Judge: “Wisconsin Gay Marriage Ban Challenge Okay”
Wisconsin Family Council’s Appling Has Hissyfit
Madison - A constitutional challenge to last year’s marriage and civil unions ban can proceed, following November 28 decision by Dane County Judge Rick Niess.
  The decision concerned the narrow issue of plaintiff William McConkey’s legal standing a voter. An earlier decision had thrown the married McConkey’s standing as being directly harmed by the passage of the constitutional amendment banning legal recognition of all unmarried couples’ status regardless of sexual orientation.
  Niess’ comments invoked the right of voters to have confidence in their elections, and in the voting process, and also the right to consider constitutional amendments one at a time. “I believe there is a demonstrable injury to any voter who is required to vote on a question that is constitutionally defective,” Niess said. “Voting is the very bedrock, the very lifeblood of the democracy we have,” and needs to be protected “above all.”
  McConkey’s challenge is based on another provision in the Wisconsin Constitution which forbids “bundling” in proposals to amend the Constitution. That is, any proposed amendment to the Constitution must be limited to a single subject so that voters can make separate decisions about each proposed change.
  The plaintiff in the case, William McConkey, a political science instructor at UW-Oshkosh, has contended that the amendment violated the Constitution by offering two distinct questions. The amendment forbids same-sex couples from marrying, and also forbids the State from providing for a legal relationship identical to or substantially similar to that of marriage for all couples.
  According to Fair Wisconsin, polling in 2005 and 2006 showed that voters supported allowing same-sex couples similar legal protections as those provided by marriage, such as through Vermont-style civil unions, but felt marriage should be reserved for heterosexual couples. By placing both questions in one proposed amendment, voters were forced to vote the same way on both questions, even if given the choice they would have voted no on one question and yes on the other.
  Fair Wisconsin warned legislators about this violation before the legislation’s passage and during the subsequent campaign. About half of the state’s eligible voters affirmed the amendment by a 59-41% margin in the November 2006 election.
  The ruling means the lawsuit, in which McConkey’s central argument is that the amendment violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protections under law, can continue. It does not indicate what the eventual outcome will be.  McConkey, who filed the suit pro se last Spring is now represented by Madison attorney Lester Pines. McConkey described himself as a “Christian, straight, married father of nine and grandfather of seven” when he filed the lawsuit.
  A “Christian’ of another sort, Julaine Appling of the Wisconsin Family Council, Inc. (WFC) - the re-monikered Family Research Institute of Wisconsin which organized support for the so-called “Marriage Protection Amendment” - predictably had a different opinion of McConkey’s court win. Even as she bewailed the “frivolous case that is wasting taxpayer dollars” in a November 26 opinion piece in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Appling announced her organization had guaranteed many more dollars will be spent by bringing in out-of state lawyers trained by the James Dobson-founded Alliance Defense Fund. WFC’s interests in the case will be represented by Mississippi-based attorney Austin R. Nimocks, whose firm is also a member of the Christian Law Association, the Christian Legal Society, the Christian Trial Lawyers Association and televangelist Pat Robertson’s American Center For Law & Justice.

Congress Dumps Hate Crimes Bill
Washington, DC - Congressional Democrats dropped their effort to tie the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act to a Pentagon policy measure December 6, ending chances that the long-stalled hate crime measure would clear Congress this year.
  Citing objections from Republicans and President Bush, as well as a refusal by some Democrats to back the Pentagon bill because of opposition to the Iraq war, Democratic leaders agreed to strip out the hate crimes provision to clear the way for approval of the military legislation.
  The decision was a major disappointment to Congressional advocates of the hate crimes expansion and to civil rights activists who believed that the new Democrat-led Congress provided the best opportunity for approving changes sought since 1998.
  “This is an extraordinary missed opportunity,” Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and the author of the legislation said, noting that an increase in hate crimes documented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation illustrated the need for the measure.
  The White House had signaled that it veto the annual Pentagon policy bill if it included the hate crimes language, which the Bush administration has insisted is unnecessary and unrelated to the Pentagon bill.
  Passage was also complicated by the fact that some liberal Democrats oppose the Pentagon measure on antiwar grounds and would not vote for it even though they support the hate crimes proposal.
  The hate crimes provision, which easily passed the House in May, would expand federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to include those committed because of a person’s gender, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. The law now applies to crimes motivated by bias because of race, color, religion or national origin and is limited to acts committed against a person who is exercising a federally protected right like voting or attending school.
  Worried that the Senate might not pass the proposal on its own, backers added it to the high-priority Pentagon bill and pushed it through the Senate and into final negotiations with the House.
  Senate Democrats had pushed for keeping the proposal in the overall bill. However, following a December 5 vote count, supporters determined that they could not maneuver the Pentagon bill through the House. .
  The measure was first proposed after the murder in 1998 of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man beaten to death in Laramie, Wyo. The proposal is named for Mr. Shepard. His parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard, who have created a foundation to promote tolerance, expressed dismay at the inability of Congress to pass the hate crimes proposal.
  “At this time of year that fills us all with hope for humankind, we are sad to find that a Congressional majority of each House who have already adopted the Matthew Shepard Act cannot yet come together,” Mr. and Mrs. Shepard said in a statement.

World & National News:

Rhode Island Court: Gay Couple Can’t Divorce Here
Providence - A lesbian couple that married in Massachusetts cannot get divorced in their home state of Rhode Island, the state Supreme Court ruled here December 7.
  The court, in a 3-2 decision, said the state’s family court lacks the authority to grant the divorce of a same-sex couple because Rhode Island lawmakers have not defined marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. “The role of the judicial branch is not to make policy, but simply to determine the legislative intent,” the court wrote.
 Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers wed in Massachusetts in 2004 and filed for divorce last year in Rhode Island, where they both live.
  Massachusetts, the only state where gay marriage is legal, restricts the unions to residents of states where the marriage would be recognized, and a Massachusetts judge decided last year that Rhode Island is one of those states.
  No law specifically bans same-sex marriages in Rhode Island, but the state has taken no action to recognize them. The justices said Rhode Island laws contain numerous references to marriage as between a woman and a man.
  “My civil rights, my human rights have been denied,” Ormiston told the Associated Press in a phone interview after the ruling. “It’s no small matter.”
  Nancy Palmisciano, Ormiston’s lawyer, said couples married in other states and other countries are routinely granted divorces in Rhode Island, and the same freedom should apply to this couple.
“I’m disappointed for anyone who’s involved in one of these marriages who’s a resident of the state of Rhode Island,” she said. “I think these people are being confined to a legal limbo.”
  The couple’s divorce petition drew a broad range of supporters, including Attorney General Patrick Lynch, who earlier this year released a nonbinding advisory opinion saying Rhode Island should recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts.
  In earlier court filings, Governor Don Carcieri, an opponent of same-sex marriage, had also argued in favor of granting the divorce. He said under Rhode Island law, the Family Court didn’t have to address whether the marriage was valid at all, avoiding a larger debate about same-sex unions.

French Drag Queen Arrested For 18 Gay Murders
Montbeliard, France - French police detained Nicolas Panard, a 68-year-old retired drag queen November 27 for the murders of eighteen mainly gay men over three decades.
  After being detained at his home in the eastern city of Mulhouse, Panard was jailed in Montbeliard along with a male former lover who is a suspected accomplice. Panard’s alleged partner in crime, Slim Fezzani, 43, was already serving a 20-year sentence for the murder of a gay insurance agent in Riedis-heim, Alsace, in 1999. Fezzani was moved from a Paris jail to Montbeliard for new questioning, deputy state prosecutor Jean-Marc Gervason said.
   Most of the murders took place in the eastern French regions of Alsace and Franche-Comte, although three were in the Paris area. The 18 murders were committed between 1980 and 2000 but Gervason said the current investigation concerned only six of the killings, which took place between 1983 and 2000.
  Of the six victims currently under investigation, one was a female prostitute and five were men, one of whom was handicapped. The victims were all killed by a violent blow to the head, followed by multiple stabbings. Each time the bodies were found partly naked, but the victims’ faces were covered up.
  Both men deny the accusations, and the prosecution said it had “no formal proof” of their guilt at this stage. Panard’s arrest follows a two-year investigation by a police officer in Montbéliar, who “noticed startling similarities between a string of unsolved murders while searching a computer data-base for information on another crime”, according to the UK newspaper The Independent. The officer also noticed that Panard’s name came up as a friend or associate connected with several of the victims over many years.
  Panard worked as a female impersonator in a string of cabarets in eastern France and over the border in Germany until he retired in 1992, according to sources close to the investigation. If proven guilty of all the murders, Panard would rank as one of the most prolific serial murderers in French history.

State News:

Double Voting Gay Marriage Ban Supporter Gets Year In Jail
Wauwatosa - He claimed he was absent minded but also admitted he needed to vote to ban gay marriage in Wisconsin and help anti-gay State Senator Tom Reynolds get a second term in office. Now Wauwatosa resident Bob Zore get up to a year in jail to consider who he’ll vote for next.
  County Circuit Judge William W. Brash III sentenced Zore December 7 to a year in the Milwaukee County House of Correction as part of a two-year total sentence beginning January 2.
Brash said Zore’s two felony transgressions - voting twice and providing false information to poll workers - were against “the cornerstone of our democracy and our way of life.”
  “This is, from this court’s perspective, a lifeblood issue,” Brash said. “It is what we are about as a people.”
  In November 2006, Zore cast his first vote at his current polling place in Wauwatosa, then went to West Allis, where he voted a second time, using his former address several hours later. Zore was charged after a computer caught the double vote.
  At his trial last August, Zore claimed his sister’s death caused a memory lapse that triggered the double vote. However prosecutors produced investigative reports that demonstrated the GOP supporter was aware of key issues in the governor’s race, felt strongly about the ballot measure on the constitutional amendment banning gay civil unions and marriage, and interested in the hotly contested 5th District State Senate race.
  In his sentencing, Brash did allow Zore the possibility of early release for good behavior, a decision that possibly might have him out of jail for the 2008 Presidential election. However, Brash added that voting would break Zore’s probation and result in him facing a possible maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Appeals Court Denies Second Sex Change Request
Wausau - Stephen to Stephanie to Stephen? Wisconsin’s 3rd District Court of Appeals doesn’t think so. On December 4 the court ruled to sustain the decision of Brown County Circuit Judge J.D. McKay that 58 year-old Green Bay resident Stephanie T. Calewarts had waited too long to appeal her earlier successful request to have the court order her sex changed from male to female.
  Calewarts’ petition had challenged a judge’s 2000 order changing his birth certificate to female, claiming it based on mistakes and misunderstandings. In the petition Calewarts said he had some surgery done for health reasons, not to change his sex. The three-judge appeals panel said McKay properly rejected the petition Calewarts filed in October 2006 requesting that her birth certificate list her as male.
  Calewarts filed the reversal petition last year after a marriage to a New Zealand woman was nullified because Wisconsin does not permit same-sex marriages. The nullification resulted in the woman being unable to get a visa to stay in the United States. She has since returned to New Zealand.
  “Oh God, no,” Calewarts said to Associated Press reporter Robert Imrie when told of the appeals court decision. “I am scared to death right now. I am not going to see my wife. She is the only thing that means anything to me. I am a nobody right now.”
  Calewarts added he would appeal the ruling. “If I got to take it to the federal Supreme Court, I will,” he said in the telephone interview.
  Calewarts gender journey has been a visible one. In the late 1990’s Calewarts appeared as a woman on the nationally-syndicated Sally Jesse Raphael talk show focusing on sex changes. Calewarts also wrote a series of articles entitled “From Boots To Heels” for the Positive Voice LGBT group’s newsletter reporting the process of a “sex change” to physically resolve a diagnosis of Kleinfelter’s Syndrome. Calewarts also has presented informational talks in the northeast Wisconsin area as a representative and contact person for a group called Genesis Project. Calewarts also owns a Green Bay demolition and renovation company called Tool Belt Divas.

ARCW Spends Over A Million On Patient Medical Care
Milwaukee - The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW) has spent over a million dollars to treat over 800 HIV+ patients in 2007. Those startling statisitics were revealed December 7 in an agency statement citing the agency medical center’s 36% growth in the last year.
  ARCW provided $1.059 million in uncompensated health care through the ARCW Medical Center. ARCW is now both the largest and most rapidly growing provider of outpatient HIV medical care in the state.  During the last 12 months the agency’s Medical Center has seen 801   active medical patients.
  The continued rapid growth at the ARCW Medical Center is a function of the team of dedicated health care professionals who provide high quality medical care combined with integrated dental, mental health and social services.  Together, this unique health care model provides ARCW medical patients with the best opportunity for successful HIV management and treatment.
  “ARCW is dedicated to ensuring everyone with HIV in Wisconsin has access to quality medical care, regardless of their ability to pay,” ARCW Chief Operating Officer Michael J. Gifford said.  “To this end, ARCW is working hard to make the ARCW Medical Center a center of excellence for all the HIV patients who will turn to us in the coming years for treatment.”
    The tremendous growth in medical patients has also spurred a substantial renovation project at ARCW.  The recently completed project doubled the number of medical exam rooms, increased the number of mental health counseling rooms and allowed for the installation of new, state-of-the-art medical equipment.
  “With the recent completion of our renovation project and the addition of new medical equipment, we are better able to accommodate all patients in a more comfortable setting,” Doug Johnson, a registered nurse at the ARCW Medical Center, said.  “We are also now able to provide quality care to more patients every day in a clinic that is warm and welcoming.”
  In addition to the ARCW Medical Center location in Milwaukee ARCW also operates a medical clinic in Kenosha.  ARCW will open the clinic for an additional two days to accommodate additional patients starting January 2008.  Under the new schedule, Sharon O’Dwyer, a nurse practitioner with ARCW, will be available for appointments in Kenosha three days a week.
  “I am excited to see our Kenosha clinic hours expand,” O’Dwyer said.  “The increase in hours will make our clinic even more accessible and improve services for our current and future patients.”
  The extension of hours in Kenosha is a reflection of the ARCW commitment to ensuring everyone with HIV in Wisconsin has access to quality medical care.  For HIV patients outside of southeast Wisconsin, ARCW helps its clients find local infectious disease physicians and will also cover the costs of care for patients who do not have insurance and are unable to pay for their medical visits.
  Overall 87.5% of ARCW expenses were for HIV prevention, care and treatment programs.  The non-profit industry standard for this measure is 80%.

PrideFest Sets 2008 Dates, Seeks Volunteers
Milwaukee - PrideFest will once again kick off Milwaukee’s lakefront festival season when it takes over the Henry W. Maier Festival “Summerfest” Grounds June 6, 7 and 8, 2008.
  “We hope people will save these dates for what promises to be one of the nation’s best LGBT pride events,” PrideFest President Scott Gunkel said. 
  In 2007 PrideFest had a banner year with a 14% increase in attendance and the nation’s biggest pride entertainment lineup featuring Kathy Griffin, Chaka Khan and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.  In the past four years of PrideFest’s twenty-year history, the festival’s attendance has grown 35%.
  To help build the festival’s volunteer infrastructure and deliver an even stronger event, PrideFest is seeking volunteers for its production team. 
  “PrideFest is run completely by volunteers, and it’s their dedication that pulls the festival together year after year.  We need the support of people who can use their skills to further develop this great community event,” festival producer Pete Minns said.  
  Several volunteer positions are available at various levels of responsibility.  Positions include Box Office Director; Web/IT Coordinator; Pride Guide Coordinator; Sponsorship Director; Treasurer-Elect, and Assistant positions in nearly all areas of the festival.  A list of current openings and application procedures is available at www.pridefest.com and more information is available by calling 414-272-3378. 
  The mission of PrideFest is to celebrate the diversity of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) culture and community.

Dick Wagner Named as First Recipient of Jeff Erlanger Award
Madison – Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced November 30 that longtime openly-gay civic leader Dick Wagner has been selected as the first recipient of the newly-created Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Civility in Public Discourse Award. The award was created by the Mayor and Common Council to honor the example of civility in public service set by Jeff Erlanger, who passed away earlier this year. Nominations were reviewed and a winner selected by a committee that included a representative of the Erlanger family.
  “Dick Wagner exemplifies the spirit of service to the community and civility that was shown by Jeff Erlanger,” said Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. “Throughout his decades of service to the community, Dick has shown grace, diplomacy and tact at every turn. Supporters and opponents alike have always known Dick to be a civil, honest and fair-minded leader. I am very pleased to see Dick recognized as the first recipient of the Erlanger Award.”
  Dick Wagner’s service to the community spans nearly four decades, stretching back to his work in the early 1970’s to create the Period Garden Park in downtown Madison. He served as a member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors for fourteen years, including service as County Board Chair. He has also served on countless other committees, and played a major role in advancing civic projects such as Monona Terrace and Olbrich Gardens. Although technically “retired” now, Dick continues to serve the community through his work on the Urban Design Commission and Transport 2020.
  “I don’t think that Dick Wagner and Jeff ever crossed paths, but I am quite sure they would have loved working together,” said Pam Erlanger, a member of the selection committee and Jeff’s mother. “Dick Wagner’s passion for public policy combined with his civic values make him a perfect choice for this award.”
  The Erlanger Award is an annual recognition, to be awarded at the Common Council meeting that falls closest to Jeff Erlanger’s birthday of November 30. This year, it was awarded at the December 4 meeting.
   Wagner was nominated by Sally Miley, Anne Monks, Henry Lufler, Lynne Watrous Eich and Nancy Ragland (nomination submissions are available upon request). Other nominees for this year’s award were former Alders Judy K. Olson and Warren Onken, Alice Fike and the late former Mayor
Otto Festge. The Mayor encouraged the selection committee to consider the other nominees in future years.

UWM Libraries Acquires Eldon Murray Collection
By Michael Doylen
Milwaukee - The UWM Libraries is has acquired of the personal papers and library of Eldon Murray, a nationally recognized figure in the gay rights movement. Murray was active in virtually all of the major issues involving gays and lesbians from the 1970’s to the present day.
  In the ‘70s, Murray became involved with the Gay Peoples Union (GPU), the first gay rights organization in Milwaukee and arguably the most important one in Wisconsin during that decade. Murray edited the organization’s newsletter, GPU News and helped produce Gay Perspective, a half-hour radio program broadcast locally from 1971 to 1972. In the early 1980’s, Murray worked to raise funds for the Milwaukee AIDS Project, the predecessor of AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. In 1993, he founded SAGE/Milwaukee, the first organization in Wisconsin dedicated to serving the needs of older gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.
  In 1998, the One Institute and the International Gay and Lesbian Archives recognized Murray as one of 31 pioneers of the gay rights movement. Murray passed away on March 5, 2007, at the age of 77.
  Murray’s personal papers document his activity in the early gay rights movement in Milwaukee, the effort to support HIV+ individuals and eliminate discrimination and prejudice based on HIV-status, and to support senior gays and lesbians. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, records of the organizations in which Murray participated, and ephemera.
  The UWM Libraries also acquired Murray’s own library. Of particular interest in this collection are scores of “beefcake” magazines from the 1950s and 1960s. Published in the oppressive pre-Stonewall era, the magazines (barely) disguised their homoerotic intention behind a posing strap of masculine athleticism. The library also includes examples of pulp fiction from the same period.
  GPU also has donated its library of LGBT books and serial publications, that had been stored in Murray’s home since the early 1980s. In its1974 annual report, GPU estimated the collection to be approximately 1,500 volumes and was “probably the largest library collection about homosexuality in the state.”
  Murray’s personal papers are housed in the Archives Department, and his library and the GPU library are available for research in Special Collections. For more information, please contact Michael Doylen, Archives Dept. Head, at 414-229-6980 or Max Yela, Special Collections Head, at 414-229-4345.

Challenge Grant Offered for Preserving Murray Audio Tapes
Milwaukee - Philanthropist and LGBT community supporter Joseph Pabst has offered a challenge grant of $1,500 to preserve the audio recordings of Gay Perspective, a radio program produced by the Gay Peoples Union and broadcast locally from 1971 to 1972. The matching grant is from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Johnson and Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund. Those who would like to contribute towards matching the grant should contact  UW-Milwaukee Development Director Susan Modder by email at: semodder@uwm.edu or  by phone at 414-229-2811. All donations are welcome.

Cream City Foundation Funding Totals $80,000
Milwaukee - The Cream City Foundation (CCF), the nation’s second oldest LGBT community foundation, distributed over $80,000 in 2007 to LGBT programming during its fiscal 2007 year in southeastern Wisconsin. The distribution marks a significant increase over a three year period of grant allocation by the Cream City Foundation.  A key factor in the increase was the creation of Donor Advised Funds. Because the funds do not charge any administrative fees, a unique stand among foundations, donors enjoy the full benefits the Foundation’s staff, knowledge, and investment policies, while continuing or growing their current level of commitment to LGBT needs.
  In December alone, Donor Advised Funds accounted for over $12,000 in grants, including $9,000 from the Birch Lodge Fund. “We are committed to funding LGBT needs through Cream City Foundation because we believe strongly in the benefit of combined economic power to make a difference,” CCF Birch Lodge Fund co-founder Ross Draegert said. To date the Birch Lodge Fund has distributed over $210,000.
  “It is a win-win situation for us,” Robert Starshak, Vice-President of the Cream City Foundation and co-founder of the Cream City Foundation’s Birch Lodge Fund, added. “Our giving has not only impacted the programs we care about, but because it is within the Cream City Foundation, we are helping build a strong philanthropic institution that will impact LGBT communities for generations to come, at no additional cost.”
  “The impact of truly leveraging our resources, including our philanthropic investment, is immense,” Tim Clark, CCF President Tim Clark noted. “Partnerships and contributions like this go a long way toward achieving quality programs and to ensure the success for sustainable LGBT funding.”
  Recent recipients from the Cream City Foundation include: Aids Resource Center of Wisconsin, American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin Foundation, Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin, Fair Wisconsin Education Fund, Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center.
  Cream City Foundation launched its Donor Advised Fund Program in early 2006 with the creation of the Joseph R Pabst LGBT Infrastructure Fund.  The Cream City Foundation was established in 1982 to provide charitable grants to programs and projects that improve the quality of life for LGBT communities in Southeastern Wisconsin. The Foundation funds grants and initiatives that would work to establish real social change in the treatment and quality of life for LGBT individuals.

Men’s Coming Out Support Group To Start
Madison - A ten-week men’s coming-out support group is forming and will begin running  before the end of the year on Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM at OutReach here. The purpose of the group is to offer support to men who are dealing with the realization that they are not heterosexual and how that affects their everyday lives and to support those people previously or currently in same sex relationships.
  The men’s coming out support group will identify and discuss the stages of coming out and explore topics such as how to deal with family members, physical and sexual safety, legal rights and discrimination, and spirituality, among others. Two trained volunteers will facilitate each meeting.
  People who are interested in attending the meetings should leave a message for Mark with contact information at 608-255-8582 or e-mail at: harrys@outreachinc.com by Thursday, December 27..
The OutReach LGBT Community Center, 600 Williamson St., has served Madison’s and south-central Wisconsin’s LGBT communities since 1973, providing peer-counseling, advocacy,
a speaker’s bureau, support groups, and information & referral services. The agency also offers a lending library, free publications, and meeting space for community groups.

OutReach Sets Women’s Coming Out Support Group
Madison - A women’s peer-based coming out support group is forming in Madison and will begin meeting at OutReach, 600 Williamson Street, in late January at 7:30 PM on Thursday nights.  The purpose of the group is to offer support to women who are dealing with the realization that they are not heterosexual and how that affects their everyday lives.
  The support group will identify and discuss the stages of coming out and explore topics such as how to deal with family members, physical and sexual safety, legal rights and discrimination, and spirituality, among others.
  Two trained volunteers will facilitate each meeting. The group will meet Thursday evenings for nine weeks. Women who are interested in attending the meetings should call 608-255-8582 and leave a message for Andrea or e-mail at: harrys@outreachinc.com by Thursday, January 10 to schedule an interview for the group.

“Night Of 100 Santas” Party To Benefit OutReach
Madison - You better watch out for you certainly won’t cry this holiday season when Club 5 offers up a “Night Of 100 Santas” party Saturday, December 15 to benefit OutReach, Madison & south central Wisconsin’s LGBTQ Community Center & Safe Space.
  A dollar donation will get your own personal Santa hat to war at the party. The hat also will make attendees eligible for drink specials throughout the evening. There also will be raffles throughout the evening. !00% of the proceeds of hat and raffle sales will benefit OutReach.
  Deejay extraordinairé Tony Ritschards will spin the latest club hits and other seasonal dance music to get all into the holiday spirit.

At Camp Bingo, The Balls Are Already Bouncing
Madison -  After taking the summer off, Camp Bingo began a new season December 5 at its new home, The Edgewater.  This is not your grandmother’s bingo- it’s a whole lot more fun! This past Wednesday’s kick-off  was the first ever bingo on a weeknight. The theme was “Luau Bingo” with Hostess Cass Marie Domino and WIBA’s Chandra Lynn as the guest ball caller.
  “Bingo just gets more popular with each game,” AIDS Network Development Director Dan Curd said.  “We had to move to a larger location just to accommodate everyone.  We’re excited about having The Onion this season as a presenting sponsor and for the first time, 18 to 21-year-olds will be able to participate.”  Curd added that Camp Bingo’s third season would continue once monthly through March, 2008.
  Camp Bingo is fund-raiser for AIDS Network, everyone 18 years or older is welcome.  Price of admission is $15 which includes seven games of bingo (six cards each game), a 50/50 raffle, prizes, entertainment and lots of laughs. 
  The Edgewater is located at 666 Wisconsin Avenue.  Doors open Wednesday night at 5 PM and the first number will be called at 5:45 p.m. For more information visit the official Camp Bingo website at: www.madcampbingo.org

Transgender Issues Come Home in StageQ’s “Looking For Normal”
Madison - Recent federal political battles over including transgender people to be included in nondiscrimination laws will set the stage here as StageQ offers a personal transgender journey in their upcoming production “Looking for Normal.” 
  “This is not a political play,” Artistic Director for StageQ Tara Ayres told Quest. “This is a play that shows how the transgender issue affects one family and the relationships and dynamics among those they love.”
  “Looking for Normal” tells the story of a husband of 25 years who shocks his wife and family when he announces that he believes he was born in the wrong body. The reactions of his wife, son, and daughter, along with his boss at the tractor factory and their family clergyman, offer a compelling story of what makes a true family. “Looking for Normal” is sure to entertain, educate, shock, anger and ultimately shows love in a story that is becoming more and more normal everyday.
  The StageQ production will feature local theater favorites Doug Holtz and Kathy Sliter as the husband and wife. Dani Holtz, Nick Kaprelian, Scott Bennett, Alex Szele, Jake Jacobson, Jan Levine Thal and the “Grand Dame of Community Theater” Sarah Whelan lend their talented support to this important production directed by Greg Harris.
  According to Ayres, the goal of StageQ is to offer dramatic plays that challenge our audiences artistically by building culture bridges and offering diverse productions.  “Up until now, StageQ has never directly addressed the issue of transsexuality in our culture,” she said. “With the current battle to include transgender rights in nondiscrimination legislation, StageQ realizes the importance of presenting the human side in this emotional, touching, and sometimes comic story of one family, dealing directly with a transsexual family member.”
  “Looking For Normal” will run February 8 – March 1, 2008 at the Bartell Theatre, 113 E. Mifflin Street here. Performances will be Thursdays ($10) at 7:30 PM, Fridays and Saturdays ($15) at 8 PM and Sundays ($10) at 2 PM. Tickets and reservations are available online at www.StageQ.com or by calling 608-661-9696, Ext. 3.

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and Fox 6 “Trying” Food Drive
Milwaukee - Because food donations are at a critical low in Southeastern Wisconsin the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and FOX 6 have teamed up to collect food for the hungry during the run of  MCT’s production of “Trying” through December 16.  The drive will  help America’s Second Harvest of Wisconsin and those in need.  By donating a non-perishable food item, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre patrons can receive $6 off tickets for the current production of “Trying.”
  America’s Second Harvest of Wisconsin provides food to 235,000 people in eastern Wisconsin each year through a network of 1,100 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters. The food bank is the largest, private, non-profit distributor of food in the state. ARCW partners with Second Harvest to provide a portion of the food received by clients at the agency’s pantries. To learn more about hunger in Wisconsin, log onto www.secondharvestwi.org.
  A heartwarming play by Joanna McClelland Glass, “Trying” is based on the true story of cantankerous Judge Francis Biddle, once FDR’s Attorney General, who must hire yet another new secretary or risk leaving his life’s work unfinished. Enter Sarah Schorr, a Saskatchewan prairie girl, who endures his ornery, elitist behavior to help the judge complete his remarkable memoirs. “Trying” is an endearing tale of two wary individuals who overcome generational and class differences in their tumultuous journey toward friendship.
  “Trying” performances will take place through December 16 in the Studio Theatre of the Broadway Theatre Center located at 158 N. Broadway in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. To purchase discounted tickets, bring your food donation to the Broadway Theatre Center Box Office at 158 N. Broadway or call 414-291-7800.

Correction: The correct spelling of Kruz co-owner Serge’s last name is Pellicelli, not Bellitelli as listed in the article and on the cover. The mistake resulted from  transcription error of an audio tape of a phone interview with Serge and partner Jerry Breiling.