DOMA Repeal Introduced In Congress
Prospects Look Dim For Any Action On “Respect For Marriage Act”
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Washington, DC - Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), along with 76 co-sponsors including Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin and openly-gay Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colorado), has introduced the “Respect For Marriage Act,” a bill that effectively repeals the 1996 “Defense of Marriage Act” that currently prohibits any of the 1,138 federal benefits and privileges of marriage being given to same-sex couples.
  At a September 15 press conference Nadler stated that RMA would provide same-sex couples with certainty that federal benefits and protections would flow from a valid marriage celebrated in a state where such marriages are legal, even if a couple moves or travels to another state.  “We’re talking about rights like Social Security survivors’ benefits, medical leave to care for an ailing spouse and equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws along,” Nadler said.
  Former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA into law in a midnight signing session thirteen years ago, thanked Nadler for introducing the repeal effort in a prepared statement. “Throughout my life I have opposed discrimination of any kind,” Clinton wrote. “When the Defense of Marriage Act was passed, gay couples could not marry anywhere in the United States or the world for that matter. Thirteen years later, the fabric of our country has changed, and so should this policy.”
  Though national gay equality groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Lambda Legal came out strongly in support of Nadler’s bill, one leading gay lawmaker did not: Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts). In a September 11 interview with the Washington Blade, Frank announced he would not co-sponsor RMA because of its unlikely prospect for passage and because he has a “strategic difference” with people supporting the repeal legislation.
  “It's not anything that's achievable in the near term," Frank said. “I think getting ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act), a repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and full domestic partner benefits for federal employees will take up all of what we can do and maybe more in this Congress.”
  Frank also cited “portability” provisions in RMA that would allow legally-married gay couples to move from state to state and still receive federal benefits likely also doomed passage of the bill, given that 44 states currently do not recognize same-sex marriages.
  Pundits and Hill watchers questioned Nadler’s move to repeal DOMA at a time when - as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointed out September 18 - much of the tenor and tone of the rhetoric in the contentious health care debate echoes that of anti-gay talking points that ended with the murder of Harvey Milk two decades ago.
  Nadler’s supporters pointed out that the timing of RMA’s introduction as immaterial. Regardless of when the bill was introduced it still faces a long wait on the legislative docket. According to Nadler spokesman Ilan Kayatsky, Nadler and his colleagues can build support and “allow the movement to grow” during such a waiting period.
  Frank disagreed. In an interview with Bay Windows, Frank said that RMA “has zero chance of passage, even out of committee.”
  “It's a mistake,” he said.

World & National News:

Poll: Maine Voters Would Undo State’s Marriage Law 48-46%
Portland -  A “people's veto” question that seeks to repeal Maine's new same-sex marriage law would be overturned by a narrow margin according to a poll released September 18.
  The Research 2000/Daily Kos poll reported that 48% of likely voters said they'd vote to overturn the law, and 46% would vote not to. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, which means a statistical dead heat. Mainers will vote on the question on November 3 in a vote that will be watched closely nationwide by both gay marriage supporters and opponents. Unlike last year’s Proposition 8 vote in California, Maine voters would overturn legislation by their elected officials, not un-do a court ruling as in California.
  "We've always known this would be a hard-fought campaign and that the results would be close," No on 1 campaign manager Jesse Connolly said in a written statement. "We feel confident that we have the right strategy and we're running a Maine-based campaign."
  The latter comment referred to the anti-gay marriage “Stand For Maine” campaign which public records show has received most of its money thus far from out-of-state right-wing groups such as the National Organization For Marriage. On September 13, the state’s Roman Catholic diocese ordered a special collection at all Masses to help underwrite the “no” vote.
  The press release announcing the poll results called the demographic breakdown on the question "a mixed bag."
“Men oppose gay marriage, but women support it. Democrats are obviously a strong (demographic) for supporters of gay marriage, and with 9% of the undecided coming from their ranks, that could prove a factor. Independents narrowly support gay marriage, but not enough to help offset that massive wave of opposition coming from Republicans," the press release said.
 The most recent poll echoes an April poll conducted before legislators voted on the same-sex marriage bill. In that tally Mainers were similarly split, with 49.5% against the bill, 47.3% in favor and 3.3% undecided.

Tammy Baldwin Featured On GLBT History Month 2009 Website
New York -  Wisconsin Congressional Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) is one of the “31 Icons” featured in this year’s edition of the GLBT History Month website is now online with a new look, expanded resources and easier navigation.
  No passwords are needed to access the 2009 edition of LGBT profiles and resources. A 2-½ minute preview video showcasing all 31 GLBT Icons is currently available on the site. Beginning October 1, a GLBT Icon is presented daily, with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources – all provided for free. Baldwin’s full profile will be available beginning October 3.
  The 93 Icons with resources for 2006, 2007 and 2008 are also archived on the site. Icon videos are offered for free to educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, for profit companies and the public.
  GLBT History Month teaches the community’s heritage, provides role models, builds community, and recognizes the LGBT community’s extraordinary national and international contributions. The History Month website can be accessed at: www.glbthistorymonth.com.
  “Equality Forum launched GLBT History Month in 2006 with twenty organizations having a GLBT History Month link on their websites. In 2007, 300 organizations had links. In 2008, over 500 nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and for-profit corporations had a GLBT History Month Link, making GLBT History Month the largest collaborative project worldwide for our community,” Equality Forum Executive Director Malcolm Lazin said in a press release announcing the 2009 edition of the website. 
  Equality Forum is a national and international GLBT civil rights organization with an educational focus.  Equality Forum coordinates GLBT History Month, produces documentary films, undertakes high impact initiatives and presents annually the largest national and international GLBT civil rights forum.

Anti-Gay Church Dumps “Homo Promo” Pepsi
Brandon, FL - America’s long running “cola war” between Coke & Pepsi to a lurch to the far right recently when a Baptist megachurch here launched its own salvo against Pepsi-Cola.
  “We would like to send them a message,” Terry Kemple told local Florida media, as reported in the FloriDUH blog. He is the President of Community Issues Council of the Bell Shoals Baptist Church that has begun a boycott of Pepsi products because the council claims that the company “advocates the acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle.”
  Kemple said that Pepsi donated more than a million dollars to organizations that fought California's gay marriage-banning Proposition 8. He also says the company has sponsored gay pride parades and commercials that accept “cross-dressing and homosexuality.”
  "They (sic) begun to utilize the money we've helped them build up to trample on what we consider family values," Kemple told a local TV station. He also referred to a church newsletter that claimed “Pepsi also forces its employees to attend sexual orientation and gender identity diversity training, where they are taught to accept homosexuality.”
  To prove their point, the Baptists pulled all Pepsi vending machines from church property and replaced them with Coke machines.
  Asked by local media to respond to the church’s boycott, Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith pointed out a flaw in their grand strategy to banish the godless cola company. “The irony is that - in moving from Pepsi products to Coke products - they actually switched from one company that supports full-equality to another company that supports full-equality,” Smith said.

Top? Bottom? Versatile? Scientists Explore Why
Studies of Gay Male Self-Identity Predict Behavior But Not Risk Reduction
Atlanta - Hey guys! Consider yourself a “power top?” A “pushy bottom?” Or simply “versatile?” A recent article on the leading science journal Scientific American website (www.scientificamerican.com) by research psychologist Jesse Bering of Belfast’s Queens University not only worked to debunk the straight world’s “pitcher-catcher” mentality about gay male sex but also explored what’s going on in the minds of men who have sex with men (MSM). “Like most aspects of human sexuality, it’s not quite that simple,” Bering wrote.
  Why did the straight-identified researcher take on such a touchy subject and then seek publication in a scientific journal? “The ubiquity of homosexual behavior alone makes it fascinating,” Bering wrote. “What’s more, the study of self-labels in gay men has considerable applied value, such as its possible predictive capacity in tracking risky sexual behaviors and safe sex practices.”
  After defining the stereotypically active “top” and passive “bottom” roles, Bering went on to point out a majority of gay men, according to the watershed 2003 CDC study on MSM sexual behavior, “actually self-identify as ‘versatile,’ which means that they have no strong preference for either the insertive or the receptive role.”  
  Bering added that the CDC study discovered that some gay men lack any interest in anal sex and instead prefer different sexual activities and others refuse to self-label as “gay” at all, despite their having frequent anal sex with other men. The psychologist also cited other behavioral studies including a study of MSM sexual behavior by David Moskowitz, Gerulf Reiger and Michael Roloff published in a 2008 issue of Sexual and Relationship Therapy.
  So what did all the studies learn about gay sexual behavior and self-identity? Here’s some of what Bering reported: First and foremost, if they’re willing to talk at all, gay men are generally more direct and honest in talking about their sexual behaviors than the general populace. Tops were - in fact - tops, bottoms were bottoms and so on. Secondly, tops generally tended to aggressive roles in all types of sexual behaviors, not just in anal sex. Thirdly, tops were more likely to reject a “gay” self-identity, were more likely to have had sex with a woman in the three months prior to the study and were more likely to have higher levels of internalized homophobia.
  When it came to the healthiest sexual attitudes, versatiles topped both tops and the bottoms. According to the studies, versatiles seem to enjoy better psychological health, seek greater sexual sensations, have greater comfort with a variety of roles and activities and are less afraid of sex in general.
  One thing the study revealed that was disturbing to the CDC researchers was that knowing who you are and what you like sexually did not in any reliably predict whether gay men would engage in safer sexual behaviors, specifically the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. But the studies did suggest that self-identified tops may not have heard safer sex messages.
  Because tops less frequently self-identify as “gay,” they “may have less contact with HIV prevention messages and may be less likely to be reached by HIV-prevention programs than are gay-identified men,” Bering wrote. “Tops may be less likely to be recruited in venues frequented by gay men, and their greater internalized homophobia may result in greater denial of ever engaging in sex with other men. Tops also may be more likely to transmit HIV to women because of their greater likelihood of being behaviorally bisexual.”
  Bering also explored the impact of sexual self-identitiy on long-term relationships, concluding that gay men with “complimentary self labels” have the greatest chances of success at achieving a monogamous relationship.
“From a sexual point of view, there are obvious logistical problems of two tops or two bottoms being in a monogamous relationship,” Bering wrote. “But since these sexual role preferences tend to reflect other behavioral traits (such as tops being more aggressive and assertive than bottoms), such relationships also might be more likely to encounter conflict quicker than relationships between complementary self-labels.”
  Bering also explored “secondary labeling” among gay men that can complicate structured scientific studies. He focused solely on gay men, leaving out studies about the “butch-Femme” roles seen in some lesbian relationships.  
He ended his piece by noting that “many questions about gay self-labels and their relation to development, social behavior, genes and neurological substrates remain to be answered - indeed, they remain to be asked.”
  “For the right scientist, there’s a life’s work just waiting to be had,” Bering concluded.

State News:

Motions Filed In Northwoods Lesbian Murder Re-Trial
Rhinelander - Motions have been filed in the re-trial of a man suspected in one of the Northwoods most enduring mysteries: the strange death of Genell Plude.
  The 28-year old recently self-admitted lesbian was found dead in her Land O’ Lakes bathroom during the early morning hours of October 22,1999. In 2002, the state convinced a jury her husband, Doug, poisoned her with migraine medicine, drowned her in the toilet bowl, then arranged the death scene to look like a suicide.
  Plude killed his wife because she was planning to leave him for another woman who lived in Texas, the state argued. The defense claimed Genell Plude’s plan to leave her marriage was a fantasy. they claimed she took her own life after realizing her dream of starting a new life would never happen.
  The jury didn’t agree and Plude was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of release in 20 years. After serving five years in prison, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Plude’s conviction in 2008 because an expert witness exaggerated his credentials.
 Doug Plude’s re-trial will begin October 20 with jury selection, just days shy of the 10th anniversary of Genell Plude’s death.
  A number of motions filed by the defense in mid-September offer hints as to what may be argued at the second trial.
  Motions include a request to limit the testimony of Christopher Damm of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Damm is expected to testify about whether or not a person the size of Genell Plude could be found in a toilet bowl with her face in the water.  The defense wants Damm’s testimony limited because he didn’t complete his testing prior to the discovery deadline set by the court.
  During the first trial, the discredited expert witness, Dr. Saami Shaibani, told the jury his experiments showed gravity would force a dead body away from the toilet bowl. He also testified someone must have forced Plude’s head into the toilet water.
  The defense is also asking that an expert psychologist be allowed to testify by phone. The testimony of the psychologist, Dr. Terence Campbell, is pivotal to the case, according to a motion filed by Plude’s public defenders.
  According to the defense motion, “the case of the government is largely based upon the statements of Doug Plude while he was under the trauma of finding his wife in a dire situation. Dr. Campbell is expected to testify that this will affect his memory of the event and his ability to accurately recall it.”
  A third motion asks that the testimony of a presumed jailhouse informant be excluded from the trial. Defense attorneys appear to believe that the state plans to call a Vilas County man who served time with Plude. Plude’s lawyers say the man, Dallas Paznonski, should not be allowed to testify because the state has not provided a summary of what he plans to say.
  The defense is also asking the court to admit so-called “other acts” evidence involving Genell Plude. The motion includes reports compiled following interviews with one of Genell Plude’s former college classmates. The former classmate claims Genell Plude was fixated on her while the two were students and repeatedly threatened suicide as a way to get attention.
  The state is expected to respond to the motions during a pretrial hearing September 29. A jury from outside Vilas County is expected to hear the case.

WI Participation In the National Equality March Planned
Madison - LGBTI Equality Now! continues to offer tickets for a round trip bus excursion to the National Equality March in Washington, DC on Sunday, October 11. The four hour event will run from 11 AM - 3 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
  The busses will depart Madison on Saturday, October 10 at 6 PM, then drive overnight and arrive in Washington, DC early on Sunday morning.  The march steps off at Noon. The bus will depart that evening (exact time TBA) and return to campus before 8 AM on Monday, October 12. The overnight trips have been planned to both avoid costly hotel stays and to help fit with more people's schedules.
  Tickets for the buses are now available for $60 per person. Madison residents can obtain tickets at the LGBT Campus Center at UW-Madison from 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday. Interested marchers can also attend the weekly meetings of LGBTI Equality Now! every Tuesday, 7:30 PM, in the UW-Memorial Union. Check the TITU board for specific meeting space.
  Checks for the tickets are preferred and should be made out to LGBTI Equality Now! LGBTI Equality Now! can be contacted by phone at: 312-636-0201 or by email at: lgbtequalitynow@gmail.com.

HIV-Specialty Pharmacist Wins Top Wisconsin Award
Milwaukee - The Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW) has announced that Nicholas Olson, PharmD of BioScrip Pharmacies in Milwaukee is the recipient of the 2009 Young Pharmacist of the Year Award.
  Since his graduation in 2003, Nick has completed the American Academy of HIV Medicine HIV Specialist certification. He routinely attends and speaks at pharmacy conferences and provider round tables. He uses his knowledge to give back to the pharmacy and technician students that he mentors.
  According to one of Nick’s co-workers, “Nick demonstrates his leadership position by providing a positive attitude, dedication and commitment to strong pharmaceutical ethics in judgement.” Several colleagues and co-workers independently nominated Nick for this award.
  In giving Olson this award, the PSW recognizes Nick’s remarkable impact on the pharmacy practice in the past six years. Bioscrip is the largest HIV-specialty pharmacy in the state of Wisconsin serving over a thousand HIV+ customers statewide with their critically needed, yet often complicated antiretroviral treatments.
  The Young Pharmacist of the Year Award is presented annually to recognize and honor a Wisconsin pharmacist in his or her first ten years of practice who has made significant contributions to professional pharmacy organizations and has demonstrated dedication to the contemporary practice of pharmacy. Nick received his award during the 2009 PSW Annual Meeting on August 29 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Gender Violence Legislation Introduced
Madison – Representatives Terese Berceau and Joe Parisi have introduced two bills to address gender violence in Wisconsin.  Rep. Berceau’s bill, the “Wisconsin Gender Violence Act,” would affirm that violence committed on the basis of the victim’s gender is a civil rights violation and would give victims the right hold offenders accountable in the civil court system.  Rep. Parisi’s bill, the “Gender Hate Crimes Act” would add gender as as a protected class to Wisconsin’s existing criminal hates crimes statute that was first passed in 1992.
  “When one woman is victimized because of her gender, all women suffer,” Patti Seger, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence said. “The prevalence of violence against women is a persistent reminder of inequality.  The bills put forth by Rep. Berceau and Rep. Parisi makes clear that violence motivated by an aspect of the victim's identity, including her gender, has greater consequences than an isolated or random act of violence.”
  “Victims should have the right to hold their attackers accountable in civil court,” Berceau said.  “By passing this legislation, we can help victims in their recovery.  It is an insult on their situation that they should have to bear the financial burdens of rape or domestic violence.  The burden should be on the perpetrator.”
  Representative Parisi elaborated on the need for the criminal justice system to acknowledge the heavy toll gender motivated violence takes on our communities. “The Gender Hate Crimes Act will ensure that our criminal code places crimes based on a victim’s gender on par with other crimes where the victim is singled out because she or he belongs to a certain community,” Parisi said.  “Wisconsin was the first state to pass a criminal hate crimes law and we should join the other 27 states that have recognized the gravity of gender-motivated crimes in their hate crimes laws.”
  “The Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault thanks Rep. Parisi and Rep. Berceau for fighting for victims of gender-violence,” executive director Jeanie Kurka Reimer said. “Acts of sexual violence cost billions of dollars each year and by their very nature represent attempts to subordinate and dehumanize victims. The two bills introduced today will make Wisconsin's laws more reflective of the seriousness of these crimes.”

Gay Neighbors Spend Thousands to Share Message of Love and Family
Milwaukee - Gay and transgender neighbors, and those who love them, appear on more than twenty digital billboards and bus ads in southeastern Wisconsin, with one message: “It’s all about Love.” The Cream City Foundation’s Gay Neighbor.org campaign is one of the largest nonprofit media educational campaigns in the Greater Milwaukee area.
  “It is important that we all work to create respectful and loving communities for everyone,” Cream City Foundation executive director Maria Cadenas said. “The goal of the campaign is to educate and bring fruitful discussions about how we are all neighbors and more alike than different.”
  The campaign is a first in Midwest history and one of the first across the country to be translated to Spanish.  Digital billboards will be featured on major commuter freeway paths, which include ads in Ozaukee, Racine, Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties. The accompanying websites, GayNeighbor.org and MiVecinoGay.org, answer basic questions in Spanish and English about the LGBT community and issues they face.
  “The educational strength of this campaign is evident in the 40 community organizations, churches and businesses who have signed on to show their support of this campaign and it’s message,” Cadenas said.
  Val, one of the neighbors appearing on the billboards with her children noted during the official opening ceremony September 14 that “gay families are located all over Wisconsin, raising kids, working and having fun just like everyone else. Our family has game night, movie night, nacho night and family gatherings like any other family.”
  The Cream City Foundation serves as a catalyst for social change on behalf of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender communities in southeastern Wisconsin. Their work includes strategic grant making, education, and media outreach.

Kenosha County Seeks Gay Foster Parents
Kenosha - Angela M. Martin, L.C.S.W., Director of Residential Care for Kenosha Human Development Services is seeking local LGBT people or allies from the Racine - Kenosha area who may be interested in serving as foster parents to children aged from toddlers to teenagers.
  Needs are both for short-term and long-term fostering. In some cases historically, interested foster parents have been able to adopt  the child or children under their care.
  If interested in learning more about the possibilities and potential of being a foster parent, please contact Angela by email at: amartin@khds.org.

Smoking Cessation Group To Start At OutReach
Madison - Need a little room to breathe? A new group is forming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals who are seriously committed to stopping smoking.
  The group will be a combination of education and support and will offer members strategies to help smokers become and stay a non-smoker. The group will meet one night a week for seven weeks and is looking to begin in late September. A brief telephone screening is required with one of the group facilitators.
  If interested or would like more information abut the group, please contact OutReach, Inc. by phone at: 608-255-8582, or by email at: harrys@lgbtoutreach.org OutReach is a partner with Rm2Breathe, a statewide anti-tobacco program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual people in Wisconsin. Check out the website www.rm2breathe.org for more resources to quit.

Harmony Café Receives $5000 LGBT Services Challenge Grant
Appleton - The Momentum Project has awarded Harmony Café a $5,000 matching grant for 2009 to be used for the project’s GLBT Services.  The Project, which is an offshoot of the Community Foundation of the Fox Valley, Inc., feels that many in in northeast Wisconsin may be unaware of the GLBT services that that Harmony Café offers. The challenge grant provides a means to raise awareness while also raising the funds needed to continue this important work.
  People who have seen the impact of the Harmony Café’s gay-focused programs in the Fox Cities and Green Bay areas have been generous in their giving. the Café’s challenge with the matching grant project is to generate new donors and new or increased contributions to their GLBT Services. 
  Harmony Café’s original and signature project remains the GLBT Partnership, the youth development and support group for youth ages 14-18 who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, are questioning their orientation or their allies. This program has been providing services in the Valley for 12 years. Last year this program served 184 young people. Already this year, the program has served 150.
  The work of GLBT Partnership members over the years in establishing gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in their home high schools led to a second Harmony Café- sponsored group for gay teens: the GSA Network. The goal of the Northeast Wisconsin GSA Network will be to create and maintain clear channels of communication among GSA advisors and students while providing them with relevant GLBT education tools and support.  A local GSA Conference is being planned for October 17.
  Most basic to gay-focused programming is Harmony Café's “safe space” policy. The policy’s goal: a safe space for all to gather and relax enforced by the “Check It At the Door Declaration.” The full version of the policy is online at: www.harmonycafe.org.
  Funding from the Momentum Project will also help Harmony Café provide a number of volunteer-led initiatives for the LGBT community, among which are Spectrum and Valued Families. Spectrum is the weekly social and networking group for adults who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning or allies. Spectrum”s goal is also its slogan: “Many ages, one bond.”
  Valued Families promotes family equality for Fox Valley LGBT parents and their families by providing social networking, education, community outreach and advocacy to increase recognition and respect for LGBT families in our community.
  Contributions must be made by year’s end to qualify for the Momentum Project matching grant. Harmony Café welcomes any contribution, regardless of size. Contributions can be mailed to GLBT Services, Harmony Cafe - Fox Valley, 233 East College Avenue, Appleton, WI 54911.

Meeting On Possible Northeast WI LGBT Center Set
Green Bay - A group identifying itself as the “EqNEW, Inc.” will host a community informational meeting at Harmony Café here (1660 W. Mason St.) from 7 - 9 PM on Wednesday, September 30, to discuss the creation of a community center to serve lesbians, gay men, and other sexual minorities and their allies in Green Bay.
  The EqNEW, Inc. press release states that it “is a nonprofit organization with a mission to create a LGBTQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Allies) Community Center to serve the Northeast Wisconsin region.”
  Because the organization has not appeared to exist prior to its initial press release, Quest followed up with the Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions (WDFI) and learned that no such group has filed the mandatory paperwork required of all corporations, regardless of profit or not-for-profit status. A check of the WDFI website at Quest’s press deadline confirmed no such group yet officially exists. Public information for other not-for-profit groups and organizations operating in service for the LGBT community in northeast Wisconsin such as ARCW, the Harmony Café project (Goodwill Industries NCW), Positive Voice or Rainbow Over Wisconsin was readily available. A similar check at the federal level also confirmed no 501 c(3) or c(4) not-for profit with the EqNEW name has applied for or been granted tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.
  Contact information for the group is via a post office box and an email address set up with a free webmail provider. A Facebook group that was, until recently “by invitation only,” lists six members, some of whom may or may not be the unnamed “five member Board of Trustees” that, according to the press release, administers the group.  A single page website, provided at no cost by a free web hosting service, the EqNEW as being “The Eq - the Equality Center Of Northeast Wisconsin”with Joshua A. Andrews listed as Chairman of The Board.
  The meeting is open to the public.

Transgender Depression Group at UW Counseling Psychology Clinic
Madison - The Counseling Psychology Training Clinic at the Educational and Psychological Training Center (EPTC) will be offering a Transgender Depression Group on Wednesday evenings from 5 - 6:30 PM, beginning September 2.  The group will meet weekly for twelve weeks and will end on December 9.
  Attendees are being asked to pay $5 per person per session, but are willing to negotiate this fee if it keeps someone from joining the group.  The group’s organizers are looking for individuals from the transgender community who have been feeling depressed, sad, or experiencing a lack of pleasure about things they used to care about.
  This therapy group will focus on depression that may or may not be related to  an individual’s gender identity.  The group will also focus on interpersonal relationships and how relationships with others can impact one’s mood. A brief, in-person screening interview will be required. If interested, please contact Stephanie Budge at the Counseling Psychology Training Clinic by phone at: 608-265-6120 or by email at: eptcctc@gmail.com for an initial information and screening interview.

Bon Iver: “I’m Honored To Be A Part OF AIDS Walk”
Interview by Mike Fitzpatrick
Eau Claire, Milwaukee - If you are a fan of cutting edge, indie music you certainly have heard - or at least heard about - Wisconsin native Justin Vernon and Bon Iver. Vernon’s self-described “project” (as opposed to a more traditional band) is now the stuff of music legend. Physically and emotionally a wreck after losing his band gig, his girlfriend and contracting mononucleosis Vernon isolated himself in a northwoods cabin over a bleak winter and produced “For Emma, Forever Ago,” an album that some critics have called the “ultimate break-up album.”  
  “For Emma” has been honored as one of the best of 2008 by such music “bibles” as Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, MOJO, Spin and more. Tracks from the album have popped up on the soundtracks of scripted TV drama shows such as “Chuck,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House MD.”
  Vernon followed up “For Emma” with a recently-released Bon Iver EP “Blood Bank,” whose title track has reached the charts in the UK. Both releases also have found fans and healthy sales in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
  After his current tour of California, Arizona and Texas, Bon Iver will return to Wisconsin for a gig at Milwaukee’s Riverside Theatre on the evening of Sunday, October 11. Vernon will also spend that same day on the Summerfest grounds serving as the honorary chair of AIDS Walk Wisconsin 2009, where he will offer up a kick-off acoustic cameo concert.
  Quest’s Mike Fitzpatrick recently had a chance to talk with Justin, who professed ignorance of Bon Iver’s “HIV Connection.” Fellow vocalist and guitar player Michael Noyce’s father happens to be infectious disease specialist Dr. Robert Noyce who sees patients living with HIV/AIDS from Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls and other communities in western Wisconsin at his practice in Eau Claire.

Quest: How does a guy who becomes internationally known for the best break-up album of 2008 get connected with AIDS Walk Wisconsin?

Justin: Well, they asked us. They asked us to do it. It was a big honor and is a way for us to be a part of good work I guess in our home state. We wanted to be a part of it.

Quest: Well my boss (at Fitzpatrick’s day job at ARCW) lives in Eau Claire and told me that Bon Iver has a kind of a connection to HIV?

Justin: Not that I’m aware of. We’ve had connections to different charities, but we’ve not had anybody or anyone in our families stricken with HIV or AIDS. It’s just something that we want to be a part of.

Quest: How much of a taste of Bon Iver are the AIDS Walk participants goin to get on the Summerfest grounds on October 11?

Justin: We’re going to be playing a couple of acoustic songs. I’m not exactly sure about how full our set-up is going to be yet, but we’ll play our songs, give some encouragement. It’s kind of a new thing for me. I’ve done some public speaking. My hope is that it gets people who might not come otherwise to get involved.
 I expect that there will be a full-fledged production at the Riverside. At the Walk I expect it will be more stripped-down.

Quest: I did check to see how tickets were going and the best single floor seats still available are way back by the sound board now.

Justin: That’s good to hear.

Quest: Is there a connection between the Riverside concert and the Walk? Is there a benefit aspect to the evening show?

Justin: I think the concert was originally about part of what we wanted to do. It’s all on the same day and its all connected.

Quest: Let’s talk a little about the music. On my first listen to “Skinny” and all of the tunes on “For Emma” my first thought was: “This is Imogen Heap’s lost brother!” Is she an infuence on your work?

Justin: Oh sure. Well, I’m not sure - well yes - she’s somewhat of an influence for sure. I listen to music every day. I listen to music from all over the world, so there’s lots of stuff that I find influential. But yeah, I’m definitely a fan of hers.

Quest: Other influences on your music?

Justin: It’s just endless. I mean - you name it - from anybody in the jazz world to world folk music to blues - to pop, folk. You name it - I’ve probably listened to it and been inspired.

Quest: Who is in heavy rotation in your iPod right now?

Justin: Well, I’ve got something like 10,000 in my iPod right now (laughs). I’ve been listening to a lot of a band called the Dirty Projectors and a soul artist D’Angelo.

Quest: You did a song on “Blood Bank” using what seems to be the “device du jour” in the music world - Auto-Tune. Apparently some of your fans thought that was a sacrilege.

Justin: (laughs) Yeah. There is no such thing as sacrilege in music. It’s all artistic. Your job as an artist is not to cater to what people are expecting from you. It’s a search for expression. (Using the Auto-Tune) is just want I wanted to do at that point. I thought it made a good song for an EP. It might not have made it on a a full-length record because of its strange, relative nature. But it fit on a four-track EP with four very different songs.

Quest: I thought each of those songs on “Blood Bank” were very exciting and wondered to myself, “which of these songs might the genesis of the next album?”

Justin: I don’t think any of them, which is really fun and exciting.

Quest: Do you have project in the works in terms of a new album?

Justin: I’m just knocking down some walls right now. But I wouldn’t expect to hear anything from us on record for a pretty long time.

Quest: Some people consider you a folk singer, others characterize Bon Iver as rock. How would you characterize Bon Iver?

Justin: For me the way to keep it interesting, to keep it life long is to understand that Bon Iver isn’t a band. A lot of bands have become brands of themselves. I think for me Bon Iver, it’s my project but it’s also everybody’s project that we share. It is its own entity. It’s not a brand, like “you will hear this if you buy a Bon Iver record.” It’s about expression and searching.

Quest: Are there going to by Justin Vernon projects too?

Justin: Maybe. I’m putting everything I’ve got in working with other people or on other people’s projects (right now). This is where my heart’s at. If its not forever, I’ll set it aside. But I don’t ever want to go to a place where I feel like “it’s a job.” I’m working right now with a band from Milwaukee called Collections OF Colonies Of Bees. I’ve also done just random singing on a bunch of people’s records. I’m a studio engineer as well so I mix records too.

Quest: Anything else you’d like to say to your Wisconsin fans right now?

Justin: I’m just excited that we’ll be able to do this thing with the community in Milwaukee; and that it benefits our whole state. It’s an honor.

Editor’s Note: Tickets are selling fast for the Bon Iver concert at the Riverside Sunday evening, October 11 at 8 PM CDT. To learn more, visit the Riverside Theatre box office online at: www.riversidetheater.org/boniver or call: 800-551-1552. As Quest went to press it was also learned that a Bon Iver song appears to have been selected for the soundtrack to the highly anticipated vampire drama “Twilight -New Moon” arriving in theatres next month.

Q-Cinema International Group Off To A Great Start
Madison - OutReach's latest LGBT social group Q-Cinema International (QCI) focuses on bringing people together to explore sexual orientation issues from multicultural and international perspectives. QCI is a group of movie enthusiasts who will gather at OutReach, 600 Williamson St., the second and fourth Wednesday nights of each month.
 The movies shown deal with LGBT issues from different countries and cultures. Popcorn, stimulating discussions and laughter are provided without charge. All are welcome to join in exploring this wonderful world of Queer International cinema.
  Next up is the Israeli film “Bubble” on Wednesday September 23. Show time is 6:30 PM. The movie follows a group of young friends in the city of Tel Aviv and is as much a love song to the city as it is an exploration of the claim that people in Tel Aviv are isolated from the rest of the country and the turmoil it's going through. “Bubble” looks at young people's lives in Tel Aviv through the points of view of both gay and straight people, Jews and Arabs, men and women.
  For more information about QCI, please con tact OutReach by phone at: 608-255-8582.

Auditions Set For StageQ’s “Random Harvest.”
Madison - StageQ will hold auditions for its winter production of the romantic ghost story, “Random Harvest” by Richard Willett. The play will be directed by Scott Albert Bennett. Auditions will be held Thursday and Friday, October 15 and 16, with possible callbacks the afternoon of Saturday, October 17.
  Auditions are at 7PM at 148 E Wilson Street, first floor. Appointments may be arranged for a different date.  Actors will read from the script, and may be asked to work together in groups, so wear clothes to move in. Copies of the script are available upon an email request to: harvest@stageq.com  
  Roles are available for 3 men, ages mid-twenties to mid-thirties, and 2 women, ages mid-twenty and 40-50.
  The play tells the story of Aaron, a struggling young playwright who fact-checks magazine articles to pay the bills. Unusual things go on in his life. He has been nominated for a Drama Desk Award, which is causing conflict with his boyfriend. He has developed a strange telephone relationship with the mother of a boy who committed suicide, the subject of an article he worked on recently. Most unusual? His apartment is being haunted by Greer Garson and Susan Peters, who starred together in “Random Harvest,'” a 1942 film about an amnesiac and the two women in his life.
 Aaron has never heard of Peters, but with the help of his boyfriend, Jimmy, he is soon an expert on her short, tragic life. Through the Internet, he learns she was nominated for an Oscar for “Random Harvest,” was paralyzed in a hunting accident in 1945, made films and a television series playing characters in wheelchairs and died in 1952 at 31 from “pneumonia, chronic kidney problems and starvation,” which strikes him as odd. All that Aaron and Peters seem to have in common is being nominated for awards, but one exchange finally spells out their shared fear of success.  “But what if everything changes?” Aaron asks. “Everything changes anyway,” Peters replies.
  Performance dates for “Random Harvest” are December 31, 2009 – January 16, 2010. Rehearsals will begin November 9. Contact StageQ by email at: harvest@stageq.com or call 608-.661-9696, Ext. 3 to with questions.

6th Annual ROW Dinner Set For November 21
Kimberly - Tickets for the 6th Annual “An Evening With Rainbow Over Wisconsin” have gone on sale throughout northeast Wisconsin. Invitations to ROW supporters and dinner attendees from previous years were mailed within the last few days for the November 21 auction, dinner and show.
  Individual tickets for the event are the same as last year: a $35 “early bird” price will be available through mid-October. After that time, tickets will be $40. Though the invitations and tickets state an earlier date, the board decided at its September 14 meeting to rest the early bird deadline date to October 22, a month before the event.
  Tables of ten are also available. As of Quest’s deadline a dozen table sponsors had already signed up. The event will also be held at the Liberty Hall Banquet and Convention Center in Kimberly, with cocktails and silent auction opening at 6 PM. Entertainment at this year’s event will again run throughout the evening, an innovation that pleased attendees in 2008. Also returning will be popular vocalist Jeff Jennings with several additional surprises on tap, according to ROW President Dean Dayton.
  Menu items for this year’s event include Breast of Chicken Marsala, Medallions of Roasted Tenderloin, Baby Red Potatoes, Traditional Stuffing and Gravy, Roasted Fresh Vegetables, Caesar Salad, Pasta Salad, Tropical Fresh Fruit, Croissants, New York Cheesecake and Tropical Carrot Cake plus beverages. The meal will served family style, allowing those wishing to enjoy only vegetarian items the opportunity to do so.
  The annual ROW dinner is the foundation’s signature fund-raising event Dayton noted. “It’s an opportunity for old friends to make new friends at a fun event that also advances the northeast Wisconsin community’s ‘gay agenda’ by donating to Rainbow’s Community Enrichment Fund,” he said.
  Tickets for the "An Evening With Rainbow Over Wisconsin" are available from ROW members and businesses, or can be ordered by calling 920-437-0994. Tickets may also be ordered by emailing ROW at: rainbowoverwi@aol.com.

Mr. International Rubber 2010 Set For November 6-8
Chicago - Now under new ownership, Mr. International Rubber 2010, will be held November 6 - 8, at its new venue: the 65,000 sq. ft. Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St. in the heart of Chicago's Lakeview-Boystown neighborhood.  In addition to the annual competition for the title of Mr. International Rubber, MIR2010 will feature a new, larger host hotel, an expanded vendors market, shuttle bus service and the largest prize package in MIR history.
  Mr. International Rubber is the preeminent annual men's rubber fetish event, held each November in Chicago, Illinois.  Consisting of a fetish contest, vendors market and an array of social events, the weekend began in 1997 and has been held each year since.  Drawing attendees from around the world, MIR2010 will mark the 13th annual occurrence of the event.  Previous winners of the contest have included representatives from Germany, France, Italy, Canada and the U.S. Stephane Donaldson of Montreal, Canada was awarded the title of Mister International Rubber 2009.
  As for the contest itself, on Friday, November 6 at 9 PM in The Hoover-Leppen Theater attendees will have the first chance to meet the contestants for Mr. International Rubber 2010. The judges are introduced, contestants select their order of competition and are judged in the first category of competition: “Rubber Image.”
  Saturday, November 7 at 8 PM in The Hoover-Leppen Theater  will bring the exciting conclusion to the Mr. International Rubber Contest. The final event will include judging of onstage question, “mystery-bag” and audience participation. A new Mr. International Rubber will be sashed this evening. This year's prize package starts at $10,000, the largest in MIR history.
  The MIR vendor market will be open Friday, November 6, Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8 from Noon - 5 PM in The Billy Jean King Recreation Center. Up to 40 vendors from around the globe will be offering their kinky wares for sale and trial.
Weekend Packages for MIR2010 are currently available for $125 each and include:  admission to the MIR Contest, “Greet the Meat” Cocktail Party and Vendor Market; access to the MIR shuttle bus; an MIR2010 T-shirt, poster and program; plus additional coupons and gifts.  To register, visit www.mirubber.com. Weekend package and ticket pick-up is Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 from Noon - 7 pm in The Harris Family Foundation Reception Hall.  Single tickets to individual events will also be available at registration.
  The official host hotel of MIR2010 is The Days Inn Chicago, 644 W. Diversey Pkwy., featuring 133 rooms including suites, business class and standard rooms. For rates and reservations, call 1-888-LPN-DAYS or 1-888-576-3297 and reference "Mr International Rubber."
  The judges for MIR2010 are Frank Blondale, Owner Emeritus of Mr. International Rubber; Andrew Barham, Director of RECON.com; Stephane Donaldson, MIR2009; Massimo Fussillo, President of Leather Club Roma; Richard Hunter, Owner of Mr. S Leather; Rick Garcia, Director of Public Policy for Equality Illinois; and Brendan McGovern, Mr. Leather Ottawa 2009.
  All MIR2010 events will be ASL interpreted by International Mister Leather 2006, Bo Ladashevska. For contestant information, MIR history, photo galleries, public transportation, sponsors and more, please visit the official MIR website at www.mirubber.com.
 
Just Being Human
Australian Pop Stars Human Nature Talk About Camping It Up At Sydney’s Mardi Gras, Getting Smokey Robinson’s Blessing & Touring With Michael Jackson
Since 1994, Australian pop stars Human Nature have earned 23 platinum awards in their native country and have toured throughout the world.  Their largest audience was at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 where they performed before 4 billion viewers worldwide.  The band has had 17 Top 40 Hits and Five Top Ten Hits since 1996, has opened tours of Asia and Europe for both Michael Jackson and Celine Dion, and have won several Arias (Australia’s version of the Grammys) and virtually every other major entertainment award that country has to offer.  Their last four releases in Australia have reached #1 on the charts there.
  Now Human Nature has set their sights on America.  The group is launching its assault via a headlining run at The Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in a show presented by their mentor and friend Smokey Robinson.   The show, billed as “The Ultimate Celebration of the Motown Sound,” is running now through May 2010.  During their run, the boys will also be performing  select dates in several other U.S. cities.
  Their new album, Reach Out, is a collection of songs that pay tribute to some of the best songwriters and performers in Motor City-and to the  renown recording  studio  and record company that brought the sound of young America to the world.   On Reach Out, Human Nature - Toby Allen, Phil Burton, Andrew Tierney, and Michael Tierney - bring an infectious energy and their amazing vocal talents to music that has inspired them throughout their storied career.
  Here, the guys talk about their love of American soul music, touring with Michael Jackson, and the night they camped it up for thousands of screaming gay fans at Mardi Gras in Sydney.

Quest: How did four hot Aussie guys end up singing Motown songs in Las Vegas?

Toby Allen:  Come November, we’ve been together 20 years, releasing albums in Australia for the last 15 years. Our last 3 albums were us doing Motown classics, and they took Australia by storm. It’s always been a dream of ours to release a record in the U.S., and now, with the Motown songs, we felt it was the perfect opportunity for these Aussies to bring the music of Motown “back” to America. We’ve always thought that the way we present this music would work really well in Las Vegas. To test the waters, we did a Motown show in Atlantic City, and the reaction was fantastic. And then last year, this opportunity in Vegas presented itself, and we’re really excited to be here.

Quest: It seems like doing these very American songs might be a great way to get your music before a U.S. audience.

Andrew Tierney:  We originally did the Motown records because we loved the idea, and we love the music.  And then all of a sudden, it just kind of happened. Then, in Australia, after it was a success, we’d hear people say, “This would really work in America. Why don’t you guys try that?” Other people would say, “You should put this show in Vegas.” As a way to introduce us to America, we’re really proud of this show and this record.  And having Smokey introduce us, it gives us a blessing straightaway.

Quest: What’s it like being famous in Australia and not as well-known-yet-here in the States?

Toby Allen:  It’s actually starting to happen now. I saw a woman in the supermarket yesterday, and she said, “Your name wouldn’t happen to be Toby, would it?” She told me she saw the show with her husband, and they loved it so much, they came back a second time.  Ultimately, we feel grateful to have gotten here, performing on the Strip. Now, we just have to let the rest of the country know.

Phil Burton: For us, it’s a challenge we want to rise to. We’ve had a lot of success in Australia, and we relish the idea that maybe someday that will happen here. It’s not something we feel bad about; we like the idea of starting over fresh.

Quest: What’s it like actually living in Las Vegas?

Michael Tierney: It’s definitely different than Sydney, where we all come from, but we enjoy living here. I guess the majority of people who come to Vegas are here for a few days, and they try to take in everything on the Strip. But for us, it’s become real life. We’re not actually living our lives on the Strip-we’ve moved ten to fifteen minutes away.

Andrew Tierney:  Yet, at the same time, I wanted to feel like we lived close enough to feel the Strip. You’re living in Vegas, so you might as well live in Vegas.

Quest: You guys have been together for 20 years now. Do you all get along?

Phil Burton: It’s like a marriage without sex [laughs].  We do fight every now and again, although there’s never been a punch thrown.  Something that Smokey Robinson pointed out to us, which is true, is that the groups that started for the enjoyment of singing and having fun are the ones that stayed together.  And that’s why we originally got together-to have a bit of fun singing while we were in school.  Also, we’ve gotten really lucky in that all four of us seem to enjoy working on the same path. No one wants to break off and do their own thing.

Quest: Was it jarring for you to go from singing the mainstream pop music you did earlier in your career to these soul classics?

Andrew Tierney: I think it was originally more jarring for the fans than it was for us.  We just thought it was a natural thing because we’d always sung bits of Motown throughout our career in addition to bits of soul and gospel. Our older records were more pop, but they always had the kind of harmony structure that the Motown songs have. To ease our fans into it, we put a Motown section in the middle of our live show, choreographed it ourselves by looking at some old Motown videos, and the crowd just went berserk. But even with that, some of the fans were still a bit dubious because we decided to take it the whole way and wear the suits and really have fun with it.

Quest: The suits are hot. But, one might think that when you put the whole thing together-the songs, the suits, the dance moves-it might come off as either too literal or too camp.  But your show is neither.

Phil Burton: We didn’t want to copy the originals, and we didn’t want to step too far away from them either. We asked ourselves, “What would Motown be like today?” And that’s what we wanted to capture.

Andrew Tierney: And we’ve had such a great reaction from Smokey and a lot of the original Motown singers. They’ve said, “I’m glad you guys aren’t just doing a Motown tribute show-you’re doing it your own way.” We’re not impersonating anybody. We’re using these songs to express who we are.

Quest: I also think part of the reason why the show works so well is that you all seem very connected to each other, particularly when you sing, “People Get Ready” and “Ooh Baby Baby.”

Andrew Tierney: There’s so much history that we share together. We’re just so secure and comfortable with each other onstage. We each know innately what the others are going to do onstage, we don’t even have to think about it. You almost know when they’re going to breathe.  That means we also go flat and sharp together, too [laughs].  It’s become totally unconscious. It’s…well…human nature [all laugh].

Phil Burton:  We could never do this show if one of us was sick. If someone else was up there, you’d constantly be thinking, “What’s this other guy going to do?” It would ruin your own performance because all of a sudden, you’re thinking about things you’ve never thought about onstage.

Michael Tierney: And particularly on those acappella moments, you have to have that kind of innate connection with each other because you’re so exposed. You have to feel it to make those moments come across.

Quest: Let’s talk about the dancing.  I know you’re not lip synching, so how are you able to do all of those athletic moves and still keep singing?

Andrew Tierney: There’s one song for me-”Uptight”-where it really feels like a spin class.

Phil Burton: At the end of the show, we all come off drenched.

Toby Allen: We have thought about releasing the Human Nature Motown Instructional Weight Loss DVD. It comes with a 3-piece suit [all laugh].
  We can’t afford to get to the end of the show looking like we didn’t give it everything. There are a couple of light-headed, pain-in-the-chest moments when we’re offstage after the show [all laugh], but what’s important is that people enjoyed the show.

Quest: The moves go with the music, but they’re also modern and sexy.

Michael Tierney:  We were inspired by old Motown groups, but we didn’t want our choreographers to actually copy them. I mean, I’ve watched a lot of Four Tops videos, and none of the guys really moved like that. The dancing is over the top in parts, but that adds to the music and to the show. It’s ramped up and also a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Andrew Tierney: There are some moves that are a little cheeky and cheesy. But think about a song like “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch.” It’s a cheeky song.  Basically, if you look like you’re enjoying yourself, people go along with it and have fun.

Quest: You guys have had a very varied career in Australia, both together and alone. Toby performed in Cabaret and was on Dancing with the Stars. You all toured in a symphonic concert of Beatles songs conducted by George Martin. And, you sang the Australian national anthem at the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics in Sydney.  That must have been an honor.

Phil Burton: That’s still one of the biggest things we’ve ever done. We felt like we were chosen to represent the best of Australian music to the world. It was like saying, “This is what we have in our country.”

Quest: You also toured with Michael Jackson in Australia and Europe. How was that?

Michael Tierney: It’s more amazing now knowing that it was one of the last times anyone would get to see him live. It was incredible for us because it was right after our first album, and we were doing shows in these huge venues, like Wembley Stadium, with 100,000 people there. It was also great to be able to go out after our show and watch Michael Jackson perform.  We couldn’t help but learn things and be blown away by it all.

Toby Allen: Eventually, we were blessed with a meeting the third to last show of the tour. We went up to the side of the stage to this quick-change area where he was getting his makeup done. He seemed like a pretty casual guy to talk to.  We had a photo with him-never saw it-but just to be able to say “G’day” for that 5 minutes was pretty cool.

Quest: Hot guys like you, you must have a lot of gay fans in Australia.

Andrew Tierney: We’re definitely aware of our gay fans. We did Mardi Gras in Sydney once, it was really great. We’d always thought it would be a cool thing to do. It was weird to hear the difference in the screams in our audience. We were used to the screams being a lot more high-pitched, but this was more of a roar [laughs].

Phil Burton: It was the only time we’ve ever gone onstage at 4am. That’s the headlining spot. We did “I’m Your Man” by Wham.  We looked pretty camp, but butch camp. It was really fun to dress like that and do that kind of posturing, something we’ve never done before in our shows, to kind of preen around like Freddie Mercury [all laugh].