Proposition 8 Protests In Wisconsin Draw Over 1,000
Rallies Held in Appleton, Eau Claire, Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee and Superior-Duluth
Statewide - Despite gray skies with wind chills in the teens, more than 1,000 LGBT community members and allies in seven cities including Appleton, Eau Claire, Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, and Superior participated in the national protest against the passage of Proposition 8 in  Wisconsin November 15.
  Gay furor over the passage of California’s Proposition 8 rescinding the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry spread beyond that state’s borders with tens of thousands involved in an estimated 500 rallies and marches organized by an ad hoc Seattle-based group called “Join The Impact.” The “Fight The H8” events occurred simultaneously across the United States. The Join The Impact website listed links to rallies in every state of the Union. Though final  figures were still being collected, it is already known that over 100,000 participated in the day's events.
  All of the Wisconsin events began at 12:30 PM to coincide with the rallies nationwide. About 20 attended Appleton's rally held at the Outagamie County, 320 S. Walnut St. Local organizer Chad Wege believes with a bit more notice, the numbers could have been larger.
  “I'm sure we would have had many more if we had more advanced notice, but Fair Wisconsin only notified me Thursday afternoon,” Wege told Quest.
  Sixteen people attended the protest in Eau Claire at the City Hall on South Farwell Ave., across from the Civic Center. A couple of the attendees held signs encouraging passing cars to “honk” if they supported marriage equality for gay people. “We got plenty of honks, and it was a lot of fun,” sign holder Alex Bridgeman said. “I say it was a success.”
  After being alerted to the planned national protest, LGBT GBAN and the Pride Alive Committee organized their rally held in front of the Brown County on Walnut St. in downtown Green Bay. An eyewitness head count marked 46 attendees during the half-hour event, that was covered by two local TV stations. Two unidentified men who were videotaping the rally about a thousand feet away left quickly when they were spotted and pointed out by people at the protest.
  The La Crosse protest, organized by the 7 Rivers LGBT Center, drew 50 people in front of City Hall, 400 La Crosse St. Some of the motorists in the busy midday traffic honked in apparent support of the rally.
  “It really is simple. It doesn't affect anybody, but two people whether their heterosexual or homosexual. It is nobody's business,”   protest participant Michelle Rohdel told WXOW-TV reporter Julie Salomone.
  In Madison, a march organized by local activists and Fair Wisconsin will stepped off from the University of Wisconsin library mall and proceed to the State Capitol. Marcher Tim Schlichting counted 417 present.
  Sarah Korpi, a UW-Madison graduate student who had flown to California to marry her partner only months ago, captured the contrast many gay people felt on election Day.  “So it's still okay to hate us,” she told reporter Shawn Doherty of The Capital Times.  “Everybody was celebrating the election of Barack Obama and change, but we felt so left out.”
  Milwaukee activists rallied in Arrow Head Park across from the Milwaukee City Hall building. The event drew about 400 people, according to Kurt Dyer of Center Advocates.
  “We had a great turnout for our rally today in Milwaukee,” Dyer told Quest. “At least 400 folks showed up despite the bitterly cold wind.”
  In the Twin Ports cities of Superior and Duluth, the protest rally was held at the Minnesota Power Center on Lake Ave. and Superior St. in Duluth. “We had 75 people at the height of the protest,” organizer Adam Ritscher told Quest. “Counting folks that came and went throughout the afternoon we came to a grand total of 101 folks.”
  LGBT activists and their straight allies at all sites voiced their opposition to both the recent passage of California's Proposition 8 and the 2006 passage to the so-called Marriage Protection amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution.
  For more information about the national events, visit the Join the Impact website at: www.jointheimpact.com. Photo credits: Chad Wege, Rebecca Whitton, Stephanie Brantner, Mike Fitzpatrick, Shawn Doherty, Kurt Dyer and Adam Ritscher.

California Supreme Court To Determine Constitutionality Of Prop 8
San Francisco - The California Supreme Court has granted a review in the legal challenges to Proposition 8, which passed by a narrow margin of 52% earlier this month.  In an order issued November 19, the Court agreed to hear the case and set an expedited briefing schedule. The Court also denied an immediate stay, which means no further same-sex unions can legally be carried out until the court issues it’s ruling.
  On November 5, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court on behalf of six
individuals and Equality California. The City of San Francisco, joined by the City of Los Angeles and Santa Clara County, filed a similar challenge, as did private attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles.
  The lawsuits allege that, on its face, Proposition 8 is an improper revision rather than an amendment of the California Constitution because, in its very title, which was “Eliminates the right to marry for same-sex couples,” the initiative eliminated an existing right only for a targeted minority.  If permitted to stand, Proposition 8 would be the first time an initiative has successfully been used to change the California Constitution to take way an existing right only for a particular group.  Such a change would defeat the very purpose of a constitution and fundamentally alter the role of the courts in protecting minority rights.   According to the California Constitution, such a serious revision of the state Constitution cannot be enacted through a simple majority vote, but must first be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature.
  Since the three lawsuits submitted on November 5, three other lawsuits challenging Proposition 8 have been filed. In a petition filed on November 14, leading African American, Latino, and Asian American groups argued that Proposition 8 threatens the equal protection rights of all Californians.
  On November 17, the California Council of Churches and other religious leaders and faith organizations representing millions of members statewide, also filed a petition asserting that Proposition 8 poses a severe threat to the guarantee of equal protection for all, and was not enacted through the constitutionally required process for such a dramatic change to the California Constitution. On the same day, prominent California women’s rights organizations filed a petition asking the Court to invalidate Proposition 8 because of its potentially disastrous implications for women and other groups that face discrimination.
  In May of 2008, the California Supreme Court had held that barring same-sex couples from marriage violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution and violates the fundamental right to marry. Proposition 8 would completely eliminate the right to marry only for same-sex couples. No other initiative has ever successfully changed the California Constitution to take away a right only from a targeted minority group.
  Over the past 100 years, the California Supreme Court has heard nine cases challenging either legislative enactments or initiatives as invalid revisions of the California Constitution. In three of those cases, the Court invalidated those measures.
  California voters have had a history of passing discriminatory referenda, only to see them overturned later. In 1966, the California Supreme Court struck down a 1964 initiative that would have permitted racial discrimination in housing. Voters had approved the measure, a repeal of a fair housing law, by a 2-to-1 margin. Opponents challenged it on equal protection grounds, not as a constitutional revision.
  Proposition 187, a 1994 ballot initiative designed to deny undocumented immigrants social services, health care, and public education passed with 58.8% of the vote but was later overturned by a federal court.

World & National News:

Report: No Action On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Until 2010
Washington, DC - Barack Obama is now expected to delay until 2010 a decision to seek an end to the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military, according to the President-elect’s transition team advisers.
  Obama had made repealing the ban a campaign promise. But, advisers told The Washington Times the incoming president first wants to form a consensus among the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new Pentagon appointees before going to Congress on the issue.
  Current policy requires gay service members to keep their sexuality private or face expulsion from the U.S. armed services. About 12,500 people have been discharged under the policy since it was instituted in 1993.
  Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said he had held “informal discussions” with the Obama transition team on how the to proceed on the issue, which he also expects to come up in 2010.

Same-Sex Marriages Begin In Connecticut
New Haven - Same-sex couples began marrying in Connecticut on November 12, the same day the final judgment was entered in a case decided by the state’s Supreme Court last October. The court decided 4-3 that the state’s policy of offering same-sex couples only civil unions violated Connecticut constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.
  Couples exchanged vows amid cheers and tears of joy, though the milestone did not ease the sting of the loss for gay-marriage supporters in California a week earlier. Outside West Hartford’s town hall, Jody Mock and Elizabeth Kerrigan waved their marriage license high to the cheers of about 150 people. The couple led the lawsuit that that overturned the state law.
  “We feel very fortunate to live in the state of Connecticut, where marriage equality is valued, and hopefully other states will also do what is fair,” Kerrigan said.
  With California voters’ recent decision to take back marriage equality for gay couples, Massachusetts is the only other U.S. state where gay couples can marry.

National “A Day Without a Gay” Event Set For December 10
West Hollywood - Fresh from its successful national protest event, activists involved with Join The Impact are hoping that some members of the gay community will ask friends and supporters to take the day off of work on December 10. They also hope that those involved  will volunteer their time to local charitable and humanitarian organizations.
  The “Day Without a Gay - Fight the H8 with Love” event asks people to “call in gay” for work and donate their time to service.
  In the run-up to the November 15 protest Los Angeles Times gay columnist Joel Stein suggested a boycott “patterned after the 2006 Great American Boycott” organized by Latino immigrants. “Gays should stay home from work, school and do no shopping, to prove how crucial they are to American society,” Stein wrote.
  West Hollywood residents Sean Hetherington and partner Aaron Hartzler decided to build on that idea and include volunteerism in the effort to make a difference on December 10.
  While the couple supports the national boycott, Hetherington said as long as people are “cutting off their ties to the economy,” it would be a good chance to contribute positively to their local areas. The website - daywithoutagay.org - was up and running by November 15.
  “Gay people and our allies are compassionate, sensitive, caring, mobilized, and programmed for success. A day without gays would be tragic because it would be a day without love,” the website’s entreaty begins. “On December 10, 2008 the gay community will take a historic stance against hatred by donating love to a variety of different causes. On December 10, you are encouraged not to call in sick to work. You are encouraged to call in “gay”--and donate your time to service!”
  The site seeks to match non-profits needing volunteers with “Day Without Gay” participants. If taking a day off is not practical or would end up in disciplinary action, the site, provides alternative ways to participate, including helping notify others about area volunteer opportunities.
  Hetherington said it’s a good opportunity to change peoples’ preconceived ideas about the gay community. “We’re not just gay people marching up and down the street stopping traffic,” he said. “We thought the movement needed something creative and different”
  Hetherington said the site has attracted a lot of interest and is receiving numerous e-mails daily. There’s also a “Day Without a Gay” group on Facebook with more than 1,600 members.
  December 10 is also International Human Rights Day.

eHarmony Settles Lawsuit, Will Offer Same Sex Matches
Trenton - Online dating service eHarmony is adding another personality trait to its 29 dimensions of computability. The California-based company will begin providing same-sex matches under as part of a settlement with New Jersey’s Civil Rights Division. Garden State resident Eric McKinley filed a complaint against the online matchmaker in 2005.
  Under terms of the settlement, the company can create a new or differently named website for same-sex singles. The company can also post a disclaimer saying its compatibility-based matching system was developed from research of married heterosexual couples.
  Neither the company nor its founder, Neil Clark Warren, admit any liability. In addition, eHarmony will pay the division $50,000 to cover administrative costs. It will pay McKinley $5,000 and give him a free 1-year membership to its new service.

Study: Earlier HIV Treatment Boosts Survival
Washington, DC - Hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved if treatment for HIV-infected patients were started earlier than current guidelines suggest, researchers report.
  The guidelines now call for initiating antiviral therapy in any person who develops symptoms of AIDS or whose CD4 T-cell count - a measure of how much damage HIV has done to the immune system - drops to less than 350 cells per cubic millimeter of blood.
  But in a study of more than 8,000 patients, those without symptoms who started therapy when their CD4 count was between 351 and 500 cells per cubic millimeter of blood were less likely to die than those who waited until the count was lower, according to Mari Kitahata, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle.
  “There was a meaningful, 70% improvement in survival among patients who started therapy when their CD4 count was between 351 and 500,” Kitahata said. “The data strongly support initiation of antiretroviral therapy in all patients with CD4 counts of 500 or below, regardless of whether they have symptoms,” she says. “We’re waiting too late to treat people.”
  Kitahata presented the findings at a joint meeting of the American Society for Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
  Since the mid-1990s, potent drug cocktails -known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic manageable disorder, like diabetes.
  But the drugs have their own set of problems. They can cause diarrhea, nausea, high cholesterol, heart problems, and other toxic effects. Skipping doses can cause resistance to develop, which means the drugs will stop working. As a result, some doctors starting delaying treatment.
  In recent years, new combinations that minimize side effects and require patients to take fewer pills have become available. Kitahata’s research has suggested that delaying treatment can seriously damage the immune and nervous systems.

Prop 8 Loss Prompts GayWallet Launch
Palo Alto, California - Lesbian blogger Genia Stevens has launched GayWallet, a social network designed to connect the LGBT community with companies and organizations that promote or support gay and lesbian rights. GayWallet.com allows users to create groups, upload videos, post pictures, and participate in various forum discussions. 
  According to Stevens, GayWallet is a peaceful protest against California’s Proposition 8 and other anti-gay legislation in the United States. “It is a modern-day movement that utilizes today’s technology - the internet and social media web sites,” Stevens said. “Gay Americans buy goods and services. We spend our money on cars and houses. Our tax dollars are used for schools and roads and social services. We deserve nothing less than equality. If a company or an organization wants to help right-wing religious fanatics strip us of our equal rights, it’s only fair that we know who those companies are so we can spend our money elsewhere.”
  Stevens says that social networking websites are a growing trend and are often utilized by individuals and organizations that need to gather like-minded individuals in a central location.  The most dramatic example of social network wesbites’ ability to organize was the recent simultaneously held Proposition 8 protests held November 15, all organized by Join the Impact. Other examples are TwitterMoms.com that gathers mothers who micro-blog using Twitter, and Women on Career Break, a social networking website that gathers women who are in-between jobs in a central location. 
  GayWallet seeks to connect the LGBT community with like-minded individuals who support equality for gays and lesbians.  To learn more about GayWallet visit: gaywallet.com.

Sweden: “Transvestism, S/M, Fetishes Not Disordered”
Stockholm - Swedish health officials say they will remove transvestism, fetishism and sadomasochism from the country’s official list of diseases and mental disorders.
  The National Board of Welfare says labeling those aspects of sexual behavior and gender identity as disorders can add to prejudices in society. Gay and transgender rights activists welcomed this week’s decision.
  The board’s director Lars-Erik Holm said he will raise the issue internationally when the World Health Organization starts the process of renewing its classifications.

State News:

Wisconsin Dems Name Pocan To Top Budget Post
Madison - Openly-gay Assembly Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison) has been named as budget committee co-chair, a position considered to be one of the Legislature’s most powerful posts. Newly-elected Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan (D-Janesville) made the announcement November 13.
  “I am humbled by my appointment to co-chair the state’s budget committee and I am eager to get to work to balance what will likely be the largest budget gap in state history,” Pocan said in a prepared statement.
  The budget committee will draft the next biennial state budget, due in July 2009. The greatest challenge facing the committee is closing the estimated $5.4 million short fall caused by recent losses in tax revenues due to the soft state economy.
  Pocan added that he would “use his past service on the committee to try to work with Republicans and Democratic Governor Jim Doyle to balance the budget and protect taxpayers.”
  Pocan has received credit for his role in the Democrats’ take over of the Assembly. Pocan is one of two openly gay elected members of the state Legislature.  Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) serves in the State Senate.

Gay Arts Center, ACLU Sue City Over “Naked Boys”
Milwaukee - The saga of the nudie gay musical, the Milwaukee street preacher and the City of Milwaukee took a new turn here November 10 when the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the City of Milwaukee in federal court. The suit claims the Police Department violated MGAC’s First Amendment rights when it closed down a production of “Naked Boys Singing” in August 2005 for failing to obtain a license. The lawsuit seeks both unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
  According to the ACLU, the MGAC previously had been allowed to stage productions without licenses. “The only difference is those shows didn’t have such provocative titles, so you have to suspect that disapproval of the content is what made the police act in this case,” ACLU attorney Steve Porter said.
  The “Naked Boys Singing” saga began three and a half years ago with prolific, and some might say, prurient promotion. For six weeks prior to the show’s original debut, ads focusing primarily on the nudity of the cast spread through the state’s gay media.
  The ads also brought out the naked fury of Milwaukee street preacher Drew Heiss who filed an open records request on August 2 that year to see if all the appropriate licenses for the production were in place. The MGAC applied for a small theater a license request just a day later, city records indicated. However, since the license had to be approved  by the common council, it was not in effect when the revue opened on August 11.
  A week later “Naked Boys Singing” was allegedly caught with its licenses down as the city’s vice squad shuttered the production. Director Mark Hooker claimed at the time that the shuttering was an “unprecedented in the history of the show” and that the police action was a selective “mean spirited and homophobic” enforcement of a technicality. Within days, however, it was learned that other productions of the revue had been shut down on at least four previous occasions in cities ranging from the gay mecca Provincetown to Atlanta.
  The Milwaukee Gay Arts Center subsequently filed its $634,420 claim against the city, most of which is for an alleged violation of the not-for-profits’ civil rights. The City of Milwaukee later backed down on the small theater license requirement for the MGAC after reviewing documents relating to the center’s not-for-profit status. The documents had been submitted with the earlier license request for a temporary Class B liquor license.
  Mayor Tom Barrett later called for both a review of the city’s licensing division and the police department’s handling of the shutdown. Barrett later met with about fifty interested gay community members at a town hall meeting at the Milwaukee LGBT Center.
  In October 2005, a partially recast version of “Naked Boys Singing” re-opened for an eight week run. The following  November the international touring act “Puppetry of the Penis,” another show noted for its frontal male nudity, put on benefit show in support of the beleaguered Milwaukee revue without incident.
  Much of the controversy had been fueled by self-promoter extraordinaire Don Hoffman. Until his sudden departure for Massachusetts shortly after PrideFest in 2006, Hoffman had served as editor of the Milwaukee gay  monthly Queer Life, was co-director of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center and owned of the since-shuttered InterMezzo Wine Bar. Hoffman had coordinated the MGAC’s post-shutdown placement of two full page advertisements in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel demanding a “public apology” for the shutdown and devoted two subsequent issues of front page coverage about the imbroglio in Queer Life.
  As of Quest’s deadline, the city of Milwaukee has not formally responded to the new MGAC-ACLU lawsuit.

OutReach Launches New Website, Announces Agency Makeover
Madison - OutReach has announced the opening of its new website: www.lgbtoutreach.org. The new domain and web design reflect just a part of a complete makeover of the agency’s programs and services.
 OutReach’s Board of Directors recently committed to developing the agency into a full LGBT community center in Madison. Plans call for OutReach to move into a new, larger space, and revise the current library, print resource, and electronic resource services to meet the changing needs of the community.
  “OutReach will be the leader in LGBT community development, creating opportunities for all sectors to become engaged, according to program director Harry Straetz. A key element of the planned renovations will be  a development strategy by OutReach Board members, volunteers, and staff to raise the sufficient financial resources to fulfill the agency’s expanded mission and sustain the new organization, while maintaining a prudent financial reserve.
 OutReach will sponsor a donor/volunteer open house at OutReach to celebrate the contribution of time, money, and in-kind help that sustains the agency on Wednesday, December 3  from 5 - 8 PM. RSVPs for the meal will be appreciated. Call 608-255-8582 and ask for Cris.
  OutReach continues to operate at its current location, 600 Williamson St. in Madison. To learn more about the agency’s expanded mission and plans, visit the new website or contact OutReach by phone number listed above.

Interview With CCF's Tim Clark
By Michael Johnston

Tim Clark is the President of the Board of Directors of the Cream City Foundation.  The CCF is the second oldest foundation of this nature. CCF is a most successful, long-running (26 years) LGBT foundation, endowing the state of Wisconsin with much needed monies to LGBT people/projects/organizations. Who is the man behind CCF?  Please read on…
  On a beautiful autumn evening in Milwaukee, after a scrumptious dinner at the Wisconsin Club, I had the chance to ask Mr. Clark the questions hopefully you all would like to. Props to our server, Brandon, and Carolyn on piano who enhanced the interview ten fold.

Michael Johnston: What does the Cream City Foundation mean to you?

Tim Clark: The Cream City Foundation and my role means giving help. To help make other people breathe easier. To help them out. Our paths may never cross – but we helped, helped change a  situation. Noblesse oblige.  You are given, give back. To know that one life has breathed easier – because you lived. To lead a worthy life, is my motto.

MJ: What are your goals/visions for CCF in 2009?

TC: I really want to see the work of the community to help the young, homeless out there.  That’s where I am focused. On health issues in general in the LGBT community. The aging of the baby boomers. Partner benefits in the work force for all. These are the issues of concern to me.

MJ: What is your role as president of the board of CCF? What does a board president do?

TC: Motivate, I guess. Work within the community, display good leadership and diplomacy. A good leader, also knows when to move on, move to the side. Do your share, then move to the side. Not an emperor.

MJ: Why does CCF mean so much to you?

TC: It is diverse. It is proven. It represents broad civic change. Every aspect of the LGBT community is included. Our latest campaign – gayneighbor.org,  with funding from Joseph R. Pabst, we were able to empower a committee and look at the results.  The message – we are all more alike, than different.  Trying to take away the fear, the ignorance, hopefully the hatred. The impact! We are getting hits all over the globe! This has made a difference. A donor can empower the community!

MJ: What is the most challenging part of being in charge of CCF?

TC: Always looking for sources of funding, to help along society change. So many causes, so few dollars – in this tight time economically speaking.

MJ: Have you dealt with any repercussions professionally or personally being so closely connected with an LGBT cause?

TC: No – none whatsoever. I have only had positive responses both in Corporate America and in my personal life.

MJ: In this time of an exciting election, which happens to be on everyone’s mind and tongue, would you have any political aspirations?

TC: No, it would take a whole lot of convincing for that. My dad was a state senator, and was tapped for the U.S. Senate. The whole world of politics can be unpleasant – nationally speaking. My dad didn’t pursue that course for that reason.  Locally, we are very fortunate. I love the local politicians here.

MJ: Who are you? How do you describe you, Tim Clark?

TC: I am very private, really not comfortable talking about myself.

MJ: Where do you see yourself, in ten years?

TC: Hopefully still involved in the community. Still out there.  Out of a job with the foundation, because there wouldn’t be any need, any more.  Society would be set, that Foundations of the CCF kind and others wouldn’t need to exist, that all needs were seen to by our society.

MJ: What would you like to share with our readers? A message on your behalf, or on behalf of the Cream City Foundation?

TC: It is very important to me to spend some time getting some young people involved in our community.  To get the younger set interested in all the organizations out there, instead of recycling the same core group of devoted community volunteers.  To focus on developing leadership – to make sure there is someone to carry us forward.

On Our Cover: Eye Candy For A Cause
Sydney-based photographer Pedro Virgil has been coaxing Australian “footballers” out of their kits for his annual “naked rugby player” calendar since 2003. His Gods of Football Calendar 2009 was released in the US this week.  The 24-page deluxe poster book/calendar features two dozen nude pro rugby players, including the blond “god” on the cover of this issue, Kayne Lawton.
  Virgil took 45 players on location to some of Australia's most iconic spots to photograph them, and a video crew was there for every hot minute of it. Now there’s a reality show! The Gods of Football DVD 2009 will be released in the US early next year.
  The “Gods of Football” competition to name Australia’s sexiest rugby players is big news Down Under.  Australians voted online throughout the season, and player profiles ran weekly on the national “Footy Show” (like our “Inside the NFL”). The winners were reported by all the Australian networks and national newspapers.
  Gods of Football 2009 Calendar and DVD raise awareness and funds for the breast cancer charity, The McGrath Foundation. Can you imagine NFL players getting “naked for a cause?” Gotta love those sexy and open-minded Australians!
  Outwords Books is the exclusive retailer for the Gods of Football Calendar 2009 in the Milwaukee area.