ACCESSline, The Heartland's LGBT+ Newspaper, January 2013 Issue, Volume 27 No 1

Midwest Drag Pioneers

Heartland News Iowa Supreme Court Hears Lambda

Drag Kings & Queens Talk About Drag History

“All children born to married parents in Iowa deserve the same protection and acknowledgement by the state of their relationships to their parents regardless of whether a child has two mothers, or a mother and a father.”

The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lambda Legal’s lawsuit seeking to compel the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) to provide an accurate birth certificate to all children born to same-sex married parents in Iowa.

“We are confident that Mackenzie will be able to keep her court-ordered birth certificate with both mothers listed as parents, and that all other children born to married same-sex parents will be issued accurate two-parent birth certificates just as is true for children of married different-sex parents.

All children born to married parents in I o wa deserve the same protection and a c k n owl edgement by the state of their relationships to their parents regardless of whether a child has two mothers, or a mother andafather, said Camilla Ta y l o r, Marriage Project Director for Lambda Legal. “Birth certificates document a child’s legal parentchild relationships, not biological relationships. Just ask children who have been adopted. Or look at the birth certificates of kids who—as in Mackenzie Gartner’s case—were born through anonymous donor insemination, but who were born to a married different-sex couple instead of a same-sex couple.

They get birth certificates naming both spouses as parents, and their birth certificates say nothing about the child’s biological connections.”

Mackenzie Gartner was born in September 2009 to Heather and Melissa Gartner, a lesbian couple who legally married in Iowa before she was born. After receiving a birth certificate which listed Heather as the only parent, the couple requested a corrected birth certificate listing both spouses as Mackenzie’s parents. Iowa’s Department of Public Health denied the request on the ground that Melissa is not Mackenzie’s genetic parent. However, Iowa law establishes that a child born to married parents is the

by Angela Geno-Stumme

January is Drag History month and we celebrate the local Midwest pioneers of drag. Drag Queens and Drag Kings have their own unique place in LGBT history. The I.C. Kings and The New Kings on the Block talk about their inspiration and motivation as Drag Kings, and JD Lesbiani takes the time to answer a few questions on his career.

Drag Queens have been inspirations for everyone, including Drag Kings, and their impact on the community has been felt through entertainment and charity. Drag Queens Alexandria Markstone, Pretty Belle, and Ruby James Knight took the time to answer some questions on their career as Midwest Drag Pioneers.

The I.C. Kings are a Drag King group that performs out of Studio 13 in Iowa City, Iowa with performances throughout Iowa. They took the time to discuss their

TTDRAG HISTORY continued page 4

Scheffler discusses the sexy of SPANK! interview by Arthur Breur

Anne Marie Scheffler is a playwright and actress whose seven original one-person shows tell the story of characters who put their hearts out there, trying to be liked, trying to be loved, and trying to maintain their identity as their lives change.

Her most recent show before joining the cast of “Spank”, was entitled Anne Marie Scheffler “Suddenly Mommy” and was about her experience as someone who is a wife, a mom, and a step-mom but who laments no longer hearing, “Hey, sexy!” instead of, “Hey, mom!” Thus it is that she can relate to her role as the housewife-turned-soft-porn author in the new

TTSPANK! continued on page 4

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Davey Wavey

Legal Case Seeking Accurate Birth Certificate for Lesbian Mothers

All children born to married parents in Iowa deserve the same protection and acknowledgement by the state of their relationships to their parents regardless of whether a child has two mothers...

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What’s Inside:

Section 1: News & Politics

Advertising rates Dana Stuehling to serve Midwest GSAs One Iowa Goals for 2013 Remarkables by Jonathan Wilson From the Heartland by Donna Red Wing The Associated Press… by Warren J. Blumenfeld Shrink Rap by Loren A. Olson MD Guns and Weed by Tony Dillon-Hansen AP’s discouraging “homophobia”… by Rev. Irene Monroe Minor Details by Robert Minor Creep of the Week by D’Anne Witkowski

Section 2: Fun Guide

Entertainment Picks for the Month 11 Davey Wavey interview by Angela Geno-Stumme 11 Inside Out by Ellen Krug 12 Ask Lambda Legal by Eric Lesh Wired This Way by Rachel Eliason 2012 Favorite:Wired This Way by Rachel Eliason 2012 Favorite: Inside Out by Ellen Krug The Bookworm Sez by Terri Schlichenmeyer Comics and Crossword Puzzle 22-23 New Cookbook on Eastern India

Section 3: Community

FFBC Guest Speaker by Bruce Carr Prime Timers of Central Iowa Greater Omaha GLBT Network Calendar Intentional Interaction by Royal Bush The Project of the Quad Cities Calendar From the Pastor’s Pen by Rev. Jonathan Page DMGMC Solstice Concert 2012 by Rick Miller Business Directory PITCH Calendar 2013 PITCH Conference Call Iowa’s Pride Sports League Quotations of the Past Year-2012 Belle’s Basix & CRPrideFest MCC QC at Tri-City Jewish Center New Kings Special Guests

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JANUARY 2013

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Section 1: News & Politics SScontinued from page 1

HEARTLAND NEWS legitimate child of both spouses regardless of genetic relationship, and requires the Department of Public Health to list both spouses as parents on the birth certificate accordingly. In May of 2010, Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of Mackenzie Gartner.

In January 2012, the Iowa District Court for Polk County ordered the IDPH to issue an accurate birth certificate to Mackenzie, which it did while also appealing that court’s decision.

Every other state that permits same-sex couples to marry, enter into civil unions, or enter comprehensive domestic partnerships, issues birth certificates to children of same-sex couples in a legal relationship on the same terms as to children of married different-sex couples.

“Our daughter needs the same respect and treatment that every other child born to married parents receives,” said Heather Gartner. “She was born to a loving married couple. All we are trying to do is to make sure our daughter is treated fairly.”

For more information about the case,

see the case page at http://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/gartner-v-newton. html Along with Camilla Taylor, Mackenzie Gartner is being represented by Kenneth Upton of Lambda Legal and Sharon K. Malheiro of Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.

Iowa Court Orders Accurate Death Certificate for Stillborn Baby, Justice for Married Lesbian Mothers

“Both partners in a same-sex relationship can also qualify as parents...Therefore, a mother’s wife is a female parent.”

The Iowa District Court for Polk County ordered the state’s Department of Public Health to issue an accurate death certificate to Jennifer and Jessica Buntemeyer after their son was stillborn in October of last year.

The couple’s grief was compounded when the Iowa Department of Public Health e r a s e d Jenny’s name from the death certificate.

I n his ruling, District Judge Robert A. Hutchison referred to Lambda Legal’s 2009 case affirming the freedom for same-sex

ACCESSline Page 3 couples to marry in Iowa, and wrote: “Both partners in a same-sex relationship can also qualify as parents, at least in the ordinary and common sense. See Varnum, 763 N.W.2d at 899–901. Therefore, a mother’s wife is a female parent.”

“The court affirmed what should have been clear to the Iowa Department of Public Health from reading Varnum v. Brien— Lambda Legal’s case that established that same-sex couples in Iowa have an equal right to marry—that a child born to a married couple has two parents, regardless of whether the spouses are same-sex or different-sex. Vital records document legal parentage, not biology,” said Camilla Taylor, Marriage Project Director for Lambda Legal.

“In this case, the state was not only denying that Jenny and Jessica are both mothers, it was trying to erase Jenny from the family.

A death certificate for Brayden is their sole legal record of his existence and his significance to their family.”

The case was filed in February 2012 after the family’s tragic loss was exacerbated when the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) erased Jenny’s name from the death certificate and refused to return their repeated phone calls for an explanation. Under Iowa law, vital records including death certificates reflect legal parentage, and both spouses are parents to any child born during a marriage regardless of whether they have a biological relationship to the child. In March 2012, the Iowa Attorney General’s office filed court documents saying that the state will continue to refuse an accurate death certificate to Jenny and Jessica Buntemeyer, asserting that it was correct in erasing Jenny’s name.

“The Buntemeyer’s will always grieve the loss of their child,” Taylor continued, “but, at least now they do not also have to face denial and discrimination from the government.”

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ACCESSline Page 4 SScontinued from page 1

SPANK! musical comedy “Spank, the Fifty Shades Parody” which will be showing February 7-9 at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines.

You’re both an actress and a writer.

I’ve been a performer for a long time. I have seven one-person shows and I just love being a live performer. I’ve written all my own material, mostly because I was auditioning for stuff and I was thinking, “I don’t want to be the rape victim! I don’t want to play the woman who gets shot!” And I thought, “Well, I can fix this by writing the stuff I do want to do.” As a result I get to write a lot of comedy and get a lot of mileage and really touch a lot of people.

Tell me about this musical.

Well, this is a parody that really just had to happen because of the crazy phenomenon that is the book Fifty Shades of Gray. A US producer named Mike Mills (who does lovely work) thought that this book, that has taken over, pretty much the globe—middle-aged women reading… soft porn, really… and has turned into these crazy book sales that have surpassed JK Rowling’s—there’s got to be a parody in here. There’s definitely comedy to be mined. And Mike contacted a Toronto-based director who works in New York a lot and said, “Let’s put this comedy together; how should we do it?”

His response was, “Well, let me get together a team of comedy writers and actors and we’ll pull it together very quickly.”

So basically for the month of September there were six of us plus the director in the writing room, and we put all of our best ideas forward. We opened the show in Springfield, Massachusetts, on October fifth to a sold-out crowd of screaming middle-aged women— of which I am one, so I’m allowed to say that!

I write for who I am. I am my audience.

So tell us about the creative process of coming up with the story.

Jim Millan, the director, phoned me, and said, “I’m doing a parody of Fifty Shades of Gray,” and all I knew about that book—at that point I had not read it—was that there’s a twenty-two-year-old virgin who falls for a twenty-eight-year-old, gorgeous billionaire. And I was like, “Wow, Jim thinks I’m a twenty-two-year-old!” I thought, “What a compliment!” Apparently, he immediately knew that the musical had to be at least a three-hander because the main character would be E. L. James, the writer—in our version we call her E. B. J. So the one thing that we knew going in was that it would be a three-hander, and that it was going to be the story of the woman E. L. James. You know, in real life, the story is happening to her, and in our story I get to carry the carry the plot forward—I get to create these two characters in my head, and I get to put them into fun situations, and we went from there.

Tell me what people should expect.

I haven’t read the book, but I do know certain parts of it and I just today saw George Takei reading elements of it in a very funny way online… So tell us about the play—what somebody could expect, going to see Spank!

Well, they should expect a wild party. It’s almost like a rock and roll concert. If you like burlesque, that is awesome, because one of the big draws is the male lead—who is obviously gorgeous and has a great body and does remove most of his clothing—we definitely use our male lead to the extreme advantage

Section 1: News & Politics of having him doing all the burlesque stuff.

I don’t want to give away too much—but Patrick Whalen, who is the 28-year-old billionaire, he’s like a national burlesque champion. He’s really well known. So expect that, always a crowd pleaser. And expect songs that are just feel-good songs, and dirtydancing to those songs. Expect surprises.

We will take you to places you’d never have thought this kind of material would take you.

And definitely expect comedy. The material is “soft porn”—”mommy porn”—but we take it wild places, but if you’re a very conservative, church-going mouse type, you’ll be OK. We’re not taking you to places where—well, I take that back: there are some sex toys that you’ll see, and well, um… You have to think of it in terms of what would a mother and wife—meaning me, meaning the E. L. James character—what would she be fantasizing about?

Fifty Shades of Gray is selling out Harry Potter. Why is this book so popular? I immediately said, in our writer room, “It’s because the middle-aged woman, she’s got her sexy back. She has reclaimed sexuality, reclaimed pornography, soft porn.” When you’re thinking sexiness, or porn, or BDSM, or tying people up, you’re thinking maybe men, maybe really good-looking, big-busted girls—you’re not thinking the woman at home with the glasses and two kids and the minivan. You don’t think it’s her. You don’t think it’s her genre. You don’t even put her there. You know the real E. L. James, she’s got big thick glasses, she’s got plain brown hair, and she’s forty-nine years old, and she’s raising her two boys, and she has a job, and she’s married to her husband. You’re not thinking that’s the woman who’s coming up with this soft porn!

So why should someone come see the musical if they’re not a middle-aged housewife?

To enjoy the material itself. We push the edges. It’s a very sexy show. Dare I say my character gets very down and dirty, so I guess it’s a celebration for the woman who doesn’t necessarily go to these kind of things, but it is also a well written play, with a storyline and a hero’s journey and a transformation of the characters and a feel-good ending. Anybody who comes to see it will have a good time, that’s for sure.

Does the music have a particular style, or is it all sorts of different things?

It does have all sorts of different things, but we do tend to draw from good-old musical theater. Big Broadway-type songs, just because they’re so much fun to perform, live. Spoiler alert: if you like The Sound of Music… I’ll stop right there!

Is there any part of the production where your character gets to say something that you never expected to say on stage?

Oh, sure! The things that come out of my mouth, they’re delicious. The things I say are very risque and fun, and also, there’s humor in that my character may not be an expert in pornography but boy the stuff that she comes up with is hilarious and out of this world and outlandish. It’s quite a pleasure.

I think we’re going to have such a good time. It’s very fun, it’s wild, it pushes the envelope. It’s not conservative theater by any means, obviously. I sometimes describe it as not Shakespeare, but it’s a sexy show that makes you think. It moves you in essential ways.

It’s a sexy celebration.

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DRAG HISTORY personal inspiration and their views on drag history.

Photo courtesy of Paranoid Peachezz Photography.

Franky D. Lover When I think about drag history, many things come to mind. I think about performers I know, about gender performance in society, images in popular culture, as well as the impact of creativity in general.

For me personally, I was influenced by a variety of artists and performers, including actors, musicians, and photographers, especially anyone who had strong yet changing images. A key example is Madonna. I have always thought the idea of transforming into another character was intriguing. This is certainly where the influence of popular culture comes into play. Without that exposure to varied icons or role models, it can be difficult to find ways to express yourself.

And even when I was growing up, the variety was limited. LGBTQ people were not seen very often and everyone was still expected to conform to whatever gender role was deemed appropriate (based on the dichotomy of biological sex = gender = gender presentation, etc.). However, there was just enough diversity for me to look back and think “hey, that was a good influence for me.” To this day, if I am ill, I pop in “The Birdcage” and instantly feel a bit more fabulous. Maybe that’s my “root” for performance!

My friends have been a major influence in my journey of performance. Many of them have their own talents, in drag performance, photography, music, singing, etc.

Several friends were kings locally, including Lover Boy and Lord Mick. The knowledge that other kings and gender performers were out there, locally and nationwide, made the idea seem accessible. I met Joey D. at the most perfect time, while searching for kings

JANUARY 2013 interested in performing as a group. Joey is one of the best performers I have seen and is also a lovely person off stage. I also knew (and still know) many drag queens and loved going to their drag shows. Sasha Belle is one of the many queens I am inspired by. Having a talented and supportive group of friends absolutely made me realize that becoming a drag performer and starting a drag king troupe were achievements within my reach.

Sometimes being able to see the possibilities is half the battle.

Today, many people may recognize the name Franky D. Lover and especially the I.C. Kings. But that certainly would not have been the case five years ago. I.C. Kings was formed after much talking, brainstorming, planning and collaboration. Andrew Ogynous and I co-founded the group, after months (maybe even years) of input from friends and community members, in 2008 and early 2009. In April of 2009 the I.C. Kings performed our first headlining show, at Firewater (now closed) in Iowa City. It was a smaller show, but the impact was easy to see. People were excited, having fun, inspired, maybe even enlightened. To my knowledge, that show in April of 2009 marked the start of the first drag king troupe in Iowa. Meaning, before the I.C. Kings started, drag kings in this state were performing individually. Over the years since our first show, some performers have joined our group; some have had to move on to other opportunities. But each king brings something unique when they hit the stage!

All of my drag “bros” continue to inspire me, with their creativity, effort, talent, humor and passion. Also, response from fans and the community has only continued to grow, much to the delight of us kings. We have had countless amazing experiences, onstage and off, including opening for God-des and She this past month, raising money for charitable organizations, appearing on several PATV

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JANUARY 2013

Section 1: News & Politics

Dana Stuehling to serve Midwest GSAs Iowa Pride Network Outreach Coordinator to serve as Midwest Representative for the National Association of GSA Networks

Dana Stuehling, Outreach Coordinator at the Iowa Pride Network, has recently been selected to serve as the Midwest Representative for the National Association of GSA Networks’ (NAGN) Steering Committee. The NAGN is coordinated by GSA Network in California, and its goal is to support the growth of the GSA movement by connecting state and regional GSA networks. Iowa Pride Network has been a member of the NAGN since its inception in 2005, and Stuehling is “incredibly honored and excited” to work within the Midwestern region and to provide input and direction for the National Association.

The NAGN provides support to GSA organizations by coordinating monthly conference calls, organizing an annual National Gathering for staff and student representatives, and managing on online listserv where state organizations can communicate about the issues and needs of the GSA movement.

Currently, there are 35 state organizations (+ Washington, DC) that are part of the National Network and as the Midwest Representative, Stuehling will represent Iowa Pride Network,

Wisconsin’s Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE), Illinois GSA Network, Ohio’s Kaleidoscope Youth Center, Missouri GSA Network, Minnesota’s Out for Good, and the Indiana Youth Group.

As the Midwest Representative, Stuehling will participate in Steering Committee conference calls to provide ideas regarding the direction of and changes within the national network, as well as offer input for the monthly NAGN conference call programming.

She will also help plan the National Gathering and serve as the Chair of the Outreach & Expansion Committee; this committee will reach out to and recruit state GSA Networks that are not yet a part of the NAGN. As an organizer for National GSA Day, Stuehling is in a unique position to reach out to GSA Day partner organizations and other LGBT youth organizations that have not yet joined the NAGN, particularly those in the Midwest.

Stuehling will also work to address the unique issues that the Midwest faces, including providing support to rural communities and schools and confronting the issues of racial justice and inclusion. With other members of this committee, Stuehling “looks forward” to growing the National GSA Movement and representing the Midwestern Region.

For more information on volunteer opportunities, visit the Iowa Pride Network website, iowapridenetwork.org or contact Stuehling at dana@iowapridenetwork. org/515-471-8063.

ACCESSline Page 5

One Iowa Goals for 2013 At One Iowa, we simply want couples to be able to marry the person they love. We want the same rights and responsibilities of other loving families—in sickness and in health. We work against those who would deprive families of the right to be heard and to make decisions when a loved one is ill or dying. We work to resolve the disproportionately unfair tax, financial and emotional burdens for these couples. (According to a recent New York Times analysis, the lifetime “cost of being gay” can cost a moderateincome family as much as $467, 562.)

We challenge our own movement to believe in what Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And we must continue to work until that day, when justice truly prevails.

Our goals in 2013 include moving from a plurality to a majority of public support for the freedom to marry. We will also: Provide leadership and support to the LGBT Health Initiative of Iowa, specifically around the health of our families.

Outreach to opinion makers, faith leaders, couples, parents, legislators, and government officials to have ongoing conversations about the future of marriage in Iowa.

Deepen and expand the One Iowa Education Fund’s Speakers Bureau to include Training for Trainers, refresher classes, media training and more.

Expand the House Party program for more face-to-face conversations in homes across the state.

Identify opportunities to reach people of faith, especially conservative and evan-

gelical people of faith who may not be with us on our issues.

Continue to recruit prominent Iowa conservatives to work with us where we have common ground.

Through the Donald Suggs Legacy Project, we will intentionally and strategically work at the intersections of the LGBTQ communities and communities of color.

Expand student outreach and trainings for on-campus groups through our Home for the Holidays and Summer Home programs.

Launch the Love Makes A Family photography exhibit, a 12-month ongoing and changing depiction of LGBT families.

Assess the realities of LGBT elders in Iowa.

Build capacity and grassroots outreach, especially through our volunteers.

And lastly, we will work to decriminalize AIDS/HIV in this state.

And those are just some of the issues we plan to work on this year. We need to be ready to stand up for women and for workers, for the disenfranchised and the forgotten, the young and the old. We need to build enough capacity so that we can collaborate with our friends. And we need the resources and the will to create civil spaces of dialogue and dissent with those who may oppose us.

Yet in this work, our greatest asset is a vision of Iowa that includes us all.

One Iowa is looking to strengthen its work with volunteers and interns from all over Iowa. If you care about equality for all LGBT Iowans and you are interested in the issues that impact us, please think about exploring our volunteer opportunities. Please send me an email at donna@ oneiowa.org and please put VOLUNTEER in the subject. Visit our website at OneIowa.org to learn more about us.

We wish you and yours a most wonderful New Year as we move closer to full equality together.

Donna Red Wing, Executive Director

ACCESSline Page 6

Section 1: News & Politics

JANUARY 2013

Remarkables by Jonathan Wilson Why There’s No Going Back

The United States Supreme Court has announced that it will hear the Prop 8 decision that would legalize gay marriage in California, and another that tests the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The fact is, gay marriage and gay adoption are both virtually a “done deal” in the United States of America regardless of the Supreme Court. Here’s why: Assume a worst case scenario, one in which the United States Supreme Court— for the time being at least—improvidently refuses to find DOMA unconstitutional, and overturns the Prop 8 decision that would otherwise have legalized gay marriage in California. Despite the unconstitutionality of both DOMA and Prop 8, that worst case scenario is legally possible. The Supreme Court has the raw power to make that scenario materialize. No question about that.

Assume further that you’re a religious ideologue enamored with achieving a theocracy in this country for at least as long as your particular brand of religion remains in the majority. You would doubtless be cheering for that worst case scenario; you’d be hoping against hope that the Supreme Court would rule your way on both issues. Where does that worst case scenario get you?

Now for the reality check. The United States Supreme Court, whatever its considerable power, undeniably lacks the power to outlaw gay marriage in those states that have legalized it by popular vote, such as Maine, Massachusetts, and Washington. It’s been legalized in six other states, including Iowa, by other means. It’s also legal in the

nation’s capital. Whatever the number of states in which it is legalized, with it being legal in multiple jurisdictions and with the Supreme Court powerless to prevent it, the question becomes an easy one: are we going to have one country, indivisible, or not. Is our mutual Pledge of Allegiance real or mere rhetoric?

Let me make the point this way. Suppose the patchwork of legality were to persist and you and your lawful same-gendered spouse, decided to take a road trip across the United States of America. And suppose further that your spouse falls ill or there’s an automobile accident and your spouse is injured. Can we really have one country when, within that country your rights and privileges regarding your lawful spouse depend upon the happenstance of the state in which the misfortune befalls you?

If it happens in Iowa, no problem. You’ll be able to visit your spouse in the hospital; you’ll be able to make medical decisions for your spouse. You’ll enjoy unfettered rights on a par with those you enjoy in your home state. But if the misfortune occurs in Nebraska, Oklahoma, or any other state that hasn’t progressed to a 21st Century enlightenment toward gay marriage, your life could get incredibly complicated. See DOMA. Can we really have one country if your spousal rights fluctuate from some to none depending on where you are on a cross-country interstate highway? Can we really have one country when you need to rewrite your estate

planning documents every time you cross a state line? Can we really have one country when law-abiding citizens are vulnerable to such disparate treatment?

If that’s not sufficiently compelling, pretend you’re a CEO of a multi-state company with offices and stores in multiple states.

Pretend further that, for the sake of the company’s success, you want to transfer a particularly capable employee from Massachusetts to a management position in one of those unenlightened states. And just suppose that employee is legally married to a same-gender spouse and has a couple of legally adopted kids. Now what? Can we really have one country when the CEOs of multi-state companies cannot freely engage in interstate commerce and freely transfer employees from state to state without taking such factors as the legality of gay marriage or the legality of gay adoption into account before acting?

Can we really have one country when law-abiding citizens can serve in the military with their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and, at the same time, face such discrimination and mistreatment by several of the states?

And the answer is: we cannot have one country under such circumstances and the United States Supreme Court—with all its considerable power—is utterly powerless to prevent that unworkable patchwork of state laws on the legality of gay marriage and gay adoption. Even the dimmer lights

receive an accurate birth certificate that lists both mothers, the Iowa Department of Public Health appealed the decision all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court.

In a similar, but more heartbreaking case, the Buntemeyer family was denied an accurate fetal death certificate listing both mothers after the tragic day their son Brayden was delivered stillborn. As you will remember, Jenny and Jessica fell in love while serving in Iraq. The Davenport couple returned to Iowa and married in 2010. A year later their child, Brayden Bruce Buntemeyer, died in utero and was delivered stillborn.

On the fetal death form, which allowed only for “mother” and “father,” both women included their names and information. But Jenny’s name and information was erased from the issued death certificate. Not only had the Buntemeyers lost their son, but they lost the only legal document showing that Brayden had ever existed. The IDPH callously denied Brayden’s mom her standing as a parent. The Buntemeyers were denied closure.

The Polk County District Court ruled in favor of the Buntemeyers in December.

The District Court ruling pivoted on

Iowa’s historic and powerful commitment to equality when the court ordered that “the Iowa Department of Public Health shall modify the form for a Certificate of Fetal Death to permit the registration of both petitioners as parents.” We may, or may not, see this ruling appealed as the IDPH did with the Gartner family.

We call this the Iowa Anomaly, because Iowa is the only state that recognizes marriages between same-gender couples, yet that recognition does not extend to parental rights. We are the only state that continues to deny children the legal connection to both of their legally married parents. This is not a legacy we wish to perpetuate any longer and we are committed to working with our friends at Lambda Legal to end this shameful practice.

In 2012, we also learned that the Supreme Court of the United States will hear California’s Proposition 8 and the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. Everything about marriage equality in this country could change.

Between now and the Supreme Court decisions in late spring or early summer, the narrative is one that we can own in Iowa, and around the country. We can own it by telling our stories, by putting our faces and our voices to that narrative.

Our opponents will seem mean-spirited and small against our long struggle for justice in the face of our stories about love

Can we really have one country if your spousal rights fluctuate from some to none depending on where you are on a cross-country interstate highway?

Jonathan Wilson is an attorney at the Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines, and chairs the First Friday Breakfast Club (ffbciowa.org), an educational, non-profit corporation for gay men in Iowa who gather on the first Friday of every month to provide mutual support, to be educated on community affairs, and to further educate community opinion leaders with more positive images of gay men.

It is the largest breakfast club in the state of Iowa. He can be contacted at JonathanWilson@DavisBrownLaw.com. on the United States Supreme Court should be able to see that reality.

The reality is, it’s over. It’s done. The proverbial “fat lady” is not just warming up; she began singing on November 6, 2012.

From the Heartland by Donna Red Wing, Executive Director One Iowa Happy New Year

We begin 2013 with great expectations as we look back at the past and forward towards the future. In Iowa, we seem to be in good shape. Marriage equality has been a part of our cultural and legal landscape for over three years; loving couples have married and made that lifelong commitment to one another, babies have been born and our families are slowly becoming the norm. Are we in good shape? Yes! But is that status exceedingly fragile? Absolutely.

The post-election political landscape maintains a razor thin Senate majority with 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans.

Democrats picked up six seats in the House, giving them 46 seats to the Republicans, who have 54. Justice David Wiggins was retained in a retention vote that was, at its core, a referendum on the Varnum ruling and marriage in Iowa.

However, here in Iowa we still face something called the Iowa Anomaly.

Gartner v. Newton, dealing with the state of Iowa’s refusal to issue an accurate birth certificate listing both mothers as parents, was heard in December in front of the Iowa Supreme Court. After the District Court ruled in favor of the family’s petition to

We are the only state that continues to deny children the legal connection to both of their legally married parents.

Donna Red Wing is the Executive Director of One Iowa. She served as Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership, as Chief of Staff at Interfaith Alliance, she was a member of the Obama’s kitchen cabinet on LGBT concerns, and was Howard Dean’s outreach liaison to the LGBT communities. Red Wing was the first recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Faith & Freedom. Red Wing serves on the national board of the Velvet Foundation, which is building the national LGBT museum in Washington, DC. Contact Donna at OneIowa.org or donna@oneiowa.org. and family.

Between now and then we must do everything we can to make sure that this nation—especially the Midwest—is committed to equality.

Section 1: News & Politics

JANUARY 2013

ACCESSline Page 7

The Associated Press, Homophobia, & Islamophobia by Warren J. Blumenfeld The Associated Press (AP) revealed recently that its new stylebook will no longer include the words “homophobia” and “Islamophobia” in political or social contexts. AP Deputy Standards Editor Dave Minthorn told Politico that the terms are “just off the mark” and “seems inaccurate.”

In psychology, a “phobia” generally refers to an irrational fear, such as agoraphobia (a fear of open or public spaces) or phasmophobia (a fear of ghosts) for example.

Minthorn justified AP’s decision by asserting that, “It’s ascribing a mental disability to someone, and suggests a knowledge that we don’t have.”

Though the terms “homophobia” and “Islamophobia” have adequately communicated their intended meanings, the person who coined the term “homophobia” in his 1972 book Society and the Healthy Homosexual, Dr. George Weinberg, did actually consider people who feared and hated homosexuals as having a psychological problem as opposed to the notion, at least at the time of publication, that homosexuality constituted a psycho-sexual malady.

Oddly though, and for entirely different reasons, I agree with the Associated

Press that the terms “homophobia” and “Islamophobia,” for that matter, “biphobia,” and “transphobia,” at least are imprecise at best, and, therefore, I too find them problematic. What we have been calling “homophobia” and “Islamophobia” are, in actually, NOT irrational fears. In fact, they are not irrational at all, but rather, they stand as socially taught and learned attitudes (prejudices) and behaviors (acts of discrimination). They remain not merely in the realm of psychological disorders, but rather, as forms of oppression on multiple levels, including the individual/ interpersonal, institutional, and societal/ cultural (Hardiman & Jackson, 1997) as do other forms of oppression, for example racism, sexism, classism, ableism, ageism, adultism, ethnocentrism, looksism, and others. These stand as “-isms” rather than as “-phobias.”

Written in the form of a mathematical equation, O = P + SP, we can chart Oppression (O) as constituting Prejudice (P) plus the Social Power (SP) to enforce that Prejudice upon members of minoritized groups (Howard, 2006). If we understand this symbolic depiction to explain Oppression, then we can clearly recognize that

the term “reverse oppression” represents a contradiction, an inaccuracy, at best.

Can, for example, a minoritized person, say, a gay man, feel prejudice toward a heterosexual person? Sure! Can that gay man discriminate on the individual/ interpersonal level against a heterosexual person? Of course! But does that gay man, or do members of gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, and transgender communities have the Social Power to Oppress heterosexuals on the institutional and the larger societal/cultural levels? I would argue the answer to be a resounding “No!” Likewise, we can argue that “reverse racism” and “reverse sexism” do not exist as well.

At one time, I preferred the term “homophobia” to refer to oppression against lesbian and gay people, “biphobia” against bisexual people, and “transphobia” against transgender people. In fact, I titled my 1992 edited anthology Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, discussing the ways in which this form of oppression hurts everyone regardless of one’s actual sexual identity. If, however, I were to publish this book today, I would title it Heterosexism and Cissexism: How We All Pay the Price.

I did not coin the term, though I define “heterosexism” as the overarching system of advantages bestowed on heterosexuals.

Heterosexism is the institutionalization of a heterosexual norm or standard, which establishes and perpetuates the notion that all people are or should be heterosex-

Dear Dr. Olson, I’ve been trying to find a man to date on-line. I’m discouraged. Why is their first question always, “Is your ____ as thick as a beer can?”

Rick Rick, it seems what you’re looking for is passionate love that will morph into a more companionate, long-term love. Relationships do develop out of contacts on the Internet but often begin through flirtatious sexual innuendo.

Although some of the contacts on the Internet may be looking for companionship and commitment, many already have their companionate relationship needs met with a spouse or partner and are simply looking for serial, short term dopamine rushes.

Some of us can remember the good old days when you actually had to be in

the same room to have sex with another person. The Internet facilitates no-stringsattached sexual contacts, but the other person is largely a stick figure over-laid with your own fantasies and free of emotional baggage.

Humans crave excitement and surprise but the thrill of sexual passion and arousal drops precipitously through repetition. The first time you watch an XXX film it excites you, the second time it bores you and the third time you fall asleep. Familiarity breeds indifference.

New love teeters in this balance.

Because sex in a long-term relationship

involves the same partner day after day after day, no one can maintain the same level of lust and ardor that he or she experienced when that love was new and exciting.

We are biologically hard-wired to crave variety because of a chemical in our brain called “dopamine,” sometimes called “the pleasure molecule.”

Our brains secrete it in large amounts in anticipation of pleasure. The designs of casinos and shopping malls capitalize on the dopamine effects. Even my dog gets a dopamine rush when I prepare to throw his ball.

Passion is the anticipation of sexual pleasure, but it has a short half-life. In a relationship, passionate love lasts for a couple of years. When passion wanes couples are in for a letdown because they often mistake the natural shift from passionate love to companionate love for incompatibility and unhappiness.

Sharks must continually move forward or they die. Relationships are like that.

A relationship is likely to change shape multiple times over the course of its lifetime; it must be continually rebuilt if it is to thrive. We may love our partners deeply but these feelings don’t translate into longterm passion. Couples who work to share some excitement— sexual and other—will ultimately enjoy greater satisfaction than those who are unprepared to deal with the decline in passion.

What we have been calling “homophobia” and “Islamophobia” are, in actually, NOT irrational fears. In fact, they are not irrational at all, but rather, they stand as socially taught and learned attitudes (prejudices) and behaviors (acts of discrimination).

Shrink Wrap by Loren A Olson MD DLFAPA

Warren J. Blumenfeld is associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He is editor of Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price (Beacon Press), and co-editor of Readings for Diversity and Social Justice (Routledge) and Investigating Christian Privilege and Religious Oppression in the United States (Sense). www.warrenblumenfeld.com ual, thereby privileging heterosexuals and heterosexuality, and excluding the needs, concerns, cultures, and life experiences of lesbians, gay males, bisexuals, and asexuals. Often overt, though at times subtle, heterosexism is oppression by neglect, omission, erasure, distortion, and also by intent, purpose, and design (Blumenfeld, 2000, 2010). A related concept is “heteronormativity” (Warner, 1991) and “compulsory heterosexuality” (Rich, 1986), which establishes the normalization and privileging of heterosexuality.

TTBLUMENFELD continued page 10

The Internet facilitates no-strings-attached sexual contacts, but the other person is largely a stick figure overlaid with your own fantasies and free of emotional baggage.

Loren A. Olson MD, DLFAPA is a board certified psychiatrist who has been engaged in the clinical practice of psychiatry for over 35 years. Dr. Olson has conducted independent research on mature gay men, and he presented the initial results of this research at the World Congress in Psychiatry in Prague in September 2008 and throughout the United States. He writes for his own blog, MagneticFire.com, which has a strong following among mature gay men. He is the author of Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight, for more information go to FinallyOutBook.com or Facebook.com.

But the prospects for a more enduring relationship rarely flow from a conversation that begins with asking you to describe your physical attributes.

ACCESSline Page 8

Section 1: News & Politics

JANUARY 2013

Guns and Weed by Tony Dillon-Hansen The recent referendums in Colorado and Washington to legalize recreational use (in addition to medical use) of marijuana restarted a long-standing conversation about whether cannabis is 1) truly a destructive substance and 2) whether the government should be prohibiting the use, sale or possession of this substance. In addition, the country has witnessed multiple seemingly random mass killings of people in public venues within the past few months.

These seemingly divergent issues are affecting aspects of personal liberty in contrast to whether government should regulate those aspects.

In the debate over legalizing recreational marijuana use, we see claims of personal liberty being expanded by the recent votes in the two states. We see this apparent expansion of rights in stark contrast to long-standing government regulation against cannabis use. There is a claim that the individual intoxicating use of marijuana is, in effect, a public health menace that must be controlled.

The intoxicating effects of cannabis are readily related to alcohol, but the use of that cannabis results in far fewer deaths than alcohol. Also, the substance supposedly is a “gateway drug” to more hardcore substances or even a “life of crime”. Of this, the idea stems from the often shady environment where people have to go to get their cannabis due to the illegal nature

of that substance. People using pot are not doing themselves any favors if they abuse that drug (similar to alcohol abuse). Yet, cannabis usage does not generally result in catastrophic results (without something like a car being involved).

With the recent shootings, the country has been pondering whether the second amendment is allegedly carried too far if people are allowed, without question, to own or to carry any type of weapon. No one is proposing to take away people’s rights to have a gun, but perhaps, we should consider if particular persons should be allowed to carry certain weapons. (Who is the judge?)

Unlike marijuana, guns have been used in far more deaths. Also we know that no simple test will gauge whether a person is sane enough to warrant a purchase.

This is evidenced by the recent shooting in Connecticut where the murderer used the weapons purchased by his mother. The shooter was readily taught by his mother to shoot those weapons even though she may not have taught how to plan a mass killing spree. Yet, this son was able to gain access to weapons that murdered an entire first grade class. Aurora, Colorado also saw what can occur when people get access to lots of weapons. Still folks want to say that there should be no prohibitions on weapons of any sort upon firearms.

Each of these discussions shares

a concern for the public well-being in contrast to personal liberties. The question is then begged at what point do these converge and which is the preferred position with respect to the convergence.

Would legalizing pot allow people to find their substance in less shady places that ultimately lowers exposure to criminal activity or exposure to other more intense substances? This might even lower overall criminal activity. Does the ban on marijuana find justification when a person, wholly sober, can buy any caliber automatic weapon and then use such to destroy the peace of communities?

Most argue the right to bear arms is enshrined for citizens to be able to protect themselves from others and the government. Yet, the most literal interpretation of this amendment might suggest that people should be able to bear nuclear arms without restriction from the federal government. That would be ridiculous to most reasonable people because the ability to inflict harm upon indeterminate numbers of people warrants some limits.

If “guns don’t kill people”, how many must die as a result of a firearm usage before there are limits? How many bullied individuals will realize mass murder as a means to end the taunting, threats and harassment before we intervene?

Now, if people are concerned about the criminal elements surrounding a particular element like cannabis, they might want to consider what loan-sharks do around legal gambling. Also today, alcohol is ranked as the third-leading cause of preventable death in America and a leading cause of automobile collisions.

The editors at the Associated Press Stylebook have announced that they are “discouraging” use of the word “homophobia.” The AP Stylebook is the widely used guide that media use to standardize terms and general usage.

Why should the LGBTQ community be in a kerfuffle about it? Because the editors made their decision without consultation with the nation’s leading LGBTQ organizations, leaders, activists, and newspapers.

That is a problem.

With an estimated 3,400 AP employees in bureaus around the globe, its suggestion could have a tsunami-like effect on how the world comes to understand, be informed about or dismiss discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people.

AP’s online Stylebook defines “phobia” as “an irrational, uncontrollable fear, often a form of mental illness” and therefore should be expunged from political and social contexts, including words such as “Islamophobia” and “homophobia.”

Preciseness in language is important, yet language is a representation of culture. How we use it perpetuates ideas and assumptions about race, gender and sexual orientation. We consciously and unconsciously articulate this in our everyday conversations, about ourselves and the rest of the world, and it travels generationally.

What’s in the word “homophobia”? A lot. The history and culture of not only discrimination, violence, and hatred toward LGBTQ people but also an irrational fear of us. It’s this irrational fear that may not need psychiatric or clinical intervention but should nonetheless be aptly labeled as none other than a “phobia.”

Fo r exa m p l e , the infamous bogus legal argument called the “gay panic defense.” It’s simply an excuse for murder in which a heterosexual defendant pleas temporary insanity as self-defense against a purported LGBTQ sexual advance.

Another example, the “ick factor.” It’s the revulsion some heterosexuals feel toward the way we LGBTQ people engage in sexual intimacy.

Altering the hearts and minds of these folks will take a while, if not a lifetime.

According Dave Minthorn, AP Deputy standards editor, who shared with POLITICO the word “homophobia... (is) just off the mark...it’s ascribing a mental disability to someone, and suggests a knowledge that we don’t have. It seems inaccurate. Instead, we would use something more neutral: anti-gay, or some such, if we had reason

to believe that was the case.”

It is of my opinion that by keeping the word “homophobia” narrowly used and confined within a medical context is controlling. I feel that only a homophobic word police would utter such absurd advice. Moreover, it’s also absurd for AP to think that their discouragement of the use of the word with absolutely no consultation with the LGBTQ community demonstrates hubris and insensitivity. It also raises queries about AP’s political and social motives for doing so.

Just ask George Weinberg, the psychologist who coined the word “homophobia” in his 1972 book Society and the Healthy Homosexual.

“It made all the difference to city councils and other people I spoke to,” Weinberg told journalist Andy Humm, who shared the quote with The Advocate and other media.

“It encapsulates a whole point of view and of feeling. It was a hard-won word, as you can imagine. It even brought me some death threats. Is homophobia always based on fear? I thought so and still think so...We have no other word for what we’re talking about, and this one is well established. We

Does the ban on marijuana find justification when a person, wholly sober, can buy any caliber automatic weapon and then use such to destroy the peace of communities?

Tony E Hansen is a web developer, organizer, researcher, writer, martial artist, and vocalist from Des Moines. For more information go to tigersndragons.com.

Gun usage has been linked to over 70,000 deaths a year (without regard to motive).

Yet, cannabis is the one prohibited.

I am not advocating cannabis use, but we need to consider the legitimacy of laws in relevance to the actual impacts and goals of those laws were designed to achieve (e.g. lower crime and a secure public).

All guns do not have to be available to any buyer who wishes them, and their sellers should be willing to ask questions or to refuse service. Possibly, a reasonable thing to do is to follow some of limits on alcohol upon these other areas because we have many laws on the books that

TTHANSEN cont’d page 9

AP’s discouraging “homophobia” is discouraging by Rev. Irene Monroe The word has power and unfortunately deleterious effect. And part of our liberation is in our strength to call acts of homophobia out.

Rev. Irene Monroe is a graduate from Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University, and she has served as a pastor at an AfricanAmerican church before coming to Harvard Divinity School for her doctorate as Ford Fellow. She is a syndicated queer religion columnist who tries to inform the public of the role religion plays in discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. Her website is irenemonroe.com. use ‘freelance’ for writers who don’t throw lances anymore and who want to get paid for their work. ... It seems curious that this

TTMONROE cont’d page 9

Section 1: News & Politics

JANUARY 2013

ACCESSline Page 9

Minor Details by Robert Minor The Non-End of Homophobia

2012 ended with the Associated Press publishing a new stylebook for journalists that bans the use of the words “homophobia” and “Islamophobia.” The AP argues that “phobia” describes an illness or mental disability and, thus, isn’t accurate in “political or social” reporting.

As Michelangelo Signorile argued, the problem with their decision “is not necessarily the logic of the argument as much as it is how long it took the AP to get to it.” He himself restricts use of the term to discussions of psychological motives and so prefers “anti-gay” where others use “homophobia.”

The word, however, has been used for 40 years. This change comes at a time when anti-gay forces, feeling they’re on the run culturally, are hunting for any support for their retrograde prejudices.

So by banning “homophobia,” Signorile argues, “the AP is in fact playing into a political agenda, erasing a word that came into usage decades ago and has a meaning that is broadly understood. By banning the word, the AP does exactly what it seemed to be trying to avoid: backing an agenda and taking a side.”

Signorile’s distinctions are relevant as writers debate this change. Timing is important, and one wonders what the underlying motives are for the Associated Press to end use of “homophobia” now.

It’s not that homophobia has left the news. Another end-of-the year story lays bare not only what homophobia is, but also why LGBT people are lightening rods for mental and emotional issues that homophobia describes.

News sources out of Mesa, Arizona, reported that two high school boys who were caught fighting were given the choice of suspension or sitting in the school courtyard holding hands while other students shouted and spewed homophobic slurs. One student described students “laughing at them and calling them names, asking ‘Are you gay?’”

The principal who oversaw the punishment had been brought in as a savior to reinvigorate the school’s reputation. But now the school district wasn’t amused, saying it “does not condone the choice of in-school discipline given these students, regardless of their acceptance or willingness to participate.”

Everyone who knows anything about the subject would argue that this punishment reeked of homophobia. It sent a message of non-acceptance to LGBT people, but it did more.

We have no idea what the sexual orientation of these two high school boys was. The odds are they were not gay.

But they, the students who taunted, and others who witnessed both the use of holding hands as a punishment by authorities and the resulting student taunts, and the adults who thought up and condoned the “punishment,” were all victims and enforcers of our culture’s predominant homophobia.

For homophobia stifles the humanity of everyone.

I agree emphatically with Michelangelo Signorile: homophobia denotes something deeper, something behind the anti-gay rhetoric and abuse LGBT people experience. I also agree that it’s better to call the rhetoric and abuse exactly what it is—anti-gay actions that should never be condoned but clearly punished.

The profounder reality is that much of our culture remains invested in this deeper homophobia that’s behind antigay words and actions. And often, therefore, it acts its homophobia out on LGBT people.

The basic, underlying cultural meaning of homophobia denotes something that is not necessarily about sexual orientation. And if LGBT people can realize this, they can free themselves from believing the culture’s problem is their problem or their existence, or has anything to do with them.

At its root in America, homophobia is actually the fear of getting close to one’s own gender. It is this fear that stands behind all of the other uses of the word such as fear of gay people, fear of homosexuality, fear of being gay, fear of same-sex feelings, anti-LGBT actions and slurs, etc.

Homophobia is systemic. Americans are supposed to be so conditioned that they internalize this fear and self-monitor it.

Homophobia fuels American consumerism. If one believes that half of the world cannot meet one’s closeness needs and that only one person from the other half— defined culturally as Mr. or Ms. Right—can do so, it’s easier to convince people that when this one savior fails to be fulfilling there are products to be bought to make it

Homophobia denotes something deeper, something behind the anti-gay rhetoric and abuse LGBT people experience.

At its root in America, homophobia is actually the fear of getting close to one’s own gender.

more likely that natural human closeness needs can be met.

Since no single relationship can fulfill all one’s needs for human closeness, especially the patterned straight or straightacting forms of relationships defined by a consumer-oriented culture, there will always be a market for cosmetics, gym memberships, fad diets, nicer cars, antiaging treatments, and you name it, to promise fulfillment. The American way of advertising and marketing counts on it.

But what happens when someone openly challenges the root idea of homophobia and acts as if you can get close to your own gender without being afraid? Well, that’s the rub.

It’s the fact that anyone demonstrates for all to see that no one has to be afraid, but can actually like, same-sex closeness that causes trouble. So, we don’t mind gay men, bisexual people and lesbians who are “that way.” We can tolerate that in a homophobic culture.

But do they have to “shove it in our face?” Do they have to “flaunt it?” “Why do we have to see it?” And: “Why do they have to have Gay Pride?” “Why I even think they’re in my church, but they’re not bragging about it.”

LGBT people who display the same openness about their relationships that any heterosexual couple can without much notice, openly threaten the system’s homophobia. They are openly saying that

SScontinued from page 8

MONROE word is getting such scrutiny while words like triskaidekaphobia (the fear of the number 13) hang around.”

The word “homophobia” derives from a particular history and struggle for civil rights of LGBTQ people across the world.

And it has become part and parcel of a universal LGBTQ lexicon that speaks truth to our reality.

The word has power and unfortunately deleterious effect. And part of our liberation is in our strength to call acts of homophobia out.

To suggest the press eliminate the word can not only diminish the scope of people understanding homophobia’s wide range, but it can also diminish our scope

SScontinued from page 8

TONY HANSEN limit alcohol use without prohibition.

Could this not be extended to cannabis use? Additionally, bartenders can and do refuse service to customers. Bartenders and retailers can also be held accountable for an improper sale that results in a death or serious injury of another. Should we consider the “right to bear arms” versus to sell arms? Should we not also consider the liability of a weapon sale?

Robert N. Minor, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas, is author of When Religion Is an Addiction; Scared Straight: Why It’s So Hard to Accept Gay People and Why It’s So Hard to Be Human and Gay & Healthy in a Sick Society. Contact him at www.FairnessProject.org. the system is wrong.

And the system hates that. So expect the same reaction to two guys holding hands no matter what their sexual orientation.

The larger question is: shouldn’t we all be able to hold each other’s hands? Or does that make it just too hard to shoot or hit the person whose hand we’re holding?

And we wouldn’t want that. We’re a warrior culture after all. of LGBTQ activists in our continued efforts to effect change.

AP now has control of the word “homophobia” yet it’s not theirs. Several mainstream newspapers are pushing back. (Newspapers, and media, are under no order to follow AP guidelines.) John E. McIntyre of the Baltimore Sun wrote in his column “Sorry, AP, can’t go along on ‘homophobia” that the AP “ruling on this point in reasoned, principled, and wrong-headed.” McIntyre points to the 40 year usage of the word “homophobic” and makes a practical point—“If the editors of the AP Stylebook wish to discourage the use of certain words simply because they can be misused or misunderstood, there ought to be a great many in line ahead of homophobia.”

Public well-being collides with personal liberty within written policy statutes and policy desires. Yet, that does not mean we have to be extreme in application especially when statistics show there is a clear difference between the goal and the applied policy. Maybe, we could apply common sense to laws for once. Certain weapons are not a necessity to own, and cannabis is less of a threat than alcohol.

How many more senseless and tragic deaths will we have to endure before we realize this?

“It is in every family, in every community.” he said. “The momentum is clearly in the direction of finding some way to ... accommodate and deal with reality. And the reality is going to be that in a number of American states—and it will be more after 2014—gay relationships are going to be legal, period.” ~New Gingrich speaking conservatives coming to terms with gay marriage.

ACCESSline Page 10 SScontinued from page 7

BLUMENFELD We can understand “cissexism” as oppression directed against transgender people. “Cis” comes from the Latin root meaning “to/this the near side,” or in this instance, those whose gender identity and gender perception and expressions accord with the behaviors and roles socially constructed as appropriate to their sex (“cisgender”).

“Heterosexism” and “cissexism,” while formed in relatively parallel constructions with other forms of oppression, still remain problematic since they differ in that they enumerate the dominant or agent groups (heterosexuals and cisgenderists) in their roots. On the other hand, terms like “racism” and “sexism,” for example, place the socially determined distinguishing factors (“race” and “sex”), which define

Section 1: News & Politics the socially created and social enforced hierarchical degrees of power and privilege accorded to White people and those assigned as “male” at birth.

Therefore, a possibly more precise and parallel term sometimes used to express oppression based on gender identity and expression might be “genderism.” This places the distinguishing factor as the root, rather than the dominant or minoritized groups, while deploying the suffix “-ism” signifying a form of oppression.

I have attempted to coin a term to represent oppression against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and asexual people within a similar construction, though each term I devise seems rather awkward at best, terms like “sexual identitism,” “sexualism,” or “sexualitism.” I am quite sure these terms will not find wide acceptance anytime soon, so, at least for the time being, I prefer to stick with the word

“heterosexism” to encompass the previously-used “homophobia” and “biphobia.”

No matter what terms we agree upon, hopefully one day, with the creative and inspiring work of the change agents among us within our households, our schools and businesses and all our social institutions, our communities, in all the countries across our planet, we will experience a time when all these forms of oppression will be relegated to the trash heaps of history, when we transform these presenttense “-isms” into past-tense “-wasms.”

References: Blumenfeld, W. J. (2000, 2010). Introduction to Heterosexism. In M. Adams, W. J. Blumenfeld, R. Castañeda, H. Hackman, M. Peters, and X. Zúñiga. (Eds.). Readings for diversity and social justice. New York: Routledge.

Blumenfeld, W. J. (Ed.). (1992).

Homophobia: How we all pay the price.

Boston: Beacon Press.

Hardiman, R., & Jackson, B. (1997).

Conceptual foundations for social justice courses. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, P Griffin (Eds.), Te a c h i n g fo r d ive r s i ty and social justice (pp. 16-29).

New York: Routledge.

Howard, Gary R. (2006). We can’t teach what we don’t know: White teachers, multiracial schools. (2nd Edition). New York: Teachers College Press.

Rich, A. C. (1986). Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian ex i s t e n c e .

Blood, b re a d , and poetry: Selected prose, 1979-1985. New York: Norton.

Warner, M. (1991). Fear of a queer planet. Social Text. 9 (4): 3-17.

Weinberg, G. (1972). Society and the healthy homosexual. New York: St. Martins

Take what Scalia said on Dec. 10 during a talk given to students at Princeton, for example: “If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder?”

Ah, yes. The old “homosexuality to murder” comparison. Actually, comparing homosexuality to things that are truly terrible is one of Scalia’s specialties. And a gay freshman at Princeton called him out on it.

Duncan Hosie asked about Scalia’s dissents in gay rights cases, specifically “his mentions of murder, polygamy, cruelty to animals and bestiality” according to a story on Princeton’s website. Hosie, not surprisingly, “found the comparisons offensive.”

“Do you think it’s necessary to draw these comparisons, to use this specific language, to make the point that the Constitution doesn’t protect gay rights?”

Hosie asked Scalia during a Q&A following the talk.

“I don’t think it’s necessary, but I think it’s effective,” Scalia said. “It’s a type of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called a reduction to the absurd. And to say that if we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder, can we have it against these other things?

Of course we can. I don’t apologize for the things I raised. I’m not comparing homosexuality to murder. I’m comparing the principle that a society may not adopt moral sanctions, moral views, against certain conduct.

I’m comparing that with respect to murder and that with respect to homosexuality.”

First of all, gotta love how Scalia talks down to this kid: “It’s a type of argument that I thought you would have known.” This is especially dickish because Hosie didn’t ask what category of argument Scalia was working in, he asked why Scalia unleashes such invective when talking about gay people.

Second of all, I love how Scalia claims he’s not comparing homosexuality to

murder, he’s just comparing feelings about homosexuality to feelings about murder.

And he thinks both things are horrible, thank you very much.

Scalia’s prejudice against gay/lesbian rights issues and gay and lesbian people is well documented and long. In fact, some folks are even calling for Scalia to recuse

himself from the DOMA and Prop. 8 cases.

I’m not going to hold my breath. Scalia doesn’t see gays and lesbians as human beings, he sees them as people who do sex stuff he thinks is gross. Recusing himself would be the right thing to do, and I doubt Scalia is all of a sudden going to do what is right when it comes to gays.

Creep of the Week by D’Anne Witkowski Antonin Scalia

A famous Italian Catholic has had a big change of heart regarding marriage equality after publicly saying some pretty nasty things about gays.

“I’m upset about the way I was portrayed,” this public figure said. “What you see in the media is not the real me.

Gay people should be married. I should be allowed to change my mind on this.”

I couldn’t agree more. People should be allowed to change their minds, especially when they move from an uninformed to an informed opinion.

And with the announcement that the United States Supreme Court will hear cases regarding the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s anti-gay Proposition 8, I have to say I almost wish that Angelina Pivarnick of Jersey Shore, who made the above comments, was an Associate Justice.

Granted, part of the reasoning that Pivarnick gave for her (allegedly changed) belief that gays shouldn’t get married was “I don’t want a girl’s mouth on my privates, sorry,” but I would certainly choose her over Antonin Scalia, an actual Associate Justice who has a long history of animus towards gay people and whose arguments make about as much sense as Pivarnick’s.

JANUARY 2013

I love how Scalia claims he’s not comparing homosexuality to murder, he’s just comparing feelings about homosexuality to feelings about murder. And he thinks both things are horrible, thank you very much.

“Without a doubt it’s inevitable in Australia, but you’re looking at six or seven years, and me and my partner weren’t willing to wait that long.” ~Australian politician, Ian Hunter, on his same-sex wedding in Spain.

ACCESSline’s fun guide

Our Picks for January 1/5, Belle’s Basix, Cedar Rapids, Iowa,

CRPrideFest Poke Her Prize-a-Palooza, CRPrideFest.com 1/5, FLIXX Lounge & Cabaret Show Bar, Omaha, Nebraska, The Best of Times, ImperialCourtofNebraska.org 1/11, The Oster Regent Theatre, Cedar Falls, Iowa,

YouTube Sensation Davey Wavey Inspired by Life interview by Angela Geno-Stumme

Sissy’s Sircus Presents: Into the Jungle, SissysSircus.com 1/11-1/20 Playcrafters Barn Theatre, Moline, Illinois, Ghost of a Chance, Playcrafters.com 1/11-2/2, Theatre Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, The Summerland Project, TheatreCR.org 1/13, The Blazing Saddle, Des Moines, Iowa, Dorthy Show, ImperialCourtofIowa.org 1/15-20, Orpheum Theater, Omaha, Nebraska, Memphis, OmahaPerformingArts.org 1/18-20, Decorah, Iowa, Oneota Film Festival, OneotaFilmFestival.org 1/22, Adler Theatre, Davenport, Iowa, A Chorus Line, AdlerTheatre.com 1/23-2/3, Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa, The Book of Mormon, CivicCenter.org 1/25-2/2, Waterloo Community Playhouse, Waterloo, Iowa, Noises Off, WCPBHCT.org 1/26, Gallagher-Bluedorn, Cedar Falls, Iowa,

Cinderella-Russian National Ballet Theatre, GBPAC.com 1/26, Riverside Casino, Riverside, Iowa,

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, RiversideCasinoAndResort.com 1/26, Grand Opera House, Dubuque, Iowa, Deer Camp The Musical, TheGrandOperaHouse.com

...and February

2/2, Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, Fairfield, Iowa, Adam Trent, FairfieldACC.com 2/2, Grand Opera House, Dubuque, Iowa, Opera Iowa: The Elixir of Love, TheGrandOperaHouse.coms 2/4, Stephens Auditorium, Ames, Iowa, West Side Story, Center.IAState.edu 2/7-2/9, Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines, Iowa, Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody, HoytSherman.org 2/9, Orpheum Theatre, Sioux City, Iowa, Sioux City Symphony: Simply Sinatra, VisitSiouxCity.org

Davey Wavey. Photo Courtesy of Davey Wavey.

Davey Wavey is a YouTube personal- Fallen, Coming Out to Siri and Coming Out: A ity and certified personal trainer, who has Game Changer. become one of the leading online voices for A certified personal trainer, Davey the gay and lesbian community. With more believes that honoring your body is an extenthan 100 million video views in more than sion of honoring your life—and has launched 160 countries around the world, he uses his several fitness programs and videos includplatform to spread a message of love and ing Davey Wavey’s Get Ripped Workout, acceptance sprinkled with his own unique The Davey Wavey Weight Loss Program and sense of humor. Famous for his authentic and Underwear Yoga. often irreverent approach, some of Davey’s You are a gay YouTube sensation 500+ videos include Straight Guy Sexy Under- and fitness guru. How did you become a wear Crisis, 250 Balloons to Remember the TTDAVEY WAVEY cont’d page 31

ACCESSline Page 12

The Fun Guide

JANUARY 2013

Inside Out: Understanding the Warning Signs by Ellen Krug For more than a year, I have been speaking to groups about my gender journey of transitioning from boy to girl.

One of my standard punch lines is, “I went through seventeen years of therapy with a total of six different therapists. That’s enough therapy to qualify me for a therapist’s license in twelve states.”

The quip almost always generates laughter, and while it’s meant to be funny, there’s some seriousness to it too.

I was extremely lucky to have gotten that therapy. One therapist in particular, whom I refer to as “Sam the Hammer” because of how she pushed me to a point of extreme self-honesty, made all the difference. She literally saved my life; it was through her work that I finally became brave enough to transition from boy to girl.

Without Sam, I would not have made it.

Instead, the dark thoughts—all as a result of guilt, fear, and depression about being stuck in the wrong gender—would have led me to suicide.

My little joke about therapy suddenly seems relevant in light of one person’s obvious mental health crisis that didn’t get the attention it required: I’m writing this piece just days after the horrible mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Certainly, the shootings justifiably should raise anew the debate about gun control. However, there’s another less obvious issue, this one about a different kind of access. It’s one that has far broader

implications since it goes to the underlying causes of the tragedy.

The shootings put squarely into focus the need for access to effective mental health resources for people with mental health issues. This is an issue because many refuse to view good mental health as a critical human need. Some people are unwilling to face their demons through therapy, and thus undervalue it.

For others, therapy is viewed as a sign of personal weakness, and not the kind of thing they’d be willing to devote dollars to as a community resource. Finally, there are those who refuse to get help because of a perceived stigma over relying on someone else to help solve extremely personal or embarrassing problems or issues.

The truth is that one’s mental health may be more important than one’s physical health. Often, the two are intertwined, with “bad brain function” affecting how we feel physically, and vice versa.

At least two recent mass killers—the one at Virginia Tech (32 dead) and the other alleged killer in Aurora, Colorado (12 dead)—had received some form of therapy before they committed their horrific crimes. Understanding that no therapist can perfectly control a patient’s thinking or behavior, it’s apparent that the mental health system failed in various

ways relative to both killers.

I don’t know if the “shooter” at Sandy Hook Elementary received mental health counseling—as of this writing, many details are still sketchy. However, the early reports consistently reflect the shooter was a difficult person. His aunt purportedly told the Wall Street Journal, in a story reported by CNN, “He [the shooter] was definitely the challenge of the family in that house. Every family has one,” she said. “They have one. I have one. But never in trouble with the law, never in trouble with anything.”

Inherent in these comments is something crucial about mental health resources: they aren’t just for the person who is experiencing behavior-related mental health issues. Rather, close relationships and caregivers (family, friends and lovers) often need counseling to deal with the person who poses the “challenge.”

This counseling is necessary for two reasons. One is to help the caregiver cope with the person in need. All too often, caregivers are at a loss to understand why someone acts the way they do. The resulting relationship dynamics affect the wellbeing of the caregiver as much as they affect the mentally-ill person at issue.

The other reason why there should be wider accessibility to therapy and mental

Dear Ask Lambda Legal, I live in Iowa, and in the days leading up to the election I remember seeing a bus with the slogan “No Wiggins” campaigning against the Supreme Court Justice. I hear opponents of equality talking about “activist judges,” what are we doing in response?

In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Lambda Legal’s lawsuit Varnum v. Brien, striking down Iowa’s marriage ban and extending the freedom to marry to same-sex couples. In response, antigay groups like the National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association, decided to take their anger out on the courts. In 2010, these groups spent nearly $1 million on a series of attack ads and a misleading bus tour in order to punish the justices for ruling against their extreme

agenda. In the end, this mean-spirited campaign succeeded in defeating three well-respected justices during a routine judicial retention election.

This year, opponents of the freedom to marry came together again in another wellfunded attempt to unseat the fourth justice from the Varnum decision, David Wiggins. The effort was spearheaded by failed gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats and consisted of a “No Wiggins” bus tour, which featured guest appearances from the likes of Rick Santorum and the Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal. The campaign urged voters to throw out “activist judges” for doing the very thing that judges are supposed to do—namely decide tough cases and uphold constitutional

rights, even if those decisions may not be politically popular.

But this time the wheels came off their antigay bus! On Election Day, voters rejected the politicization of their courts by retaining Justice Wiggins. By rejecting this assault on justice and attempt to intimidate judges, the people of Iowa demonstrated to the nation that we will stand up and protect the system designed to preserve our cherished rights and liberties.

For the LGBT community, courts resolve cases on fundamental issues that affect us all—our family life, employment and housing protections, access to health care, parenting rights—all of which can have long-lasting effects. Lambda Legal works every day in state courts around the nation and has first-hand knowledge of just how important it is to have issues decided by fair and impartial judges who make decisions based on the law, facts and arguments presented in each case without fear of a political attack.

Protecting our system of fair and impartial courts is imperative in our journey to equality. Learn how to spot judicial attacks and what you can do to defend fair courts by downloading our tool kit, “Gear up! A Fair Courts Toolkit for Everyday Advocates” at LambdaLegal.org/publications/gear-up

This is an issue because many refuse to view good mental health as a critical human need.

Ask Lambda Legal: Antigay Attacks on our Courts by Eric Lesh, Fair Courts Project Manager But this time the wheels came off their antigay bus!

“In the Fifties and Sixties, the life of a gay man was a secret. Homosexuality was illegal, so you didn’t draw attention to yourself. But coming out is the best thing I ever did and I’ve never met a gay person who didn’t think the same.” ~Sir Ian McKellen on coming out.

Ellen Krug, writer, lawyer, human, is presently completing her memoir, “Getting to Ellen: Crossing the Great Gender Divide,” which will be published in 2012. She lives in Minneapolis and works as the executive director of a nonprofit serving the underrepresented.

She welcomes your comments at ellenkrug75@gmail.com. health resources? It’s so that caregivers can be educated about the warning signs of threatening personal behavior which may mean that a person’s problem is escalating to another level. In such instances, someone needs to take action, such as arranging for an involuntary commitment so the person at issue can be evaluated and treated.

I know—the idea of being taught when it’s necessary to call the cops to put someone in a psych ward is a pretty radical proposition. Still, everyone accepts the idea of calling an ambulance for a physical health emergency. Why isn’t that acceptable for a mental health emergency?

Most people have no idea what actually constitutes a mental health emergency warning sign, let alone when a situation is bad enough to warrant outside intervention. I certainly don’t, even with all the therapy I’ve had. Yes, I understood my own personal warning signs, but I wouldn’t know enough to spot them in someone I loved or interacted with closely.

The reality is that many families, friends and loved ones don’t know what to do about a person with mental health issues. A common human reaction is to simply ignore the situation and hope for the best—that somehow the person at issue will “get better.” Almost always, the odds of that happening are nil.

While I’m all for reassessing America’s gun culture, I’m even more passionate about looking at the dreadful state of our mental health system. Putting aside the question of quality, there’s the issue of cost. Very few can afford what I did with my therapy—pay directly out of pocket.

With many people still lacking health insurance, it’s not easy to get the help even if you want it.

In the end, I’m sure that the parents of 20 little kids and the families of 6 teachers and administrators would be willing to pay anything—including more taxes to fund mental health resources—if that meant they’d have their loved ones back.

We need to act now, before there are another 26 victims somewhere else.

The Fun Guide

JANUARY 2013

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Wired This Way by Rachel Eliason

2012 Year in Review

This spring will mark two years worth of Wired That Way. How time flies. I have covered a number of topics in that time, made a number of predictions and broke a few news stories. I figure it’s about bloody time I did a recap of those stories, so when Arthur Breur told me he was doing a whole issue of favorites I jumped at it.

Online Activism I’ve written about online activism multiple times (hacktivism, Lez Get real shall we?, This story brought to you by the internet, Cyberbullying, and Clicktivism.)

I’ve written about both positive and negative aspects of online activism. Regardless of anyone’s opinion, online activism is here to stay.

President Obama just survived a bruising battle for a second term and many point to social media as a key part of his success. Both candidates put a lot of time and effort into their virtual campaigns. Obama had a huge edge in that race, having ran a very successful online campaign four years ago. Mitt Romney pumps a lot of resources into online campaigns as well.

However in the end success didn’t come from the campaign, but from the power of social media itself. People shared stories that mattered to them and their families. In doing so they mobilized demographics in ways that neither party could. Women and Hispanics showed up in force for Obama, thanks to social media.

The Republicans, I should point out, did their share too, providing plenty of bat sh*t crazy ammo for online activists to work with. (Who could have imagined a campaign where one candidate accused 47% percent of the country of being lazy leaches, or claimed to have binders full of women. And what about all those “rape is god’s will” sort of comments.)

Online activism has its darker side as well. In August 2011 I brought you the story of Lezgetreal.com, the “lesbian” website that is ran by a straight man.

Lezgetreal is still up and running. It is now ran by a former blogger and contributor Bridgette LaVicotoria, a 36 year old transgender lesbian and her heterosexual mother Linda Carbonell. Both women have had their identities independently confirmed by the Bilireco Project.

The legal case for one of the biggest online hacktivist cases so far, Bradley Manning is just beginning. Hearings are being held about his treatment since being taken into custody, especially the nearly nine months that he was held in solitary confinement.

His trial will likely not start until March of this year.

It should be interesting, if you hear about it that is. Mainstream media has proven surprisingly ambivalent and often absent in covering this case. Julian Assange makes headlines every time he steps foot in public. You probably won’t see Manning’s picture unless you search for it. Part of the media’s ambivalence is Manning himself.

The evidence against him is so strong that it’s hard to say he’s innocent. And yet it’s equally hard to portray him as a cold, calculating spy either.

Social Media Sites I’ve written a couple of articles about social media sites over the last year or so as well. I wrote a readers guide to Google+ shortly after the website arrived. Google+ is still around and slowly gaining traction.

Google claims that somewhere around 400 million people have signed up for Google+ but there are maybe only 100 million active users. Facebook by comparison has around 800 million users.

Whether or not Google+ will supplant or even rival Facebook remains to be seen.

Both sites could exist side by side but that seems unlikely since both serve much the same purpose.

Other social media sites exist and those with specific niches often exist harmoniously together. I wrote about Goodreads, a social site for readers.

Myspace is poised to make a come back, teaming with Justin Timberlake and other

The latest threat to a free Internet is WCIT-12, A U.N. treaty aimed at giving member governments wide powers to regulate the Interent and stripping non-profit groups like ICANN of most of their powers.

musicians to do the one thing Myspace always did best, promoting music. Twitter, Instagram, pinterest and tumblr all have their own niche and demographics. Look for articles about which sites you should be on and how to make the most of your online social life in upcoming months of Wired That Way. .Gay In June of 2011 I wrote about the possibility of a high level domain .gay.

It’s still in process. DotGay submitted its application this year. We are currently in a review period. The loudest opposition is predictably from Saudi Arabia. They have deemed the idea offensive on cultural and religious grounds. Public comments can be made until January of 2013 and ICANN will make its decision sometime next summer.

The rug might get pulled out from under both ICANN and dotgay before that happens. The latest threat to a free Internet is WCIT-12, A U.N. treaty aimed at giving member governments wide powers to regulate the Interent and stripping nonprofit groups like ICANN of most of their powers. The treaty is widely opposed by those that know about it (it’s not making headlines like SOPA and PIPA did). Critics argue the treaty would make it a trivial matter for repressive regime to shutdown the internet to its citizen. It would give states like Saudia Arabia the ability push it’s objection to domain names. Finally security experts warn that centralizing the Internet would make everyone more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Let’s hope the treaty does not pass go.

Tablets I’ve written several articles about the tablet computer revolution, including multiple reviews of mobile apps, articles about ereaders and the ebook revolution and a gadget guide. Every new device or tablet has been labeled by tech reviewers as ‘the ipad killer’. Despite this Apples signature tablet remains the most popular tablet on the market.

Why are tech reviewers so frantic to see something kill off the ipad? It’s not because Apple makes bad products, in fact it’s the exact opposite. Apple makes premium products. That’s their niche. But will the average consumer pay premium prices when there are other alternatives available? It seems improbable, like the Rolls Royce being the best selling car.

Which is why reviewers and manufacturers alike keep expecting something to unseat the ipad for market dominance.

Even Microsoft is taking a crack at it with the release of their Surface tablet line.

It’s looking the prize will go to the pack. Combined sales of all android tablets

Rachel Eliason is a forty two year old Transsexual woman. She was given her first computer, a Commodore Vic-20 when she was twelve and she has been fascinated by technology ever since. In the thirty years since that first computer she has watched in awe as the Internet has transformed the LGBT community. In addition to her column, Rachel has published a collection of short stories, Tales the Wind Told Me and is currently working on her debut novel, Run, Clarissa, Run. Rachel can be found all over the web, including on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Goodreads. plus the Kindle Fire (which is based on Android software) account for about 48% of tablet sales. Sometime in 2013 that combined number should climb over the fifty percent mark, making Android based systems the most common tablets.

Part of what has kept the ipad on top is the fact tablets have remained a luxury item until very recently. They are expensive toys that hipsters buy in addition to their smartphones and laptops. If you are purchasing a luxury item you want the luxury model.

Tablets are advancing fast and this is rapidly changing. More and more consumers are seeing tablets as a primary computer. They can surf the web, access social media, receive and respond to emails, all the common tasks you use a laptop to do. With a cheap wireless keyboard or docking station they can be used for writing tasks as well. Savvy consumers looking for the most bang for their bucks will like the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7 tablets (both of which run in the low two hundred range).

That’s my year in review. What’s coming in 2013? I will continue to scour the web for news and stories about how technology is changing the lives of LGBT people here in Iowa and around the world.

I am also working on expanding Wired That Way as a blog, an online site where I can share additional content, multi-media content and allow readers to give feedback, open discussions and ask questions.

“Marriage equality is a term so ridiculous on its face that when you hear it mentioned, you would think you were in Riyadh. Years from now, perhaps we can lose the equality part, the same-sex part and call it what it is—marriage. As much as the homophobes, an ever-thinning herd, whines and screeches, the earth is shifting underneath their feet and things are getting better all the time. This is going to be an incredible century. Didn’t get off to a very good start but we are making some bold and exciting strides forward.” ~Henry Rollins on Washington State’s same-sex marriages.

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JANUARY 2013

2012 Favorite: Wired This Way by Rachel Eliason Can the Internet make it safer to pee?

First published in ACCESSline’s September 2012 Issue.

On April 15th 2010 a man walked up to a transgender student in a men’s bathroom at California State University—Long Beach. He shoved the transgender person against the wall, tore his shirt off and carved the word “it” on his chest.

California might seem a long way away from Iowa, but in April of 2010 I was still pre-op and the news report terrified me. It accented the fears I felt about using public restrooms. I had been on hormones for some time and there was no way I could use a male restroom. Heck even before I started my transition I’d had men run screaming when they saw me in the men’s room, sure they had mistakenly entered the wrong bathroom. Using the women’s restroom had its fears as well.

What if someone found out I had male anatomy and called the cops? I knew that in Iowa I was technically within my rights to use the bathroom consistent with my gender identity, but I did not relish having to explain that to a cop.

The victim of the California attack survived. I survived my transition as well, thankfully without anything worse than an anxiety attack happening to me in a restroom, ever. But for a long time I had memorized the location of every single stalled gender neutral bathroom on the west side of Des Moines. If I absolutely couldn’t make it home, I would go out of my way to hit one of these.

It’s not an uncommon experience.

Speaking to other members of the Transformations support group in Des Moines, using a public bathroom is a common fear for transgender people. We’ve got it lucky.

Iowa law clearly states Iowans have the right to gender identity “with or without documentation” and they have the right to public accommodations consistent with that gender identity. In some states, I kid you not; you need a certified letter from your therapist or doctor stating you are transgender just to use the appropriate public restroom.

Not that the two girls who brutally beat Chrissy Polis for using the woman’s restroom at a McDonald’s restroom in Baltimore bothered to check if she had a letter. There are still haters out there, and

for the trans community in particular, there are still those who will express their hatred with fists rather words. What is the trans community to do?

The long term solution is understanding and social change. That, it seems, is coming. But it’s a long slow process. The short term solution might be no further away than your iPhone. There is a new app out called Transquat. It uses data from the Safe2pee project (which lists gender neutral bathrooms) and your phone’s GPS to find the nearest gender neutral bathroom. The app costs a mere 2.99 and better yet the proceeds help fund the developers own SRS surgery.

“Billy Bolt”, as the developer goes by online, is a FTM transgender or Transman for those not familiar with the trans lingo.

(Trans people should be identified with their internal or “target” gender, not their birth gender, unless they request you to do otherwise. When in doubt, it is okay to ask—politely. “Do you prefer he or she?” rather than “Hey are you a dude or what?”)

Billy found the Safe2pee project online and saw they did not have a native app for the iPhone so he wrote one.

Billy saw a way to help the community by providing an app that would help trans people find a safe place to use the restroom and a way to help himself. Every download goes towards his “top surgery”.

Top surgery is removal of the excess breast tissue and re-sculpting of the chest for a more masculine appearance.

While experts in transgender medicine argue that such surgeries have enormous psychological value and are equivalent to any other re-constructive surgery after an accident, illness, or to repair a birth defect—insurance companies largely label the procedure “elective”. The cost of surgery runs anywhere from five to eight thousand dollars out of pocket. Three thousand downloads, a relative drop in the bucket for the app market, and Billy’s dream comes true.

If you don’t have an iPhone, or you don’t have 2.99 to blow, you can always just check out Safe2pee.org. Their website has a “mobile” page. (It’s optimized for a small screen.) They also have a regular full sized page for you home computer where you can search for a gender neutral bathroom, a single stalled locking bathroom or a handicapped accessible bathroom. (Trans people aren’t the only ones who have

Heck even before I started my transition I’d had men run screaming when they saw me in the men’s room...

“As a former military commander, I can tell you that allowing any service member to openly discriminate against a comrade in this way will compromise good order and discipline—the very thing supporters of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ falsely claimed was going to happen back when we repealed the law. The fact is, there are already strong protections for all service members, including chaplains, in place, and all this provision would do is create a license to discriminate.

The next secretary of defense should not be saddled with a law that makes it harder for small unit commanders in the field to lead their troops.” ~Allyson Robinson, an Army veteran and executive director of the LGBT rights group Outserve-Service Members Legal Defense Network, stated in regards to Todd Akin’s anti-gay bill.

trouble finding a place to pee after all.)

There is one significant problem with both Transquat and Safe2pee.org. Neither have many listings for central Iowa. In fact searching Des Moines, Iowa I find the nearest bathroom listed to be at Smokey Row’s in Pella. (Must drive fast, hold it, hold it...) Not to worry though, both the app and the website have a simple form so that users can add locations.

Which is what I am hoping readers will do. This is a different kind of activism then voting for LGBT friendly candidates or attending a rally to oppose bullying, but it’s no less important. Gender variant individuals, whether they identify as transgender, intersex, or are simply “effeminate” men or “butch” women need to have safe spaces. Going to the bathroom is such a simple and essential part of life. It’s also a physically and psychologically vulnerable act. We are trapped in a stall with our pants around our ankles. We shouldn’t have to spend that time terrified, terrified that we will be harassed, yelled at, beaten or even arrested.

You have the power to help. Even if you’ve never met a transgender person, you can help one out; maybe even prevent a hate crime. All you have to do is keep your eyes open. If you see a gas station that has a single unisex bathroom, get on Safe2pee. org and add it. If you see a mall that has a single stall “family” restroom, add it as well. If you are in a normally “gendered” restroom (a men’s room or a Women’s

Rachel Eliason is a forty two year old Transsexual woman. She was given her first computer, a Commodore Vic-20 when she was twelve and she has been fascinated by technology ever since. In the thirty years since that first computer she has watched in awe as the Internet has transformed the LGBT community. In addition to her column, Rachel has published a collection of short stories, Tales the Wind Told Me and is currently working on her debut novel, Run, Clarissa, Run. Rachel can be found all over the web, including on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Goodreads. room) and you notice that the stalls lock and are in good working order, there is a place for that as well. And don’t forget that accessible bathrooms can be added as well. Hopefully with the power of the Internet on our side we can make it safe for all people to pee in peace.

JANUARY 2013

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JANUARY 2013

2012 Favorite: Inside Out by Ellen Krug The Price of Gender

First printed in ACCESSline’s April 2012 Issue.

Why is it that men want to control women?

My favorite recent book, Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, discusses the consequences of a world where men dominate. It documents women in Africa and Asia surviving unbelievable horrors—sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, starvation of daughters in poor families so that boys can eat, forced marriages, and horribly abusive husbands. The book includes the quote, “More than 100 million women are missing” worldwide due to infanticide, abortion (because the fetus was female), and honor killings.

I read the book while recovering from male-to-female sex reassignment surgery, not something that I’d particularly recommend, given that it cemented my role in the oppressed class. Still, it didn’t matter. I eagerly embraced womanhood. And since much of what Half the Sky documents is how women not only survived abject brutality, but prospered despite it, I found tremendous inspiration to live genuinely as a woman.

I consider the book the most important of the millennium—a century that some have termed the “Century of Women.”

Thanks to Kristoff and WuDunn, my new awareness about how men treat women soon spawned into something else. Several weeks after my surgery, I walked home from the

grocery store on a chipper Saturday afternoon.

Off in the distance, I saw a man and a woman in a parking lot. Both were barely twenty years old and probably students at the nearby University of Minnesota. From a block away, I watched the woman yank her hand out of the man’s hand and then bee-line to the sidewalk.

Undaunted, the man followed. As the woman walked briskly, the man repeatedly reached for her; she resisted every touch. I picked up my pace because I suspected the man might not simply take no for an answer.

The woman stopped at a corner for a traffic light, her arms folded. Once more, the man reached for her. Once again, the woman shrugged him off.

I got within fifteen feet of them. Even with both hands weighed down by grocery bags, I wasn’t deterred from yelling, “Leave her alone,” with a not-so-feminine pitch. The man’s head yanked back; his focus shifted to me, a crazy bag lady.

“This is none of your business, sir,” the man said, incensed.

His look stopped me cold; it was the old rule I had learned when living as male—you don’t fool with a man wanting a woman. But even though my feet had suddenly gone solid, my mouth still worked. Unfortunately—or possibly fortunately depending on how you look at it—I forgot every speech therapy rule about breathiness and feminine pitch. Everything came out in my old man voice.

I yelled again. “I said, ‘Leave her alone.’ If she doesn’t want to be touched, stop touch-

If I was going to be in this new club named Womanhood, I wasn’t going to be a wallflower.

SScontinued from page 4

DRAG HISTORY (channel 18) shows encouraging future performers, delivering hours of pure entertainment and seeing so many smiling faces.

This January (2013) marks our 3-year anniversary of performing monthly shows at Studio 13 in Iowa City! I.C. Kings started before January of 2010, but that first regular show at Studio 13 kicked off an amazing opportunity and partnership. Over the past three years we have had some amazing shows and marvelous guests. Our themes have amused, our performances astounded and even pushed the limits of what “drag” and “gender” mean. Plus, we’ve had a BALL doing it! So, for January, we’re celebrating our 3-year anniversary with a fabulous show!

Everyone should come on down to Studio 13 on Thursday, January 31st, for our “Anniversary Show! We’ll be doing it up in style. And we will probably have some surprises for all our wonderful and loyal fans! Come on down and party with us, the purrrfect Miss Kitty and all your other dragtastic friends! Visit the I.C. Kings page on Facebook (www.facebook. com/I.C.Kings) for upcoming details!

As a final thought, drag is a living breathing thing, not just history. There is certainly a past, rich with experience and trials, but there is also a present and a future. So many people have come before us, fought for a chance to express themselves (at Stonewall, before and beyond) and helped pave the way (in hearts and minds, as well as streets and bars) for all of us who are performing and living today. And years from now, there will be new perform-

ers looking back to today. The real message is that if you have a passion, follow it. If you want to get up on stage, make it happen. If you want to make a difference, do it. The New Kings on The Block are a good example. They formed one of what I believe will be many new performance groups in Iowa and the Midwest.

So, whatever your goal is, work towards it. All you need is a dream, work ethic, creativity, a few friends and a bit of luck!

Jacques Straap I think the first time I was technically in drag I was about 10. I started out as a dancer.

I had been dancing since I was three. My recital that year included a number where most of the class was dressed in these terrible blue spandex cop costumes and three lucky people got to be pin striped mobsters that the cops dragged off the stage at the end. I was one of the smallest so I got to be a mobster.

I remember pinching myself so many times with my first clip-on tie.

The second time was in college. Coe does a student run drag show every year and I performed a couple years in that. I was also DJing at the gay bar in Cedar Rapids at the time (Basix) and so I guess I was always exposed to drag. However it didn’t become a regular thing until I decided I wanted to perform with the I.C. Kings. I had seen families of drag queens but never before had I seen a full king troupe, other than that time I went to San Francisco Pride (shout out to RKO Rebel Kings Oakland).

At the time there were only three kings in Cedar Rapids that I knew of: J.D. Lesbiani who performed at Basix, Hugh Jindapants and Tatem Trick who were performing mostly

TTDRAG HISTORY cont’d page 21

ing her.”

“She’s my girlfriend!” the man screamed back. “Stop bothering us!”

As if that’s all the license he needed.

The woman seemed both embarrassed and appalled that someone would speak up for her. Incredibly, she grabbed the man’s hand and off they went down the street. The man looked back once more, this time with a victory glare.

It took a block and a half for my heart to approach a regular beat. I couldn’t believe what I had just done. Seeing that woman triggered something out of left field, some sense of sisterhood. What the hell? Back in my livingas-a-man days, I would have veered off at the first corner before getting to that couple; the man that I’d been would never stick his nose into some other man’s business that involved a woman.

But Ellen Krug would? Oh wow.

Somehow, I understood: if I was going to be in this new club named Womanhood, I wasn’t going to be a wallflower, nor would I idly stand by as a man tried to control a woman.

What kind of trouble are you going to get yourself into, Girl?

I didn’t know what all this meant, not then. What I did know: I had to live it and own it. I was grateful to have this new feminine life, even if everything had been turned upside down and that now, instead of being the dominator, I was subject to domination simply because of my gender.

Fast forward to the last few weeks. Once more, powerful men (aka presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich) lecture about how women should return to “traditional” values and roles. In other words,

Ellen Krug, writer, lawyer, human, is presently completing her memoir, “Getting to Ellen: Crossing the Great Gender Divide,” which will be published in 2012. She lives in Minneapolis and works as the executive director of a nonprofit serving the underrepresented.

She welcomes your comments at ellenkrug75@gmail.com. women should use their bodies only in ways that men dictate. Congress (dominated by men) now threatens to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. A Congressional committee selected a group of men—along with a token woman named Sandra Fluke—to testify about requiring health insurers to pay for women’s birth control. Shortly after that, a man whom many would call the most powerful male in America—Rush Limbaugh—called Sandra Fluke a slut because she bravely testified that health insurance coverage should include contraceptive prescriptions and devices.

TTINSIDE OUT cont’d page 34

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DRAG HISTORY out of Hambuger Mary’s. Being a DJ meant I missed the birth of Kings over at Hamburger Mary’s and Studio 13. I was kind of doing my own thing in and around Basix but somehow we all kind of came together. I think we have a couple different kinds of kings so it’s not just about looking like a dude. I prefer to come at it from a dance perspective and that’s what I bring to the group and some music you’re not going to hear on the radio.

Hugh Jindapants When I started performing drag, I was a freshly divorced mother of two, and I accepted the challenge on a bit of a whim.

I had always been interested in sexuality and gender and have always enjoyed the spotlight. I had heard of a couple of older performers in the area, including J.D. Lesbiani and others, and I knew of a lot of queens in the area. But I only knew of one king actively performing, named Joey D. I hadn’t heard of a single king group/troupe.

I had seen a handful of local queen performances and Hamburger Mary’s existed as a safe space for LGBTQ of all ages. However, when I looked at our general culture, I did not see LGBTQ equality, safety, and respect.

I saw ignorance, rejection and isolation that often involved violence. I wanted to help encourage a culture that was more inclusive and less bigoted for my sons. I saw that opportunity in performing drag.

So, I decided to do it. I created my character, Hugh Jindapants, and my first show was at the Cedar Rapids Hamburger Mary’s, in November of 2009, opening for The Jodie Foster Connection. It was energizing and satisfying and people responded favorably to my creative outlet. I went out on stage feeling like a child pretending, making my own ridiculously extravagant props, asking my friends and fellow kings to stand in as extra characters for theatrical effect. I picked songs that produced imagery for me and then presented my thoughts as visual realities, and much to my delight, the audience cheered and threw money to me.

Prior to that show, I had never considered trying to pass, let alone perform, as a male.

It was a thrilling concept to me that I could emulate male stereotypes and by that effort, convince people I was the opposite gender of what they saw and assumed. It thrilled me because this forced them to consciously think about gender and stereotypes and their significance in our lives. These aspects are important in helping us each complete our self-mythology. And by being able to contradict someone’s preconceived, rigid and dichotomous notions of gender, you can help that person begin to question the importance of gender and variety within it, instead of offering polarized opposites as the only options.

With the acceptance of this fluidity usually comes a more progressive mindset on issues of gender and sexuality in regards to human equality. I believe that challenging preconceived expectations through gender play and androgyny can be credited with increasing awareness and acceptance by normalizing queer aspects of gender. In addition to that benefit, performance drag allows a mixed audience to come together in an entertaining fashion and when that happens, people see one another as people instead of as others.

As I continued to perform with the I.C. Kings, I spent more time considering the larger impact that our little group had carved out. We

The Fun Guide frequently had fans approach us explaining that they had never seen drag kings before and how it affected them. We also had many young audience members approach us and ask for information and advice because they had been inspired to perform. Beyond that, we also frequently have audience members thank us for the work we’ve done to improve LGBTQ tolerance in our community.

In September of 2011, a rash of LGBT-bullying suicides inspired me to do a tribute piece. I asked my fellow I.C. Kings to represent one of the victims and we donated the earnings to The Matthew Shepard Foundation, The Trevor Project, and Iowa Safe Schools. I.C. Kings have also donated sums to Iowa Safe Schools, which creates thorough and effective training and programs to help eliminate bullying in our local schools. I.C. Kings has also held benefit shows for One Iowa and to help raise money for Iowa City Pride.

Over the past three years that we’ve been performing together, our I.C. Kings members have included myself (Hugh Jindapants), Joey D., Franky D. Lover, Andrew Ogynous, Lord Mick, J.T. Amore, Julius Fever, Clint Taurus, Rex Rockwood, Jacques Straap, Scott Abigwun, Oliver Klothsoff, Roman C. Lover, and Mercury Keenis. We’ve also started incorporating more gender roles such as Cinnamon King, Miss Kitty, and a Victor-Victoria type character I created, where Hugh performs as a female impersonator named Mister Faux Sister. Each performer has his/her own character, style of music, and following within the group.

I.C. Kings have had a float in the Iowa City Pride Parade for the past three years and we have been able to produce some I.C. Kings swag and paraphernalia, thanks to photographers like Kristin Wieland, to promote our art and our impact. We have performed individually and as a group in several cities in Iowa. Additionally, the I.C. Kings have been booked as entertainment by the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, Kirkwood and Coe college.

Today, I.C. Kings has become a recognizable name, sought out by a great fan base as well as organizations for entertaining performances that expand their relationship with gender and sexuality. This increased awareness of drag has even helped inspire new drag groups locally. The overall result of this increased visibility is increased awareness and acceptance. And with more tolerance comes more equality and safety. I believe our I.C. Kings group has served to improve LGBTQ equality for our youth, which includes my two sons.

And that makes all the hard work and creative outpouring worth it.

The New Kings on the Block are a Drag King group that performs at Club CO2 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They had a lot to say about who inspired them as drag pioneers:

Photo courtesy of Jerri Valentine.

JD Lesbiani started performing 14 years ago because of the support and trust of Clarissa Cavalier, who is now longer with us. Clarissa Cavalier gave JD his first break without previously ever seeing him perform.

JD has performed at numerous Pride events in the early years. He has performed at the Garden Nightclub in Des Moines, Studio 13 in Iowa City, Club Basix in Cedar Rapids, and now as a member of Club Co2’s New Kings on the Block.

We, the New Kings on the Block, as well as the entire drag community would like to posthumously thank Clarissa for her support of drag kings dating back to the 1990s.

JD and friends would also like to thank Rita Wall and Patty Glass for their undying love and support as well as a venue to perfect the craft! JD would like to thank each and every Drag QUEEN he has performed with over the years who have taught him different aspects of drag. And most of all a big thank you to the fans—you are the reason JD performs!

JD’s Drag Titles include: CR Mr. Pride 2002, Mr. Midwest 2002-2003, Gay Emmys 2003, and Mr. 5 Seasons 2005-2006.

Jayden Knight Joey D, she is an inspiration to me because she was one of the first kings I saw. She gave me the courage and encouragement to do my first performance at Hamburger Mary’s.

Tatem Trick has been by my side since I first started. We’ve competed for titles against each other and she’s always been supportive and showed great sportsmanship in whatever we did together. She is truly an inspiration to me.

JD Lesbiani is an inspiration because she is the longest performing Drag King in Eastern Iowa. Her shows are always phenomenal and she’s always has something up her sleeve.

JD Lesbiani

Photo courtesy of Alana Hyatt.

As a Drag King, how have things changed since you first started performing?

When I started doing drag there were not a lot of kings around and it was hard to find places to perform.

How long have you been performing and in what venues have you performed, in the state or country?

I have been doing drag now for fourteen years, mostly here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

I have performed at Club Basix, Studio 13, Steve’s Place and currently at Club C02 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with the group New Kings on The Block.

When and where was your first performance? What was it like?

Let’s see, it was at the First Ave Club in Iowa City, Iowa and I can’t really remember when it was—years ago!

I was scared to death and felt sick to my stomach, I was shaking really bad. But once I got on stage and got the first number done it was a blast!

How has JD Lesbiani changed since

ACCESSline Page 21 that first performance?

I used to only do country songs and now I try to make it a mix of things. I still get nervous before going on stage but not as bad.

I have learned a lot more about drag—I have learned a lot about respect, and you get back what you give.

Who were some of your role-models when you first started as a Drag King and who inspires you now?

I would have to say that every Drag Queen I worked with taught me something.

Dena Cass was very helpful through the years, along with Pretty Belle, Katrina Cass and India Black.

On The Drag King side Charlie Butch inspired me to try drag. When doing drag Blade Richards was there with me, and I think we kind of inspired each other.

And now I get inspired by the new Kings that have come along and are doing drag. Also the fans—because without the fans I would be nothing.

Pioneers are history makers, how do you feel you’ve contributed to history or what changes do you feel you’ve contributed to as a Drag King?

I feel I have made Drag Kings more wellknown. When people think of drag they think Queen not King and now I feel more people know about us.

I think I have also done my best to keep at least a Drag King in the picture. So people could be aware.

Who has helped you throughout your career and would like to thank?

There have been so many; I would say my wife Nancy. She has sewed a lot of outfits for me and has been very supportive. Pretty Belle she was there with me from the first time I ever did drag and I got a lot of advice and support from her. She taught me the humorous side to drag. India Black was there for me and still is. Dena Cass and Katrina Cass.

Blade Richards, for being by my side at the start and to this day. Rita Wall for giving me a place to do drag, and for being a fan. The Group New Kings on The Block for letting me be part of their group. And of course each and every fan.

Drag Queens Alexandria Markstone, Pretty Belle, and Ruby James Knight have been performing throughout the Midwest and the nation. They talk about their own drag history and their place in the LGBT community.

Alexandria Markstone

Photo courtesy of Spencer Micka Photography.

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The Bookworm Sez by Terri Schlichenmeyer “From the Closet to the Altar: Courts, Backlash, and the Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage” by Michael J. Klarman c.2012, Oxford University Press $27.95 / $30.95 Canada 276 pages The rings are tucked safe in a box in your dresser drawer.

Your finery hangs in the closet, right next to that of your beloved. You bought new shoes for the occasion, flowers are ordered, a friend is providing the party spot, it’s BYO food, and you’ve done a thorough job with informal invitations.

Now you just need a place for the wedding but, depending on the month and the state in which you live, that might be easier dreamed than done. In the new book “From the Closet to the Altar” by Michael J. Klarman, you’ll see why.

In the years after World War II, gay rights faced “daunting hurdles.”

Organized activism was rare then because homosexuality was basically illegal in every state. Homosexuals—and those merely suspected of homosexuality—were subject to police raids, surveillance, loss of jobs and worse. They were believed to be “possibly as dangerous as communists.”

By the early-to-mid 1960s, however, social mores had relaxed enough for major news outlets to gingerly cover homosexuality in their pages. The change, says Klarman, was in part because the Supreme Court deregulated pornography, which

opened the door for gay literature. By this time, gay rights organizations were also plentiful and more vocal.

Same-sex marriage at that time, however, was largely a non-issue. Monogamy was practiced, but family life was often sneered-at by activists.

Still, the possibility of marriage was pretty enticing.

In Minnesota in 1971, two men were married in a church, though the state refused to recognize their marriage as valid.

In 1975, two men in Phoenix applied for a marriage license; a local court voided the marriage. That same year, couples in Colorado found a “more obliging” court clerk and several were married before the state stopped her from issuing more licenses.

By 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected, the Moral Majority reigned, and public sentiment was definitely against same-sex marriage. Still, anti-discrimination laws were widely passed across the nation— giving proponents hope—but then AIDS took the focus off the issue.

And then came Bill Clinton…

Author Michael J. Klarman begins his book by discussing how the Supreme Court has often followed social convention. That made me afraid I was getting myself into something dryly emotionless.

I’m happy to say I was wrong.

“From the Closet to the Altar” is an interesting, lively look at the history of gay rights as well as that of same-sex marriage.

Homosexuals—and those merely suspected of homosexuality—were subject to police raids, surveillance, loss of jobs and worse.

Across

1 Barrie’s getting on in years 5 Cop’s target 9 Isn’t quite straight 14 Chinese dynasty 15 Jump for Doug Mattis 16 Bear 17 Hump on the beach 18 Rowlands of film 19 The Lion King protagonist 20 Character of 22-/48-Across 22 With 48-Across, “brazen britches,” or film comedy of 2012 23 Least of the litter 24 Halloween cry 26 Straddling 29 Stops to unzip and go 34 Pain in the neck 35 Get soft 36 Ron Howard role 37 Actor who plays 20-Across 40 Has debts 41 Ticks off 42 Pound poem part 43 Seamen running down the deck 45 Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes 46 “That’s ___ quit!”

47 Woody Guthrie’s son 48 See 22-Across 52 Writer/director of 22-/48-Across 57 Spacey’s The __ Suspects 58 Trials and tribulations 59 Milk go-with 60 Free, in France 61 Very much

Klarman sets the tone for every historymaking milestone by explaining how it’s connected to the event that came before it, which makes it easy to understand how we got where we are now. In between, he makes some excellent, valid points as he looks at the future of the institution, including how and why it’s just a matter of time before nation-wide acceptance.

Starry-eyed dreamers won’t find romance here, but historians and realists will love the facts that “From the Closet to the Altar” presents. If that’s you, then read this book because, really—doesn’t “We’re married” have a nice ring to it?

Q-PUZZLE: Brazen Britches

62 What Israelis may shoot off 63 Stays hard 64 “Over my dead body!” and such 65 Sweater?

Down 1 Bi 2 “Not on a bet!”

3 Anderson of TV 4 Just treatment, to B.D. Wong on SVU 5 Socrates and Caesar

6 Bring to bear 7 Tear apart 8 Broadway souvenirs 9 Gay rodeo accessories 10 Film director Kazan 11 Cathedral of Hope collection 12 Important Brits 13 Go to and fro 21 Sled dog 25 Palindromic fellow 26 Sound of a sudden, involuntary discharge 27 Go on all fours 28 Het up 29 Practices voyeurism 30 Warhol subject 31 Responds like welcoming thighs 32 Bicolor mount 33 ___ Hall University 35 Michael C. Hall on Six Feet Under 38 Leave at the alter 39 Like snakeskin 44 Controversial paths for same-sex partners 45 Snatches 47 Pewter or brass 48 Word on a door 49 Bangkok continent 50 Worn-down pencils 51 Pastry with fruit, perhaps 53 Earthenware pot 54 Soup pasta 55 Name in a will 56 What Sam twitched on Bewitched

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Under Construction : ACCESSline’s Heartland Recurring Events List

ACCESSline’s Recurring Events List is and has been provided by ACCESSline readers. With the added communities of ACCESSline’s Heartland Newspaper, the list is need of a large overhaul. We need readers to continue to help and update the list.

Please submit recurring ManagingEditor@ACCESSlineIowa.com.

events

Cocktail Chatter

to

by Ed Sikov

The Kir Royale What do you do when a horrifying hurricane rips up the Eastern seaboard just before Halloween and the news reports begin to refer to it as the “Frankenstorm”? Why, you take out the bottle of cheap champagne that has been sitting in your refrigerator for lord knows how long and rummage through your liquor cabinet before the power goes off and find that bottle of Crème de Cassis you bought lord knows when, and you make yourself (or selves, as the case may be) a lovely Kir Royale or four.

With its elegant name and mystifying ingredients—the name is obscurely derived—the Kir Royale lends a festive, Frenchified air to a night of electrical failure and potentially lethal weather conditions. Dan and I began to enjoy ours at dusk the evening that Hurricane Sandy arrived in New York, its winds picking up to a howl that was less Frankenstormian than Werewolfesque. It was thoroughly creepy to hear prolonged and violent gusts of air forced through the skyscraper canyons of Manhattan. I was profoundly unnerved. Dan was nonplussed, which made me even more jittery.

“What?” he demanded with a certain smugness. “You think it’s like the Big Bad Wolf threatening to blow our 22-story apartment building down? Whoever built this place was one smart piggy. Brick, don’t you know?”

“You won’t be so cavalier when a beam from that monstrosity they’re building across the street comes flying through the window and impales you like that guy in The Omen.”

“Never saw it,” Dan replied irrelevantly. “Why don’t you distract yourself and make us one of your obscure cocktails?

And by the way: I read your last column. Thanks for informing the entire planet that I shaved my chest.”

“Your life is an open book,” I remarked as I headed for the kitchen.

We had that bottle of cheap champagne, and I dug out that bottle of Crème de Cassis, and moments after that satisfying pop of the cork we were enjoying our Kir Royales.

“What’s the plural form of this drink?” I asked Dr. ThreeDegrees-from-Harvard.

“Kirs Royale.”

“Like The Mothers-in-Law, starring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard?”

“Precisely.”

As if on cue, our building’s power went out.

“Do you think God is a television critic?” I asked.

“That was a good show!” Dan protested.

The wind howled what we both took to be a dissenting view of the old sitcom, I carefully made my way across the room in the dark, and we snuggled on the couch for a while as the storm built. By morning, the power was still off, but neither of us had been impaled like that guy in The Omen, so the night can only be called a success.

The Kir Royale

• ½ ounce Crème de Cassis • Champagne Pour the Crème de Cassis into a champagne flute or any wine glass and add the champagne slowly enough that it retains its fizz and the glass doesn’t overflow.

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New Cookbook takes Home Cooks on a Culinary Journey of the Bengali Region of Eastern India

THE BENGALI FIVE SPICE CHRONICLES: Exploring the Cuisine of Eastern India, By Rinku Bhattacharya Hippocrene Books; November 2012, Softcover/$18.95 The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles offers a panoramic view of one of India’s most delicious, and least-known,regional cuisines.

Bengalis are one of the most food and culture obsessed people in India. They are commonly compared to the French in that regard, as dining and entertaining are such an integral part of their culture. What makes Bengali cuisine so unique are the variations and complexities that are a result of practice and delicate subtlety. A new cookbook brings this distinctive culinary experience to home kitchens in the U.S. In The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, author Rinku Bhattacharya explains the food and culture of her native homeland in Eastern India and showcases the recipes that are at the heart of Bengali life.

The book gets its title from the five-spice blend Bengalis call panch phoron. This spice blend consists of five whole spices in equal proportions: cumin seeds, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, and fennel seeds and is at the heart of Bengali flavors and the individual spices form the basis of the Bengali pantry.

“The Bengali diet leans heavily on vegetables, rice and fish. Bengali cooks prepare a variety of imaginative dishes using the many types of vegetables that grow in the region year round,” Rinku explains. “A traditional Bengali meal sequence involves eating through a rainbow assortment of vegetables, and then finishing off usually with a fish dish, but sometimes mutton or goat. Since Bengalis rely on seasonal foods and usually eat what is available, meals are prepared in small quantities so cooking is a daily ritual.”

With over 180 easy-to-follow recipes incorporating a balance of traditional and contemporary recipes, The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles showcases the best of the Bengali table. The book begins with a thorough introduction to Bengali culture and cooking, including sections on spices, ingredients, and equipment. Recipe chapters cover Rice & Breads, Lentils, Fried Vegetables and Fritters, Vegetarian First Courses, Vegetarian Entrees, Eggs, Fish, Chicken & Poultry, Meat Dishes,

Chutneys & Relishes, Drinks & Snacks, and Desserts.

Rinku has adapted the cuisine for the American kitchen and markets making it easy and accessible to find ingredients. Some of the recipes in the book include tempting dishes like; Eggs Cooked in Caramelized Onion Sauce; Crisp Lentil Cakes in Curried Gravy; Lentil-Stuffed Puffy Breads; Tart Pigeon Peas and Green Mangoes; Lightly Spiced Pan-Sautéed Okra; Green Plantain and Taro Cakes; Golden Cauliflower in Orange Mustard Sauce; Slow-Cooked Rice with Saffron, Shrimp and Rosewater; Steamed Mustard Fish Wrapped in Banana Leaves; Red Snapper in a Coconut Tamarind Sauce; Pickle-Spiced Lamb Curry; Coconut and Cardamom Fudge, and Milk Cake.

The Bengal region is made up of the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh (formerly East Bengal). The food of this area comes from a long history of influences, both foreign and South Asian and stems from the historical invasions and trade links it had with many parts of the world.

For anyone who loves to cook and experience food of different cultures, The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles is a fascinating culinary journey without ever having to leave the kitchen.

About the Author

Rinku Bhattacharya was born in Kolkata, India and moved to the U.S. about 25 years ago. She has been teaching cooking classes for the last seven years at her home, community college, and Whole Foods Market in Westchester, New York. Rinku has a natural passion and love for regional Indian cuisine and uses it to share and connect with her cultural heritage. She has travelled extensively and specializes in adapting Indian cuisine in global environments and kitchens.

Her deep commitment to using seasonal ingredients for Indian cooking is reflected in her recipes. Rinku writes a popular blog, Cooking in Westchester, and a weekly column “Spices and Seasons” for the Journal News online, Small Bites. She also writes for several online magazines such as Honest Cooking and Masala Mommas. She has been featured in The Journal News, Westchester Enquirer, Hudson Valley magazine and on the Leonard Lopate show on NPR. Rinku holds a master’s degree in finance and nonprofit management and lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, Anshul, daughter, Deepta, son Aadi and cat, Benji.

To learn more about Rinku and Bengali cooking visit her website, CookinginWestchester.com.

Bengali Five Spice Blend (Panch Phoron) The Bengali Five Spice Blend is a blend of five whole spices in equal proportions: cumin seeds, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, and fennel seeds.

The fenugreek is a substitution for the spice called radhuni (a form of celery seed relatively uncommon outside of India). The actual panch phoron, however, is available in most Indian stores, often

Recipes from THE BENGALI FIVE SPICE CHRONICLES: Exploring the Cuisine of Eastern India By Rinku Bhattacharya Hippocrene Books; November 2012 transliterated as panch puran. oven and bake forabout 1 hour, removing • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds once to brush with the oil mixture.

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 3. Turn the chickens, brush with oil mixture • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds again and bake for about 45 to 60 more • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds minutes. The chicken should be well • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds browned and tender. Turn off the oven 1. Mix the seeds together evenly. Store in an and let the chicken rest for about 20 airtight container and use as needed. minutes. Cut the chickens into servingsize pieces, garnish with the onion slices before serving.

Roast Chicken Marinated with Lemons, Chilies, and Molasses (Moorgir Roast)

Makes: 6 servings There are many variations of roast chicken seasoned with Indian spices. Some of these hail back to early British times, with names such as Gypsy Chicken. This is my variation.

This recipe employs a very simple spice marinade and is basted with a combination of clarified butter and mustard oil.

The marinade can also be used on chicken drumsticks with good results.

Prep Time: 6½ hours (including 6 hours to marinate chicken) Cook Time: 2 hours (mostly unattended) • 4 cloves garlic • 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled • 6 green chilies • 2 dried red chilies • 1 teaspoon turmeric • 1½ tablespoons fennel seeds • 2 tablespoons salt • 1 tablespoon molasses • 2 lemons, halved and seeded • 2 small organic free-range chickens (usually about 2 pounds each at farmer’s markets) • 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) • 2 tablespoons mustard oil • 2 small red onions, sliced 1. Place the garlic, ginger, green chilies, dried red chilies, turmeric, fennel seeds, salt, and molasses in a blender. Squeeze in the lemon juice and blend to a paste. Rub this marinade all over the chickens and under the skin. Take care to reach the crevices.

Cover the chickens and place in the refrigerator to marinate for about 6 hours.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking dish large enough to hold the chickens. Place the chickens in the dish. Mix the ghee and mustard oil. Brush the chickens liberally with this mixture. Place in the

Orange Split Lentils with Tomatoes and Cilantro (Tomato Dhoney Pata Diye Masoor Dal)

Makes: 6 servings This is a weeknight variation of orange split lentils which are extremely versatile because of their quick cooking time and naturally mild and adaptive taste. They are comforting, simple, and as basic as it gets. Everyone in my family, including my children, loves this lentil. This light variation is a summertime favorite but can be enjoyed as a soup in winter, if desired, with some hot buttered whole wheat toast.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes • ½ cup dried orange/red split lentils (masoor dal) • ½ teaspoon turmeric • 1 teaspoon salt • 4 green chilies, slit lengthwise • 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped • 2 teaspoons ghee (clarified butter) • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro 1. Put the lentils and 3 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the turmeric, salt, and green chilies and cook for about 15 minutes. While the lentils are boiling a scum may form on the surface, gently remove this while the lentils are cooking.

2. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. Mix the mixture well—it should have a nice soupy consistency that is not too thin or too thick.

3. Heat the ghee in a small skillet on medium heat for about 1 minute and add the cumin seeds and wait till the seeds begin to sizzle.

Pour this seasoned ghee over the lentils and stir in the cilantro.

JANUARY 2013

Section 3: Community

ACCESSline Page 25

FFBC: Sharing a Search for Prime Timers of Central Iowa Self and Meaning by Bruce Carr Our guest speaker at the December 7 meeting of the First Friday Breakfast Club was The Reverend Dr. Jonathan C. Page, since October 2011 the minister of the United Church of Christ - Congregational (UCCC) in Ames. His talk, ranging from the personal/historical to the theological/ political, was appealing, fascinating, and thoroughly rewarding.

Jonathan began with an account, both admiring and wry, of his high school— an all-male, public day school in Boston with needs-blind admission—and its extraordinary headmaster, who was also an Episcopal priest. In the time-honored New England tradition, he noted, the school prided itself on teaching morality to young men. There he learned, and began to absorb, two basic life lessons: “We shall all die,” and “Money does not define success.”

Page describes himself as having been a “fairly intense teenager.”

“I was always asking big questions about meaning,” he says. “What do I believe in? How far would I push it? Do my beliefs really go to the core of my being?”

At Harvard, he started as a Comparative Religion concentrator, but eventually transferred to the History department to focus on the roots of early Christianity.

After graduation, he served as a Fellow of Eton College in England, before returning to Boston to work at a small start-up investment bank; it was then that he experienced a strong pull to the ministry.

“After that moment, I sat back and thought, ‘Well, I’m crazy!’ But religious questions have always dogged me in my life, so I decided worst case scenario, I go to divinity school and I figure out what I believe—and maybe I don’t believe anything, but at least I’ll know.”

At Yale, Page did reaffirm his faith, and he made the acquaintance of Peter J. Gomes, the minister at Harvard, who encouraged him to become chaplain to Harvard’s undergraduates for two years.

Page says it was a dream job. “If you’re going to be an associate in a church, why not do it at a place like Harvard with Peter Gomes as your boss and all those great resources and great students to work with?

Later in this talk, Jonathan was engagingly frank about the theological problem of human desire and the implications to be drawn from the Christian god’s incarnation as a human. Clearly he knows his Bible, and clearly he echoes his mentor Peter Gomes (also an out gay man) that “one can read into the Bible almost any interpretation of morality … its passages have been used to defend both slavery and the liberation of slaves; to support racism, anti-Semitism and patriotism; to enshrine a dominance of men over women; and to condemn homosexuality as immoral.” Take that, o ye cherry-pickers of scriptures.

Jonathan Page grew up in suburban Boston, and is a graduate of Roxbury Latin, Harvard College (magna cum laude in History), and Yale Divinity School. He worked for three years as the undergraduate chaplain at Harvard’s Memorial Church where he served under Peter Gomes (19422011), the long-time minister and chaplain at Harvard. Jonathan has served on a national board of the UCC and is the author of a book on missionaries entitled Ringing the Gotchnag: Two American Missionary Families in Turkey, 1855-1922. Jonathan also taught at Eton College in England, the Groton School in Massachusetts, and was a teaching assistant in the history department at Yale. He was an avid rower in college and coached rowing at Eton, Yale, and Groton.

He maintains a blog at theflamingheretic. com, and writes a regular column, “From the Pastor’s Pen,” for the FFBC Newsletter and ACCESSline Iowa. He can be reached at jon@amesucc.org.

Note from the musicologist: A gotchnag is a middle-eastern musical instrument, a suspended woodblock (struck ideophone).

Greater Omaha GLBT Network Calendar The mission of GOglbt is to advance growth and equality for its members, businesses and allies by providing educational, networking and community-building opportunities. We typically meet the first Thursday every month at a traveling location to see the community and be seen. For more information or to be included on the e-newsletter list, please email us at info@goglbt.org.

GoGLBT Meeting Council Bluffs Community Alliance Wednesday, October 3, 2012, 5:30pm (CBCA) Weekly Meeting-Iowa - 7:00pm Every Friday, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm Council Bluffs Community Alliance CBCA also meets at Barleys, 114 W. (CBCA) Biweekly Meeting-Iowa Broadway in Council Bluffs every other Friday, October 5 & 19, 2012, 5:30pm Friday at 5:30 PM - 8:00.

- 8:00pm The Wimmins Show Council Bluffs Community Alliance Every Sunday, 11:30am - 1:00pm (CBCA) promotes the city of Council The Wimmins Show online at kzum.

Bluffs as a developing gay, lesbian, org, or if you live in Lincoln, on 89.1. The bisexual and transgender family commu- Wimmins Show focuses on music by, for, nity, and to assure the equality of all and about women, featuring lesbian and Council Bluffs’ residents. Please email feminist artists. Hosted by Deb Anderson councilbuffscommunityalliance@yahoo.com and other guest programmers. or visit their Facebook page.

Over forty gay and bisexual mature men attended Prime Timers of Central Iowa’s first annual Christmas party on December 15th. Prime Timers of Central Iowa is a local Chapter of Prime Timers World Wide that provides mature gay and bisexual men, their admirers, and those who may be questioning their sexuality, opportunities to come together in a supportive atmosphere to enjoy social, educational, and recreational activities.

Prime Timers is not a sex club; it provides a safe place to socialize. Some members are completely out to their family, friends, and coworkers, while others are not.

Some are heterosexually married. The orga-

nization and its individual members pledge to respect the privacy of each member and protect the degree of anonymity desired by each member.

Other December events included an evening of cocktails and dinner, movies and a coffee social.

Interested men can find out more about Prime Timers of Central Iowa on Facebook or can send an inquiry to PrimeTimersIowa@ gmail.com.

There is a dinner meeting planned for January which will include the election of officers and board members. Jan. 13th 5:00 pm. Contact PTCI at PrimeTimersIowa@ gmail.com for more information.

A few of the men who attended Prime Timer’s holiday event. Photo courtesy of Gregory Photography.

ACCESSline Page 26

Section 3: Community

JANUARY 2013

Resolving to have Intentional Interaction by Royal Bush, Multifaith Chaplain

Well hello 2013, where did you come from? It sure seems to me that we were celebrating Independence Day, and Labor Day not too long ago, and here it is the start of a new year!

I don’t have to remind people that many of our customs for starting the year off deal with a New Year resolution, losing weight, stopping this, doing that, and everything in between. I offer a couple of new words for us all to consider how they fit: mindful and intentional.

While holiday shopping I sat in my car one day stunned at what I had just experienced. I heard no one use words like hello, please, thank you, excuse me, I am sorry, pardon me, I can help, you’re welcome. What I saw was people zoned out to the experience of interacting with other LIVE human beings instead of a mobile device. I saw people walking with their eyes open, but not seeing what

was right in front of them. I saw people behaving as if they were in a bubble and with little or no regard for anyone else around them.

In a time that technology is making our lives better, in some cases, it is dramatically changing how we interact with one another (or, how we no longer interact.)

I am mindful of my own life journey, growing up and coming out. Every single human has a story to tell, to share, that they experienced with their own up’s and down’s and curves. I am mindful that today we still have so much divisiveness in our world, in our country and in our communities.

Divisiveness, hatred and indifference

have led many youth to wrestle with the choice of life or death. If we spend time talking about those that are not like us instead of talking to those that are not like us, we will continue to be divided. We all need to realize that our “teachers” come in all shapes and sizes, all genders, identities, colors, and all sexes.

We live in a world whose bodies are sometimes broken, or broken down, or weighted under burdens that none could hope to carry alone. We live in a world where we have all the capacity we ever needed to make another life that is much easier.

I pledge to be more intentional about my interaction with others; hearing, listening, seeing, being, thoughts, words, prayers, openness, friendship, compassion and love.

I will close by sharing words that I often use that may have meaning for you…

We build on foundations we did not lay.

We warm ourselves at fires we did not light.

We sit in the shade of trees we did not plant.

We drink from wells we did not dig.

We profit from persons we did not

We all need to realize that our “teachers” come in all shapes and sizes, all genders, identities, colors, and all sexes.

The Project of the Quad Cities Calendar

Founded in 1986, The Project of the Quad Cities is a non-profit HIV/STI/AIDS Service Organization that provides support to persons living with HIV/STI/AIDS as well as their families and friends in Iowa and Illinois. www.apqc4life.org Symptom Management Group—Every Wednesday from 1-2:30 pm Life Skills Group—Every other Wednesday from 10-11:30 am Coffee Hour—10-11:30 am on Wednesdays when the Life Skills Group does not meet; A relaxed and casual atmosphere Groups meet at our Moline office. We also offer free HIV testing Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 4 pm. For more information call Susie or Mollie at 309-762-5433

Multifaith Chaplain Royal D. Bush serves Inclusive Life, Omaha, NE. He holds a Bachelor Degree in business administration. He studied at Andersonville Theological Seminary. He holds a current certificate of spiritual counseling with the International Institute of Faith Based Counseling. He can be reached by phone at (402) 575-7006, by email at chaplainroyal@inclusivelife.org, and at inclusivelife.org. know.

We are forever children of the same world.

May the best of 2012 be the worst of 2013 for you, your family, and your friends.

Travel safe and be well. Please try and give some intentional and mindful thought and action in your life.

JANUARY 2013

Section 3: Community

ACCESSline Page 27

From the Pastor’s Pen by Rev. Jonathan Page The Curious Case of Gay Evangelicals

My first week in Des Moines, some friends told me that I needed to see the city, the important sites; we ended up at the Garden. The weather was gorgeous and so we took our drinks out to the back patio to enjoy the evening air.

While lounging outside I struck up a conversation with a guy who told me he lived in Ames. “Really?” I asked. “By any chance do you go to church?” (From what I am told, this is not the typical way to begin a conversation at the Garden) “Why, yes, I do,” he replied. “I go to Cornerstone.”

It is at this point that I nearly spat the remainder of my drink onto the patio floor.

“What?” I asked, incredulously. “You go to Cornerstone? I thought that was an evangelical church.”

“It is. I go with my roommate.” The guy nodded over his shoulder to an extremely attractive guy talking to someone nearby. It was then that I realized I was no longer in Massachusetts. You see, in Massachusetts there are barely any evangelical churches, and I certainly did not know any gays who went to them.

“Um, right,” I stammered, still at a loss for words. “Well, if you are ever looking for a church that welcomes gays, be sure to give us a ring.” I handed him one of my newly minted business cards that I happened to have in my wallet. Looking at his hot roommate, I added, “Feel free to bring your friend as well.” Sadly, they have yet to cross the threshold of Ames United Church of Christ.

Gay evangelicals. Hmm. How can this be? Evangelical churches like Cornerstone are explicitly anti-gay. There is no ambiguity in their positions regarding LGBT persons.

We are sinners, destined for the eternal fires of hell as long as we insist on living our “lifestyle.” What amazes me is that since that conversation at the Garden, I have met several gay men who attend evangelical churches, usually without apology. It has to be more than the appeal of rock bands in church. What on earth is going on here amid the cornfields and livestock of Iowa?

Evangelical Christianity depends on a worldview derived from a particular reading of the New Testament. Specifically, it relies on the Apostle Paul’s notion, found in Romans, that human beings are hopeless sinners. As a consequence of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden our will has been perverted by concupiscence and pride, and we are now captive to the power of sin. To find salvation we must be “born again,” a concept found in John 3.

Stirred by our own sinfulness, we commit fully to Jesus Christ as our only Lord and Savior, and, once we fall to our knees and confess our sinful nature to him, we will receive salvation. The gay writer James Baldwin described his own conversion experience thus: “I became more guilty and more frightened, and kept all this bottled up inside me, and naturally, inescapably, one night, when this woman had finished preaching, everything came roaring, screaming, crying out, and I fell to the ground before the altar.

It was the strangest sensation I have ever had in my life—up to that time, or since.

One moment I was on my feet, singing and clapping and, at the same time working out in my head the plot of a play I was working

on then; the next moment, with no transition, no sensation of falling, I was on my back, with the lights beating down into my face and all the vertical saints above me. I did not know what I was doing down so low, or how I had got there. And the anguish that filled me cannot be described. It moved in me like one of those floods that devastate counties, tearing everything down, tearing children from their parents and lovers from each other, and making everything an unrecognizable waste… for I was utterly drained and exhausted and released, for the first time, from all my guilty torment.” (From James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket) While Baldwin’s conversion, later repudiated, is more intense than most, a moment of decision for Jesus has a profound impact on any individual.

It is no wonder then, if someone makes a commitment to Christ, that that person is reluctant to give it up because he is gay.

Evangelical Christianity provides a level of certainty and commitment that more liberal churches, like the one I serve, lack.

After having relished in the anxiety-relieving sureness of evangelicalism, a church that proclaims that the religious experience is nuanced and develops over time can seem watered-down by comparison.

The tricky part of being a gay evangelical is that it forces that person to confront the one thing his religion resists most: uncertainty. If you can question what the Bible “says” about same-sex relationships, can you question everything else as well? As soon as you undermine the certainty of the Bible, where does that leave you?

Fifteen new members joined the chorus this fall and created new energy and excitement for present members and our audiences this December 14th and 15th at our “May Your Gays Be Merry and Bright” solstice concert. The creative program mix by artistic director, Rebecca Gruber, led the performance into many profound and silly moments. The chorus experienced record crowds and twice the season ticket subscriptions.

For many, the haunting remembrance of Matthew Shepherd was a moment to recognize. “Who cares whose arms I’m wrapped up in, who cares whose eyes I see myself in, who cares who I dream of, who cares who I love” reverberated in the First Christian Church at University and 27th.

Tears and ovations were heard for soloist, Nick Browne, as he performed a dual piece uniting “Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming” and “The Rose” in spectacular synergy.

York Taenzer’s solo called “Thankful” by Bayer Sager/Foster/Page was also thoughtprovoking and memorable. One of the most beautiful moments of the evening was the “Ukrainian Alleluia” by Craig Courtney – simple, graceful, and powerful.

Silly moments with “What a Gay Ol’ Christmas Tree” brought the house to giggles as the men asked for things under

the three, including “handsome – rich, muscle-tude and pretty dudes, only men – Barbies Ken, New Year’s Eve and mover’s please; along with marriage in Iowa, too”. Donning leis for “Mele Kalikimaka”, a little tap dancing, swaying palms, and audience participation made for a lively rendition of this classic Hawaiian Merry Christmas piece.

More comedy with Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus Solstice Concert 2012. Photo courtesy of DMGMC Men in Harmeny (HaMENy) added to the silliness with of our collective will to stay strong, keep cabaret concert in March. Contact Rebecca “Santa Baby”. spirits inspired, and bring a brighter future at 515-865-9557 for more information From the sing-along moment with for everyone. or email her at conductor@dmgmc.org.

“White Christmas” to an “American The chorus went to sing two inspired The chorus meets at Plymouth CongregaAnthem” the variety just kept coming. The pieces at Roosevelt High School’s assembly tional church recital hall on Mondays from French carol “Master’s of the Hall” and on Wednesday, December 19. This may be 6:30pm to 9pm. There are new members “How Can I Keep from Singing” just added the first time an openly gay group has ever joining and we are waiting for you. Come to the enthusiasm. The program ended sung at an Iowa high school assembly. check us out. Have some fun! with “I Sing Out” – a glorious reminder January 7 rehearsals begin for the Rick Miller, member, DMGMC

The tricky part of being a gay evangelical is that it forces that person to confront the one thing his religion resists most: uncertainty.

FFBC member Jonathan Page is senior pastor of the Ames United Church of Christ, 217 6th Street, Ames, Iowa. Sunday service at 10:45. He can be reached at jon@Amesucc.org.

As personally uncomfortable as I am with gay evangelicals, I do see their crucial role for the larger gay rights movement. A gay evangelical is forced either to hopelessly compartmentalize his life (think of our dear friend Ted Haggard) or to wrestle with the complexity of biblical interpretation. Ideally, the latter happens within a community of evangelicals. We already see this happening in a younger generation of evangelicals, gay or straight, who are far more open to gays in the church than ever before.

I can bring up one argument after another to test right wing Christianity, and, when my opponents do not like what I am saying, they can dismiss me as doomed to the heat of hell. But the gay evangelicals, if they can stand the heat of their own internal cognitive dissonance, they offer us some hope for rainbows on the right-hand side of heaven.

Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus Solstice Concert 2012

ACCESSline Page 28 DIRECTORY NOTICE

The ACCESSline community directory is updated each issue. LISTINGS ARE FREE but are limited by space.

Free online listings are available at www.ACCESSlineAMERICA.com.

Information about new listings 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@ACCESSlineAMERICA.com or call (712) 560-1807.

The ACCESSline is expanding our resource directory to include heartland resources outside of Iowa. Please bear with us as we continue improving our resource directory.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Breur Media Corporation : Website Consultation, Design, Programming, and Hosting.

HIV and STD Testing Sites near You, including places where you can get tested for free: hivtest.org/ Crisis or Suicide National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: suicidepreventionlifeline.org Information on Mental Health National Alliance on Mental Illness: nami.org Counseling, Information and Resources about Sexual Orientation GLBT National Help Center: glnh.org or 1-888-843-4564 Information on Mental Health for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender nami.org Information on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health, cdc.gov Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund 1133 15th Street NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005, victoryfund.org 202-VICTORY [842-8679] Human Rights Campaign, National political organization, lobbies congress for lesbian & gay issues, political training state and local, hrc.org, 1-800-777HRCF[4723] Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund I I E. Adams, Suite 1008, Chicago, IL 60603 lambdalegal.org, 312-663-4413 National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) ngltf.org - taskforce.org 1325 Massachusetts Ave NW, Ste 600, Washington, DC, 20005 National Organization for Women (NOW) 733 15th ST NW, 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20005, now.org 202-628-8669 PFLAG National Offices 1133 15th Street NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005, info@pflag.org - pflag.org, 202467-8180 The Trevor Lifeline |Crisis and suicide prevention lifeline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. (866) 4-U-TREVOR - (866) 488-7386 Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. All calls are toll-free and confidential - thetrevorproject.org/

Iowa ORGANIZATIONS

Equality Iowa P.O. Box 18, Indianola, IA 50125, equalityiowa.org - 515-537-3126 Faithful Voices Interfaith Alliance of Iowa’s marriage equality project. faithfulvoices.org 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 imperialcourtofiowa.org Iowa Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) Janis Bowden, President, IA NOW janleebow@aol.com PO Box 41114, Des Moines, IA 503111 Iowa Gay Rodeo Association (IAGRA) 921 Diagonal Rd, Malcom, IA 50157 polebender60@yahoo.com 641-990-1411

Section 3: Community Iowa PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gay) State Council, PO Box 18, Indianola, IA 50125 http://community.pflag.org/Page. aspx?pid=194&srcid=-2 515-537-3126 or 641-583-2024 Iowa Pride Network 777 Third Street, Suite 312, Des Moines, Iowa 50309 - Iowapridenetwork.org, Executive Director: 515-471-8062, Outreach Coordinator: 515-471-8063 LGBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force PO Box 1997, Des Moines, 50306 515-243-1221 One Iowa 500 East Locust St, Ste 300, Des Moines, IA 50309 - 515-288-4019 - OneIowa.org The Quire Eastern Iowa’s GLBT chorus, thequire.org

NEBRASKA ORGANIZATIONS (LIST in progress)

Citizens For Equal Protection-402-398-3027 1105 Howard St, Suite #2, Omaha, NE 68102. cfep-ne.org - info@cfep-ne.org The Imperial Court of Nebraska Meets the third Monday of Every month at the Rainbow Outreach Resource Center at 17th and Leavenworth in Omaha, NE. Meetings start at 6pm and are open to the public.

PO Box 3772, Omaha, NE 68103 Nebraska AIDS Project Omaha Office (Home Office) 250 South 77th Street Suite A Omaha, NE 68114 (402) 552-9260 - Email us: info@nap.org (also serving Southwest Iowa)

Ames, Iowa

First United Methodist Church 516 Kellogg Ave, Ames, IA 50010, Contemporary worship Sat 5:30; Sun 8:30 & 11am acswebnetworks.com/firstunitedmcames/ 515-232-2750 ISU LGBTA Alliance GLBT Support, Activism, Social Events, Newsletter - 515-344-4478 L East Student Office Space,2229 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014-7163, alliance@iastate. edu - alliance.stuorg.iastate.edu Living with HIV Program 226 SE 16th Street, Ames, IA 50010, Ask for Janelle (Coordinator), 515-956-3312 ext 106 or 800-890-8230 Lord of Life Lutheran - 515-233-2350 2126 Gable Lane, Ames 50014, Services Sundays at 9:00a.m.; Wed. 7:00pm.

PFLAG Ames Youth and Shelter Services Offices, 2328 Bristol Drive, Ames, IA 5001, 2nd Tuesday, 7pm - pflagames.org 515-291-3607 Romantics Pleasure Palace 117 Kellogg Street, Ames, IA 50010-3315 romantixonline.com 515-232-7717 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: 9:30 am and 11:30 am, Sunday, uufames.org uufa@aol. com 515-292-5960 Unity Church of Ames - unityofames.com 226 9th St, Ames, IA 50010-6210, Sunday service and Sunday school 10:30am.

Wednesday mediation 6:30pm Daily dial-a-blessing 515-233-1613

Arnolds Park, Okoboji, Spencer, Spirit Lake, Iowa

The Royal Wedding Chapel 504 Church Street, Royal, IA 51357 712-933-2223 TheRoyalWeddingChapel.com Wilson Resource Center An Iowa Great Lakes area gay-owned, nonprofit community based organization. PO Box 486, 597 W. Okoboji Rd., Arnolds Park IA 51331-0486 - 712-332-5043 F.JosephWilson@aol.com. wilsonresource.org

BURLINGTON, Iowa

Arrowhead Motel - arrowheadia.com 2520 Mount Pleasant St, Burlington, IA 52601-2118 - 319-752-6353 Faith Lutheran Church E L C A 3109 Sunnyside Ave, Burlington, IA 52601 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 RISQUES IV (adult store) 421 Dry Creek Ave, West Burlington, IA 52601 (319) 753-5455, Sun - Wed 8am-Midnight Thurs - Sat Open 24 Hours, LoversPlayground.com

Steve’s Place 852 Washington St, Burlington, 319-7545868 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Services start at 10:30 am, 625 N 6th St, Burlington, IA 52601-5032, (319) 753-1895 uuburlington.org

Cedar Falls - Waterloo, Iowa

Adult Cinema 315 E 4th St, Waterloo, IA 50703-4703, (319) 234-7459 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, cvcounseling.com farstd@cvcounseling.com.

Cedar Valley Episcopal Campus Ministry.

In Lutheran Center, 2616 College St, Cedar Falls, IA - 319-415-5747, mcdinoiwa@aol. com, episcopalcampus.org Community AIDS Assistance Project (CAAP) - PO Box 36, Waterloo, IA 50704 LGBTA Support Group at Hawkeye Community College, Call Carol at 319-296-4014 or carol.hedberg@hawkeyecollege.edu Iowa Legal Aid Free civil legal service available to low income persons who qualify under income/asset guidelines.

607 Sycamore, #206, Waterloo, IA 50703 1-800-772-0039 or 319-235-7008 Kings & Queens 304 W. 4th St, Waterloo, IA, 319-232-3001 Romantix Waterloo (Adult Emporium) 1507 La Porte Rd, Waterloo, IA 50702 319-234-9340, romantixonline.com Stellas Guesthouse 324 Summit Ave, Waterloo, IA Private B&B, Overnight accommodations for adults only. 319-232-2122 St. Lukes Episcopal Church - 319-277-8520 2410 Melrose Dr, Cedar Falls, IA 50613 Services: Sunday 8:00 & 10:15, Thurs 11:30 st-lukes-episcopal.org St. Timothys United Methodist Church 3220 Terrace Drive, Cedar Falls, 50613 sttims-umc.org, 319-266-0464, info@sttimsumc-org, “Welcome of all persons, including those of all sexual orientations and gender identities.”

Together For Youth 233 Vold Dr, Waterloo, IA 50703, TogetherForYouth.net 319-274-6768 UNI-LGBTA Alliance-Student Organization, 244A Bartlet Hall, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls 50613 - lgbta@uni.edu 319-222-0003 United Church of Christ Cedar Falls 9204 University Avenue, Cedar Falls 319-366-9686 Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk County - 319-266-5640 3912 Cedar Heights Dr, Cedar Falls, IA

Cedar Rapids/marion, Iowa

Adult Shop 630 66th Ave SW, 319-362-4939 Adult Shop North 5539 Crane Lane, 319-294-5360 CRPrideFest (formerly Cedar Rapids Unity) Social activities, non-profit Pride festival organization. PO Box 1643 Cedar Rapids 52406-1643 - CRPrideFest.com Christ Episcopal Church “We have a place for you.” 220 40th Street NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404, 319-363-2029 ChristEpiscopal.org Belle’s Basix - 319-363-3194 Open 5pm to 2am M-F, Sat & Sun 3pm-2am 3916 1st Ave NE, Cedar Rapids Club CO2, A GLBTQA Nightclub, 616 2nd Ave SE, 319-365-0225, Open 7 days a week 4PM2AM, Happy hour from 4-8 pm, club-co2.com Coe Alliance GLBTQ and straight students, staff and people from the community. Coe College, 1220 First Ave NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402. coealliance@coe.edu or Erica Geers, faculty advisor at 319-8616025

Community Health Free Clinic 947 14th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 - 319-363-0416 - communityhfc.org Free Medical Services provided for the uninsured and underserved patients of Cedar Rapids, Marion and the surrounding areas in Eastern Iowa.

CSPS Legion Arts Contemporary Arts Center - 319-364-1580 1103 3rd St. SE, info@legionarts.org Diversity Focus, 222 2nd Street SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401, 319-363-3707, DiversityFocus.org, Lead in the promotion of diversity, cultural awareness, and inclusion in the Corridor community.

Eden United Church of Christ 351 8th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404 (319) 362-7805 Sunday School 9am - Worship 10:15am 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 Linn County Public Health 501 13th NW, Free confidential HIV testing, 319-892-6000 Linn County Stonewall Democrats For more info, contact linnstonewall@ gmail. com People’s Church Unitarian Universalist A welcoming congregation. 4980 Gordon Ave NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 11am Sunday. 319362-9827 - peoplesuu.org PFLAG CR, Linn Co and Beyond Support Group meets on the 4th Thursday at 7pm except for Nov Dec - call for details.

319-431-0673, pflaglcb@gmail.com The Linn County Stonewall Democrats Meet 2nd Wednesdays, Blue Strawberry, 118 2nd St SE in Cedar Rapids, IA. Contact Harvey S. Ross, HRoss007@aol.com.

Tri-ess, Iota Kappa Phi Chapter P.O. Box 8605, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52408 We are a transgendered organization supporting crossdressers, their families, and friends.

- ri-ess.org, 319-390-6376, georgia523@ yahoo.com - marlenemarschel@yahoo.com Unity Center of Cedar Rapids “A center of positive, practical Christianity.”

4980 Gordon NE, Cedar Rapids unitycr.org - (319) 393-5422

CLINTON, Iowa

18 and Beyond (aka ABC Books), 135 5th Ave South, 563-242-7687 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clinton 309 30th Avenue North, Clinton, IA 52732 (563) 242-4972 - uuclinton.org, Sunday services at 10:30 (year-round), Where YOUR spiritual and ethical journey is welcome! Rev. Ruby Nancy, minister

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Council Bluffs Community Alliance “…will promote the city of Council Bluffs as a developing gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender family community, & to assure the equality of all Council Bluffs’ residents.”

CouncilBluffsCommunityAlliance.org Council Bluffs NOW PO Box 3325, Omaha, NE 68103-0325 Romantix Council Bluffs (North) (Adult Emporium) 3216 1st Ave, Council Bluffs, IA 51501-3353-romantixonline.com515-955-9756 Romantix Council Bluffs (South) (Romantix After Dark) 50662 189th St, Council Bluffs, IA 51503 romantixonline.com, 712-366-1764

Decorah, Iowa

Decorah Human Rights Commission Contact: City Clerk, 400 Clairborne Dr, Decorah, 563-382-3651, Meetings: First Tuesdays, 5:30pm Luther College Student Congregation Contact Office for College Ministry 700 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101, 563-3871040.

Luther College PRIDE-Diversity Center, 700 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101 Contact Charles 563-210-6570 PFLAG Northeast IA (Waukon/Decorah) Beginning May 23rd: meeting at Northeast Iowa Peace and Justice Center, 119 Winnebago Street, Decorah, IA (lower level), corner of Winnebago and Main Street, Meetings: 4th Mondays, 7pm-9pm Call Jean @ 563-535-7680 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Meets alternating Sundays at 10:30am, Decorah Senior Center, 806 River St, Call Bill at 563-382-3458.

JANUARY 2013 Des Moines, Iowa

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, Des Moines, IA 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 Diversity Chorus [A gay-friendly mixed chorus] Rehearsals on Mondays at 7 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Beaver Ave. at Franklin St., Des Moines.

All are welcome, no auditions.

PO Box 65312, West Des Moines, IA 50265, Julie Murphy, Artistic Director jahmurphy@hotmail.com, 515-255-3576, desmoinesdiversitychorus.org Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus 515-953-1540, 4126 Ingersoll Ave, Des Moines - administrator@dmgmc.org Des Moines Pride Center @ One Iowa (temporary location) 419 SW, 8th St., Des Moines, IA 50309 Family Practice Center - 515-953-7560 Safe, supportive LGBT health care. 200 Army Post Road, Ste 26, ppgi.org 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. 515-288-2500 info@ffbciowa.org ffbciowa.org First Unitarian Church 1800 Bell Avenue, Services Sundays at 9:30 & 11am - 515-244-8603, ucdsm.org Franklin Family Practice Dr. Joe Freund, MD 4908 Franklin Ave., Des Moines, IA 50310 515-280-4930, ucsinformation@ucsdsm.org, UCSOnline.org/FranklinFamilyPractice The Gallery (adult store) 1000 Cherry St, Des Moines, IA 50309-4227 - (515) 244-2916 Open 24 Hrs, LoversPlayground.com The Garden 112 SE 4th Des Moines, IA, 515-243-3965 Wed-Sun. 8pm-2am grdn.com Gay & Lesbian AA & AI-Anonymous Mon 7pm; Tue-Thu 6pm; Sat. 5:30pm, 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 Lavender Victory Fund Financial assistance for women in need for medical emergencies. lavendervf@aol.com Le Boi Bar 508 Indianola Rd, Des Moines, IA Liberty Gifts 333 E. Grand Ave, Loft 105, Des Moines, IA Gay owned specialty clothing, jewelry, home decor. 515-508-0825 MINX Show Palace - 515-266-2744 1510 NE Broadway, Des Moines, IA 50313 North Star Gay Rodeo Association of IGRA, Iowa Division of North Star, NSGRA@ NSGRA.org or 612-82-RODEO Primary Health Care Inc., David Yurdin, 2353 SE 14th St., Des Moines, 503020, Works with GLBT ages 16 to geriatric, 25 years of experience. 515-248-1427 Rainbow Union, Drake University ru@drake.edu PFLAG Des Moines - 515-243-0313 1300 Locust , Des Moines, IA 50312 Plymouth Congregational UCC Church and the Plymouth GLBT Community 4126 Ingersoll Ave. 515-255-3149 Services at 9am & I lam Sunday. 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.

Pride Alliance, AIB College of Business Gay and straight students celebrating diversity. Contact: Mike Smith, Advisor, PrideAlliance@aib.edu - aib.edu/pride Pride Bowling League for GLBT & Supporters - Every Wednesday, 7 PM, Air Lanes Bowling Center 4200 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA 50321-2389. Email pridebowlingleague@ gmail.com or 515-447-2977.

Raccoon River Resort Accommodations for men, women, or mixed in campgrounds, lodge, Teepees or Treehouses. Reservations: 515-996-2829 or 515-279-7312

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JANUARY 2013 SScontinued from page 28

DIRECTORY

Ritual Café - ritualcafe.com On 13th between Grand and Locust.

Gay owned, great music, awesome food & coffee. 515-288-4872 ritualcafe@aol.com Romantix North Des Moines Iowa (Bachelor’s Library) 2020 E Euclid Ave, Des Moines, IA 50317, romantixonline.com 515266-7992 Spouses of Lesbians & Gays Support group for spouses of gays and lesbians. 515-277-7754 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 - StJohnsDSM.org TransformationsIOWA 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 at r.eliason@hotmail.com or call 515-979-6959 Trinity United Methodist Church 1548 Eighth Street - 515-288-4056 Services Sundays 10am, trinityumcdm.org Urbandale UCC - An open & affirming congregation. 3530 70th St., Urbandale, IA 50322, 515-276-0625, urbucc.org Walnut Hills UMC Join us at 8:30 or 10:45am for Sunday worship. Sunday classes & group studies at 9:30am. 515-270-9226, 12321 Hickman Rd, Urbandale, IA 50323, whumc.org Westminster Presbyterian Church 4114 Allison Ave - WestPres.org Sunday services 8:45 and 11am. Of note is their GAY-LESBIAN-STRAIGHT AFFIRMATION GROUP, GLSA 515-274-1534 Women’s Culture Collective (WCC) A lesbian social group. Des Moines, IA iowawcc.org Word of God Ministries, Sunday service: 3:00pm, at 3120 E 24th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50317, Gay, lesbian & straight affirmation 515-707-5947.

Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure Open daily. Gay-friendly, 515-244-7694 2723 Ingersoll, Des Moines, IA

Dubuque, Iowa

Adult Warehouse - 563-588-9184 975 Jackson St, Dubuque, IA Dubuque Friends Worship Group (Quakers) Join us at an unprogrammed worship service on Sunday at 10am. Welcoming and Affirming, 563-582-9388 St. Mark’s Community Center, 1201 White Street, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 PFLAG Dubuque/Tri-State Carnegie Stout Library, 3rd Floor Conference Room, 360 W. 11th St. 3rd Tuesday, 7pm 563-581-4606 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Dubuque - “The uncommon denomination.” general services at 10am. 1699 Iowa St, Dubuque, IA uuf-dbq.org 563-583-9910

ELKADER, Iowa

Bethany Church (ELCA) - 563-245-1856 307 3rd St NE, Elkader IA 52043 Pastor Jim Klosterboer. Inclusive. Welcoming.

A “Reconciling in Christ” congregation of LC/ NA. alpinecom.net/~bethanychurch bethanychurch@alpinecom.net, Schera’s Restaurant & Bar 107 S Main St, Elkader, IA 52043, Scheras.com, E-mail: info@scheras.com Fine dining featuring Algerian & American Cuisine. 563-245-1992

Fort Dodge, Iowa

Romantix Fort Dodge (Mini Cinema) Sun-Thu 10am-12am, Fri & Sat 10am-2am 15 N. 5th St, Fort Dodge, IA 50501-3801 RomantixOnline.com - 515-955-9756

Grinnell, Iowa

Broadviewwildflowerseed.com, Broad View Wildflower Seed, 428 Hamilton Ave., Grinnell, Iowa 50112, Manager/Owner: John C., chicoski7@yahoo.com Saints Ephrem & Macrina Sunday services at 10am. (Affiliated with the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America.)

Divine Liturgy is served Sundays during the College academic year 1:30 p.m., Herrick Chapel, Grinnell College Campus, 1226 Broad Street, Grinnell, IA, 641-236-0936

Section 3: Community 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 United Church of Christ-Congregational, ‘An open and affirming church.’ 902 Broad St, 641-236-3111

INDIANOLA, iowa

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. crossroadsucc.org

Iowa City, iowa

AA (GLBT) 319-338-9111 Meetings Sundays 5 - 6pm at First Baptist Church, 500 North Clinton Street. For more info, call IC Intergroup Answering Service, Congregational Church UCC An Open and Affirming Congregation, Sunday Worship 10:15 a.m.

30 N Clinton St (across from Ul Pentacrest) 319-337-4301 - uiccic.org Counseling Clinic 319-354-6238 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 Counseling and Health Center Client-centered therapy. Les-Bi-Gay-Trans always welcome. 616 Bloomington St, Iowa City, IA - 319-337-1679 Crisis Center 319-351-0140 1121 Gilbert Ct, Iowa City, 52240 Emma Goldman Clinic 227 N. Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA 52245 319-337-2111or 1-800-848-7684.

Faith United Church of Christ An open and affirming congregation.

1609 Deforest Street, Iowa City, 52240 Sunday Worship 9:30 AM 319-338-5238 bob.faithucc@g.com, faithucciowacity.org GLBTAU-U of lA Student support system and resource center, info, activism, events, and other community involvements.

203 IMU, University of IA, Iowa City, IA 522421317 - 319-335-3251 (voice mail) glbtau@uiowa.edu Hope United Methodist Church Worship Service at 9:30am. 2929 E. Court St., Iowa City, IA - Contact Rev. Sherry Lohman.

319-338-9865 Human Rights Commission (City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission) 319-356-5022; 391-356-5015; 319-356-5014 Fax 319-887-6213 humanrights@iowa-city.org ICARE (Iowa Center for AIDS Resources & Education) Practical & emotional support, youth programs, information, referrals and support groups. 319-338-2135 3211 E 1st Iowa City, IA 52240-4703 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 Iowa Women’s Music Festival P.O. Box 3411, Iowa City, IA 52244 319-335-1486 Men Supporting Men 319-356-6038, Ext 2 HIV prevention program. Discussion Groups, Educational Series, Safer Sex Workshops, Book Club. Andy Weigel, email: aweigel@ co.johnson.ia.us New Song Episcopal Church 912 20th Ave, Coralville, IA. Sunday services at 10am.

Jennifer Masada, Jane Stewart, and John Greve. 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 - 319-351-9444 (Pleasure Palace I) 315 Kirkwood Ave, Iowa City, IA 52240-4722 - romantixonline.com Studio 13 13 S. Linn St. (in the Alley) Iowa City, IA Open 7pm ‘til 2am, daily 319-338-7145 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 & free religious community nurturing intellectual & spiritual growth & fostering ethical & social responsibility. uusic.org 10 S. Gilbert, Iowa City, IA Sunday services: 9:30am & 11:15am. 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. PO Box 1143, Iowa City, IA 52244-1143 - 319-338-5810 Women’s Resource Action Center (WRAC) Leads & collaborates on projects that serve U of l and 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, iowa

Adult Odyssey (Adult Video Store) 907 Iowa Ave E - 641-752-6550 Domestic Violence Alternatives/ Sexual Assault Center, Inc., 132 W Main St. 24 hour Crisis Line: 641-753-3513 or (instate only) 800-779-3512

MASON CITY, iowa

Cerro Gordo County Dept. of Public Health 22 N. Georgia Ave, Ste 300 Mason City, IA 50401. Free confidential AIDS testing. 641421-9321 PFLAG North Iowa Chapter 641-583-2848, pflagmcni@yahoo.com, Carlos O’Kelly’s Mexican Cafe @ 7 p.m. Wed.

Mount Vernon, Iowa

Alliance Cornell College 810 Commons Cir # 2035 - alliance@cornellcollege.edu - orgs.cornellcollege.edu/alliance/

Pella, iowa

Common Ground (Central College) Support group for GLBT students and allies.

Contact: Brandyn Woodard, Director of Intercultural Life woodardb@central.edu 641-628-5134

Quad Cities, iowa

AIDS Project Quad Cities Info, education & support. Davenport, IA 52804, www.apqc4life.org 319-762-LIFE Black Hawk College Unity Alliance Serving GLBT community at Black Hawk College. 6600 34th Ave, Rock Island, IL 309716-0542.

Connections Nightclub 563-322-1121 822 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA 52802 DeLaCerda House 309-786-7386 Provides housing & supportive services, advocacy and referrals for people living with HIV/ AIDS. P.O. Box 4551, Rock Island, Il. 61201 Good Samaritan Free Clinic 309-797-4688 Provides free primary medical care to patients age 16-64 who are working but have no medical insurance. gsfc@mchsi.com 602 35th Ave, Moline, IL GoodSamaritanFreeClinic.org The Hole-In-The-Wall 309-289-2375 A Private Membership Men’s Club, Located 3 miles east of Galesburg, IL. just north of I-74 at Exit 51. HoleInTheWallMensClub.org Holy Spirit Catholic Faith Community Meets one Sunday per month for Mass at 6:30pm at MCC-QC, 3019 N. Harrison St, Davenport, IA Mailing: PO Box 192 East Moline, IL 61244 For more info, call 309-278-3359 Lucky Shamrock 313 20th St, Rock Island, IL - 309-788-7426 An Irish Pub open to all types.

Mary’s On 2nd 563-884-8014 832 W. 2nd St. Davenport, IA MCC Quad Cities - Svcs Sun 11am, Bible study Wed 7pm 563-324-8281, 3019 N Harrison, Davenport, IA 52803 Men’s Coming Out/Being Out Group Meets 2nd & 4th Thursdays, 7pm.

QCAD.OutForGood@GMail.com 309-7862580 PFLAG Quad Cities 563-285-4173 Eldridge United Methodist Church 604 S.2nd St., Eldridge 1st Monday, 6:30 pm Prism (Augustana College) 309-794-7406 Augustana Gay-Straight Alliance, Augustana Library - 639 38th St, Rock Island, IL, Contact Tom Bengston 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 (Call Don at 563324-0215) At the MCC Church in D’port, 7pm Wed. qcswede64@aol.com Rainbow Gifts www.rainbowgifts.net - 309-764-0559

T.R. Video Adult books & video, 3727 Hickory Grove Rd, Davenport, IA. 563-386-7914 Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities, Rev Jay Wolin, Sunday Service 11am - 563-359-0816 3707 Eastern Avenue, Davenport, IA 52807 Venus News (Adult) 902 W 3rd St, Davenport, IA. 563-322-7576

Red Oak, Iowa

First Congregational United Church of Christ (open and affirming) - 712-623-2794 608 E Reed St, Red Oak, IA 51566 Rev. Elizabeth Dilley, Pastor uccwebsites.net/firstcongredoakia.html firstconguccredoak@yahoo.com

SHENANDOAH, Iowa

PFLAG Shenandoah 1002 South Elm Street - 712-246-2824

Sioux City, IOWA

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) 712-258-6922 412 Jones St., Nightly 6:00pm to 2:00am.

Mayflower Congregational Church 1407 West 18th St - 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 712-277-8566 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.

Zaner’s Bar - 712-277-9575 -3103 N Hwy 75, Sioux City, IA 51105. Monthly drag shows & events; hometown bar for Imperial Court of Iowa’s Western Chapter zaners-sioux-city@hotmail.com

Sioux falls, south dakota

Toppers, 1213 N Cliff Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57103, (605) 339-7686, Su-Tu 7:00pm - Close : We-Sa 3:00pm - 2:00am, sdtoppers.com Center for Equality, 406 S Second Avenue in Sioux Falls, 605-331-1153, centersforequalitysd.org

Waverly, Iowa

Cedar Valley Episcopal Campus Ministry.

717 W. Bremer, (St. Andrew’s Episcopal) 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 10:30am. Bible discussion Wed. 6:45pm 319-352-1489 Rev. Maureen Doherty, Pastor

NEBRASKA (CONTENT IN PROGRESS) HASTINGS, NEBRASKA

PFLAG Hastings - pat@datacc.net

Lincoln, Nebraska

Club Q Lincoln 226 South 9th St, Lincoln, NE 68508 402-475-2269 Indigo Bridge Books The Creamery Building, 701 P St, Ste 102, Lincoln, NE 68508 - 402-477 7770 “Indigo Bridge Books strives to provide a solid, relevant Gender Studies section with a focus on LGBT titles. indigobridgebooks.com Nebraska AIDS Project (Lincoln Office) 1921 South 17th Street, Lincoln, NE 68502 (402) 476-7000 - nap.org OUTLinc Bringing Lincoln’s LGBT Community Together outlinc.org Panic 200 S 18th St, Lincoln, NE 68508 402-435-8764

ACCESSline Page 29 PFLAG Cornhusker Chapter PO Box 82034, Lincoln, NE 68501 Meetings 4th Tuesday, Unitarian Church of Lincoln, 6300 A St, 7-9pm pflagcornhusker.org PFLAG Helpline: 402-434-9880 - Confidential Support & Information - We’re Here For You !

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland Sexual and Reproductive Health Care, Transgender Care - (402) 441-3302 2246 O St, Lincoln, NE 68510 The Rainbow Clinic in the UNL Psychological Consultation Center “…a specialty outreach service to the GLBTQ community. Psychological services, including individual, couples & family therapy, are provided within the UNL Psychological Consultation Center by regular PCC staff…open year round; day & evening appointments available. $10 for intake & $25 for therapy sessions. Application can be made for reduced fees based on federal poverty guidelines.

325 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588 402-472-2351 unl.edu/psypage/pcc/ Star City Pride starcitypride.org - info@starcitypride.org The Unitarian Church of Lincoln 6300 A Street, Lincoln, NE 68510-5097 (402) 483-2213 - unitarianlincoln.org Sunday from 10am to 11am

Omaha, Nebraska

AIDS Interfaith Network 100 N. 62nd, Omaha, NE Call Br. Wm. Woeger, 402-558-3100 Citizens For Equal Protection-402-398-3027 1105 Howard St, Suite #2, Omaha, NE 68102. cfep-ne.org - info@cfep-ne.org DC’s Saloon - (western/levi/leather) The Midwest’s hottest GLBT Country & Dance Bar! 610 S 14th St, Omaha, NE, Open everyday 2pm-1am Front Runners/Front Walkers Walking/jogging club. P.O. Box 4583, Omaha, NE 68104, 402-804-8720, frontrunners.org GLBT Rainbow Outreach Omaha Serving GLBT community in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Also office for Imperial court of Nebraska. 1719 Leavenworth St, Omaha, NE, rocc.org - 402-341-0330 Greater Omaha GLBT Network - goglbt.org “…to advance growth & equality for its members, businesses & allies by providing educational, networking & community-building opportunities. Meetings 1st Thursday every month locations at a traveling location to see the community and be seen. For more info or to be included on the e-newsletter list, please email us at info@goglbt.org.

Heartland Gay Rodeo Association (HGRA) (Midwest Division of the International Gay Rodeo Association) PO Box 3354, Omaha, NE 68103, hgra.net - 402-203-4680, Serves Iowa and Nebraska Heartland Pride ”…to develop a high impact and relevant cultural festival & events annually that promotes equality & unity for the LGBTQ & Allies Communities of Western Iowa and Greater Nebraska. heartlandpride.org Imperial Court of Nebraska P.O. Box 3772, Omaha, NE 68103, 402-5569907 Inclusive Life “Religious and Non religious care, services and ceremonies for all!”, 105 S. 49 Street, Suite E, Omaha, NE 68132, (402) 575-7006, inclusifelife.org The Max 1417 Jackson at 15th, Omaha, NE 68102 6 bars in 1 - 402-346-4110 MCC Omaha 819 South 22nd, Omaha, NE 68103, Sun 9:30AM & 11:15 AM. Wednesday “ReCharge” Worship, Wed 7pm - 402-345-2563 PFLAG Omaha Mead Hall, First United Methodist Church, 7020 Cass St. (Omaha), 2nd Thursday, 7, 6:30 Social, 402-291-6781 River City Gender Alliance Peer support, friendship, and understanding for crossdressers, transgenderists, and transsexuals. PO Box 4083 Omaha, NE 68104, 402-291-6781, info@rcga.us - rcga.us River City Mixed Chorus Gay/lesbian chorus, PO Box 3267, Omaha, NE 68103, Call Stan Brown, 402-341-7464 Tri-ess Chapter, Kappa Phi Lambda Chapter, Omaha, NE 68107, Transgendered organization supporting crossdressers, their families, and friends. tri-ess.org, 402-960-9696, Judy marlenemarschel@yahoo.com Youth Support Group for GLBT Youth 13-21, meets twice monthly. Omaha, NE - 402-291- 6781

ACCESSline Page 30

Section 3: Community

PITCH Calendar 2013

“Come out and Play” with Iowa’s Pride Sports League

Positive Iowans Taking Charge (PITCH) is a volunteer-run non-profit organization, founded in 2007, their goal is to provide social networking and support to Iowans living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS. Their mission is to create an atmosphere where HIV+ people can unite, advocate, and assist other HIV+ people for better health and wellness. More information can be found at On February 3rd, 2013 Des Moines will pitchiowa.org or call Tami Haught at 641-715-4182. debut its first sports league that will engage and encourage activity among the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community, Pride Sports League (PSL). Endorsed by Capital City Pride and sponsored by Project HIM – Healthy 2, 9, 16, 23, & 30: Des Moines Open Support Group 5pm-6pm (Wednesdays) Iowa Men, PSL is the brainchild of Nick Browne 3, 10, 17, 24, & 31: Thursday Group 2pm-3pm (Thursdays) and Justin Devries with the hope of becom3, 17, & 31: Waterloo PITCH Support Group 6pm-8pm (Every other week) ing a great way for both social networking 9 & 23: Wednesday Evening Group 5:30pm-6:30pm (Every other week) and promoting healthy living in the LGBT community. All individuals, including allies are welcome to join. The first session, beginning in February will include volleyball, billiards, and darts. Kickball, softball, running, and a rugby team are sports that are being considered for 7-7:30 PM, topic discussion from 7:30-8 upcoming sessions in the spring.

Positive Iowans Taking Charge will be PM, non-topic time for everyone to share Registration for the league can be done having a Conference Call Support Group how they are doing from 8-8:30 PM. Times online or in-person. Links to forms will be on meeting, January 23rd at 7 PM. This are adjusted depending on the needs of the Project HIM website (ProjectHIM.org), the Support Group Meeting is open to those the people on the call.

Capital City Pride website, and the Facebook outside of Iowa.

The number to call is 949-812-4500 page for Pride Sports League. Registrants will The meeting is to provide emotional, and the Pin number is 684713 that every- also have the opportunity to pick up an applisocial, and educational opportunities for one will use the same code. cation at The Saddle, The Garden, as well as Iowans across the state. The Agenda is as For more information go to Liberty Gifts. Another chance to register will follows: welcome and introduction from pitchiowa.org or find them on facebook. be at the PSL Launch Party on January 18th at Saddle. People are encouraged to wear “But we had a long discussion—if I do this, is it going to keep me from The their favorite sports gear to help kick off the being hired? People were already saying, ‘Nobody gets fired when they league. A table will be set up for registration have 25 wins—something must be wrong.’ I thought it’d be more damag- beginning at 8pm. There will be a $20 regising if I didn’t stand up. At least now, people know why. And if someone tration fee for each player, per sport that one to participate in. The fee will include doesn’t want to hire me because I’m an openly gay man and I’m married, chooses a PSL t-shirt.

I probably don’t want to be there, anyway.”

Locations and times for the winter session have been confirmed. The Pioneer Columbus ~Ex-VCU Coach, James Finley, on his recent dismissal.

Community Center on SE 5th St will be hosting

January

PITCH Conference Call Support Group Meeting

JANUARY 2013

indoor volleyball beginning Sunday, February 17th from 7-10pm for the first two Sundays and then from 1-4pm the following Sundays.

Each session will last ten weeks, including eight weeks of play in either a competitive league or a recreational league, then two weeks of single elimination tournament play.

Other sports will follow a similar format. On Wednesday, February 13th, The Garden will begin hosting darts from 6-8pm. The last sport for this session will be billiards, hosted by Merle Hay Lanes beginning Thursday, February 21st from 6-8pm. Schedules of times and locations for each of the sports will be available for registrants.

If you have any questions about the league or would like to volunteer your time in some way, please email pridesportsleague@yahoo. com or contact Nick Browne at 573-303-4435.

Pride Sports League is waiting on you, so “Come Out and Play”!

JANUARY 2013

Section 3: Community

ACCESSline Page 31

SScontinued from page 11

DAVEY WAVEY YouTube celebrity?

I fell into it! It wasn’t something that I planned, it happened very slowly over the course of many years. Though things have really been picking up in recent months, I’ve been doing this for more than five years—it’s just that few people noticed at first. Years ago, I made a video about my hot neighbor—who I caught jerking off—and that’s the first video that really went viral and put me on the map.

Since then, I’ve just been making videos about the things that I find interesting—and, for whatever reasons, the audience grew fairly organically. I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole!

What has your YouTube celebrity status allowed you to do that you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise?

For sure! Early this year, I got to live out my life-long fantasy of swimming in a pool filled with lube. Short of spending $67,000—which was the retail value of the lube we used for the video—I don’t think it would have happened otherwise. It’s not landing a man on the moon, but it counts for something in my book.

What is your message to the LGBT community and the world at large?

Well, it’s the golden rule. Treat others the way that you want to be treated. As LGBT people, we want to be loved, accepted and celebrated by the people around us. If it’s love and acceptance we want, then it’s love and acceptance that we have to give! I think we have a special responsibility to set an example through our thoughts, words and actions.

What is your inspiration?

Life! All of my video ideas come from the amazing, crazy and colorful world in which we live! I keep a running list of my next severalhundred video ideas, and they’re all born from my experiences, conversations that I have with friends and family or emails and comments from the fine folks who watch my videos. In a world as dynamic as ours, I don’t think I’ll ever run out of video ideas.

What is one of your most popular YouTube videos and why do you think that is?

A few of my videos have become really

popular not because they’re especially insightful, but often because they have a good title and a catchy thumbnail image. Having said that, they’re a few that really stand out—and one of my favorite popular videos is one titled “Things Not to Ask a Gay Guy.” I think it’s so popular because so many of us are just so sick of answering questions like, “Who is the girl in your relationship?” A few million video views later, I think it struck a chord with my viewers.

How did growing up with obesity and body image issues influence you in regards to health and fitness?

I’ve been very open about growing up overweight—and how my motivation for hitting the gym really came from the photoshopped, muscled Abercrombie models that I’d see plastered all over my local mall. It wasn’t the best of motivations, but as I started to work out, I discovered that there were many other deeper benefits to exercise beyond the superficial outward transformations.

Sure, working out will change the outward appearance of your body—but it also results in increased energy, better sleep patterns, improved self esteem and increased libido just to name a few. Beyond transforming my body, working out transformed my Davey Wavey. Photo Courtesy of Davey Wavey. life—and that’s a passion that

Davey Wavey. Photo Courtesy of Davey Wavey.

I want to share with my audience.

You are an AFPA certified personal trainer. What training did you need for this certification? What experience and education do you have?

As I became more active, I became a gymnast and even a cheerleader at university. Because health and exercise was quickly becoming a larger focus of my life, I wanted to get a proper certification so that I’d have a better understanding of fitness. So, I completed the coursework and training to be AFPA certified—though it wasn’t my initial intention to train anyone but myself. Of course, as my fitness YouTube channel gained in popularity, and after I was selected by YouTube to be one of their NextUp trainers, I was fortunate to be able to apply that fitness knowledge to a growing online audience.

Why is community important in fitness? How do you go about creating that?

A lot of individuals lean on a network of support to help them achieve their goals. You’ll see it all the time online. There are countless websites and forums wherein people can find information and words of encouragement— whether they’re looking to lose 50 pounds or bulk up on muscle. Fitness is a lot like sex.

It’s fine to do alone. But it’s much more fun to do it with others. Reach out and surround yourself with people who support your goals and fitness commitments.

Tell me a bit about your fitness philosophy.

I’m passionate about life. And my body is the vehicle through which I experience life. Because of that, I want to keep it in good running condition—so that I’m able to get the most of my experience here on Earth. In that way, honoring your body is really just an extension of honoring life—and so that’s why I spend so much time giving my body the gifts of movement and sweat.

What type of fitness/health fads have you seen? Tell me about an extreme example.

People will try anything. From fasting to eating cabbage soup for a week to standing on their heads 30 minutes a day while singing the Hokie Pokie. You name it, and it’s been done. I don’t really have time for all of that. Instead, I encourage folks to employ those strategies that are tried and true.

It requires time, energy and effort to achieve your goals—but, if you’re really committed to sustained results, there’s no other way.

New Year’s is all about resolutions, what is one tip for those people interested in a healthier new year?

Start today. There’s no reason to put off your resolutions until January 1. Lean into the changes you want to make today, and be in it for the long haul. It can be done.

Where can people go for more information?

For more information, check out my main YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/DaveyWavey.

If fitness is your game, hop on over to my fitness blog at http://www.daveywaveyfitness.com.

Fitness is a lot like sex.

It’s fine to do alone. But it’s much more fun to do it with others.

ACCESSline Page 32

Section 3: Community

JANUARY 2013

Quotations of the Past Year-2012 “I am a gay robot. I oppose Bachmann’s position “I certainly hope that people don’t amend our constituto stop gay marriage because, number one, the constion gays, whether they are human or robot . . .” tion tution is there to protect people — not oppress them.”

-Iowa’s Gay Robot, ACCESSline January 2012 Issue

~Former Minnesota Governor, Jesse Ventura. ACCESSline If the Iowa Senate does NOT pass the Iowa Marriage Amend- July 2012 Issue.

ment (IMA) this session, the process will be delayed another two years. Democrat Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal continues to obstruct debate on the IMA. The FAMiLY LEADER will continue to press for debate and passage, representing common sense, history, God’s Truth, and a clear majority of Iowans that marriage remains between one man and one woman only.

— Chuck Hurley of the Iowa FAMiLY Leader January 30, 2012.

ACCESSline February 2012 Issue

It is important that Congress understands that we support and celebrate equality in the armed services. We also need to call for an end to DOMA, because as long as DOMA exists, anti-equality crusaders like Rep. King will continue to use it to justify and codify inequality. America deserves better. ~Donna Red Wing, Executive Director of One Iowa, in response to Steve King. ACCESSline August 2012 Issue

“People who are opposed to [gay marriage] are going to have to be explaining to their grandkids: why, why, why was that the rationale? We’re going to be embarrassed in 25 years.”

“Today’s decision by the liberal 9th Circut Court, while expected, is sad and outrageous on many levels. Not least of which is “we the people” ~Nebraska Senate Nominee Bob Kerrey speaking about get bullied again by a few “robed masters.” It’s also evidence that when his support of gay marriage. ACCESSline September 2012 executives go wobbly on fighting the left’s agenda and not appointing Issue.

ONLY strict constructionist judges, who take the Constitution and due The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell marked the end of a long and shameful era in our process seriously, we continue to lose these battles. However, the 9th military’s The policy known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell denied the very dignity and Circuit’s opinon is no surprise; they have been a friend of the radical humanity ofhistory. our brothers and sisters in uniform. Our government asked these brave Americans homosexual agenda for years. As for us; we have only begun to and will to march into battle and serve their country while simultaneously telling them, ‘You are not continue to be in the fight!” equal; you must hide who you are in order to serve the country you love.’ ...the repeal does not address serious discrimination still facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, — The Family Leader, ACCESSline March 2012 Issue. and transgender (LGBT) service members. The repeal does not change the ban on transgender service members, nor does it repeal the strict regulations against service members who are living with HIV. And perhaps most egregious, the repeal does not address the government’s ongoing disregard for same-gender spouses of service members and veterans. Because of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Veterans Affairs will continue to deny veterans benefits to same-gender married spouses, and the military will continue to treat married spouses of active service members as legal strangers. ~One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing in regards to the Anniversary of the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. ACCESSline October 2012 Issue.

"The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks—two key Democratic constituencies. We aim to find, equip, energize and connect African-American spokespeople for marriage; to develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; and to provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots."

— National Organization for Marriage (“NOM”), 2009, from documents newly unsealed due to NOM’s loss in the Maine lawsuit in which they were fighting the state law that requires they identify their donors. ACCESSline “While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in April 2012 Issue. every state, the president believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect. Washington’s same-sex marriage law would treat “I want to see us do more in the future. I want to make all Washington couples equally, and that is why the president supports a vote sure the Department of Education is doing all it can to to approve Referendum 74.”

Bell, press secretary for President Barack Obama campaign in Washinform and prepare school districts to effectively deal —Paul ington state. ACCESSline November 2012 Issue.

with the challenges that occur with bullying… It’s not an easy thing, and I know maybe this is a difficult area for school districts. But it is critically important that we do everything we can to make sure we have safety and security for all of our students in the state of Iowa.” ~Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, April 23, to the Des Moines Register. ACCESSline May 2012 Issue.

“I just wanted to make sure if I could get one student to not go home, go home from being bullied and hurt themselves, or worse yet, possibly take their own lives, I think I’ve done my job as a state representative.” ~Missouri State Rep. Zach Wyatt (R). ACCESSline June 2012 Issue.

After listening to both sides of the issue and after reviewing the available medical data, I agree with the established medical consensus. I have not found enough published data supporting positive results with gay reparative therapy and I have concerns about the potentially dangerous effects when the therapy fails, especially when minors are forced into treatments.

My biggest epiphany occurred after hearing where the opposing groups found some common ground. The guests who appeared on my show on either side of this debate agreed that entering into any therapy with guilt and selfhate is a major error. Trying to change who you are instead of loving who you are leads to broken spirits and broken hearts. Encouraging self-acceptance is the only way to help alleviate the shame experienced by those who are struggling with their sexuality—and help them reach a place where who they are matches who they want to be. ~Dr. Oz, on his blog November 28th on gay reparative therapy. ACCESSline December 2012 Issue.

JANUARY 2013 SScontinued from page 21

DRAG HISTORY As a Drag Queen, how have things changed since you first started performing?

The things that have changed for me have been more personal, than on the outside. I have become more comfortable with myself, and I allow my inner beauty and talents to come out. Growing up I was always a believer that I could do whatever I set my eyes on, I was bullied a tad and told that the activities that I chose were a sissy talent, or not normal.

That was tap dancing all the way from 2nd Grade through Junior High, until I thought I was doing something wrong and should play basketball…well, you can see that didn’t work out. I challenge everyone to chase their inner talent and beauty through Drag, or whatever it may be.

How long have you been performing and in what venues have you performed, in the state or country?

I started performing in Iowa City, Iowa about 8 years ago at Studio 13, I have since had the honor to perform in venues all across the Midwest and Iowa such as Club Basix in Cedar Rapids, Le Boi Nightclub and, Garden Nightclub in Des Moines, Iowa, SideKicks, and Tooties in Kansas City, MO and many others here in the Midwest.

When and where was your first performance? What was it like?

Unlike a lot of other Drag Queens, my first performance wasn’t Halloween related.

I was the General Manager of The Dragon Nightclub formerly of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and I did the Employee Turn-a-Bout show to raise money. After asking a fellow queen “Do I got Shape?” I knew I was hooked. I then did a Benefit Show for the Legendary Dena Cass, and the rest is history!

How have you changed since that first performance and what have you learned?

I have become a more polished and professional entertainer, back then it was just for fun. It has since turned into a Career filled with Pageants and Plenty of Performing Gigs. I learned that like any other “sport” there comes competition, and with competition come success. I also learned that within a small LGBT community you become a part of a culture that many want you to live up to.

I chose to always do me, and believe in me to get to where I am today.

Who were some of your role-models when you first started as a Drag Queen and who inspires you now?

Augusta Grey is someone that I will always hold dear to my entertainment Career; she is a true Pioneer here in Iowa and especially in Iowa City. I am most inspired now by all of the “New Girls” who keep us all on our toes, and keep me wanting more, and to always remember to never settle.

Pioneers are history makers, how do you feel you’ve contributed to history or what changes do you feel you’ve contributed to as a Drag Queen?

Wow! To be called a Pioneer is very overwhelming. I’m not done, so I don’t know exactly what to label as to what I have contributed to our History. I do know that behind the boldness of my voice as an Emcee and an Outspoken queen there is a big heart. I open my heart to a lot of up and coming entertainers, and I believe in them 100%. I would say my contribution thus far is the sense of “Believe” I install into any entertainer that has the same

Section 3: Community Dream I had years ago. Whether that is a King or Queen. I can honestly say I have had my “Hands” in on a lot of the queens that grace our stage, whether it was I that painted their face for the first time, gave them hair, encouraged them to do a pageant, help them select their drag name etc.

Who has helped you throughout your career and who would you like to thank?

There are too many to list, but Natasha Cass has been a person that has never let me give up. She helped put the icing on the cake, as she was my personal assistant, Chorographer, and Pageant Coach the year I won Miss Gay Iowa USofA 2011. The many other people that have helped me are my many fans that always love you whether or not the eye lash is on correctly, or you forget a step or word.

Pretty Belle

Photo courtesy of Rick Jenn.

As a Drag Queen, how have things changed since you first started performing?

Things have changed in many, many ways. What I have noticed in my 16 years of entertaining is how everyone who puts on a wig thinks they have what it takes to be a true performer. It’s more than just make-up and heels. It’s the persona you carry on and off stage. The lack of professionalism by new and aged performers is truly “missing” these days.

I was “raised” to earn your spot in the drag world by ALWAYS being a true professional.

As in be on time, show up to bookings, and respect everyone you are performing with.

How long have you been performing and in what venues have you performed, in the state or country?

For 16 years I have performed mostly in Eastern Iowa; Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Waterloo. I lived in Des Moines, Iowa for nine months back in 2002 but have worked at Club Basix most of my career. I have performed in many states over the years... but mostly I am a home body.

When and where was your first performance? What was it like?

It was an AOL/Iowa m4m Christmas Party on Dec 22nd 1997…at Club Basix. I did two numbers from the Fabulous Broadway Flop “Pretty Belle” (hence my name). I was messy looking, with goodwill dresses that I had glued sequins to and a plastic Halloween blonde wig. But, with the reaction from the crowd, they overlooked my appearance and had a hoot with the song and my performance…and I guess the irony in my name “pretty” Belle. I was hooked the minute I heard the laughs and applause from the gay community, as they accepted this overweight, not so pretty boy in a dress INTO their community.

How have you changed since that

first performance and what have you learned?

Make-up wise I’ve improved 200%! The 16 years of putting on makeup 2-4 times a week will help that! Costumes, wigs, jewelry...I’d say I’ve improved a little bit.

But every time I walk on stage I’m still that overweight 19 year old needing some kind of acceptance. So I NEED to hear those laughs and applause still to this day.... and I will do ANYTHING to get that!

Who were some of your role-models when you first started as a Drag Queen and who inspires you now?

I have way too many too list, but here’s a few... Clarissa Cavalier, Diva DeParis, and Vannessa Taylor... whom were the fist “showcast” I was a part of. They taught me so much, especially to laugh and that “sisterhood” is needed in this “profession”.

Miss Rachel Richards (Doug Davidson)... for the support and love that still grows to this day!

To the first performer I ever saw, at another AOL party, my first “live” drag show.

She came out announced as the 8th wonder of the world and she lives up to that title very well. I saw her perform with mouth agape... and I saw in her the kind of performer I wanted to be—Miss Dena Cass.

And, also to ALL THE NEW GIRLS... including all my Lil Belle’s. They inspire me daily and I have comfort in knowing that when all us older queens are performing in the lobby’s of our nursing homes... they will be there... keeping drag fresh and new. The whole world’s a stage and that’s a big enough stage for all of us!

Pioneers are history makers, how do you feel you’ve contributed to history or what changes do you feel you’ve contributed to as a Drag Queen?

I really don’t know. I hope I’ve contributed just to people’s everyday lives. I hate sadness and I hope I have put a smile on people’s faces and a HUGE smile on their lives.

I also hope that people see to not take yourself (in this profession) too seriously. After all we are all just “boys in dresses” just trying to entertain the masses. I like to think that.

Who has helped you throughout your career and who would you like to thank?

All my “fans” and friends. Seeing someone in the grocery store and they yell “PRETTYBELL!!!” is one of my favorite things in life...also to the bar-owners who give us a spot to show our hobby off.

But mostly it’s the gay community, the patrons of the shows, yes, even the loud drunk bachelorette’s.... for if it wasn’t for any of these people.... we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. To anyone who pays that cover-charge and a couple of drinks.... it’s that support that helps us become “pioneers” per-say.

Thank you all for the support over these years... and I hope to be doing interviews about drag for many years to come!

Ruby James Knight

Photo courtesy of Rick Jenn.

ACCESSline Page 33 How long have you been performing and in what venues have you performed, in the state or country?

I have been performing since 1972, and have performed in many venues all across Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, and Las Vegas When and where was your first performance? What was it like?

I am an April Fool so my first performance was my 19th Birthday in Lincoln, Nebraska at a Bar called The Keg, it was a College bar that Gay were welcome, and no one had any idea who I was.

How have you changed since that first performance and what have you learned?

As a pioneer of drag in the Iowa Community, I have grown greatly; my character illusion was Judy Garland. I have learned to reach and touch just one person at every show and always respect they came to be entertained.

Who were some of your role-models when you first started as a Drag Queen and who inspires you now?

My role Model has always been Nina Montaldo from Denver, she recently celebrated 63 and 44 years in the business.

Also, my friend Toadie Lee Marvelous, Dolly, Dietra Snow, and Liesa Durrant.

Pioneers are history makers, how do you feel you’ve contributed to history or what changes do you feel you’ve contributed to as a Drag Queen?

When first performing it was about getting your name out, and to be entertaining, character illusion, comedy and dramatic ballads were the show stoppers.

In 1980 I was a member of the group that founded the Imperial Court of Nebraska, and that opened the door to charity for me, I have always been the show emcee so it was a natural progression to help raise funds. In those days the title holders led and we raised the money to support.

I estimate since 1980 I have helped raise over 7 Million Dollars at charities across the Midwest, mainly HIV and AIDS Related. My name in the upper Midwest is synonymous with benefits for AIDS. Today my focus is defined by helping the youth, whether through education and awareness for HIV and AIDS or helping various scholarship programs in Iowa and Nebraska. I truly believe the children are the future.

Who has helped you throughout your career and who would you like to thank?

I personally have many friends and mentors to Thank, first Nina Montaldo for always teaching me to be classy, my Fellow Granduchess’ for following my lead and continuing the fight against HIV and AIDS, my two Drag Daughters, Dorian Drake from Omaha and Muffy Rosenberg The Current Empress of Iowa.

Also I would like to Thank Marcie Durrant for opening the door for me in Des Moines, Iowa my home.

I was honored by Alan Hammond in 1988 for my work for HIV and AIDS as Granduchess of Iowa, we are now 25 years old and will name our 25th in Feb, also Miss Gay Des Moines 1990, Honored in 2011

by City of Des Moines, for my work with the Homeless to Hope, for HIV and Aids Awareness. I am a Lifetime title holder in the Imperial Courts of Iowa, Nebraska and New Mexico JT.

ACCESSline Page 34 SScontinued from page 16

INSIDE OUT

Section 3: Community

JANUARY 2013

Belle’s Basix and CRPrideFest Team Up

Thankfully, the media and many in society (including some of Limbaugh’s advertisers) reacted viscerally to Limbaugh’s comments.

Still, that’s not the point. Instead, men continue to believe they have to right to say and do anything they please when it comes to women.

This chauvinistic, misogynistic, pathetic way of thinking has to change. Until it does, we’ll be mired in a world where women will always be second-class citizens, sometimes paying the ultimate price simply because they happen to be born into the wrong gender.

Only a relative few of us male-to-female people exist in the world. We have a tremendously different perspective about gender and the unique role of women. We know how men think, and we can use it against them as we champion women’s rights. Certainly, that’s one of my new life’s primary goals.

Women should be respected for who they are: human beings. It’s not for men to dictate whether they live or die or prosper or not.

Kristof and WuDunn understand this.

All of us must understand it, too.

From this past December through March of 2013 through the great collaboration with CRPrideFest and the owner of Belle’s Basix, Andy Harrison (AKA Pretty Belle), fundraising to support CRPrideFest is steaming full speed ahead!

December 1st was a euchre tournament that raised over $200 to support the CRPrideFest non-profit’s mission of putting on Cedar Rapids celebration of Pride the first

Saturday in June each year. Volunteers Deb Cook, Rhonda Winistorfer, and Katrina Cass provided much needed support to make the event a huge success.

More events are in the works for the months of January through March (see the CRPrideFest ad located in this issue of ACCESSline) including more euchre, wristband fun, Rough Rider game deals, pokeher bingo and more! CRPrideFest board

of directors encourage support from the community to participate in these upcoming events to help support YOUR CRPrideFest.

Tax deductible donations are accepted at any of the fundraisers, on the website CRPrideFest.com, or through US mail to the CRPrideFest address (also on the website).

Your contributions are critical to provide quality entertainment and make CRPrideFest 2013 a success.

The MCC QC congregation sold the Harrison Street facility in December and is excited to be seeking a larger facility with adequate parking that is handicap accessible. Now finding itself again in need of temporary worship space, the Tri-City Jewish Center in Rock Island has opened its doors to the growing church. So when the congregation lost its home in Rock Island, it took refuge at the Jewish Temple in Davenport. Now when the congregation leaves its

home in Davenport, it will take refuge at the Jewish Center in Rock Island.

“God has called us to go and we will go where God leads us,” says MCC QC’s pastor, Rev. Rich Hendricks. “I am so pleased that we will have a temporary worship home at the Tri-City Jewish Center and we are very grateful for their hospitality.” MCC QC strives to live up to its mission of providing lively worship and reaching out to all people with God’s inclusive love, and that includes those

with physical handicaps. “We can’t say ‘You and your spiritual journey are welcome here,’ and mean it if we are not handicap accessible,” says Hendricks.

The congregation will hold its worship services at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays at the Tri-City Jewish Center, 2715 30th St., Rock Island for now. For more information about MCC QC you may call the church at 563.324.8281 or check them out on the web at MCCQC.com.

The New Kings on the Block performed December 14th at Club CO2 located at 616 2nd Ave SE Cedar Rapids, Iowa to celebrate JD Lesbiani’s birthday.

Special guest Blade Richards came out of retirement to perform a special duet of “Beer for my Horses” with JD Lesbiani.

Friday, January 11th, 2013 will be your next chance to catch the New Kings on the Block perform at Club CO2. Cover will remain $5, but the show will now start an hour earlier at 10 pm.

Marketing Director Alana Hyatt

recently won first place in the t-shirt design contest for The Blazing Saddle in Des Moines. Her artwork is available for sale at the merchandise booth at the New Kings on the Block shows and prints are available online through her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AlanasArtwork Eric Benson of Bus-Stop Productions (https://www.facebook.com/BusStopProductions) joined the New Kings on the Block media team and will assist with videography and producing promotional

videos for the group. Eric is based out of

the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area.

MCC QC Worship at Tri-City Jewish Center

The New Kings on the Block Special Guests

Above, Maxwell Muffdyver performs at the December 14 New Kings on the Block show.

Below, Jayden Knight performs at the December 14 New Kings on the Block show. Photo

by JillofalltradesProductions

Above, Blade Richards came out of retirement to perform with the New Kings on the Block on December 14, 2012.

Below, Blade Richards surprises JD Lesbiani with a special performance for his birthday. Blade and JD performed together for many years at Club Basix. Photo by JillofallProductions

JANUARY 2013

Section 3: Community

ACCESSline Page 35