ACCESSline, Iowa's LGBT Newspaper, October 2009 Issue, Volume 23 No 7

www.ACCESSlineIOWA.com

Prop 8 Déjà Vu in Maine News analysis by Rex Wockner Maine voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to veto a law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor that legalized same-sex marriage. The law has not yet taken effect pending the outcome of the election.

The TV ad war got under way Sept. 15, and it looks and smells like the Proposition 8 ad war last year in California.

Some analysts believe gays lost marriage in California because the No on 8 campaign lost the TV ad war.

In one Maine ad, the anti-gay side even uses the same video it used in California of a horrified straight couple whose second-grader apparently learned about same-sex marriage at school in Massachusetts.

The anti-gay side’s first ad said: “Special-interest groups got the Legislature to approve homosexual marriage and tried to prevent Mainers from voting. But Question 1 gives us our vote. Unless Question 1 passes, there will be real consequences for Mainers. Legal experts predict a flood of lawsuits against individuals, small businesses and religious groups. Church organizations could lose their tax exemption. Homosexual marriage taught in public schools, whether parents like it or not.”

The anti-gay side’s second ad said: “Opponents of Question 1 say that legalizing homosexual marriage has nothing to do with schools. But it has everything to do with TTMAINE continued page 26

October a Busy Month for One Iowa by Jennifer Merriman bakers and pastry chefs, while raising money to support marriage equality in Iowa.

Celebrity judges will give awards in two categories, Best Presentation and Sweetest Thing, and attendees will get a chance to sample all the goodies. Wine and beer samples will also be available.

For more information about any of these events, visit www.OneIowa.org. And please join us during October; get outside, have fun and learn this fall!

3E Regional Summits

On October 10, One Iowa is hosting our annual Pride Ride. Participants can choose between 40-, 20- and 2-mile rides, and the first 100 people to sign up get a free t-shirt.

The Pride Ride course this year will be at Union Park, and a community picnic will follow the event. Registration is $25 for adults and $10 for children 13 and younger.

After all that exercise, you’ll be ready for Sweet Equality! Our yearly dessert contest shows off the talents of area

During the month of October, One Iowa will be hosting a series summits designed to help Iowans make the most of their activism. In addition, two of our major annual fundraisers will be this month as well.

Our 3E - Expand, Empower and Engage - Regional summits will provide training in three methods of organizing: driving an effective message, planning successful events and community action.

We will be holding these summits around the state: - Ames, Oct. 3 - Sioux City, Oct. 11 - Quad Cities, Oct. 17 - Cedar Rapids, Oct. 25

“The Religious Right is targeting marriage equality in Maine with big money and false attacks, virtually identical to the fearmongering strategies in 2008’s Proposition 8 campaign in California.”

— People for the American Way, Sept. 17. A new poll shows gays losing marriage in Maine 48 percent to 46 percent.

"The anti-gay forces are pounding Maine with exactly the same scare tactics that worked (on Prop 8) in California. Most of the pro-gay ads are as lame as they were in California as well -- and the vote is close. Sigh."

— Writer Andrew Sullivan on his blog, September. 18.

Pride Ride

Iowa News Page 3

US News Page 5

World News Page 6

“Cedar Rapids Famous”, the gay marriage comedy by award winning playwright, Joe Jennison, returns for a two night run in Iowa City at the Englert, October 23-24.

Miss Iowa USofA Preliminary Competition: Friday October 2, 2009, 9pm Club Basix, Cedar Rapids Final Competition: Sunday October, 4, 2009, 8pm Cedar Rapids Piano Lounge

Special Fiction Page 8

Entertainment Page 11

ACCESSline Page 2

Section 1: News & Politics

October 2009

October 2009

PUBLICATION INFORMATION Copyright © 2009 ACCESS in Northeast Iowa P.O. Box 2666 Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-2666 (319) 550-0957 www.ACCESSlineIOWA.com

Section 1: News & Politics What’s Inside: Section 1: News & Politics Iowa News..............................................3 US News.................................................4 World News ..........................................5 Creep of the Week, with bonus creeps.. 6

ACCESSline is a monthly publication

by ACCESS (A Concerned Community for Education, Safer-sex and Support) in Northeast Iowa, a registered non-profit organization in the State of Iowa and a federal non-profit organization under Section 501(c)3 of the IRS Code.

Arthur Breur, Editor in Chief Q Syndicate Rex Wockner News Service Contributors: Joshua Dagon; Beau Fodor; Lisa Schreihart (a.k.a IowaLisa); Brett Edward Stout; Aaron Stroschein; Frank Vaia

P1=-P2 by Brett Edward Stout.............7 Fiction by Joshua Dagon ......................8

Section 2: Community All Iowa AIDS Benefit.........................27 The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later....27 Pride Football 2009.............................29 GG’s Diner, Cedar Rapids...................29 Chef deJon............................................31 IowaLisa’s List: Recurring Events.......32

All rights reserved. Original material printed in ACCESSline (with the exception of information from other sources) may be “lifted” for use in other publications so long as proper credit is given.

Publication of the name, photograph or likeness of any person, business or organization in ACCESSline is not to be construed as any indication of sexual orientation. Opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ACCESSline, ACCESS or the gay and lesbian community.

Letters to the editor may be published. We cannot be responsible for errors in advertising copy.

We welcome the submission of original materials, including line drawings and cartoons, news stories, poems, essays. They should be clearly labeled with author/artist name, address, and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters and other material for reasons of profanity, space, or clarity. Materials will not be returned. A writer’s guide is available for those wishing to submit original work.

Advertising rates and deadlines are available at ACCESSlineIOWA.com. All ads must be approved by ACCESSline’s editorial board.

Business Directory........................ 33-34

ACCESSline’s

“Fun Guide” Theater Ads Civic Center of Greater Des Moines: RENT Waterloo Community Playhouse Our Picks for October........................11 Outfield: Wrestling/Faggot Dance.....12 IowaLisa’s List......................................13 Cocktail Chatter..................................14 Deep Inside Hollywood.......................15 Just K.I.S.S by Beau Fodor..................16 Out of Town: Palm Springs, CA..........21 Comics and Crossword Puzzle...........24 Lambda Legal joins Fair Wisconsin...26

A Pull-Out Section to Keep!

ACCESSline Wants To Hear From You! Send in photos and reports of your events... especially benefits and conferences.

Please send us information on any of the following: • Corrections to articles • Stories of LGBT interest, both in and outside of Iowa • Letters to the editor • Editorials or opinion pieces • Engagement and wedding ceremony announcements or photos • Questions on any topic we print • Photos and writeups about shows, events, pageants, and fundraisers Please email us at Editor@ACCESSlineIOWA.com. You may also contact us at our regular address: ACCESSline PO Box 2666 Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-2666 ACCESSline reserves the right to print letters to the editor and other feedback at the editor’s discretion.

ACCESSline Page 3

IOWA NEWS

Fallons Launch Talk Radio Show This past month, Ed and Lynn Fallon kicked-off and host a brand new talk show from 7:00 – 8:00 pm, Mondays through Thursdays on 98.3 WOW-FM in Des Moines.

“For too long, Iowa’s airwaves have been dominated by Rush Limbaugh, Jan Mickelson, Steve Deace, Glen Beck and Michael Savage.

This is an unprecedented opportunity for those of us concerned about pressing economic, social and environmental issues to have our voices heard.” according to Ed Fallon, former State Legislator and committed supporter of GLBT rights.

The show is called The Fallon Forum and can be heard from Fort Dodge to Chariton, from Grinnell to Carroll, and can be live-streamed

at www.983wowfm.com. Guests can call-in and join the conversation at (515) 312-0983.

The first show featured Dolores Huerta, who helped found the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez. At 79, she remains an energetic, outspoken advocate for many important causes, including marriage equality.

The Fallons are underwriting the costs of the show through advertising and sponsorships. Sponsors include the Progressive Coalition of Central Iowa (PCCI), Equality Iowa, the Sierra Club of Iowa, and the Subjective Theatre Company of Des Moines.

More Sponsors are needed. For Information Contact: imforiowa@gmail.com or visit: www.imforiowa.com

IFPC: Coming to a Church Near You On Sunday, September 6, Dave Barnett of the anti-marriage-equality organization “Iowa Family Policy Center” (IFPC) gave a presentation at the Illyria Community Church in Elgin Iowa. The purpose of the presentation was to dissuade the congregation and church board from allowing same-sex couples to hold their marriages in the church.

The presentation included a number of scary “statistics” about homosexuals and the “homosexual lifestyle”. The information presented came from multiple sources; that which came from respectable sources was provided only in part or out of context.

One cited source of statistics is the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. This respectable-sounding journal has been criticized for “lack of scientific rigor” and even “outright errors” by the World Health Organization, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and has been reported on National Public Radio for publishing inaccurate information.

The publication is listed on QuackWatch.org as a “Fundamentally Flawed” journal.

Another source of information for the IFPC presentation is the Family Research Institute, who’s mission statement includes the stated assumption that homosexuality threatens the traditional family. The mission statement includes the goal of generating “empirical research” to prove this pre-existing assumption. The organization’s web site lists only two scientists, brothers Paul and Kirk Cameron.

Information from these and other organizations in the presentation included a statement

on the average life-expectancy for homosexuals being shorter than for heterosexuals, by 20 years or more, due to the “unhealthy” homosexual lifestyle. This “statistic” was generated by looking at obituaries and other announcements of deaths in local gay publications. No consideration was apparently given to the extremely limited scope of such publications (a category which admittedly includes ACCESSline).

Another “statistic” claims that marriage between same-sex couples does not last as long as those between opposite-sex couples.

The study cited, however, could never be accurate because it was completed in 2004, before any states allowed same-sex marriage.

The result of the study compares “homosexual relationships” (emphasis added) specifically with “heterosexual marriage”—not to “heterosexual relationships”.

Another claim in the presentation is that, since gay marriage was legalized in that state, Massachusetts has experienced a rise in STDs, but fails to mention the entire nation has seen STD rates rising since well before 2004.

Fortunately, however, the people of Illyria Community Church were apparently not swayed by the misleading information.

The following week, at a meeting described as having “probably the largest attendance in the history of the church”, the congregation and board voted to allow same sex couples to marry in the church. Comments by those attending were primarily positive. Only one person in the congregation chose to speak against.

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ACCESSline Page 4

Section 1: News & Politics

October 2009

US NEWS by Rex Wockner HRC endorses march on Washington The Human Rights Campaign said Sept.

14 that an Aug. 12 “statement” it made about the upcoming National Equality March in Washington, D.C., was an “endorsement” of the march.

“Yes, we have endorsed the march,” said Communications Director Brad Luna. “Yes, the release didn’t say the word ‘endorse’ but clearly that release is an endorsement.”

HRC’s Aug. 12 “statement” included these hesitant comments from President Joe Solmonese: * “The Human Rights Campaign considers October 11 in Washington DC to be a starting point—not a destination.” * “With thousands of LGBT people and allies coming to Washington to make a difference, it’s our mission to help them become the citizen lobbyists that they want and need to be.” * “I’ve heard criticism about this gathering diverting resources from existing goals such as marriage equality in Maine and New Jersey. It’s our intention and our obligation to ensure that in October, we amplify our energy not divert it.”

Other national groups that have endorsed the Oct. 12 grassroots/netroots march include the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Join The Impact; the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches; the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network; Immi-

LGBT people marched on Washington in 1979, 1987 (pictured), 1993 and 2000.

The next march is Oct. 11. Photo by Rex Wockner gration Equality; the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission; and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

On Sept. 15, march organizers provided a list of entertainment-industry people who recently endorsed the march. They include Calpernia Addams, Annette Bening, Greg Berlanti, Ilene Chaiken, Wilson Cruz, Melissa Etheridge, Carrie Fisher, James Franco, David Marshall Grant, Swoosie Kurtz, Chad Lowe, Camryn Manheim, Ewan McGregor, Sir Ian McKellen, Julianne Moore, Max Mutchnick, Kathy Najimy, Peter Paige, Felice Picano, David Hyde Pierce, Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei and Gus

Van Sant.

Marchers will “demand action from the federal government to protect our rights in all 50 states,” said organizer Kip Williams.

“Real equality can only come from the president, the Congress and the Supreme Court.”

The march route still is not finalized. For a schedule of the weekend’s events and more information, see equalityacrossamerica.org/ blog/?page_id=33.

DOMA repeal bill introduced in Congress

“It is long past time for DOMA to go,” said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal. “When DOMA passed in 1996 it was a gratuitous slap in the face. But now, 13 years later, there are thousands of married same-sex couples who are hurt by this law. We’ve come a long way in 13 years and the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of deciding that some married couples are worthy of federal respect and others are not. Married same-sex couples pay federal taxes just like everyone else and have a right to the same respect, important benefits and protections as everyone else.”

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey called DOMA “one of the most discriminatory and far-reaching laws to emerge against our community.”

“DOMA is and has always been an immoral attack on same-sex couples, our families and our fundamental humanity,” Carey said. “This hateful law has only served to discriminate against people and belittle our country’s heralded values of freedom, fairness and justice. It is long past time to repeal DOMA, which has left a moral scar on this country.”

Ninety-one members of Congress are co-sponsoring the repeal bill. Notably missing from the list is gay Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who refused to support the measure because he believes it is unlikely to pass and fears it may divert energy from such goals as repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and passing the Employment NonDiscrimination Act. President Barack Obama has repeatedly said that he supports a full repeal of DOMA. Same-sex marriage is legal in four states -- Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont -- and there also are 18,000 married same-sex couples in California, though voters have banned any more same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage will become legal in Maine in November if it survives a voter referendum. It becomes legal in New Hampshire in January.

Atlanta Eagle raided

U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, Tammy Baldwin (pictured) and Jared Polis introduced a bill Sept. 15 to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Photo by Rex Wockner U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., introduced a bill Sept. 15 to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the Clinton-era law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and affirms that states don’t have to recognize other states’ same-sex marriages.

The “Respect for Marriage Act” would extend all 1,100 federal rights and obligations of marriage to married same-sex couples, including in critical areas such as Social Security, spousal immigration, income taxes and family medical leave. It also would ensure that a gay couple’s federal marriage rights remain intact when a couple is in a state that does not allow same-sex marriage.

Police raided the Atlanta Eagle bar on Sept. 10 and arrested eight employees and underwear-clad dancers for allegedly providing adult entertainment without having the proper permit.

The police also forced some 60 people facedown on the floor and kept them there while they were searched and their IDs were checked.

“For up to two hours, some customers lay face down in grime and spilled beer waiting their turns,” said The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

Patrons and employees said some officers were aggressive, threatened them with violence and made anti-gay slurs during the ordeal, according to the gay newspaper Southern Voice. One individual, who filed a complaint over the raid with the Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards, said he heard one police officer say, “This is more fun than raiding niggers with crack.”

Another individual who filed an OPS complaint said he heard officers say, “I hate homosexuals” and “I don’t like fags.”

TTUS NEWS continued page 9

October 2009

Section 1: News & Politics

ACCESSline Page 5

World News by Rex Wockner Clinton says U.S. will battle anti-gay violence worldwide

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sept. 11 that the United States will fight anti-gay violence anywhere in the world that it happens. Photo by Rex Wockner U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sept. 11 that the United States will fight anti-gay violence anywhere in the world that it happens.

Speaking in New York at the Roosevelt Institute’s Four Freedoms Medals Gala Dinner, where she received the institute’s Four Freedoms Award, Clinton explained: “(We) must condemn violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In country after country after country, young men and women are persecuted, are singled out, even murdered in cold blood, because of who they love or just based on claims that they are gay.

“We are starting to track violence against the LGBT community, because where it happens anywhere in the world, the United States must speak out against it and work for its end. Through our annual human rights report, we are documenting human rights abuses against LGBT communities worldwide. And we are seeking out partners at the United Nations such as Brazil, France, Sweden and the Netherlands to help us address these human rights abuses.”

British prime minister apologizes to Alan Turing

military codes during World War II -- was prosecuted in 1952 for the crime of engaging in gay sex and was chemically castrated and stripped of his security clearance. He committed suicide in 1954.

“On behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better,” Brown wrote.

“Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes,” Brown explained. “It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war.

The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ -- in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence -- and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison -- was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.”

“Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated,” the apology continued. “While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction. I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.”

Leading gay activist Peter Tatchell called Brown’s apology “most welcome and commendable.”

“But,” Tatchell said, “a similar apology is also due to the estimated 100,000 British men who were convicted of consenting, victimless same-sex relationships during the 20th century. Singling out Turing just because he is famous is wrong. Unlike Turing, many thousands of ordinary gay and bisexual men were never given the option of hormone treatment. They were sent to prison.”

Another famous victim of the grossindecency law was Oscar Wilde, who was prosecuted and jailed in 1895.

British consul murdered in Jamaica

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized to Alan Turing on Sept. 11 after 31,564 people signed a petition on Brown’s Web site asking him to do so.

Turing -- the openly gay founder of modern computing who cracked key Nazi

The honorary British consul in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was strangled in his home Sept. 9 in a possibly homophobic attack.

John Terry’s nude and beaten body was found with a handwritten note calling him a “batty man,” which means “faggot.”

Police believe Terry knew his killer.

Honorary consuls are volunteers who represent the British government and help people for whom the United Kingdom has consular responsibility. Terry, 65, filled the role for the western end of the island.

Jamaica is considered by human-rights defenders to be one of the world’s most virulently homophobic countries. Gay sex is illegal.

Uruguay OKs gay adoption

Uruguay reportedly became the first country in Latin America to allow gay adoption Sept. 9 when the Chamber of Senators passed a bill that previously had passed the Chamber of Deputies.

President Tabaré Vázquez indicated he will sign the bill into law.

Questions have been raised, however, about a confusing provision in the bill that requires children’s full names to include both their mother’s and father’s last names.

Uruguay also has a national civil-union law for same-sex couples and lets open gays serve in the military.

The civil-union law requires that couples have lived together for five years before they can take advantage of it, and

grants spousal rights in areas that include inheritance, property ownership, pensions, parenting and health care.

The couple must “maintain an emotional relationship of a sexual nature (and) an exclusive, singular, stable and permanent character.”

Other Latin American localities with civil-union laws include the city of Buenos Aires, the Argentine province of Río Negro, the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Mexico City, and the Mexican state of Coahuila, which borders Texas.

Assistance: Bill Kelley

“We also must condemn violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In country after country after country, young men and women are persecuted, are singled out, even murdered in cold blood, because of who they love or just based on claims that they are gay. We are starting to track violence against the LGBT community, because where it happens anywhere in the world, the United States must speak out against it and work for its end. Through our annual human rights report, we are documenting human rights abuses against LGBT communities worldwide. And we are seeking out partners at the United Nations such as Brazil, France, Sweden and the Netherlands to help us address these human rights abuses.”

— U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking Sept. 11 at the Roosevelt Institute’s Four Freedoms Medals Gala Dinner in New York City.

ACCESSline Page 6

Section 1: News & Politics

October 2009

Creep of the Week by D’Anne Witkowski Steven Anderson Pop quiz: Which sounds the most like you?

A. A vegan who eats bacon.

B. An adulterous politician who votes against gay marriage.

C. The person who believes in the death penalty for murderers—and for homosexuals.

If you answered C, you’re probably Steven Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Mesa, Arizona. You’re also, well, crazy. And not, “Oh, he once ate an entire pizza then danced around at his boxers before puking and passing out” kind of crazy. More like, “Oh, he thinks homosexuals should be executed because God says so” kind of crazy.

Granted, Fred Phelps has had the market cornered on this kind of crazy. He’s hard to compete with. With all the press he gets whenever he trots out his day-glo “God Hates Fags” signs he’s practically a celebrity.

But if Phelps is the Wal-Mart of faghaters, consider Anderson a mom-and-pop convenience store. Sure, he doesn’t reach as many people, but he carries a lot of the same stuff. And people are buying it.

In a recent sermon to his congregation, Anderson called for the death of homosexuals.

“The same God who instituted the death penalty for murderers is the same God who instituted the death penalty for

rapists and for homosexuals—sodomites, queers!” Anderson rants.

And why should homos be killed?

“Because the sodomites are infectious, that’s why,” he says. “Here’s a biology lesson: they’re not reproducers, they’re recruiters!”

Now, I know folks like Anderson hate science, but I doubt even the staunchest of Creationists would call that a “biology lesson.” As for the old “recruiters” line, anyone who has ever spent time with gay people knows it’s a load of bull. But Anderson believes, quite fervently, about the power of gays to get folks to play for the pink team.

“And you know who they’re after?

Your children,” Anderson spews. “You drop them off at some daycare, you drop them off at some school somewhere, you don’t know where they’re at. I’ll tell you where they’re at: they’re being recruited by the sodomites. They’re being molested by the sodomites. I can tell you so many stories about people that I know being molested and recruited by the sodomites.”

Really? Can you now? Tell us so many stories? Let me guess: These “stories” are written down in your dream journal and hidden under your mattress.

According to Anderson, when gays aren’t busy raping children to turn them gay, gays are worshiping at the altar of Barney Frank who, it turns out, is the person actually running this country. It’s Frank, he says, who wrote the bailout bill. It’s Frank who

is turning this country Socialist and taking over corporations. Obama’s administration is just a puppet government for Frank’s Fag Regime, which is hell bent on turning the U.S. into One Fag Nation Under One Fag God (I’m paraphrasing, but Anderson’s actual words are far less civil).

“You want to know why sodomites are recruiting?” Anderson asks. “Because they have no natural predators.”

He’s right. Don’t get me wrong—I’d definitely put him in the predator category.

But I’d hardly call his lunatic ranting and raving against gay people “natural.”

Catholic Bishops of New Jersey There comes a time in many a man’s life when he’s got to put on a dress and tell other people what to do. If they’re, say, belting out “It’s Raining Men” on stage at The Rainbow Room we call them drag queens. But if they’re authoring flyers to hand out during mass that say gay families are evil, we call them the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey.

Two weeks ago, New Jersey’s Catholics were given a flyer titled, “The Call to Marriage is Woven Deeply into the Human Spirit: A Message on Marriage from the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey.”

The flyer warns that society is turning more and more into a denizen of secular heathenism, especially Jersey, which is already pretty friendly to gay families.

“As Catholics, we must not stand by in silence in the face of the many challenges that threaten marriage and, in turn, children and the public good. We must not shirk from our responsibility,” the flyer reads.

Taking responsibility? The Catholic Church is all about that. Because if there’s one thing the Catholic Church knows how to do it’s protect children. In the church’s twisted logic, children are in danger when it comes to the gay and lesbian parents who love and care for them.

“We must protect and promote marriage,” the flyer continues. “We must not abandon the teaching of the Catholic Church on marriage and the complementarity of the sexes—a truth that is evident to right reason and recognized as such by the major cultures of the world.”

Obviously when you want the authority on “the complementarity of the sexes” you ask a bunch of celibate dudes. Just like how

when you’re looking for the best steakhouse in town you call up your vegan friend.

“In these troubled times, we ... offer here some basic truths to assist people in understanding Catholic teaching about marriage and to enable them to promote and support marriage and families,” they write.

Can’t argue with them on one point: these times are troubled. We can, however, argue with their claim that the trouble is caused by an attack on marriage (which, obviously, translates to a trouble caused by those darn homosexuals).

But why all the fuss about marriage at this particular moment? Well, New Jersey already allows for civil unions and second parent adoption for gay and lesbian couples. Marriage probably isn’t that far off, especially since Gov. John Corzine is down with marriage equality.

The Catholic Church isn’t happy about this. “Governments ... have a duty to reinforce and protect this permanent institution and to pass it on to future generations, rather than attempt to redefine it arbitrarily for transitory political or social reasons.”

And when it all comes down to it, the Catholics claim that they’re the real victims of discrimination in the fight for marriage equality.

“Catholics,” the flyer reads, “have the right and responsibility to oppose laws and policies that unjustly target people as bigots or that subject them to charges of unlawful discrimination simply because they believe and teach that marriage is the union of man and a woman.”

And gays and lesbians have a right and responsibility to oppose laws that view them as lesser on the chain of humanity. Even if that pisses off the Catholic Church.

Steven Anderson 2.0

If there’s one thing we know about crazy it’s that crazy never quits. It also gets a lot of attention. No one embodies that better than Mesa, Ariz. pastor Steven Anderson, who is creepy enough to be Creep of the Week two times in a month.

Alan Colmes, formerly Sean Hannity’s punching bag on Hannity and Colmes, which has since become Hannity and Hannity, recently interviewed Anderson.

And Anderson was adamant that he meant every word and then some.

When Colmes asked if every gay TTCREEPS continued page 10

October 2009

Section 1: News & Politics

ACCESSline Page 7

P1=-P2 : Paying for the Privilege by Brett Edward Stout The title of Brett Edward Stout’s monthly column P1=-P2 is a reference to Newton’s third law of motion summarized as: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The words themselves have then been translated into the language of physics to the above mathematical expression. Physics is something by which we are all bound, regardless of our knowledge or perception of it. The purpose of the column is to explore the actions and reactions we have to the decisions and questions raised in our ever-adapting world. The reactions stated here are intended to stimulate debate in the hope that through it, we can better see what unites us in the face of our differences.

Increasingly in the last few years, gay websites like Gay.com and Manhunt.com have started charging for certain kinds of access to their sites. While the idea of paid online subscriptions is not new, the methods being employed seem to be a diametric shift from what they’ve been in the past. Sites that were originally free are more and more restricting access to their regularly used features and content. This begs the question: Are these features actually premium or are site creators just bullying their users into paying a premium for them?

The better question may be: What are gay men willing to pay for the privilege of hooking up?

First, consider the history of gay social networking that brought us to where we are.

Prior to widespread adoption of the Internet, it was bars, parks, sex-clubs, and coded signals that were the only available options for gays to seek out one another. Visions of a futuristic, closet-free world danced in the heads of young gay men, but the reality was that for many men, the fear of being spotted simply entering or leaving a gay-branded establishment was a risk far to great to take. Then, along comes the anonymity of the Internet: a world where you can censor who sees what of you and who does not; a digital domain where the prospect of sex, friendship, or (dare I say it) love awaits after every refresh click.

The argument follows, does this all facilitate many men’s permanent place in the closet,

or does it allow for a more gradual wading into the waters of embracing who you are?

Obviously, the answer is a little of both.

Along with the good, the Internet brought with it a detachment from the traditional sense of community that gays had experienced prior. A self-perpetuating trend of online life began to emerge. Many public meeting spaces like parks were all but abandoned, bar crowds thinned and as a result many consolidated. Combined with the closure of sex clubs in the wake of AIDS, gays looked for a new place to congregate. That place became online clubs, chat rooms, and dating services, all accessible without having to explain to your roommate, barracks-mate, parents, or wife where you were off to so late. Because of this, the gay community experienced an explosion of new faces, which had previously hidden in the shadows. When you look at the freedom the Internet has allowed gays, even in the far rural reaches of the world, it becomes brilliantly clear what a privilege that freedom is. But, what is that privilege worth to us?

While it’s easy to altruistically say use of gay sites should be free to all who login, this operates under the false assumption that the Internet is free. The fact of the matter is, it isn’t. There are costs associated with running an online website and as the cost of starting and maintaining web businesses increases—and as a website’s usage increases—those business are trying every-

thing they can think of to make their sites profitable. So far, ad placements, merchandise, premium subscriptions, and iPhone applications have been the standard options.

It is equally easy to say that charging for access to the gay online community is an anticipated cost that the site creators should contend with, but is it? A possible Writer, filmmaker, and photographer Brett Edward Stout solution to rising costs is is a Cedar Rapids native and recent graduate of the to charge the users for University of Iowa. He spent five years in the US Marine Corps access, but gays would as a Russian linguist. His first novel Sugar-baby Bridge was never pay cash money published in 2008. He is currently working on his second novel, for the right to hookup, entitled The Lives Between. would they? Clearly, we will and we have been. The question is how is, are the services provided actually worth many of us and how much? the payment being charged? This is not say However, what exactly we are getting that these sites should be demonized for their for our money seems to be changing of late. practices; gay websites are, for the most In the past it was the heavy users, the viewers part, a good thing for the reasons already of bandwidth-intensive content, and those mentioned. who want unbridled access who have been But, hooking up is, for better or worse, the parties getting the bill. However, recently, a part of mainstream gay culture. Some say the focus has been shifting to include not it is the backbone of the gay community at just these select few but also the average end large. Hooking up, social networking, and users. Manhunt.com in particular seems to dating are almost interchangeable words have cherry-picked a list of commonly used within the community. We should consider features to their site and drastically restricted if something so integral to gay lifestyles free access to them. Granted, this change was should be something we are paying for. not overnight. Manhunt.com went from an The traditional and mostly free alternatives all-free site to charging for access to private (bars, gay districts, and gay events) are still and secondary photos and recently the site has on the table. The Internet simply provides also restricted email use and profile views. convenience, discretion, and method for It is clear that site creators are struggling screening. Is this a service or part of the to find the threshold where the profitability natural landscape of gay life? of causing the inconvenience meets but Ultimately, the free market will decide, does not enter the realm of pushing away even if at the risk of separating those in the users. For many, that line has started to be gay community who have the money to spare crossed. This is the inevitable conclusion from those who do not. Our relationship with of the financial logic; once a user base is the powers that host the online world, which attained and addicted, bring up the price most gay man participate in, will continue and the money will start to flow. The gay to change and adapt in directions that are community has become a society of online impossible to predict. However, when it junkies and, from the looks of it, our dealers comes to relationships, conventional wisdom are finished with giving us our free taste. older than any of us tells us that money is the Still, even with our dependency, consider fastest way to kill a friendship.

Facebook, which sits on the other side of the fuzzy line that divides hookup and social “It is, I have to say, quite disgusting networking sites. If Facebook limited users that in America and in other countries you to ten emails a day, or if a premium service advertisement window popped up every cannot have a civil union or something time you clicked on someone’s photo, the equivalent to marriage. I have someone I’ve popular social networking site would disap- lived together with for 23 years. Recently he was in the hospital for something. I had to pear overnight.

While there might be an ethical dilemma carry papers on me at all times that he had in charging not only for the more costly uses signed saying that I could visit him in his of these sites but also the mundane services room and make medical decisions for him that the sites were designed to provide, do the if anything happened. ... If I died tomorrow ethics even matter? The real ethical problem my estate would be completely taxed and might not be that they charge, but that they then the remainder go to him whereas if start by not charging and then reneged the we were a couple his life wouldn’t have to free usage after establishing themselves.

After all, social sites only become useful change and my entire estate would move after reaching a critical mass of users; there to him.” are questions of fairness in charging people — Designer Tom Ford at a press conference for access to a website once it has reached for his film A Single Man, Sept. 11 in the threshold of usability.

Venice, Italy.

Another question that begs to be asked

ACCESSline Page 8

Section 1: News & Politics

October 2009

Fiction The following short story is provided as a Halloween treat from columnist and novelist Joshua Dagon.

It is one of five stories in the author’s “Glamour Stone” series, which is an extension of his novels The Fallen and Demon Tears.

Onyx

by joshua dagon “We might want to wait until the next Sabbat, Haze, maybe even the Solstice.

What’s a few months, more or less? It would give you a chance to have a better fundamental understanding.”

Haze took a shallow breath and smirked. “Better than whose understanding, Derek? You’re so not talking about yours, man.” Haze chopped at the little pile of cocaine with the edge of his American Express card. Derek didn’t have any razor blades in the house. He claimed he didn’t ‘indulge often enough to keep a supply.’

“How could I understand better than you?” Haze asked. “That’s not possible.”

“I can’t impart the experience itself,” Derek agreed. “You’re correct there.”

“Then waiting would be lame, don’t you think?”

Haze pulled out his wallet, withdrew a twenty-dollar bill, and rolled it into a tight straw. “For me, accepting the stone would be... well, put simply...”

Haze paused deliberately. He shook his head.

“It would be a leap of faith,” Derek said.

Haze grinned at his mentor as he handed him the twenty-dollar coke straw. “You know I don’t like using that word.”

“What?” Derek sneered, taking the straw. “Faith? You have a problem using the word ‘faith?’ ” Haze didn’t reply.

Instead he watched as Derek leaned down to the black-glass plate, on which the cocaine had been chopped, and expertly snorted a line as thick as a pencil. Haze watched, but his eyes weren’t on the straw or the drug. His eyes were on the glossy black stone hanging around Derek’s neck.

“Oh, that’s brilliant.” Derek raised his head just high enough to give his nostril a long, efficient sniff. “This shit

is positively brilliant.” Once more Derek bent to the table and treated his sinuses to a hearty dose of Haze’s brilliant cocaine.

“So...” Haze started. “Will the ritual be very complicated?”

“It has been far too long since I’ve had a treat like this, Haze.” Derek sat up and tilted his head, grinning. “Brilliant. It’s fucking brilliant.”

“Please...” Haze gestured once more to the very conspicuous cocaine on the black-glass plate. “I’ve got plenty, Derek, really. Please help yourself.”

Derek raised his eyebrows. “You have more on you?”

“Oh, yeah.” Haze crossed his arms and shrugged. “You’ve always been very generous with me, Derek, and especially with what you proposed on the phone. I’m just glad to be able to give you something, too, even if it’s a little tacky.” Haze smiled warmly, not for an instant believing his offering to Derek was tacky. “It might be crude, but I asked myself what I could possibly get for a man who literally has everything.”

“I obviously don’t have everything,” Derek objected as he bent for another line.

“Yeah, well...” Haze paused again and sighed. “One or two phone calls, or even just a word to Raam, and you’d have anything you could name.”

“Maybe,” Derek admitted. “But I think you actually read my mind tonight, bringing this stuff, and that’s not a small achievement.”

“Like I said, I’m just glad to be able to give you something.”

“And Raam isn’t quite as accommodating as you might think.”

Haze didn’t reply. He was watching the stone again. It hung from a black leather cord around Derek’s neck.

Haze watched it swing slightly as Derek snorted some more coke. Why anyone in possession of a genuine glamour stone would consider giving it away was a question far beyond Haze’s ability to answer. Perhaps Derek was finally losing his mind. The man was, after all, over a hundred years old.

“Moments like this are what every-

thing is about, you know.” Derek sat up and handed the rolled twenty back to Haze. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned through the years it’s to appreciate these times of contentment. It takes so little, really, a simple indulgence, beautiful company, and the time to explore the nature of intimacy. It’s not so very much and yet these experiences are everything.”

Haze chuckled. “I love you when you’re high, Derek. You have this tendency to be poetic, philosophical, and to make absolutely no sense at all.”

Derek laughed. “I’m making perfect sense, you ass.”

“Spoken like a true hedonist.”

“Maybe.” Derek nodded. “Speaking of hedonism, should I fire up the hot tub?”

“Fucking spectacular! I thought you’d never ask.”

Chuckling softly, Derek stood up and headed through the living room toward the patio. Haze watched him with something close to euphoric anticipation. Derek was a physically perfect man—the product of his glamour stone—and Haze honestly enjoyed their encounters. It was a pity, Haze thought, that sex was the only honest feature of their relationship.

While Derek was out on the patio, Haze cut three more lines of cocaine, although he didn’t partake. Not him, not from this batch. As he rearranged the pile of coke to suggest that he’d snorted some, Haze wondered again at the insanity of Derek’s notion to give away the glamour stone. That he was giving the amulet away at all was crazy enough.

That he believed Haze was an appropriate candidate to accept the stone was lunacy beyond measure. Haze smiled to himself, the butterflies in his stomach multiplying at a startling rate. What would the ritual be like, he wondered, and was Derek serious about performing it that very night?

Haze heard the French doors open again two rooms away, along with the faint bubbling of the hot tub in the background. Without looking up, Haze tilted his head, closed his eyes, pressed one nostril with his finger, and dry-snorted loudly.

“Did you have any before you came over?” Derek asked, sitting again on the sofa across from Haze. “It’s brilliant shit. Truly brilliant.”

“While we’re waiting for the water to warm...” Haze offered the rolled twenty back to Derek, who accepted it, then snorted two of the three newly cut lines, politely leaving the last and longest for Haze, as Drug Addict Etiquette demanded.

“And I did sample a bit before I drove out here,” Haze lied. “You know, just for quality control.”

“Ah.” Derek sat back and tilted his head. “Is that why it took you four hours to get here?”

Haze chuckled good-naturedly, thinking he should change the subject.

Novelist Joshua Dagon is the author of Into the Mouth of the Wolf, The Fallen, and Demon Tears. For more information, please go to www.joshuadagon.com.

To contact Mr. Dagon, please e-mail him at jd@joshuadagon.com.

It was dangerous to lie to Derek even once. If he kept it up there would be trouble.

“I was amazed to get your invitation,” he said. “Amazed and honored.”

“Don’t be too honored.”

Haze smirked. “What?”

“Willing the stone to you isn’t the nicest thing I could do. Truth be told, some might even call it indecent.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither did I when I sat in your place.”

Haze shook his head. “I’m going to have to add ‘cryptic’ to poetic and philosophical.”

“You asked me about the ritual.

You know, part of it requires that you consciously accept the stone. It can’t simply be willed to you. You have to understand what you’re doing, at least basically, and willingly accept the connection.”

“All right.” Haze tried to hide his confusion, knowing he likely wasn’t succeeding. Why, after all these years, would Derek doubt Haze’s devotion or, for that matter, his ambition?

“Your soul will be bound to the stone, Haze,” Derek stated bluntly.

“I assumed that,” Haze said. “Just like your soul is bound to it now.”

“Yes, but if you perform the ritual, Haze, my soul will be freed. Willing the stone away is the only chance I have of ever doing that.”

“Mm.” Haze took a breath and looked around at the gorgeous house, its very opulence bordering on excessive. “You don’t seem to be any worse for wear.”

“Just don’t be too honored yet.”

Derek smiled. “I’m not doing you any favors.” Δ “I was twenty-eight when I accepted the stone. The stock market had just crashed and the nation was quickly going completely to shit. I saw the stone as a miracle that would keep the world from touching me.”

“And it worked, man.” Haze grinned.

“You haven’t changed a bit since that day.” He settled back into the relaxing water. It wasn’t too hot, just comfortable. It was a warm and pleasant night in Palm Springs.

October 2009 “Oh, I’ve changed,” Derek corrected him. “I haven’t aged, but I’ve changed, over and over again. As a cohort, it’s a skill you’ll have to learn.”

Haze nodded, smiling. As a cohort, he thought, the butterflies returning in force. Haze was barely twenty-six. In his wildest fantasies, he hadn’t imagined figuring out how to get the stone away from Derek before he was in his thirties.

“You can’t be completely stagnant as everything around you is shifting,” Derek explained. “That’s something I learned the hard way. Despite the stone, the world still touched me.”

“But you adapted, of course,” Haze said, smirking. “Which is why you drive a Mercedes and not a mustang.”

“Clever.” Derek smiled. “You’ll have to think far more broadly than that, though.”

Haze tilted his head and bit his lip, thinking for a moment. “Well, fashion and vernacular will be relatively easy, I’d imagine. Oh, and my entire identity will need to be changed from time to time, too, I’m assuming?”

Derek crossed his arms. “Go on.”

“I’ll have to pay close attention to politics and to economics.”

“Exceedingly close attention.” Derek nodded. “And don’t forget about religion.”

“Man...?” Haze raised his eyebrows.

“Seriously?”

“You can’t be stagnant,” Derek repeated.

“Okay.” Haze nodded. “So, I’ll keep really close tabs on which fanatic is currently influencing the most idiots.”

“That would be a good idea. Also, learn as many languages as you can.

You’ll have the time.”

“Should I study geography and architecture?” Haze asked, half-joking.

“It couldn’t hurt.” Derek surprised him. “Sociology would be helpful, and psychology will be invaluable.”

“Hm.” “You have a quick mind. I’m not worried. You’ve only been studying with me for eight years and you can almost mix an elixir as well as I can.”

“Potions, poisons, and panaceas.”

“And you can continue once I’m gone, of course. The library will be yours. I’ve made all the arrangements.”

“Once you’re gone?”

Derek chuckled humorlessly. “Once I’m free of the stone, it won’t take long for the years to catch up with me.”

“What will happen?”

“Haze, I’m a little over a hundred years old. I dare say it’s not going to be pretty.”

“Willing the stone away...” Haze pressed his lips together in what he hoped was an expression of concern.

“Will it kill you?”

Derek tilted his head and grimaced.

“Only if I’m lucky.”

“Derek—” “I know you want the houses, too, Haze. You’ve got them. There’s this one, of course, and the estate in Fort Lauderdale you admired so much.”

Haze took a breath and sighed. “I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s a sizable property in Aspen as well.”

Section 1: News & Politics “Aspen?”

“I know I’ve never taken you up there.”

“Or even so much as told me about it.”

“Well, I needed a place or two where I could be alone. You’ll understand in time, believe me.” Derek tilted his head again, this time smirking. “Don’t fret, though, I didn’t tell Carl about the other houses either.”

“A place or two?”

“There’s also a rather historic manor in Boston. I’ll make sure you have all the necessary documents and instructions. Don’t worry.”

“My god, Derek, you’re really serious...”

“You’ve met my attorney, Franklin Montero. He has all of the relevant information and will make sure the appropriate assets are shifted to you without problems.”

“Yes.” Haze nodded. “I remember Frank.”

“There’s only one thing that I’ll ask of you, Haze.”

“What’s that?”

“Once I’m gone, I want you to leave Carl alone. Do not contact him. Do not interact with him in any way.”

“But I really like Carl.” Haze frowned.

“We’ve been studying with you for years, sometimes side by side—” Derek waved the argument away.

“I’m leaving him a very reasonable fund, something to sustain him, although it by no means compares with the fortune that you’ll control. He’ll no doubt set himself up somewhere far out of your way, very likely outside of the United States. As I’m sure you know, he’ll pose no threat to you.” Derek leveled a glance at Haze that could only be interpreted as dangerous. “Haze, swear to me that you’ll let Carl live out the remainder of his life in peace. The time will be just a hiccup to you.”

“All right.” Haze nodded slowly, all the while feeling an expression of bewilderment settle on his face. He tried to relax but his confusion was considerable. He only pondered the sincerity of his promise for an instant and, interestingly enough, decided he’d been truthful. While articulating his promise, Haze had been truthful. That should be enough, he thought.

“If I may ask, Derek,” he said, “why shouldn’t Carl continue his services and his study, but with me? After all, you taught us both, and I’ve heard you express your admiration for him many times.”

“Carl is undoubtedly very accomplished.” Derek nodded. “But that has very little to do with why I chose to will the stone to you and not to him. In all seriousness, Haze, I have to insist that you more than promise me, that you swear to me right now, you will not pursue any kind of relationship with Carl.

He deserves to be left alone and to follow his own path.”

“All right, all right!” Haze nodded.

He also nearly giggled, but strictly due to the blow to his nerves. He was horribly bemused, not the least of it due to his agitation over his honesty being so thoroughly scrutinized. “Again, I promise to leave Carl alone, if that’s what you

SScontinued from page 4

US News “There were several officers standing over me that started joking about this is a lot of fun, we ought to come back and do this every week,” the complainant said.

Nine OPS complaints were filed.

Police said the raid was a response to alleged drug sales and backroom sex at the bar. The department said undercover officers had observed backroom sex on previous visits to the bar.

think is best.”

“I do.”

“Derek, I might be an idiot to even ask this question, but... well, why me?

Why, if you admire Carl so much, are you willing the stone to me and not to him?”

“I’ve already told you, Haze, although I think your ambition is keeping you from really hearing me.”

Haze smirked. “You’re being cryptic again.”

“Fair enough.” Derek licked his lips and leaned closer to Haze. “I’m willing the stone to you, Haze, and not to Carl because, frankly, I like Carl.” Δ Once the candles were placed in the proper pattern, Haze helped Derek to light them. All Derek would say about the ritual was that it would be performed during the Darkest Hour—three o’clock in the morning—and that all it required were the willing parties, the stone, its leather choker, an athame, and a blood offering.

Haze could barely contain his agitation. He tried to calm himself enough to light the candles without his hand trembling, but was wholly unable.

“No more coke for you, Haze.” Derek smiled at him. “You’re shaking.”

Haze grinned. “Yeah, okay. But I have no trouble admitting that I’m nervous. This is, after all, a major event.”

“Would you like some wine?” Derek asked. “It wouldn’t interfere with the ritual and it might calm your nerves.”

“Actually, that sounds like a good idea.” Haze shifted his eyes, preparing for the necessary deception. “But I think we should wait until afterward.

If my willingness to accept the stone is such a big deal, maybe I should be as lucid as possible.”

ACCESSline Page 9 However, no one was arrested on drug or sex charges during the earlier visits or the raid.

On Sept. 14, Police Chief Richard Pennington seemingly apologized for the raid or some aspect of it.

“It’s very unfortunate this incident occurred,” he said. “We are going to investigate and get to the bottom of it. I have a great relationship with the community. I’m sorry for what happened but I want to get to the bottom of this.”

Assistance: Bill Kelley

Derek didn’t speak for a moment, then: “All right.” He paused. “But you might have to pour for me before we toast to your new status. I don’t know how long it will take for the years to settle, but I very likely won’t be in any condition to manage a bottle of wine by myself.”

Haze stopped lighting candles and stared at his mentor. “Will you be in pain, Derek?”

“You’re worried.” Derek looked away and grinned. “How sweet.”

“Really, Derek, will it be terrible for you?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“But...” Haze shook his head and took a deep breath. “What happened the last time? When you accepted the stone, what happened to the woman who willed it to you? What happened to Marlena?”

“Ah.” Derek glanced at the ceiling.

“Marlena.” He smiled as though at a pleasant memory. “I haven’t thought of her in years.”

“Did she suffer?” Haze asked. “Once the stone was taken from her, did she suffer?”

“The stone wasn’t taken from her, Haze. She allowed me to remove it. But once she did, no, I can’t say that she suffered, although, she didn’t wait around long enough to find out.”

“What happened?”

“Marlena saw that the stone was secured around my neck and, yes, I could see her pallor shift toward gray as she did it. A few minutes later and I also saw lines around her eyes and at the corners of her mouth, lines that had never been there before. A spot or two had begun to appear above her lip and on her neck, as well. Just a minute or two later, though, she turned away from TTFICTION continued page 28

ACCESSline Page 10 SScontinued from page 6

CREEPS person was a predator, Anderson replied, “Well, if you disagree with that, that’s fine.

But every gay person in the Bible was a predator, from Genesis to Revelation.”

Woah. Every gay person in the Bible?

The Bible is “Tales of the City” all of a sudden?

When Colmes presses for more, Anderson says, “That’s what I believe, yes. And every gay person that I’ve ever known personally has been a predator.”

I am tempted to make a joke about every gay person Anderson has ever known Biblically. But I won’t.

Oh, and in case you weren’t sure what Anderson means by predator, he’s more than happy to elaborate. “A predator as in someone who tries to molest other people, tries to force people into things that they don’t want to do,” he says. “I believe that every homosexual in the world is a deviant, is evil and is a predator that is out to recruit others through molestation, through rape.

It’s in the news.”

Duh. Obviously predators are gay rapists. I guess I should re-watch that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, because I don’t remember that part at all.

Previous to this interview, Anderson ranted about Barney Frank, basically saying he was the secret leader of the country trying to make everyone gay. He has since apologized. Kind of. But he still insists that Frank is “perverted and that he’s sick and that I would put him in the category with the rest of homosexuals.” Keeping in mind, of course, that Anderson believes

Section 1: News & Politics all homosexuals, without exception, are rapist recruiters.

When Colmes points out the ridiculous nature of Anderson’s claim and tries to stand up for homos a bit, Anderson fires back, “You seem to think that there’s some difference between what we read about in the Bible and what’s going on today.”

To quote an old Sunday school song, “I hate homos, this I know. For the Bible tells me so...”

But don’t worry: Anderson has enough hate in him to go around. He thinks adulterers (which, obviously, would be straight people since there’s no such thing as a marriage between two people of the same sex in Anderson’s worldview) should be stoned to death. Not that he wants the job.

“I didn’t say I was going to do it, but that’s what the government should be doing,” he says.

Not that he likes the government.

President Obama “deserves to die because he’s a murderer” (of babies, of course).

Anderson actively prays for Obama’s death.

But not every night or anything. “I’m not that negative of a person,” he says.

Michael D. Duvall Oh, open microphones, you career ending menaces, you. Why must you insist on amplifying the voices of insolent, disgusting, hypocritical assholes like Michael D. Duvall?

In case you are unfamiliar, Duvall represents Orange County in the California Assembly and last year was a strong opponent of marriage equality for gays and lesbians.

According to OC Weekly, two days

after Duvall was put “on the Rules Committee that oversees member ethics – the second-term, conservative, Republican assemblyman sat in a public hearing and vividly described lewd details about his trysts with a female lobbyist whose clients had business before another committee on which Duvall sits.”

Duvall is the vice chairman of the Utilities & Commerce committee and the female lobbyist in question works for an energy company.

How vividly?

“She wears little eye-patch underwear,” he tells fellow Republican Jeff Miller. “So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And so, we had made love Wednesday – a lot! And so she’ll, she’s all, ‘I am going up and down the stairs, and you’re dripping out of me!

So messy!’”

Now, I am not an underwear expert.

But what is “eye-patch underwear” and how does one wear it? Is she wearing underwear on her face? Or does she have an eye in her nether regions? I am confused about this woman’s anatomy.

He continues, “So, I am getting into spanking her. Yeah, I like it. I like spanking her. She goes, ‘I know you like spanking me.’ I said, ‘Yeah! Because you’re such a bad girl!’”

Duvall also talked about a second ongoing affair. According to the OC: “Oh, she is hot! I talked to her yesterday. She goes, ‘So are we finished?’ I go, ‘No, we’re not finished.’ I go, ‘You know about the other one, but she doesn’t know about you!”

Uh, now she does. And Duvall’s wife

October 2009 and two children do, too.

“Duvall,” OC Weekly reports, “apparently had no idea his dais microphone became live beginning about a minute before the start of a cable-televised committee.”

Yes. Apparently.

On Sept. 9, Duvall posted an apology on his Web site, along with news that he was resigning. But he admitted no wrong doing.

“I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the assembly,” the statement reads. “I have come to the conclusion that it would not be fair to my family, my constituents or to my friends on both sides of the aisle to remain in office.”

How noble of him.

“I want to make it clear that my decision to resign is in no way an admission that I had an affair or affairs. My offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling and I regret my language and choice of words. The resulting media coverage was proving to be an unneeded distraction to my colleagues and I resigned in the hope that my decision would allow them to return to the business of the state.”

You see? Duvall was just taking one for the team. A man with class to spare until the end.

D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since 2003. She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe it!). When she’s not taking on the creeps of the world she reviews rock and roll shows in Detroit with her twin sister and teaches writing at the University of Michigan

ACCESSline’s fun guide “Cedar Rapids Famous” Returns Our Picks for October

Gay marriage comedy by award winning playwright, Joe Jennison, returns for a two night run at the Englert, October 23-24

Art by Lou Picek Alley Cabaret at the Englert Theatre will present the Iowa City premiere of “Cedar Rapids Famous” by Joe Jennison “Cedar Rapids Famous” is a one-act comedy set in and around Cedar Rapids before the Flood, during the 22-and-a-half hours when gay marriage was briefly legal in

Iowa in 2007. Jennison uses local references and a colorful 17-foot Czech peasant puppet to tell this funny fictional story of Cedar Rapids’ first legally married gay couple.

“Cedar Rapids Famous” is the sequel to Jennison’s award-winning play, “A Beautiful Man,” a contemporary comedy about unrequited love in the workplace. That play won Best of Fringe and Best Comedy awards at the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2003.

That same year, Jennison was a recipient of the San Francisco Dean Goodman Award for comedy writing. More recently, he has served as executive director of the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance, a group of more than 100 arts and culture organizations in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor.

“The Alley Cabaret: Live late-night theatre at the Englert,” is a late-night, nonalcoholic entertainment option for downtown Iowa City, and is a collaboration between the University of Iowa Division of Performing Arts and the Englert Theatre.

Fri-Sat Oct. 23 and 24 | midnight The Englert Theatre | 221 E. Washington St. | Iowa City | $5.00 | Patrons are asked to enter through the alley.

• 9/23-10/18, The Civic Center, Des Moines: WICKED • 10/3 8:00pm, The Englert, Iowa City: Buffy Lives! A BTVS Tribute & Sing-a-long • 10/9-10/17 7:30pm (Sunday 2pm), The Grand Opera House, Dubuque: The Full Monty • 10/11 7:30pm, Stephens Auditorium, Ames: Orquestra de Sao Paulo • 10/12 7pm, Des Moines Playhouse, Des Moines: A special staged reading of “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.”

• 10/14 7:30pm, Orpheum, Sioux City: The Wedding Singer – Broadway at the Orpheum • 10/16-10/18, 2009, Englert, Iowa City: Footloose • 10/21-10/22, Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha: Menopause The Musical • 10/22, 7:30pm, Stephens Auditorium, Ames: As You Like It • 10/23-10/24, Midnight, The Englert, Iowa City: Cedar Rapids Famous • 10/23, Waterloo Community Playhouse (Walker Building): Murder’s in the Heir • 10/24, Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines: Lisa Lampanelli • 10/24, Orpheum, Sioux City: The Sioux City Symphony– Grand Masters: Richard Steinbach/ Howard Helvey, duo piano • 10/25 3pm, Stephens Auditorium, Ames: Yamato Drummers • 10/30-10/31 10pm, The Grand Opera House, Dubuque: Rocky Horror Picture Show

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October 2009

The Outfield by Dan Woog ‘Stronghold’ stands up for wrestling

Wrestlers get erections.

That straightforward fact is the elephant in the wrestling room. And it’s just one of many controversial, often-ignored topics addressed by Victor Rook in his insightful new documentary, “Stronghold: In the Grip of Wrestling.”

Here are others: Vast numbers of men are sexually attracted to wrestling. As kids, they cut photos out of library wrestling books; as adults, they believe they must hide their interest.

Now – thanks to Rook’s film, an accompanying book and his WrestleMen.com Web site – wrestling fans are coming out of the closet.

Growing up near Buffalo, Rook did not wrestle. “I thought you had to be a short, thick-necked Italian,” he laughs. “I was tall and lanky. I played tennis.”

He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State, then worked as a technical writer for years. But in the late 1990s he realized two ambitions: He made a nature documentary for PBS, and he started wrestling.

After a wrestling cartoon he drew earned attention, he quit his job. Since 1998 WrestleMen.com has been his main source of income.

Through conversations with thousands of men – gay and straight, single and married – he realized his attraction to wrestling was far from unique.

In 2004, he decided to make a film. He wanted to address sensitive subjects like wrestling homoeroticism, but in a way that straight and gay men could both respect. He also wanted to include every form of wrestling: amateur, professional, submission and “horseplay.”

He posted a request for interviews on the Web site of USA Wrestling, the umbrella organization for high school and college grappling. It was removed on the grounds of “solicitation.” However, a similar request for a fictional film was allowed to remain.

Rook says that USAW did not want to be associated with lightning-rod issues. He notes, “That’s unfortunate. Those same issues – boys’ shame about their bodies, and homophobia – ultimately prevent more kids from getting into wrestling.”

As he traveled the country filming interviews, Rook felt pressure from two sides.

“Gays were afraid that this film may set back gay men who take wrestling seriously,” he says. “And straight audiences wanted nothing to do with anything that spoke of homoeroticism, even when kids make constant jokes about wrestling looking so ‘gay.’”

But clearly, interest was there. Every day for four years, Rook wore a wrestling T-shirt.

That made people feel comfortable initiating conversations. “In bars, guys have dumped their girlfriends to talk to me all night about wrestling,” Rook says.

Compared with the rest of filmmaking, the interviews were easy; finding archival footage was especially arduous. Rook spent months searching for clips in the public domain, and obtaining rights for others. But the many black-and-white and sepia pictures of boys and men wrestling through the ages provide graphic evidence that such activity has long been part of male life.

Rook spent enormous time organizing

his material. “Before you can talk about one thing, you have to cover another,” he notes.

For example, a section on “Masculinity and Wrestling” served as a lead-in to more sensitive discussions of arousal and eroticism later on.

Current events played a role too. When eBay banished all amateur-made wrestling videos to the “Mature Audiences” section – even those with no sexual content – Rook juxtaposed the decision with female and coed videos, which were not affected.

Cramming all that – while describing the stark distinction between scholastic and professional wrestling, the societal taboo against adult amateur wrestling and the underground world of wrestling for pleasure and gratification – into two hours was extremely difficult.

Rook ended up including an hour of material on an “extras” disc.

Reaction has been very positive. Men tell Rook they no longer feel alone or odd because

Victor Rook of their attraction to wrestling.

The film has been praised by coaches, too. Among the most compelling interviewees is a high school coach who seems surprised when he realizes he never addresses fears of erections, or the perception that all wrestlers are gay, with his young charges.

Rook hopes the video is seen by many scholastic coaches. “Listening to adult men talk about their fears and shame around wrestling growing up may help coaches become more sensitive to their wrestlers’ concerns,” he says.

Until then, Rook will be sustained by a conversation he had with a teenager. Advising him to ignore the gibes of those who call wrestling a “gay sport” – and to concentrate on the self-confidence, physical fitness and joy he takes from training and competition – Rook told the boy: “Don’t worry. It’s not about you. It’s about everyone else, and what they’re feeling.”

For more information on “Stronghold,” visit www.WrestlingFilm.com.

Editor’s Note: Arthur Breur, editor-inchief for ACCESSline, was a member of the Tampa Eagles Wrestling Team and appears in “Stronghold”.

Greg McMackin and the ‘Faggot Dance’ Here’s a colorful story.

University of Hawaii at Manoa football coach Greg McMackin used the word “faggot” not once, not twice, but three times in a recent press conference. The occasion was the Western Athletic Conference football preview in Salt Lake City. According to Dan Hinxman of the Reno Gazette- Journal, McMackin described Notre Dame players as performing “this little faggot dance” at a banquet before last year’s Hawaii Bowl. McMackin’s superiors were not amused. They suspended him without

pay for 30 days, and cut his salary by 7 percent.

His remarks cost him nearly $150,000. Some of the money will pay for a student intern in Hawaii’s gay student activities office.

Here’s The OutField’s take on McMackin’s mouth: The “little faggot dance” must have worked better than McMackin’s pre-Bowl preparation – which, interestingly, included Hawaii players’own dance (a ritual Polynesian Ha’a performance with presumably no homosexual elements). The faggoty Fighting Irish kicked Hawaii’s hetero butts, 49-21.

McMackin stuck his foot further in his mouth by asking reporters at the press conference not to write about his “faggot” comment – sort of. “Don’t write that ‘faggot’ down,” he pleaded. “Just please…cover for me. Go ahead, say ‘faggot dance.’ No. Please cover for me on that, too…I’ll deny it.” He added that he didn’t “want to…have every homosexual ticked off” at him.

So: no apology for saying “faggot.” A flailing hope that “faggot dance” would play better than mere “faggot.” And an admission that he’d lie about what he’d said – a tacit acknowledgment that he understood the power of words. At least he didn’t say that he didn’t want “every faggot” angry at him.

McMackin did make amends later – sort of. He said: “I’m sorry I said something so hurtful, and I’m very remorseful. I’ve offended the gay and lesbian community, and now I’m going to work with the LGBT community on campus to use this as a teachable moment for me and hopefully others. I’m very pained and disappointed in myself, and hope to make up for some of the pain I’ve caused others.

I’ve made a mistake and now I have to show leadership in dealing with both the football program and building respect for all people in our community.”

Give the man props: He did not fall back on the nauseating conditional: “If I offended anybody…”

He did volunteer to work without pay during his suspension. (Though perhaps he was worried that if he did not, he’d be assigned public service in, say, the University of Hawaii’s gay student activities office.)

McMackin will participate in a public service announcement describing how words can hurt. In addition, he will be a presenter during student orientations and support aware-

ness training for the athletics program. Perhaps he will meet some actual gay students during these events. It will be interesting to see the effect those encounters have on him, and whether he will demand of himself the same commitment that he presumably asks of his players during their practices and games.

If anyone needs a reminder, McMackin proves that money does not equal brains. His 7-percent pay cut of nearly $150,000 means he makes at least $1 million a year (more than the president of the university and governor combined). You’d think someone earning that salary would be smart enough to think before he speaks – and be aware of what to say when he does open his mouth.

McMackin is not the only one to blame in this incident. When he made his “faggot dance” comment, most of the sportswriters allegedly laughed. None later wrote about their own reactions to his “joke.”

Hawaii is famous for its polyglot demographics. It is the most racially integrated state in the U.S. – the only one where whites are not the majority, but rather only a third of the population. There are substantial Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian populations (though, our current president notwithstanding, few blacks).

One wonders what would have happened had McMackin used an ethnic slur for Asians – or African-Americans.

In a deliciously ironic twist, the University of Hawaii’s athletic teams are called the Rainbows – sort of. For years, the men’s teams’ nickname was Rainbow Warriors – complete with a colorful rainbow logo. But in a controversial marketing move in 2000, the logo was changed to a stylized “H,” and each team was allowed to call itself either Rainbow Warriors, Warriors, Rainbows, Rainbow Wahine or Wahine. The move was an acknowledgment, in part, that “rainbow” symbolizes something different on the mainland than it does on the islands.

The football team ran as far away as possible from any “rainbow” association. They chose Warriors.

Dan Woog is a journalist, educator, soccer coach, gay activist, and author of the “Jocks” series of books on gay male athletes.

Visit his Web site at www.danwoog.com. He can be reached care of this publication or at OutField@qsyndicate.com.

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IowaLisa’s List by Lisa Schreihart

Howdy folks!

This is a list of Iowa’s live music, arts, social events and culture for, by, featuring, and of interest to women and friends for October, into November. To submit events and announcements, or to sign up a friend to receive this list by e-mail, e-mail iowalisa@ juno.com. Visit me on Facebook at www. facebook.com/iowalisa or on MySpace at www.myspace.com/iowalisa. I’m on Twitter too (@iowalisa)!

ONE-TIME EVENTS: October is BREAST CANCER AWARENESS AND SUPPORT MONTH! Get your breast exam if you haven’t within the last year! Do self-breast exams monthly!

Support breast cancer research! The “Glass Half Full” music compilation album is a powerful, uplifting breath of fresh air for anyone going through a tough time these days and part of the proceeds benefit the Breast Cancer Fund and Share - a support organization for women with breast and ovarian cancer. To check this album out and order yourself a copy, visit <http://www. glasshalffullcd.com/>. It’s National Feel Your Boobies Week, 10-9 through 10-16.

Go to http://www.boobicon.me to create your own Boobicons. See the list below for more breast health related events.

Thursday, October 1, 8 p.m., CHERYL WHEELER at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts. org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Friday, October 2, 8 p.m., THE BOP ENSEMBLE at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts. org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Friday, October 2, 9 p.m., THE DIPLOMATS OF SOLID SOUND with THE DIPLOMETTES at The Mill Restaurant, 120 E. Burlington St., Iowa City. $7 cover.

For more info, visit www.icmil.com or call 319-351-9529.

Saturday, October 3, 3-11 p.m., GAY IN THE GATEWAY, presented by the Des Moines Social Club, in the Western Gateway Park District (13th St. between Grand and Locust Streets), downtown Des Moines. This is a family friendly community event for all ages! Highlights include: Acro-cats featuring “The Rock Cats” from Chicago for 2 shows at DMSC (Noon & 4 p.m.); DMSC Black Box Theater Production “Gaggle of Saints” @ 2 p.m.; Live Music acts singer songwriter Seth Glier (Boston), Indie Guitarist Emily White (Chicago) plus more musicians set to perform; Flying Pig Barn Dancing @ DMSC 8-11 p.m.; and After Hours Club featuring DJ Kelix Williams Midnight – 4 a.m. at DMSC! $5 GITG street party (includes 1 beer ticket) / $3 (no beer ticket). Kids 12 and under are FREE! Questions regarding interested vendors, performers, or the event itself, email gayinthegateway@yahoo.com.

Saturday, October 3, 8 a.m., Third Annual PINK RIBBON RUN, sponsored by the Cedar Falls Community Main Street organization in downtown Cedar Falls. The event starts and finishes in front of the Cedar Falls downtown library. All proceeds from the run benefit the Northeast Iowa Community Foundation’s Beyond Pink T.E.A.M. Door prizes and refreshments provided.

Cost to participate is $25 which includes a Pink Ribbon t-shirt and a pair of Fox River Sox. For more info or to register, visit www. communitymainstreet.org.

Saturday, October 3, 1-5 p.m.. WORKSHOP: HOW TO CREATE A RAIN GARDEN at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, 120 E. Boyson Rd., Hiawatha.

Rain gardens are a planted depression that allows rainwater runoff from driveways,

roofs and walkways to be absorbed into the ground (and out of storm drains). It’s shown rain gardens also can cut down on the amount of pollution reaching creeks and streams.

Participants will assist in the construction of a small rain garden. Instructor is Jason Grimm of the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development. Fee is $25 per person.

Register at www.prairiewoods.org.

Starting October 4, THE CEDAR RAPIDS ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL returns, featuring 11 films shown at various Cedar Rapids locations throughout the month of October. The films’ topics range from green building, water needs, to the environmental impact of war and new agricultural practices. Prairiewoods (www.prairiewoods. org) in Hiawatha will show the film, The Greening of Southie, on Sunday, October 4 at 1 p.m. The movie looks at the construction of a green building in south Boston. Following the film there will be an open discussion with local design expert Bruce Hamous. Free-will offering. For more info on the films, check out the festival’s Facebook page or go to www. treesforever.org.

Tuesday, October 6, 7-9 p.m., QUEER CONNECTIONS KICK-OFF at Hotel Vetro, downtown Iowa City. For more info, visit www.queerconnections.org. Come meet some area organizations, mingle with individuals involved in the community, and get involved yourself! Refreshments provided.

The Kickoff is the yearly event which gives GLBT friendly groups, businesses and organizations the chance to network and to showcase what they do for the LGBT community in the Iowa City area. Last year almost 40 organizations were represented and we had over 300 community members come and see the booths and enjoy the food and beverages.

Tuesday, October 6, 6-8:30 p.m., CEDAR RAPIDS MAYORAL DEBATE, at the Longbranch Hotel, Cedar Rapids, sponsored by ImpactCR. Starting at 6 p.m. the Candidates will be available for a meet and greet at the Longbranch Main Ballroom.

From 7 to 8:30 p.m., KGAN News Anchor Tiffany O’Donnell will moderate the debate asking questions from input provided by the general populace of Cedar Rapids and from members of the audience. If you would like to submit a question to the Candidates, send them to news@kgan.com.

Thursday, October 8, 8-9 a.m., CONQUER THE CORRIDOR, at the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce, downtown Cedar Rapids. Free; light breakfast and beverage provided. We know our community is filled with things to do and ways to get involved, but where should you go to find it all? Join us for Conquer the Corridor-an interactive program designed to get you familiar with everything Corridor including culture, nightlife, events, volunteer opportunities, and more! Whether you’re new to the area or have lived here your entire life, this FREE guide through our community will open your eyes to what the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area has to offer! For more info, e-mail klammer@ cedarrapids.org or call 319-730-1427.

Thursday, October 8, 8 p.m., SARA WATKINS of Nickel Creek, at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City. For tix, call 319-688-2653. Visit www.englert.org.

Thursday, October 8, 5:30 p.m., 28th Annual WAYPOINT TRIBUTE TO WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT at the Marriott Hotel, Cedar Rapids. More info: www.waypointservices.org, 319-365-1458 x121, angela.quell@waypointservices.org.

Cost is $85 per person, $680 for a table of 8, or $800 for a table of 10.

Thursday, October 8, MILEY CYRUS LIVE at Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines. For tix, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

October 8-18, BOOK OF LIZ, comedic theatre by David Sedaris and Amy Sedaris, about the adventures of a devoted maker of cheese balls who takes a job as a waitress, at University of Iowa Theatre, Iowa City. For more info, visit www.uiowa.edu/~theatre, and for tickets, visit www.hancher.uiowa. edu/tickets.

Friday, October 9, 8 p.m.-1 a.m., RONNIE NYLES returns for a rousing concert at Hamburger Mary’s, 222 Glenbrook Dr. SE (behind Taco John’s on 1st Ave.), Cedar Rapids. Visit www.hamburgermaryscr.com and www.ronnienyles.com.

Friday, October 9, 8 p.m., KRAUKA with guest artist KARI TAURING at CSPS/ Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids.

For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts.org or visit www. legionarts.org.

Saturday, October 10, 9:30 p.m., RONNIE NYLES in Dubuque at The Hub. Visit www.ronnienyles.com.

Saturday, October 10, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., FOOD FITNESS & FUN SHOW with Shawn Johnson, at the US Cellular Center, downtown Cedar Rapids. Admission $6, includes a HyVee coupon book. The convention features a wide array of exhibitors, demonstrations, lectures, cooking shows, food samples, fitness demonstrations, giveaways, and more!

Saturday, October 10, IOWA MEDICAL AID FUND partners with Emma Goldman Clinic for the annual IMAF auction and dinner, which raises money to assist women across the state of Iowa and in the Quad Cities who would otherwise not be able to pay for abortion services. The event will be at the Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids. For more info, e-mail emmagold@avalon.net.

Saturday-Sunday, October 10-11,

NATIONAL EQUALITY MARCH FOR LGBT RIGHTS, Washington, DC. For more info, visit www.nationalequalitymarch.com or contact: info@nationalequalitymarch.com.

Liz Bennett is asking for corporate, business, or individual sponsorship of area college students to attend the march in Washington.

To learn more about how to help, contact xstormgrrl@aol.com.

Sunday, October 11, NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY! Come on out and bring some friends along! Look in your Accessline for cool events to attend! Get info on the HRC website about the Coming Out Project: http:// www.hrc.org/issues/coming_out.asp.

Sunday, October 11, ESPECIALLY FOR YOU RACE AGAINST BREAST CANCER in Cedar Rapids, sponsored by Mercy Medical Center. Cindy Staton sings the at the race kickoff ceremony. For more info, visit www.especiallyforyourace.org.

Monday, October 12, 8 p.m., THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 Years Later, theatre at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts.org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Tuesday, October 13, 9 p.m., TUESDAY NIGHT SOCIAL CLUB with CAROLINE SMITH & The Goodnight Sleeps, at The Mill Restaurant, 120 E. Burlington St., Iowa City.

FREE! For more info, visit www.icmill.com or call 319-351-9529.

Friday, October 16, 4:30-8 p.m., WRAC SPAGHETTI DINNER, annual fundraiser for the Women’s Resource and Action Center at the U of Iowa. Featuring door prizes, a silent auction, friends, fun, and of course, great food! At Zion Lutheran Church, 310 N. Johnson St., Iowa City. Tickets for adults are $10 and for children under 12 are $5. For more info or an accommodation to attend, call 319-335-1486.

TTIOWALISA’S LIST continued page 24

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October 2009

Cocktail Chatter by Camper English Ice, Ice, Crabby Baby “May I see your ice?”

I heard myself asking the airport lounge bartender this, while realizing I sounded like a complete bar snob. (I am, of course, but I prefer silent condemnation over verbal abuse.) But I wasn’t judging her or her ice; I merely wanted to make an informed decision about my drink, and to do that I would need to know what type of ice I’d have in it.

It’s not so crazy. I know people who carry cocktail bitters in their bags in case bars don’t have them when they want a Manhattan, much the way old ladies carry Sweet ‘N Low in their purses in case they should find themselves with only real sugar for their decaf.

That’s just wacky- I would never bring an extra bag just to carry bitters in, unless of course it matched my outfit.

But the ice thing seemed crucial at the time. I felt it was too early in the day for a mixed drink like a Gin and Tonic, yet not too early for a stately glass of whisky. (My complicated system of proper cocktail timing is best left for another column.) But if I were to order a whisky, the bartender would ask me if I wanted it neat (room temperature, no ice) or on the rocks. This is a trick question if you haven’t seen the rocks.

This bar had a limited selection of whisky- no good single-malts that I would take neat (eliminating the ice problem), thus forcing me to choose between a blended scotch and a bourbon made in the good old US of A. With both of these I like some ice.

If the ice were concave, Chiclet-shaped non-cubes you get in a lot of bars, then a glass full of them would melt very fast and soon I’d have more water than bourbon. This is exactly the kind of ice you want for a Mint Julep where diluted ice is actually an ingredient in the drink, but I actually want rocks in my scotchon-the-rocks.

If the ice were regular -sized cubes then I could ask for just a few of them in the glass to achieve the proper dilutioncooling ratio. I knew better than to hope for the gorgeous, jumbo-sized ice spheres you only seem to get in very high-end bars, which make a glass of whisky last an hour without getting watery.

I realize that I sound like a crabby baby whining about ice cubes now, but really I’m a pleasant person. Case in point: At the airport lounge, I caught myself asking about the ice and stopped. “Actually, never mind,” I said.

“May I please have a bourbon, neat, and also a glass of ice water?”

Back at my table I fished out the appropriate number of cubes from the ice water to add

to the whiskey, and then drank both glasses.

After all, I was getting a plane and it’s good to stay hydrated.

Farm-Fresh Cocktails Filling my bag with fresh fruits, veggies, and herbs at the farmer’s market or produce aisle of the grocery store, smelling the winter citrus and autumn spices, and planning out the menu for the week ahead: It’s enough to make a person really thirsty.

Innovative mixologists across the country have become obsessed with putting food ingredients into drink form, giving us Bacon Bloody Marys, Avocado Daiquiris, and Pumpkin Cocktails. They’re also working hard on putting drinks in food form, from Liquid Nitrogen Caipirinhas to Gin and Tonic Gelatin to Deconstructed Negronis.

But getting your recommended serving of fruits and veggies served in a glass can be a lot easier than all that.

The simplest way to drink your produce is to mash it up and suck it down. Citrus fruit like oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes makes for easy juicing, but you can also muddle a lot of juice out of other produce like pears, nectarines, peaches, plums, apricots, kiwi, pineapples, and grapes. Just chop them up (removing any large pits), drop them into the bottom of a mixing glass, and start smashing away with your muddler.

To build a drink around fresh muddled produce, add some vodka to the mixing glass and a sweetener, then shake it with ice and strain it into a new glass. Fill with ice and soda water and you’ve got a farm-fresh vodka soda.

This procedure is almost the same as making lemonade (with vodka), so you shouldn’t need to write down the recipe.

About that sweetener—if you’re just adding orange juice to a vodka soda you may not need any, but most tart and acidic citrus and other fruit will need a sweetening component for proper balance. By the way, this is the trick to making many cocktails: balancing sweetness with acidity. Understand that and you’ll go far, young bartender.

There are many sweetening options to chose from, including homemade simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water), honey, or a liqueur like triple sec, the sweetener that balances the lime in a Margarita.

As this is a column about putting fresh produce into your drinks, I also suggest you put it into your sweetener. Heat equal parts sugar and water then remove it from heat and toss in fresh herbs like mint, basil, lemongrass, or cilantro. Be sure not to burn them or your syrup will taste wilted instead of wonderful.

You can also make spicy syrups with hot peppers or ginger, or simmer dried spices like black peppercorns, allspice, cinnamon, and vanilla.

For all syrups, stir the ingredients for several minutes to an hour to extract all the flavor you can. Then strain out any solids and store the syrup in the refrigerator where it will keep for several weeks. With homemade farm-fresh syrup on hand, you’ll always have the ingredients to put produce into your diet, even if you’re on a liquid diet for the night.

Camper English is a cocktails and spirits writer and publisher of Alcademics.com.

October 2009

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Deep Inside Hollywood by Romeo San Vicente Replacing Abdul, one gay judge at a time They took away the only ray of sunshine on the American Idol judging panel. And though it was a sad day for everyone except Paula Abdul—who is filthy rich and doesn’t need your pity—the news has only gotten better and better as the substitute roll call of guest judges for Season 9 goes on. First it was the Posh Spice announcement (Could any thinking person question her judging prowess after her Project Runway/Christian Siriano lovefest?), and now Renaissance Gay Neil Patrick Harris, who seems intent on insinuating himself into the hearts and minds of every last person in America, has already taped segments where he assists Randy, Simon and Kara in weeding out the people who show up dressed as The Statue of Liberty and Baby New Year. You won’t see it until January of 2010, of course, and by then NPH will probably have run for Senator of Utah and won in a landslide.

Beatles manager to hide his love away on film It’s never the first bit of trivia you learn when discussing the Beatles, that a gay guy more or less discovered and managed the band until his death in 1967. Brian Epstein remained closeted until he died at age 32 of an overdose and was even rumored to have had a brief fling with John Lennon. (Lennon said it never happened, though the 1991 indie film The Hours and Times imagines another scenario.) And now Epstein’s short but very interesting life is being turned into a film called, for now, A Life in the Day.

No casting news yet, but expect a downbeat no-happy-endings sort of thing (not counting the aesthetic thrills to be had from period details and advancements in the creation of realistic moptop wigs) to emerge when the final product hits screens in 2012.

Gus Van Sant is still Restless

Gus Van Sant. Photo: Focus Features Who likes young talent more than Gus Van Sant? OK, maybe some other big deal directors do on their days off, but Van Sant has consistently found new creative energy to champion publically, especially when that energy looks like Matt Damon. To be fair, how young blonde and tousle-haired screenwriter Jason Lew happens to be is unknown at this time, but his script, Restless, has the Milk director smitten enough to take it on as a new project. The story of a gloomy, graveyard-obsessed Harold and Maude-like young man and the romance he begins with a girl who has only six months to live will be Van Sant’s next small film (budget: approx

$15 million, a drop in the bucket by Hollywood standards) and is all but guaranteed to become a touchstone of Emo Kid cinema culture. Time to start clearing the rights to those Morrissey songs.

Guiding Light lesbians go viral After approximately 200 years on radio and then daytime TV, The Guilding Light will see its last episode air on Sept. 18. Everyone gets cancelled eventually. But what about “Otalia,” the combo name fans have given lesbian characters Olivia and Natalia? Where will they go? What will become of them?

Well, actresses Crystal Chappell and Jessica

Leccia, who play the dynamic duo, have decided to keep a version of their story alive via online webisodes. Though the names will be changed thanks to silly entertainment laws, the pair will be featured on a new online series called Venice, which is also set to feature the best L Word villainess ever, Elizabeth Keener (Dawn Denbo!), in a recurring role. In other words: Hurry up, Internet! This can’t happen soon enough for Romeo’s taste.

Romeo San Vicente stays away from Venice Beach to avoid making the weightlifters feel inferior about their progress. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.

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Just K.I.S.S. by Beau Fodor “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; Making the complicated simple, AWESOMELY simple, that’s creativity.” Charles Mingus This quote has become my mantra since the beginning of destination Gay Wedding planning in Iowa. Although marriages of ancient (and not so ancient) times had couples’ thumbs or hands simply tied together with leather, lace, or heirloom ribbons, thereby “tying the knot”, today we have SO much to think about when it comes to saying “I DO”. We can all feel overwhelmed by the enormity of creating what is often the most important day of our lives. Couples want their dream day to be totally infused with the spirit and magic of their love and combined personalities, but are clueless on how to achieve that. When I meet a couple for the initial consultation to discuss their wedding, my first piece of advice is to K.I.S.S. Keep It Stylishly Simple!

Simplicity, to me anyway, is timeless.

It is both classic and contemporary, yet elegant and unfussy. Going for trendy, or following the latest fad, is mediocre at best and leaves the door open to become a huge budget-buster. A simply designed wedding is always less wasteful, much more stylish, and usually much more cost effective.

One of my first (and still favorite) gay weddings earlier this spring was created with one of the smallest budgets EVER… Since then, with a dozen destination weddings under my belt, one common denominator has been part of the rest: SIMPLICITY! Most of these budgets have been spent on travel and accommodations, and no matter the type of ceremony or reception, whether a hotel ballroom, organic garden, farmhouse, or tent, keeping it simple yet stylish has been my focus and biggest challenge.

But simple is not the same as cheap...

A simple wedding can be inexpensive or extremely luxurious (like an upcoming winter wedding with a $35K budget), depending on the details, must-haves, and other elements involved. Those details— colors, musicians, flowers, menus, attire, etc.—come after the most important decision of where it all starts: the location. Simplicity here means limiting those colors, materials and decor ideas to achieve a stronger visual effect. Simple weddings don’t have to “look it”. They are focused and in harmony with your sensibilities and your environment.

NEVER make your design choices in favor

Beau Fodor of “a look” if it compromises your guests’ abilities to enjoy themselves.

The best weddings so far have been very comfortable parties, where everyone is relaxed and “feeling the love”.

After choosing your venues, the fun begins... just focus on a maximum of three colors in each area you are designing.

Follow the same rules with the flowers. In fact, follow this throughout as many of the modalities as possible and you’ll be in awe of the stunning effect. And simple doesn’t mean minimal, either. Single elements, such as candlelight, or just one type of flower, repeated and multiplied, can become an extravagance of simplicity!

Weddings should have a unifying theme.

When your design choices provide this (from fonts to flowers to foods) your wedding isn’t just more appealing, but simplifies the planning process from the start.

Simplicity is well planned. And simple is almost always more cost-effective (even with the $35K winter wedding!). The result will be worth the effort.

And on your 25th wedding anniversary, you’ll toast to the memories of your fabulous, romantic day that was filled with each other’s great sense and even greater style…

This I promise!!!

“It will be interesting to see how (new judge Ellen) DeGeneres relates to the gaydar-scrambling parade of ‘(American) Idol’ contestants who, with the network’s PR assistance, mainly deflect the issue of their sexual orientation as irrelevant to the task at hand, which is pop stardom and mainstream marketing, which turned youngsters such as Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert into the most curious sort of modern-day closet cases. Ellen knows a thing or two about that — when orientation is relevant and when it is not — and it remains to be seen if she’ll be able to bring this sort of nuance to the clear-plastic desk of decision.”

— Washington Post TV critic Hank Stuever on the selection of Ellen DeGeneres to replace Paula Abdul as a judge on American Idol, Sept. 11.

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Out of Town: Palm Springs, California by Andrew Collins Few places in the world can claim the sheer quantity of gay-friendly accommodations that Palm Springs does - you’ll find resorts, most of them clothing-optional and male-oriented, set throughout town. In recent years, many Palm Springs properties have undergone extensive and impressive, upgrades.

Even better news for visitors interested in staying at a gay-friendly but not necessarily gay-exclusive property: a slew of historic boutique hotels and mainstream resorts have been given retro-chic makeovers, and many of these stylish pads have begun actively jockeying for a slice of the LGBT tourism pie. Several new spots have opened here, too.

If you love Palm Springs, but you’re not so much a fan of clothing-optional, single-gender accommodations, you’ve got plenty of great gay-friendly choices.

Now for the tricky part: with so many great choices, it can be challenging deciding where to stay. With that in mind, here’s a cheat sheet detailing a good variety of the city’s best gay-exclusive and gay-friendly accommodations.

Getting Your Spa On… A couple of gay resorts in town have impressive, full-service spas among their amenities. The already quite successful men’s getaway, La Dolce Vita, opened a small, high-quality spa in 2009 - here you can book any number of enticing treatments, including deep-hydration facials (definitely helpful in arid Palm Springs) and seaweed-infused body wraps. This friendly 20-room resort with two pools and airy, smartly furnished rooms is set along a quiet residential street yet just a short walk from several great restaurants.

The plush East Canyon Resort, which caters mostly to gay men but also welcomes women (it’s not clothing-optional) became the first gay resort in town to open a fullservice spa - complete with facials, massage, body treatments, and shiatsu. Since it opened several years ago, it’s been one of the most talked-about gay getaways in the West. This lushly landscaped Spanish Colonial complex has large, handsome rooms with Sony stereos with MP3 inputs, DVDs, large flat-screen TVs, top-quality linens, and earthy desert tones.

Some Gay Guy’s Faves It’s sometimes tough to distinguish the many properties in the Warm Sands neighborhood, home to about a dozen gay resorts.

Hacienda Warm Sands deserves consideration for being the best of them all. In-room accents, depending on the suite, include Saltillo-tile floors, Asian rugs, teak and bamboo furniture, double showers, and custom kitchens with high-end appliances. Rates include some of the most lavish breakfasts and lunches of any resort in town. One of the friskier men’s resorts, nearby Inndulge has 24 rooms and draws a lively, sexually open bunch (the 12-man hot tub is very popular). The staff is fun-loving, accommodations are spacious and bright, and the pool is one of the best in town.

A stellar choice in the San Lorenzo area, a few blocks south, is Santiago, whose 24 large rooms (furnished with contemporary lightwood furniture and VCR-DVD-CD players) overlook a huge rectangular pool - there’s also a 12-man sauna. Another reliable spot along the same street is Chestnutz, which has been going strong for nearly 15 years. This laid-back spot with a loyal repeat clientele has a nice variety

Warm Sands area, but it’s a relatively quiet and private space. There’s a beautiful patio affording great views of the mountains, and rooms have such thoughtful touches as LATHER-brand bath amenities and flat-panel TVs with DVD players.

Where the Women Are The majority of lesbians who vacation in Palm Springs choose a mainstream hotel, but the town does have a pair of superb women-oriented resorts.

Upscale Casitas Laquita is a hip and attractive complex of Spanish Mission-inspired casitas - many with kivastyle fireplaces and all with full kitchens. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous, with an on-site barbecue and a small basement library-lounge where guests Rooms and patios at the ultra-hip Ace Hotel & Swim Club, sometimes mingle. In-room one of the newest gay-friendly properties in Palm Springs. spa treatments are available.

Queen of Hearts is also a Photo by Andrew Collins real stunner, and it’s a great value year-round.

Again, Southwestern-style of rooms, some with full kitchens and private decor predominates, and rooms have tile floors, patios. The owners are highly knowledgeable VCRs, hair dryers, fine linens, and sumptuabout area dining and nightlife, and the extenous furnishings; several have kitchens. The sive grounds carefully maintained. grounds are bright and striking, with orange Friendly and enthusiastic owners operate over Terrazzo guest house, and they’ve made trees, strings of white lights, and a pretty pool plenty of notable upgrades over the years. This that’s bikini-top-optional. is a laid-back place with Southwestern-inspired decor, and the staff works hard to make guests Swank Mainstream Resorts The talk of the town in 2009 among fans feel pampered - a full complement of breakfast, lunch, and snack foods is included. The only of posh resorts was the re-opening of the Palm slight drawback is a bit of noise from the busy Springs Riviera Resort & Spa, a smashingly road outside. Another men’s spot that’s been stylish - some might say over-the-top - property gaining in popularity in recent years, in part that has undergone a spectacular transformathanks to the hard work of its efficient and tion. Set across 24 acres and with several wings friendly owners, is the Spanish-style Warm of dramatically decorated rooms and suites Sands Villas, which lies right in the heart of set around two large and scene-y pools, the the neighborhood for which its named. The 27 Riviera draws plenty of bon vivants with its attractively refurbished rooms have beautiful fabulous SpaTerre, which offers a full slate of stonework, and some larger units have kitchens Indonesian- and Thai-style treatments, and the hip Circa 59 Restaurant, which serves first-rate and fireplaces. contemporary American food. The centrally located Renaissance Palm Springs, slated Cozier Men’s Properties An intimate, relative newcomer to Palm to open early in 2010, is actually an elegant Springs, the handsomely furnished and well- refurbishment of the former Wyndham Palm priced Casa Ocotillo is a terrific little gem. Springs (which remains open as a Wyndham The artfully restored 1930s hacienda has just until this time). This venerable property has six suites and bungalows, each with distinc- been host of many gay parties in Palm Springs, tive, individually furnished rooms. Offering a but it’s been much in need of the makeover luxurious, romantic vibe with reasonable rates, it will be receiving from Marriott Hotels, of this secluded yet centrally located getaway has which the Renaissance brand is a part. such handy amenities as a fully stocked guest kitchen, a small but attractive pool, and even Stylish Boutique Hotels A whimsical and ultra-hip newcomer is some pet-friendly rooms.

Another terrific spot that’s also notable the gay-popular Ace Hotel & Swim Club, part because it dates to the 1950s and ranks among of a Portland, Oregon-based brand of offbeat the city’s most distinctive examples of mid- lodgings. This distinctive property has all sorts century modern architecture, Triangle Inn of cool attributes, including spa and an expanhas fun, helpful hosts and attracts a similarly sive pool and sundeck (the Swim Club) and a easygoing and friendly clientele. In addition to funny restaurant (King’s Highway) and bar (the eight beautifully furnished suites (some with Amigo Room), where scenesters mingle over full kitchens), there’s a four-bedroom house tasty modern-diner fare and groovy cocktails.

- a nice option for groups of friends planning Indeed, this youthful, social resort has been a vacation together. Furnished with striking well-received by 20- and 30-somethings. The mid-century modern furniture done in bold, retro rooms are a trip, each with old-school elegant colors, the Century Palms Springs is turntables and vintage LPs from the ‘60s and close to the cluster of very social resorts in the ‘70s, low-slung beds, and honor bars stocked

with plenty of top-shelf booze and unusual snacks.

Close to the gay nightlife along Arenas Road, the posh Hotel Zoso is another notable design-minded property, its luxurious rooms done with such contemporary items as Herman Miller desk chairs, Bodum coffee presses, and Aveda bath products. Guests can nosh on tasty food in the mod restaurant, Eatz, and or sip wine in the jazzy lounge, Z Bar. The Viceroy Hotel is Palm Springs’ chicest small hotel, a favorite of celebs (Barry Manilow often stops by the chichi white-onwhite bar-restaurant, Citron). Many of the 70 units have full kitchens and hot tubs. It’s the kind of place that revels in its shag carpeting and retro-glamorous appearance. Orbit In comprises two funky properties, the Hideaway and the Oasis, both of which contain curvaceous, low-slung furnishings, many of them created by interior design legends of the 1940s through ‘60s. Guests can order facials, wraps, and massage treatments from the extensive spa menu.

Andrew Collins covers gay travel for the New York Times-owned website About.com and is the author of Fodor’s Gay Guide to the USA. He can be reached care of this publication or at OutofTown@qsyndicate.com.

The Little Black Book -- Ace Hotel & Swim Club 760-325-9910

www.acehotel.com/palmsprings -- Casa Ocotillo 800-996-4108

www.casaocotillo.com -- Casitas Laquita 760-416-9999

www.casitaslaquita.com -- Century Palm Springs 800-475-5188

www.centurypalmsprings.com -- Chestnutz 800-621-6973

www.chestnutz.com -- East Canyon Hotel & Spa 877-324-6835 www.eastcanyonps.com -- Hacienda at Warm Sands 800-359-2007 www.thehacienda.com -- Hotel Zoso 760-325-9676

www.hotelzoso.com -- Inndulge 800-833-5675

www.pridenation.com/inndulge -- La Dolce Vita Resort & Spa

877-644-4111

www.ladolcevitaresort.com -- Orbit In www.orbitin.com -- Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism 760-778-8415 or 800-927-7256

www.palm-springs.org -- Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Spa

866-588-8311 www.psriviera.com -- Queen of Hearts 888-275-9903

www.queenofheartsps.com -- Renaissance Palm Springs (formerly Wyndham Palm Springs)

760-322-6000, www.marriott.com -- Santiago Resort 800-710-7729

www.santiagoresort.com -- Terrazzo 866-837-7996

www.terrazzo-ps.com -- Triangle Inn 800-732-7555 www.triangle-inn.com -- Viceroy 800-237-3687

www.viceroypalmsprings.com -- Warm Sands Villas 800-357-5695

www.warmsandsvillas.com

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IowaLisa’s List Friday, October 16, 6-9:30 p.m., BREWNOST!, an International Beer Tasting to Benefit the National Czech & Slovak Museum and Library, at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, 410 3rd Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. Featuring beers from around the world, appetizers from area restaurants, live music, an ethnic old world market, access to CRMA art galleries, and more! Reserve your space at www.NCSML.org or call 319-447-5533.

Thursday-Friday, October 16-17, SPT Theatre (featuring Janelle Lauer) at CSPS/ Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids.

For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts.org or visit www. legionarts.org. This season’s show is called Face to Face and features duets.

Thursday-Saturday, October 16-18, FOOTLOOSE, The Musical, at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City. Presented by the Young Footliters.

For tix, call 319-688-2653 or visit www. englert.org.

Sunday, October 18, 7 p.m., MELISSA GREENER at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts. org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Wednesday, October 21, 8 p.m., MARIA MULDAUR at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts. org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Thursday, October 22, 8 p.m., MARIA MULDAUR at The Washington, 306 Washington St., Burlington. For more info, call 319-758-9553.

Wednesday, October 21, 7:30 p.m., LINDSAY MAC BAND at The Englert

Across 1 The T of NGLTF 5 Sharon of If These Walls Could Talk 2 10 La Douce role of Shirley 14 Think tank output 15 Do this with the International Male catalog 16 Bottomless 17 Parker, who plays Nancy on Weeds 19 Pound sound 20 Tachometer’s meas.

21 Day one 22 With 52-Across, Isabelle portrayer on Weeds 23 Simpson case judge 24 Lube brand 25 Most despicable 26 Court giant 28 Straight-laced 30 CBS show in which semen may be evidence 31 Ford lemon that was not fruitful 32 YMCA, for example 33 Pronto on “ER” 34 Perkins, who plays Celia on Weeds 37 ___ It Like Beckham 40 Catch them at P-town 41 Events for Bruce Hayes 45 Madonna’s Peron role 46 ___ d’oeuvre 47 Novelist Maso 48 Hang on to 50 Hillary’s Wellesley classmate MacGraw 51 Left Coast airport letters 52 See 22-Across 53 “Death ___ Proud” 55 Medium skill

Q-PUZZLE: “Women We’d Seen”

56 Kind of bonding 57 Alanis, who plays a doctor on Weeds 59 Gomer’s “anti” 60 Prop department jewelry 61 Recipe instruction 62 RuPaul’s application

63 Alexander, with “the” 64 Splinter group Down 1 Evita lyricist 2 Made fit

October 2009 Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City. She plays a cello like a guitar and will wow you with her powerful pop. She has been featured on the cover of the Boston Globe & Strings Magazine, and was named one of public radio’s “Artists You Need To Know 2009” by WFUV in New York City.

For tix, call 319-688-2653 or visit www. englert.org.

Thursday, October 22, ROBIN & LINDA WILLIAMS at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City.

For tix, call 319-688-2653 or visit www. englert.org.

Saturday, October 24, 1-4 p.m., PRIDE FOOTBALL at Noelridge Park, Cedar Rapids, sponsored by the Eastern Iowa Pride Coalition. $150 per 8-10 person team, or $15 per person. Every who registers will play.

Sign-in begins at 12:30 p.m. Registration deadline is Oct. 16. Register and get more info at www.crglrc.org. Proceeds benefit local pride events.

Saturday, October 24, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., IOWA BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION FALL BAZAAR, at the Kirkwood Training and Outreach Center, 3375 Armar Drive, Marion. For more info, contact Marsha at 319-270-0799.

Sunday, October 25, 7 p.m., FODfest at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-3641580, e-mail info@legionarts.org or visit www.legionarts.org. Various artists and lots of surprises! Check out http://fodfest.org.

Thursday-Saturday, October 29-31, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (live theatre) at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts.org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Friday-Sunday, October 30-November 1, MAMMA MIA at the Gallagher Bluedorn Center for the Performing Arts, on the

3 Talks, to Jane Spahr 4 Second name in cosmetics 5 Cornhusker rival 6 Type of fund 7 Comics canine 8 Kristy McNichol sitcom Empty ___ 9 Before, to poets 10 Pastoral poem 11 Word on a Barney Frank poster 12 “Talking to My Angel” singer Etheridge 13 Word after bon 18 Poet Amy 22 Draw a bead on 25 You may pick up one with gaydar 27 Began like Sheehan, with “off” 28 Shakespeare output 29 Massages 32 Peter the Great, for example 33 Femme’s Guide to the Universe author Rednour 35 Muscle Marys pump it 36 Characteristics 37 “Anastasia” Oscar-winner Ingrid 38 Dame Edna 39 Barney who romanced Romaine 42 Claudine at School author 43 Like some bands 44 Susie Bright nickname 46 Single, to Glenn Burke 47 State of secrecy 49 In regard to 50 Antigay crusader Bryant 53 Wild pig 54 Language of Wilde’s land 57 Car ad stat 58 Sink-trap shape • SOLUTION ON PAGE 27

October 2009 campus of the University of Northern Iowa.

For tickets, visit www.unitix.uni.edu or for more info, visit www.gbpac.org.

Saturday, October 31, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (the movie) at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City. For tix, call 319-6882653 or visit www.englert.org.

Friday, November 6, JOAN RIVERS at the Diamond Jo Casino’s Mississippi Moon Bar, at the Port of Dubuque. For more info and tix, go to www.diamondjo.com.

Friday, November 6, 9 p.m., 80’s LADIES NIGHT at Hamburger Mary’s, 222 Glenbrook Dr., Cedar Rapids (behind Taco John’s off of 1st Ave. SE), featuring JODIE FOSTER CONNECTION. Sunday, November 8, 6-10 p.m., ALLIOWA AIDS BENEFIT, Des Moines.

Friday, November 13, DAITHI SPROULE and LAURA MACKENZIE play their Celtic stylings at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City.

For tix, call 319-688-2653 or visit www. englert.org.

November 13-21, REEFER MADNESS, theatre about the hysteria caused when cleancut kids fall prey to the evils of marijuana, presented by University of Iowa Theatre, Iowa City. For more info, visit www.uiowa. edu/~theatre, and for tickets, visit www. hancher.uiowa.edu/tickets.

Saturday, November 14, SIGHT & SOUND, “Celebrate the Unexpected,” a bi-annual gala supporting the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and Orchestra Iowa, at the Cedar Rapids Country Club. For more info or to purchase tix, call 319-366-7503.

Saturday, November 14, Comedian PAULA POUNDSTONE, at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City. For tix, call 319-688-2653 or visit www.englert.org.

Monday, November 16, 8 p.m., KERI NOBLE at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts.org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Monday, November 23, LORIE LINE, An Intimate Christmas, at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., downtown Iowa City. For tix, call 319-688-2653 or visit www.englert.org.

Friday, November 27, 8 p.m., HOLIDAY SHOW with MEG HUTCHINSON, ANTJE DUVEKOT,ANNE HEATON and NATALIA ZUCKERMAN at CSPS/Legion Arts, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. For more info or tix, call 319-364-1580, e-mail info@legionarts. org or visit www.legionarts.org.

Thanks for supporting live music, women in the arts, and your community!

Lisa iowalisa@juno.com

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Maine with schools. ‘After Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, our son came home and told us the school taught him that boys can marry other boys. He’s in second grade! We tried to stop public schools from teaching children about gay marriage, but the courts said we had no right to object or pull him out of class.’ It’s already happened in Massachusetts. Vote yes on Question 1 to prevent homosexual marriage from being taught in Maine schools.”

The gay side in Maine -- called NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality -- has aired two response ads. The first one said: “Schools should be safe havens where children can learn and be accepted. In Maine, we protect all families, and we all want to keep our children safe. That’s the Maine way. But outsiders are trying to harm our kids in schools by deceiving families about what’s taught in Maine classrooms. It won’t work, because in Maine all families put children first. ‘I’ve been teaching in Maine schools since 1983. We teach respect and Maine values. That will never change.’ Vote no on 1 to protect Maine equality.”

The second response ad, released Sept. 25, says: “In Maine, we’re proud of every family and every child, regardless of who their parents are. That’s the Maine way. But outsiders are trying to harm our kids and make them feel ashamed by making false claims about what’s taught in Maine classrooms. They’re baseless, untrue. It won’t work.

‘Schools should be safe havens for children, places where all children feel welcome, accepted and safe.’ Vote no on 1 to protect marriage equality.”

If the shocking language of the “yes” side sounds familiar, and the mild language of the “no” side sounds familiar, it should. It happened before. In California.

“The religious right is targeting marriage equality in Maine with big money and false attacks, virtually identical to the fearmongering strategies in 2008’s Proposition 8 campaign in California,” said People for the American Way. Said writer Andrew Sullivan: “The anti-gay forces are pounding Maine with exactly the same scare tactics that worked in California. Most of the pro-gay ads are as lame as they were in California as well.”

Indeed, some activists are concerned that NO on 1/

October 2009 Protect Maine Equality is on a path to repeat the failed No on 8 campaign in California. Blogger Phillip Minton (unitethefight.org) summarized the concern Sept. 17.

“We knew (from the Prop 8 battle in California) what the opposition was going to say (in Maine),” Minton wrote.

“Shouldn’t we have had an ad on the air already addressing these specific concerns before the Yes on 1 opened their lying mouths? ... We need to kill their arguments before they even voice them. We need to tell Mainers: ‘You’re going to hear that marriage is going to be taught in schools, but you have the power to decide that yourself in your districts. You’re going to hear that your church is going to be sued, but you already have protections in place by law. The other side is going to try and confuse this issue, to state things that are not in the law. They want to mislead you. They will lie to you. This is not about curriculum, not about religion. What this is about is civil marriage for all. It’s about protecting families. It’s about being fair.’ But that’s just a start. It’s got to hit harder.

Expose the lies as lies.”

NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality Campaign Manager Jesse Connolly doesn’t seem worried, however.

Writing at Daily Kos on Sept. 18, he said: “We feel confident that we have the right strategy and we’re running a Maine-based campaign. We have organized an unprecedented grassroots effort with organizers on the ground in every county, on every college campus, in towns and cities across Maine and reaching out to Maine people from Kittery to Fort Kent.

Our campaign emphasizes Mainers talking to their friends, neighbors, coworkers and families to build the support we need to win on November 3rd.”

If that sounds familiar, it should. That’s how Harvey Milk and friends beat Proposition 6 in California in 1978. Prop 6 would have banned gays from teaching school.

But in the intervening 30 years, the anti-gay side has honed its rhetoric to near-perfect pitch. GLBT Californians watching the Maine campaign have a distinct feeling of déjà vu -- if not one of dread.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont. There also are 18,000 married same-sex couples in California, though voters have banned any more same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage becomes legal in New Hampshire in January.

Assistance: Bill Kelley

Lambda Legal Joins Fair Wisconsin

15,000 Wisconsin Same-Sex Couples Need Domestic Partnership Law for Times of Illness and Crisis Madison, Wisconsin September 22, 2009 -- In court papers that will be filed today, Lambda Legal is seeking to intervene on behalf of Fair Wisconsin and its members in a lawsuit brought by an antigay 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. The law is far from marriage equality, but it helps couples in times of illness and crisis,” said Christopher Clark, Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office based in Chicago.

“We plan to vigorously defend the important legal protections that the legislature validly enacted to protect Wisconsin citizens.”

“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,” added Clark.

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 27 years. Fair Wisconsin, the main opponents to the 2006 amendment banning marriage equality and civil unions, 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,” said Katie Belanger, Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin. “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, 2009, 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.

Wisconsin Family Action, an antigay group, filed a lawsuit against the state arguing that the domestic partnership law is a violation of the antigay constitutional amendment barring marriage equality. After Wisconsin Attorney General Van Hollen 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 workplace 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.

Said Kopitze, “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. 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.”

ACLU also filed court papers today to intervene in the Appling v. Doyle case on behalf of five same-sex couples.

ACLU, like Lambda Legal, says domestic partnerships and marriages are not “substantially similar.”

ACCESSline Page 27 Section 3: Community StageWest and Des Moines Playhouse Annual All Iowa AIDS Benefit, Part of National Theatre Event, October 12 Sunday, Nov.8th by Frank M. Vaia

October 2009

Dena Cass to be among Emcees at 23rd Annual All Iowa AIDS Benefit Sunday, Nov.8th Get set for an exciting evening! The 23 Annual All Iowa AIDS Benefit variety show and auction will be co-emceed by Dena Cass, world-class female impersonator. Sometimes called “the 8th wonder of the World, Dena has won scores of national, regional and state titles to include Miss Gay Iowa 2007, Miss International Plus 2004 (State and Regional), Miss Southern States National 2002, Miss Gay USofA at Large 1998, Miss Continental Plus 1997, and many more. “We are truly thrilled to have her”, admits Anthony Marinaro, one of co-emcees and event planners. Sonya Heitshusen, a news anchor with WHO/TV in Des Moines, will anchor along with Cass and Marinaro.

Congressman Leonard Boswell will serve as auctioneer.

Presented by the AIDS Project of Central Iowa, this year’s event will again be held at Des Moines’s Embassy Suites on the River, 101. E. Locust St. Pre-show-entertainment and a live auction will be held in the lobby of the hotel from 5 to 6 pm prior to the opening of the Grand Ballroom where an enjoyable rd

mix of vocalists, dancers and impersonators will perform from 6 to 10 pm.

Admission is $20. A limited amount of V.I.P. tables can be purchased from $1,000 to $350. For information about table and individual ticket sales email the AIDS Project at aiab@aidsprojectci.org or call 515-284-0245.

All proceeds benefit the AIDS Project of Central Iowa. The agency provides direct care services to people throughout Iowa that are impacted with HIV. It also offers HIV prevention services to help reduce the number of new infections as well provide Hepatitis-C detection and immunization.

AIDS Project volunteers and staff are working hard to present a memorable evening. The Grand Ballroom will have a clean, contemporary ambiance created by floral and event space designer Sayle Nong, owner of Divine Flowers by Saley.

Lighting is being provided by Jason Smith with Iowa Sound.

Frank M. Vaia is Development Coordinator for AIDS Project of Central Iowa.

StageWest and The Des Moines Playhouse present “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later,” at 7:00 PM, on Monday, October 12, at The Des Moines Playhouse.

Tickets are free, and may be picked up at The Playhouse ticket office, Noon-6:00 PM, Tuesday-Friday. There is a limit of four tickets per person. Seating is general admission, and ticket holders are asked to arrive by 6:45 PM to guarantee a seat. Donations will be accepted that evening for Iowa’s Matthew Shepard Scholarship Fund for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Iowa high school students, a project of the Eychaner Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Tectonic Theatre Project, the creators of the highly acclaimed play “The Laramie Project,” which has been one of the most performed plays in America, will premiere a compelling and groundbreaking epilogue to the original piece on Oct. 12. Entitled “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later,” the play will be performed in New York at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, at The Des Moines Playhouse in collaboration with StageWest Theater Company, and at more than 100 other theaters across the country.

The epilogue focuses on the long term effect of the murder of Matthew Shepard on the town of Laramie, WY. It explores how the town has changed and how the murder continues to reverberate in the community.

The play includes new interviews with Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard, and Matthew’s murderer, Aaron McKinney, who is serving dual life sentences, as well as follow-up interviews with many of the individuals from the original piece. The Des Moines cast, under the direction of Tom Perrine, will feature several cast members from the 2002 StageWest production of “The Laramie Project,” including Tom Ahart, Jim Benda, Melissa Chavez, and Kim Grimaldi.

As part of the national community aspect of the evening, pre- and post- show events will be broadcast live from Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall to all participating theaters. The preshow portion will include an introduction by the Tectonic Theater Project writers—Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber— as well as appearances from special guests to be announced. The post-show will consist of a questionand-answer session in which questions will be taken from audience members in theaters around the country.

“We are thrilled to bring this epilogue to ‘The Laramie Project’ to Des Moines audiences,” said Ron Lambert, StageWest’s pro-

ducing artistic director. “This important piece of American theater tells a universal human story and has been a transformative experience for the cast and audience. Our hope is that the epilogue helps us better understand the impact of Matthew’s death as well as provide truth and context as this piece of American history is retold to a new generations.”

An online interactive community has been launched at community.laramieproject.org.

There, participants can blog, upload video and photos, and share their stories about the play, and experiences in preparing and presenting the epilogue in their communities.

The members of Tectonic Theater Project are active participants in the online community, offering participants feedback and encouragement.

This is the third collaboration between StageWest and The Des Moines Playhouse.

This winter, the two companies will coproduce “Beyond the Rainbow,” a new musical about Judy Garland’s life.

StageWest Theatre Company seeks to increase the understanding and enjoyment of life, society, and the world through the presentation of contemporary theatre; strives to cultivate new opportunities for artists and audiences in Central Iowa to experience the diverse world of American and World Theatre; aspires to a continuing pursuit of artistic excellence; and seeks to make the story of the play become the experience of the audience.

The Des Moines Playhouse is Iowa’s oldest and largest producing theatre. Located at the 42nd Street exit of I-235, the theatre has presented a full season of shows since 1919 and also offers a wide variety of educational experiences including classes for ages 4 to adult, theatre trips to New York, and volunteer opportunities onstage and backstage.

For more information about “The Laramie Project,” contact The Des Moines Playhouse ticket office at 515-277-6261.

ACCESSline Page 28 SScontinued from page 9

FICTION me and, after a brief good-bye, she quite enthusiastically threw herself off of the terrace and into the surf below.” Derek took a slow breath. “She made no sound as she fell.”

“She what?”

“Marlena was considerably older that I am now when she willed me the stone.

She was one hundred and seventy-two years old. I suppose she could have merely sat down and waited for her body to decay, for her skin to shrivel and her bones to disintegrate, but Marlena had no intention of quietly allowing her form to molder into a fetid corpse.”

Haze was a little stunned. “She killed herself...”

Derek straightened his back, his eyes wide. “Who knows how long the process would have taken had she not? An hour?

A day? No.” He shook his head. “She left this world on her own terms, with haste and with dignity.”

Haze nodded, more than a little impressed. “I understand.”

“We were at her estate just south of Toms River, New Jersey. The terrace overlooked the bluff beneath it and the Atlantic crashing against the rocks three hundred feet below. Yes, Marlena chose a very efficient way to address any potential suffering.”

“Derek,” Haze began, willing to gamble a question although he was confident of the answer, “about what you said before... well, I brought a bottle of Sandeman Madeira. It’s in my trunk. Maybe we should pop it open, you know, just to take the edge off things.”

“You brought Madeira?” Derek smiled. “You think of everything, Haze.

No one will ever say you’re shortsighted.”

Derek squinted at him a moment, then shook his head and went back to lighting candles. “No, perhaps you’re right. I have a feeling that I’ll need a good drink once we’re through. There will very likely be time, and some fine Madeira sounds like a wonderful way to spend it.”

Haze watched him for another moment, satisfied and content, and then silently resumed his task. Δ At two-thirty in the morning both men sat on their heels, their knees pressed to the carpet, the ancient athame lying on the small, ritual table between them, black candles burning in complicated patterns around the floor and along the shelves of three walls. They wore only their pants. The hot tub was off. Every light was out and the drapes were drawn.

The only sound was the breeze whispering outside and the calm breathing between them.

The athame was solid silver, eight inches from tip to hilt. The hilt was wide to prevent the hand utilizing the blade from slipping and slicing the fingers.

The handle was wrapped tightly with faded brown leather, dried and cracked with time.

“Recite for me, Haze,” Derek whispered.

“Of course.”

“The name of the stone?”

Haze nodded. “Ma’at-el.”

Section 3: Community “And the Watcher?”

“Revit-el, of the Third Sphere.”

“Very good.” Derek gazed at him from beneath lowered brow. “As for Ma’at-el, you should understand her power as well.”

“Ma’at-el will prevent time from touching my flesh. She’ll augment my voice unto the elements and to any ear presented and open. She will bolster me physically beyond any living man in strength, endurance, and agility.”

“And?” Derek raised his eyebrows.

“And she will never abandon me, except to another willing cohort or to death.”

“Very good.” Derek grinned. “She is half, though, you understand. Ma’at-el is half of the whole.”

“Half?”

“As with the elixirs you mix so well, Haze, Ma’at-el is the base and your soul is the catalyst. Only together are they potent, base and catalyst, together equaling far more than the sum of the ingredients.”

Haze glanced at the stone, at Ma’at-el.

The shimmering onyx dazzled him and his eyes lingered longer than he would have liked.

“Don’t lose focus, Haze,” Derek said.

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to be.” Derek shook his head. “I understand better than you think.”

“It would be silly of me to pretend the stone didn’t fascinate me. I won’t try.”

“Silly and fallacious. But your thoughts are bare, too.”

“Derek?”

“My suspicion is you think I’m a fool.”

Haze grunted. “Hardly.”

“Well, at least, then, you’re thinking I’m... oh, ‘off,’ I’d suppose.”

Haze didn’t respond. He tilted his head and sighed.

“You may be right,” Derek continued.

“But whether I’m crazy or not, it doesn’t matter.” He took a breath and bit his lip. “You know, Marlena was a slave owner.”

“Yes.” Haze nodded. “You’ve mentioned that.”

“She had plantations in Birmingham and Macon, estates in Richmond Hill and Brunswick. The war devastated her, of course. She lost nearly everything. What Sherman didn’t burn was looted and befouled. But like a phoenix she rose from the ashes and established herself in the north. She actually weathered the First World War rather well, having learned what she could from the conflict between the States. Although it turned out that she built yet another fortune only to be devastated again in nineteen twenty-nine.”

“Mm.” Haze sighed. “Black Tuesday.”

“Indeed.” Derek pressed his lips together for a moment. “She’d had enough by then. She couldn’t see the potential for joy anymore. The world appeared hopeless and destined for catastrophe.

She’d endured unimaginable pain and loss and so, when she offered it, I accepted the stone.

“I’d been apprenticed to Marlena for nearly ten years. Like you, though, I had my own aspirations. I found a unique way to profit during the years of Prohibi-

tion, proving myself valuable to certain elements. When dealing with criminals, the ability to detect deception was, and is to this day, a valuable asset, lucrative not only to me but to more than one off-thebooks organization.”

Haze nodded, forcing himself to listen patiently, although he’d heard most of the particulars of Derek’s life many times before. Obviously, Derek was trying to make some point, perhaps a warning of sorts, Haze assumed, although he’d yet to hear anything that would compel him to forgo the ritual. Derek’s disclosure about his degree of affection for Haze was a tad jarring, to be sure, but Haze had never been under any illusions in that regard. He knew, though, that it was important he pay attention to Derek, although that was not as easy as he would have liked. Between the polished blade on the ritual table, the sparkling onyx at Derek’s throat, and the bottle of Madeira he’d brought into the house and left open on the mini bar, Haze was hard pressed to temper his focus.

“Prohibition was repealed, of course,” Derek continued, “in nineteen thirtythree, and I promptly disappeared from the circles in which I had been operating.

There were preparations to make. A second world war was presenting itself as an inevitability and arrangements needed to be made to keep me away from it. You see, being a cohort does foster a degree of cowardice in that, it’s commonly believed, death for a cohort would be nothing short of a divine disaster. If I was to be killed while my soul was bound to the stone...”

He stopped and shook his head.

“What would happen?” Haze asked, genuinely interested.

Derek raised his eyebrows and sighed.

“I honestly have no idea. However, it’s that uncertainty most cohorts, at least the ones of whom I’ve heard tales, found particularly disturbing. It may be the single most persuasive aspect that convinces various bearers to eventually relinquish their amulets.”

“Various bearers? Not all cohorts eventually—” “No, of course not.” Derek smiled.

“Some you may find have either constitutions of steel or they possess a secret never revealed to the whole.”

“What...?” Haze stammered. “What kind of secret could possibly—?”

“How the fuck would I have any clue, Haze?” Derek laughed. “By comparison, I’m still spectacularly young. By comparison, I’m throwing in the towel, so to speak, perhaps prematurely. Still...” He sighed. “I have my reasons.”

Haze nodded slowly, his heart settling to a manageable rhythm. “Of course you do.”

“As I was saying,” Derek said, again waving away Haze’s possible anxiety, “once Prohibition was repealed, I protected my assets rather efficiently until I was again able to invest openly. I’d successfully altered my official identity several times by then, a simple matter in those days when cash in hand was the most powerful motivation for discretion and cooperation. But then everything changed when a technological advance came to my attention in the early nineteen fifties. It had been around since about nineteen forty, but its ultimate potential

October 2009 didn’t become clear to me for decades.”

“What are you talking about?”

Derek grinned impishly. “Well, I’m referring to computers, of course. I’m referring to the digital age, the age of information.”

Haze tilted his head and squinted.

Derek’s smile deepened. “I keep forgetting that you’ve grown up during this most remarkable time when records of names and dates and addresses and ages and assets and crimes are all stored electronically and routinely accessible to the most inconsequential of clerks. It means nothing to you that, simply walking around town, you’re photographed an average of one hundred times per day by digital security cameras and who knows what other kinds of surveillance equipment. Simply stop to withdraw some cash from one of those ridiculous automatic teller machines and your image will be routinely recorded, documenting your exact whereabouts at a precise time.

“No, I dare say discretion will be far more complicated for you that it ever was for me. For the majority of my existence my biggest worry was the development of film photography and fingerprint analysis, whereas you now have DNA and who knows how many other forensic miracles that could expose your true nature.”

“I see your point.”

“By the way, Haze,” Derek whispered, “I think you’d also better study forensics.”

They both smiled.

“Haze, I’m going to tell you things in the next few minutes that, if I haven’t already mentioned them, then you surely have contemplated them on your own before. As I said, you have a quick mind.”

Haze did not respond. He decided instead to focus on the pleasant aroma of the burning candles and watch the reflections of their flickering in the onyx.

“Marlena tried to warn me, you understand, just as I am now trying to warn you,” Derek continued. “Before you inherit this amulet you should at least acknowledge the kind of turmoil that very well may come with it. The world has never been a hospitable place. It is primarily predatory, as you of course know, and although there are genuine souls who do not suffer that nature, they are far, far outnumbered by those who believe the only way to secure their own contentment is to destroy all those around them who could possibly threaten it.

“Never before have so many souls shared the earth. Already, there are billions more people alive than the resources of this tiny planet are mathematically capable of feeding. It’s like a school of sharks tearing at a single marlin. Once the carcass is gone to whom will the sharks turn if not to each other? The weak will perish first and the mighty will devastate each other in their desperation.

“It really does boil down to simple mathematics. Haze, statistically speaking, the population of the world doubles approximately every thirty years. The population will keep growing and growing and growing and growing...” He paused and licked his lips. “But the land on which to harvest grain, with which to feed the cattle, with which to feed the people, that... that will never increase, not ever.

TTFICTION continued page 30

Section 3: Community

October 2009

ACCESSline Page 29

Pride Football!by Aaron Stroschein It’s that time of the year again! Time to pull out the giant foam fingers, the bratwurst, and the proverbial pigskin.

Its football season for the LGBT community!

The Pride Football 2009 competition will be Saturday, October 24th at Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids.

The competition will take place from 1 to 4pm in the afternoon. The event will be hosted by The Eastern Iowa Prides Coalition, a new group with the mission of bringing together all the Pride centers of eastern Iowa.

The event will work is as follows: • This will be a flag football competition.

• Players under the age of 18 must have parental consent to participate.

• Teams can have a maximum of ten players.

• Individual players may register at $15/

person. Participants will be placed on a team when they arrive. An entire team may register as a group for $150.

• All players will get a T-shirt with registration.

• The moneys raised from Pride Football 2009 will be split proportionally between Iowa City Pride, Cedar Rapids Pride, and Waterloo/Cedar Falls (Cedar Valley) Pride to start funds for Pride 2010; funds will be divided according to the number of teams participating from each area.

The deadline for registration is October 16th. Registration information is available at online at www.crglrc.org, by email at info@crglrc.org, or by phone at 319-366-2055.

Spectators are also welcome to come root on their favorite player and/or team.

Time to get outside and start practicing!

GG’s Diner Now Open! by Aaron Stroschein

CEDAR AIDS SUPPORT SYSTEM

GG’s Diner, an old fashioned diner with a modern twist, had its grand opening on Friday September 7th.

The establishment is owned by Greg Garza A.K.A. local entertainer Kylie Cass.

“I just want to say the grand opening was a great success. I look forward to working with everybody!” said Garza.

The diner is located at 4242 Center Point Road NE near the intersection

of Center Point and 42nd Street next to Wendy’s.

It is open 7am to 9pm, 7 days a week, and serves up breakfast all day, lunch, and dinner.

Greg also would like to say to all the Miss Gay Iowa participants, that GG’s Diner welcomes contestants competing in the Miss Gay Iowa pageant being held at Club Basix and the Piano Lounge! Good luck to everyone!

Serving Northeast Iowa by: - Offering confidential support services with compassion and respect for the diversity of those impacted by HIV or AIDS - Increasing awareness and understanding in communities - Offering CASS services free of charge

319.272.2437 | 800.617.1972 www.cvhospice.org

CASS A program of Cedar Valley Hospice

ACCESSline Page 30 SScontinued from page 28

FICTION The number of fertile acres will never multiply. The ability of the land to sustain human life is finite, it’s fixed and limited.

It’s not hard to imagine a future where those who might not yet themselves be starving to death will be regularly killed by those who are.”

Haze took a long and deep breath.

“Over population has been a concern for centuries, though,” he reasoned. “We haven’t been overwhelmed yet.”

Derek’s eyelids drooped and his lips twisted. “Catastrophic war, famine, plague, genocide.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Are those the solutions you’d like to live to witness?”

Haze glanced at the carpet, took a breath, and raised his eyes to Derek’s.

Derek tilted his head. “Have you been listening, Haze? Have you paid attention to the curse I’ll be placing around your neck?”

Haze shifted his weight on his heels.

He closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m ready, Derek.”

After a long moment, a determinably long moment, Derek finally nodded.

“I have no doubt.” Δ “The hour is nearly here,” Derek observed.

Haze took in a slow breath, exhaling steadily, struggling to calm himself. He could not take his eyes from Derek’s glamour stone, the stone that was about to become his.

“The cord around your neck, Derek,” Haze said, “is solid. There isn’t a clasp.

How will you remove the stone?”

“You’re going to do that, Haze.”

Haze was puzzled. “But it won’t break.

You’ve made it very clear many times, to both Carl and to me. The leather will not be cut or snapped. It has no beginning and no end.”

“You’re going to be able to cut the leather, Haze. That will be one function of the athame.”

“One function?”

“Yes.” Derek nodded. “The blade will also take the blood offering. Only after the knife has been christened with blood will it be able sever the cord.”

Haze moaned. His intestines froze and his mouth went dry. “It’ll be my blood, won’t it?” he asked.

Derek tilted his head and exhaled through his nose. He stared at Haze for an excruciating moment. Finally he answered him. “Yes, it must be your blood, Haze. It’s the only way to affix your spirit to Ma’at-el. It’s how she’ll know you. It’s how she’ll accept you.”

Haze nodded, compliant though apprehensive. His lungs had turned to lead, his hands and feet to ice.

“I won’t lie to you, Haze.” Derek spoke slowly, deliberately. His tone suggested empathy although it could as easily been apathy. “The process will be very painful for you.”

Haze licked his lips and met Derek’s eyes. It was ten minutes to the hour.

“You’ll take the athame,” Derek explained, “and slide it into your torso, through the lower ribs of your left side.

You might not puncture your lung, but

Section 3: Community that depends on the medial position of the blade. If you do strike your lung, you’ll suffer more, but it won’t kill you, not right away.”

“I have to stab myself?” Haze thought for a moment that he would vomit.

“Yes.” Derek nodded. “You must slide the blade into your side until the hilt touches your skin.”

“Derek... my god! That’ll kill me.”

“It certainly will, although not immediately. After the hilt reaches your flesh, you’ll have to find the strength to withdraw the blade. You’ll remove it from your body and, if you are able, you’ll use the freshly blooded athame to sever the cord from which the stone hangs around my neck.”

“My god...”

“You’ll suffer, Haze.” Derek was stoic.

“But then your part will be done. Once the amulet is free, I’ll place it around your neck and the cord will seal itself.

When she finally rests against your throat, Ma’at-el will mend your wound.” Δ The Darkest Hour came and Haze found his fingers curling around the handle of the athame, although he’d yet to find the courage to lift it.

“There’s one more thing you must know, Haze,” Derek said. Haze raised his eyes, a bit shocked by the interruption.

Derek’s timing was cruel.

“What is it?” Haze asked through clenched teeth. He still held the athame tightly.

Derek took a slow breath. “Ma’at-el has a single rule.”

Haze raised his eyebrows, his lips pressed into a razor’s line.

“You cannot kill,” Derek whispered.

“A cohort cannot take human life.”

Haze’s breath froze in his lungs.

“If you kill, Haze,” Derek continued, “if any human life is cut short by the direct action of your own hands, then you will offend Ma’at-el and she will crack.”

“The stone will crack?”

Derek nodded. “It will crack and your soul will be lost.”

Haze sighed as he stared into Derek’s eyes. For the first time he fully and truly hated the man. For an instant Haze considered leaving the athame on the table, rising to his feet, and quickly walking out of the house. He considered leaving his ambition, leaving Derek, and leaving the stone.

For an instant.

Derek tilted his head, his eyelids closed to slits. “The Hour is now, Haze.”

Haze took a breath, set his jaw, tore his eyes from Derek’s, and lifted the blade. Δ Once more Haze and Derek sat opposite each other. Haze’s pants were soaked with blood. His hands and wrists were covered as well. The wound in his side was closed, however, without even the slightest mark to show where the athame had been plunged in to its hilt. Haze had nearly fainted with the pain. His vision had almost failed and his heart had all but stopped. He couldn’t remember withdrawing the knife, but the memory of holding the blade to Derek’s throat was crisp and pristine. The athame had cut through the leather cord and then

both Haze and the stone had fallen to the floor.

But Derek had fulfilled his part.

Ma’at-el, the ancient onyx amulet about the size and shape of a quarter, rested at the base of Haze’s throat.

Slowly, relieved by the absence of pain from his tortured side, Haze raised his wine to his lips and enjoyed a healthy gulp.

“And so it’s done.” Derek stared at him. “Finally, it’s done, and I am free.”

The wine bottle rested on the coffee table between them. Derek reached for it.

“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you,” Haze warned.

Derek tilted his head. “Really, Haze?”

“Trust has never been very strong between us, old friend.” Haze gulped more of the fine Madeira.

“No.” Derek paused. “That’s true enough.”

“I really couldn’t know what you had in mind for me tonight, Derek, despite what you said on the phone. For all I knew, your promise was a trick to get me here so that you and Carl could pull some wicked shit.”

“I see.” Derek settled back onto the sofa. He left his wine glass empty.

“I’d planned to poison both of you,” Haze admitted flatly. “But now that I’m aware of Ma’at-el’s rule about killing directly, I have to tell you that, if you drink the wine, Derek, it will kill you.” Again, he sipped from his own glass of Madeira.

“You seem to be enjoying it, though,” Derek observed. “I suppose you’ve... what? Consumed an antidote, Haze?”

“Oh, nothing so trite.” Haze shook his head. “The wine merely contains the poison’s catalyst. It’s harmless to me on its own.”

Derek’s brow furled. “But the base compound... surely you’d have needed to administer—” “Oh, Derek, my love, my love, my love...” He sighed. “You never did actually witness me indulging in the cocaine, now did you?”

“Ah!” Derek beamed a radiant smile.

“The cocaine, of course!” He laughed and laughed, actually clapping his hands.

“The base compound was in the cocaine.

Of course it was. You really are the apt pupil, my boy. You really are!”

“So now the deed is off of my hands,” Haze said. “Drink the wine or don’t, Derek. The choice is yours now.”

“Indeed.”

October 2009 Haze tilted his head. “Your hair, Derek...”

“Yes?” “It’s quite abruptly gone completely white.”

Derek nodded, his gaze on the carpet between his shoes. “It’s happening then.”

“As you expected it would. Still, you look more distinguished than decrepit, I have to admit.”

Derek raised his eyes, now surrounded with deepening lines. “Thank you, but we’ll see how long that lasts.”

As Haze watched, Derek’s lips lost their color.

“Be careful you don’t repeat the story of what you’ve done tonight, Haze.”

“Oh?” “Ma’at-el isn’t the only glamour stone in the world, you understand.”

“Oh, I know that.”

“Of course you do.”

“I’ve seen them before.”

“What?” Derek’s eyes bulged.

“Well, two of them, actually. That’s how I recognized yours all those years ago.”

“You recognized...?” Derek paused, apparently speechless.

“When I was a teenager,” Haze explained. “I happened to cross the paths of two cohorts. It was then I dedicated myself to obtaining my own glamour stone.”

Derek sighed, his torso seeming to deflate as he did. “My apt pupil. My genius, devious, and most apt pupil.”

“So it would seem.”

Haze drained his glass and set it on the table. As he refilled it, Derek began to laugh. He laughed hard, coughing at times, but always regaining his breath and continuing to bellow with mirth.

Now Haze’s eyes were round. “What is it?”

Derek could hardly contain his glee.

He grasped Hazes now full glass of wine and raised it.

“You didn’t need to stab yourself, Haze,” he said between outburst. “A little blood from your palm would have worked quite well.”

Derek’s body seemed then to almost implode with laughter. The spasms were surely torturing him, although he continued to shake with hilarity Haze rose, nearly ready to strike the man to obtain his silence. Before he could, though, Derek raised Haze’s wine glass in a final salute and drank its contents in one gulp. Δ

Section 3: Community

October 2009

Chef deJon GREEN EGGS AND HAM • 6 eggs • 1 c. spinach • 1/2 c. diced Havarti cheese • Salt and pepper, to taste • 1/4 c. milk • 2 c. diced hash browns • 3 slices ham, sliced thick & diced • 1/4 c. white onion, minced • Olive oil • 1 Tbsp garlic 1. In a skillet, put 1 tablespoon of oil, heat up. When hot, put hash browns and ham into the skillet with garlic, onion and salt and pepper. Cook until crisp.

2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, salt and pepper, and milk.

3. Heat up another skillet and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost done, stir in the spinach and the cheese. Cool until the cheese is melted and serve the eggs on top of the ham-hash browns.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

• 2 c. seedless grapes • 2 nectarines, quartered • 1/3 c Orange juice • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice • 1 1/2Tbsp. Honey • 1/2c silvered almonds, toasted • Fresh mint (optional) 1. Moisten sliced bananas with a small amount of orange juice to keep from turning dark.

2. Combine blueberries, bananas, strawberries, grapes and nectarines in a large bowl.

3. Just before serving, mix together orange juice, lemon juice and honey. Pour juice mixture over fruit and toss to combine.

Spoon fruit into individual serving glasses.

Serve with toasted almonds and a sprig of fresh mint.

Yield: 8 servings.

BREAKFAST COBBLER • 2 Tbsp butter • 6 Braeburn apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks • 1 Tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon • 1/8 tsp ground cloves • 2 Tbsp fresh blueberries • 8 oz crumbled granola • 1/4 c. vanilla yogurt 1. In a large skillet, melt butter over mediumhigh heat.

2. Add apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves, tossing to combine. Cook until apples release their juices and have just begun to soften, approx. 10 minutes.

3. Divide apples among 6 serving bowls.

Top each with blueberries, granola, and yogurt. Serve warm.

Yield: 6 servings.

BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE • 1 small banana, peeled and sliced • 1/2c. Strawberries, hulled and halved • 1/2c blueberries • 3/4c cranberry juice • 1 (2oz) shot apple juice • Handful of crushed ice Combine banana, strawberries, blueberries, cranberry juice and apple juice in a blender.

Add crushed ice and blend until smooth.

Serve immediately.

Yield: 1 or 2 servings.

CALYPSO FRUIT • 2 c. fresh blueberries (1 pt.)

• 2 bananas, peeled & sliced • 2 c. strawberries, hulled & halved (1 pt.)

times.

Yield: 4 servings.

CILANTRO SPELT PASTA

CAESAR BARBECUE KABOBS • • • • • •

BROCCOLI AND ALMOND SALAD • 2 c. torn mixed salad greens • 1/4 c. small broccoli florets • 1/4 c. red pepper strips • 1/4 c. grape tomatoes • 2 Tbsp shredded carrots • 1 Tbsp silvered almonds • 2 Tbsp Ranch dressing.

1. Place all ingredients except dressing on a serving plates.

2. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.

Yield: 2 or more servings.

SPICY ORANGE CHICKEN STIR-FRY • • • • • • • • •

1 1/2c long-grain white rice 3/4 c orange juice 3 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp cornstarch 2 tsp grated orange peel 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced Large pinch of crushed red pepper.

1 ½ lbs chicken cutlets, cut crosswise into 1/2inch-wide strips • 1 8oz package stringless sugar snap peas 1. Cook rice according to package directions.

Cover to keep warm; set aside.

2. Meanwhile, whisk juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch in medium bowl until cornstarch dissolves. Mix in orange peel.

3. Heat oil in large wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onion and crushed red pepper. Stir-fry 30 seconds.

4. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Add to wok and stir-fry until onion is crisp-tender and chicken is just cooked through, about 4 minutes.

5. Add sugar snap peas and juice mixture. Toss until sauce thickens and comes to boil and peas are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

6. Season with salt & pepper. Serve with rice.

Yield 6 servings.

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1 lb beef sirloin steak, 1-inch thick 1/2c barbecue sauce 5 Tbsp Caesar-salad dressing 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce 3/4 tsp garlic powder 1 ½ lbs. Tiny new (red) potatoes, 1-inch diameter • 1 large green bell peper, cut into 1-inch pieces • 1 large onion, cut into 1-inch pieces 1. Trim fat from steak; cut steak into 1-inch cubes. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag in a shallow dish.

2. In a small bowl, stir together barbecue sauce, dressing, Worchestershire, garlic powder and 2 tablespoons water.

3. Pour over steak in bag; seal bag. Refrigerate 2 to 12 hours, turning bag occasionally.

4. Place potatoes in a medium sauce pan, cover with water and bring to boiling.

Boil uncovered 5 minutes or until almost tender; drain and rinse with cold water.

5. Before lighting the grill, coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat grill to medium direct heat (300 to 350 degrees).

6. Remove steak from marinade, discard marinade.

7. On long skewers, alternately thread bell peppers, steak cubes, potatoes, and onions.

8. Grill, uncovered, 12 minutes or to desired doneness, turning skewers several

• 1 lb. spelt (flat-ribbon) pasta • 1 large bunch cilantro, washed and trimmed • 2 Tbsp pine nuts or walnuts, toasted • 2 garlic cloves • 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese • 1/4 c olive oil 1. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

2. Meanwhile, combine cilantro, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste in lender or food processor. Process and slowly add oil until smooth.

(Add pasta cooking water to thin sauce, if desired.)

3. Pour cilantro sauce into large bowl and add hot pasta. Toss to coat pasta and serve.

Yield: 6 servings.

IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE • • • • •

1 1/2c chocolate cookie crumbs 6 Tbsp butter melted 1/2tsp ground cinnamon 3 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened 1 8oz. Semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled • 1 c. sugar • 3 eggs, slightly beaten • 1/2c Irish cream liqueur • 2 Tbsp whipping cream or milk • 2 tsp vanilla 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs, melted butter, and cinnamon. Press mixture onto bottom and side of 9 or 10 inch springform pan.

2. IN a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, melted chocolate, and sugar.

Beat with electric mixer on medium to high speed until smooth.

3. Stir in eggs just until combined. Stir in liqueur, whipping cream, and vanilla.

Pour mixture into crust-lined pan.

4. Place springform pan in shallow baking pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until center appears nearly set with gently shaken.

5. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust; cool for 30 minutes, remove side of pan; cool cheesecake. Cover and chill for 6 to 24 hours.

Yield: 16 small servings

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IOWALISA’S LIST: RECURRING EVENTS Every Sunday, 5-6 p.m., GLBT AA, First Baptist Church at 500 N. Clinton St., Iowa City. For more info about Intergroup and Alcoholics Anonymous call the 24-Hour Answering Service at 319-338-9111 or visit the AA-IC website: http://aa-ic.org/.

Every Sunday, 7 p.m., L WORD LIVES: L NIGHT at the Firewater Saloon, 347 South Gilbert St., Iowa City, 319-321-5895. The night will start with Season 1, Episode 1 of the L Word... because a good thing should never die.

FoLLowing the L Word wiLL be a Drag King show at 9:30 p.m. No cover.

Every Sunday, 6-8:30 p.m., THE QUIRE: Eastern Iowa’s GLBT Chorus Rehearsals, at Zion Lutheran Church, 310 N. Johnson St, Iowa City. Membership is open to all GLBT folks, as well as allies who support the community. There are no auditions; you only need to be willing to attend rehearsals regularly and learn your music. The Quire prepares two full concerts each year in the winter and spring, and occasionally performs shorter programs at events in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area.

The Quire is a member of Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA), and has developed a reputation for excellence and variety in its concert programs. For more info, visit http://www.thequire.org/.

Every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month, 3-6 p.m., TANGO LESSONS at CSPS, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. Cost is $5. Everyone welcome; no partner or experience necessary. For more info, call Elie at 319363-1818 or e-mail epsa@aol.com.

Second and every other Sunday of the month, 3-4 p.m., IOWA CITY PRIDE PLANNING COMMITTEE, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room D. Come help plan the 2009 Iowa City Pride Festival (to be held Saturday, June 20). For more info, contact Bridget at malone. bridget@gmail.com.

Third Monday of every month, 6 p.m., PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) of Cedar Rapids Metro Area, 6 p.m. (social time), 6:30 p.m. (meeting time), in the Middle Room of Faith United Methodist Church, 1000 30th St, NE, Cedar Rapids. Call 515-537-3126 for more details. Coffee and refreshments will be served before the meeting, beginning at 6 p.m.

Everyone is welcome; confidentiality is required. PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights.

First Monday of the month, 6:30 p.m., Iowa PFLAG Quad Cities Chapter Meeting, at Eldridge United Methodist Church, 604 S. 2nd St., Eldridge. For more info, call 563-285-4173.

First/Second Monday (alternating) of the month, 7 p.m., Iowa PFLAG North Iowa Chapter Meeting, at First Presbyterian Church, 100 S. Pierce St., Mason City. For more info, call 641-583-2848.

Fourth Monday of the month, 7 p.m., Iowa PFLAG Waukon/Northeast Chapter Meeting, at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, 309 W. Main St., in the Parish Center, Decorah. For more info, call 563-535-7680.

Fifth Monday in August and November, 7-9 p.m., WOMEN’S SINGING CIRCLE: Meet at Lori’s home for a short ritual followed by singing and chanting. Lori will supply lyrics and melodies for many circle songs and chants, but please feel free to bring your own songs to share (preferably with printed lyrics to pass around).

However, singing is not required - you can still be involved and contribute by simply being present in the circle.

Musicians, feel free to bring drums or other percussion instruments. To RSVP and get directions, e-mail lorieiserman@uiowa.edu.

Every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday at 6 p.m., and every Saturday at 5:30 p.m., GLBT ONLY AA MEETINGS IN DES MOINES, at 945 19th St. (east side of building, south door).

Second Tuesday of each month, 7-8:30 p.m., SPIRITUAL SEEKERS, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 E. College St, Iowa City. Spiritual Seekers is a group

Section 3: Community for people of all faiths, or of little faith, who wish to make deeper connections between their sexual identities and the spiritual dimension in their lives. Meetings include discussion of specialized topics, telling of pieces of our faith journeys, and occasional prayer and meditation.

(On the 4th Tuesday of each month, the group gathers at a local restaurant for food and fellowship.) For more info, contact Tom Stevenson: tbstevenson@mchsi.com or 319.354.1784.

Second Tuesday of the month, 6:30-8 p.m., GLRC OF CEDAR RAPIDS BOARD MEETING at 6300 Rockwell Dr, Cedar Rapids. Meetings are open to the general public. For more info, call 319-366-2055 or visit: http://www.crglrc.org/.

Second Tuesday of every month, WOMEN FOR PEACE KNITTERS meet for knitting, crocheting, and discussion, 9:30-11 a.m. at Prairiewoods, 120 E. Boyson Rd., Hiawatha. For more info, call 319-377-3252 or go to www.womenforpeace-iowa.org. All ages and levels of needlework skills welcome. Come knit for charities.

Second Tuesday of every month, Iowa PFLAG Ames Chapter Meeting, 7 p.m., at the Youth and Shelter Services Offices, 420 Kellogg Ave., 1st Floor, Ames. For more info, call 515-291-3607.

Every Tuesday, 7-8:30 p.m., CONNECTIONS INCLUSIVE BALLROOM at Old Brick 26 E. Market St, Iowa City. An equal opportunity social dance workshop/ rehearsal for LGBT people. All skill levels are welcome.

American social dance, Latin, a mix of dance from the last 100 years. For more info, contact Mark McCusker at iowadancefest@gmail.com, 319-621-8530 or Nora Garda at 319-400-4695, or visit http://iowadancefest. blogspot.com/.

Every Tuesday evening, 7:30-9:30 p.m., ARGENTINE TANGO practice and open dance, at the Iowa City Senior Center, 28 S. Linn St, Iowa City. A donation of $1-2 per person is requested for use of the Senior Center.

For more info, contact Karen Jackson at 319-447-1445 or e-mail kljedgewood@msn.com.

Every Tuesday evening, 7 p.m., OUT (Our United Truth): A GLBT Support Group meets 7-8:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3707 Eastern Ave., Davenport. For more info, call 563-359-0816.

Every Tuesday at 9 p.m., KARAOKE IDOL at Studio 13, 13 S. Linn St., Iowa City. Drink specials and great competition! Visit www.sthirteen.com.

First Wednesday of every month, CEDAR RAPIDS CHARTER CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN BUSINESS WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION meets. For more info, visit charter-chapter.tripod.com.

First Wednesday of the month, 7 p.m., CONNECTIONS’ RAINBOW READING GROUP, Iowa City Public Library Meeting Room B, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City. For more info, contact Todd at: faunides@ yahoo.com.

First Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8 p.m., WOMEN’S SACRED CIRCLE at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, 120 E. Boyson Rd., Hiawatha. This group is for women who are interested in gathering for spiritual growth. The direction and activities of the group are determined by participants. $5 per session. For more info, visit www.prairiewoods.org.

Second Wednesday of every month, 6:30-8 p.m., STONEWALL DEMOCRATS, the GLBT Caucus of the Democratic Party, meets at Hamburger Mary’s, 222 Glenbrook Dr. SE, behind 2nd Wind off of 1st Ave SE in Cedar Rapids. For more info, contact Harvey Ross at linnstonewall@gmail.com or call 319-389-0093.

Every Wednesday, 7-9 p.m., U OF I GAY LESBIAN BISEXUAL TRANSGENDER AND ALLIES UNION MEETINGS in the Penn State Room #337 of the Iowa Memorial Union, U. of Iowa campus, Iowa City. For more info, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/~glbtau/ or e-mail glbtau@uiowa.edu. These meetings are open to the public.

First, third, and fifth Thursdays of each month, 6:308:30 p.m., EVENINGS FOR SPIRIT at SpiritHill Retreat, 604 Cedar Valley Road, West Branch. Women gather at SpiritHill to share our spiritual experiences, visions and longings. The evenings include time for sharing and time for silence. Laughter, tears and singing are often shared as well. No specific spiritual practice is followed. This event is always open to newcomers. For more info, call

319-643-2613, or e-mail spirit-hill@earthlink.net.

Second Thursday of the month, 7-9 p.m., OPEN MIC WITH MARY MCADAMS at Ritual Café, on 13th St. between Locust and Grand, downtown Des Moines.

Visit www.ritualcafe.com. For more info, e-mail mary@ marymcadams.com.

Second Thursday of the month, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. social time), Iowa PFLAG Omaha/Council Bluffs Chapter Meeting, at Mead Hall, First United Methodist Church, 7020 Cass St., Omaha. For more info, call 402-291-6781.

Third Thursday of every month, 7-10 p.m., OPEN MIC HOSTED BY KIMBERLI, at the Blue Strawberry Coffee Company (now open after the flood), 118 2nd St. SE, Downtown Cedar Rapids. Signup at 6:30 p.m. or by e-mailing flyingmonkeyscr@aol.com the week prior to the open mic.

Third Thursday of every month, 7-9 p.m., CONNECTIONS GAME NIGHT, at Donnelly’s Pub, 110 E. College St., in downtown Iowa City.

Third Thursday of every month, 7 p.m., Iowa PFLAG Dubuque/Tri-State Chapter Meeting, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1276 White St., Dubuque. For more info, call 563-582-9388.

Every 4th Thursday of the month, PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK (PWN) meetings. For more info, visit www.pwn.org, e-mail pwn@pwn.org, or call Shelley Woods at 319-981-9887.

Every 4th Thursday of the month, 7:30 p.m., THE GLBT READING GROUP meets in the conference room at Red Cross Building at 6300 Rockwell Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids. The group is open to new members; contact crglbtreadinggroup@yahoo.com for further info.

Every Thursday and Friday, 6-10 p.m., SHANNON JANSSEN at The Cedar Grille at the Cedar Rapids Marriott, 1200 Collins Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids. Shannon performs a variety of music including original songs on the Grand Piano in the hotel’s beautiful atrium. No reservations required.

First Friday of the month, FAIRFIELDART WALK. For more info, visit www.FairfieldArtWalk.com.

First Friday of every month between February 6 and December 4, 5-8 p.m., DAWN’S COFFEE HOUSE, at Dawn’s Hide and Bead Away, 220 E. Washington St., Iowa City. Music and light snacks are provided. Proceeds from the door are split between the non-profit of the month and the store (to cover the cost of snacks). Any other donations received go 100% to the non-profit. $3 cover. For more info, phone 319-338-1566.

First Friday of the month, GUERRILLA QUEER BAR MEETUP! Tired of the same old bars? Crave the idea of bringing your queer and straight friends together in a fun, new environment? We’re descending upon an unsuspecting straight bar and turning it into a gay bar for the night. To join in: join our Facebook group, Google group or Twitter feed. You’ll receive an email the morning of each event with the name of a classically hetero bar and the meeting time. Call your friends, have them call their friends, show up at the bar and watch as it becomes the new “it” gay bar for one night only. Visit http://groups. google.com/group/iowa-city-guerrilla-queer-bar.

Every 2nd and 4th Friday of the each month at 7 p.m.,

October 2009 a DRUMMING CIRCLE meets at the Unity Center of Cedar Rapids, 3791 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids.

For more info, call 319-431-7550.

Third Friday of every month, 8 p.m., OLD-TIME DANCE FOR ALL, a Barn Dance 12 miles east of Iowa City at Scattergood Friends School. Admission is $5.00 per person. Singles and couples, beginners and veterans welcome. The music is live, and all dances are taught and called (that is, prompted while the music is playing). Note: (1) same-sex couples are common at these dances, (2) they’re no-alcohol, no-smoking events, (3) every dance is taught, so beginners are welcome, and (4) people can attend alone or with a partner. People of a variety of ages show up, and the atmosphere is friendly and inclusive. For more info, phone 319-643-7600 or e-mail treadway@netins.net.

Every Saturday, noon to 1 p.m., WOMEN FOR PEACE IOWAhost Weekly Street Corner Vigils for peace, rain or shine. Meet at the corner of 1st Ave. and Collins Rd. SE (in front of Granite City Brewery), Cedar Rapids.

Show your support for our troops by calling for their return from Iraq. For more info, e-mail khall479@aol.com.

Third Saturday of every month, 2-4 p.m., QUEER SCRIBBLE FEST at Old Brick on the corner of Market St. and Dubuque St., Iowa City. Different subjects or motifs highlight each month. All are welcome. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Straight Allies are gathering to scribble, draw, write, talk, or what you will. Bring some music and a snack. It’s FREE but taxdeductible donations are welcome. Donations of papers, pencils, books, and other art materials are also appreciated.

For more info, call Mark McCusker at 319-621-8530 or e-mail a.c.experiment@gmail.com.

Fourth Saturday of every month, 7:30 p.m., TANGOVIA, join area tango dancers at the Wesley Center, 120 N. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Enjoy a candlelit evening of dance, hors d’oeuvres, and conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. Cost is $5. Partner not necessary. Beginners welcome to come at 7 p.m. for an introductory lesson. For more info, call Gail at 319-325-9630, e-mail irelandg@ gmail.com, or visit www.tangovia.com.

Fourth Saturday of every month, 7 p.m., THE LESBIAN BOOK CLUB is reading books by or about lesbians.

Non-lesbians are welcome to attend. All meetings are held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3707 Eastern Ave., Davenport. For more info, call 563-359-0816.

Every Saturday, 3:30-5:30 p.m., BAILE LATINO: SALSA, CHA-CHA, MERENGUE AND BACHATA LESSONS taught by Gloria Zmolek, at CSPS, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. No experience or partner necessary.

All ages welcome. No sign-up required. $5 per person requested. For more info, contact Gloria at 319-365-9611 or visit www.crsalsa.org.

Hamburger Mary’s Weekly Happenings, at 222 Glenbrook Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids, off of 1st Ave. Tuesdays – Kid’s Night; Wednesdays – Thift Store Bingo at 10 p.m. with Katrina Cass; Thursdays – Mary-oke with Nic from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Fridays – Drag Show at 9 p.m. (all ages) and 11 p.m. (21 and over); Saturdays – Open Mic Night followed by Drag Show at 9 p.m. (all ages) and 11 p.m.

(21 and over). For more info, e-mail hamburgermaryscr@ mchsi.com or visit www.hamburgermaryscr.com.

October 2009 DIRECTORY NOTICE The ACCESSline directory is updated each issue.

The directory may also be found at ACCESSlineIOWA.com.

LISTINGS ARE FREE. Information about new groups must contain a phone number for publication and a contact (e-mail address, land address, or website) for our records.

For more information or to provide corrections, please contact Editor@ACCESSlineIOWA.com or call (319) 550-0957.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund 1705 De Sales St NW, Ste 500 Washington, DC, 20036 www.victoryfund.org.

202-VICTORY [842-8679] Human Rights Campaign National political organization, lobbies congress for lesbian & gay issues, political training state and local www.hrc.org 1-800-777-HRCF[4723] Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund I I E. Adams, Suite 1008 Chicago, IL 60603-6303 www.lambdalegal.org 312-663-4413 Fax: 312-663-4307 National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) 1325 Massachusetts Ave NW, Ste 600, Washington, DC, 20005 www.ngltf.org / taskforce.org National Organization for Women (NOW) 733 15th ST NW, 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20005 www.now.org 202-628-8669 PFLAG National Offices 1726 M St. NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036 info@pflag.org www.pflag.org 202-467-8180

STATE ORGANIZATIONS

Section 3: Community ISU LGBTA Alliance GLBT Support, Activism, Social Events, Newsletter East Student Office L, Memorial Union, ISU Ames, IA. 50014 alliance@iastate.edu http://www.alliance.stuorg.iastate.edu 515-294-2104 Lord of Life Lutheran 2126 Gable Lane, Ames 50014 Services Sundays at 9:00a.m.; Wed. 7:00pm.

515-233-2350 PFLAG Ames Youth and Shelter Services Offices 420 Kellogg Ave 1st Floor.

2nd Tuesday, 7pm www.pflagames.org 515-291-3607 Romantics Pleasure Palace 117 Kellogg Street Ames, IA 50010-3315 http://www.romantixonline.com 515-232-7717 Stonewall Democrats of Ames tlloman@aol.com goodwinm@istate.edu, or Terry Lowman, 515-292-3279, or Mary Goodwin 515-292-0352 United Church of Christ-Congregational 6th & Kellogg Ames, 50010 Sunday Continental Breakfast, 9:00am; Sunday School, 9:30am; Worship, 10:45am. uccames@midiowa.net.

515-232-9323 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames 1015 Hyland Ave. Services: 9am and 11am, Sunday uufa@aol.com 515-292-5960 Unity Church of Ames 226 9th St. Sunday service and Sunday school 10:30am.

Wednesday mediation 6:30pm, class 7:15pm. www.websyt/unity/ames Daily dial-a-blessing 515-233-1613

Arnolds Park, Okoboji, Spirit Lake Wilson Resource Center An Iowa Great Lakes area gay-owned nonprofit community based organization.

PO Box 486 Arnolds Park IA 51331-0486 F.JosephWilson@aol.com.

712-332-5043

BURLINGTON

Equality Iowa P.O. Box 18 Indianola, IA 50125 www.equalityiowa.org 515-537-3126

Arrowhead Motel 2520 Mount Pleasant St Burlington, IA 52601-2118 (319) 752-6353 - www.arrowheadia.com

Faithful Voices Interfaith Alliance of Iowa’s marriage equality project. www.faithfulvoices.org

HIV/AIDS Screening @ Des Moines County Health Department in Burlington 522 N 3rd By appointment between 8:00am to 4:30 319-753-8217 Confidential

Imperial Court of Iowa Non-profit fundraising & social, statewide organization with members from across the State of Iowa.

PO Box 1491, Des Moines, IA 50306-1491 www.imperialcourtofiowa.org Iowa Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) David Steward, President, IA NOW 1010 Charlotte Ave. Davenport, IA 52803 Iowa PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gay) State Council PO Box 18, Indianola, IA 50125 www.equalityiowa.org/PFLAG 515-537-3126 or 641-583-2024 Iowa pridenetwork 3839 Merle Hay Rd, Ste. 285 Des Moines, IA 50310 www.iowapridenetwork.org 515-243-1110 LGBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force PO Box 1997, Des Moines, 50306 515-243-1221 One Iowa PO Box 3, Des Moines, IA 50309 Stonewall Democrats of Iowa 5 Creekside Ct Mason City, IA 50401 Contact: Dean Genth figfinesse@yahho.com 641-583-2024

Ames

RISQUES IV (adult store) 421 Dry Creek Avenue West Burlington, IA 52601 (319) 753-5455 Sun - Wed 8am-Midnight Thurs - Sat Open 24 Hours www.LoversPlayground.com Steve’s Place 852 Washington St, Burlington 319-752-9109 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Services start at 10:30 am 625 N 6th St, Burlington, IA 52601-5032 (319) 753-1895 - www.uuburlington.org

Cedar Falls - Waterloo Black Hawk Co. Health Department Free HIV testing (donations accepted); MW, 1:00pm to 3:00pm; Thurs, 1:00pm to 4:45pm 1407 Independence Ave. (5th fl) Waterloo 50703 319-291 -2413 Cedar AIDS Support System (CASS) Service, support groups & trained volunteers for persons with HIV/AIDS in Waterloo/CF call Elizabeth or Karla, 319-272-AIDS(2437). cvhospice@forbin.net Cedar Valley Counseling Services Promoting personal growth and development in a strengths-based environment Joan E. Farstad, MA, Director.

319-240-4615 www.cvcounseling.com farstd@cvcounseling.com.

First United Methodist Church 6th & Kellogg Contemporary worship Sat. 5:30; Sun at 8:30 and 11:00am. www.fumcames.org.

515-232-2750

Cedar Valley Episcopal Campus Ministry. In Lutheran Center 2616 College St, Cedar Falls, IA 319-415-5747 mcdinoiwa@aol.com www.episcopalcampus.org All welcome!

Living with HIV Program 126 S. Kellogg, Suite 1 Ask for Janelle (Coordinator) 515-956-3312 ext 106 or I -800-890-8230

Community AIDS Assistance Project (CAAP) Funding for special personal needs, community projects, and small grants that are AIDS related.

PO Box 36, Waterloo, IA 50704

LGBTA Support Group at Hawkeye Community College Call Carol at 319-296-4014 for time & location of meeting chedberg@hawkeyecollege.edu Iowa Legal Aid Free civil legal service available to low income persons who qualify under income/asset guidelines.

607 Sycamore, #708, Waterloo, IA 50703 1-800-772-0039 or 319-235-7008 Kings & Queens Tap 304 W. 4th St, Waterloo, IA www.//myspace.com/kingsandqueensspace 319-232-3001 Romantix Waterloo (Adult Emporium) 1507 La Porte Rd, Waterloo, IA 50702 319-234-9340 http://www.romantixonline.com/ Stellas Guesthouse 324 Summit Ave, Waterloo, IA Private B&B, Overnight accommodations for adults only.

319-232-2122 St. Lukes Episcopal Church 2410 Melrose Dr, Cedar Falls, IA 50613 www.st-lukes-episcopal.org Services: Sunday 8:00 & 10:15, Thurs 11:30 319-277-8520

Linn County Stonewall Democrats 2nd Wednesday of every month, 6:30-8 p.m.

The LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party, meets at Hamburger Mary’s, 222 Glenbrook Dr. SE, behind 2nd Wind off of 1st Ave SE in Cedar Rapids. For more info, contact linnstonewall@ gmail.com Rapid AIDS Grant Wood Area Red Cross 3600 Rockwell Dr NE Cedar Rapids, 52410 319-393-9579.

PFLAG Cedar Rapids 3rd Monday, 6:30pm, 6 social Faith United Methodist Church 1000 30th St, NE 515-537-3126 People’s Church Unitarian Universalist A welcoming congregation.

600 Third Avenue SE 11AM Sunday.

319-362-9827 Stonewall Democrats of Linn County Contact Roy Porterfield royboycr@mchsi.com 319-362-5281

Council Bluffs, Omaha(Ne)

Together For Youth 233 Vold Dr, Waterloo, IA 50703 www.TogetherForYouth.net 319-274-6768

AIDS Interfaith Network 100 N. 62nd Omaha, NE Call Br. Wm. Woeger 402-558-3100

UNI-LGBTA Alliance-Student Organization 244A Bartlet Hall, University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls 50613 lgbta@uni.edu 319-222-0003

Citizens For Equal Protection 1105 Howard St, Suite #2 Omaha, NE 68102 www.cfep-ne.org info@cfep-ne.org 402-398-3027

United Church of Christ Cedar Falls 9204 University Avenue, Cedar Falls 319-266-9686

Council Bluffs NOW Write PO Box 3325 Omaha, NE 68103-0325

Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk County 3912 Cedar Heights Dr, Cedar Falls, IA 319-266-5640

DC’s Saloon 610 S. 14th St. Omaha, NE Open everyday 2pm to 1am, western/levi/ leather.

402-344-3103

Cedar Rapids/marion Adult Shop 630 66th Ave SW, 319-362-4939 Adult Shop North 5539 Grain Lane, 319-294-5360 Club Basix Open 5pm to 2am M-F, Sat & Sun 3pm to 2am 3916 1st Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids www.clubbasix.com 319-363-3194 Coe Alliance Education, activism, & fun for GLBT and straight students, staff, faculty and people from the community. Regular meetings.

Coe College 1220 First Ave. NE jchaimov@coe.edu www.public.coe.edu/organizations/Alliance.

Call John Chaimov (contact) at 319-399-8594 for details.

CSPS Legion Arts Contemporary Arts Center 1103 3rd St. SE info@legionarts.org 319-364-1580 Faith UMC 1000 30th Street NE, Cedar Rapids, 52402 Pastor Kathy Moore Sunday services at 11:00am. www.crfaithumc.org 319-363-8454 Foundation 2 Crisis Counseling 24-hour telephone crisis counseling. f2crisis@aol.com or www.f2online.org 1540 2nd Ave. SE Cedar Rapids, IA 319-362-2174 or 800-332-4224 GLRC of Cedar Rapids Support, social activities lnfo@crglrc.org www.crglrc.org or, write to P.O. Box 1643 Cedar Rapids 52406-1643 Call and leave a message -- all calls will be returned.

319-366-2055 Hamburger Mary’s 222 Glenbrook Dr. Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 319-378-4627 www.hamburgermaryscr.com www.myspace.com/hamburgermaryscr Krug Law Firm 6 Hawkeye Drive, Suite 103 North Liberty, IA 52317 319-626-2076 Linn County Public Health 501 13th NW Free confidential HIV testing, 319-892-6000

Diamond Bar 712 S. 16th St. Omaha, NE 10am - 1am, M-Sa, closed Sun 402-342-9595 Front Runners/Front Walkers Walking/jogging club.

P.O. Box 4583 Omaha, NE 68104 402-496-3658.

Gilligan’s Pub and Grill 1407 Harney Omaha, NE Everyday 4pm-1am. Friday and Sat. After hours 12-4am 402-449-9147 GLBT Rainbow Outreach Omaha Serving GLBT community in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Excellent message and info. Also office for Imperial court of Nebraska.

1719 Leavenworth St Omaha, NE www.rocc.org 402-341-0330 Heartland Gay Rodeo Association (HGRA) PO Box 3354, Omaha, NE 68103 www.hgra.net 402-203-4680 HGRA serves both Iowa and Nebraska Imperial Court of Nebraska P.O. Box 3772, Omaha, NE 68103 402-556-9907 L.E.O. (Leather Engineers of Omaha) Educational-social group for Gay Men with interest in Leather Lifestyle. Meets 2nd Saturday at Gilligan’s Pub at 7:00pm.

L.E.O. PO Box 8101 Omaha, NE 68108.

The Max 1417 Jackson at 15th, Omaha, NE 68102 6 bars in 1 402-346-4110.

MCC of Omaha 819 South 22nd P.O. Box 3173, Omaha, NE 68103 Sun. 9 & 11 am.

Contemporary Worship Service, Sat 7PM 402-345-2563.

PFLAG Omaha Mead Hall, First United Methodist Church 7020 Cass St. (Omaha) 2nd Thursday, 7, 6:30 Social time 402-291-6781 River City Mixed Chorus Gay/lesbian chorus PO Box 3267 Omaha, NE 68103 Call Stan Brown, marketing 402-341-7464.

ACCESSline Page 33 Romantix Council Bluffs (North) (Adult Emporium) 3216 1st Ave. Council Bluffs, IA 51501-3353 http://www.romantixonline.com 515-955-9756 Romantix Council Bluffs (South) (Romantix After Dark) 50662 189th St, Council Bluffs, Ia 51503 http://www.romantixonline.com 712-366-1764 Youth Support Group for GLBT Youth 13-21, meets twice monthly.

Omaha, NE 402-291- 6781.

Decorah Decorah Diversity Appreciation Team Martin Klammer, Luther College 700 College Dr., 52101 563-387-2112.

Luther College Student Congregation Contact Office for College Ministry 700 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101 563-387-1040.

PFLAG Northeast IA (Currently seeking a place to meet.)

563-535-7680 PRIDE Luther College Diversity Center, 700 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101 Contact Chris at 563-387-2145 or Melanie at 563-387-1273 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Meets alternating Sundays at 10:30am, Decorah Senior Center 806 River St Call Bill at 563-382-3458.

Des Moines AIDS Project of Central Iowa Free HIV testing, prevention supplies, care services, food pantry, information.

711 E. 2nd, Des Moines, IA 50309 515-284-0245 Blazing Saddle 416 E 5th St www.theblazingsaddle.com 515-246-1299 Buddies Corral 418 E 5th St, Des Moines, IA 515-244-7140 Church of the Holy Spirit-MCC Pastor Pat Esperanza Sunday service 10:30am at the 1st Christian Church 2500 University, Des Moines chsmccdmia@aol.com 515-287-9787.

Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus 515-953-1540 PO Box 12269, Des Moines, IA 50312 dmgmc@mchsi.com www.dmgmc.org.

Family Practice Center Safe, supportive LGBT health care.

200 Army Post Road, Ste 26 www.ppgi.org 515-953-7560 First Friday Breakfast Club Educational breakfast club for gay/bisexual men. Meets first Friday of each month.

Contact Jonathan Wilson for meeting topic and place.

Jonathanwilson@davisbrownlaw.com 515288-2500 First Unitarian Church 1800 Bell Avenue Services Sundays at 9:30 & 11am 515-244-8603 The Gallery (adult store) 1000 Cherry St Des Moines, IA 50309-4227 (515) 244-2916 Open 24 Hours www.LoversPlayground.com The Garden 112 SE 4th Des Moines, IA 515-243-3965 Wed-Sun. 8pm-2am www.grdn.com Gay & Lesbian AA & AI-Anonymous Mon. 7 pm; Tues. - Thurs. 6 pm; Sat. 5:30 pm at Drake Ministries in Ed. Bldg. 28th & University Gay and Lesbian Issues Committee 4211 Grand Avenue, Level-3 Des Moines, IA 50312 515-277-1117 Heartland Gay Rodeo Midwest Division of the International Gay Rodeo Association.

402-203-4680 Iowa Affirmation Lesbian/Gay United Methodist Thoreau Center, 35th & Kingman Blvd. Write Affirmation PO Box 1726, Des Moines, IA 50309 Java Joe’s Gay friendly 214 4th St. 515-288-5282

ACCESSline Page 34 Lavender Victory Fund Financial assistance for women in need for medical emergencies.

700 Rose Ave, Des Moines, IA 50315 Contact Bonnie at 515-244-7946 Liberty Gifts 333 E. Grand Ave., Loft 105 Des Moines, IA Gay owned specialty clothing, jewelry, home decor.

Libertygiftsonline.com 515-508-0825 MINX Show Palace 1510 N.E. Broadway Des Moines, IA 50313 Open 9am - 2am, M-Th; 9am - 4am, F-Sat. 10am -9pm Sun. 515-266-2744 National Association of Social Workers (NOW) (Nat’1 Organization of Women in Des Moines) http://www.meetup.com/locale/us/ia/desmoines North Star Gay Rodeo Association of IGRA, Iowa Division of North Star NSGRA@ NSGRA.org or 612-82RODEO Rainbow Union, Drake University Contact Sara Graham ru@drake.edu PFLAG Des Moines 515-537-3126 or write 3520 Grand Ave #51, Des Moines, IA 50312 Plymouth Congregational UCC Church and the Plymouth GLBT Community 4126 Ingersoll Ave. 515-255-3149 Services at 5:30pm Sat, 9am & I lam Sunday. www.PlymouthGLBT.com Polk County Health Department Free STD, HIV, and Hepatitis B & C testing.

HIV. Rapid testing also offered.

1907 Carpenter, Des Moines, IA 515-286-3798.

Raccoon River Resort Accommodations for men, women, or mixed in campgrounds, lodge, Teepees or Treehouses. Reservations: 515-996-2829 or 515-279-7312 Ramada Des Moines West/Clive 1600 NW 114th St, Des Moines, IA 50325 US ( I80/I35 & Exit 124 ) 515-226-1600 Fax: 515-226-9022 Ritual Café On 13th between Grand and Locust. ritualcafe@aol.com Gay owned great music, awesome food and coffee.

515-288-4872 Romantix North Des Moines Iowa (Bachelor’s Library) 2020 E. Euclid Ave. http://www.romantixonline.com/ Des Moines, IA 50317-3668 515-266-7992 Romantix 1401 E. Army Post Rd. Des Moines IA 50320-1809 http://www.romantixonline.com/ 515-256-1102 Spouses of Lesbians & Gays Contact Ruth Schanke, 515-277-3700 St. John’s Lutheran Church 600 6th Ave “A Church for All People.”

Services Sat 5pm, Sun 7:45, 8:45 & 11am.

See web page for other services.

515-243-7691 www.stjohnsdsm.org The CENTER 1300 Locust; The new LGBT and progressive place to be. thecenterdm@gmail.com Transformations Monthly meetings for the female to male, male to female, transgender community, cross dressers, gender queer, questioning, and their significant others. For location and info, email Jayden at thecenterdmtrans@gmail.com or call 515-779-5187

Section 3: Community Westminster Presbyterian Church 4114 Allison Ave. www.westpres.org Sunday services 8:45 and 11am. Of note is their Gay Lesbian Straight Affirmation small group ministry.

515-274-1534 Word of God Ministries Join us at 3:30 for Sunday Worship at 3120 E. 24th St, Des Moines, IA Mailing address: PO Box 4396, Des Moines IA 50333 515-276-6614 Women’s Culture Collective (WCC) A lesbian social group.

Des Moines, IA www.iowawcc.org Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure Open daily. Gay-friendly 2723 Ingersoll, Des Moines, IA 515-244-7694.

Dubuque Adult Warehouse 975 Jackson St., Dubuque, IA 563-588-9184.

The Q 920 Main Street, Dubuque, IA Open Mon - Sun, 7pm to 2am. www.myspace.com/qbar_dbq 563-557-7375 Dubuque Friends (Quaker) Worship Group. An unprogrammed meeting at 10am Sunday through September May. Meeting at the Roberta Kuhn Center 1100 Carmel Drive Dubuque, IA 563-556-3685 for info and directions.

Dubuque Pride Monthly social group, meeting for meal and conversation. www.dubuquepride.org Dubuque Regional AIDS Coalition Direct services, education. HIV+/AIDS support group and family/friends support group. Contact Kay Auderer or Connie Sprimont, Mercy Health Center.

563-589-9606.

PFLAG Dubuque St. John’s Lutheran Church 1276 White St. 3rd Thursday, 7pm 563-582-9388 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Dubuque 1699 Iowa St. Dubuque, IA “The uncommon denomination.” Adult religious education meets Sunday at 9am before general services at 10am. www.uuf-dbq.org.

563-583-9910

Fort Dodge Romantix Fort Dodge (Mini Cinema) 15 N. 5th St, Fort Dodge, IA 50501-3801 http://www.romantixonline.com

Grinnell Saints Ephrem & Macrina Orthodox Mission. Welcoming worship in the Eastern Christian liturgical tradition.

Sunday services at 10am. (Affiliated with the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America.)

1226 Broad Street, Grinnell, IA 641-236-0936 Stonewall Resource Center Open 4:30pm to 11:30pm, Sun through Thurs and by Appointment.

Grinnell College 1210 Park Street PO Box B-1, Grinnell, IA, 50112 srcenter@grinnell.edu 641-269-3327

INDIANOLA Crossroads United Church of Christ (UCC) An Open & affirming congregation. Services: Sunday 10:30am, Summer worship: June, July, Aug, @ 9:30 am, worshiping in the Lounge at Smith Chapel, Simpson College, corner of Buxton and Clinton. Mailing address: P.O. Box 811, Indianola, IA 50125 515-961-9370.

Iowa City

Trinity United Methodist Church 1548 Eighth Street Services Sundays at 10a.m.

515-288-4056

AA (GLBT) Meetings Sundays 5 - 6pm at First Baptist Church, 500 North Clinton Street. For more info, call IC Intergroup Answering Service, 319-338-9111

Urbandale UCC An open & affirming congregation.

3530 70th St. Urbandale, IA 50322 515-276-0625.

Congregational Church UCC An Open and Affirming Congregation Sunday Worship 9:15am (July & August) 30 N. Clinton St. (across from Ul Pentacrest) 319-337-4301 - www.uiccic.org

Walnut Hills UMC Join us at 8:30 or 10:30am for Sunday worship. Sunday classes and group studies are at 9:30am.

12321 Hickman Rd. Urbandale, IA 50323 515-270-9226.

Counseling Clinic Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sensitive and supportive counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups. Sliding Fee. 505 E Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240 319-354-6238.

Counseling and Health Center Client-centered therapy.

Les-Bi-Gay-Trans always welcome.

616 Bloomington St, Iowa City, IA 319-337-6998.

Crisis Center 1121 Gilbert Court, Iowa City, 52240 319-351-0140.

Emma Goldman Clinic 227 N. Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA 52245 319-337-2111or 1-800-848-7684.

Faith United Church of Christ 1609 De Forest Street, Iowa City, IA Services Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

319-338-5238 GLBTAU-U of l Student support system and resource center, info, activism, events, and other community involvements.

203 IMU, University of IA Iowa City, IA 52242-1317 glbtau@uiowa.edu 319-335-3251 (voice mail) Hope United Methodist Church Worship Service at 9:30am.

2929 E. Court St., Iowa City, IA Contact Rev. Sherry Lohman.

319-338-9865 ICARE Iowa Center for AIDS Resources & Education Practical and emotional support, youth programs, information, referrals and support groups.

3211 E 1st Iowa City, IA 52240-4703 319-338-2135.

Iowa City Free Medical Clinic Free & strictly confidential HIV Testing.

2440 Towncrest Dr Iowa City, Call for appointment 319-337-4459 Iowa City NOW PO Box 2944, Iowa City, IA 52244 for information & meeting times/places Iowa Women’s Music Festival P.O. Box 3411, Iowa City, IA 52244 319-335-1486 Krug Law Firm 6 Hawkeye Drive, Suite 103 North Liberty, IA 52317 319-626-2076 Men Supporting Men HIV prevention program exploring issues that gay/bisexual men deal with on a daily basis.

Discussion Groups, Educational Series, Safer Sex Workshops, Book Club. Contact Andy Weigel, email: aweigel@co.johnson.ia.us 319-356-6038, Ext 2 New Song Episcopal Church 912 20th Ave Coralville, IA Sunday services at 1Oam. Rev. Elizabeth Coulter, Pastor Rev. John Harper, Associate.

319-351-3577 Pride Committee WRAC 130 N. Madison, Iowa City, IA 52242 Bridget Malone 319-338-0512 Charles Howes 319-335-1486.

Romantix Iowa City (Pleasure Palace I) 315 Kirkwood Ave, Iowa City, IA 52240-4722 http://www.romantixonline.com 319-351-9444 Studio 13 13 S. Linn St. (in the Alley) Iowa City, IA Open 7pm ‘til 2am, daily 319-338-7145 Thich Nhat Hanh based “Mindfulness” meditation and study group Iowa City Public Library, Sundays 1 to 2:30pm Usually Room E 319-354-4065 U of I Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Staff & Faculty Association c/o WRAC 130 N. Madison, Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-1486 Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City Inclusive and free religious community nurturing intellectual and spiritual growth and fostering ethical and social responsibility.

10 S. Gilbert, Iowa City, IA Sunday services: 9am & 10:45am. www.uusic.org 319-337-3443 United Action for Youth (UAY) A GLBTQA youth group providing support and counseling for teenagers and young adults processing sexual identity issues. Meets Mondays 7-9pm at UAY 410 Iowa Ave. Iowa City, IA 319-338-7518 or Teen Line, 319-338-0559.

The Ursine Group Bear Events in the Midwest.

P.O. Box 1143, Iowa City, IA 52244-1143 319-338-5810 Vortex Gifts 211 E. Washington, downtown Iowa City 319-337-3434 Women’s Resource Action Center (WRAC) Leads & collaborates on projects that serve Uofl & the greater community, offers social & support services, including LGBT Coming Out Group.

University of Iowa 130 N. Madison Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-1486

Marshalltown Adult Odyssey [Adult Video] 907 Iowa Ave E 641-752-6550 Domestic Violence Alternatives/Sexual Assault Center, Inc. 24 hour Crisis Line: 641-753-3513 or (instate only) 800-779-3512

MASON CITY Cerro Gordo County Dept. of Public Health 22 N. Georgia Ave, Ste 300 Mason City –Iowa 50401.

Free confidential AIDS testing.

641-421-9306 PFLAG North Iowa Chapter 1st Presbyterian Church 100 S. Pierce.

1st/ 2nd Monday (alternating), 7pm 641-583-2848

Mount Vernon Alliance Cornell College 810 Commons Cir # 2035 alliance@cornellcollege.edu www.cornellcollege.edu/alliance contact person: Glynnis 319-895-5874

NEWTON PFLAG Newton UCC Church 308 E 2nd St N 3rd Thursday, 7pm 641-521-7436

Pella Common Ground (Central College) Support group for GLBT students and allies.

Contact: Brandyn Woodard, Director of Intercultural Life woodard@central.edu 641-628-5134

Quad Cities AIDS Project Quad Cities Info, education & support. Ste 360 1351 Central Park West Davenport, IA 52804 563-421-4266.

Augie’s Tap 313 20th St, Rock Island (IL) Noon - 3am daily.

309-788-7389 Black Hawk College Unity Alliance Serving GLBT community at Black Hawk College.

6600 34th Ave, Rock Island, IL 309-716-0542.

Connections Nightclub 822 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA 52802 Phone: (563) 322-1121 DeLaCerda House Provides housing and supportive services, advocacy and referrals for people living with HIV/AIDS. P.O. Box 4551, Rock Island, Il. 61201 309-786-7386.

The Hole-In-The-Wall A Private Membership Men’s Club Located 3 miles east of Galesburg, IL just north of I-74 at Exit 51 309-289-2375 www.HoleInTheWallMensClub.org Holy Spirit Catholic Faith Community Meets one Sunday per month for Mass at 5:30pm at MCC-QC 3019 N. Harrison St., Davenport For more info, call 563-340-7488 Mary’s On 2nd 832 W. 2nd St. Davenport, IA 563-884-8014.

MCC Quad Cities - Svcs Sat 5pm, Sun 11am Bible study Wed. 7 pm 3019 N. Harrison, Davenport, IA 52803 Call 563-324-8281.

Men’s Coming Out/Being Out Group Meets 2nd & 4th Thursdays, 7pm.

QCAD.OutForGood@GMail.com 309-786-2580

October 2009 PFLAG Quad Cities Eldridge United Methodist Church 604 S.2nd St., (Eldridge) 1st Monday, 6:30 pm 563-285-4173 Prism (Augustana College) Augustana Gay-Straight Alliance Augustana Library 639 38th St. Rock Island, IL Contact Tom Bengston 309-794-7406.

Quad Citians Affirming Diversity (QCAD) Social & support groups for lesbian, bi, and gay teens, adults, friends & families; newsletter.

309-786-2580 Community Center located at 1608 2nd Ave, Rock Island.

Quad Cities Pride Chorus.

At the MCC Church in D’port, 7pm Wed. qcswede64@aol.com Call Don at 563-324-0215 Rainbow Gifts www.rainbowgifts.net 309-764-0559 T.R. Video Adult books & video 3727 Hickory Grove Rd, Davenport, IA 563-386-7914.

Venus News (Adult) 902 w. 3rd St, Davenport, IA 563-322-7576

SHENANDOAH PFLAG Shenandoah 712-246-2824

Sioux City Am. Business & Professional Guild. Gay Businessmen.

Meets last Sat. of the month; ABPG P. O. BOX 72, Sioux City, 51102 abpguild@yahoo.com Grace United Methodist Church 1735 Morningside Avenue 712-276-3452.

Jones Street Station (Bar) 412 Jones St. Nightly 6:00pm to 2:00am.

712-258-6922 Mayflower Congregational Church.

1407 West 18th Street Call 712-258-8278.

Morningside College Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Alliance Contact Professor Gail Dooley, Advisor Morningside College GSA 1501 Morningside Ave. Sioux City, IA 51106-1717 dooley@morningside.edu 712-274-5208 PFLAG Siouxland PO Box 1311, Sioux City, IA 51102 siouxlandPFLAG@aol.com Romantix Sioux City (Adult Emporium) 511 Pearl St, Sioux City, IA 51101-1217 St. Thomas Episcopal Church Service Sun 10:30am 406 12th St, Waverly, IA Rev Mary Christopher 712-258-0141 Western Iowa Tech. GSA widemal@juno.com for info.

SPENCER (NEAR SIOUX FALLS) The Royal Wedding Chapel 504 Church Street Royal, IA 51357 712-933-2223 www.TheRoyalWeddingChapel.com

Waverly Cedar Valley Episcopal Campus Ministry.

717 W. Bremer, (St. Andrew’s Episcopal) Waverly, IA www.episcoplcampus.org 319-415-5747 Gay, Lesbian Bisexual Student Alliance Wartburg College, Waverly, IA 50677 Contact Susan Vallem 319-352-8250 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church 717 W. Bremer We welcome all to worship with us on Sunday at 10:30 am. Bible discussion Wed. 6:45pm Rev. Maureen Doherty, Pastor 319-352-1489

October 2009

Section 3: Community

ACCESSline Page 35

ACCESSline Page 36

Section 3: Community

October 2009