Wisconsin Amendment Fight Now Serious Business
Catholic Bishops, Former Governors Weigh In As Fair Wisconsin Announces $1.2 Million Tally
Madison - With just four months until the November 7 ballot, both opponents and supporters of the proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution banning all legal recognition of unmarried gay and straight couples fired their first volleys in what is likely to become a very heated debate over the next 125 days. A June 30 announcement by Fair Wisconsin's Mike Tate that the group had raised over $1.2 million to battle the ban followed dueling statements from a bipartisan roster of former governors and the state's Roman Catholic bishops issued on June 28.
  The $1.2 million announcement came at the quarterly fundraising deadline for Federal and Wisconsin Elections Commission reports due July 20. According to Tate, Fair Wisconsin has over one million on hand. Tate's official announcement estimated over 5,000 individuals gave money to the campaign, with over 90% of them Wisconsin residents. Insiders tell Quest Tate's official donor and perentage estimates are conservative.
  The “million in the bank” figure came after the close of a ten-day “30 by 30” online fundraising campaign. Online donations totaled $42,530, surpassing the goal by nearly 42%.
   According to Tate, Fair Wisconsin also has begun building “the largest grassroots campaign Wisconsin has ever seen,” explaining the organization now has over 6500 volunteers, with “volunteers knocking on thousands of doors in every county, over 2000 trained speakers, and 26 regional action networks.”
  In his email memo to the group's supporters announcing the total, Tate characterized Fair Wisconsin's efforts as an underdog effort. “This is a campaign that seeks to do what many believe is not possible,” Tate wrote. “The cynics, naysayers, and keepers of the status quo do not think we can defeat a civil unions and marriage ban here in Wisconsin... At Fair Wisconsin we believe these cynics have met their match.”
  “This is a campaign run by Wisconsinites, funded by Wisconsinites, and one that will be won by Wisconsinites standing up and saying 'No' to a ban that threatens our values of fairness and family,” Tate added.
  Political pundits were quick to take note of the million dollar figure. WisPolitics.com's “Political Stock Report” of insider opinion tagged the anti-amendment group's fortunes as “Rising,” noting that “amendment supporters have long suspected that the anti-forces would raise more money, but they also believed much of it would come from out of state.”
  Fair Wisconsin's financial good news followed by two days a strong political boost. A bipartisan group of former Wisconsin governors - Democrats Patrick Lucey, Martin Schreiber and Tony Earl and Republican Lee Sherman Dreyfus - jointly issued a statement June 28 opposing the civil union and marriage ban. “As former governors, we believe the ban runs contrary to the values of freedom and fairness that make Wisconsin great,” the statement said, noting that the amendment's passage “would mark the first time we have ever amended our constitution to limit freedom.”
 The governors' statement also noted that since same-sex marriage is already illegal in Wisconsin, the amendment far reaching second sentence would unfairly “single out a group of people in our state and deny them any measure of basic legal protection.”
  Wisconsin's current governor Jim Doyle has repeatedly spoken out against the ban, as has one of his 2004 opponents, Libertarian Ed Thompson who characterized Republican lawmakers as “bigots” earlier this year. Thompson's brother, former governor Tommy Thompson has been generally silent on the issue, though in 1998 he angled to prevent consideration of so-called “Defense of Marriage” legislation after his fellow Republicans took control of the State Senate following a special election.
  Doyle's GOP opponent Mark Green has come out in strong support of the ban. Former governor Scott McCallum, who succeeded Thompson as governor before being defeated by Doyle in 2002, also has supported the concept of such a ban but not specifically endorsed the current referendum.
  Wisconsin's Roman Catholic Bishops also issued a statement supporting the amendment June 28, along with a second letter recommending a “no” vote on the advisory death penalty referendum also on the November 7 ballot. Both letters will be read to attendees at Sunday services between now and election day.
  “These two referenda provide an opportunity for Catholics to bear witness to our teaching,” explained Wisconsin Catholic Conference Executive Director John Huebscher in a press release announcing the letters. “The coming months provide a ‘teachable moment’ on two important issues. The bishops want to make the most of it.”
  Writing on marriage, the bishops affirmed the teachings of the Church that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. “It is within this unique bond of mutual and reciprocal marital love that a man and a woman become one. This reciprocal love reflects the natural ‘complementarity’ between men and women,” the bishops wrote.
  The bishops also emphasized that in affirming marriage they do not demean persons with a same-sex orientation”Church teaching regarding the dignity of homosexual persons is clear: ‘They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in this regard should be avoided,’” the bishops wrote. “Even as we ask Catholics to support this amendment, we also urge them to repudiate words and deeds that demean individuals with a homosexual orientation.”
  However, the bishops did not address the amendment's second sentence or its social justice implications in their letter. That language is the primary reason several Christian denominations representing over 700 churches have voiced their opposition to the ban, including three synods of the Evangelical Church in America, three Wisconsin presbyteries, Wisconsin United Methodist Conference as well as leaders from the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist leaders.
  The Rev. Paul Armstrong from Covenant United Methodist Church in Fond du Lac recently told reporter Sharon Roznik of the Fond Du Lac Reporter that the Wisconsin conference considered both church doctrine and civil law in its decision to formally oppose the amendment.
  “On the whole, the individual is not bound by the doctrine of the church,” Armstrong said. “In my personal opinion, this should not be a constitutional issue because you are dealing with a restrictive amendment. While the constitution is one that has guaranteed rights, this would be the first restrictive amendment.”
  According to Armstrong, while the church is against the second part of the amendment, it is highly supportive of marriage being “between a man and a woman.”
  Though the bishops have come down in support of the amendment, other Catholic religious have not. Sister Caryl Hartjes of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes in Fond du Lac dislikes how amendment supporters are trying to characterize the amendment. “Don't call it a gay marriage ban. Refer to it as a civil union ban amendment. It's much broader than gay marriage, which is already illegal in Wisconsin even without this amendment,” Hartjes said.
  The bishops' letter diverted the spotlight away from the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, seen by many as the organization leading the campaign in support of the amendment.  Quest has learned from that two FRI-sponsored events held recently didn't live up to the organization's expectations. A fundraising luncheon featuring Phyllis Schlafly, head of the right-wing group Concerned Women of America at the Country Inn in Waukesha drew only eighty attendees and scant media attention. Worse yet, Schlafly spent most of her talk dealing with another conservative agenda item: illegal immigration.
  FRI's recent so-called “Pastor's Summit” on the marriage issue also did not draw the 200 tally touted on the group's website. Quest has learned only about 180 church leaders - not all ordained clergy - actually attended and that many preferred to network or take care of other business outside of the conference hall during the day-long event.
  However, FRI Executive Director Julaine Appling has indicated the organization will be stepping up its efforts to energize support for the amendment. According to a June 30 report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Appling picked up “hundreds of thousands of pieces of literature” the same day the bishops issued their letter. “It's about getting literature in the hands of people at this stage of the game, and talking to every person we can find about the importance of voting to protect the institution of marriage now and in the future,” Appling told reporter Stacy Foster.

World & National News:

HRC Report: Majority Of Fortune 500 Offer Partner Benefits
New York - For the first time, a majority of Fortune 500 companies now offer health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners of employees, a report released by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation has shown.
The Washington-based gay civil rights group found that 253, or 51%, of Fortune 500 companies provide equal benefits. Seven, including 3M Co., Lowe’s Cos. and Clear Channel Communications Inc., added such policies in the past six months. That figure compares to 219 companies in 2004, and 246 in 2005 that offered health benefits for same-sex partners.
  “It’s an issue of basic fairness and good business,” Joe Solmonese, the foundation’s president, said in a statement issued June 29.
  The study also found that 86% of Fortune 500 companies prohibit discrimination based on employees’ sexual orientation. Though 49% of the surveyed companies have not extended health benefits to same-sex partners, the entire Fortune 500 has taken steps toward friendlier policies, Solmonese said.

Pentagon Flip-Flops On “Homosexuality As Mental Disorder” Policy
Washington, D.C. - The Pentagon no longer deems homosexuality a mental disorder, officials said on June 28, although the reversal has no impact on U.S. policy prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the military.
  After a 1996 Pentagon document placing homosexuality among a list of “certain mental disorders” came to light this month, the American Psychiatric Association and a handful of lawmakers asked the Defense Department to change its view.
  The Pentagon said in a statement: “Homosexuality should not have been characterized as a mental disorder in an appendix of a procedural instruction. A clarification will be issued over the next few days.Notwithstanding its inclusion, we find no practical impact since that appendix simply listed factors that do not constitute a physical disability, and homosexuality of course does not.”
  The 1996 Pentagon document, which had been recertified as “current” three years ago, had listed homosexuality as a mental disorder alongside mental retardation, impulse control disorders and personality disorders. The American Psychiatric Association, responsible for a definitive listing of mental health classifications, declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973.
  In fiscal 2005, which ended last September 30, 726 military personnel were discharged under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the Pentagon said. Adopted by Congress in 1993, the policy allows homosexuals to serve in the armed forces only if they do not reveal their sexual orientation and abstain from gay sex.
  Changing the classification “will be consistent with the scientific consensus on homosexuality and mental health,” Nathaniel Frank, a researcher at the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California at Santa Barbara told the Associated Press. The center recently found and released the 1996 document.
  “I’m glad the language has been changed,” Servicemembers Legal Defense Network spokesperson Steve Ralls said. SLDN opposes limits on gays in the military. Ralls added that he believed it was a simple oversight by the Pentagon, not malice, that the document continued to list homosexuality as a mental disorder.

U. S. Episcopals Face Expulsion Over Gay Bishop
Canterbury - The archbishop of Canterbury called for Anglicans around the world to forge an agreement on issues that divide them, including the roles of gay clergy and women in the church, and suggested that the U.S. Episcopal Church could be relegated to second-tier status if it is unwilling to sign the proposed covenant.
  Leading conservative Episcopalians cheered the June 27 “Reflection” by Rowan Williams, head of the 75 million-member Anglican Communion, the worldwide family of churches descended from the Church of England. They said it could lead within a few years to the moment they have long anticipated, when the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church USA is forced either to renounce its 2003 decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop or face expulsion from the communion.
  Liberals in the U.S. church noted that Williams did not specify what the covenant would say about homosexuality. They said drafting the document would involve lengthy negotiations and might result in a nuanced agreement the U.S. church could sign. And if the Episcopal Church could not join the covenant, some said, it might be content with some kind of “associate” status.
  “I don’t see this as leading to the Episcopal Church being expelled. I see it as meaning we might need to sit on the sidelines for a time, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because it would . . . allow us to set the divisive issues to the side and focus on our work, which is the Gospel,” Rev. Tobias S. Haller told the Associated Press. Haller is the vicar of St. James Church in the Bronx and author of a liberal Episcopal blog called “In a Godward Direction”
  Williams wrote his Reflection in response to last week’s General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio, where delegates elected Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as the first woman to head any of the communion’s 38 member churches. Thirteen of the 38 do not ordain women as priests or bishops.
  The convention also called on U.S. dioceses not to consecrate any more bishops “whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.” That language fell short of a clear moratorium on installing more gay bishops, which conservative Anglicans sought. On June 28 the Archdiocese of Newark announced an openly gay priest had been named as a candidate for the diocese’ upcoming elections.
  Despite his limited powers, Williams has sought to bridge the divisions caused by the consecration three years ago of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. “It seems to me the best way forward,” he wrote, “is to draft a covenant on key theological and governing principles.
  Member churches that do not sign the agreement could end up with associate status, “still bound by historic and perhaps personal links” but “not sharing the same constitutional structures,” he added.

Arkansas Supreme Court Rejects Gay Foster Parents Ban
Little Rock -  Arkansas cannot ban homosexuals from becoming foster parents because there is no link between their sexual orientation and a child’s well-being, the state’s high court ruled June 29. The court agreed with a lower-court judge that the state’s child welfare board had improperly tried to regulate public morality. The ban also violated the separation-of-powers doctrine, the justices said.
  The board instituted the ban in 1999, saying children should be in traditional two-parent heterosexual homes because they would be more likely to thrive. Four residents sued, claiming discrimination and privacy violations against homosexuals who otherwise qualified as foster parents.
  The justices agreed, saying the ban was “an attempt to legislate for the General Assembly with respect to public morality.”
  “There is no correlation between the health, welfare and safety of foster children and the blanket exclusion of any individual who is a homosexual or who resides in a household with a homosexual,” Associate Justice Donald Corbin wrote.
  In addition, the court said, the testimony of a Child Welfare Agency Review Board member demonstrated that “the driving force behind adoption of the regulations was not to promote the health, safety and welfare of foster children but rather based upon the board’s views of morality and its bias against homosexuals.”
  The ban had not been used since the lower-court ruling in 2004, state Health and Human Services spokeswoman Julie Munsell said. She said the plaintiffs have not sought foster-parent status since then.

Pro-Gay Hate Crime? Right-Wing Dad Accuses First Graders
Lexington, MA - The superintendent of schools in here said it all started when two first-grade boys argued over who should sit where in the cafeteria. One of them punched the other several times on the playground while at least five children stood by and watched, the superintendent said.
  But according to a Massachusetts group that opposes gay rights, a band of first-graders singled out 7-year-old Jacob Parker for a schoolyard “beating” in retaliation for his father’s campaign to stop Estabrook Elementary School from including information about same-sex parents in its curriculum.
  The May 17 incident, reported by reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. in the June 30 edition of Southern Voice, was triggered by a climate of anti-conservative hate created by those who support gay marriage and the teaching of homosexuality in the schools, the group Mass Resistance said.
  “He was taken around the corner of the school building out of sight of the patrolling aides, with the taunting and encouragement of other kids,” Mass Resistance said in a statement on its website. “Jacob was then positioned against the wall for what appeared to be a well-planned and coordinated assault.”
  Chibbaro reported that Mass Resistance insisted in its statement that it was not a coincidence that the May 17 incident took place on the anniversary of the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
  Lexington school superintendent Paul B. Ash disputed the Mass Resistance account, saying a thorough investigation conducted by the school’s principal showed the incident stemmed from a squabble over cafeteria seating that continued during an outdoor recess period.
  “These were two first-graders having a child squabble on a playground,” Ash told the Boston Globe. “Some adults are exploiting these children for political purposes.”
  Meg Soens, co-chair of Lexington Cares, a group that supports teaching children about family diversity, including households headed by same-sex parents, said David Parker, Jacob’s father, appeared to be using the playground incident as a “publicity stunt” to promote a lawsuit he filed against the school system.
  Last year, David Parker sued the Lexington school district to contest its refusal to allow him to remove his son from class whenever the subject of homosexuality or same-sex parents is discussed. Parker charged that the school district is required under state law to put in place an “opt out” policy for subjects related to human sexuality.
  School officials dispute this claim. They have said allowing parents to remove their kids from class during discussion of alternative family arrangements would stigmatize kids with same-sex parents.
  In a widely publicized dispute with school officials, Parker refused to leave Estabrook Elementary School last year following a meeting with officials over his opt-out proposal. Police arrested him for trespassing at school closing time when he said he would remain inside the building until the school agreed to his demands over the curriculum dispute.
  Mass Resistance President Brian Camenker has said the children at the school were aware of David Parker’s views and his arrest, and this created a hostile atmosphere in the liberal-leaning Lexington community that played a role in the assault of Jacob Parker.
  Mass Resistance’s account, which it said came largely from David Parker, was quickly picked up by the websites of national anti-gay groups, including the Traditional Values Coalition, the American Family Association, and Concerned Women for America.
  In an e-mail alert sent to its members, Traditional Values Coalition head Lou Sheldon denounced gay activists and “liberal journalists” for not reacting with outrage over what he called a hate-motivated crime.  “Where are the candlelight vigils on behalf of his son?” asked Sheldon, who called on supporters to send money to help David Parker finance his lawsuit.
  Ash said in a June 16 statement that the Estabrook principal conducted an investigation into the assault of Jacob Parker that included interviews with more than a dozen students and an adult school aide who stepped in to break up the altercation.
  He said the investigation found that several first-grade students became involved in a disagreement over who would sit next to whom in the cafeteria. The dispute spilled outside into the schoolyard, where one student took Jacob by the hand and brought him to another student in an area “that is somewhat difficult for the adults to see,” Ash said.
  The second student hit Jacob two to four times in the chest or abdomen, Ash said. The superintendent said at least five other students stood nearby watching but did not participate in the assault. “The child who was hit said he was not hurt and did not want to go to the nurse,” Ash said in his statement. “He reported that his feelings were hurt because the child who hit him was his friend.”
  According to Ash, the assailant was sent to the assistant principal’s office, where he acknowledged that what he did was wrong. The boy then filled out a “think sheet” to reflect on his behavior and wrote an apology to Jacob, Ash said. “Following the incident, the boys were observed arm-in-arm at school and subsequently the child who was hit went to the house of the child who hit him for a play date,” Ash said.
  Chibbaro could not reach David Parker for comment. However, he told the Boston Globe he remained convinced that the incident was related to his dispute with school officials, saying other students have talked to his son about the dispute. He and his wife chose not to file a police report because they didn’t want to subject the children to stress, he said.
  Gay rights activist Wayne Besen, who recently founded the group “Truth Wins Out” to counter the efforts of “ex-gay” groups, said the conservative organizations have engaged in a “massive deception” campaign to portray the Estabrook Elementary School incident as a hate crime instigated by gays against a child.
  “It is a fabrication so fictitious it could have been written by Stephen King,” Besen said. “Virtually nothing is true and the distortions are a deliberate attempt to smear a school district, intimidate administrators and influence a curriculum that has the temerity to suggest that gay families exist and should be treated with respect.”

State News:

Madison - Humor and hometown values will be the focus of this 2006 and MAGIC Picnic  and Madison Pride March July 8-9 here. The two day event will feature an entertainment line-up filled with national and regional talent in a family friendly environment.
  Parade Grand Marshall and featured performer on Sunday will be veteran comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer. Before Ellen’s comedic coming-out, Westenhoefer was already making both lesbians laugh and straight folks squirm and smile at stand-up gigs all over the country. In 1991, Suzanne appeared on a groundbreaking episode of the Sally Jesse Raphael show called, “Breaking the Lesbian Stereotype…Lesbians Who Don’t Look Like Lesbians.” The pioneering performer, who grew up in Pennsylvania’s Amish country, has released a half-dozen CDs and videos over the last decade and a half.
  Currently in the middle of a national tour that kicked off with an Olivia Caribbean cruise last April, Westenhoefer also recently toured with the Indigo Girls and is currently a panelist on the Game Show Network’s “I’ve Got a Secret.” The 2006 version of “Secret” is a gay take-off on the 1950’s  game show and features openly-gay panelists Frank DeCaro, Billy Bean, Jermaine Taylor and Westenhoefer trying to guess the guest’s secret.
  The Madison Pride Board is producing an event unlike any previous effort put forth in the past. The family-centered focus will be reflected in families and couples leading off this year’s pride march with the Dykes On Bikes. Pride also will not be charging an entrance fee on Sunday and the event will offer a children’s area with games, kid friendly entertainers and other fun things to do.
  Madison Pride’s diverse entertainment lineup on Saturday, July 8 continues it’s tradition of hard pounding, excitement building entertainment with Pulsation, the Wade Otis Band, Lady Kier and Madison’s Pride Drag Show. Sunday, July 9 will be a day for kicking back and relaxing with friends and family as headliner Westenhoefer, Tret Fure and more will entertain and delight attendees.
   Madison Pride’s Troy M. Rettschlag recently announced the march route for this year’s  pride parade has been finalized. The march will be taking place away from the Capital square area due to Art Fair on the Square.
   The revised route will step off from the line-up staging area  in the Brittingham Beach parking lot on the corner of N. Lake Shore Drive and Proudfit St.  The march will then head west on Proudfit, turn right onto West Main St. and head east. Marchers will then turn left onto North Bedford St.heading west. Units will then turn left onto West Washington Avenue returning them to Brittingham Park. A map of the route is at the Madison Pride website: www.madisonpride.org/sections/events/march/march.pdf.
  The line-up process will begin at 11 AM on Sunday, with the march stepping off promptly at Noon. The annual rally will be held at Brittingham Park this year immediately following the march.
  As in years past all groups and organizations are welcome to arrive early for unit and  float assembly. Unit leaders are asked to check in with Rettschlag, who will be attired as Miss Planet Q, Alexis M. Rouge. Rettschlag will be wearing a white and lavender sash with a rhinestone studded Q.
  For additional information about the weekend events, visit the Madison Pride website at: www.madisonpride.org.

Central Wisconsin Pride Draws A Thousand
Stevens Point - Central Wisconsin Pride’s second annual outing was a hot time for the estimated one thousand people who took part in the city’s downtown Pfiffner Pioneer Park June 17. Hot, muggy weather, hot bluegrass music from Chicago’s Cornmeal, the hot button marriage ban issue and a hot and sassy drag show made for a successful day according to lead organizer Larry Steltenpohl. “We’ve already exceeded last year’s sales and we still have an hour to go,” Steltenpohl told Quest at day’s end.
  Local residents here didn’t miss this year’s edition of Central Wisconsin Pride - its was held downtown in the city’s best-known festival site, Pfiffner Pioneer Park from Noon to 10 PM. The event featured local and regional entertainers, food and beer stands, and an array of booths featuring organizations and vendors.
  The Central Wisconsin Pride Committee (CWPC) hosted its second annual community-wide celebration to educate and celebrate the diversity that the LGBT population brings to central Wisconsin. The LGBT community makes up a significant part of the larger geographic community and includes business owners, educators, professionals and students. “Central Wisconsin Pride 2006 was not only a celebration of who we are, but also a celebration of the community and its welcoming and progressive attitudes,” CWPC  chair Steltenpohl said. “The struggle for acceptance for LGBT members, their family and friends has made tremendous strides in central Wisconsin.”
  According to Steltenpohl, it is exactly these attributes that make Stevens Point the ideal location for a community-wide celebration. “In addition it creates a great venue where other non-profit organizations including ARCW, PFLAG , and Fair Wisconsin may use for their own outreach programs to educate and create awareness throughout central Wisconsin,” Steltenpohl told Quest.
  Nearly two dozen vendors and not-for-profit participated at the event. Participants ranged from food vendors such as Gyro & Kabob House, Willy’s and La Mexteca; groups such as Footsteps Fellowship and First UCC of Wausau to vendors such as ReMax Realtors, Usborne Books, Nature Treks and Tastefully Simple.
  The committee also had arranged for special lodging rates for out of town visitors. The Road Star Inn and the Country Springs Hotel both  offered special Pride rates.
  Main Stage acts included Chicago’s progressive blues band Cornmeal, Milwaukee acoustic singer Britteny Mitchell, Central Wisconsin alternative trio Maggie & the Molecules and Stevens Point’s Shuvani Belly Dancers. The popular annual drag show, which this year again attracted as many local straight folks as gay community members, featured Tennessee’s “Diva Extraordinaire” Demitree and Wisconsin titleholders Bryanna Banks, Jackie Christine, Misty Mountain, Lady Gia, and Ethan Morgan.
  Language on stage became an issue for this year’s drag show. Because the main stage abuts a residential area and amplified music and dialog can be heard for blocks away from the park, city usage permits require use of language suitable for all ages. Show host Banks acknowledged and publicly apologized for the strong words at the 2005 event at the beginning of this year’s show. However, once again several of the drag performers’ recorded routines contained significant R-rated language and live slips of the tongue peppered the show.  Police present so noted the violations.
  “I will bet that this will be the last year we will be able to use this park,” Steltenpohl said. “The performers were specifically told about the problems last year’s show caused (the CWPC).”
  Central Wisconsin Pride Committee describes itself as a nonprofit organization made up of a diverse group of people from central Wisconsin’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Formed in the fall of 2004, CWPC hopes to help fight the battle for civil rights in the LGBT community, promote diversity, raise awareness, and educate people in the central Wisconsin area. Additional information about the Central Wisconsin Pride event is available at the group’s website at: www.centralwisconsinpride.com.

LaCrosse Pride To Return August 25-27
LaCrosse - The 7 Rivers LGBT Center has announced plans to organize a three day LGBT pride event here August 25-27. The weekend will kick off with a “pizza cruise”on the Julia Belle Swain Steamboat on August 25. Tickets will be $28.50 and the price includes pizza, cruise and entertainment which will be provided by DJ Scotty, Mr. Gay Mississippi Valley 2006.
  Several events, including women’s and co-ed softball tournaments, an exhibit of the nationally acclaimed photo exhibit “Love Makes A Family,” a series of guest speakers, music and a variety show are set for the Omni Center in nearby Onalaska on August 26. The weekend will conclude with the annual Red Ribbon Fund family picnic at Copeland Park.
  Details about the schedule events are available on the LaCrosse Pride website at : lacrossepride.7riverslgbt.org. Volunteers also are needed to staff the weekend. If you would like to volunteer or have questions, contact the organizers at: pride@7riverslgbt.org.

OutReach Achievement Awards Announced
Madison - OutReach has announced the recipients of the agency’s 2006 Annual Achievement Awards. Seven individuals and groups have been honored.
  Former President of Action Wisconsin Tony Sheehan has been named the David Runyon Man of the Year. Sheehan has a long history of advocacy and involvement in the Madison LGBT communities including The New Harvest Foundation, AIDS Network, GALVAnize and Stage Q.
  The Susan Green Woman of the Year has been awarded to Laura Gutknecht  for her tireless work and leadership as a transgender advocate. In addition, Laura works at WORT Radio and is co-host of The MIC’s “Forward Forum” with former OutReach Executive Director John Quinlan.
  Cris Derrick has been honored as the OutReach Volunteer of the Year. Derrick currently facilitates three OutReach groups, as well as serving in a lead role on the OutReach Special Events Committee. She also has assisted the OutReach treasurer with the bookkeeping data entry and front desk staffing.
  Veteran  activist Steve Morrison has been selected as the Ally of the Year. Morrison has been the Executive Director of the Madison Jewish Community Council for 28 years.  Throughout his tenure he has made his personal support for full equality for lesbian and gay people evident in his family life, political involvement and leadership within the Jewish community. Most recently Morrison has worked with Fair Wisconsin on the anti-amendment campaign’s Faith Outreach.
  OutReach’s Organization of the Year is the University of Wisconsin Press. The UW Press has been dedicated to publishing works by and for the LGBT communities and its allies. More than simply turning out books, they have told stories, raised awareness and connected readers through a network of shared ideas and experiences.
  Two others have bee selected for Special Recognition Awards. Juan Jose Lopez has been an advocate for the needs of LGBT youth and children in LGBT families through his involvement with the LGBT youth group Briarpatch, the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County and the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education.
  Thomas McClurg of Stage Q also has been honored for his efforts to establish a successful LGBT theatre company in Madison. According to McClurg,Stage Q’s mission  is to present plays which challenge audiences artistically, build cultural bridges and offer a diverse productions that are either either gay themed or by LGBT playwrights.
  Formal presentation of the OutReach awards will be at the 14th Annual OutReach Awards Banquet on July 7 in the Grand Ballroom of Monona Terrace.  Tickets remain available and are $60 per person or $110 per pair at OutReach. Call 608-255-8582 to secure tickets. Seating is limited. For more information about the banquet, including meal selections visit the agency’s website at: www.outreachinc.com.

UW-Madison LGBT Group To Honors Education Leaders
Madison - Citing leadership in educational work, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Alumni Council (GLBTAC) will honor two Madison-area advocates and an Alabama professor during its 15th annual brunch on Sunday, July 9.
  Judi Devereux and Emily Dickmann, both of Madison, and Steve Miller of Tuscaloosa, Ala., will receive GLBTAC’s highest recognition, the Distinguished Alumni Award, at the brunch, which occurs during Madison’s Pride Weekend. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, who represents the Madison area and graduated from the UW-Madison Law School, will also be in attendance.
  Devereux and Dickmann were both nominated for their work with the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network of South-Central Wisconsin (GLSEN-SCW), an organization that seeks to create a safe environment for GLBT students and staff at Wisconsin schools. The organization recently changed its name to the Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSA for Safe Schools).
  Devereux studied interior design at UW-Madison and has worked as a free-lance Web designer. Though she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 1990, she continues to be active with GLSEN-SCW/GSA for Safe Schools, where she is co-chair of the board. She helped plan that organization’s 10th annual Celebration of Leadership in May.
  Dickmann, who graduated from UW-Madison in 1997, is an academic adviser at the university’s Chadbourne Residential College. A close friend of Devereux’s, she helped in the planning of the 2006 Celebration of Leadership, and she has served GLSEN-SCW as a grant writer, as a member of the finance committee and as chair.
  Miller is a professor in the University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies, where he coordinates the master of fine arts program in book arts. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in sociology from UW-Madison in 1972, he founded Red Ozier Press, which specialized in publishing literary first editions and handmade limited editions. He joined Alabama’s faculty in 1988, and he teaches courses in letterpress printing and hand papermaking. He is also the proprietor of Red Hydra Press, where he designs and prints limited-edition, handmade books and ephemera.
  Each year, the GLBT Alumni Council honors UW-Madison graduates who have shown an exemplary commitment to the GLBT community and have demonstrated excellence in their life’s work as a self-identified GLBT person or ally. The event is open to the public and will be held from 10 AM- Noon at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St., Madison. Call P.J. Hoesly at 608-262-9646 for more information.

7 Rivers LGBT Center To Exhibit “Love Makes A Family”
LaCrosse -  The nationally acclaimed “Love Makes A Family” photo exhibit will be on display  in a number of locations in the Coulee region July 17 through September 22. Showings are being sponsored by the 7 Rivers LGBT Center here.
  “Love Makes a Family” is a museum-quality traveling exhibit including photographs and interviews with families that have lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members. Through first-person accounts and positive images, this exhibit seeks to challenge and change damaging myths and stereotypes about LGBT people and their families.
  At the most basic level, “Love Makes A Family” combats homophobia by breaking silence and making the invisible visible. By encouraging people of all ages - beginning in early childhood - to affirm and appreciate diversity, this traveling rental exhibit contributes to the process of dismantling the destructive power of prejudice and intolerance, thereby making the world a safer place for all families.
  Designed for audiences of all ages, “Love Makes a Family” challenges stereotypes about LGBT people and helps dismantle homophobia. The photo-text rental exhibit consists of ready-to-hang framed photographs and text. The companion book, Love Makes a Family (published by the University of Massachusetts Press) was named the Best Book about Gay and Lesbian Issues by the Association of Independent Publishers.
  The exhibit will debut on Monday, July 17 at the Valley View Mall, 3800 Hwy. 16, and be available for viewing during business hours through Wednesday, August 2. The show will then move to the LaCrosse Public Library on August 3, then to the Omni Center to LaCrosse Pride weekend on August 26. September showings are also set for the Winona (Minnesota) State University Library and the UW-LaCrosse Port ‘O Call. Full details about the showings are available at the 7 Rivers Center website at: www.7riverslgbt.org. 

Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival Set For September 7-17
Milwaukee - The 2006 edition of the Milwaukee Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Film/Video Festival has announced the event’s show dates and this year’s major funding organization. The festival is scheduled to open on September 7 at the Oriental Theatre and to continue through September 17 at the UW-M Union Theatre. 
  Once again, the festival is poised to show a range of work as lively, diverse, and surprising as the community it serves, and this year - the Festival’s nineteenth - it will be doing so with the help of its first principal sponsor, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Johnson & Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund. 
  An advised fund created to celebrate the union of love that existed between Joseph Pabst and the late Robert Johnson, the Johnson & Pabst Humanity Fund supports organizations with a strong LGBT foundation that serve both the LGBT community and the community at large.
  “The gift from the Fund will enable us to expand outreach for the festival, connecting larger and more diverse audiences with the films that make the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival such an important event for the community,” festival director Carl Bogner told Quest.
According to Joseph Pabst, the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival has a long history of serving both the LGBT community and the community at large.  “It is both a cultural event and a community event, bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together to experience a wide range of LGBT films,” Pabst said.
  Last year the festival presented a record 30 programs of films and videos, over 65 titles from around the world, by and about the LGBT community - all work that had never screened in Milwaukee before.
  The Festival also draws on support from many other sources.  The UW-M Peck School of the Arts, through its Film Department, serves as host to the Festival and provides administrative support; the UW-M Union supplies a venue for much of the 11-day event; and numerous individuals and businesses have generously supported the festival throughout its nineteen-year history. However, in a world of rising prices and fierce competition for audiences, the Festival continues to need assistance with the cost of films, shipping, and marketing. As it has grown from a single weekend to an 11-day event, staff needs have also increased.
  Bogner is planning two pre-Festival events this summer. The second annual festival fundraiser featuring a sneak peek at festival offerings will be held Saturday, July 22, from 7-10 PM at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center and the Intermezzo Wine and Martini Lounge, 703 South 2nd St. Tickets will be $15 at the door and include snacks and a free drink at the bar.
  On Thursday, August 10, Bogner has set “Fabulous!,” an expert, engaging and very smart new history of the queer cinema from filmmakers Lisa Ades & Lesli Klainberg. Show time will be 7 PM at the UW-Milwaukee Union Theatre, 2200 East Kenwood Boulevard. Tickets will be $8 at the door.

“Happiness of Schizophrenia” Sneaks July 7-8
Milwaukee - Gay Chicago performance artist, Anthony Wills Jr., will present a sneak preview of his one-man show, “The Happiness of Schizophrenia” at Bucketworks,1319 N. Martin Luther King Jr.Drive July 7-8 here. “The Happiness of Schizophrenia” is the story of a gay artist who is afraid of losing his sanity. He is also afraid that he may be happier if he just allows himself to go crazy.  It is a collage of dance and stories from the actor’s life that almost pushed him over the edge. 
“The Happiness of Schizophrenia” has been performed at various festivals including PAC/Edge, Single File festival of solo performance, and most recently at the University of Ohio’s Performance Art Symposium where Anthony joined Holly Hughes and Barbara T. Smith as guest artists. 
“The Happiness of Schizophrenia” will be a part of the tenth annual New York International Fringe Festival later this year. It is written, choreographed, and performed by Anthony Wills Jr. As an actor he has performed with such companies as Milwaukee Repertory Theater, First Stage, Intandem, Pennsylvania Centre Stage, Steppenwolf, Utah Shakespearean Festival and many others. The show also features an original sound design by emerging sound designer Matthew Gibney of Arizona Theatre Company.
  Performances of “the Happiness of Schizophrenia” will be Friday, July 7 at 7:30 PM. and  Saturday, July 8 at 3:30 PM. Suggested Donation for the show is $15. The show is suitable for those 18 and over only. For more information, call 773-879-8669 or stop at Bucketworks.

“Full Monty” Auditions Announced
Milwaukee - An open casting call has been announced for the musical “The Full Monty”.  The musical version of “The Full Monty” will have its Milwaukee area production premiere late September 2006.  Raymond Bradford, the director of the Bay Players in Whitefish Bay, and also RSVP productions is looking for a cast of 20-24 people.  This will be the Fall Bay Players production, and all auditions will be held at the WFBHS auditorium 1200 E. Fairmount, in Whitefish Bay.
   Auditions are July 31 and August 1 at 7 PM. Besides the large cast, there are also some specialty roles to cast. Needed are one male dancer-stripper type and one African American over 35 who moves well. Also one 12-14 year old boy will be cast. This should be an exciting show for all involved. For more information, call 414-272-5694.

It’s Official: Quest Is The Most Popular Gay Website In Wisconsin
Green Bay - In addition to being LGBT Wisconsin’s longest-running and most widely-read print publication, Quest can now claim another prize: Gay Wisconsin’s most popular website. According to impartial internet traffic counter Alexa Internet, Quest’s internet presence - www.quest-online.com - ranks number one in total viewers by a wide margin. For the week ending June 23, the Quest site was reached by an estimated half-million web users according to Alexa. The web counter also reports Quest’s traffic also has increased by 100% in the last quarter.
  Second place belongs to the Action Wisconsin website and third goes to the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. No other Wisconsin media entity made the top ten. A link to the top 10 most popular Wisconsin-based LGBT websites can be accessed from Quest’s homepage: click on “Wisconsin’s Most Popular Gay Website!” line just below the news scroll in the upper right corner of the page.
  Quest News Editor Mike Fitzpatrick, who maintains the website has tracked the site’s usage and notes different parts of the site are more popular throughout the day. “In the morning, the news pages and QNU get the most hits,” Fitzpatrick said. “By mid-afternoon the bar guide section picks up and after midnight its the classies.”
  Quest’s coverage of the entire state’s LGBT news wins it all those cheesehead hits, Fitzpatrick noted. “Most of the day 75-90% of our hits come from Wisconsin computers,” he said. “Madison and Milwaukee users consistently battle for the top city with Green Bay, LaCrosse and Appleton typically rounding out the top five.”
  Though Quest may be the most popular website operated in Wisconsin, it is a still a very small operation by international gay standards. Gay.com, the internet’s most popular LGBT website, averages 1.5 billion hits per day, according to Alexa.

Milwaukee - Kevin volunteers as president for Brady East STD (BESTD) Clinic and Dan is a full-time student working on his master's degree.They are celebrating a two year anniversary this week!
  About BESTD Clinic: The mission of BESTD Clinic is to provide quality, professional sexually transmitted disease diagnosis and treatment as well as HIV/AIDS prevention counseling and testing in a manner that is sensitive to the sexual orientation and gender identity of our clients. BESTD Clinic provides it's services at no cost.
  Created in 1974, the BESTD Clinic has been a not-for-profit organization serving all people in Milwaukee and surrounding counties, with a special focus on the LGBT community. Everyone at BESTD Clinic (clinician, counselor, administrator, lab staff, etc.) volunteers their time to keep you healthy! BESTD Clinic is always looking for dedicated volunteers; applications are available on the clinic's website (www.bestd.org).
  Clinic hours are Monday and Tuesday nights (6pm - 8:30pm). For more information, go to www.bestd.org for information on HIV/STD testing, volunteering, STD symptoms and links to other helpful sources of information.