Wisconsin Supreme Court Rejects Appling’s DP Lawsuit
Madison - The Wisconsin Supreme Court has declined to hear an right-wing anti-gay group’s constitutional challenge to a law creating a domestic partner registry for gay couples. The high court denied a petition for original action from Julaine Appling and two other board members of Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) November 4. The WFA suit claimed the registry violates a state Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage or any similar status. The court rejected the case without comment.
  Lester Pines, the attorney who was selected to represent the state in the case after Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen’s last-minute decision not to defend the WFA suit, noted in an interview with Andrew Beckett of Wisconsin Radio Network that the court’s rejection does not mean an end to the case. Pines said that the lawsuit will just have to start at the Circuit Court level instead, the way most such lawsuits are handled.
  Lambda Legal and Fair Wisconsin, the two groups leading the defense of the recently-enacted registry, applauded the court’s decision. “We are pleased that the Court has rejected this challenge to an important law that was validly enacted to protect Wisconsin families,” Christopher Clark said. Clark is the senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal’s Chicago office.
  “Because of today’s ruling, Wisconsin’s same-sex couples and their families who depend on domestic partnership protections can take care of each other in times of illness and crisis,” Clark added. “Even with the discriminatory amendment excluding same-sex couples from marriage, the Wisconsin Constitution does not prevent enactment of laws that offer basic decency and security for couples.”
  Fair Wisconsin, the state’s only full-time statewide LGBT advocacy group - along with national and regional allies - worked with Governor Doyle and the State Legislature to enact the domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples just two years after its unsuccessful $5.5 million fight to prevent the adoption of the 2006 amendment banning marriage equality and civil unions. Lambda Legal filed to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of Fair Wisconsin and its members to protect the few but fundamental protections granted to same-sex couples through the domestic partnership law.
  “We are elated with this decision from the State Supreme Court,” Fair Executive Director Katie Belanger said. “Over 15,000 same-sex couples in our state need the basic protections domestic partnerships provide.”
  The only notable quote in the WFA’s predicable disappointment press release was that the group only “may bring” a lawsuit at the circuit court level.
  Pines disagreed. “These people are relentless in trying to deny gay and lesbian people any semblance of protection for themselves and their families,” Pines said. “We’re going to vigorously defend the domestic partner registry because it’s absolutely constitutional, and it’s good public policy for this state.”

Wisconsin Supreme Court Hears Gay Marriage Amendment Case
Madison - When voters had the opportunity to vote on whether the so-called Wisconsin Marriage Amendment should be adopted in November 2006, were they cheated out of deciding two distinct questions about gay marriage and civil unions, or were they merely deciding about one question with several closely-related parts?
  That was the crux of the two opposing arguments heard November 3 as the one-time one-man lawsuit against the ballot measure brought by University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh William McConkey had it day in front of the  justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
  The case focuses on the voting and referendum process, not the validity of same-sex marriages or civil unions. Gay marriages will be illegal in Wisconsin whether the court sustain or rejects the amendment’s wording.
  Each change proposed to the state constitution should be reviewed and decided by the voters Madison attorney Lester Pines argued. In 2006 they did not have that opportunity Pines claimed. Instead voters were asked one question with two parts - whether the state should ban same-sex marriage and whether it should ban other legal recognition such as civil unions or domestic partnerships. Voters could not vote “no” to one part and “yes” to the other, Pines argued the entire amendment should be invalidated
  “This case is about the rights of voters,” Pines said.
  Assistant Attorney General Lewis Beilin argued the wording of the referendum was valid because the intent of the amendment was  “to preserve the unique status of marriage.” The two sentences of the amendment were closely related, Beilin claimed.
  Wisconsin voters adopted the amendment in 2006 by a 59-41% margin. A year later McConkey began his pro se suit in Dane County Circuit Court. McConkey lost the case and appealed. The appeals court later declined to rule on the case, asking the Supreme Court to take it up because of its statewide importance.
  The Court is expected to rule on the McConkey by next summer.

World & National News:

“Everything But Marriage” DP Measure OK With Washington Voters
Olympia -  Bay a 52-48% margin, Washington voters have approved the state’s new “everything but marriage” law, expanding rights for domestic partners and marking the first time any state’s voters have approved a gay equality measure at the ballot box.
  State Senator Ed Murray (D-Seattle) who sponsored that law, called the vote “a great step forward for equality in Washington state.”
  “I was very concerned that if the voters had said no, it would have been a major setback for gay and lesbian families in Washington state,” Murray said.
  The measure asked voters to approve or reject the latest expansion of the state’s domestic partnership law, granting registered domestic partners additional state rights previously given only to married couples. Full-fledged gay marriage is still not allowed under Washington state law.
  Two national gay equal rights groups - the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Family Equality Council - stated that voter approval of such a measure was a first. Gay equality laws in other states, ranging from civil rights to gay marriage, have either been implemented by the courts or legislative process. Voters have rejected gay marriage 31 states, most recently in Maine.
  “Our state made history today,” Anne Levinson of Washington Families Standing Together boasted. “This is a day for which we can all look back with pride.” Levinson’s group fought to keep the law on the books.
  The expanded law in Washington state adds benefits, such as the right to use sick leave to care for a domestic partner, and rights related to adoption, child custody and child support.
  During the campaign, opponents argued the law is a stepping-stone to gay marriage. Gay rights activists countered that while the marriage debate was for another day, same-sex couples need additional legal protections and rights in the meantime.
  The law was to take effect July 26, but was delayed because of the referendum campaign. It will now take effect December 3, according to the secretary of state’s office.
  The original domestic partnership law, which the Legislature passed in 2007, provided hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations, and inheritance rights when there is no will. Some have pointed out the Washington law is very similar in scope to the Wisconsin domestic partner ship bill passed as part of the state budget earlier this year.
  Under Washington’s law, however, senior heterosexual couples can register as domestic partners as well, if at least one partner is 62 years old or older. That provision was included by lawmakers to help seniors who don’t remarry out of fear they could lose certain pension or social security benefits.
  More than 12,000 people in Washington state are registered as domestic partners, and most are gay.

Report: Gay And Straight Couples Much Alike
San Francisco - Same-sex couples who identify as married are similar to straight spouses in terms of age and income, and nearly one-third of them are raising children, according to Census data released November 2 that provides a demographic snapshot of gay families in America.
  The study released by a UCLA think tank also found that Utah and Wyoming were among the states with the highest percentages of gay spouses in 2008, despite being heavily conservative states with no laws providing legal recognition of gay relationships.
  The data from the annual American Community Survey showed that nearly 150,000 same-sex couples in the U.S., or more than one in four, referred to one another as “husband” or “wife,” although UCLA researchers estimate that no more than 32,000 of the couples were legally married.
  The couples had an average age of 52 and household incomes of $91,558, while 31% were raising children. That compares with an average age of 50, household income of $95,075 and 43% raising children for married heterosexual couples.
  “It’s intrinsically interesting that same-sex couples who use the term spouses look like opposite-sex married couples even with a characteristic like children,” UCLA researcher Gary Gates said. “Most proponents of traditional marriage will say that when you allow these couples to marry, you are going to change the fundamental nature of marriage by decoupling it from procreation. Clearly, in the minds of same-sex couples who are marrying or think of themselves as married, you are not decoupling child-rearing from marriage.”
  Editor’s Note: Coupling marriage to procreation is the very core of the argument made by Wisconsin Family Action in its lawsuit to overturn Wisconsin’s domestic partnership registry. The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected the WFA suit without comment November 3.
  Gates said the report is the first to reliably compare same-sex couples who identify as married with gay people who say they’re in unmarried partnerships and with married opposite-sex couples.
  In the past, same-sex couples who referred to one another as “husband” or “wife” automatically were recorded as unmarried partners, a step gay rights activists lobbied the Census Bureau to eliminate as more states have legalized same-sex unions.
  Unsurprisingly, Massachusetts, where gay couples have been able to get married since 2004, had the highest proportion of same-sex couples who were either legally married or considered themselves married, 3.63 for every 1,000 households. Vermont, which allowed same-sex couples to enter in civil unions with all the rights and obligations of marriage in 1999 and made same-sex marriages legal this year, came in second, with a rate of 2.71 per 1,000.
  But Hawaii, Utah and Wyoming - states with neither civil unions nor same-sex marriage - came in next, ahead of California, Nevada, Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island. What accounts for the phenomenon is unclear, but “it does provide this evidence that there are clearly couples in conservative parts of the country who do use these terms and do see their relationships in that framework.”
  The Census Bureau has promised to produce a report on the marital status of gay couples after the once-a-decade national census is completed next year. However, the bureau said there was too little time to change the questionnaire to separate out legally married gay couples in the nationwide tally.

Maine Gay Marriage Law Repealed
Augusta - The tide of extending marriage rights to same-sex couples - which has swept across New England in recent months - stopped at Maine November 3.
  Voters rejected a state law  that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed. The repeal comes just six months after the measure was passed by the Maine legislature and signed by the Democratic Governor John Baldacci.
  Maine would have been the sixth state in the country to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, but instead becomes the 31st state to oppose the unions in a popular vote. Gay marriage opponents claimed 53% of the vote to supporters’ 47%.
  Marc Mutty, campaign manager for Stand for Marriage Maine which opposed gay marriages, claimed victory at a rally in Portland. “We’ve struggled, we’ve worked against tremendous odds, as we’ve all known,” he said. “We prevailed because the people of Maine, the silent majority, the folks back home spoke with their vote tonight.”
  Gay marriage equality supporters had hoped Maine voters - known for their moderate, independent-minded views - would have been the first to endorse same-sex marriage in a statewide ballot. The five states that perform gay marriages - Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts - do so after legislation or court order. New York and the District of Columbia recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, but do not grant them.
  “We’re in this for the long haul. For next week, and next month, and next year until all Maine families are treated equally. Because in the end, this has always been about love and family and that will always be something worth fighting for,” Jesse Connolly of Protect Maine Equality said.

Obama Signs Hate Crimes Bill
Washington, DC - President Obama signed legislation expanding federal involvement in prosecuting hate crimes here October 28.
  The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act would expand the federal definition of hate crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. It also will allow federal authorities to pursue hate-crimes cases when local authorities are either unable or unwilling to do so.
  “We must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits - not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear,” Obama said at a White House reception for the bill, signed  as part of the $680 billion defense authorization bill.
  “Because no one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love,” he said. “No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are or because they live with a disability.”
  Obama also noted that advocates had been working to pass the bill for more than twelve years.

State News:

Milwaukee County Board Votes To Develop DP Health Care Benefits
Milwaukee - The Milwaukee County Board voted 13-6 on November 5 to draft a revision of the county’s employee health plan to permit domestic partners of county workers to obtain coverage. Both same-sex and opposite-sex couples could access the new insurance benefit as outlined in the proposal.
 According to the proposal, the revised plan must be drafted by July 2010 and will require a second vote before formal implementation.
  Discussion about the proposal brought up concerns about the potential cost and the need for the county to show fairness toward the families of all employees regardless of marital status.
  Lead sponsor of the proposal Supervisor Christopher Larson framed his proposal as a historical move. “The time is always right to do what’s right,” he said. “There is no question of where history is headed on this. We should not put off history for one more month.”
  Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic was frustrated with the county being “behind the curve” in dealing with the domestic partner benefits. “I’m sick of being behind the curve on some of these things that are just about fairness and equality,” she said. The benefit is offered by many larger corporations and government, including the State of Wisconsin.
  Opponents of the measure saw the extension of health care benefits as unaffordable, especially in the current economic recession. Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo said the proposal was “almost a slap in the face to our employees” at a time when is considering pay cuts and staff furloughs. “We have to draw the line somewhere,” he said.
  According to County Personnel Director David Arena, the cost for offering domestic partner health care benefits could be as high as $3.9 million annually if 3% of county employees took advantage of the benefit. Larson countered with statistics that showed utilization of such a benefit was closer to 1% in other counties and cities that provided coverage.
  Larson’s statistics appear to be borne out by the experience of the county’s largest entity, the City of Milwaukee. About half of the city’s employees have had access to heath insurance benefits for their domestic partners since 2001 as a result of a benefit package negotiated by the city’s largest union, one that was later extended to other non-union employees and managers.
  According to city employee benefits manager Mike Brady, just thirty employees accessed the benefit. The cost to the city will be $216,000 for 2010, just 0.3% of Milwaukee’s $75 million in employee health care costs in total.
  The final vote for the proposal included Supervisors Gerry Broderick, Toni Clark, Elizabeth M. Coggs, Lynne De Bruin, Dimitrijevic, Lee Holloway, Willie Johnson Jr., Patricia Jursik, Larson, Theo Lipscomb, Johnny Thomas, John Weishan Jr. and Peggy West in favor of the measure. Supervisors Mark Borkowski, Paul Cesarz, Michael Mayo Sr., Joseph Rice, Sanfelippo and Jim “Luigi” Schmitt opposed the motion.
  County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker is on record as vetoing the domestic partner benefit measure if it crosses his desk. The votes of all 13 of the supervisors who favored the action November 5 would be needed to override Walker’s veto.

Halloween Protest Spooks “Ex-Gay” Conference
Green Lake - Neither rain nor light snow could scare off more than three dozen gay, lesbian and allied protesters from a 6 1/2 hour Halloween protest outside the Exodus International Fall North Central Conference at the American Baptist-owned Green Lake Conference Center here October 31. Boasting participants from as far away as Bloomington, Indiana, the group began holding their signs, banners and placards at 7:30 AM. They broke for lunch on the Conference Center grounds where the spoke with three involved with the Exodus conference, then returned to the highway for more demonstrating until calling it quits at 2:30 PM.
  “I think the highest number of people protesting at any one time was around thirty,” protest organizer Travis Swanson told Quest. “People had to come and go because of their jobs and other commitments.”
  Most of the protesters came from Wisconsin with car loads from Appleton, Green Bay and LaCrosse among the largest contingents. Individuals identifying themselves as from southeast Wisconsin and Madison also took part. Demonstrators ranged in age from the late teens to “seasoned citizens.”
  Swanson said the demonstration, which took place several miles west of Green Lake on Highway 23 in front of the gated compound, was well received by passers-by. “We got a lot of appreciative honks and thumbs ups,” he said.
  However, Swanson added that he most interesting interaction occurred during lunch hour. Because the main building at the conference center is open to the public and has restaurants and a cafeteria, the demonstrators decided to store their signs and have their Noon break on campus. “We had three long tables full, and we were very reserved,” he said. “Plus, there were several conferences having their lunch in the same area - Exodus was not the only thing going on that day.”
  As the group was finishing their meal, three people involved with the “ex-gay” program joined them at their tables to talk about their experiences. “They may have been stragglers, but beacuese there was just one for each table, I think they may have planned their discussion with us,” Swanson said. “The man who sat at my table said he had done some volunteering for Exodus over the years.” Swanson noted that the Green Lake Conference Center had been made aware of the planned protest days before the event.
  “I can’t speak for what others heard,” Swanson said, “but our guy told him that deciding to become ‘ex-gay’ was his own decision. It was based on his own beliefs. No one forced him into it. He also said that he has had control over his homosexuality for 12 years.”
  Control didn’t mean cure however. “He said he was single and hasn’t dated anyone - male or female,” Swanson said. “He says he is in control of his sexuality, and he’s still attracted to men, but he’s waiting for God to make him interested in women. He said he knows that time will come.”
  Swanson was motivated to organize the Exodus conference protest because his partner Bryce Faulkner is currently involved with Exodus International, most likely at a compound in Florida. Faulkner was allegedly coerced into entering the 14-month “ex-gay” reparative therapy program by his parents under the threat of withdrawal of all family emotional and financial support last Spring just as he was planning to travel to Oshkosh to be with Swanson.
  Since Quest’s last full interview with Swanson in early October, he has had no further update on or contact with Bryce.

Milwaukee To Observe A Week Of Transgender Day of Remembrance Events
Milwaukee - Multiple LGBT organizations in the Milwaukee area have organized and are co-sponsoring events in the week surrounding the 11th Annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance Friday, November 20.
  On Sunday, November 15, from 2 - 4 PM SAGE and FORGE  will co-sponsor  the presentation “Screaming Queens” and Other Transgender Political Issues at the SAGE office, 1845 North Farwell, Ste. 220.
  The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center will co-sponsor guest speaker Eli Clare who will offer “Living In Marked Bodies” on Monday November 16 at 7:30 PM in the Wisconsin Room West of the UW-M Union.
  White, disabled, and genderqueer, Eli Clare has a B.A. in Women’s Studies, a M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and most importantly a penchant for rabble-rousing. Among other pursuits, he has walked across the United States for peace, coordinated a rape prevention program, and helped organize the first ever Queerness and Disability Conference. He has spoken all over the United States at conferences, community events, and colleges about disability, queer and trans identities, and social justice. Eli is the author of a book of essays Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation (South End Press, 1999) and a collection of poetry The Marrow’s Telling: Words in Motion (Homofactus Press, 2007) and has been published in many periodicals and anthologies.
  On Wednesday, November 18 at 6PM at the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, 315 W Court Street, the Lesbian Alliance, FORGE, and Milwaukee LGBT Community Center will co-sponsor an Art Show, Reception, and Community Art Project facilitated by Jacquie Lindo.
  Openly gay singer-songwriter Eric Himan will talk about being out in the music industry during a workshop presentation on Thursday, November 19 from 4 - 5 PM in the Multicultural Student Lounge (Union 198) in the UW-M Union. Himan has produced six albums since 2003 and appeared on Sirius Radio’s OutQ channel along with multiple tours around the United States.
  Himan will also perform music from his newest album “Resonate” as part of the Gasthaus Entertainment Series
on Thursday, November 19 at 9 PM at the Gasthaus in the lower level of the UW-M union. A meet & greet will follow in the UW-M LGBT Resource Center (Union WG-89).  Himan’s events are sponsored by UW-M.
  On Friday, November 20, there will be a special showing of “Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert,” at 6PM at the  Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, 315 W Court Street. Following the film there will be a discussion facilitated by Michael and Loree from FORGE, and Jacquie from Anti-Violence Project at the Center. The event is co-sponsored by Metropolitan Community Church, FORGE, and the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.
  The week will conclude on Saturday, November 21, with a 5:30 PM Candlelight Vigil and Potluck at the  Metropolitan Community Church, 1239 W Mineral Street.
  In 2009 thus far more than 434 transgender people have been killed around the world, according to the website www.transgenderdor.org, which keeps track of such statistics. All those people will be memorialized at the Transgender Day of Remembrance which is celebrated in local communities world wide on or about November 20.
  The November date was originally chosen to memorialize Rita Hester, whose November 28, 1998, murder in Boston sparked the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil, the forerunners of the currently observed International Transgender Day Of Remembrance. Because of the violent nature of Hester’s death - her assailant stabbed her in the chest twenty times yet failed to steal jewelry or anything else of value in her apartment- transgender persons came to see her death as a hate crime.

6th Annual ROW Dinner Set For November 21
Green Bay - Tickets for the 6th Annual “An Evening With Rainbow Over Wisconsin” will be on sale throughout northeast Wisconsin until November 18. The November 21 event will be held at the Liberty Hall Banquet and Convention Center in Kimberly, with cocktails and silent auction opening at 6 PM.
  Popular entertainers from northeast Wisconsin will perform during cabaret concerts before and after dinner. The lilting sounds of harpist Cheryl Murphy will serenade both dinner attendees during the meal and those bidding on the silent auction. Among the showgirls and singers performing in the lounge area will be Venus Love, Sapphire Jewel, Dean Styles, Pedie Burgandy and Jeff Jennings, whose return performance was most requested by attendees following last year’s event.
  Menu items for this year’s dinner include Breast of Chicken Marsala, Medallions of Roasted Tenderloin, Baby Red Potatoes, Traditional Stuffing and Gravy, Roasted Fresh Vegetables, Caesar Salad, Pasta Salad, Tropical Fresh Fruit, Croissants, New York Cheesecake and Tropical Carrot Cake plus beverages. The meal will served family style, allowing those wishing to enjoy only vegetarian items the opportunity to do so.
  According to President Dean Dayton, the annual ROW dinner is the foundation’s signature fund-raising event. “It’s an opportunity for old friends to make new friends at a fun event that also advances the northeast Wisconsin community’s ‘gay agenda’ by donating to Rainbow’s Community Enrichment Fund,” he said.
  Tickets for the “An Evening With Rainbow Over Wisconsin” are available from ROW members and businesses, or can be ordered by calling 920-437-0994. Tickets may also be ordered by emailing ROW at: rainbowoverwi@aol.com.

8th Annual Thanksgiving Potluck Set
Milwaukee – The Cream City’s 8th Annual LGBT Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner will be held Saturday, November 28 at Plymouth Church, 2717 East Hampshire on city’s East Side. The holiday tradition cosponsored by Black & White Men Together, the Brew City Bears, the Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Church, Project Q, PFLAG, and SAGE/Milwaukee. Doors will open at 4:30 PM, and with dinner following at 5:30.
  Attendees are asked to bring dishes based on where their last name falls in the alphabet.  This year, if your last name begins with A-E, please bring a dessert. Those whose names start with F-K  are asked to bring an appetizer. Last names with L-S should provide a side dish and the T-Zs are asked to toss up a salad. Dishes should serve 6 to 8 people.
  RSVPs are also requested. Call the SAGE/Milwaukee office at 414-224-0517 by November 25 to confirm. Volunteers for set up and clean up will be both much appreciated and welcomed.

Eldon Murray Foundation Accepting Grant Applications
Milwaukee - The Eldon E Murray Foundation is accepting applications from southeast Wisconsin and outstate LGBT organizations who are in need of grant funding to support their activities and programming. 
  Eldon Murray was a long-time Milwaukee LGBT activist.  He was co-founder of the Milwaukee’s Gay People’s Union in 1968 and edited GPU News, one of the nation’s first LGBT publications. He co-founded the GPU Men’s Health Clinic (now the BESTD Clinic) and helped gain initial grants for the Milwaukee AIDS Project (now ARCW). Murray was recognized by ONE Institute and the International Gay and Lesbian Archives as one of the pioneers of the gay rights movement in the United States. Upon his death in 2007, a Foundation was formed to enable his estate to further efforts to improve the lives and gain equality for LGBT people.
  Preference in awarding grants will be given first to local LGBT support groups in the greater Milwaukee area, followed by organizations located elsewhere in the state of Wisconsin, and then to national organizations.  To be considered, grantees will be required to submit a written proposal and agree to provide a post-project report.
  The Foundation is administered by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF).  For more information about applying for a grant from the Eldon E Murray Foundation, contact Rafael Acevedo vy email at the GMF at: racevedo@greatermilwaukeefoundation.org  or by phone at: 414-336-7067.

“Dixie’s Tupperware Party” Opens November 17
Green Bay - There’s a Tupperware party coming to the Weidner Center that’s unlike any plastic product promotion party ever thrown. “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” opens here November 17 for a six-day engagement.
  Dixie Longate, the fast-talking Tupperware Lady, packed up her catalogues, left her children in an Alabama trailer park and took Off-Broadway by storm. Now, join Dixie as she travels the country throwing good ol’fashioned Tupperware Parties filled with outrageously funny tales, heartfelt accounts, free giveaways, audience participation and the most fabulous assortment of Tupperware ever sold on a theater stage.
  Loaded with the most up-to-date products available for purchase, audiences will see for themselves how Ms. Longate became the #1 Tupperware seller in the U.S. & Canada as she educates her guests on the many alternative uses she has discovered for her plastic products!
  NBC’s Today Show Made it very clear: “This is not your grandmother’s Tupperware party!” The Orange County Register noted that the drag-a-licious play has “nearly non-stop X-rated humor, with occasional restraint back to R.”
  According to Dixie (writer-creator Kris Andersson), she started selling the “fantastic Plastic crap in 2001 and I have never had so much fun drinking for free in my life.”
 Dixie claims has 3 kids: Wynona, Dwayne, and Absorbine, Jr. and 3 ex-husbands. “All of ‘em have somehow died, but I ain’t crying about it,” she said. “I’m way too busy traveling all over the place bringing creative food storage solutions to your town.”
 Dixie’s Tupperware Party caught the eye of some New York Theatre producers and in 2007 and got a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance. The show is now on a national tour in theatres far and wide.
  Tickets for “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” are $30 each and available online at: www.wcpresents.com or by calling 920-465-2217 or 1-800-328-TKTS.

ARCW’S Jolly Holly Folly To Ring In The Holidays
Milwaukee -  When there’s an extra crisp nip in the air and the first snow flakes of Winter are nigh, it’s time to ring in the Holiday season with ARCW’s annual Jolly Holly Folly.
  Billed as “celebrating the best things in life - food, fun, friends and giving back to others,” this year’s mix of cocktails, cuisine and theater will be held on Sunday, November 22 in the rotunda of the Milwaukee Center, 108 East Wells Street.
  Complimentary cocktails and cuisine from nearly thirty of Milwaukee’s finest restaurants begins at 5:30 PM, followed by a performance of “The Lady With All The Answers” in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater at 8 PM.
  At Quest’s deadline the following Milwaukee area restaurants were participating in this year’s Jolly Holly Folly: Bella Caffe, Bistro 333, Byron’s Beer Garden & Bistro, Cempuzachi Comida Brava, Coa, Coquette Cafe
Crawdaddy’s Cajun Creole Restaurant, Cubanitas, Eat Cake, Indulge, Kilawat, Maggiano’s, Maxie’s, Mia Famiglia Ristorante, Mitchell’s Fish Market, Molly Cool’s, Motor, Osteria del Mondo, Palermo Villa, Riverfront Pizzeria, Ru Yi (Potawatomi Catering), Simma’s, Soup Market and Tenuta’s Italian Restaurant.
  “The Lady With All The Answers”is funny and nostalgic play, based on real events and actual letters of Eppy Friedman, aka Ann Landers. For decades, Landers answered countless letters in a newspaper column that made her a legend. No topic was off-limits, from lovelorn teens to nude housekeeping, to the proper way to hang a roll of toilet paper. In 1975, an ironic twist of events confronts her. With a print deadline looming, she counsels her own broken marriage and heart.
  “The Lady With All The Answers” features resident Acting Company member Laura Gordon as the famous no-nonsense “advice giver” whose daily dialogue helped to shape the social landscapes of the last half century. Laura Gordon has been a member of Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Resident Acting Company since 1993, performing in over 60 productions among which are: Pride And Prejudice, Enchanted April, Doubt, The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, Mary Stuart, Copenhagen, Twelfth Night, A Doll’s House, The Seagull, The Memory Of Water and Molly Sweeny.
  Following the play Jolly Holly Folly attendees are also invited to a “Go Red Party” until midnight at the InterContinental Milwaukee Hotel’s Clear, 139 E Kilbourn Avenue.
  Attendance at Jolly Holly Folly will benefit the ARCW Medical Center, the largest provider of HIV medical, dental and mental health care and treatment in Wisconsin.
  Participants are also being encouraged to bring a gift for the agency’s Holiday Gift program. Every holiday season the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin relies on the giving spirit of hundreds of donors who give gifts to people with HIV who are alone or otherwise would not receive a holiday gift.. Popular gift items include adult winter clothing, bath products and retail gift cards (suggested amount: $20) to places like Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, Kohl’s, grocery stores and gas stations. Attendees arriving at Jolly Holly Folly are asked to bring any gift donations to the registration area.
  Tickets for Jolly Holly Folly are $60 each for standard theater seating or $85 for preferred seating. Groups of four are available at a discounted rate of $200 standard and $300 preferred. Tickets may be ordered online at: www.arcw.org. For more information or group sales, contact Christine Sweeney by phone at: 414-225-1615 or by email at: christine.sweeney@arcw.org.

Cream City Chorus To Offer “The Tree of Life: Reflections of Family”
Brookfield - The Wisconsin Cream City Chorus will open its 2009-2010 season with a unique choral theatre performance entitled “The Tree of Life: Reflections of Family.”  Concert goers will step into the world of an old show-business family trying to keep Milwaukee’s longest running, all-inclusive holiday show going.  Attendees can expect equal parts family, holiday traditions and fun.
  This year’s production includes musical selections from various traditions, including Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and Solstice, as well as popular seasonal and holiday tunes from several eras. And, as a special treat, Pride Idol winner (and former WCCC member) Corky Morgan will also join the chorus as a special guest for this performance.
  “The Tree of Life: Reflections of Family” will be performed Saturday, December 5 at 7:30 PM., and Sunday, December 6 at 3 PM. Both performances will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church West, 13001 W. North Avenue in Brookfield. Tickets are available through chorus members and the chorus office. Tickets may also be ordered by email at: info@creamcitychorus.org or by phone at: 414-276-8787. 
  For more information about the Wisconsin Cream City Chorus and the concert, visit creamcitychorus.org.

Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus To Offer “Solstice Celebration”
Madison- Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus is happy has announced a two performance run for “A Solstice Celebration,” the chorale’s thirteenth annual winter concert. “A Solstice Celebration”will offer a wonderfully eclectic mix of music in honor of one of the oldest and longest celebrated festivals of the world, appearing in many cultures in similar forms.
  “A Solstice Celebration” will feature the world premiere of a new work by Arthur Durkee, entitled “Weavers of Light.” “The piece is actually about the return of the Light in the midst of darkness, which is a common theme that unites all winter solstice celebrations in almost all of the world’s spiritual cultures,” he said. “For me, completing it symbolizes my own reawakening and return to life, after the last several years of personal struggle and continuous family crises.”
  Perfect Harmony will also be singing the Madison premiere of “Solstice” by Tim Sarsany, a 2006 set of four songs based on Native American chant.  Other works include a moving Emily Dickinson poem set in song “The Moon Is Distant from the Sea,” and a Holly Near text in “Song Of The Solstice.” “Deck the Hall,” “Masters of the Hall,” “Non, Nobis Domine,” “Thirteen Days of Christmas,” and Edward Elgar’s “The Snow” will bring some classic and familiar work into the concert. “Not In Our Town” returns as an audience favorite, about a Hanukkah in Billings, Montana.
  Perfect Harmony strives to introduce new and unfamiliar works to their Dane County and south central Wisconsin audiences.  Many of these introductions become new audience favorites.
  “A Solstice Celebration” can be heard in full at one of two concert events: Saturday, December 5 at 7:30 PM at the Middleton Community UCC, 645 Schewe Rd.; or Sunday, December 6 at 3:30 PM at St Stephen’s Lutheran Church, 5700 Pheasant Hill Rd. in Monona. The Middleton Community UCC is a new building with gorgeous acoustics for choral music, and is located two miles west of the Beltline off of Old Sauk Road.
  Tickets for “A Solstice Celebration”are $12 student and senior, and $15 adult.  Tickets are available from chorus members, through the Brown Paper tickets link at: www.perfectharmonychorus.org and at the door of both halls.
  For additional information regarding the concert please phone Ken Forney at: 608-445-6767 go to the Perfect Harmony webpage listed above or check our Facebook page .

Comedy Drag Show Benefits ARCW
Appleton - Comic female impersonator Jarica Jordan will present her two hour comedy show at Lawrence University (LU) at the Music Drama Center on Friday November 13. Jordan, who refers to herself as “an over-sized glamazon Barbie, will perform her twisted takes on many of the 1980’s and 90’s most classic songs, along with live comedy banter beginning  at 7PM.
  Tickets for this adults-only show are on sale the the Music Drama Center ticket office, but will also be available at the door. Cost is $2 for LU students and staff and $5 for everyone else. All proceeds will benefit ARCW (AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin).
  Following the show there will be an informal “meet and greet” with Jarica at Ravens on College Ave. from 9 until Midnight. You must be 21 to enter the club.

Gay Ski Weekend At Wausau’s Rib Mountain On Tap
Wausau - SkiBudz the Midwest’s Gay Ski Club announces its 4th Annual Granite Peak Trip will be held January 8-10, 2010 in Wausau.
  There will be great skiing or snowboarding, bar nights, Welcome reception and meal, Saturday Night Group Dinner, Sunday Morning Brunch. This event is a great way to meet great guys from all over the Midwest.
  SkiBudz will be returning to The Jefferson Street Inn, a unique boutique style hotel located in Downtown Wausau. The hotel is walking distance to a mall, great restaurants, shopping, cultural sites and Oz, Wausau’s gay bar. All rooms must be booked by December 5. For more information or to make reservations for the  weekend, visit the SkiBudz website at: www.skibudz.org or the SkiBudz Facebook Site.

Uplifting Art: Bras For A Cause
Milwaukee - A Woman’s Touch has launched Uplifting Art: Bras for a Cause, a decorative art bra contest and charity auction benefiting ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis.  Community artists and creative folks are invited to take part in the project by submitting a decorated “art bra” to A Woman’s Touch. 
  Participants may decorate and embellish fabric bras, or design original art bras in almost any non-perishable media.  Milwaukee-area guest judges will choose winning bras in various categories, based on submissions received. 
  Uplifting Art: Bras for a Cause selections will be featured at A Woman’s Touch on January 15, 2010, during Gallery Night in the Historic Third Ward, and will remain on display from January 15 – 24, for People’s Choice voting.  Donated bras will be available for silent auction during that time.
  A reception for People’s Choice winners, Judges Award winners, and Silent Auction donors will be held on February 2, 2010, to present the proceeds from the Uplifting Art: Bras for A Cause auction to ABCD.
  Submissions must be accompanied by an entry form and are due by 8 PM on January 9, 2010.   Early submissions are encouraged.  Entry forms may be picked up in person at A Woman’s Touch, or online at: www.awomanstouchonline.com
  ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis provides free personalized information and support to people affected by breast cancer. Created to complement the work of health care providers, ABCD offers breast cancer support through its signature One-to-One mentoring support service, and provides a variety of resources for breast cancer patients and their loved ones. To learn more about ABCD and their current programs, call 414.918.9222, or visit them online at: www.abcdbreastcancersupport.org.
  A Woman’s Touch is Milwaukee’s premier woman-owned sexuality resource center. With stores in Madison and Milwaukee, A Woman’s Touch is one of a small number of stores nationwide that focus on women’s perspectives on sexuality, and the only company that offers a unique combination of expertise in sexual health and pleasure for everyone. A Woman’s Touch offers education, information and products to enhance romance and pleasure through its stores and online at www.awomanstouchonline.com. For more information about Uplifting Art or A Woman’s Touch, contact us at 414-221-0400.