within the gay community,” Thomas said. “That leaves a lot of room for enjoyment, celebration and activism.” Lauri Hennessey, a spokeswoman for Seattle Out, said it, too, sees the benefits of multiple venues. The move to Seattle Center allows for a broader line-up of events, Hennessey said, adding that her group changed its name from the Pride Committee to avoid longstanding confusion with the Pride Foundation, which is not an organizer of Pride festivities. Hennessey said HIV-AIDS workshops will be offered at Seattle Center and that members of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays will be available to talk to those struggling with issues of homosexuality. Hennessey acknowledged that her group lost Budweiser and Microsoft as sponsors but said it signed deals with 12 others. Aussie Grandpa Accused Of Infecting Gay Men With HIV Melbourne - An Australian grandfather deliberately made friends with gay men on the internet to infect them with HIV, a court was told here June 2. Michael Neal, 48, appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with attempting to infect people with HIV and rape. He met victims including one who he allegedly drugged and raped, on the internet and persuaded them into unprotected sex, telling them he was HIV negative, the jury heard. Neal said he had told the sexual partners the truth, but police believed he would infect more men. He was denied bail and will return to court in September. An HIV+ UK man became the first to be convicted of recklessly passing on the HIV virus to another person in April 2006. State News: Starkey Named As New OutReach Exec Madison - OutReach announced May 31 that Steve Starkey will be its next Executive Director. Starkey is a long-time LGBT activist in the Madison area.. He spent twenty years working for Wisconsin Community Fund, twelve of those years as Executive Director. Wisconsin Community Fund has a long history of supporting LGBT rights. “Steve brings exactly the strengths in fund raising and agency management that the OutReach Board identified as priorities when we began this process,” OutReach Board President Bill Turner said in announcing Starkey’s hire. “We are excited to have someone with his stature and experience as our next Executive Director.” “It was gratifying to receive applications from such a large number of highly qualified candidates, and we thank them all for their interest,” Turner added. “We made some very difficult decisions along the way, and we are confident that we arrived at the best outcome for an agency that provides a wide range of essential services every day.” Starkey’s service to Wisconsin Community Fund includes increasing its annual budget from $125,000 to $500,000. He also co-founded the Social Justice Center cooperative building project and led the capital campaign effort that has raised $450,000 to date. Starkey also has substantial experience with LGBT organizing. He co-founded and worked for OUT! Newspaper during the mid 1980s and helped revive Madison’s annual Pride celebration as Co-chair of GALVAnize during the mid 1990s. He also served on the board of New Harvest Foundation in the late 1990s. “I’m excited about this new opportunity,” Starkey said in a prepared statement.. “I look forward to continuing the important friendships I built at Wisconsin Community Fund, and hope to make new friends among the many OutReach volunteers, supporters, and clients whom I have not met yet.” Steve’s official start date will be July 1. His first official event will be the 2006 OutReach Awards Banquet, scheduled for Friday, July 7 at Monona Terrace. The reception and cocktails will start at 6:00 PM, with the dinner and program following at 7. Tickets are $60 each, or $110 per pair. Call 608-255-8582 for more information about the event. FRI’s “Battle For Marriage In Wisconsin” DVD Gets Bad Review Milwaukee - The May 31 edition of the alternative paper the Shepherd-Express contained a movie review that is likely to upset Julaine Appling and the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, the leading proponents of the proposed ban on civil unions and marriage. Appling’s highly touted “The Battle For Marriage In Wisconsin,” reportedly distributed to over 4,000 churches throughout the state was the subject of both a review and a “fact check” by the paper’s Lisa Kaiser. Kaiser gave the video a “thumbs down,” noting the DVD contained twelve blatant misrepresentations of the civil union and marriage ban proposal and civil marriage in general. In point-counterpoint fashion, Kaiser offers excerpts from the DVD’s transcript and her responses. Kaiser began by quoting this voice-over: “The institution of marriage is God’s creation, designed for mankind’s good and God’s glory. Marriage and the family are not the creation of the state or even the church. Therefore marriage or the family cannot be redefined by the government or the church.” In response Kaiser wrote, “That must be news to our lawmakers because marriage is in fact defined by state law. Statute 765.01 states ‘marriage, so far as its validity at law is concerned, is a civil contract ,to which the contracting is essential, and which creates the legal status of husband and wife.’” Kaiser later questioned the DVD’s assertion that “the battle for marriage in Wisconsin is the defining social and moral issue of our day.” “Really?” Kaiser asked, then noted that “legislators say that their constituents’ main concerns are health care, jobs, and education. Kaiser was apparently stunned by FRI Executive Director (and Bob Jones University graduate) Julaine Appling’s lack of basic civics knowledge. “Make no mistake. Our Constitution will be amended,” Appling intoned in the video. “The question is, by whom? A few renegade judges at the insistence of a very loud but small group of people or by our elected representatives, by we the people?” The reporter set Appling straight. “Fact: Actually, judges can’t amend our Constitution,” Kaiser wrote. “Amendments must be passed by two consecutive sessions of the state Legislature, and then it is put on a ballot. In this case, the “small group of people” who is insisting on putting this on the November ballot is the Republican leadership, afraid of losing big-time in the election and hoping to win only by appealing to the base instincts of voters.” Copies of the Shepherd Express are available without charge throughout the Milwaukee Metro area. No online line version of the review was available at Quest’s deadline. Other content from the paper’s May 31 edition can be found at: www.shepherd-express.com Rainbow Over Wisconsin Pride Project Decorates Gay Venues Statewide Appleton - If gay clubs, taverns and other businesses around Wisconsin seem a little more colorful this month, it’s likely in part due to a regional charity’s promotion of pride month. Rainbow Over Wisconsin has invited dozens of gay-friendly businesses to sell Wisconsin Pride flags to benefit the group’s Community Enrichment Fund throughout the month of June. The flags, which contain a rainbow-colored silhouette of the state of Wisconsin, can be personalized and sell for a dollar each. “The Wisconsin pride rainbows not only brighten up the sponsoring businesses, they support the community as well,” ROW President Dean Dayton told Quest. The pride flag’s sale kicked off at Dayton’s Sheboygan club The Blue Lite during ROW’s 2nd Annual Brat Fry, Tea Dance, Auction & Show there May 29. The flags will be on sale through the end of June. Dayton also noted that ROW had just granted the Action Wisconsin Education Fund a $5000 to continue educational outreach on the marriage and civil union ban. AWEF is associated with the Fair Wisconsin effort to defeat the November 7 referendum on proposed constitutional amendment. ROW also will sponsor the 15th Annual Guernsey Gala to benefit people living with HIV/AIDS served by the Green Bay office of ARCW. The Guernsey Gala kicks off July 22. “We expect ROW’s lifetime financial support of the LGBT community in central, eastern and northeast Wisconsin to easily surpass $100,00 by the end of 2006,” Dean added. “The Wisconsin pride rainbow sale will help make that possible.” Fair Wisconsin Opens Green Bay Office Green Bay - Fair Wisconsin’s efforts to defeat the referendum on the proposed constitutional marriage and civil union ban in the northeast part of the state took a big step forward with the opening of the campaign’s office here June 1and the hiring of a regional field director. Fair Wisconsin will share the space, located on the corner of Greene and Libal Streets in suburban Allouez, with Positive Voice, Inc. Though the office’s formal opening will not be until June 20, a “meet and greet” for Mitch Wallace, Fair Wisconsin’s new northeast regional director was held June 6. Wallace, who has extensive campaign experience, will be overseeing the work of the Green Bay Action Network and regional canvasses among other duties. The next canvass is set for Saturday, June 17. StageQ Offers First Queer Shorts Madison - StageQ, Inc, a local not-for-profit theater company, announces its first festival of short plays. Queer Shorts will play one weekend only, June 22-24, at the Bartell Theatre, 113 E Mifflin St. here. Inspired many annual festivals, Queer Shorts will present 13 one-act plays all based around the concept of “first.” Prepare to be entertained by first kiss, first love, first flood, first bank robbery, and yes, even first sex-toy. Over 125 short plays were submitted and the final production will sure to bring laughter and the occasional tear to theater-goers’ eyes. Local playwrights Greg Harris, Kent Forsberg, Laura Varela, Tara Ayres, Abbie Hill and Mary Waitrovich are joined by one acts by national writers Cindy Cooper, David-Matthew Barnes, John A. Donnelly, Dwayne Yancey, Matthew J Hanson, Edward Crosby Wells, Ted Williams and Andrew Black. Queer Shorts will play Thursday through Saturday, June 22-24, 2006 at the Bartell Theater. All performances will be at 7:30 PM. Tickets may be purchased online at www.StageQ.com or through the reservation line 608-661-9696, Ext. 3. For more information, contact Tara Ayres via email at: artisticdirector@stageQ.com or by phone at: 608-661-9696 Ext. 3. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre To Present “The Fourth Wall” Milwaukee - Chamber Theatre begins its 32nd season with the Milwaukee premiere of A. R. Gurney’s The Fourth Wall, August 10 - 27, 2006. This madcap comedy features the music of Cole Porter. Roger and Peggy are comfortable, happily married suburbanites, until Peggy decides to decorate their living room as if it were the scenic design for a play. Is Peggy mad or is she a modern day Joan of Arc with a distinct vision? Peggy wants to break through that fourth wall (a theatrical term meaning an actor has shown awareness for the audience through an imaginary wall that separates the two) because she believes there is something beyond that space. Roger is so concerned about his wife’ unconventional behavior that he calls in Julia, an old friend and Floyd, a young theater professor. The play gets even wackier when you realize Peggy is also obsessed with the rise of the conservative Republican Party and she intends to make it her quest to right the wrongs of the George W. Bush administration. The Fourth Wall was originally written in 1992 as a commentary on the policies of the first George Bush administration. It has been revised by Gurney twice since then, once during Bill Clinton’ administration and again to reflect the current “George W.” sensibility. The cast features actors quite familiar to Milwaukee Chamber Theatre audiences. Roger and Peggy will be played by Norman Moses (Dinner With Friends, A Hotel On Marvin Gardens) and Kay Stiefel (The Taffetas). Chamber favorite Angela Iannone (Master Class, Dirty Blonde) will play their friend Julia and Rick Pendzich (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Hay Fever) will be Floyd, a young theater professor. Milwaukee native and Skylight Opera Theatre Artistic Director Bill Theisen will make his Milwaukee Chamber Theatre directing debut. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre has previously produced A. R. Gurney’ Love Letters, The Dining Room, The Cocktail Hour and Ancestral Voices. His other plays include Sylvia, Scenes From American Life, Children, The Wayside Motor Inn, Sweet Sue, The Perfect Party, Another Antigone, The Snow Ball (adapted from his novel), Later Life and Let’s Do It (a Cole Porter musical) among many others. He wrote libretto for the opera Strawberry Fields with music by Michael Torke, part of the Central Park Opera trilogy presented by the New York City Opera in 1999. His novels include The Gospel According to Joe, Entertaining Strangers and The Snow Ball. He has received awards from Drama Desk, the National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, New England Theatre Conference, Lucille Lortel Award, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Performances of The Fourth Wall will take place August 10 – 27, 2006 in the Cabot Theatre of the Broadway Theatre Center located at 158 N. Broadway in Milwaukee’ Historic Third Ward. Currently tickets are only available by subscription. A variety of packages are available, $60 - $150. Call (414) 276-8842 for subscription information. Single tickets go on sale July 5 and are available Monday through Saturday from Noon-6:00 PM at the Broadway Theatre Center Box Office, 158 N. Broadway or by phone at 414-291-7800. Tickets are $20 - $37. Group discounts are available by calling 414-276-8842. For more information, visit www.chamber-theatre.com. The Fourth Wall is sponsored by Briggs & Stratton. 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PrideFest Kicks Off Milwaukee’s Summer Of Festivals
Margaret Cho Pre-Show Gets Pride Idol, Political Update
Milwaukee - PrideFest kicks off Milwaukee’s lakefront festival season June 9 - 11 with three nights of major entertainment, more than 100 Cho

performances and activities and over 150 food and merchandise vendors.
PrideFest is Wisconsin’s largest celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture and community and is held annually at the Henry W. Maier Festival Grounds on Milwaukee’s lakefront. Tickets are $12 daily and $25 for a Weekend Pass at www.pridefest.com. Children under 12 get in free (accompanied by a parent or guardian).
After paring down to two days in 2004, PrideFest returns to form by bringing Friday night back to the schedule with The Community Gathering, a kick-off celebration for Pride weekend featuring internationally acclaimed comedienne Margaret Cho.
Friday night’s program also will highlight Voices for a Fair Wisconsin, featuring representatives of the Fair Wisconsin statewide coalition working to educate the community about the proposed state constitutional amendment to ban civil unions. Two dollars from every admission Friday night will be donated to the coalition. Fair Wisconsin’s exclusive “meet and greet” with Cho will be held immediately following the comedienne’s show, and was nearly sold out at Quest’s deadline.
Additional entertainment Friday night will include Lady Bunny, creator of Wigstock, the renowned festival of camp that delighted up to 40,000 New Yorkers every Labor Day, gay rapper LISP, and a sneak preview of Pride Idol.
In addition, the Pump! Dance Pavilion will kick off the summer’s hottest outdoor dance party with an upgraded sound and light system, and fireworks will light up the sky at approximately 9:30 PM.
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PrideFest gets into full swing on Saturday, June 10th with six stages of entertainment and educational activities. Saturday’s musical lineup features hitmakers Berlin (“Take My Breath Away,” “No More Words,” “The Metro”), Martha Wash (“It’s Raining Men”, “Gonna Make Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”) and Bow Wow Wow (“I Want Candy”) performing the headliner show at the Miller Lite Pavilion, as well as many independent favorites like Jill Sobule, Jinx Titanic, the Cathy Richardson Band, and Tret Fure, MorrisonPoe, and comedian Bruce Daniels.
Sunday’s headline performances will feature the sophisticated sounds of powerhouse group En Vogue (“Hold On”, “My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It)”, “Free Your Mind”, “Whatta Man”). Opening act will be Belgian dance-pop duo DHT featuring Edmée, who had one of the year’s biggest radio hits, “Listen to Your Heart.” Other entertainment highlights include comedienne Michele Balan, who is appearing on this summer’s NBC program, “Last Comic Standing”; Milwaukee favorite Pamela Means; internationally acclaimed blues guitarist Sue DaBaco and her band Wise Fools; and the finals for PrideFest’s very popular Pride Idol talent contest.
Family and youth activities are scheduled Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, including visits from the Humane Society and a youth dance contest, “So You Think You Can Prance?”   Educational and information panels will be held throughout the weekend at the Stonewall Pavilion and will feature discussions on health topics, a presentation on transgender identity, Latina/Latino poetry performances, and even a graduation ceremony for students from Milwaukee’s Alliance School.
    New this year, PrideFest features a martini bar with premium beverages Effen Vodka, Hendricks Gin and Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum, as well as five wine selections from Intermezzo Wine Bar. The wine bar will feature coffee, wine and cold beverages in a relaxing garden environment.
PrideFest will also add the Rainbow Pavilion, a full stage at the north end of the grounds, and the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center (MGAC) Cafe and Wine Bar, the Milwaukee LGBT History Project and selections from the Milwaukee Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
This year’s event marks PrideFest’s first festival following the retirement last October of debt incurred in 2003. As a result of a reorganization and successful 2004 and 2005 festivals, PrideFest has emerged bigger and stronger than ever.
Festival hours are: Friday from6 PM to Midnight; Saturday from 11 AM to Midnight; and Sunday from 11 AM to 10PM. PrideFest will offer free entrance with donation of four non-perishable food items Saturday and Sunday, 11 AM to 1PM. Donations will benefit the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin’s Food Pantries in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Kenosha and LaCrosse. Children under 12 accompanied by a parent or guardian receive free admission all weekend.
The full schedule for PrideFest is available at www.pridefest.com.

Expanded Milwaukee Pride Parade Set To Roll June 11
Milwaukee - An expanded route filled with colorful banners, major corporate sponsorships, greater cooperation with PrideFest and the theme of Parade logo

“Pride Not Prejudice” will mark the 2006 edition of the Milwaukee Gay Pride Parade (MGPP) to be held Sunday, June 11. Line-up for the parade will begin at Noon with a 2 PM step-off.
The route has been expanded to cover most of Walker’s Point area along 2nd Street, from Greenfield to Lapham Avenues. The city of Milwaukee has authorized the display of large gay pride banners have been hung along the parade route since May 24 and will remain through June 18. The banners will feature the pride parade’s logo.
MGPP has announced some of the parade units to appear in this year’s event. The Great Lakes Harley Riders will kick off the march. Among the units following the leather motorcycle men will be Pride Idol, STD Specialties, Men’s Voices Milwaukee, ASAP Financial, ARCW and ROTC. Among the Wisconsin clubs and bars with units in the parade will be Harbor Room,Tazzbah, Avante Garde, Brew City Bears, Club Icon, Mona’s, Woody’s, Boom, The Shelter, M & M Club, Pegs and Triangle. Among the Wisconsin media on the parade route will be OutBound and Quest.
Major sponsorships for this year’s parade include the Miller Brewing Company, Joseph Pabst, American United Taxi Co. and the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. Media sponsors include Quest, Outbound and Queer Life.
MGPP has also seen also stressed greater cooperation with the PrideFest. “The parade remains separate but is coordinating with PrideFest this year,” MGPP founder and outgoing chair James Kuchta told Quest. “Both groups want the parade to enhance PrideFest weekend. The parade is another means to draw people to the area and to PrideFest on its closing day.”

Bush Backs Amendment Banning Gay Marriage - Again
Washington, D.C. - President Bush again promoted a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on June 5, the eve of a scheduled Senate Duh-Byah

vote on the cause that is dear to his conservative backers. The press conference was announced as Quest goes to press. Bush has supported previous versions of the marriage amendment, including mentioning it in a State Of The Union address.
The amendment would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages. To become law, the proposal would need two-thirds support in the Senate and House, and then be ratified by at least 38 state legislatures. However, at Quest’s deadline it stood little chance of passing the 100-member Senate, where proponents are struggling to get even 50 votes. Several Republicans oppose the measure, and so far only one Democrat Senator. Ben Nelson of Nebraska had said he would vote for it.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the amendment on May 18 along party lines after a shouting match between a Democrat and the chairman, Senator. Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania). He bid Senator. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin)”good riddance” after Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment and his intention to leave the meeting.
A slim majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press from March. But the poll also showed attitudes are changing: 63% opposed gay marriage in February 2004. Those poll results don’t reflect how people might feel about amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage.
This November, initiatives banning same-sex marriages are expected to be on the ballot in Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. In 2004, 13 states approved initiatives prohibiting gay marriage or civil unions, with 11 states casting votes on Election Day.
Bush benefited as religious conservatives turned out to vote and helped him defeat Democratic Senator. John Kerry in 2004. In Ohio, an initiative rejecting the legality of civil unions won handily. The same state tipped the election to Bush.
“The president firmly believes that marriage is an enduring and sacred institution between men and women and has supported measures to protect the sanctity of marriage,” White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said in announcing th press conference.
Bush has lost support among conservatives who blame the White House and Congress for runaway government spending, illegal immigration and lack of action on social issues such as the gay marriage amendment. Opponents of the amendment objected to Bush promoting a measure they said amounts to discrimination.
“This is fundamentally both a civil rights and religious freedom issue and the president’s position of supporting amending the constitution is just dead wrong,” said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “This is simply to give ammunition to the so-called religious right just to show that the president is still with them.”
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese characterized the President’s support of the GOP-backed marriage ban as a disgraceful diversionary tactic. “It’s a national disgrace that President Bush has yet again bowed to the far-right extremists. Instead of addressing the real challenges facing American families - from record-high gas prices, bankrupting health care costs and an endless and costly war in Iraq - the President will further divide this country and put the far-right extremists’ interests ahead of the American people’s well-being,” Solmonese said.
Two groups hosted a “coast to coast” bridge walk in support of gay marriage June 3 in response to the planned Senate vote deciding whether to ban same sex marriage. Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) and Marriage Equality New York (MENY) hosted simultaneous walks across the Brooklyn Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples.
“On June 5th, anti-equality forces in the US Senate are again bringing the discriminatory Federal Marriage Constitutional Amendment for a vote,” MEUSA Executive Director Davina Kotulski said. “We have gathered together the diverse array of those in favor of liberty, justice and marriage equality to redouble our outreach and educational efforts.”
“The Coast-to-Coast Bridge Walks are raising visibility and educate fair-minded Americans about the 1400 protections that come with civil marriage and the harms that befall same-sex couples because of marriage discrimination,” Kotulski added.