“Family” Group’s Lawsuit Challenges Wisconsin DP Registry
Supreme Court Petition Will Not Deter The August 3 Registry Start-Up
By Mike Fitzpatrick
(Editor's Note: This is the print edition of this story. An updated version is also available online here and on QNU.)
Madison - The long-promised right-wing challenge to Wisconsin’s recently enacted same-sex domestic partner registry finally arrived July 23 in the form of a petition for an original action filed directly to the state’s Supreme Court by Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), the lobbying arm of the better-known Wisconsin Family Council.
  At the crux of the petition was the claim that the 43 protections given by Wisconsin’s domestic partner status created a sort of “mimic marriage” that was “substantially similar” to the more than 200 rights conferred to wedded couples by the state’s civil marriage license. “The form of domestic partnership created by the domestic partnership registry is prohibited by Art. XIII, sec. 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution by creating and requiring recognition of a legal status substantially similar to that of marriage,” the petition stated. “Such domestic partnerships are entered into by same-sex partners and are officially created and acknowledged in essentially the identical way that marriages are entered into by a man and woman and are officially created and acknowledged.”
  According to lead WFA litigant and possibly domestic partnership-eligible (see separate story) Juliane Appling,  the new registry was an “assault” on the people of Wisconsin. “This registry is an assault on the people, the state constitution, the democratic process, and the institution of marriage, which the people voted so recently and so overwhelmingly to protect,” Appling was quoted in the press release. “Gov. Doyle and the legislators who approved the registry in the budget are obviously more concerned with advancing the agenda of a fringe activist group than representing the people who elected them.”
  The “fringe” group Appling alluded to appears to be Fair Wisconsin, the state’s only full-time statewide LGBT civil rights organization. That “activist group” provided extensive voter education in key legislative districts during the last two election cycles that resulted in the “democratic process” selecting elected officials that supported the registry provision in the state budget passed in late June.
  The suit naming Appling, along with WFA board members Jerry Hiller and E. Lee Webster, was filed by Austin Nimocks and Brian Raum, attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund, the judicial activist organization founded by Focus on The Family’s James Dobson. Assisting attorneys include Richard M. Esenberg and Michael D. Dean.
  Dean is the Waukesha attorney who attempted to insert his one-man First Freedom Foundation along with eight  city and town governments into the ACLU domestic-partner lawsuit against the state in 2005. He did so after then Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) attempted to insert the Legislature into the same case using Alliance Defense Fund attorneys. Judges later threw out both attempts as inappropriate.
  Fair Wisconsin was quick to respond to the WFA suit. Fair Wisconsin is currently reviewing this lawsuit with our legal counsel, and we are prepared to defend domestic partnerships,” Executive Director Katie Belanger said. “We are hopeful that the State Supreme Court will recognize that domestic partnerships are not substantially similar to marriage, and will arrive at a fair and just decision that upholds these basic protections for same-sex couples.”
  Belanger cited the May 6 opinion by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Council supporting the legality of domestic partnerships under the constitutional amendment. “It is reasonable to conclude that the domestic partnerships proposed…do not confer a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals in violation of art. XIII, s.13,” the council’s opinion stated.
  The Wisconsin ACLU called for the petition to be denied. “The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin believes that the Wisconsin Supreme Court should deny a petition asking it to take original jurisdiction in a challenge to the state’s new domestic partnership registry,” Executive Director Christopher Ahmuty said  in a prepared statement. “The petitioners’ hyperbolic assertions of disputed facts and tortured effort to make this dispute one over “social meaning” rather than common sense are powerful arguments to deny their petition. Let them go to Circuit Court as is usual in such circumstances. “
  Ahmuty also questioned the timing of the WFA suit. “The petitioners admit that it is not possible for the Court to act before the registry takes effect, so their disingenuous concern for domestic partners is insulting at best,” he said.
  Ahmuty called the WFA suit’s logic “absurd.” “The notion that the facts in this matter are simple is absurd,” he said. “They assume that the majority of voters agree with their understanding of the constitutional amendment without any basis.”
  In follow-up interviews about the WFA suit, Appling characterized both Governor Jim Doyle and the state legislature as “sneaky.” That brought a direct response from Doyle.
  “These are people who, by the way - when the Wisconsin Constitutional Amendment was passed - made repeated public statements saying that this would not preclude domestic partnership legislation,” Doyle told WIXK reporter Jeff Peterson. “Now they’re apparently singing a different tune.”
  Doyle doubts the suit will be successful. “I believe that in Wisconsin we have found a way that doesn’t get us embroiled in the whole marriage issue -  which people have strong feelings on both sides and on which out constitution is now clear,” he said. “It is a way to provide basic rights for people... like being able to visit in the hospital, being able to make end-of-life decisions... I think most people, wherever you are on the issue of gay marriage thing that there should be some basic rights that people have.”
  For gay couples planning to register their partnerships, the late timing of the WFA suit will give them a window of opportunity. Four of the seven Supreme Court justices would have to agree to take the case, and the court’s new session does not begin until September.
  Former Justice Janine Geske, now a professor at Marquette, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that she believes the case will most likely be sent to the lower courts. “The court tends, even when it believes it may get the case down the road, to generally allow the whole system to react,” she said.
  Former Justice William Bablitch also pointed out that the court might wait to act until it decides a case from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh professor William McConkey that seeks to make the gay marriage ban unconstitutional. That suit said the amendment was improperly worded when it was sent to the voters.
  “If they decide the ban is unconstitutional, that takes care of the question,” Bablitch said.
  Fair Wisconsin has established a Legal Challenge Fund to help defend against the WFA lawsuit. In an email to supporters Belanger urged contributions to “make sure that this hard-earned victory is not snatched away by our opponents.”
  “I am making this urgent request on behalf of our state’s over 15,000 same-sex couples who desperately need these crucial protections,” Belanger wrote   “The time is now, and the need could not be more real.”
  For more information about the Fair Wisconsin Legal Challenge Fund, visit the group’s website at: www.fairwisconsin.com.

World & National News:

Gay Student’s Executioner Ordered To Stand Trial
Oxnard - Following three days of testimony, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley said gay Oxnard junior high school student Larry King was fatally shot in class "with the cold-blooded precision of an executioner” here July 23. Riley then said 15-year-old Brandon McInerney should stand trial for the crime.
  Riley took note of McInerney's telling other students about his intent to kill King, a 15-year-old who wore makeup, earrings and high heels to school. "You better say goodbye to him because you won't see him again," McInerney said, according to investigators' interviews with students.
  McInerney allegedly shot King twice in the head February 12, 2008, as their class sat in a computer lab at E.O. Green Junior High School. Barely 14 at the time of the crime, McInerney has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder. In addition to the judge saying the charge was appropriate, Riley agreed with that allegation that it was a hate crime.
  During the hearing, an investigator testified about an Oxnard man who allegedly was McInerney's neo-Nazi "mentor." Simi Valley Police Detective Dan Swanson, an expert on white supremacists, also pointed to McInerney's apparent interest in Nazi symbols, including swastika-riddled drawings found in his possession.
 Judge Riley also agreed to a newly added special circumstance that McInerney was lying in wait for King. The shooting took place 15 or 20 minutes into class. King was shot from behind.
  After the hearing, prosecutor Maeve Fox said McInerney could face 53 years to life if convicted. The Ventura County district attorney's office has offered him a 25-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea, but he has not accepted the deal. Fox said the offer is still on the table.
  McInerney's attorneys would not discuss their client's reaction to the plea-bargain offer. They said they are planning to ask appellate judges to order the case into Juvenile Court, where sentences are lighter and more rehabilitative services are available. Although California law allows 14-year-old murder defendants to be tried as adults, attorney Scott Wippert said Ventura County prosecutors had "abused their discretion" in charging McInerney.
  In the preliminary hearing, the defense suggested that McInerney had been sexually abused as a child. They said he felt threatened by King, who returned taunts from him and other boys with sexual overtures and declarations of love.
  At the hearing, McInerney attorney Robyn Bramson summed up the defense’s “gay panic” strategy. In exasperation, she asked an investigator: "What if you talked to Brandon and he said, 'I did it because this kid was sexually harassing me and I felt panicked, freaked out and uncomfortable'?

State News:

Milwaukee Post Office LGBT Pride Display Pulled, Moved To City Hall
Milwaukee - It was supposed to be an opportunity for the public to learn about the history and  the visionary  pioneers who helped coalesce one of Cream City’s minority communities during the month-long celebration of its history. Instead it turned into a reminder that gay equality in Milwaukee is still a vision yet to be fulfilled.
  Last May, Dale Schuster, the chair of the Milwaukee Post Office diversity team, contacted Milwaukee LGBT Community Center director Maggi Cage, PhD asking for assistance to develop a LGBT Pride Month display for the downtown post office lobby. Over the next weeks Cage worked closely with post office personnel to put together an impressive display of biographies of famous LGBT people, pictures and historical descriptions.  The display’s centerpiece was the US Postal Services own AIDS Ribbon stamp. 
  The display opened on June 1, the same day President Barack Obama issued the first gay pride month declaration in nearly a decade. Four hours later it had disappeared.
  “I started getting calls saying, ‘I can't find that exhibit at the post office,’” Cage told Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Jim Stingl, who broke the story about the display’s removal on July 12. “I sent some of my staff down there, and the cases were empty.”
  Cage contacted post office personnel and was informed that the display had been removed by order of Milwaukee Postmaster, Charley Miller. “I was very disappointed that the display had been removed with out any communication from the post office informing me of their decision or any explanation as to why it was removed,” Cage said
  According to Cage, while a portion of the display was returned to the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center  “numerous items are still missing,” adding she not received any official explanation from the postmaster informing her of why the display was removed.
  Stingl’s piece offered Cage’s suspicions about homophobia being at the heart of the display’s removal and postal service spokesperson denials that it was the gay nature of the display. Proper procedure was violated, the spokesperson said.
  Schuster later resigned as chair of the diversity team. He later contacted Quest reporting he had full written approval to put up the display, including copies of the approval documents. Because of postal service employee policy Schuster is unable to speak on the record on the matter, but agreed to “share with you what really happened.” However, after an additional series of emails and “phone tag,” as of Quest’s deadline Schuster had not shared his impressions of what happened in the display matter.
  The LGBT Center later found a new home for the Pride Month display at Milwaukee City Hall. Cage contacted city officials and received approval to erect the display in the lobby of City Hall.  The display in its entirety opened July 15 in the lobby of City Hall where it will be on display until mid-August.
  On July 20, Cage met with Milwaukee Postmaster Charles Miller for nearly ninety minutes to discuss the recent controversy involving the LGBT Pride Month Display. In the meeting, Cage requested a formal apology from Miller in which the Post Office would be apologizing to the entire Milwaukee LGBT Community.  Cage said in a press release that she “expects to be hearing from Miller regarding the apology some time in the next week.”
  “The meeting was very productive and I expect positive results to come from the meeting,” Cage said. The Post Office and the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center may be collaborating on projects in the future, according to Cage.

Madison’s Capitol Pride To Honor Stonewall, GALVAnize
Madison - This summer marks important milestones for the LGBT movement both locally and nationally. Wisconsin Capitol Pride is commemorating the historical struggle for gay rights as well celebrating its hopes for the future at the Pride Festival August 14 - 16 with the theme “Pride: Then, Now and Tomorrow.”
  Nationally, gay rights organizations are commemorating the 40-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City, an event that marked a new age in the struggle for gay rights.
  "We've come a long way from the days of Stonewall, but we still have a lot of progress yet to make,” Capitol Pride Junior Co-Chair Maria Parker said. "We owe it to those who so bravely stood up to oppression in the past to continue raising awareness and advocating for the rights of the LGBT community."
    In recognition of local leaders in LGBT issues, the original founders of the organization GALVAnize will serve as Grand Marshals of the Pride Parade around the Capitol Square on Sunday, August 16 at 1 PM. GALVAnize emerged in Madison as a leader in gay rights advocacy 20 years ago this summer.
  Wisconsin Capitol Pride is still accepting applications for parade participants. Contact Derwin Leigh by email at: dleigh@wisconsincapitolpride.org or visit the website at: www.wisconsincapitolpride.org for an application form.
  This year’s Pride Festival activities will start on Friday, August 14 and run until Sunday, August 16. For a full schedule of events, including performances by Comedian Vicki Shaw and the band God-des & She, visit Wisconsin Capitol Pride's web site at: www.wisconsincapitolpride.org.

Chippewa Valley Pride Announces Events
Eau Claire - Chippewa Valley Pride has announced its expanded schedule of events for 2009. Organized by the LGBT Community Center of The Chippewa Valley, the event will run Friday through Saturday, August 14 - 16, and mixes community and bar events.
  Friday’s events will kick off with an Open House at the LGBT Community Center of the Chippewa Valley,510 S. Farwell Street from 7 - 10 PM. The evening will offer free refreshments, hourly prize drawings  and free Rapid Response HIV testing for those interested. 
  The fun will continue with the Adonis Midwest Male Entertainment performers at Scooter's, 411 Galloway Street from10:30 PM. to Midnight, followed by dancing to a live DJ until closing.
 The central event of this year’s pride celebration will be the Chippewa Valley Pride Picnic at the Riverview Island Pavilion, off Riverview Drive from11 AM to 5 PM Saturday, August 15..
  That evening the LGBT Community Center will offer a Movie Marathon with doors opening at 6:30 PM. The film "Saved" will begin at 7 PM, followed by "Latter Days" at 9. Admission is free.
  Saturday will conclude with a Pride Drag Show at Scooter's from 10:30 PM to 12:30 AM, followed by DJ and dancing until closing.
  Sunday will offer an Ice Cream Social and Pontoon Boat Ride on the Chippewa river to benefit the
LGBT Community Center Fundraiser. Reservations are necessary. For additional details and to make reservations, call the LGBT Center at 715-552-LGBT (5428).
  The weekend will conclude with Pride Karaoke featuring Sarge at Scooter's at 9 PM.
  For more information about Chippewa Valley Pride 2009, nearby accommodations in the Eau Claire area and other details, contact the LGBT Center by email at: chippewavalleypride@ymail.com or by phone at: 715-552-5428.

Milwaukee Gay & Bisexual Fathers Group Returns
Milwaukee - After a hiatus of several years the Milwaukee Gay and Bisexual Father’s Group has resumed operation. According to group founder Tim Claussen, for many years “this group met like clockwork on the eastside and we are pleased to announce their resumption of a twice a month schedule of meetings.”  
  “We are a network of gay and bisexual men who have children living with us or apart from us,” Claussen said. “Some of us are divorced, some separated, and some still married. Some of us are in committed relationships with other men.”
  Clasussen knows that many gay and bisexual fathers have never had the essential experience of being able to meet with, share with, and be understood by other gay and bisexual fathers. “Our support meetings provide a safe, confidential, upbeat, and welcoming forum for talking about the life issues that affect us,” he said.
 Claussen added the group’s meetings are open to “anyone who fits our profile.” “This is the heart of what the Gay Father's group does,” he said.
  Father’s groups meetings are held on the second and fourth Thursday of the month from 7 - 8:30 PM at Plymouth Church, 2712 E. Hampshire on Milwaukee’s north side.
  The group is open to new members. Anyone with any questions may contact Claussen by email at: jazzwriter1@yahoo.com.

Want To Register Your Relationship? Here’s How!
Tips From The Fair Wisconsin Domestic Partnership Guide
Madison - With the August 3 start of Wisconsin’s Domestic Partnership just days away, many committed couples are asking just what to do they have to do specifically to register their relationships. Fair Wisconsin has put out a complete guide to the registry available on its website at: www.fairwisconsin.com
  Visitors to the site will be able to download the guide, which, in addition to basic questions, offers a full list of the 43 basic protections each registered couple will receive and offers suggestions such as to when to ask an attorney about any particular wrinkles in your current relationship.
  Another wrinkle in same-sex couple’s futures is the recently announced challenge to the registry brought by the right-wing “family” political action group Wisconsin Family Action. If the Supreme Court decides in their favor, that may invalidate the registry in as little as a few months in a worst case scenario. Already-registered couples may find themselves in a position similar to the lucky 40,000 gay and lesbian couples who took advantage of California’s “window” of marriage opportunity, though the circumstances in Wisconsin are somewhat different.
  For those who are computer-challenged or quickly need the “down and dirty” basics on how to register, here’s  answers to the key questions your need to know, based in part on excerpts from the Fair Wisconsin Guide.

How Do We Know If We’re Eligible for A Domestic Partnership?
You must be at least 18 years old, be members of the same sex, and share a common residence. You may not be nearer of kin than second cousins and not be married or in another domestic partnership.

What Documents Do We Need To Register?
 You will need to provide proof of residence and identification. Certified copies of birth certificates and Social Security numbers are also required. For people who have been previously married, a certified death certificate or divorce judgment is required.

Where Do We Register?
You and your partner must register at the county clerk’s office where at least one of the partners resides.

How Does The Registry Process Work? What Will It Cost?
Partners must complete a legal affidavit, sign it, and pay a fee. Fees will vary among the 79 counties in the state
in that county. Expect the cost to be similar to civil marriage licenses issued in your home county.
  The clerk will issue a declaration of domestic partnership after a five-day waiting period. However a county may waive this waiting period for a fee of up to $10. Call your local clerk's office prior to registering to learn your county's specific costs.
  It would not be unreasonable to expect the fee to be - in total - between $80-100.

What If My Partner And I Are Married In A Different State Or Country?
Wisconsin does not recognize same-sex marriages. While no one is certain how the courts will address this issue in the future, the registry requires that neither party is married to another individual. Fair Wisconsin believes that “another individual” means not the person you're registering with.

What Happens If We Have Trouble Registering?
Fair Wisconsin would like to know and may be able to help with additional information. Call them at 608-441-0143. Staff members may be able to provide additional resources. However, Fair Wisconsin staff cannot give legal advice.

What Should We Wear?
It’s a special day! You may be getting pictures taken by friends and family and - if you register on August 3 or  the first few days thereafter - possibly by media types.

What If We Are Approached By the Media?
First of all, if you don’t want to be on TV, online or in the newspapers, just say “no.” You have that right. If you do consent to an interview, keep it personal. Share your struggles and successes as a couple, your years of love and commitment. Tell reporters why you’re happy to be able to get these basic protections.
  Most importantly, be yourself. Hearts are won and minds are changed by real stories from everyday people just like you and your partner.

Litigant Appling Eligible For A Domestic Partnership?
Wisconsin's Never-Married Anti-Gay Cop Co-Habits With College Chum “Sister”
Madison - The announcement on July 23 by Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) that it's president Julaine Appling and two WFA board members have petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn the recently enacted domestic partnership registry for same-sex couples came as no surprise to most political observers. Appling has been telegraphing the group's intentions for months, most recently on July 2 when she told the press that the Wisconsin Family Council, her “family” organization, might file a court challenge to the registry in partnership with the James Dobson-founded Alliance Defense Fund.
  Both the WFA and the Wisconsin Family Council are also heavily involved with Dobson's multi-million dollar Focus On The Family (FOTF) operation. FOTF money also played a major role in funding the "Yes On Marriage" campaign in the successful 2006 battle to enact an amendment to the Wisconsin constitution to ban civil unions and same-sex marriage.
  However, the lead litigant in the Supreme Court case also appears to be eligible for a domestic partnership herself. Joint Finance Committee Chair Mark Pocan (D-Madison) suggested about seven minutes into an early May debate with Appling on the syndicated Wisconsin political talk show “Up Front With Mike Gousha” that she did not have to have a registered relationship. “I’m not saying that Ms. Appling and her roommate have to form a domestic partnership,” Pocan said. “But if my committed partner of seven years and I want to form one... I should have that right.”
  Appling did not respond directly to Pocan's allegation, opting instead to point out that the partner registry was buried in the 1,700 page budget document. Quest subsequently investigated Pocan's comment and discovered that the sixty-something, never-married Appling actually may be eligible to register for a domestic partnership.
  Appling owns a home in Watertown with a fellow sixty-something, never married woman named M. Diane Westphall. They purchased the home together on September 28, 2007 for $148,500 from Brian and Adrianna Hollenbeck, according to Jefferson County property tax records.
  If that makes the pair guilty of anything it’s poor timing - they are the fourth couple to own the house in five years and it soared in value from its March 2002 estimate of $106,200. Quest obtained a photo of the home, located at 106 South Montgomery St. on Watertown.
  However, Appling and Westphall also work together - a lot. Both are employed at the Wisconsin Family Council: Julaine as the Chief Operating Officer and most visible face of the organization and Diane as a “Project Coordinator.” Appling’s “Meet the Staff” biography is fleshed out; Westphall’s is “coming soon.” Problem is its been coming and coming and coming - ever since the new site went up, replacing the old Wisconsin Family Research Institute-monikered website months ago. Quest has checked repeatedly. Something to hide? Maybe, maybe not - as another staffer’s biography is also incomplete.
  Appling and Westphall also teach at Watertown’s Maranatha Baptist Bible College. Westphall currently teaches a class in Business Communication. Appling will teach a class on National Government this Fall, a discreet semester apart.
  Appling and Westphall also have worked together on a project for the Watertown-based Eternal Vision, Inc., a self-described “Ministry of Biblical Stewardship.” In the last two and a half years, the tax-exempt organization has developed 30 ministries in 17 states. It also received a million dollar gift to establish a “Wisconsin Church Planting Fund.”
  Appling and Westphall worked together on a 2007 project entitled “Building Conviction For Christian Education,” authoring two articles for a supplemental information package that provides resources for pastoral teams. Appling’s article, “Walking in the Counsel, Standing in the Aisles, Sitting in the Seats,” contrasts public and Christian schools. Among this differences Appling points out is that mainstream schools’ “Human Growth and Development programs typically don’t champion abstinence, science programs... are by and large governed by the tenets of evolution... (and) the homosexual agenda is frequently not only present but pervasive...”
  Westphall’s brief piece, “The Emerging Butterfly Who Lives at Your House,” talks about the many awakenings brought on by adolescence using the caterpillar-into-butterfly metaphor in part to frame the piece.
  So it is clear that Julaine and Diane are certainly more than just “two guys sitting in an ice shanty somewhere,” as she expressed last February to Judith Davidoff when Appling first complained about Doyle’s benefits proposal. But could a familial relationship rule out a possible domestic partnership? Possibly.
  In the November 26, 2007 Watertown Daily Times obituary for Raymond Westphall, it is noted that “survivors include his daughters, Diane Westphall, Renée Westphall, Janet (Ben) Peterson, and Julaine Appling, all of Watertown.”
  That does not appear to jibe with Appling’s official biography which notes “Julaine is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, where at the age of 5 months, she was adopted into the loving home of Bob and Mary Appling..”
  Of course being an adopted child certainly does not rule out Raymond Westphall as her biological father. The senior Westphall’s obituary also noted that “From 1934 to 1941, Ray played professional baseball in the minor leagues. During World War II, 1941-1945, Ray served with honors as a T-sergeant athletic instructor in the U.S. Army Medic unit... (and) for a number of years, he was an umpire in the American Association.”
  Given the era of Julaine’s conception, it is certainly possible a potentially embarrassing family secret might lurk in the discrepancy above. It certainly would inform Ms. Appling’s zeal for preserving what she perceives as “traditional families” in her current position.
  But what if Julaine is a metaphorical daughter, an invited member of the family? Many people choose to include non-biological members in their families on the basis of an affectional relationship with one or more of the blood relatives. Does that make her a lesbian, something Pocan certainly might have been trying to imply with his roommate quip? Not necessarily.
  According to their available biographies, another Julaine-Diane connection is that they both went to Bob Jones University. Given their ages, they possibly encountered one another on campus. Two good Baptists girls graduate and one joins her best friend back in her hometown sometime after due to their college connection? It’s certainly plausible.
  So two life-long friends with similar backgrounds and values live together, work together and eventually buy a house together. The scenario is reminiscent of the 80’s television sitcom “Kate and Allie,” albeit without that show's minor children.
  Appling and Westphall appear to truly care for each other given their years together personally and professionally. They clearly have co-mingled their assets. Living together at the same residence is required to obtain a domestic partnership.
 So if Appling and Westphall wanted to be able to visit each other in the hospital, cash each other’s checks or take care of one or the other’s final wishes and they’re not bound by blood, they could choose to get a domestic partnership. There’s no sexual intimacy test to register for a domestic partnership if the couple are concerned that they might be perceived as lesbians.
  In the WFA press release announcing the Supreme Court challenge, Appling stated: “This registry is an assault on the people, the state constitution, the democratic process, and the institution of marriage...” However, during the budget debate, the majority of Wisconsinites in a St. Norbert/Wisconsin Public Radio poll supported Doyle’s proposal for the domestic partnership registry.
  Legal observers have already questioned both the late timing of Appling's petition. It is unlikely to resolved prior to the start of the statewide registry August 3. They also have questioned whether the trio listed in suit even have any standing to challenge the registry.
  In Appling's case, as lead litigant, she even appears to be acting against her own best interests. And by taking the lead  in challenging the domestic partner registry she opens herself to public scrutiny, just as many other upholders of “family values” have been. For some, such as Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, and Jimmy Swaggart, that scrutiny has led to revelations that led to their downfall. The question is will Wisconsin's media giants have the temerity to ask?
(Editor’s Note: This is an updated version of a piece that appeared earlier this year in Quest. Both versions with hyperlinks to the documentation discovered in the investigation are available online at the Quest website: www.quest-online.com. Quest encourages its readers to ask the Wisconsin media outlets to cover the entire domestic partnership story by asking Ms. Appling why she is so opposed to offering same-sex couples the protections from which she herself apparently could benefit.)

Saving Bryce: Conversations With Travis Swanson
An Oshkosh Man Fights To Free Partner From "Ex-Gay" Camp
Oshkosh - Over the last month, many in the gay community have learned of the sad story of 23 year-old Bryce Faulkner of Eldorado, Arkansas. Bryce was the victim of a June intervention coordinated by his parents with the “ex-gay” ministry Exodus International.
  But Bryce was not the only victim. Left behind was a 24 year-old male partner Travis Swanson, repeatedly misidentified in Internet postings as “of Green Bay, Wisconsin.” Despite Travis’ efforts to make the story available to a wider public, Bryce’s descent into the world of “reparative therapy” remained an internet-only phenomenon until a July 23 piece appeared on - of all places - the “fair and balanced” Fox News Channel.
  However Quest news editor Mike Fitzpatrick had been having a series of conversations with Travis about Bryce’s saga both for several weeks before the Fox News broadcast and since.
  As you will soon learn, Bryce and Travis are a love story that is, on one hand almost classically Victorian in nature; and on the other hand, yet another in a long line of spiritually abusive tragedies against gay children concocted by misguided - however loving - parents or other family members who have themselves fallen under the sway of religious fundamentalism. The saddest part of the story is that is still ongoing and may last for more than a year. For now, no one knows if it will have a happy or a tragic ending.

Quest: We’re talking about Bryce Faulkner who is your partner, correct? It has been seven weeks since anyone has seen Bryce. Tell me what has happened.

Travis: We were texting on the phone June 13. He told me that his parents had found out about him and about me.

Quest: So his parents had no clue that he was gay until just before this then?

Travis: He told me he thinks his mom did have a clue. He said that once - like a year and a half ago or so - that he was in Little Rock at a gay bar. He had accidentally dropped his credit card in the parking. It was found and they called his house about it. He thinks that was the first that his parents would have known.

Quest: When was the last time you actually talked with him?

Travis: I actually talked (directly) to him on Sunday, June 14 at 4:30 in the morning.

Quest: What did he say at that time?

Travis: The last time we talked he was crying pretty bad, uncontrollably actually. He said ‘you should have heard the mean things they were saying about me and about you.’ He said they were being awful because his parents had decided to stage this intervention to try and help him. He said that they made him read quotes out of the Bible out loud. They were telling him he was going to Hell. They  told that he had to choose between them or me. If he chooses me, he had o move out by tomorrow. He had less than one day to move out. He would be leaving without his phone, without any money, without his car and he would be fired from his job.

Quest: So they were literally kicking him out of the house to be left homeless in Eldorado, a town of 30,000 in southern  Arkansas just about 15 minutes from the Louisiana border. This is obviously Bible Belt territory.

Travis: Right. He once told me that his parents are the closest thing to being a preacher and a preacher’s wife without being one. They’re Southern Baptists.

Quest: How old is Bryce?

Travis: He’ll be 24 in January.

Quest: And you say that his parents have coerced Bryce to going to this ex-gay camp? Why was he financially incapable of refusing to go? And why was that?

Travis: He graduated from Ouachita Baptist University (in Arkadelphia, Arkansas) last December. We was going to go to graduate school, med school actually. He was living with his parents. His car was in his mom’s name. He even worked for his mom. She owns a business. It was more economic blackmail. That’s how I refer to it.

Quest: So over and above the emotional ties to his family, there were significant financial ties that made it essentially impossible for him to escape this situation. But you also mentioned to me when we first talked that Bryce had made the decision he was going to move up to Wisconsin.

Travis: Right. He decided that he wanted to go to med school in Madison.

Quest: Was he able to get into med school there?

Travis: No. The last time I went down there to visit him he was enrolled in taking a class. He did good on his MCAT score, but he wanted to do better. He was taking a three-week long class to help him prep to re-take that test.

Quest: Because getting into med school in Madison is a challenge for most people.

Travis: That’s right but he’s a very intelligent person.

Quest: So if he moved you mentioned that you would remain in Oshkosh and he would be in Madison. You would commute in a semi-long distance relationship.

Travis: Correct. I’m enrolled at UW-Oshkosh.

Quest: So now he’s forced into going to this ex-gay camp. Do you know what the name of the camp is?

Travis: I think that it’s Exodus International in Pensacola, Florid but I don’t have anything confirming that. (Editor’s Note: Bryce’s whereabouts were later verified in the Fox News report).

Quest: Why Pensacola?

Travis: When we talked on the phone last, in part of that conversation he said ‘They want to send me to Pensacola. they’re taking me to Pensacola tomorrow.’ Then I talked to a friend of his. He didn’t have a support system down there. There’s not very many people he was out to at all. He said that it’s a small town, his parents are very well known, so he couldn’t be out. Word would have gotten back to them.
  At that point I talked to a friend of his who was friends with his sister. His sister agreed with his parents that he’s mentally ill and he needs the help that he getting. His sister told this friend that I have emailed - I’ve never actually met this friend but she knows that Bryce is gay, she knows of me and she knows my name..

Quest: For the sake of helping readers understand, let’s give this person a name- not her real name lest she be fingered as an ally of a “mentally ill gay person.” Let’s call her Trisha.

Travis: Trisha said that (Bryce’s) sister told her that he’s going to be in Mississippi for three weeks and after that he’s going to be in Florida. That will be 14-month long program.

Quest: And this camp is something that he cannot walk away from, correct?

Travis: I would think so. From what I have heard they are not allowed contact with anybody, especially during the first few weeks.

Quest: Part of the problem is that there is little that anyone can do until they find out where he’s at so that a counter-intervention could happen. If he’s on private property it gets very difficult unless he would physically leave. The question is does he have the ability to leave at this point. Do we know any of that?

Travis: No, we don’t

Quest: But let’s go back to the beginning.  How did a guy from Oshkosh meet a guy from Arkansas?

Travis: We met in Florida in March of this year. I was there for two weeks in March. He was there because on of his best friends got married. He was in the wedding party. We were both in Panama City.

Quest: How did you bump into each other? Were you at a gay bar?

Travis: Yes we were.

Quest: How long has Bryce been out, or exploring same sex relationships?

Travis: He told me it was since he was 20 or 21.

Quest: So this was a guy who was living a closeted, or semi-closeted life to begin with.

Travis: He was definitely not closeted to himself because he’s dated other men before. I was not his first relationship.

Quest: So you met this guy in Panama City and talked and talked to him for a night?

Travis: A couple of days. I met him towards the end of my visit.

Quest: But never did anything sexually at this point. You were just talking.  Straight people sometimes just don’t get that many times gay people don’t just hop in bed the very first second they see each other.

Travis: No. We never even kissed when we were down there. There was strictly nothing sexually.
  It was kind of an interesting story as to how we winded up getting together. We were both interested (in each other) in Florida, but we didn’t pursue anything romantically because we both knew he lives in Southern Arkansas and I live in northeast Wisconsin. It didn’t seem feasible or a very good idea. We didn’t even talk romantically. We were both too shy to say anything.
  When we got back we both continued to converse through text messages and emails, that sorta thing. I finally talked to a friend of mine who I took a class with at the University of Oshkosh. I told her all about it because she was in a long distance relationship as well. I asked her for her advice and she said ‘go for it.’

Quest: So then you got to know him in these online conversations. I’m very sympathetic to this as I sit here with my partner sitting in the next room. It’s been five and a half years, and it was three years before we actually met.
  We’ve been seeing each other physically whenever possible for the last two years. And you think you have a long distance relationship? Try beating the 6900 miles between our two front doors!
  My partner deals with similar issues that Bryce was dealing with: disapproval issues in his home country, his family and his culture.
  But I know I grew to know him in this long distance relationship through IMs, texts and emails in ways that you never do in a relationship with a person sitting next to you in a bar or restaurant.
  In some ways it’s almost Victorian. People used to exchange letters back and forth before they ever met. So yours is a kind of 21st Century Victorian love story. You got to know each other through texting and talking to each other without ever touching.

Travis: Right. And Skype was really what we started focusing on. With the video we could see each other while we were talking. It got to the point that we were doing it every night. The very first night that we ever sat up on Skype and talked on the phone I remember turning around and looking outside. I said, “Omigosh, the sun’s coming up! What time is it?’ I looked at the clock. It was 7:30 and I had class at 8 o’clock. I lived near campus so I wasn’t going to be later, but I couldn’t believe that we had stayed up all night on the phone talking and never got bored.

Quest: In the interest of full disclosure, was there any “sexting” or sexual content going on while you were on cam?

Travis: Not at first. We did some of that as time went on. It was much more getting to know each other before we actually met. Right before I went down there to Little Rock we were actually so sure that we able to tell each other that we loved each other.
  It was kind of weird. Even when we first met that we had those feelings. It was kind of a love at first sight. But  I never really used to believe in that. I believed that love was something that developed over time.
  We started doing things together. Stuff that you’d normally have to be together to do. We would find a way to it with the webcam. For example, I have a laptop with a camera built into it. I’d have it sitting on the bed next to me. We’d  fall asleep with our cameras on. That way when we woke up we’d see each other as the very first person, just as if we had slept together.

Quest: How many times did you actually get to see each other in person before the abduction?

Travis: Just once in Little Rock. He was taking a three week long class there to help him boost his (medical school entrance exam) scores. I couldn’t stay very long because of my work schedule. I left Milwaukee at 6:30 in the morning on May 19 and I returned on May 21.

Quest: And so this short trip was a “deal sealer.” Then you continued to talk and Skype.

Travis: Yes. Bryce and I made this agreement that we would see each other at least once a month. I would fly down there in odd months and he would fly here in even months. He actually had a plane ticket to come here when the intervention happened. He was supposed to come to Milwaukee on the 18th of June and leave on the 22nd.

Quest: But the intervention happened instead. How did Bryce’s parents - primarily his mother - actually find out about you?

Travis: (It happened) right before I went down to visit him in Little Rock, which was the third week of May. I was flying out of Milwaukee and he asked me to call when I got there to Milwaukee. I went there the night before and stayed there because I had a really early morning flight. I called but he didn’t answer his phone. I left him a voice mail and I ended it with ‘I love you.’ His mom actually listened to his voice mail. Since the phone was in her name, she would call the phone company and say ‘I lost my voice mail password, could you please reset it?’
  Shortly thereafter  I sent him an email. She had worked his way into his email too, and it had been an email account that (we thought) she didn’t even know existed. I couldn’t figure out how she worked her way into it but she did. Then the last time we talked I found out that the way that she found out about the email. What confirmed everything is she put a ‘wire tap’ on his Internet and got all of his passwords and started reading all of our online conversations.

Quest: So you’re alleging that Bryce’s mother was actively pursuing this. If true, she’s done a lot to break the law: she’s been eavesdropping without his permission. He’s an adult. He may work for her, but he is an adult. He’s her child but he’s her adult child. When did she start and how do you know that she got all of this information? Did she tell Bryce?

Travis: She did tell him that. We used to converse a lot on Skype, which is an online video program. We would instant message on there as well. He said that she told him that she read all of those conversations.

Quest: If a person goes into a computer. If the owner has saved those messages as logs, all anyone needs is  password to the computer to do that.

Travis: (Bryce) used the word ‘wire tap.’ I know that’s not correct in today’s terminology, but that’s the words that he did use.

Quest: So Bryce’s mother got onto his computer and found his message logs.

Travis: (Bryce said that) he also knew she had access to one of his email accounts through Yahoo email. He went to Gmail and created a brand new account for me to email him. He said, ‘You can email me at this account because my mom doesn’t even know that this exists.’
  But she still was able to get into that one. There had to be some type of monitoring going on using spyware or something. But if she didn’t know this email existed, how could she have found it?

Quest: Well this is the computer geek in me talking. If you mark a little box saying ‘Remember me’ on the password page of most online email websites, you will be logged in on your next visit automatically. It’s a convenience for those who believe they’re the only ones using that computer. All his mom would have to do was look up his browsing history and click on the web mail page to possibly access it. It’s still invasion of privacy if it was his computer that she was working with. But if it was indeed her computer, she had the right to access anything on it. You aslo said Bryce’s phone was in her name. She technically had the had the right to access those voice mails.

Travis: It was his computer, I believe. I believe they purchased it for him at one point. But when you give an item as a gift it becomes the other person’s property.

Quest: Let’s get back to mom. You say she already had a clue that she was already on to him

Travis: She was the queen of invasion of privacy. He was there in little Rock a week before I got there, he actually was going to dinner with some friends. He knows quite a few people in Little Rock. Friends from college who moved there... It is the largest city in the state, kind of like Milwaukee and a lot of people end up there.
  You know if you’re good enough friends, sometimes one will buy the dinner and the next time the other person will buy. He was doing that with his friends who lived there. His mom actually called there to ask him if he’s dating someone in Little Rock. After she had opened one of his credit card statements, she said like he was buying dinner for two. She said ‘From the amounts you’ve spent at these restaurants, you’re feeding more people than yourself.’ He told there were dinners with friends which they were!

Quest: Was the credit in his name or her name?

Travis: I thought that it was his debit card.

Quest: Well, because of the fact that she had access to his computer, she may have had access to his bank accounts as well. Debit card charges show up almost immediately on most accounts. Were there other things she asked about?

Travis: She also started to question him about why we were talking on the phone so much. And we did. I would to talk to him between classes, on my lunch break. We would talk back and forth. My incoming minutes were free and he added my to his circle for free calls on (his cell phone provider). So it was free minutes both ways,

Quest: Of course that was mom’s phone, so she could find out who was in his circle. Then she finds out he’s talking to this kid in Oshkosh, WI.

Travis: Yes, she had lots of clues. And it’s funny, I don’t like talking on the phone generally - at least not socially. I’m pretty politically active anyway (as the Vice-Chair of the UW-Oshkosh College Democrats) so I normally use the phone a lot for that. When I got my bill for the month of May, my phone bill said I used 9700 minutes. I was floored when I got it. I only get a thousand minutes a month and I did use my full thousand, with 15 minutes of overages. The vast majority of them were the free calls and texts between Bryce and myself. We’d be calling on the phone so much we’d fall asleep with our phones on and wake up in the morning to find we were still connected. That was six full 24 hour days.

Quest: So this is a pretty intense long distance relationship. If you’re spending six 24-hour days on the phone, that’s a lot of time.

Travis: Right. But some of them were sleeping rollover minutes! But actually I’m somewhat more sexually conservative. I’m not a very sexual person compared to most people. Even though I’m 24 years old this was my first gay relationship. I’ve had other dates, but this is my first real partner.

Quest: And you were about to meet a second time until mom and dad put a stop to it. He had his ticket, but if he charged it, mom probably knew about it.

Travis: Actually he was really worried bout that. So what we did was - I bank at a national bank. I gave him my bank account number. He deposited money into my bank account and we used my card to buy it. So that attached my name to the ticket. I was able to call and cancel the ticket. They can’t refund the money but he still has 12 months to use it. So if we can find where he is at, he has a free plane ticket.

Quest: But then here’s the most important question: do you think Bryce is going to go through this programming and be able to survive it?  What do you think is going to happen at this point?

Travis: I think he is going to come out of this even stronger. I’m hoping he comes out strong and I’ve heard they do come out stronger, especially if it not something they really want to be doing.

Quest: I know Bryce grew up Souther Baptist. What is your religious affiliation?

Travis: Well I didn’t grow up really religious to be very honest. My mom is Presbyterian and my dad is Jewish. I grew up with a nice mixture of holiday religion maybe.

Quest: Well you know that religious diversity produces homosexuals every time, didn’t you know that (laughs)?

Travis: Well there’s more that could have produced that! My parents were married 17 years. When I was about 14 my parents divorced and she’s been living in a same-sex relationship ever since. I have a terrible role model (laughs).

Quest: Of course it does kind of reinforce that whole genetic theory that homosexuality seems to travel more down the mom’s side rather than the dad’s side.

Travis: Actually on my mom’s side there’s me and my mom and my mom has a first cousin that are gay. Then on my dad’s my there is a first cousin - he’s gay. My great-aunt who is in her 70’s is in a same-sex relationship as well. I’ve got it funneling in from both sides.

Quest: But let’s get back to Travis. I know you’ve connected with a gay minister and activist named Brett Harris who has posed a website called “Help Save Bryce” (www.savebryce.ergonomicalministries.org), you put up a Facebook page called Friends of Bryce, and then there’s the Fox News interview. How did that go?

Travis: Actually it went pretty well. The story they did wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, though it was pretty “fair and balanced” toward Debra Faulkner and the Christian viewpoint.

Quest: Fox claims they spoke to Bryce through a representative and Bryce said he was fine - in a “written statement.”

Travis: I sincerely doubt Bryce has a clue as to what’s been happening since he entered the camp. The fastest way to let everyone know he’s really okay where he is is to put him on camera, preferably live.

Quest: You also emailed me that your Bryce’s mom offered you a three-way phone call but you didn’t take it. Why?

Travis: Why does she need to sit in on the call? When Bryce has the opportunity - whenever that may be - I know I’ll hear from him directly.

Quest: I went to check on updates on the Facebook page but I see it’s gone. Why have you taken it down?

Travis: I didn’t. Facebook took it down. Twice. Bryce’s mom has his computer and his Facebook password. She filed complaints with Facebook in Bryce’s name. We’re trying to find a way to put it back up but its pretty hard without using his name.

Quest: In the Fox News report, Mrs. Faulkner said all the internet stories were false and the family just wants privacy.

Travis: Have you looked at some of the comments being made at the Save Bryce site and elsewhere? People who claim to be from Eldorado have been making some pretty nasty statements about Bryce’s mom. She keeps saying she’s going to sue everyone, but I’m not backing down. I’m a pretty smart guy and I know my rights. I’m not going away any time soon.
  Editor’s Note: During their conversations, Fitzpatrick referred Swanson to several other nationally-recognized “ex-gay” ministry experts including Wayne Besen and the “Truth Wins Out” organization. Dialogue with Travis has begun and Quest will update our readers as this story continues to develop.

Queer Zinester Roadshow Coming To Wisconsin July 31-August 1
Milwaukee, Madison - Seven writers of queer zines will read from their publications at two locations in Wisconsin during a late summer Queer Zinester Roadshow tour of the midwest. The writers will read from their zines in Milwaukee on Friday, July 31 at 7 PM at Cream City Collectives, 732 E. Clark St.  On Saturday they will travel to Madison to repeat the show at OutReach, 600 Williamson St. from 5-7 PM.
  For those unfamiliar with the culture of zines, a zine - an abbreviation of the word fanzine, or magazine - is a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. Any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock.
  All the writer-publishers appearing at the roadshow have their work archived at the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP). QZAP was launched in November 2003 in an effort to preserve queer zines and make them available to other queers, researchers, historians, punks, and anyone else who has an interest DIY (do-it-yourself) publishing and underground queer communities. QZAP’s primary mission is to create a “living history” of the queer zine underground.
  Among the authors appearing a the event will be QZAP co-founder Christopher Wilde. He is also the creator of the zines Abrupt Lane Edge, Wicked Wipeout, and others. For four years, he reviewed queer zines for the former Milwaukee-based Queer Life News. In September 2009, he will be an artist in residence at The Anchor Zine Library and Archive in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he'll curate “SPEW Fo(u)rth: A Canadian Queer Zine Art Show.” The exhibit will be displayed both in Halifax and at The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives in Toronto.
  Other authors appearing include the following:
  Dave Fried is a twenty nine year old queer Jewish man. He has been writing zines since the early '90s and has been putting out Black Carrot since 2004. He also plays drums in the queer punk band Bromance. He enjoys the finer things in life, such as black metal, ice beers, and bear porn.
  Kisha Hope describes herself as “a fat, queer, black, female-identified individual” currently living in Chicago. She started writing zines when she was 15, the first being butt fat. She recently co-wrote a zine with her partner, Dave (Black Carrot), about their house-buying experience (Fort Mortgage). She is currently working on a new zine about her personal story of child sexual abuse and just finished the first issue of A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, LIFE. It's sort of a “biomythography” zine about “growing up fat, poor, awkward, and black.” She collects zines about body acceptance, fat girls, queer love, or bikes.
  Milo Miller has been making zines since the late 1990s. His two longest series are Mutate (1998-2006) and Gendercide. In addition his self-published SoyBoi - Queer Adventures In My Vegetarian Kitchen, Peulah Shaveh Chayim (Action = Life) and most recently Heavy Mayo, Miller is also one of the co-founders of QZAP. Milo currently lives in Milwaukee with his “partner-in-crime” and their pet rock Nigel.
  Kelly Shortandqueer has been making friends laugh with anecdotes about his life for years. He brings this candid storytelling style of performance to this queer zine tour, entertaining audiences with his honesty and humor. He has been publishing his zine series, shortandqueer, since August 2004. He was one of the co-founders of both the Denver Zine Library (which houses over 9,000 zines) and Tranny Roadshow (a performance art tour with an all transgender cast). He currently lives in Denver and works as the Director of Advocacy for the Colorado Anti-Violence Program.
 Max Stein is a writer and “unschooling” teacher living in Brooklyn, NY. Her current zine, The Rainbow Connection, is about gay Muppeteer Richard Hunt. Previous zines include The Long Walk Back to Myself, about her fifty-mile walk from Brooklyn to Croton-on-Hudson; and Mad Love, about radical mental health. When not writing or watching Muppets, she is taking absurdly long walks, practicing gratitude and chasing girls.
  John Thompson describes himself as a “queer white/latino/mixed musician, writer, and activist” currently living in Chicago. He writes the zine Gone to the Moon, plays drums in the pop-punk sensation Everything is Ruined, and also plays guitar in the queer punk band Bromance. He is also involved in the Write to Win Collective, which is a prisoner correspondence project in coordination with the Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois that matches up transgender, transsexual, queer, and gender non-conforming prisoners to be pen pals with similarly identified folks on the outside.
  For more information about the Queer Zinester Roadshow, visit the Queer Zine Archive Project website at: www.qzap.org.

Cedar Creek Winery Tour & Wine Tasting Set
Cedarburg - The Milwaukee LGBT Center will hold a “Mix ‘N Mingle” gathering featuring a tour of the Cedar Creek Winery here Tuesday, August 11 beginning with a check-in at 6:15 PM, followed by the tour at 6:30 PM. A wine tasting will follow at 7:30.
  The Cedar Creek Winery is housed in a 1860s woolen mill and its stone wine cellars located in the historic Cedar Creek Settlement in downtown Cedarburg. The formal wine tasting will feature five to seven Cedar Creek Wines in the hospitality area of the winery with a view of the beautiful Cedar Creek waterfall that flows alongside the mill and through the heart of the town. Hors d’œuvres will be provided during the wine tasting as well.
  Tickets for the event are $15 for LGBT Center members and $20 for non-members. RSVPs with payment are due no later than August 4 to Patrick Price, Director of Philanthropy. To RSVP or for  more information call Patrick at: 414-292-3065 or by email at: pprice@mkelgbt.org. The tour and wine tasting is limited to only 45 guests and attendees must be 21 years of age or over. as possible. Proper identification may needed to presented as requested..
  To learn more about the Cedar Creek Winery and for directions to the event, visit the winery’s website at: www.cedarcreekwinery.com.

Mr. Kenosha 2009 Pageant Announced
Kenosha - Genetically splice a male beauty contest, complete with bathing suits with TV game shows and bizarre comedy, and the result is a fun, weird two hour show.  That’s the Mr. Kenosha 2009 Pageant.
  Grand prizes include racing a NASCAR at the Milwaukee Mile, courtesy of The Racing School and a skydiving package from Skydive Midwest, plus other prizes. Every entrant will win a prize worth at least $30 just for entering, and there will be a raffle for the audience.  And while not specifically a gay contest, there will be a strong gay presence there.  The panel of five judges includes Dr. Bruce Joffe, Director of the LGBT Center of Southeast Wisconsin.  Working “security” will be Milwaukee’s Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
  Contestants will be judged on talent and swimsuit competition, as well as being able to answer some very odd questions.
  In a nod to good karma, a portion of the proceeds goes to www.100friends.org, a charitable organization that provides money, medicine, schools, and the basics of human survival for the extremely impoverished in third world countries.
  Kenosha’s Keith Mayor Bosman has embraced Mr. Kenosha by agreeing to proclaim August 22 as Mister Kenosha Day.
  The pageant will happen Kenosha’s Marina Shores Ballroom located at 302-58 Street, in Kenosha, on Saturday August 22 at 7 PM. Doors open at 6. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and are available online and throughout Kenosha at various businesses.  For more ticket information go to: www.misterkenosha.com or visit Mr. Kenosha on Facebook or MySpace.
  The cutoff date for accepting contestants is now!  Because gender was never specified in the rules, the contestants can be either a man or a woman. Those people who feel that they have the stuff to win by offering at least a year of benign neglect to Kenosha county, act offended by flash of the paparazzi’s cameras and be able to attend countless high society engagements should contact Larry Zamba by email at: larryzamba@me.com or by phone at 262-843-2888.

Veteran AIDS Walk Team Sets Wherehouse Fundraiser
Milwaukee - The veteran and perennially high-scoring AIDS Walk team “We Are The Strongest Link” has set a fundraising event at the Wherehouse on Sunday, August 30 from 4-9 PM. The party will include live entertainment, drink specials, raffles, a silent auction and other “fun activities,” according to one of the lead organizers Michelle Pientka.
  “We lost one of our bands but we’re getting another lined up,” Michelle said. “Plus we have a drag show in the mix as well.”
  The “We Are The Strongest Link” team won the 2007 AIDS Walk “Raising the Bar” competition and has been raising funds for the walk for “about ten years,” Pientka believes. “The team has raised well over $100,000 for the AIDS Walk since it began walking,” she said. “First we were sponsored by the old M & M Club, then the Pumphouse. Don’t tell anyone - well, OK you can - but we’re about to ask the Wherehouse if they’d like to our sponsor this year.”
  Pientka herself has walked the AIDS Walk every year since its inception. “My brother died of AIDS in 1986,” she said. “Even after all this time I still miss him so much and will do anything I can to help to fight this disease!”
  The Wherehouse event is one of several the team has planned between now and the Walk which will run on National Coming Out Day, October 11 along Milwaukee’s lakefront. “We’re going to be doing our annual art block auction in September, but let’s focus on this big party coming up,” Pientka said.
  There is no admission charge for the event but donations to the team’s effort will be welcomed. The Wherehouse is located at 818 S. Water St. at the eastern end of National Avenue, immediately next to Hot Water.
  Editor’s Note: Quest welcomes press releases about promotional events by teams for the 20th Annual AIDS Walk Wisconsin and will include them all online and in print editions as space permits. Send press releases to: Editor@ quest-online.com