Wisconsin Season Of Pride Down To “Final Four”
Eau Claire, LaCrosse, Milwaukee, Superior - For LGBT folks in the Badger State who really want to show their pride, Wisconsin’s summer-long calendar filled with gay festivals certainly appears to have become a test of endurance. From June’s water-logged Milwaukee PrideFest, through July’s community-inclusive Green Bay Pride Alive or “back to basics” Madison mix of politics and picnic, to early August’s country fair-style Central Wisconsin Pride, pride has come in as many colors as the rainbow flag. And like any good tournament, the LGBT community has finally reached the “Final Four” with Eau Claire’s Unity Picnic August 16, Milwaukee Black Pride (CDP) August 22-24, LaCrosse’s marathon “Live, Love, Be Proud Of Your Colors” event August 23, and the season-ending big party up north at Duluth-Superior’s Twin Ports Pride August 28-31.
Eau Claire’s Unity Picnic from 11 AM to 6 PM at the pavilion in the city’s Mount Simon Park (Addison St.) on Saturday, August 16, is a joint venture by the city’s two gay bars, Diversions and Scooters. Admission is free.
  “We’re buying the food, buying the beer and everyone’s welcome to come out and join us,” Scooters owner Jody Kvapil told Quest. “We’re keeping it very simple. We’re not even charging anything. Any group that wants to set up a booth, just show up early and bring your own table!”
  Kvapil said the only scheduled activity planned during the picnic is open mic karaoke. Both bars also have special events planned during the weekend. “On Friday night (August 15) Scooters is having strippers and Diversions is doing an underwear party,” he said. “ After the picnic on Saturday we’re having a drag show and they’re having an amateur strip contest.”
  For more directions to the picnic or other information, contact either bar: Diversions (715-556-2337) or Scooters (715-835-9959).
Parties and picnics are also central to this year’s Milwaukee Black Pride, August 22-24. The weekend will begin Friday evening with a Kickoff Party at Wherehouse, 818 E. National, featuring rap artist Wee Boi from St. Louis and musical guest Sha Cream. Chicago comic Otis Mac will emcee the evening and DJ Rock will spin the music. Doors open at 9 PM with a cover charge of $10. VIP tickets are $15.
  A Backyard Barbecue is on tap Saturday afternoon at the offices of the Health Institute of Milwaukee (HIM), 1817 N. Martin Luther King Drive from Noon to 8 PM. Volleyball is planned and vendors are welcome to participate. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own grills, tents and other picnic equipment.
  The Second Annual Black Pride (CDP) Idol contest is the highlight Saturday evening at the King Masonic Temple, 12th and North, beginning at 10:30 PM. The winner will take home $150 in prizes. DJ Rock will continue the party until closing. Doors open at 9 PM and admission is $10.
  Sunday will bring the 9th Annual HIV Awareness & Block Party from Noon to 7 PM at the Milwaukee LGBT Center, 315 W. Court St.  $5 is the charge for the picnic meal, though teens 12-18 eat for half price and kids under 12 eat free.
  Milwaukee Black Pride (CDP) will wrap up with A White Party at the Wherehouse from 9 PM to close. Admission is $10, with VIP tickets available for $15. Entertainers will include singers Antwuan Steele & Alexis Principal and dancers Mz. Kharizma & Mz. An O Nym Ous. Best white costume will win a $50 prize.
 For more information about Milwaukee Black Pride (CDP) visit the HIM website at: www.healthim.org or contact Eloise (414-364-4919) or Charles (414-263-9999).
This year’s LaCrosse pride festival, “Live, Love, Be Proud Of Your Colors,” at Southside Oktoberfest Grounds on Saturday, August 23 will be a marathon event starting at 11 AM and running until at least 1 AM the following morning.
  This year’s day time fun will include Bingo from 12-2 PM, Euchre from 2-4, free kids’ games hosted by the Galaxy LGBT youth group from 1-5 and a Gladiator Joust from 2-7 PM.
  As the stars come out, so will the evening’s entertainers. Headliners this year are lesbian rappers God-Des & She, known best for their work on Showtime’s L-Word.  God-Des & She will take to the stage at 11 PM. Opening for the rap duo are Wisconsin’s WAMI-winning rocker Ronnie Nyles and comedian Kelli Dunham. Also scheduled Saturday evening are performances by Ireen Keenan and Cheap Charlie plus a variety show featuring local female impersonators.
  More information about LaCrosse Pride is available on two websites:  the festival’s MySpace page (www.myspace.com/laxpride) or the main event website at: lacrossepride.us.
It’s been heralded by Out magazine as one of the nation’s best small town pride celebrations. It’s also older that the state’s best-known pride weekend, the Milwaukee PrideFest and has drawn gay folks from as far away as Winnipeg, Canada.  It also serves to close Wisconsin’s summer-long season of pride. And this year, the 22nd annual Duluth-Superior Twin Ports Pride will offer two top-name headliners and an expanded “Fruit Float” as part of its four days of LGBT-themed fun August 28-31.
  “We expect to have the biggest turnout ever this year,” Twin Ports Pride co-chair David Vipond told Quest. “All indications are that we should easily surpass last year’s 10,000 in attendance.”
  Vipond noted that despite the large number of participants, Twin Ports Pride remains a home town event. “Twin Ports Pride is a major pride event that still has that grass roots feel,” he said.
  The musical duo Nemesis Rising and “Queen of Clubland” Martha Wash will close the centerpiece festival at the heart of the pride weekend Saturday, August 30 at with shows at 5 and 6 PM respectively.
  Nemesis Rising are photogenic Montana-bred gay identical twins Jacob & Joshua who, in addition to churning out popular club cuts such as “Number One In Heaven” and “Rise Up,” also are the stars of their own LOGO cable network reality show “Nemesis Rising.” In addition to fronting a string of pop hits such as the Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men,” Black Box’s “Ride On Time,” “Everybody, Everybody” & “Strike It Up,” and C & C Music Company’s “Everybody Dance Now,” Martha Wash has topped the Billboard Dance Music charts with her own “Carry On,” “You Lift Me Up” and 2007’s “Keep Your Body Workin’” with DJ Tony Moran.
  The Nemesis Rising and Martha Wash shows  will cap a day-long schedule of events at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth that will include a keynote address by activist Justin Hager and a mix of entertainment that will span jazz, rock and folk.
  As a 22 year old college student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, keynoter Hager is a rising voice in the LGBT community, especially in the Midwest.  Justin was a founding member of the Superior High School Gay-Straight Alliance, the first Youth Representative to the Superior City Council, and Wisconsin State Coordinator for the Soulforce Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights Campaign.
 Throughout the day festival attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy Duluth’s improvisational Cello Dreams & The Cosmic Pit Orchestra,  Minneapolis folk duo The Bitter Spills, the freestyle country outfit Songs In D, Twin Cities’ lesbian rapper Alicia Leafgreen as WLR, the “queercore” punk band Tough Tough Skin, Duluth rockers The Super Tacks and roots music group Crew Jones, and Minneapolis pop-folk recording artists The very People.
  Over fifty vendors and information booths are already registered, according to festival organizers, plus there will be a wide variety of food and beverage choices for sale. There is no admission charge for the festival, but all are encouraged to purchase the Twin Ports Pride buttons to help underwrite the cost of the weekend. Last year’s co-chair Harvey Plasch also held a “Bar-B-Queer” event earlier this summer that raised over $8000 to help pay festival costs.
  The weekend officially kicks off with a formal mayoral celebration Thursday, August 28, at The Depot in Duluth. The free event runs from 5-8 PM and will feature Duluth Mayor Don Ness’ pride proclamation. The reception also will feature music by Taconite (beginning at 6:30), hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar.
  Following will be three days of events that include a patio party, a bonfire, an expansion of the “Fruit Float” cruise, a 5K run, a worship service and a parade in addition to Saturday’s festival.
  In addition to a patio party at the Flame in Superior and a Jazz Night at the Radisson in Duluth, Friday evening will be the traditional all-night bonfire on Wisconsin Point beginning at 7 PM and lasting until dawn. Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket, a warm jacket and mosquito repellent, two necessities for the typically cool and insect-filled late summer evenings in the north woods.
  Saturday will begin with the 5K Fun Run, Walk and Roll at Western Waterfront Park in Duluth. The beautiful Western Waterfront Trail runs along the St. Louis River near the Northern head of the Munger Trail. The event, which has a $10 per person fee (children under 11 are free), begins with registration at 8 AM, steps off at 9 and is expected to last most of the morning. Organizers expect this year’s run to exceed the 200 participants who made the 2007 run the largest to date.
  The annual Block Party at JT’s Bar & Grill in Superior returns for its third year on Saturday evening. The outdoor dance and party will cover over 1,000 square feet and run from 9 PM until bar closing. JT’s deejays will be spinning a mix of rock and pop music, and there will be four bars to serve the expected crowds for the event.
  Sunday’s events will begin with a worship service and breakfast at the UU Congregation of Duluth, 835 W. College St. in Duluth. Breakfast will be served at 9:30 AM, followed by the service at 10:30. The is one of a half-dozen gay-affirming congregations in the Twin Ports that take turns holding the traditional pride worship service each year.
  This Twin Ports Pride Parade will be held in Superior, kicking off at Noon on the corner of Hammond and Broadway. The parade, which rivals Milwaukee’s in terms of both entries and attendance, will wend its way down to the Main Club and feature music, floats filled with bare-chested young men and drag queens, leather-clad women on motorcycles, and marching units of families, friends and other allies.
  Following the parade will be the traditional annual Fruit Float, this year featuring three boats: Vista Cruise Lines’ Vista Star, the Vista King and the Vista Queen. This year organizers have  added a youth boat for ages 14 to 20. Tickets for the youth boat are only $10. Adult tickets are $35 and available at Superior’s three gay clubs or online at the Twin Ports Pride website. The Fruit Float will leave port at 3 PM for the waters of Lake Superior.
  The Lesbian Film Festival has moved to Sunday and will be held at the Building For Women, 32 East 1st St. In Duluth beginning at 6 PM. Admission is free.
 Twin Ports Pride will close with the annual drag show benefiting AIDS research and education at the Main Club Sunday evening beginning at 8 PM. Plenty of glitter and glamour are promised as both drag queens and kings are expected to strut their stuff on the club’s stage. A $5 admission charge will benefit AIDS programs.
  Lodging arrangements for Twin Ports feature seven area hospitality providers: The Androy Hotel and Barker’s Island Inn and Conference Center in Superior and the Hawthorn Suites At Waterfront Plaza, the South Pier Inn On The Canal, the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, the Radisson Hotel Duluth Harborview and the Best Western Edgewater Resort and Waterpark in Duluth.
  Organizers for this year’s Twin Ports Pride include Co-Chairs Jeff Anderson and David Vipond, Secretary: Tony Smyrda,  Treasurer Keith Haugen, and Asst. Treasurer: “Boomer” Hudacek. More information about Twin Ports Pride can be found at the festival’s extensive website located at: www.dspride.com or by contacting the committee. Phone 218-728-4217 or write the Duluth-Superior GLBTQAI Pride Committee at P. O. Box 3198, Duluth, MN 55803.

State News:

Gay Miller Exec’s Killer Gets Life In Prison
Milwaukee - Calling the crime a “terroristic act,” Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner on July 23 sentenced 21 year old Latin Kings gang member Miguel “Wicked” Ayala to life in prison without the chance of parole in the brutal January 26 death of Lodewikus “Vic” Milford.  The South African-born gay man was shot as an after thought by Ayala following a robbery of Milford and two Miller Brewing Company coworkers following an night of clubbing in the city’s Walker’s Point entertainment district.
  Wagner also tacked on an additional 50 years in prison for  the robberies Ayala had committed. He had been found guilty of Milford’s death in June.
  “I don’t see anything in his background but destruction, havoc and death,” Wagner said before handing down his sentence.
  Also sentenced was one of Ayala’s cohort in the crimes. 17 year old Carlos Gonzales, who had earlier pled guilty and testified against Ayala, was sentenced to 21 years in prison plus an additional 9 years of parole. 17 year old Irene Rodriguez, who drove the getaway car and also testified against Ayala, had earlier pleaded guilty in children’s court to felony murder and was sentenced to a juvenile corrections program.

Frivolous Action Wisconsin Lawsuit Finally Over
Madison - On August 1 the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in an unsigned unanimous decision, said it would not revisit a case in which an attorney was ordered to court costs now estimated to be over $180,000 for bringing a frivolous lawsuit against Action Wisconsin, the gay civil rights group now known as Fair Wisconsin. The court rejected Milwaukee attorney James Donohoo’s argument that Justice Louis Butler should not have participated in the June ruling because he accepted campaign donations from Fair Wisconsin board members, neither of whom served on the board at the time the lawsuit was filed.
  The Supreme Court said in its ruling that the law did not require Butler to step aside in the 4-3 opinion. Butler ruled in the majority against Donohoo and did not participate in the latest ruling.
  Donohoo represented New Orleans preacher and gay rights opponent Grant E. Storms in the case against Action Wisconsin.

Tammy Baldwin Joins Obama’s Gay Campaign Team
Madison -  Openly lesbian Congressional Representative Tammy Baldwin has joined Barack Obama’s national gay leadership and policy committee. Baldwin will serve as the group’s co-chair along with Tobias Wolff, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She previously served as the head of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s gay leadership team.
  “I am proud to support Barack Obama for president and work hard for his election because we share a commitment to equality for all Americans,” she said in a formal press release. “This is our quest and our common goal.”
  Baldwin also noted that Obama wants to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” policy and allow gay and lesbian people to serve in the military without having to hide their sexual orientation. Republican John McCain wants to retain the current policy. 
  Obama also supports expanding the federal employment non-discrimination laws and federal hate crime laws to protect lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people while McCain does not, she said in the press release.

Billboards Reveal “Gay Neighbors”
Milwaukee - On Wednesday, August 13, the Cream City Foundation publicly unveiled their groundbreaking “Gay Neighbor” billboard media campaign. The public education campaign seeks to challenge stereotypes about gay families in Southeastern Wisconsin. Unlike earlier PFLAG “Someone You Know Is Gay” campaigns that date back to 2002 around the state, the “Gay Neighbors” campaign will offer images of actual neighbors illustrate the common values of love, family, and commitment and encouraging fairness for everyone including gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people and their families.
  The billboard images were revealed at the press conference held in the rotunda of the Milwaukee City Hall. Several neighbors appearing on the billboards were present for comment, as well as spokespeople and board members of the Cream City Foundation including Executive Director Maria Cadenas and President Tim Clark.
Stories contained in the campaign are now available online at: www.gayneighbor.org.

Methodist Church To Offer “Bible Tells Me So”
Fond Du Lac - “For the Bible Tells Me So,” the documentary examining how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or sibling, will be shown at 7 PM Thursday, August 21, at Covenant United Methodist Church, 20 N. Marr St., here.
  The award-winning video includes commentaries by House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, Episcopal Bishop Gene Robertson, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and others to offer healing, insight, education, compassion and understanding for families caught in the crosshairs of scripture versus sexual orientation. A group discussion will follow the showing of the video. Admission is free and open to everyone.

Men’s Coming Out Group Starting At OutReach
Madison - A 10-week men’s coming-out support group is forming and will begin running on Wednesday nights in the fall at OutReach, 600 Williamson St.  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.
  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 by phone at: 608-255-8582 or e-mail at harrys@outreachinc.com.

IndieQueer Party Moves To Café Montmarte
Madison - IQ’s Girl Party is evolving and Café Momo’s going homo! The IndieQueer Girl Party will move to CafeMontmarte, 127 E. Mifflin St. on Saturday, August 16. IQ is taking their supporters to some place a bit darker, a bit sexier and bringing them the hottest mix of hip hop, old school r&b & retro jams. The party will begin at 10 PM . Cover charge is $5 and you must be over 21. For more information visit th IQ website at: www.indieQueer.com.

Gay Singles Speed Dating Set For August 26
LaCrosse - The newly-formed LaCrosse LGBT Singles Group, will sponsor an evening of speed dating as its first social event Tuesday, August 26, from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Southside Neighborhood Center, 1300 6th St. South here. Each participant will provide organizers with a profile, a G-rated digital photograph and choose their preferred method of contact, such as telephone or email. This event will be alcohol and drug free.
  Because of space limitations, reservations are required. For more information about the event email Melisa Meyers at: Melisa.Myers@arcw.org. Full details about the speed dating event, its guidelines and tips for how to make the most of the evening are available at the 7 Rivers LGBT Community Center website at: www.7riverslgbt.org.

2008 Central Wisconsin Pride Has Country Fair Flair
Amherst - Over 250 of Central Wisconsin's LGBT residents celebrated their gay pride with an old fashioned country fair flair at the Portage County Fairgrounds here August 2. Entertainers hailing from Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Milwaukee mixed with homemade cakes, handmade crafts and the traditional grill out treats.
  Among the highlights of the day: Hypnotist and comedian Ken Owens convinced several willing subjects under his hypnotic control that their private parts had disappeared and then sent them off to a suggested bathroom with hilarious results. Leah Jee and the Boys, fresh from their recent gig at Milwaukee's PrideFest musically tore up the Portage County Fairgrounds main stage following an afternoon drag show featuring  Palm Springs illusionist Christopher Ray. Stevens Point resident Dennis Tepp won the 56" HDTV in the raffle that helps to underwrite the costs of the festival.
 Hot shows at Wausau's Oz And Stevens Point's Club Night Out capped the day's events. A photo slide show from the day's events by Quest's Mike Fitzpatrick (at left) captured just some of the festival fun from all three venues.
  Planning for the 2009 festival will begin almost immediately, according to committee member Vern Hartl. Those interested in getting involved should email Central Wisconsin Pride at: info@centralwisconsinpride.com.

Arts & Entertainment: