Volume
16 No. 17 October 8,
2009Compiled & written by Mike Fitzpatrick
Top
Stories:
Madison - In court papers filed September 22, Lambda Legal has sought to intervene on behalf of Fair Wisconsin and its members in a
lawsuit brought by an anti-gay group attempting to strip
away newly enacted domestic partnership protections for same-sex
couples and their families. “There are almost 15,000 same-sex couples and their families living in Wisconsin who need the basic protections provided by domestic partnerships, Lambda Senior Staff Attorney Christopher Clark said during the announcement of the filing. “The law is far from marriage equality, but it helps couples in times of illness and crisis. We plan to vigorously defend the important legal protections that the legislature validly enacted to protect Wisconsin citizens.
Clark serves in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office based in Chicago. “To suggest that these few protections granted to same-sex couples and their families resemble the much revered status of marriage is preposterous. The domestic partnership law and the constitutional amendment barring same-sex couples from marriage are not in conflict with each other,” he added.
Fair Wisconsin, along with national and regional allies, recently helped enact these important domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples, the first piece of pro-fairness legislation in the state in 27 years.
According Executive Director Katie Belanger, Fair Wisconsin was the main opponent to the 2006 amendment banning marriage equality and civil unions and now is doing everything it can to defend the new law.
“Domestic partnerships are an important step toward ensuring that someone in a caring, committed relationship is able to care for his or her partner,” Belanger said. “No one should ever have to worry about being blocked at their partner’s hospital room door, or have to make the heartbreaking decision to quit their job in order to care for a seriously ill partner. This isn’t about being gay or straight - it’s about being decent.”
The state passed a constitutional amendment in November 2006 that prohibits marriage for same-sex couples in Wisconsin and bars recognition of any legal status that is “substantially similar” to marriage. Earlier this year, on June 29. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed domestic partnerships into law. Domestic partnerships grant limited, but important legal protections to same-sex couples, including hospital visitation and the ability to take a family medical leave to care for a sick or injured partner.
The anti-gay political action group Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) has filed a lawsuit against the state arguing that the domestic partnership law is a violation of the constitutional amendment barring marriage equality for all couples in long-term committed, loving relationships. After the State Attorney General announced that his office would not defend the state against the claim, Governor Doyle appointed special counsel to represent the state.
Wisconsin was the first state in the union to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in the work place in 1982, but many members of the gay community wonder if this attack on the domestic partnership registry will mean a step back for fairness in their state. David Kopitze and Paul Klawiter, who have been together for nearly 40 years, are worried about what losing these basic protections might mean for their family.
“Since we can’t get married in Wisconsin, the domestic partnership registry provides us with a few fundamental protections that we need to take care of each other that married couples in Wisconsin can assume they will always have,” Kopitze said. “Paul and I just want to make sure that we can visit each other in the hospital and take care of each other as we grow older.”
Within days of the filing, the WFA denied that its legal challenge to the state’s new domestic registry is mean spirited. “We’re not mean-spirited,” WFA’s Julaine Appling claimed, telling WIBA reporter John Colbert “We are doing what is necessary to defend the will of 1.26 million Wisconsin voters who said this is what they wanted marriage to be through the vote the vote on the constitutional amendment in November of 2007.”
Voters passed the amendment in 2006.
“How that gets interpreted as mean spirited is beyond me,” she concluded. Lead litigant Appling herself appears to qualify for a domestic partnership. The sixty-something, never married WFA chief co-owns her Watertown residence with long-time female “house share” M. Diane Westphall.
World & National News:
Cleveland To Host 2014 Gay Games
Cleveland - The 2014 Gay Games are coming to Cleveland. A yearlong site selection process came to an exhilarating end for city officials and gay advocates on September 29 as they celebrated the announcement as a major victory for the local economy and a boost to the region’s reputation as a tolerant and diverse community.
The Federation of Gay Games proclaimed Cleveland the winner in Cologne, Germany, which is the site of next year’s games. Cleveland emerged from a trio of finalists that also included Boston and Washington, D.C.
The Gay Games is a sports and cultural festival that promotes respect and understanding of the gay community through athletics. Founded in 1982, the quadrennial event will feature 30 sports in which anybody can participate. The Cleveland games will take place from Aug. 9 to Aug. 16 in locations throughout the region, including Akron.
Cleveland was named the host city because leaders here understood the mission of the games and had impressive facilities, co-presidents of the Federation of Gay Games said in a statement. The city’s experience in hosting major events was another factor.
The nonprofit Cleveland Synergy Foundation, which works to attract athletic and cultural events and enhance the quality of life in both the local LGBT and heterosexual communities, coordinated efforts to land the games.
The event is projected to inject about $60 million into the local economy. In 2006, the Chicago games attracted 11,700 participants and more than 100,000 spectators. About $80 million was pumped into its regional economy, according to Positively Cleveland, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.
Mayor Frank Jackson, who has promised significant financial help to event organizers, said the selection offers Cleveland another chance to shine in front of an international audience. “It’s just as we said about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies,” Jackson said. “You couldn’t buy the kind of international public relations we gained there. Every time someone does business in the city of Cleveland, they always leave with a great impression.”
A city delegation that included Councilman Joe Cimperman and Jackson administration aides Valarie McCall and Kevin Schmotzer traveled to Cologne to make a final pitch.
City officials intensified their efforts to land the Gay Games a year ago, when a group of City Council members pushed for the creation of a domestic-partner registry at City Hall. The registry, though nonbinding, is viewed as a way to help same- and opposite-sex couples obtain privileges more often reserved for married partners. Religious leaders opposed to the idea put pressure on council members, but the registry ultimately passed by a 13-7 vote.
This month, Jackson and council members promised a $700,000 grant if Cleveland was chosen. The city also has pledged $1.3 million worth of “in-kind” help, which will include the use of police officers and sporting venues such as Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau has committed $100,000.
Pentagon Study Condemns “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
Washington, DC - An article in the Pentagon’s top scholarly journal has called in unambiguous terms for lifting the ban on gay servicemen and women serving openly in the armed forces, arguing that the military is essentially forcing thousands of gay people to lead dishonest lives in an organization that emphasizes integrity as a fundamental tenet.
The article in the upcoming issue of Joint Force Quarterly, which is published for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was written by an Air Force colonel who studied the issue for months while a student at the National Defense University in Washington and who concludes that having openly gay troops in the ranks will not hurt combat readiness.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of Pentagon leaders, but their appearance in a publication billed as the Joint Chiefs’ “flagship’’ security studies journal signals that the top brass now welcomes a debate in the military over repealing the 1993 law that requires gay people to hide their sexual orientation, according to several longtime observers of the charged debate over gay people in the military.
While decisions on which articles to publish are made by the journal’s editorial board, located at the defense university, a senior military official said September 29 that the office of Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman who is the nation’s top military officer, reviewed the article before it was published.
“After a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly,’’ Colonel Om Prakash wrote. “Based on this research, it is not time for the administration to reexamine the issue; rather it is time for the administration to examine how to implement the repeal of the ban.’’
Prakash now works in the office of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
The article, an advance copy of which was provided to the Boston Globe, likely will increase pressure on President Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge to work with Congress to overturn the 1993 law commonly referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell.’’
However Obama has been reticent to move on ending the military gay ban. Obama appears not to wish to repeat the experience of former President Bill Clinton, who sought to allow gay people to serve openly early in his administration but was forced to agree to the 1993 compromise after a fierce backlash in Congress and the military.
Representative Patrick Murphy, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Iraq war veteran, is lobbying for a hearing - possibly later this year or early next year - on legislation that he has proposed that would repeal the ban. The bill has 176 cosponsors. However, there is no similar legislation pending in the Senate.
The crux of Prakash’s argument is that the military is now forcing thousands of soldiers to live a lie, directly undercutting the very fabric of their profession. “The law also forces unusual personal compromises wholly inconsistent with a core military value - integrity,’’ he writes. “Several homosexuals interviewed were in tears as they described the enormous personal compromise in integrity they had been making, and the pain felt in serving in an organization they wholly believed in, yet that did not accept them.’’
“In an attempt to allow homosexual service members to serve quietly, a law was created that forces a compromise in integrity, conflicts with the American creed of ‘equality for all,’ places commanders in difficult moral dilemmas, and is ultimately more damaging to the unit cohesion its stated purpose is to preserve.’’ Prakash concluded.
Cleveland - The 2014 Gay Games are coming to Cleveland. A yearlong site selection process came to an exhilarating end for city officials and gay advocates on September 29 as they celebrated the announcement as a major victory for the local economy and a boost to the region’s reputation as a tolerant and diverse community.
The Federation of Gay Games proclaimed Cleveland the winner in Cologne, Germany, which is the site of next year’s games. Cleveland emerged from a trio of finalists that also included Boston and Washington, D.C.
The Gay Games is a sports and cultural festival that promotes respect and understanding of the gay community through athletics. Founded in 1982, the quadrennial event will feature 30 sports in which anybody can participate. The Cleveland games will take place from Aug. 9 to Aug. 16 in locations throughout the region, including Akron.
Cleveland was named the host city because leaders here understood the mission of the games and had impressive facilities, co-presidents of the Federation of Gay Games said in a statement. The city’s experience in hosting major events was another factor.
The nonprofit Cleveland Synergy Foundation, which works to attract athletic and cultural events and enhance the quality of life in both the local LGBT and heterosexual communities, coordinated efforts to land the games.
The event is projected to inject about $60 million into the local economy. In 2006, the Chicago games attracted 11,700 participants and more than 100,000 spectators. About $80 million was pumped into its regional economy, according to Positively Cleveland, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.
Mayor Frank Jackson, who has promised significant financial help to event organizers, said the selection offers Cleveland another chance to shine in front of an international audience. “It’s just as we said about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies,” Jackson said. “You couldn’t buy the kind of international public relations we gained there. Every time someone does business in the city of Cleveland, they always leave with a great impression.”
A city delegation that included Councilman Joe Cimperman and Jackson administration aides Valarie McCall and Kevin Schmotzer traveled to Cologne to make a final pitch.
City officials intensified their efforts to land the Gay Games a year ago, when a group of City Council members pushed for the creation of a domestic-partner registry at City Hall. The registry, though nonbinding, is viewed as a way to help same- and opposite-sex couples obtain privileges more often reserved for married partners. Religious leaders opposed to the idea put pressure on council members, but the registry ultimately passed by a 13-7 vote.
This month, Jackson and council members promised a $700,000 grant if Cleveland was chosen. The city also has pledged $1.3 million worth of “in-kind” help, which will include the use of police officers and sporting venues such as Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau has committed $100,000.
Pentagon Study Condemns “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
Washington, DC - An article in the Pentagon’s top scholarly journal has called in unambiguous terms for lifting the ban on gay servicemen and women serving openly in the armed forces, arguing that the military is essentially forcing thousands of gay people to lead dishonest lives in an organization that emphasizes integrity as a fundamental tenet.
The article in the upcoming issue of Joint Force Quarterly, which is published for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was written by an Air Force colonel who studied the issue for months while a student at the National Defense University in Washington and who concludes that having openly gay troops in the ranks will not hurt combat readiness.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of Pentagon leaders, but their appearance in a publication billed as the Joint Chiefs’ “flagship’’ security studies journal signals that the top brass now welcomes a debate in the military over repealing the 1993 law that requires gay people to hide their sexual orientation, according to several longtime observers of the charged debate over gay people in the military.
While decisions on which articles to publish are made by the journal’s editorial board, located at the defense university, a senior military official said September 29 that the office of Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman who is the nation’s top military officer, reviewed the article before it was published.
“After a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly,’’ Colonel Om Prakash wrote. “Based on this research, it is not time for the administration to reexamine the issue; rather it is time for the administration to examine how to implement the repeal of the ban.’’
Prakash now works in the office of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
The article, an advance copy of which was provided to the Boston Globe, likely will increase pressure on President Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge to work with Congress to overturn the 1993 law commonly referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell.’’
However Obama has been reticent to move on ending the military gay ban. Obama appears not to wish to repeat the experience of former President Bill Clinton, who sought to allow gay people to serve openly early in his administration but was forced to agree to the 1993 compromise after a fierce backlash in Congress and the military.
Representative Patrick Murphy, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Iraq war veteran, is lobbying for a hearing - possibly later this year or early next year - on legislation that he has proposed that would repeal the ban. The bill has 176 cosponsors. However, there is no similar legislation pending in the Senate.
The crux of Prakash’s argument is that the military is now forcing thousands of soldiers to live a lie, directly undercutting the very fabric of their profession. “The law also forces unusual personal compromises wholly inconsistent with a core military value - integrity,’’ he writes. “Several homosexuals interviewed were in tears as they described the enormous personal compromise in integrity they had been making, and the pain felt in serving in an organization they wholly believed in, yet that did not accept them.’’
“In an attempt to allow homosexual service members to serve quietly, a law was created that forces a compromise in integrity, conflicts with the American creed of ‘equality for all,’ places commanders in difficult moral dilemmas, and is ultimately more damaging to the unit cohesion its stated purpose is to preserve.’’ Prakash concluded.
State News:
Guerrilla Gay Bar “Chalk” Tags Haunt
Milwaukee Sidewalks
Milwaukee - They were originally intended to be a short-term PrideFest weekend marketing ploy whose sponsors thought would fade within days of the festival’s end. However as Halloween approaches, the ghosts of spray chalk tags for Milwaukee’s Guerrilla Gay Bar
(MGGB)
group continue to haunt the sidewalks of Boom, Walker’s Pint and some
of other gay identified establishments around the city. Several owners
have made an effort to remove the tags, while others have done nothing,
hoping that the salting and scraping Wisconsin winters bring will
finish the job of removing the markings that the summer sun and showers
have thus far have failed to do.
A strongly-worded July column about the tags by Outbound’s Brent Holmes brought wider attention to the then-more visible markings and polarized the issue for some among gay bar regulars and MGGB supporters. Though the heat of the rhetoric has faded on both sides, some of the hurt feelings remain.
MGGB supporters correctly pointed out that Milwaukee city ordinances are silent on the use spray chalk marketing, in large part due to a lack of incidence and complaints about the technique. Not so in other major cities, however. New York City, Boston and other major cities plagued by an advertising technique commonly called "guerrilla marketing" do have ordinances aimed at curbing the tagging, under penalty of fines and jail time.
Software giant Microsoft learned this the hard way in 2005 when New York City made the company remove literally thousands of MSN butterflies it had decaled and spray-chalked around the cityscape. The removal costs were about the same as the threatened $50 per incidence fine the city had threatened.
IBM made perhaps the most extensive - and expensive - such gaffe in the tech world when it began pitching its adoption of Linux in its “Peace, Love, and Linux” campaign eight years ago. For the guerrilla marketing aspect of the effort, Big Blue hired marketing firms to chalk or spray paint graphics on the sidewalks of several major cities.
The company and Ogilvy & Mather, its ad agency, said they had understood the graphics would be temporary; when they persisted long after the campaign, IBM wound up paying thousands in fines and shelling out to have the ads removed. Some of IBM's artists were arrested in San Francisco and Chicago.
Because of the negative removal costs, guerrilla street marketing using decals and spray chalk has fallen from favor. However spray chalking has continued to cause controversy in smaller locations, such as towns with college campuses.
In Ann Arbor, the community revised its ordinances in January 2009 after several spray-chalking incidents at the University of Michigan. The ordinance deems most markings as nuisance graffiti but specifically exempts chalking with “sidewalk chalk.”
Therein lies the problem: the confusion between sidewalk chalk and spray chalk. Canned spray chalk is not the same thing as the sidewalk chalk of children’s hopscotch or Victorian scriveners (think The Dick Van Dyke’s Bert character in “Mary Poppins”). A close look at the contents of most spray chalks (available in OSHA worksite chemical declarations obtained by Quest) list accelerants, solvents and other chemicals also found in spray paints. Fine print instructions for such products are full of caveats about the washability, noting specifically to avoid use on porous surfaces, which would include cement and asphalt, the stuff of sidewalk construction.
So it would appear the Milwaukee Guerrilla Gay Bar group may have made the same mistake that major U.S. firms such as Microsoft, Cadbury-Schweppes and Snapple have made over the years in its choice of guerrilla marketing materials. Hopefully the results of last June’s tags ultimately will fade away completely, as also the hurt feelings within the city’s gay clubbing community.
Equality Rally To Span LaCrosse Bridge
LaCrosse - In recognition of National Coming Out Day, the LGBT Resource Center For The Seven Rivers Region will sponsor its 2nd Annual “Spanning the Bridge Silent Rally For Equality on Saturday, October 10. Attendees will gather at Cameron Park at 11:30 AM, walk to the Bridge at Noon, the staying on the Bridge until 12:30 PM
Center staff will have posters and pride flags to pass out for the rally. Marchers will walk in unity to the Cass Street blue bridge and span the bridge for a half hour. The event will occur rain or shine and attendees are asked to dress accordingly. Last year’s first-ever demonstration had 115 people and 3 dogs stand for for equality. Organizers hope to reach their goal of 200 this year.
Following the rally, attendees are invited to will return to the Center for light refreshments and to celebrate the great feeling of creating awareness together. For more information please call 608-784-0452.
Obama Appointee Knox To Speak At Angels Of Hope
Green Bay - Angels of Hope Metropolitan Community Church will host a conversation with openly-gay Obama appointee Harry
Knox on Saturday,
October 24 beginning at 7 PM.
Knox is a newly-appointed member of Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Attendees at Pride Alive’s 2008 non-denominational prayer service may remember Knox, who served as the lead official of that spiritual convocation.
Knox is also the Director of the Religion and Faith Program of the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a position he has held since July 2005. According to the HRC website, Knox’s leadership with the HRC Religion and Faith Program has seen the creation of a national speakers’ bureau that reaches more than 10 million Americans monthly and a weekly preaching resource that provides scriptural commentary to ministers and lay people interested in an ecumenical gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender perspective on the Bible.
He has also been instrumental in creating a national network for 22 progressive state clergy coalitions around the country. Knox has been featured on programs as diverse as “The Michael Medved Show,” the BBC News, PBS, NBC, CBS and national and local newspapers and has co-authored an article on LGBT issues and world religions for Conscience magazine.
Knox said he was humbled by his appointment to Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
“I hope this council will draw upon the richness of our unique perspectives to advise the president on policies that will improve the lives of all the people we have been called to serve,” Knox said. “The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is eager to help the Administration achieve its goals around economic recovery and fighting poverty; fatherhood and healthy families; inter-religious dialogue; care for the environment; and global poverty, health and development. And, of course, we will support the President in living up to his promise that government has no place in funding bigotry against any group of people.”
In addition to his remarks about the Pope, Knox also criticized the Catholic Knights of Columbus as being “foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression” because of the Knights’ support of Proposition 8. The latter was a ballot initiative that amended California’s state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, and passed in November 2008.
The Georgia-born and bred Knox’s prior management and advocacy experience includes having held the positions of business manager for patient services and comprehensive school health programs for the American Cancer Society, Georgia Division; director of development at Equality Florida; executive director of Georgia Equality; and program director for Freedom to Marry. He is also a former licensed pastor of a United Methodist Church in Georgia.
Under Knox’s leadership, Georgia Equality was successful in passing the state’s first LGBT-inclusive legislation, the Georgia Anti-Domestic Terrorism Act, and in obtaining domestic partnership benefits for employees at Coca-Cola, BellSouth, Delta Airlines, Atlanta Gas Light and Cingular Wireless. He was the recipient of the 2000 Cordle Award for Promotion of God’s Diversity and Lancaster Theological Seminary’s 2005 Robert V. Moss Medal for Excellence in Ministry. Denied ordination because he is gay, Knox has taken his ministry outside the Church, speaking out for those who have been marginalized and forsaken.
The conversation with Harry Knox will be held from 7 - 9 PM at Angels of Hope MCC on 3607 Libal St. Hors d’oeuvres, tea, coffee, and soft drinks will be provided. The event is free of charge and the public is invited.
For more information call Angels of Hope at 920-983-7453 or visit the church website at: www.angelsofhopemcc.org.
FORGE Receives Second Federal Grant
Milwaukee - Less than a month after starting a 3-year, nearly $300,000 federally-funded project to improve the nation’s sexual violence and criminal justice professionals’ ability to respectfully and appropriately serve transgender survivors of sexual violence,
FORGE has been
awarded a second federal grant to provide direct services to
transgender survivors and SOFFA (Significant Others, Friends, Family
and Allies).
The second grant, from the Office of Violence Against Women, allocates $299,987 to fund three years of FORGE-run outreach and direct services to transgender sexual assault survivors of all genders living anywhere in the United States.
Under the new grant and with the help of member sub-organizations of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, FORGE will expand its existing peer support listserv and revamp and update its web-based resource center (at: www.forge-forward.org/transviolence) for transgender and other survivors of sexual assault and SOFFAs.
FORGE will also recruit, train, and supervise volunteers to provide individualized information and referral to transgender survivors of sexual assault and SOFFAs, and to staff a buddy program that provides one-on-one, ongoing support to survivors and SOFFAs.
Also planned are the development and distribution of three instructional guides: “A Self-Help Guide for Transgender Sexual Violence Survivors,” “A Guide for SOFFAs of Transgender Sexual Violence Survivors,” and “A Guide to Finding a Trans-Savvy Sexual Violence Therapist.”
The new grant will also permit FORGE to adapt it’s existing “Writing to Heal” materials for delivery via the web and/or teleconference. The grant also provides the funds to make these highly-rated services available to survivors and SOFFAs nationwide during the second and third years of the grant cycle.
The new grant will also enable FORGE to provide direct outreach, materials dissemination, and/or advertising at transgender conferences.
Studies conducted by FORGE and other researchers have found extremely high rates of sexual violence against transgender people, with approximately one in two transgender people having survived sexual assaults. This project is designed to closely meet the needs and preferences of transgender sexual violence survivors as uncovered by a national survey FORGE conducted in 2004.
Among the study’s key findings were that Transgender survivors and SOFFAs have an ongoing need for support that may last more than a decade after the assaults; and that Transgender survivors prefer to use individual therapists, friends, partners, and self-help materials as opposed to existing mainstream sexual assault services. Because of this, SOFFAs of transgender people need significant education and support of their own.
Transgender survivors often desire to have discussion and support around transgender-specific issues such as how a sexual assault history might impact (trans)gender identity and how to find a therapist that can competently address both a sexual assault history and a survivor’s possible desire to access hormones and/or surgery.
Transgender survivors and SOFFAs often express a sense of hopelessness, isolation, and permanent “brokenness.” The Buddy Program is designed to break this isolation and link survivors with trained peers who are further along the healing path and who can provide hope, support, and guidance.
FORGE was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Executive Director michael munson, is available to answer questions about this or other FORGE projects. He can be reached via email at: tgwarrior@forge-forward.org or by phone at: 414-559-2123.
Networking, Needs Assessment Focus At EqNEW Meeting
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Green Bay - A September 30 meeting to consider the establishment of a possible LGBT community center uncovered more immediate needs for community organizational networking and the development of a structured process to determine what actual gay community needs exist in the Green Bay area.
Including the four-member EqNEW committee, about 20 were present at the meeting held at the Harmony Café. Committee members acknowledged that their initial self-identification as an incorporated not for-profit was a goal rather than their current reality. The group had revised most of its online presence to identify their long-term goals prior to the meeting.
The group’s presentation focused more on general goals and mission than on an actual plan to open a gay-identified edifice. Among the issues brought up in the meeting was the need for more LGBT-focused programming in the Green Bay area rather than a place to hold such events, as both Harmony Cafés and the Green Bay Angels Of Hope sites were both available and gay-inclusive. Concerns about cost, sustainability and even the need to establish a LGBT-identified center at a time of increased acceptance by the larger community were also expressed.
Several attendees voiced their frustration that the multiple LGBT programs available at the Harmony Café in Appleton were not also available at the Café’s Green Bay location. Harmony Cafe Program Team Leader Shannon Kenevan responded by first introducing his new counterpart at the Green Bay site and then explaining that the programming would be possible with volunteer support and input from members of the Green Bay LGBT community. “Every LGBT program we have in Appleton started as an idea first offered by a member of the gay community,” he said.
As the evening’s discussion progressed, it became clear that projects, activities and events being referred to by by representatives from the Angels of Hope MCC, ARCW, Positive Voice, Pride Alive and Rainbow Over Wisconsin were unknown to other attendees. Some were unaware that a number of the organizations existed and others believed that at least one active group had disbanded. Several attendees endorsed the resumption of the inactive LGBT Roundtable, a semi-annual networking meeting of northeast Wisconsin LGBT groups that last met in 2006.
Reference was also made to the one-time 1996, publication of a northeast Wisconsin LGBT resources guide and the need for a newer guide. Other attendees countered that changes in society and technology may make such a guide unnecessary. “Google is my gay resources guide,” one attendee quipped.
Attendees also were concerned that needs of gay youth cited by the committee had not actually been assessed. One attendee pointed out the make-up of those at the meeting for the most part were older LGBT community members and allies. EqNEW member Christine Smith noted that she and her partner had experience in conducting research and could develop a survey to assess community needs.
The meeting concluded with EqNEW committee members saying that they would review the ideas presented at the meeting and announce their next step in the near future.
$75,000 Awarded to Fight Gay Youth Homelessness
Milwaukee - The Cream City Foundation (CCF) as announced that it will distribute $75,000 to Pathfinders towards addressing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) youth homelessness in the Milwaukee area. The grant will be used to help address
shelter
and housing gaps in providing care and support for LGBT homeless youth.
"National numbers show that 20 - 40% of homeless youth identify as gay or transgender," CCF Executive Director Maria Cadenas said in announcing the grant. "With that in mind, we realize that this is a small but crucial step to address LGBT youth homelessness and the child welfare system in the Milwaukee area."
This grant is the fifth grant from Cream City Foundation as part its LGBT Youth Homelessness Initiative, an effort to implement a holistic approach to create a more supportive child welfare system, specifically in regards to LGBT homeless youth.
The LGBT Youth Homelessness Initiative brought together leaders in the area to create a collaborate model to address the issue. Participants include Lad Lake, Pathfinders, Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, and St. Aemilian-Lakeside.
Over the next three years, the LGBT Youth Homelessness Initiative will conduct research and data collection on LGBT homeless youth in Milwaukee; provide independent living and supportive services that will serve the needs of up to 25 LGBT homeless youth; and educate the community, policy makers and funders on the importance of addressing LGBT youth within the child welfare system.
“We are excited to be working with our agency partners on LGBT youth homelessness issues in our community," Cadenas said.
Ric Fest V To Raise Scholarship Funds
Milwaukee - The Ricardo Correa Scholarship Foundation is starting it’s fifth fundraiser year to raise money for LGBT public high school students or a straight ally. To date the foundation has raised over $8,000 with six scholarships that have gone out in the past four years. Last year’s scholarship recipient Nick Dolan currently is studying to be a biochemist in college this year.
Karaoke Ric Fest V will start with a kick-off party and fundraiser on Saturday, October 17 at M’s on S. 2nd at 10 PM with a drag show. 50/50 and other raffles will go on throughout the night.
This will be followed by Ric Fest karaoke preliminaries. The October schedule of participating bar events include a preliminary Thursday, October 22, at Mona’s from 9-Midnight; and a preliminary on Thursday, October 29, that will also be a Switch reunion and costume party at Jack’s.
November preliminaries will be held on Saturday, November 7 at Frank’s Power Plant from9:30 PM - 12:30 AM and Wednesday, November 18 at Walker’s Pint. Additional preliminary dates at M’s and Plan B in Madison will be announced shortly.
Also new this year will be a surprise “guerrilla” karaoke contest, where the judges show up unannounced and run a preliminary event. A cash prize will be given out at each preliminary to the person who raises the most money.
The finale for Ric Fest will be on November 21 at Frank’s Power Plant from 9 PM - Midnight with a silent auction, karaoke winners’ show, 50/50 and other raffles. Prizes will be given at the finale both to the karaoke winner who raises the most money and to the judges’ choice. Flyers offering more information and fundraising sheets will be dsitributed to area bar by October 17.
The foundation thanks all the bars that have given so generously to this fundraiser over the years. To volunteer for any of the Ric Fest fundraisers please call Peter at: 262-573-3321.
3rd Annual GSA For Safe Schools Fundraiser Set
Madison - The GSA for Safe Schools Walk/Run/Eat will be held Sunday, October 11th at the Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St. here. Featuring a 5K walk and a 5K run, this year’s event will once again be topped off by a picnic-style lunch donated by Queen Anne’s Catering of the West Side Club.
Registration opens at 9:30 AM, with the Walk/Run beginning at 11. Registration fees will be the same as last year: $25 for adults, $20 for youth (ages 12 to 17) and $15 for children (12 and under). Registration will include a t-shirt commemorating the event.
Anyone who shares GSA for Safe Schools’ vision of educational systems where all students thrive regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression is encouraged to participate. The event is open to walkers and runners of all abilities.
Team creation is encouraged as are costumes. Prizes will be awarded to the biggest team, the team with the best name/theme, the team with the best costume, and the team that raises the most money
For more information about the walk, contact Tim Michael at 608-661-4141 or visit the GSA website at: www.gsaforsafeschools.org.
Three Added To Southeast LGBT Center Board
Racine - Three new directors recently have joined the board of directors of the LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin. Ellen Ferwerda, Victor Frasher, and Jim LaBelle will replace three departing members who left for a variety of health and job-related reasons, according to executive director Bruce Joffe.
“We thank everyone – newcomers, those departing, and our new ‘recruits’ – for all their help in ensuring the sustainability of our LGBT Center,” Joffe wrote in a press release.
The LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin, 1456 Junction Ave., is open five days a week. For hours of operation and more information, visit the center’s website at: www.lgbtsewisc.org.
LGBT Ally Conference set at UW-GB
Green Bay - Shane L. Windmeyer will be the keynote speaker at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's second annual Ally Conference from Noon - 6 PM on Saturday, October 24 in the University Union's Phoenix Room, 2420 Nicolet Drive here
The conference is part of an effort through October to address gay and lesbian issues. Students and staff have already passed out “Gay? Fine by Me” T-shirts during the week of October 5, and a “Does Your Mother Know?" panel discussion addressed coming out experiences October 7.
Registration for the conference is free for UWGB students and $25 for the public. Registration is available online at: www.uwgb.edu/aic/ally. For more information about the conference, contact Multicultural Adviser Mai J. Lo Lee by phone at: 920-465-2720 or by email at: lom@uwgb.edu.
Milwaukee Gay Volleyball Association Leagues Form
Milwaukee - The Milwaukee Gay Volleyball Association (MGVA), with assistance from the Madison Gay Volleyball Association, is pleased to announce that league play will begin November 1. MGVA welcomes all people and skill levels. Registration fees are $30 for general members and $20 for students with a valid student ID.
Interested parties are welcome to form their own team. MGVA will place individual registrants on a team with others of the same skill level.
MGVA is also seeking restaurants, bars, and other businesses to sponsor teams. “In this economy, affordable sponsorship is a win-win,” MGVA sponsorship director Todd Wellman said. “Players get to play and the sponsors receive a return on investment in loyalty and after-game spending they couldn't touch with traditional advertising.”
MGVA will play every Sunday evening from 6 - 8 PM for twelve weeks at the Beulah Brinton Community Center, 2555 S. Bay St. in Milwaukee.
For more information, and to register, please visit the MGVA website at: www.MilwaukeeGayVolleyball.com.
Interested parties may call Justin Wilder by phone at: 608-576-6811 or by email at: j.danielwilder@gmail.com.
“Blades Against AIDS” Takes The Ice October 10
Madison - The gloves are off and it’s time for a fight! The skaters of the Madison Gay Hockey Association are asking the Madison community to join them on the ice to help in the fight against AIDS. “Blades Against AIDS” is the MGHA’s annual open ice-skating event to benefit the AIDS Network.
The event this year is being held at Hartmeyer Ice Arena, and will feature a DJ as well as a selection of appetizers and hot beverages.
“It's a great opportunity for people who want to try out ice skating for the first time--or for those more accomplished skaters looking for a reason to dust off their skates and show off their skills,” MGHA Board President, Michelle Watkins said. “It’s a fun community event and we’re thrilled that we’re able to raise money to support AIDS Network while we’re out there.”
The event runs from 7 - 9 PM on Saturday October 10. Rental skates and food are included in the admission price: $15 for adults and youth age 16 and over, $10 for youth ages 13-15, and $5 for children 12 and younger.
Following the event, the Shamrock Bar will be hosting an after party. Sponsors for this year’s event are Madison Ice Incorporated and the Madison Gay Hockey Association.
October Chippewa Valley LGBT Center Activities Set
Eau Claire - The coming-out process from mom and dad’s eye view and an early gay turn by hunky Hollywood hottie Russell Crowe are among the highlights of activities planned at the LGBT Community Center of the Chippewa Valley, 510 S. Farwell St. here.
In honor of National Coming Out Day on October 11, the monthly discussion forum at the Center will focus Tuesday, October 13 on “Coming Out as Supportive Parents.” The group will meet from 7 - 9 PM and feature a panel of local parents of LGBT people. The parents will tell their stories, describe any trials and tribulations, and joy they encountered and answer questions from the audience. All are welcome to attend. Admission is free and beverages and desserts will be served..
Saturday Night at the Movies returns on Saturday, October 17 with “The Sum of Us.” Set in Sydney, Australia this 1994 movie tells the story of a heterosexual father and his gay son while trying to find their respective Ms. and Mr. Rights. The film shows their relationships with one another and the objects of their affection as tragedy strikes. Gay critics have pointed out that there is no overt ‘message’ in the film, just very natural, entertaining story telling. Russell Crowe stars as the gay son. Doors open at 6:45 PM and the movie rolls at 7. Discussion will follow the showing for all interested. Admission & popcorn are free. Beverages and movie snacks are also available to purchase.
For more information about these and other upcoming events, contact the Chippewa Valley Center by phone at: 715-552-5428 (LGBT), or by email at: lgbtcommunitycenter@yahoo.com
Eau Claire Health Care LGBT Focus Groups Planned
Eau Claire - The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Nursing Department is seeking input from area lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people about their personal experiences in health care, and how health care providers can do a better job of interacting with LGBT individuals, their partners, and family members. The researchers for the project are Dr. Sheila Smith, Department of Nursing, and Dr. Susan Turell, Psychology Department at UW-EC.
The goal of the research project is to contribute to developing best practice guidelines for the provision of supportive, culturally competent, non-discriminatory LGBT health care services. Focus groups will be held for lesbian women on Monday, October 19 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Gay Men will be interviewed on Thursday October 22 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Bisexual persons will be invited to provide their feedback on Monday October 26 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM and transgendered individuals are invited to participate on Thursday October 29 from 6:30 -8:30 PM. RSVPs are requested. To join a focus group email smithsk@uwec.edu.
OutReach’s Bartz Honored With Peacemaker Award
Madison - Josh Bartz, OurReach Board Vice President and volunteer has received of one of seven Peacemaker of The Year Awards
presented by the
Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice. Bartz received the award in
a ceremony at the Goodman Community Center October 3.
Peacemaker Awards are given to community members who have made a substantial contribution to peace and community justice programming work. Josh was honored for his intense commitment to young adult programming here at OutReach. OutThere, the center’s weekly 18-24 social group, is the product of Josh’s determination to create a home for younger adults at this agency. OutThere is “far and away the most successful” youth program at the agency to date, according to the press release announcing the award.
“With weekly programming ranging from social outings and films to all ages community-building events, Josh found a way to create & recruit talent for the building a sustainable group,” the release noted. “Josh functions in the best traditions of OutReach - the power of volunteer energy to build community programming.”
Milwaukee - They were originally intended to be a short-term PrideFest weekend marketing ploy whose sponsors thought would fade within days of the festival’s end. However as Halloween approaches, the ghosts of spray chalk tags for Milwaukee’s Guerrilla Gay Bar
(MGGB)
group continue to haunt the sidewalks of Boom, Walker’s Pint and some
of other gay identified establishments around the city. Several owners
have made an effort to remove the tags, while others have done nothing,
hoping that the salting and scraping Wisconsin winters bring will
finish the job of removing the markings that the summer sun and showers
have thus far have failed to do.A strongly-worded July column about the tags by Outbound’s Brent Holmes brought wider attention to the then-more visible markings and polarized the issue for some among gay bar regulars and MGGB supporters. Though the heat of the rhetoric has faded on both sides, some of the hurt feelings remain.
MGGB supporters correctly pointed out that Milwaukee city ordinances are silent on the use spray chalk marketing, in large part due to a lack of incidence and complaints about the technique. Not so in other major cities, however. New York City, Boston and other major cities plagued by an advertising technique commonly called "guerrilla marketing" do have ordinances aimed at curbing the tagging, under penalty of fines and jail time.
Software giant Microsoft learned this the hard way in 2005 when New York City made the company remove literally thousands of MSN butterflies it had decaled and spray-chalked around the cityscape. The removal costs were about the same as the threatened $50 per incidence fine the city had threatened.
IBM made perhaps the most extensive - and expensive - such gaffe in the tech world when it began pitching its adoption of Linux in its “Peace, Love, and Linux” campaign eight years ago. For the guerrilla marketing aspect of the effort, Big Blue hired marketing firms to chalk or spray paint graphics on the sidewalks of several major cities.
The company and Ogilvy & Mather, its ad agency, said they had understood the graphics would be temporary; when they persisted long after the campaign, IBM wound up paying thousands in fines and shelling out to have the ads removed. Some of IBM's artists were arrested in San Francisco and Chicago.
Because of the negative removal costs, guerrilla street marketing using decals and spray chalk has fallen from favor. However spray chalking has continued to cause controversy in smaller locations, such as towns with college campuses.
In Ann Arbor, the community revised its ordinances in January 2009 after several spray-chalking incidents at the University of Michigan. The ordinance deems most markings as nuisance graffiti but specifically exempts chalking with “sidewalk chalk.”
Therein lies the problem: the confusion between sidewalk chalk and spray chalk. Canned spray chalk is not the same thing as the sidewalk chalk of children’s hopscotch or Victorian scriveners (think The Dick Van Dyke’s Bert character in “Mary Poppins”). A close look at the contents of most spray chalks (available in OSHA worksite chemical declarations obtained by Quest) list accelerants, solvents and other chemicals also found in spray paints. Fine print instructions for such products are full of caveats about the washability, noting specifically to avoid use on porous surfaces, which would include cement and asphalt, the stuff of sidewalk construction.
So it would appear the Milwaukee Guerrilla Gay Bar group may have made the same mistake that major U.S. firms such as Microsoft, Cadbury-Schweppes and Snapple have made over the years in its choice of guerrilla marketing materials. Hopefully the results of last June’s tags ultimately will fade away completely, as also the hurt feelings within the city’s gay clubbing community.
Equality Rally To Span LaCrosse Bridge
LaCrosse - In recognition of National Coming Out Day, the LGBT Resource Center For The Seven Rivers Region will sponsor its 2nd Annual “Spanning the Bridge Silent Rally For Equality on Saturday, October 10. Attendees will gather at Cameron Park at 11:30 AM, walk to the Bridge at Noon, the staying on the Bridge until 12:30 PM
Center staff will have posters and pride flags to pass out for the rally. Marchers will walk in unity to the Cass Street blue bridge and span the bridge for a half hour. The event will occur rain or shine and attendees are asked to dress accordingly. Last year’s first-ever demonstration had 115 people and 3 dogs stand for for equality. Organizers hope to reach their goal of 200 this year.
Following the rally, attendees are invited to will return to the Center for light refreshments and to celebrate the great feeling of creating awareness together. For more information please call 608-784-0452.
Obama Appointee Knox To Speak At Angels Of Hope
Green Bay - Angels of Hope Metropolitan Community Church will host a conversation with openly-gay Obama appointee Harry
Knox on Saturday,
October 24 beginning at 7 PM. Knox is a newly-appointed member of Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Attendees at Pride Alive’s 2008 non-denominational prayer service may remember Knox, who served as the lead official of that spiritual convocation.
Knox is also the Director of the Religion and Faith Program of the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a position he has held since July 2005. According to the HRC website, Knox’s leadership with the HRC Religion and Faith Program has seen the creation of a national speakers’ bureau that reaches more than 10 million Americans monthly and a weekly preaching resource that provides scriptural commentary to ministers and lay people interested in an ecumenical gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender perspective on the Bible.
He has also been instrumental in creating a national network for 22 progressive state clergy coalitions around the country. Knox has been featured on programs as diverse as “The Michael Medved Show,” the BBC News, PBS, NBC, CBS and national and local newspapers and has co-authored an article on LGBT issues and world religions for Conscience magazine.
Knox said he was humbled by his appointment to Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
“I hope this council will draw upon the richness of our unique perspectives to advise the president on policies that will improve the lives of all the people we have been called to serve,” Knox said. “The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is eager to help the Administration achieve its goals around economic recovery and fighting poverty; fatherhood and healthy families; inter-religious dialogue; care for the environment; and global poverty, health and development. And, of course, we will support the President in living up to his promise that government has no place in funding bigotry against any group of people.”
In addition to his remarks about the Pope, Knox also criticized the Catholic Knights of Columbus as being “foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression” because of the Knights’ support of Proposition 8. The latter was a ballot initiative that amended California’s state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, and passed in November 2008.
The Georgia-born and bred Knox’s prior management and advocacy experience includes having held the positions of business manager for patient services and comprehensive school health programs for the American Cancer Society, Georgia Division; director of development at Equality Florida; executive director of Georgia Equality; and program director for Freedom to Marry. He is also a former licensed pastor of a United Methodist Church in Georgia.
Under Knox’s leadership, Georgia Equality was successful in passing the state’s first LGBT-inclusive legislation, the Georgia Anti-Domestic Terrorism Act, and in obtaining domestic partnership benefits for employees at Coca-Cola, BellSouth, Delta Airlines, Atlanta Gas Light and Cingular Wireless. He was the recipient of the 2000 Cordle Award for Promotion of God’s Diversity and Lancaster Theological Seminary’s 2005 Robert V. Moss Medal for Excellence in Ministry. Denied ordination because he is gay, Knox has taken his ministry outside the Church, speaking out for those who have been marginalized and forsaken.
The conversation with Harry Knox will be held from 7 - 9 PM at Angels of Hope MCC on 3607 Libal St. Hors d’oeuvres, tea, coffee, and soft drinks will be provided. The event is free of charge and the public is invited.
For more information call Angels of Hope at 920-983-7453 or visit the church website at: www.angelsofhopemcc.org.
FORGE Receives Second Federal Grant
Milwaukee - Less than a month after starting a 3-year, nearly $300,000 federally-funded project to improve the nation’s sexual violence and criminal justice professionals’ ability to respectfully and appropriately serve transgender survivors of sexual violence,
FORGE has been
awarded a second federal grant to provide direct services to
transgender survivors and SOFFA (Significant Others, Friends, Family
and Allies).The second grant, from the Office of Violence Against Women, allocates $299,987 to fund three years of FORGE-run outreach and direct services to transgender sexual assault survivors of all genders living anywhere in the United States.
Under the new grant and with the help of member sub-organizations of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, FORGE will expand its existing peer support listserv and revamp and update its web-based resource center (at: www.forge-forward.org/transviolence) for transgender and other survivors of sexual assault and SOFFAs.
FORGE will also recruit, train, and supervise volunteers to provide individualized information and referral to transgender survivors of sexual assault and SOFFAs, and to staff a buddy program that provides one-on-one, ongoing support to survivors and SOFFAs.
Also planned are the development and distribution of three instructional guides: “A Self-Help Guide for Transgender Sexual Violence Survivors,” “A Guide for SOFFAs of Transgender Sexual Violence Survivors,” and “A Guide to Finding a Trans-Savvy Sexual Violence Therapist.”
The new grant will also permit FORGE to adapt it’s existing “Writing to Heal” materials for delivery via the web and/or teleconference. The grant also provides the funds to make these highly-rated services available to survivors and SOFFAs nationwide during the second and third years of the grant cycle.
The new grant will also enable FORGE to provide direct outreach, materials dissemination, and/or advertising at transgender conferences.
Studies conducted by FORGE and other researchers have found extremely high rates of sexual violence against transgender people, with approximately one in two transgender people having survived sexual assaults. This project is designed to closely meet the needs and preferences of transgender sexual violence survivors as uncovered by a national survey FORGE conducted in 2004.
Among the study’s key findings were that Transgender survivors and SOFFAs have an ongoing need for support that may last more than a decade after the assaults; and that Transgender survivors prefer to use individual therapists, friends, partners, and self-help materials as opposed to existing mainstream sexual assault services. Because of this, SOFFAs of transgender people need significant education and support of their own.
Transgender survivors often desire to have discussion and support around transgender-specific issues such as how a sexual assault history might impact (trans)gender identity and how to find a therapist that can competently address both a sexual assault history and a survivor’s possible desire to access hormones and/or surgery.
Transgender survivors and SOFFAs often express a sense of hopelessness, isolation, and permanent “brokenness.” The Buddy Program is designed to break this isolation and link survivors with trained peers who are further along the healing path and who can provide hope, support, and guidance.
FORGE was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Executive Director michael munson, is available to answer questions about this or other FORGE projects. He can be reached via email at: tgwarrior@forge-forward.org or by phone at: 414-559-2123.
Networking, Needs Assessment Focus At EqNEW Meeting
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Green Bay - A September 30 meeting to consider the establishment of a possible LGBT community center uncovered more immediate needs for community organizational networking and the development of a structured process to determine what actual gay community needs exist in the Green Bay area.
Including the four-member EqNEW committee, about 20 were present at the meeting held at the Harmony Café. Committee members acknowledged that their initial self-identification as an incorporated not for-profit was a goal rather than their current reality. The group had revised most of its online presence to identify their long-term goals prior to the meeting.
The group’s presentation focused more on general goals and mission than on an actual plan to open a gay-identified edifice. Among the issues brought up in the meeting was the need for more LGBT-focused programming in the Green Bay area rather than a place to hold such events, as both Harmony Cafés and the Green Bay Angels Of Hope sites were both available and gay-inclusive. Concerns about cost, sustainability and even the need to establish a LGBT-identified center at a time of increased acceptance by the larger community were also expressed.
Several attendees voiced their frustration that the multiple LGBT programs available at the Harmony Café in Appleton were not also available at the Café’s Green Bay location. Harmony Cafe Program Team Leader Shannon Kenevan responded by first introducing his new counterpart at the Green Bay site and then explaining that the programming would be possible with volunteer support and input from members of the Green Bay LGBT community. “Every LGBT program we have in Appleton started as an idea first offered by a member of the gay community,” he said.
As the evening’s discussion progressed, it became clear that projects, activities and events being referred to by by representatives from the Angels of Hope MCC, ARCW, Positive Voice, Pride Alive and Rainbow Over Wisconsin were unknown to other attendees. Some were unaware that a number of the organizations existed and others believed that at least one active group had disbanded. Several attendees endorsed the resumption of the inactive LGBT Roundtable, a semi-annual networking meeting of northeast Wisconsin LGBT groups that last met in 2006.
Reference was also made to the one-time 1996, publication of a northeast Wisconsin LGBT resources guide and the need for a newer guide. Other attendees countered that changes in society and technology may make such a guide unnecessary. “Google is my gay resources guide,” one attendee quipped.
Attendees also were concerned that needs of gay youth cited by the committee had not actually been assessed. One attendee pointed out the make-up of those at the meeting for the most part were older LGBT community members and allies. EqNEW member Christine Smith noted that she and her partner had experience in conducting research and could develop a survey to assess community needs.
The meeting concluded with EqNEW committee members saying that they would review the ideas presented at the meeting and announce their next step in the near future.
$75,000 Awarded to Fight Gay Youth Homelessness
Milwaukee - The Cream City Foundation (CCF) as announced that it will distribute $75,000 to Pathfinders towards addressing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) youth homelessness in the Milwaukee area. The grant will be used to help address
shelter
and housing gaps in providing care and support for LGBT homeless youth."National numbers show that 20 - 40% of homeless youth identify as gay or transgender," CCF Executive Director Maria Cadenas said in announcing the grant. "With that in mind, we realize that this is a small but crucial step to address LGBT youth homelessness and the child welfare system in the Milwaukee area."
This grant is the fifth grant from Cream City Foundation as part its LGBT Youth Homelessness Initiative, an effort to implement a holistic approach to create a more supportive child welfare system, specifically in regards to LGBT homeless youth.
The LGBT Youth Homelessness Initiative brought together leaders in the area to create a collaborate model to address the issue. Participants include Lad Lake, Pathfinders, Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, and St. Aemilian-Lakeside.
Over the next three years, the LGBT Youth Homelessness Initiative will conduct research and data collection on LGBT homeless youth in Milwaukee; provide independent living and supportive services that will serve the needs of up to 25 LGBT homeless youth; and educate the community, policy makers and funders on the importance of addressing LGBT youth within the child welfare system.
“We are excited to be working with our agency partners on LGBT youth homelessness issues in our community," Cadenas said.
Ric Fest V To Raise Scholarship Funds
Milwaukee - The Ricardo Correa Scholarship Foundation is starting it’s fifth fundraiser year to raise money for LGBT public high school students or a straight ally. To date the foundation has raised over $8,000 with six scholarships that have gone out in the past four years. Last year’s scholarship recipient Nick Dolan currently is studying to be a biochemist in college this year.
Karaoke Ric Fest V will start with a kick-off party and fundraiser on Saturday, October 17 at M’s on S. 2nd at 10 PM with a drag show. 50/50 and other raffles will go on throughout the night.
This will be followed by Ric Fest karaoke preliminaries. The October schedule of participating bar events include a preliminary Thursday, October 22, at Mona’s from 9-Midnight; and a preliminary on Thursday, October 29, that will also be a Switch reunion and costume party at Jack’s.
November preliminaries will be held on Saturday, November 7 at Frank’s Power Plant from9:30 PM - 12:30 AM and Wednesday, November 18 at Walker’s Pint. Additional preliminary dates at M’s and Plan B in Madison will be announced shortly.
Also new this year will be a surprise “guerrilla” karaoke contest, where the judges show up unannounced and run a preliminary event. A cash prize will be given out at each preliminary to the person who raises the most money.
The finale for Ric Fest will be on November 21 at Frank’s Power Plant from 9 PM - Midnight with a silent auction, karaoke winners’ show, 50/50 and other raffles. Prizes will be given at the finale both to the karaoke winner who raises the most money and to the judges’ choice. Flyers offering more information and fundraising sheets will be dsitributed to area bar by October 17.
The foundation thanks all the bars that have given so generously to this fundraiser over the years. To volunteer for any of the Ric Fest fundraisers please call Peter at: 262-573-3321.
3rd Annual GSA For Safe Schools Fundraiser Set
Madison - The GSA for Safe Schools Walk/Run/Eat will be held Sunday, October 11th at the Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St. here. Featuring a 5K walk and a 5K run, this year’s event will once again be topped off by a picnic-style lunch donated by Queen Anne’s Catering of the West Side Club.
Registration opens at 9:30 AM, with the Walk/Run beginning at 11. Registration fees will be the same as last year: $25 for adults, $20 for youth (ages 12 to 17) and $15 for children (12 and under). Registration will include a t-shirt commemorating the event.
Anyone who shares GSA for Safe Schools’ vision of educational systems where all students thrive regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression is encouraged to participate. The event is open to walkers and runners of all abilities.
Team creation is encouraged as are costumes. Prizes will be awarded to the biggest team, the team with the best name/theme, the team with the best costume, and the team that raises the most money
For more information about the walk, contact Tim Michael at 608-661-4141 or visit the GSA website at: www.gsaforsafeschools.org.
Three Added To Southeast LGBT Center Board
Racine - Three new directors recently have joined the board of directors of the LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin. Ellen Ferwerda, Victor Frasher, and Jim LaBelle will replace three departing members who left for a variety of health and job-related reasons, according to executive director Bruce Joffe.
“We thank everyone – newcomers, those departing, and our new ‘recruits’ – for all their help in ensuring the sustainability of our LGBT Center,” Joffe wrote in a press release.
The LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin, 1456 Junction Ave., is open five days a week. For hours of operation and more information, visit the center’s website at: www.lgbtsewisc.org.
LGBT Ally Conference set at UW-GB
Green Bay - Shane L. Windmeyer will be the keynote speaker at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's second annual Ally Conference from Noon - 6 PM on Saturday, October 24 in the University Union's Phoenix Room, 2420 Nicolet Drive here
The conference is part of an effort through October to address gay and lesbian issues. Students and staff have already passed out “Gay? Fine by Me” T-shirts during the week of October 5, and a “Does Your Mother Know?" panel discussion addressed coming out experiences October 7.
Registration for the conference is free for UWGB students and $25 for the public. Registration is available online at: www.uwgb.edu/aic/ally. For more information about the conference, contact Multicultural Adviser Mai J. Lo Lee by phone at: 920-465-2720 or by email at: lom@uwgb.edu.
Milwaukee Gay Volleyball Association Leagues Form
Milwaukee - The Milwaukee Gay Volleyball Association (MGVA), with assistance from the Madison Gay Volleyball Association, is pleased to announce that league play will begin November 1. MGVA welcomes all people and skill levels. Registration fees are $30 for general members and $20 for students with a valid student ID.
Interested parties are welcome to form their own team. MGVA will place individual registrants on a team with others of the same skill level.
MGVA is also seeking restaurants, bars, and other businesses to sponsor teams. “In this economy, affordable sponsorship is a win-win,” MGVA sponsorship director Todd Wellman said. “Players get to play and the sponsors receive a return on investment in loyalty and after-game spending they couldn't touch with traditional advertising.”
MGVA will play every Sunday evening from 6 - 8 PM for twelve weeks at the Beulah Brinton Community Center, 2555 S. Bay St. in Milwaukee.
For more information, and to register, please visit the MGVA website at: www.MilwaukeeGayVolleyball.com.
Interested parties may call Justin Wilder by phone at: 608-576-6811 or by email at: j.danielwilder@gmail.com.
“Blades Against AIDS” Takes The Ice October 10
Madison - The gloves are off and it’s time for a fight! The skaters of the Madison Gay Hockey Association are asking the Madison community to join them on the ice to help in the fight against AIDS. “Blades Against AIDS” is the MGHA’s annual open ice-skating event to benefit the AIDS Network.
The event this year is being held at Hartmeyer Ice Arena, and will feature a DJ as well as a selection of appetizers and hot beverages.
“It's a great opportunity for people who want to try out ice skating for the first time--or for those more accomplished skaters looking for a reason to dust off their skates and show off their skills,” MGHA Board President, Michelle Watkins said. “It’s a fun community event and we’re thrilled that we’re able to raise money to support AIDS Network while we’re out there.”
The event runs from 7 - 9 PM on Saturday October 10. Rental skates and food are included in the admission price: $15 for adults and youth age 16 and over, $10 for youth ages 13-15, and $5 for children 12 and younger.
Following the event, the Shamrock Bar will be hosting an after party. Sponsors for this year’s event are Madison Ice Incorporated and the Madison Gay Hockey Association.
October Chippewa Valley LGBT Center Activities Set
Eau Claire - The coming-out process from mom and dad’s eye view and an early gay turn by hunky Hollywood hottie Russell Crowe are among the highlights of activities planned at the LGBT Community Center of the Chippewa Valley, 510 S. Farwell St. here.
In honor of National Coming Out Day on October 11, the monthly discussion forum at the Center will focus Tuesday, October 13 on “Coming Out as Supportive Parents.” The group will meet from 7 - 9 PM and feature a panel of local parents of LGBT people. The parents will tell their stories, describe any trials and tribulations, and joy they encountered and answer questions from the audience. All are welcome to attend. Admission is free and beverages and desserts will be served..
Saturday Night at the Movies returns on Saturday, October 17 with “The Sum of Us.” Set in Sydney, Australia this 1994 movie tells the story of a heterosexual father and his gay son while trying to find their respective Ms. and Mr. Rights. The film shows their relationships with one another and the objects of their affection as tragedy strikes. Gay critics have pointed out that there is no overt ‘message’ in the film, just very natural, entertaining story telling. Russell Crowe stars as the gay son. Doors open at 6:45 PM and the movie rolls at 7. Discussion will follow the showing for all interested. Admission & popcorn are free. Beverages and movie snacks are also available to purchase.
For more information about these and other upcoming events, contact the Chippewa Valley Center by phone at: 715-552-5428 (LGBT), or by email at: lgbtcommunitycenter@yahoo.com
Eau Claire Health Care LGBT Focus Groups Planned
Eau Claire - The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Nursing Department is seeking input from area lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people about their personal experiences in health care, and how health care providers can do a better job of interacting with LGBT individuals, their partners, and family members. The researchers for the project are Dr. Sheila Smith, Department of Nursing, and Dr. Susan Turell, Psychology Department at UW-EC.
The goal of the research project is to contribute to developing best practice guidelines for the provision of supportive, culturally competent, non-discriminatory LGBT health care services. Focus groups will be held for lesbian women on Monday, October 19 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Gay Men will be interviewed on Thursday October 22 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Bisexual persons will be invited to provide their feedback on Monday October 26 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM and transgendered individuals are invited to participate on Thursday October 29 from 6:30 -8:30 PM. RSVPs are requested. To join a focus group email smithsk@uwec.edu.
OutReach’s Bartz Honored With Peacemaker Award
Madison - Josh Bartz, OurReach Board Vice President and volunteer has received of one of seven Peacemaker of The Year Awards
presented by the
Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice. Bartz received the award in
a ceremony at the Goodman Community Center October 3.Peacemaker Awards are given to community members who have made a substantial contribution to peace and community justice programming work. Josh was honored for his intense commitment to young adult programming here at OutReach. OutThere, the center’s weekly 18-24 social group, is the product of Josh’s determination to create a home for younger adults at this agency. OutThere is “far and away the most successful” youth program at the agency to date, according to the press release announcing the award.
“With weekly programming ranging from social outings and films to all ages community-building events, Josh found a way to create & recruit talent for the building a sustainable group,” the release noted. “Josh functions in the best traditions of OutReach - the power of volunteer energy to build community programming.”
Arts & Entertainment:
2nd Annual LaCrosse “Coming Out For
Equality” Gala Set
LaCrosse - The LGBT Resource Center For The Seven Rivers Region will sponsor its 2nd Annual “Coming Out For Equality” Gala on Saturday, October 10 at the Radisson Center, 200 Harborview Plaza here.
The evening will begin with a social hour and silent auction from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, followed by dinner at 6:30 PM A post dinner program will conclude the evening. Music for the gala will be provided by Tri-M.
For tickets and more information please call the Center at 608-784-0452.
Ulitmate 80’s Party To Benefit Milwaukee LGBT Center
Milwaukee - It was the era of Boy George, big-hair arena rockers, Care Bears, Deely-Boppers, Roseanne Barr and so much more. On Saturday, October 10 there’ll be a chance to re-live it all, as the Art Bar offers up an “Ulitmate 80’s Party” to benefit for the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.
The party will begin at 7:30 PM and feature bingo, 80’s trivia, drink specials, raffles, prizes and retro-80’s music served up for dancing. Special surprise guests will also keep the evening hopping. Attendees are encouraged to dust off those 80’s duds and hair scrunchies to dress up the the “Best 80’s Dress” costume contest.
Admission is $5 per person. The Art Bar is located at $5.00 722 East Burleigh Street. For more information about the Ultimate 80’s Party contact the Milwaukee LGBT Center by phone at: 414-271-2656 or visit the Center’s website at: www.mkelgbt.org.
Andy Warhol - The Last Decade
The Milwaukee Art Museum Showcases Gay Art Icon
By Paul Masterson
Milwaukee's LGBT's community has had an amazing year in 2009. From PrideFest to NAGAAAFest 2009, from the Gay Neighbors
Campaign to
the Milwaukee Art Museum's celebration of gay artist Andy Warhol
including its collaboration with the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video
Festival.
The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) concludes its year of special exhibits with a monumental undertaking, Andy Warhol: The Last Decade. It's another first for MAM. It's the first exhibition ever mounted anywhere focusing on Andy Warhol's final ten years. The project is a decade in the making from the earliest considerations by former MAM chief curator, Joe Ketner, to its recent opening with Ketner as guest curator.
Among the exhibits many sponsors that include Sue and Bud Selig, Debbie and Mark Attanasio, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Johnson and Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund is responsible for parallel event, the Warhol film offerings at this year's LGBT Film/Video Festival.
Andy Warhol: The Last Decade consists of works from 1978 to1988. Art historians are still deliberating but consensus is growing that Warhol produced half of his entire artistic output of his 40 year career in this period.
The exhibition assembles a collection of 50-odd widely diverse works, a mere suggestion of this period's prolific creativity. Their presentation here is a rare opportunity. Many were never displayed in his lifetime and only discovered in Warhol's studio after his death. They quickly disappeared into private collections and museum holdings.
As a means of introduction, MAM has additional Warhol works on display in Gallery 21. Here are the classical images of the first decade. Marilyn, Mao and Campbell's soup cans are arrayed in the iconostasis manner Warhol intended. These are the works most typically associated with the artist's career and should be viewed first. They set the stage.
Andy Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh where he studied commercial art at the Carnegie Institute. Warhol was raised as a devote Byzantine Catholic and accompanied his mother to church almost daily. There he sat in front of an iconostasis, a wall of images of saints. This gay-catholic dichotomy gave Warhol both his introspective inclination and an artistic edge.
He moved to New York City in 1949 where quickly established himself as an illustrator. Eventually, he turned to album cover designs and then, in 1962, launched his art career with his images of pop culture. Marilyn Monroe and Campbell's soup cans became Warhol's icons. The '60's would come to be a pivotal moment in American social history. That era opened with the happy days of Kennedy's Camelot then plummeted into the upheaval of Vietnam War protests and black, women's and gay liberation movements. As a gay artist, Andy Warhol lived it, documented it and, in some ways, created it.
The Factory
The 1960's constituted the Factory era. The Warhol Factory was exactly that - a production site. From there he observed and challenged the world as the counter-culture's artistic voice. What the gay revolution unleashed at Stonewall, Warhol's pop art impetus gave to the art world. It changed the equation. Pop imagery was the mirror of celebrities and commercialism. It was criticism but also a mechanism for Warhol's expression.
Warhol's Bohemian and eccentric entourage revolved around nascent gay self-awareness. Inadvertently allied with black liberation, feminism and anti-war protesters, the queer underground became the salient social and artistic forefront. Oil-glazed Athletic Model Guild (AMG) beefcake hustler cock- and heartthrob Joe Dellasandro became the poster-boy Warhol superstar. In its pure gay appeal, his raw physical beauty, buttressed by a dopey but affable charm, was perhaps his only talent. But that idolatry of the body had its market value and completed Warhol's soup to nuts expose' of America's commercial obsession.
But still, even in New York City, being gay wasn't easy. While Warhol contemporaries Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg remained closeted, Warhol confronted blatantly. It undid his critics and the authorities. But, most of all, it brought him celebrity.
The Factory era's end was marked by an assassination attempt by angry feminist Valerie Solanas. She authored the SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto and was a lesser Warhol film extra. Shot at the Factory and rushed to a hospital, Warhol was pronounced dead but revived. Not surprisingly, the shooting changed Warhol's world.
In the 1970's, Warhol made art a business. Art critiques branded him a sellout. But in 1977 he traveled to Paris. Inspired by paintings in French art museums and prompted by the 10th anniversary of the assassination attempt, he experienced an artistic renewal. It was at this juncture, having turned 50, Warhol decided to become the painter he had always wanted to be. Contradicting his belief in mechanically and mass-produced art, he reverts back to basics. He becomes a post-painterly painterly painter.
Andy Warhol - The Last Decade
A series of 1978 self-portraits begins the MAM main exhibit. Compared to 1960's self-portraits depicting the cocky young artist, the
ones seen
throughout this exhibit are introspective and morbid. Turning 50 will
inevitably induce reflective thoughts of mortality but can renew the
spirit and productive vigor as well. Warhol experienced both.
The "Strangulation" portraits show the artist gripped by an unseen assailant. Another is Warhol's already skull-like portrait topped by another skull. Later examples from the mid-1980 are even more macabre. They are death masks. One, a negative image, recalls the Shroud of Turin that once, before carbon dating proved otherwise, was purported to be the cloth used to wrap the body of Christ after the crucifixion. It bears image of Christ and, particularly in negative reproduction, shows a ghastly, wounded face. The Warhol image seems to be a direct allusion to this famous Christian celebrity portrait.
Certainly, the death themes are not only in Warhol's consciousness because of the decade old assassination attempt but because of the AIDS epidemic. By 1982, AIDS has become a household world and the Gay Men's Health Crisis is founded in New York City, an epicenter of the disease. It's also Warhol's world. He confronts AIDS directly as many of his inner circle, including his ex-lover, die or are deathly ill. There had also been a string of other Warhol insider deaths by suicide and drug overdose.
Other pieces are reworks of his greatest hits. The black & white negative Marilyn and white on white Mona Lisa give these classic Warhols an entirely new artistic relevance.
Warhol also pursued abstraction. Emulating or mocking Jackson Pollack, Warhol imitates the artist in yarn images. There are two massive, 14' tall paintings made in the manner of Rorschach tests. The camouflage series also represent an particular perspective on abstraction and the suggestion of the artist's own hidden persona.
Warhol's return to painting included a study of artists from the Late Renaissance to Pablo Picasso. Here he focuses on fellow gay artist Leonardo Da Vinci. He replicates the famous Last Supper both as a silk-screened double image and in an almost folk art version hand traced in ink. The latter is an integration of religious iconography and pop advertising imagery.
Warhol's homage to the coterie of Christ's inner circle at dinner coincidently presages the artist's own impending death. It happens, by fate, to be among his last works. The scene of the celebrity, like himself, surrounded by fans is familiar. Perhaps Warhol's religious background, grounded in Byzantine spirituality, gave him material to work with but it's also part of the myriad of marketable commodities.
Whether Warhol wants to simply synthesize Western civilization's Christian advertising with deified 20th century commercialism, mock both or simply present the things we adore as a mirror of humanity is subject to debate. Warhol's religion was cited during his eulogy as the key to his psyche but perhaps that too, in evasive Warholian manner, was an overstatement.
Warhol's religion and his gayness did, however, conflict to the point of artistic genius. Like the saints of the iconostasis, he brought the saints of our time to that same level of veneration. In the last years of the last decade, he addresses art and the artist with the same reverence or irreverence whether emulating or mocking Pollack with a yarn abstraction or revisiting Da Vinci with the meditative addition of a parody trinity of logos and a supermarket price tag.
Religion and art were to Warhol as fame was -integral life imperatives and the guarantee of life after death - eternity through art or religion or both…one way and the other; he hedged his bets and got it right.
Besides, if anything Warhol was obsessive and, especially after his own Christ-like resurrection, he sought protection through New Age crystal power and personal trainers. Anything was potentially valid. The main thing was to immortalize himself and join the hierarchy of the saints and celebrities.
Andy Warhol The Last Decade runs through January 3, 2010. See www.mam.org for details and hours.
2009 Milwaukee LGBT Flim/Video Festival
October 15 - 25. To access Quest's Guide to the festival, click here.
LaCrosse - The LGBT Resource Center For The Seven Rivers Region will sponsor its 2nd Annual “Coming Out For Equality” Gala on Saturday, October 10 at the Radisson Center, 200 Harborview Plaza here.
The evening will begin with a social hour and silent auction from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, followed by dinner at 6:30 PM A post dinner program will conclude the evening. Music for the gala will be provided by Tri-M.
For tickets and more information please call the Center at 608-784-0452.
Ulitmate 80’s Party To Benefit Milwaukee LGBT Center
Milwaukee - It was the era of Boy George, big-hair arena rockers, Care Bears, Deely-Boppers, Roseanne Barr and so much more. On Saturday, October 10 there’ll be a chance to re-live it all, as the Art Bar offers up an “Ulitmate 80’s Party” to benefit for the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.
The party will begin at 7:30 PM and feature bingo, 80’s trivia, drink specials, raffles, prizes and retro-80’s music served up for dancing. Special surprise guests will also keep the evening hopping. Attendees are encouraged to dust off those 80’s duds and hair scrunchies to dress up the the “Best 80’s Dress” costume contest.
Admission is $5 per person. The Art Bar is located at $5.00 722 East Burleigh Street. For more information about the Ultimate 80’s Party contact the Milwaukee LGBT Center by phone at: 414-271-2656 or visit the Center’s website at: www.mkelgbt.org.
Andy Warhol - The Last Decade
The Milwaukee Art Museum Showcases Gay Art Icon
By Paul Masterson
Milwaukee's LGBT's community has had an amazing year in 2009. From PrideFest to NAGAAAFest 2009, from the Gay Neighbors
Campaign to
the Milwaukee Art Museum's celebration of gay artist Andy Warhol
including its collaboration with the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video
Festival. The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) concludes its year of special exhibits with a monumental undertaking, Andy Warhol: The Last Decade. It's another first for MAM. It's the first exhibition ever mounted anywhere focusing on Andy Warhol's final ten years. The project is a decade in the making from the earliest considerations by former MAM chief curator, Joe Ketner, to its recent opening with Ketner as guest curator.
Among the exhibits many sponsors that include Sue and Bud Selig, Debbie and Mark Attanasio, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Johnson and Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund is responsible for parallel event, the Warhol film offerings at this year's LGBT Film/Video Festival.
Andy Warhol: The Last Decade consists of works from 1978 to1988. Art historians are still deliberating but consensus is growing that Warhol produced half of his entire artistic output of his 40 year career in this period.
The exhibition assembles a collection of 50-odd widely diverse works, a mere suggestion of this period's prolific creativity. Their presentation here is a rare opportunity. Many were never displayed in his lifetime and only discovered in Warhol's studio after his death. They quickly disappeared into private collections and museum holdings.
As a means of introduction, MAM has additional Warhol works on display in Gallery 21. Here are the classical images of the first decade. Marilyn, Mao and Campbell's soup cans are arrayed in the iconostasis manner Warhol intended. These are the works most typically associated with the artist's career and should be viewed first. They set the stage.
Andy Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh where he studied commercial art at the Carnegie Institute. Warhol was raised as a devote Byzantine Catholic and accompanied his mother to church almost daily. There he sat in front of an iconostasis, a wall of images of saints. This gay-catholic dichotomy gave Warhol both his introspective inclination and an artistic edge.
He moved to New York City in 1949 where quickly established himself as an illustrator. Eventually, he turned to album cover designs and then, in 1962, launched his art career with his images of pop culture. Marilyn Monroe and Campbell's soup cans became Warhol's icons. The '60's would come to be a pivotal moment in American social history. That era opened with the happy days of Kennedy's Camelot then plummeted into the upheaval of Vietnam War protests and black, women's and gay liberation movements. As a gay artist, Andy Warhol lived it, documented it and, in some ways, created it.
The Factory
The 1960's constituted the Factory era. The Warhol Factory was exactly that - a production site. From there he observed and challenged the world as the counter-culture's artistic voice. What the gay revolution unleashed at Stonewall, Warhol's pop art impetus gave to the art world. It changed the equation. Pop imagery was the mirror of celebrities and commercialism. It was criticism but also a mechanism for Warhol's expression.
Warhol's Bohemian and eccentric entourage revolved around nascent gay self-awareness. Inadvertently allied with black liberation, feminism and anti-war protesters, the queer underground became the salient social and artistic forefront. Oil-glazed Athletic Model Guild (AMG) beefcake hustler cock- and heartthrob Joe Dellasandro became the poster-boy Warhol superstar. In its pure gay appeal, his raw physical beauty, buttressed by a dopey but affable charm, was perhaps his only talent. But that idolatry of the body had its market value and completed Warhol's soup to nuts expose' of America's commercial obsession.
But still, even in New York City, being gay wasn't easy. While Warhol contemporaries Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg remained closeted, Warhol confronted blatantly. It undid his critics and the authorities. But, most of all, it brought him celebrity.
The Factory era's end was marked by an assassination attempt by angry feminist Valerie Solanas. She authored the SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto and was a lesser Warhol film extra. Shot at the Factory and rushed to a hospital, Warhol was pronounced dead but revived. Not surprisingly, the shooting changed Warhol's world.
In the 1970's, Warhol made art a business. Art critiques branded him a sellout. But in 1977 he traveled to Paris. Inspired by paintings in French art museums and prompted by the 10th anniversary of the assassination attempt, he experienced an artistic renewal. It was at this juncture, having turned 50, Warhol decided to become the painter he had always wanted to be. Contradicting his belief in mechanically and mass-produced art, he reverts back to basics. He becomes a post-painterly painterly painter.
Andy Warhol - The Last Decade
A series of 1978 self-portraits begins the MAM main exhibit. Compared to 1960's self-portraits depicting the cocky young artist, the
ones seen
throughout this exhibit are introspective and morbid. Turning 50 will
inevitably induce reflective thoughts of mortality but can renew the
spirit and productive vigor as well. Warhol experienced both.The "Strangulation" portraits show the artist gripped by an unseen assailant. Another is Warhol's already skull-like portrait topped by another skull. Later examples from the mid-1980 are even more macabre. They are death masks. One, a negative image, recalls the Shroud of Turin that once, before carbon dating proved otherwise, was purported to be the cloth used to wrap the body of Christ after the crucifixion. It bears image of Christ and, particularly in negative reproduction, shows a ghastly, wounded face. The Warhol image seems to be a direct allusion to this famous Christian celebrity portrait.
Certainly, the death themes are not only in Warhol's consciousness because of the decade old assassination attempt but because of the AIDS epidemic. By 1982, AIDS has become a household world and the Gay Men's Health Crisis is founded in New York City, an epicenter of the disease. It's also Warhol's world. He confronts AIDS directly as many of his inner circle, including his ex-lover, die or are deathly ill. There had also been a string of other Warhol insider deaths by suicide and drug overdose.
Other pieces are reworks of his greatest hits. The black & white negative Marilyn and white on white Mona Lisa give these classic Warhols an entirely new artistic relevance.
Warhol also pursued abstraction. Emulating or mocking Jackson Pollack, Warhol imitates the artist in yarn images. There are two massive, 14' tall paintings made in the manner of Rorschach tests. The camouflage series also represent an particular perspective on abstraction and the suggestion of the artist's own hidden persona.
Warhol's return to painting included a study of artists from the Late Renaissance to Pablo Picasso. Here he focuses on fellow gay artist Leonardo Da Vinci. He replicates the famous Last Supper both as a silk-screened double image and in an almost folk art version hand traced in ink. The latter is an integration of religious iconography and pop advertising imagery.
Warhol's homage to the coterie of Christ's inner circle at dinner coincidently presages the artist's own impending death. It happens, by fate, to be among his last works. The scene of the celebrity, like himself, surrounded by fans is familiar. Perhaps Warhol's religious background, grounded in Byzantine spirituality, gave him material to work with but it's also part of the myriad of marketable commodities.
Whether Warhol wants to simply synthesize Western civilization's Christian advertising with deified 20th century commercialism, mock both or simply present the things we adore as a mirror of humanity is subject to debate. Warhol's religion was cited during his eulogy as the key to his psyche but perhaps that too, in evasive Warholian manner, was an overstatement.
Warhol's religion and his gayness did, however, conflict to the point of artistic genius. Like the saints of the iconostasis, he brought the saints of our time to that same level of veneration. In the last years of the last decade, he addresses art and the artist with the same reverence or irreverence whether emulating or mocking Pollack with a yarn abstraction or revisiting Da Vinci with the meditative addition of a parody trinity of logos and a supermarket price tag.
Religion and art were to Warhol as fame was -integral life imperatives and the guarantee of life after death - eternity through art or religion or both…one way and the other; he hedged his bets and got it right.
Besides, if anything Warhol was obsessive and, especially after his own Christ-like resurrection, he sought protection through New Age crystal power and personal trainers. Anything was potentially valid. The main thing was to immortalize himself and join the hierarchy of the saints and celebrities.
Andy Warhol The Last Decade runs through January 3, 2010. See www.mam.org for details and hours.
2009 Milwaukee LGBT Flim/Video Festival
October 15 - 25. To access Quest's Guide to the festival, click here.