ACCESSline, Iowa's LGBT Newspaper, July 2009 Issue, Vol 23 No 4

www.ACCESSlineIOWA.com

Summer Arts in Iowa Iowa summer: cool mornings, hot days, sultry evenings. Fireflies sparkle on lawns and in trees, cottonwood floats through the air, and the occasional raucous thunderstorm rolls through.

The days are made for enjoying the outdoors, and choices abound for evening entertainment. Here are just a few highlights:

Ber Fox

Hailing originally from Dubuque, this promising actor tells us about pursuing his dreams, one role at a time. Page 13

Iowa Marriage History by Sandy Vopalka (The following is a history of the steps leading to Iowa’s recognition of marriage equality. If you can contribute additional details to this timeline, please email RnbwFlg2000@yahoo.com and they will be added. Likewise, if you see errors please let us know.)

• 1977 Sexual Orientation added to Iowa City’s civil rights code.

• 1978 Iowa’s Supreme Court repealed the state’s sodomy law.

• 1979-1982 Gay Coalition of Iowa PAC was in operation.

• 1980 Harold Wells, first openly gay Iowan to be elected out of the state’s caucus process to attend the Democratic National Convention.

• 1983-1984 Rich Eychaner ran for Congress 4th District in Iowa, as a Republican Candidate and as Iowa’s first openly gay candidate.

• 1989 Iowa House voted on Civil Rights Bills, it did not pass in the Iowa Senate. (This was the first time a vote was taken on this issue).

• 1990 Sexual Orientation was added to the Hate Crimes Bill of Iowa.

TTHISTORY continued page 6

National and World News Page 4

• June 25-July 25, Dubuque: Little Shop of Horrors - www.TheGrandOperaHouse.com • July 2-12, Cedar Rapids: Schoolhouse Rock Live www.TheatreCR.org • July 10-11, Marion: Erin Bode and her band www.CampbellSteele.com (The Campbell Steele Gallery) • July 10-12, Cedar Falls: No Biz Like Showbiz, Follies 2009, Cedar Rapids Symphony www.gbpac.org (Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center) • July 10 - 19 - Des Moines: Six on Six: The Musical www.SixOnSix.com (Hoyt Sherman Place )

The Invisible Crime by Brett Edward Stout

Iowa Public Radio journalist Stephen Grant works to shine a light on hate crimes

Gay culture, by many measures, exists imperceptibly to mainstream US culture.

Gay clubs are frequently off the map, gay events happen without much attention, and gay people themselves often fly stealthily through the greater work and social culture.

But this invisibility, which at times is seen as a blessing, is also hiding some of the most horrific acts of premeditated violence perpetrated today: hate crimes. Journalism graduate student and award winning Iowa Public Radio journalist Stephen Grant hopes to help uncloak these hidden tragedies.

Born in Mannheim, Germany, Grant moved to the Washington D.C. at the age of 4 as a result of his father’s work. After his parents divorced, he moved with his mother to the Midwest. In describing himself Grant says, “I’m not a follow-the-pack kind of

Creep of the Week Page 8

Iowa Public Radio’s Stephen Grant person.” As he pursued his education his love of music took him to the University of Iowa where he graduated with a BA in Music and another in Russian language. After finishing his undergraduate work he continued to work for the University and, as chance often does, chance found him working at the Iowa City office of Iowa Public Radio where he discovered a new passion and decided to pursuing his graduate work in Broadcast Journalism.

While taking a gender studies classes for his graduate work, Grant found himself TTHATE CRIMES continued page 11

The Center, Des Moines Page 29

Erin Bode performs in Marion, July 10-11 • July 10-25, Waterloo: High School Musical www.wcpbhct.org (Waterloo Center for the Arts) • July 17-19, 24-26 Urbandale: Hello, Dolly! www.UrbandaleTheatre.org (Urbandale Community Theatre) • July 16-19, Iowa City: The Wizard of OZ www.Englert.org (The Englert Theatre) • July 17, Sioux City: David Cook, www.orpheumlive.com (Orpheum Theatre) For more, see ACCESSline’s Fun Guide, page 13

“I love my daughter.

She’s my baby girl, come on. So what if she’s gay?

She’s my daughter and she’s an amazing woman. She’s a good kid. I raised her, she better be good. ... There are a lot of women out there who have gay children.

Who cares? ... The thing I want is love. I’m a Christian, and Christ was that way.

He loved everybody.”

— Marie Osmond to Entertainment Tonight, May 20.

Karma Alternative Dance Bar Cedar Rapids’ New Place to Dance Page 22

ACCESSline Page 2

Section 1: News & Politics

July 2009

July 2009

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

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

Arthur Breur, Editor in Chief Aaron Stroschein, Assistant Editor Cory Tenney, Advertising Sales Joshua Dagon Brett Edward Stout, Justin Uebelhor, One Iowa Sandy Vopalka, Rev. Julian Rendon, Rev Tom Capo Lisa Schreihart (a.k.a IowaLisa) Q Syndicate Rex Wockner News Service All rights reserved. Original material printed in ACCESSline (with the exception of information from other sources) may be “lifted” for use in other publications so long as proper credit is given.

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

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

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

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

Section 1: News & Politics “Who could have imagined that the GLBT community would even notice a Justice Department brief on an obscure case, let alone arise as one in fullthroated condemnation? The simple fact of that reaction, quite aside from our specific objections to the brief, led the administration to understand one important thing that they didn’t understand before. To wit, they don’t understand us. I know this sounds Rumsfeldian, but if you don’t know what you don’t know, you’re not going to make any progress, and, in fact, you’re not even going to worry about the not-known thing.

The administration may have now learned a little something about how much we care, how closely we watch, and how frustrated we have become. And in the process they may begin to see us, not as a self-absorbed little interest group, but as the truly battered, long suffering and incredibly patient segment of society that we are. Taxpayers with no benefits. Couples with no recognition. Soldiers with no identity. Employees with no protection. The list goes on. ... Maybe Obama has learned that we really do need his help.”

— San Francisco Bay Times writer Ann Rostow, June 25.

Subscribe to ACCESSline

We are celebrating our 23rd year of publishing ACCESSline, Iowa’s only statewide, monthly LGBT newspaper.

Our goal continues to be to keep the community informed about gay organizations, events, HIV/AIDS news, politics, national and international news, and other critical issues.

Don’t miss this special $24 (12 issue) annual rate for ACCESSline!

Send this completed ad with $24 for a one year subscription (12 issues). Send to ACCESSline, PO Box 2666, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-2666 and we’ll send you ACCESSline in a plain brown envelope!

Good for special $24 annual rate!

Name:________________________________________________ Address:_ _____________________________________________ City:______________________ State:_____ Zip:___________

ACCESSline Page 3

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

ACCESSline Page 4

Section 1: News & Politics

July 2009

US NEWS by Rex Wockner

CALIFORNIA HIV EMERGENCY Schwarzenegger, Legislature may slash HIV funding California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed, and the California Legislature is considering, draconian cuts to all types of HIV-related funding in the near-bankrupt state.

In the worst-case scenario, which is still not off the table, slashes to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program could result in thousands of Californians who make less than $41,600 per year losing access to the state-provided drugs that suppress HIV and keep them alive.

In the apparent best-case scenario, not all HIV drugs would be available via ADAP and patients would have to pay part of the cost of the ones they could get. That is problematic because some HIV-positive people have developed resistance to some HIV drugs and need access to the full arsenal of therapies to stay alive.

Further, the current plan apparently completely eliminates state funding for the tests that determine if a patient is responding to treatment -- such tests as CD4 counts, viral-load measurement and drug-resistance monitoring.

These tests are essentially mandatory in HIV treatment. Doctors use them so they can change a nonresponsive patient’s drug combination to another combo that works in that patient -- before the patient’s immune system breaks down further and the patient develops a life-threatening opportunistic infection.

The current plan apparently also dramatically slashes funding for education, prevention, counseling and testing programs.

Some 35,000 working- and middleclass Californians who don’t make enough money to pay for their own treatment could be adversely or dangerously affected by the possible cuts to ADAP and elimination of monitoring testing.

Gay and HIV advocates have strongly denounced the budget proposals, and a large rally was held at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 10.

Americans do not support ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Americans overwhelmingly want to see the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on open gays repealed, a new Gallup poll has found.

Sixty-nine percent told pollsters it’s time for the ban to go -- including 58 percent of Republicans, 58 percent of self-described conservatives and 60 percent of weekly churchgoers.

Eighty-six percent of liberals oppose the DADT policy, along with 82 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of people between age 18 and 29.

Even people over age 65 (60 percent), Southerners (57 percent) and people who didn’t finish high school (57 percent) said it’s time to dump the ban.

Said Gallup: “President Barack Obama will be well-positioned to forge ahead with his campaign promise to end the military ban on openly gay service members.”

Gallup polled 1,105 adults nationwide between May 7 and 10. The organization said it was 95 percent confident that the maximum margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

77 members of Congress ask Obama to suspend DADT As national gay leaders continue to beat up on President Barack Obama for moving too slowly on his myriad campaign promises to the GLBT community, 77 members of Congress have written to the president asking him to immediately suspend enforcement of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy pending its repeal by Congress.

“The letter outlines a new, two-step repeal plan which begins with a request that the president ‘direct the Armed Services not to initiate any investigation of service personnel to determine their sexual orientation, and that [he] instruct them to disregard third-party accusations that do not allege violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,’” said the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara, that has focused extensively on the military’s ban on open gays.

“The letter signals renewed efforts to stop gay discharges immediately while repeal legislation moves through Congress at a slower pace,” the center said.

On June 23, Obama rejected the proposal.

The White House said: “President Obama remains committed to a legislative repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which he believes will provide a durable and lasting solution to this issue. He welcomes the commitment of these members to seeing Congress take action.”

Census Bureau will count married gay couples as married The U.S Census Bureau said June 19 it will count married gay couples as married in the 2010 census.

The prior plan had been to retabulate such couples as “unmarried partners,” an existing census-form category, because of the federal ban on recognition of same-sex marriages.

Gay activists, as part of their recent broadside against President Barack Obama’s inaction on gay issues, had stepped up their

criticism of the plan to skew the data.

Gay marriage is legal in three states and will be legal in five, six or more by the time of the census.

Dick Cheney endorses marriage equality Former Vice President Dick Cheney came out in support of same-sex marriage June 1 more clearly than he has in the past.

Asked about the issue at the National Press Club, Cheney responded: “I think freedom means freedom for everyone. And, as many of you know, one of my daughters is gay, and it’s something that we’ve lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute that governs this, I don’t support. I do believe that historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level -- this has always been a state issue -- and I think that’s the way it ought to be handled today, that is, on a state-by-state basis. Different states will make different decisions. But I don’t have any problem with that. I think people ought to get a shot at that. And they do at present.”

Cheney has made very similar comments before, but they did not go quite as far.

U.S. to Frank Kameny: ‘Our bad’ Fifty-two years later, the U.S. government has apologized to groundbreaking gay activist Frank Kameny for firing him in 1957 solely because he was gay.

The Office of Personnel Management gave Kameny an official letter and its highest award, the Theodore Roosevelt Award.

OPM head John Berry wrote: “Dear Dr. Kameny: In what we know today was a shameful action, the United States Civil Service Commission in 1957 upheld your dismissal from your job solely on the basis of your sexual orientation. In one letter to you, an agency official wrote that the Government ‘does not hire homosexuals and will not permit their employment...’

He went on to say that ‘the homosexual is automatically a security risk’ and that he ‘frequently becomes a disruptive personnel factor within any organization.’

“With the fervent passion of a true patriot, you did not resign yourself to your fate or quietly endure this wrong. With courage and strength, you fought back. And so today, I am writing to advise you that this policy, which was at odds with the bedrock principles underlying the merit-based civil service, has been repudiated by the United States Government, due in large part to your determination and life’s work, and to the thousands of Americans whose advocacy TTUS NEWS continued page 12

July 2009

Section 1: News & Politics

ACCESSline Page 5

World News by Rex Wockner

Each year, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov bans gay pride and sends police to arrest the marchers. 2006 photo by Konstantin Rubakhin, mnog.livejournal.com Moscow gays want to picket Obama Moscow Pride founder Nikolai Alekseev says members of his group will attempt to stage a picket in favor of samesex marriage at the U.S. Embassy on July 7 during President Barack Obama’s visit.

It is unlikely the activists will receive city permission to do so. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has banned pride parades for the past four years and sent riot police to aggressively arrest those who ignored the bans.

Luzhkov has called gay parades “demonic,” “satanic” and “weapons of mass destruction.” He also has said the bans are for gays’ own good so that “radical Christians” don’t have a chance to “kill them.”

Alekseev is hopeful that he’ll be able to pull off the picket regardless because “the presidential media pack will be in town.”

50,000 at EuroPride Some 50,000 people turned out for the EuroPride parade, held in Zurich this year on June 6.

Openly lesbian Zurich Mayor Corine Mauch joined in.

Next year, the parade ventures behind the former Iron Curtain to Warsaw -- a city that as recently as 2005 tried to ban pride, only to be later rebuffed by the European Court of Human Rights.

Meanwhile, Rome’s gay pride parade drew more than 100,000 participants June 13, with a demand for legalization of same-sex marriage and equal rights for gay couples.

Some 1,500 people marched in Warsaw on June 13, also demanding legalization of same-sex partnerships. The parade, on central Marszalkowska Street, attracted fewer than 100 counterprotesters, who shouted anti-gay vitriol.

Five hundred people marched in Zagreb, Croatia, on June 13. Police kept about 50 snarling anti-gays from disrupting the parade.

About 3,500 people marched in Strasbourg, France, on June 13, and 2,000 marched in Athens.

China sees its first gay pride week China saw its first-ever gay pride week

June 7-14 in Shanghai.

Events included movies, plays, art exhibits, panel discussions, swimming and badminton competitions, and a big party, though at least one play and one film were ordered canceled by authorities.

Some 500 people attended a barbecue/ drag show/fashion show/hot-body contest on June 13.

Organizers decided against holding a parade, saying it just didn’t seem to be legally possible, according to China Daily.

“Shanghai Pride is a community-building exercise,” co-organizer Tiffany Lemay told the English-language paper. “We hope to raise awareness of issues surrounding homosexuality, raise the visibility of the gay community, help people within our community to come out, and build bridges between the gay and straight communities.”

20,000 march in Tel Aviv Around 20,000 people joined Tel Aviv’s 11th gay pride parade June 12.

The march ended with a beach “wedding” of five gay couples. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Israel.

Some top rabbis had urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to ban the parade. They called it an abomination.

A few religious right-wingers picketed the march, which was paid for by the city government.

Tel Aviv is more secular than Jerusalem, where the pride parade routinely leads large numbers of religious folks to wail and gnash.

Last year’s parade in Jerusalem featured 3,000 marchers and 2,000 cops to protect them. They walked all of four blocks.

In 2007, the Jerusalem parade traveled about 500 meters before ultra-Orthodox protesters shut it down, despite the presence of 8,000 police officers. Prior to the parade, police arrested a man with a bomb.

The post-parade rally was canceled because striking firefighters refused to provide a required firetruck.

In 2005, a counterdemontrator stabbed three marchers at Jerusalem’s march and later was convicted of attempted murder.

The victims’ injuries were not serious.

Australians support same-sex marriage Sixty percent of Australians say gay couples should be able to get married, a Galaxy poll has found.

Thirty-six percent of those questioned oppose same-sex marriage and 4 percent lack an opinion on the issue.

The poll also found that 58 percent of respondents think foreign same-sex marriages should be recognized in Australia.

“Clearly, Australians believe marriage is first and foremost about love and commitment, not your partner’s gender,” said Peter Furness, national convener of the group Australian Marriage Equality.

“This poll scuttles the only rationale put forward by the (Prime Minister Kevin) Rudd government for opposing equality, namely that a majority of Australians believe marriage should only be between a man and a woman. It surely increases the pressure on the Labor Party to endorse same-sex marriage at its upcoming national conference.”

A 2004 amendment to Australia’s Marriage Act bans marriage between same-sex couples as well as recognition of overseas same-sex marriages.

On Aug. 1, marriage-equality activists will stage a National Day of Action in several Australian cities.

Moscow lesbians sue for marriage A lesbian couple in Moscow filed suit in Tverskoi District Court on June 16 after they were denied a marriage license.

Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shepitko said they will appeal their case up to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.

In the meantime, they will fly to Canada and get married there in August, then return home and demand recognition of the marriage.

Moscow Pride founder Nikolai Alekseev, who is a lawyer and is supporting the case, said Russian law requires recognition of all foreign marriages except in cases such as bigamy and incest. Homosexual unions are not among those prohibited, he said.

“It’s sort of a loophole in the law that really allows us to fight for this,” Alekseev told the Moscow Times.

Scottish gay activists arrested over ‘sodomy’ sign & T-shirt Two activists from the group Queer Mutiny were arrested for breaching the peace May 23 in Edinburgh, Scotland, at a protest outside the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly, London’s Pink Paper reported June 11.

Police said Iona Murray, 21, breached the peace by carrying a sign that said: “Sinful Sodomite Seeks Similar For Sin + Sodomy.

Westboro Baptists Need Not Apply.” And a 27-year-old male activist was hit with the same charge merely for wearing a T-shirt that said, “I love sodomy.”

Freedom-of-speech laws in the United Kingdom are different from those of the U.S., as are libel laws.

ACCESSline Page 6

Section 1: News & Politics

July 2009

Political IQ: Stonewall’s Unfinished Revolution by Diane Sliver Why We Need to Move Beyond Gay Pride

Forty years ago, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn risked everything, and their courage ignited the modern LGBT rights movement.

Last month, as we commemorated the Stonewall uprising at gay pride celebrations around the world, perhaps we should also have asked ourselves what we’re willing to risk for equality.

The events at the Stonewall Inn, a New York City bar, began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. At the time, to be “queer” was to be officially classified as both mentally ill and criminal.

Acts of intimacy between consenting adults in their own homes were illegal in 48 states. LGBT applicants were automatically disqualified from federal employment and service in the military. People who wore clothing deemed inappropriate for their gender could be arrested.

Bars were frequently our only havens at the same time that liquor laws often forbid serving alcohol to gays. Bars known to have LGBT clientele were raided repeatedly by police.

But when officers arrived at the Stonewall Inn for what was supposed to be a routine raid, the patrons did something

LGBT people rarely did: They fought back— risking their lives and their freedom.

They blocked police from loading prisoners into a paddy wagon and stopped the raid. That resistance led to six nights of upheaval.

The people of Stonewall weren’t the first to battle police harassment. That honor goes to the transgender patrons of San Francisco’s Compton’s Cafeteria, who fought back in 1966.

Stonewall didn’t mark the start of LGBT activism. As early as the 1920s, a few people tried to organize for change. The homophile movement made progress in the 1950s and early 1960s. But Stonewall touched off something new.

“Suddenly new possibilities and expectations were in the air,” historian Martin Duberman writes in his 1993 book, Stonewall. “People began to dream about something other than getting from one day to the next with a minimum of discomfort.”

Within weeks, new political organizations had been founded. In little more than a decade, the structure of the modern LGBT movement had been built.

Since 1969, police raids have passed into history. The laws that once criminalized homosexuality have been overturned. The medical community no longer sees us as mentally ill. The rules that once barred us from federal jobs have been dropped.

Bans on discrimination based on sexual

orientation or gender identity have become law in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Same-sex marriage has been legalized in six states.

We have come so far, but we’re still second-class citizens.

The Defense of Marriage Act, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and immigration inequalities are just some of the laws that punish our families, hurt our children and impoverish us.

We don’t know yet whether voters will overturn marriage equality in any of the states that just enacted it. Extending marriage to all 50 states seems daunting.

The history of the movement is a story of evolving dreams. Before Stonewall, our most fervent dream was to merely get by, hidden but alive. The dream of the patrons of the Stonewall Inn was to live free of harassment.

I came out 10 years after Stonewall.

My dream was to live openly and honestly without being fired, shunned by my family, or beaten to death by bigots who hated dykes on sight. At the time, I was considered radical. The idea that I could even hope to marry never once entered my mind.

Today a new generation—the second to come of age since Stonewall—thinks my old dreams are timid. They want nothing less than full equality.

They have no patience with us Baby Boomers and the institutions we built. These

LGBT millennials, and their heterosexual brethren, think our old go-slow, step-by-step strategy is obsolete.

They’re right.

But their passion will not win equality until LGBT Americans are once again willing to sacrifice. It is time that we follow the lead of Stonewall and put our own security on the line.

Lt. Dan Choi and other gay service members are already challenging DADT. The rest of us need to come out to family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, recently suggested, among other actions, that married couples risk the wrath of the IRS and refuse to pay federal taxes as if they were single—a requirement necessitated by DOMA. “It seems increasingly clear to me,” Smith writes, “that we must now do what civil rights movements have always done: with forethought and solemnity place ourselves visibly at odds with an unjust law to provoke the consequences that can prick the conscience of our country.”

The patrons of the Stonewall Inn would expect nothing less.

Diane Silver is a former newspaper reporter and magazine editor, whose work has appeared in The Progressive, Salon. com, Ms, and other national publications.

She can be reached care of this publication or at PoliticalIQ@qsyndicate.com.

Iowa Marriage History by Sandy Vopalka SScontinued from page 1

History • 1992 Iowa Senate passed the Civil Rights Bill; it did not pass in the House. (This was the second time a vote was taken on this issue).

• 1995-2000 The Iowa Coalition for Human Right (ICHR) created a strong LGBT 501(c)4 and PAC organization, in Iowa. Their lobby days brought 100 to 150 people to the Capitol.

• 1996 State Rep Ed Fallon speaks on the floor of the House in support of Same-Sex Marriage.

Later that year he was asked to DC to spoke to Congress on the same.

• 1998 Iowa’s DOMA becomes law.

• 1998 Kim Painter was elected as Johnson County’s Recorder. Kim became Iowa’s first openly lesbian candidate to win an election; she continues to serve as Recorder today.

• 1999 Cedar Rapids’ civil rights code added Sexual Orientation.

• 2000 Iowa’s Matthew Shepard Scholarship Program for LGBT High School students in Iowa started.

• 2002 The GLBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force was formed.

• 2002 Education of legislators started.

• March 2003 PFLAG Iowa started Iowa Equality Day and had two successful Lobby Days.

• 2003 Equality Iowa was formed.

• 2003 Iowa Pride Network was formed.

• November 2003 Iowa Judge Jeffrey Neary grants a Divorce to a Lesbian couple, who had got a civil union in Vermont in March 2002.

• Early 2004 An appealed to the Supreme Court for a review of the Neary ruling.

• February 2004 PFLAG Iowa’s second successful Iowa Equality Day at the Capitol.

• March 2004 SJR 2002 was defeated 24-25 in the Iowa Senate.

• June 2004 Lambda Legal filed a friend-ofthe-court brief to the Neary Supreme Court case.

• January 2005 Oral arguments heard before the Iowa Supreme Court. (Neary case).

• November 2005 One Iowa was formed.

• December 2005 Lambda Legal files marriage lawsuit in Iowa District Court for Polk County; case will ultimately be decided by the Iowa Supreme Court.

• April 2006 Twenty-six state legislators represented by an antigay legal organization move to intervene in the case as defendants.

(Lambda Legal’s case).

• August 2006 Court denies legislators’ application, ruling that none of the legislators had interests in the case sufficient for intervention.

(Lambda Legal’s case).

• August 2006 Plaintiffs move to amend their petition in order to add three of their children as parties, among other amendments. (Lambda Legal’s case).

• September 2006 Defendant resisted plaintiffs’ motion to add the children as parties. (Lambda Legal’s case).

• November 2006 Defendant moves for summary judgment.

(Lambda Legal’s case).

• December 2006 Court grants plaintiffs’ motion to amend, including plaintiffs’ motion to add three of their children as parties.

(Lambda Legal’s case).

• January 2007 Plaintiffs file resistance to defendant’s motion for summary judgment and cross-moved for summary judgment as well.

Plaintiffs also file affidavits from leading child development and other experts who explain

•

• •

• •

• •

the need for marriage rights for same-sex couples. In support of plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion, Iowa faith leaders, scholars and religious groups file friend-of-the-court brief as does the Iowa Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a group of Iowa historians and law professors. (Lambda Legal’s case).

February 2007 Iowa Senate and House passed and Iowa’s Governor signed Iowa’s Safe School’s Bill (Iowa became the 12th State in the US to pass such a law).

March 2007 Defendant files reply brief.

(Lambda Legal’s case).

March 2007 Iowa Senate voted on the Iowa Civil Rights Code to add Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, WON!! (This was the third time a vote was taken on this issue).

April 2007 Plaintiffs file reply brief. (Lambda Legal’s case).

April 2007 Iowa House voted on the Iowa Civil Rights Code to add Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, WON!! (9 Republican Yes votes, 59 YES Total votes) Done with only 3 days left in the session, with the House LOCKED Down!

May 2007 Summary judgment hearing in Iowa District Court. (Lambda Legal’s case).

July 2007 Iowa’s Governor signed the Civil Rights Bill into Law. It became Law, Septem-

•

• •

• •

ber 1, 2007. (Iowa became the 19th State to add Sexual Orientation and the 13th State to add Gender Identity).

August 2007 Victory! The Iowa District Court rules that it is unconstitutional to deny samesex couples access to marriage. The opposition filed for an appeal and a “stay” on the decision the next day which were granted. (Lambda Legal’s case).

August 2007 District court grants a stay of the decision, pending appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. (Lambda Legal’s case).

March 2008 Lambda Legal files our brief with the Iowa Supreme Court, and is joined by 15 friend-of-the-court briefs supporting same-sex couples seeking the right to marry and the right of their children to have their families treated fairly.

December 2008 Oral arguments heard before the Iowa Supreme Court. (Lambda Legal’s case).

April 2009 Iowa Supreme Court upheld a 2007 district court ruling that said it was unconstitutional to bar same-sex couples from marrying. Iowa becomes the third state along with Massachusetts and Connecticut in offering marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The ruling was unanimous! (Lambda Legal’s case).

July 2009

Section 1: News & Politics

ACCESSline Page 7

One Iowa: Volunteers lead the charge for equality Volunteers are the life-blood of any organization. They bring a special passion to the work they do and help staff members boost the reach and effectiveness of their work. This summer is a critical time for supporters of equality in Iowa. Next legislative session, we can expect to see a renewed push to dismantle the freedom to marry in Iowa. In order to defeat these attempts, we need your help to build support during the next few critical months.

Whether you are a seasoned volunteer or if you’d be new to the fight, we need your energy and passion to succeed. In return, we promise to make the experience welcoming and rewarding for you. Regular volunteer activities include door-to-door canvassing, phone canvassing, data entry, and event staffing. To join our efforts and find out how to get involved, email organize@oneiowa. org for more information about how you can get involved in your community. Protecting marriage equality will take a truly statewide effort and we need volunteers from across the state!

This summer, the heat is on to protect marriage equality – can you join our efforts? Email organize@oneiowa.org to get involved!

Volunteering is fun and rewarding.

Take it from our recent One Iowa “Super Volunteers”:

Nick Tormey Nick Tormey from Des Moines enjoys volunteering with One Iowa, calling it an “excellent organization that has done much to promote equality in Iowa.” Tormey is a 70 year old therapist, who specializes in human sexuality issues.

He says that now that Iowa has achieved marriage equality, “we have to do all that we can to keep it.” Tormey frequently shows

up to help at One Iowa phone banks and has attended many one Iowa events. One Iowa Regional Organizer Felipe Gallardo describes Tormey as “one of our most consistent and passionate volunteers.”

Cara Hoppes McCulley Cara is a straight ally from Newton, Iowa who has been volunteering with One Iowa for over a year! “I volunteer because

I would like my gay friends and family members to have the same rights and protections that I enjoy,” says Cara.

As a volunteer with One Iowa she has done numerous activities, including making phonecalls, canvassing to support fair-minded legislators, staffing events like the Harkin Steak Fry, and doing data entry at the One Iowa office.

Hoppes McCulley, a mother of three, an artist, actress, and substitute teacher, still finds time to volunteer. “I like the people I meet through volunteering and the feeling that I’m making a difference,” says Cara.

Traci Casperbauer Traci Casperbauer from Grimes Iowa says she has “always felt strongly about equality and wanted to do something about it.” Traci has followed through on this desire by volunteering a few hours a week with One Iowa. As a sophomore studying anthropology at Iowa State, Traci has spent much of her time at One Iowa ensuring that our supporter database is up to date by adding new contacts into our system.

Regional organizer Andrea Jansa says Traci has shown a special commitment to the cause. “Traci is a joy to work with. She brings a lot of positive energy with her into the office and always does quality work,” says Jansa.

AARP Marks 40th Anniversary Of Stonewall Riots ...with Launch of Exclusive Multimedia Report On Its Lasting Impact And America’s 50+ LGBT Community

WASHINGTON (June 24, 2009) –To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a defining moment for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) movement, AARP today announced the launch of a multiplatform media campaign consisting of exclusive new online, television, radio and print content that includes contributions from many of the nation’s most prominent and outspoken members of the LGBT communities (available online at www.aarp.org/stonewall).

The exclusive online interactive features will include interviews and quotes from prominent leaders and 50+ members of the LGBT community including Martina Navratilova, Bishop Gene Robinson, Frank Kameny (gay rights movement pioneer), Joe Solmonese (President of the Human Rights Campaign), Michael Adams (Executive Director of SAGE [Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders]), Kate Clinton (celebrated humorist and author), Sabrina Sojourner (the first openly Lesbian African-American to hold the title of U.S. Representative for Washington, D.C.), John Cepek, National President of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), David Carter (author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution), Martin Duberman (author of Stonewall), Eric Marcus (author of Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990), Michele Balan

(comedian and finalist on “Last Comic Standing”), Hilary Rosen (CNN Contributor and Huffington Post Editor at Large), among others.

AARP TV will broadcast an episode of its national lifestyle program My Generation called “Stonewall: Milestone Remembered” and AARP Radio will feature an interview with Frank Kameny.

“AARP is a trusted resource and advocate for all American’s 50+ and that includes LGBT Americans,” said Dave Singleton, Director of Planning and Promotions at AARP Publications. “At AARP, we always reflect on the historical moments that changed our members’ lives and, for many of our members, the Stonewall Riots marked a pivotal moment in the fight for equality.”

Additional exclusive features on www. aarp.org/stonewall include: • “Stonewall: Milestone Remembered,” a video report including a walking tour of the Stonewall site, as well as interviews with LGBT leaders, historians, authors, and Stonewall riot participants.

• An online photo timeline of LGBT history since AARP was founded in 1958, including the Stonewall Riots.

• Q&A’s with prominent LGBT figures Bishop Gene Robinson and political humorist/author Kate Clinton.

• Several articles in AARP’s publications (AARP The Magazine, AARP Bulletin, and AARP Segunda Juventud) addressing LGBT aging concerns and a firstperson essay on the significance of the Stonewall Riots to an LGBT boomer about to turn 50.

• “Hispanics and the Fight for LGBT Civil Rights,” a special online feature on AARP Segunda Juventud’s, Web site.·

• •

• • •

AARP Radio interview with civil rights pioneer Frank Kameny, now 84.

Quotes from LGBT 50+ leaders about Stonewall.

Interactive features on what visitors think of prominent LGBT figures.

Who is most influential? Who’s done extraordinary things in the past 40 years, since Stonewall?

A link to AARP’s LGBT online social network.

“Coming Out at 50;” one man’s personal story.

Original video features including “Stonewall: Milestone Remembered” and “A Conversation with Martina Navratilova.”

• About AARP AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates.

AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

ACCESSline Page 8

Section 1: News & Politics

July 2009

Creep of the Week: Leroy Swailes by D’Anne Witkowski Homosexuals aren’t human. Also they are the anti-Christ. And pedophiles. And bestialiacs (I don’t know if that’s a word and while I could probably do a Google search and find an official term for “one who practices bestiality,” no thanks, I just ate).

How do I know homos are all of these things? Because I watched Minister Leroy Swailes testify before the Washington, D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics on June 10.

No, I wasn’t actually there, I saw it online.

Now, there’s a lot of weird shit on YouTube, but Swailes really gives his all to top it (no pun intended).

Swailes, who wore a shirt that read, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Morals are Worse Than Animals,” was speaking in favor of a referendum proposed

by Bishop Harry Jackson that would undo a recent D.C. law recognizing the marriages

of gays and lesbians when they legally wed in one of the several places they can legally do that now.

Needless to say, people are freaking out because if D.C. recognizes, say, two guys who tie the knot in Iowa as a legally married couple, it can only mean the end of days. Or whatever.

Listening to Swailes speak is educational, if not entertaining. I learned, for example, that homosexuality is a form of bestiality. “Because a beast has four legs and one gender. If you put two men together, they have four legs and two penises, still one gender, that’s a form of bestiality,” he said. “If you put Eve and Eve together, two vaginas, that’s still one gender, that’s a form of bestiality.”

OK, so wait. If two guys are together they automatically change from men into

beast? Like the Transformers? Do they have to be together sexually? Can it just be two strangers in an elevator ignoring each other?

If that’s the case, then shouldn’t Swailes be making the case for never letting two people with matching genitalia be alone together?

And how do amputees fit into all of this?

Equally enlightening is his explanation of how homosexuality is pedophilia. “What is pedophilia?” he asks. “It’s when your deception is Adam and Adam, Eve and Eve, and you’re going to look into the eyes of a child and you’re going to tell a child that sex is between Adam and Adam, Eve and Eve, you become a pedophile.”

Got that? Being a pedophile has nothing to do with sexually abusing children and everything to do with simply telling children that homosexuality exists. Thank God Swailes isn’t against Santa Claus.

Swailes is in the wrong business.

He should totally be a professor of logic.

Because he is wicked awesome at it.

But lest we misunderstand him, I should make clear that he isn’t against human rights.

“Everybody should have human rights. But you have to be human. Human means you deal with the opposite sex,” he said.

Remember? Penis+penis+leg+leg+ leg+leg = beast. Beast = homosexual. Beast < human, therefore homosexual < human.

It’s simple math.

Swailes ends his comment before the council by saying, “We as a city, D.C., we’ve got to realize that you’ve got to discriminate against something that’s inhuman. Thank you very much.”

With a guy like Swailes on their side, it’s hard to imagine how the anti-gay D.C. folks can go wrong.

discharged two years shy of the 20-year military retirement marker. In response to questions raised during white house press briefings that suggested the Executive Branch was working to end DADT, the Pentagon issued a statement denying its knowledge of any forward momentum from the Executive or Legislative Branches it to repeal measure in the near future. The Pentagon’s statement has since been redacted, leaving only more questions.

That being said, the perception of total inaction in Congress is not entirely accurate.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher’s (D-CA) Military Readiness Enhancement Act (HR 1283) as of March already has 141 bipartisan cosponsors and is continuing to gain momentum. The act would officially and fully repeal DADT and grant gay and lesbian servicemembers the right to serve their country openly without changing any other existing regulation governing military conduct.

On May 6th Lt. Choi received the letter officially informing him of his discharge from the New York Army National Guard, an action he is fighting. President Obama has thus far declined to intercede on Lt. Choi’s behalf despite repeated public attempts

by Lt. Choi calling for the president to do so. Perhaps the most disturbing part of his dismissal is the actual content of the letter.

In this letter which all servicemen discharged

under DADT receive it is stated that they are being discharged for “moral or professional dereliction” and that “good order and discipline suffered” from their being gay. I personally take offence to this and so too should everyone, gay or straight. In plain language, the letter does not only tell Lt. Choi, Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, 2nd Lt. Zhao, and myself that being gay in and of itself is unprofessional and immoral. It says that all Lesbians and Gays by our very existence negatively impact the good order and discipline not just of the military, but of society at large. I reject that charge. A petition jointly created by California’s Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile has already gathered about 100,000 signatures. Lt. Dan Choi is also the founder of the organization called Knights Out, which is a group of openly gay West Point graduates. Later this Summer Lt. Daniel Choi will go before the New York Army National Guard’s board of inquiry to oppose his discharge under DADT. While it is currently the center of media focus, Lt. Choi’s fight is perhaps not the frontline of the battle to repeal DADT. While an act of Congress or the Supreme Court would be necessary to repeal DADT, it is within the president’s power to institute a moratorium on the policy and thereby halt its TTDON’T ASK continued page 11

Asking and Telling It How It Is Everything You Need to Know About the Current Fight Against Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell

Since its inception in 1993, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) has resulted in the discharge of more than 12,000 servicemembers and counting. This number includes linguists, infantrymen, officers, mechanics, and pilots. It has expelled reservists, national guardsmen, active duty personal, and even servicemembers engaged in combat.

Our previous administration sent no mixed signals concerning their feelings on gays in the military and neither has the current administration. The moment our new president was sworn in, his administrations website went live. The website outlines plainly all policies and goals of our current president including “repealing DADT in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security.”

The argument is often raised that now is not the right time to debate the issue of gays in the military; that there are other more pressing matters to the gay community and the country at large. I disagree. What those who argue the point of timing miss is the bigger picture of what exclusion of gays and lesbians from military service really

means or says. Separate entirely from the religious allusions of gay marriage or the legal implications of hate crimes, is the government’s official attitude towards gays and lesbians. Through the policy of DADT the government proclaims that being gay is both immoral and unpatriotic. This attitude is one we all should reject.

Many have been following the story of Lt. Dan Choi as it unfolds. Lt. Choi is a West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran, and Arabic Linguist who went on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show and outed himself as homosexual. He however is not the first, the last, nor the only notable service member to tangle with the current policy. US Army 2nd Lt Sandy Zhao recently wrote a personal letter to president Obama to which he responded personally. In the President’s letter he reiterated his promise to repeal the DADT policy, which he considers to be “discriminatory and wrong.” I myself am a former active duty corporal in the US Marines who served for five years under DADT and have seen first hand the cruelty, humiliation, and degradation that it is responsible for inflicting.

On May 19th Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, an 18-year veteran and highly decorated fighter pilot became yet another gay servicemember to appear on the Rachel Maddow Show to discuss his discharge from the Air Force. Lt. Col. Fehrenbach is being

July 2009

Section 1: News & Politics

ACCESSline Page 9

Who Cares If It’s a Choice?

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from it Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders. Not to be outdone, the American Psychological Association did the same thing in their manual in 1975.

When asked on what basis the American Psychological Association had made their particular claim, a spokesperson said, “We just used all of the scientific data compiled by the American Psychiatric Association. Our organizations have identical abbreviations, so it’s perfectly legal.”* The most relevant statement, however, came from the American Psychological Association in 1994. “Homosexuality is neither mental illness nor moral depravity.”

Now that’s saying something. Homosexuality is not morally wrong. Wow. Let’s consider the implications of that assertion, shall we?

First, it should be noted that the American Psychological Association’s opinion regarding the moral depravity of homosexuality is not currently shared by the Vatican. But, historically, the Vatican has been known to be wrong. For example, it wasn’t until 1992 that Pope John Paul II officially declared that the Earth did indeed revolve around the sun, and not the other way around. “I don’t know what we’ve been thinking for all this time,” the pontiff explained. “We often drink pretty heavily around here you know.”*

So, despite the fact that Galileo Galilei had been putting forward substantial evidence to support heliocentrism—which is the theory that the sun is at the center of the solar system, as evidenced by a complex mathematical model developed by the astronomer Copernicus using an abacus and a Magic Eight Ball—as early at 1610, it took the Vatican 382 years to get with the program.

My point is that we really ought to immediately validate the claim that homosexuality is not morally wrong. Let’s not wait for the Church to catch up, which, if history tells us anything, might not be until the year 2376, by which point the Vatican will have long been overrun by Scientologists.

Second, since homosexuality is not morally wrong, what difference does it make if it’s a choice or not? Yes, the evidence that homosexuality is the result of verifiable biological influences is mounting drastically. But so what? When confronted by bigotry and the accusation that being gay is somehow shameful or abnormal, I believe it’s counterproductive—even dangerous—to protest such a claim by saying, “I can’t help it. I was born this way.” It’s my opinion that a far more effective demonstration of sagacity would be to scowl harshly and firmly answer, “Nuh uh!”

The reason I bring this up is that someone very close to me has had what others might think is a unique experience in

regard to his homosexuality. Not only does he state that he made a conscious and rational choice, he can also recall exactly when that choice was made. He can’t honestly answer an attack on the moral nature of his homosexuality by saying, “I was born this way,” primarily because he has a clear and detailed memory of strong heterosexual desires during his early adolescence.

However, after a degree of homosexual desire began to manifest while he was in high school, he found himself facing a variation of possible futures; he could be gay, he could be straight, he could be bisexual, or he could be Marilyn Manson. Ultimately, during his early twenties, he decided that exclusively fostering his homosexual sensibilities would drastically increase the potential for his future happiness.

The reasons behind his choice are irrelevant—maybe he saw a diamond store commercial, which, I believe, are likely responsible for a notable number of men deciding that they should try dating other men simply to protect their retirement funds.

Remember, homosexuality is not morally wrong. Therefore, the idea that some men might choose to be gay has nothing to do with the issue of social tolerance and moral superiority. Another friend of mine purchased a car so ugly that its appropriate use should be limited to the detection of land mines. As buying a hideous automobile is not morally wrong, no one cares whether or not the acquisition was a conscious choice or the result a hereditary brain structure that causes an affinity for repugnant automobiles and the compositions of Philip Glass. While all of us are still allowed to consider my friend’s car spectacularly unappealing— even aesthetically nauseating—to apply a moral disposition regarding his choice would be both gratuitous and extraneous, along with a number of other cool words in my thesaurus that I don’t particularly feel like looking up.

Obviously, scientific data regarding the physical variations in the hypothalamus and the Xq28 section of the X chromosome between heterosexuals and homosexuals represents a viable argument supporting the claim that homosexuality is not a choice.

But what if that’s not the case for every homosexual? What kind of message are we sending to the heterosexual population by

Joshua Dagon focusing so much of our moral argument on the issue of nature vs. nurture? Why are we even addressing moral distinctions on those grounds? Participation in a moral debate involving genetics, biology, and physiology can only serve to bolster the persecution of homosexuals who, as the result of a sensible and lucid insight, made the choice to be gay.

No one is saying that research into the origins of homosexuality isn’t useful or relevant. I don’t know any gay man who wasn’t fundamentally and observably jubilant, not to mention foundationally and emotionally satisfied, by the news that the suprachiasmatic nucleus inside their brain was twice the size of the suprachiasmatic nucleus of a straight man. Never mind that the confirmation of this superior physical trait would require the use of a surgical saw, a mastoid retractor, and a three centimeter melon baller. Size matters, baby!

That being said, claims regarding human morality and ethical behavior should be answered by arguments constructed by sound moral and ethical evidence, not by irrelevant—although fascinating—physiological distinctions. Apples and oranges, kids. Apples and oranges. *That quote might be a tad spurious, as I just now made it up.

Novelist Joshua Dagon is the author of Into the Mouth of the Wolf, The Fallen, and Demon Tears. For more please go to www.joshuadagon.com. To contact Mr. Dagon, please e-mail him at jd@joshuadagon.com.

ACCESSline Page 10

Section 1: News & Politics

July 2009

HEALTH & HIV/AIDS BRIEFS Administration Moves Forward on Regulation Ending HIV Travel and Immigration Ban

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, responded today to the Office of Management and Budget indicating that they have completed review of a proposed regulation which would remove the remaining barrier to HIV-positive visitors and immigrants.

The proposal, which OMB indicates would remove HIV from the list of communicable diseases that bar foreign nationals from entering the United States, will now be published in the Federal Register and open for a period of public comment. After reviewing those comments, the Department of Health and Human Services will issue a final regulation.

“We are one important step closer to finally ending this discriminatory ban once and for all,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “This regulation is unnecessary, ineffective and lacks any public health justification. We are confident that this sad chapter in our nation’s treatment of people with HIV and AIDS will soon be closed.”

In July 2008, President Bush signed into law, as part of the reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a provision that removed the ban from statute and returned regulatory authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether HIV should remain on a list of communicable diseases that bar foreign nationals from entering the United States.

“We are one important step closer to finally ending this discriminatory ban once and for all.”

HRC President Joe Solmonese HRC has been a lead organization lobbying on Capitol Hill for the statutory repeal and working to ensure that Department of Health and Human Services’ regulations were changed. The Human Rights Campaign worked closely with the offices of Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and former Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), as well as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), the sponsors of the effort in Congress last year to repeal the ban. Since passage of the PEPFAR bill, HRC has lobbied both the Bush and Obama administrations to remove the remaining regulatory ban.

The current travel and immigration ban prohibits HIV-positive foreign nation-

als from entering the U.S. unless they obtain a special waiver, which is difficult to obtain and can only allow for short-term travel. Current policy also prevents the vast majority of foreign nationals with HIV from obtaining legal permanent residency in the United States. The ban originated in 1987, and was explicitly codified by Congress in 1993, despite efforts in the public health community to remove the ban when Congress reformed U.S. immigration law in the early 1990s. While immigration

law currently excludes foreigners with any “communicable disease of public health significance” from entering the U.S., only HIV was explicitly named in the statute.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

July 2009 SScontinued from page 8

Don’t Ask enforcement; President Truman took similar action when he desegregated the military by executive order in 1948. At present, President Obama has said he doesn’t want to focus “undue energy” on the issue, however when precedent exists for a single executive order that would nullify a policy that himself has said “negatively impacts national security,” it is hard to understand what undue energy he is referring to.

On the legal front things can become confusing, as the workings of our legal system are by design complex and slow going. To gain understanding of where the struggle stands, I contacted one of the most significant sources of news, legal advice, and action on the matter: Lambda Legal.

John Davidson, Legal Director for Lambda Legal brought some clarity on the legal battles against DADT. At present, several court actions are pending. These cases include Cook v. Gates (in which 12 servicemembers appealed their discharges under DADT and which the court refused to hear on the basis that it did not feel it has jurisdiction in the matter,) the Pietrangelo v. Gates case presented by one of the 12 plaintiffs from the Cook case (which the court also refused to hear,) and the cases of the Log Cabin Republicans v. Gates and Witt v. the US Air Force (which apply the 2003

Section 1: News & Politics Lawrence v. Texas ruling to the military.)

For those who are unfamiliar, Lawrence v.

Texas struck down the Texas sodomy law by ruling that private consensual sexual acts were outside the jurisdiction of the courts. At present, the Log Cabin Republican case is on hold pending the results of Witt v. the US Air Force case.

Witt v. the US Air Force is perhaps the most noteworthy of the cases. To summarize: in 2004 Maj. Witt was discharged from the US Air Force after her romantic relationship with another woman was revealed. Though she lost the initial Washington court case, she successfully appealed the decision. Witt’s attorneys have argued that this decision should also apply to the Lawrence v. Texas decision also applies to members of the military.

The Supreme Court in DC recently declined to hear the case and has deferred it back to the federal appellate court for further ruling. The final ruling could still take several years.

In Iowa, the situation is steeped in perhaps even deeper legal ambiguity. With the recent legalization of gay marriage, questions have been raised as to the implications this decision may have on the Iowa Guard. While DADT does prevent members of the armed forces from being open about their sexuality, it only does so for those members who are under federal jurisdiction. Inactive members of the Iowa National Guard fall under the state laws

of Iowa and not the federal regulations such as DADT. The case could be made that any inactive member of the Iowa National Guard who was not presently activated who married could potentially extend medical or retirement benefits to a same-sex partner partner.

While this argument should not be seen as encouragement for members of the Iowa National Guard to potentially compromise their careers, the argument

SScontinued from page 1

Hate Crimes perplexed at the unbalanced reporting of LGBT issues in the media. He offers that many times negative stereotypes are used when presenting stories about these issues. “There’s always an amount of truth in stereotypes but the degree to which the media negatively reports those stereotypes is really uneven.” It is his view that mainstream culture operates under the influence of “heterosexism,” which he defines as the mindset of heterosexual sex as the only valid sex, and that all other sexual behavior is a direct threat to it. “There is a lot of negativity in the reporting of LGBT issues, both by much of the mainstream media and within our culture.”

But, it is not just the reporting of gay issues that Grant thinks we need to take a serious look at. “Our news is now about entertainment: platforms for pundits have moved to the forefront and that actually stifles healthy debate.” Debate that he feels is sorely missing and needed from our news sources. “We’ve become used to getting into the boxing ring and fighting out issues.” It is hard to disagree that the media pundits have become increasingly polarized in recent years; pitting FOX News against MSNBC with most other media outlets thought to be somewhere between the two. “The focus on opposition, in some ways, is a way to maintain the heterosexist and homophobic culture that exists today.” When asked about FOX News in particular, he likens the heated segments of their talk show chatter to a group of screaming 5-year-olds and went on to say, “The problem with FOX is that it pits these powerhouses against the weak; often intimidating less qualified guests. MSNBC tends not to resort to the same hostile behavior.”

And this hostility is ultimately the point.

“They are propagating hostility and

Iowa Public Radio’s Stephen Grant heavily influencing popular trends of violence.” This isn’t to say that Grant blames FOX News for violence against homosexuals. He clarifies that the general sentiment of much of our mainstream media pundits, by displaying open hostility, shouting, aggressive behavior, and verbal violence toward GLBT issues help fuel crimes against gays and lesbians. The question is then raised, does media influence the public? In his research he has become concerned about the role of what he refers to as “the institutions of prejudice:” certain religious institutions and churches, media outlets, political movements, and courts and legal systems. All of these he says act to perpetuate opposition against anything not fitting the heterosexist norm. In the end, this opposition manifests as hate crimes.

Grant believes that gender roles and masculinity issues also play a key role in the violence inflicted on the LGBT community. “(Americans) follow specific social scripts

and perform the roles of masculine and feminine, anything outside that is not tolerated.” He explains that in prescribing these roles to ourselves, as a society, mainstream culture opens the door to insecurities about how well we fit into these self-defined and arbitrary categories. The result of these perceived violations of the social code produce acts that fall under the umbrella of “gay-bashing:” verbal abuse, intimidation, assault, threats, and murder. “Men’s biggest fear is other men and they are paradoxically afraid of any feminine qualities. In US culture, the idea that violence is equated with masculinity therefore, men need to be violent to be men.”

In 2006 in his Gender Studies class, Grant’s professor Gigi Durham, PhD. (author of the The Lolita Effect), suggested he consider doing a project on anti-gay hate crimes. He was immediately intrigued by the idea due to the lack of press coverage of these crimes. When he first started

ACCESSline Page 11

does have prior precedent in California.

In California it was ruled in Holmes v. the California National Guard that the federal DADT statute does not apply to California National Guardsmen until they are officially called into active federal duty. It may only be a matter of time before this argument is put to the test in Iowa.

Brett Edward Stout is the author of Sugar Baby Bridge. For one more month he lives in Coralville, Iowa. looking into it, the under-reporting of these vicious acts shocked him. As there was very little radio reporting on the subject that he could find, he decided to begin work on his in-depth radio documentary. He also points out that there was not much more reporting in any format that specifically focuses on hate crimes. His goal is to create an intimate portrait of the impact of these malicious acts.

“I wanted to introduce the mainstream public what it feels like to be the victim of one of these crimes.”

“The invisibility and proximity of hate crimes is abhorrent.” To put this idea in perspective, he presents the following example, “If you ask the average person on the street about Anna Nicole Smith, Laci Peterson, Natalee Holloway; they’d know exactly who you were talking about. These cases were in the media lens for months.

Ask ten people on the street who Scotty Weaver, Billy Ray Gaither, Brandon Tina are; they’d have no idea who you were talking about.”

He points out that the obvious exception is the Matthew Shepard case, but he goes on to say that even the infamous murder in Laramie, Wyoming is falling into history.

While on the University of Wyoming campus in October of 2008 Grant, who has been to Laramie twice for his research, overheard a student at the 10-year observance of Matthew’s death say, “what’s the big deal, it’s just another dead fag.” Recalling hearing those painful words so closely after interview Matthew Shepard’s mother Judy, he commented that, “we are forgetting. The cultural memory is very short.”

It isn’t clear why the incident with Matthew Shepard struck such a cord with Mainstream America or why it was so widely reported in the press. Many have suggested that it was due to the especially horrific nature of the crime. Grant disagrees with this TTHATE CRIMES continued page 12

ACCESSline Page 12 SScontinued from page 4

US News your words have inspired.

“Thus, the civil service laws, rules and regulations now provide that it is illegal to discriminate against federal employees or applicants based on matters not related to their ability to perform their jobs, including their sexual orientation. Furthermore, I am happy to inform you that the Memorandum signed by President Obama on June 17, 2009, directs the Office of Personnel Management -- the successor to the CSC -- to issue guidance to all executive departments and agencies regarding their obligations to comply with these laws, rules, and regulations.

“And by virtue of the authority vested in me as Director of the Office of Personnel Management, it is my duty and great pleasure to inform you that I am adding my support, along with that of many other past Directors, for the repudiation of the reasoning of the 1957 finding by the United States Civil Service Commission to dismiss you from your job solely on the basis of your sexual orientation. Please accept our apology for the consequences of the previous policy of the United States Government, and please accept the gratitude and appreciation of the United States Office of Personnel Management for the work you have done to fight discrimination and protect the merit-based civil service system.”

Kameny’s house is a District of Columbia Historic Landmark because it was the epicenter of many early gay rights efforts, some of Kameny’s activist paraphernalia are on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and around 70,000 of his movement-related documents reside at the Library of Congress.

Among his long list of accomplishments, Kameny brought the first U.S. gay employment rights case after being fired by the Army Map Service in 1957. He also fought against sodomy laws, helped end the American Psychiatric Association’s categorization of homosexuality as a mental illness, and was the first openly gay person to run for Congress.

Adam Lambert formally comes out Who knew? American Idol sensation and first runner-up Adam Lambert is a homosexual.

“I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay,” Lambert told Rolling Stone June 9. “I’ve been living in

Section 1: News & Politics

July 2009

Los Angeles for eight years as a gay man.

I’ve been at clubs drunk making out with somebody in the corner.”

“Right after the finale, I almost started talking about it to the reporters, but I thought, ‘I’m going to wait for Rolling Stone, that will be cooler,’” he said. “I didn’t want the Clay Aiken thing and the celebrity-magazine bullshit. I need to be able to explain myself in context.

“I’m proud of my sexuality. I embrace it. It’s just another part of me.”

Lambert noted, however: “I’m trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader.”

“Anyone with half a brain in the incredibly shrinking G.O.P. knows that gay bashing will further dim the party’s already remote chance of recruiting young voters to replenish its aging ranks, much as the right’s immigrant bashing drove away Hispanics. This is why Republican politicians now say they oppose only gay marriage, not gay people, even when it’s blatant that they’re dissembling.

Naked homophobia — those campy, fearmongering National Organization for Marriage ads, for instance — is increasingly unwelcome in a party fighting for survival. The wingnuts don’t even have Dick Cheney on their side on this issue.”

— New York Times columnist Frank Rich, May 23.

“I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay. I’ve been living in Los Angeles for eight years as a gay man. I’ve been at clubs drunk making out with somebody in the corner. ... Right after the finale, I almost started talking about it to the reporters, but I thought, ‘I’m going to wait for Rolling Stone, that will be cooler.’ ... I didn’t want the Clay Aiken thing and the celebrity-magazine bullshit. I need to be able to explain myself in context. ... I’m proud of my sexuality. I embrace it. It’s just another part of me. ... I’m trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader.”

— American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert to Rolling Stone, June 9.

SScontinued from page 11

Hate Crimes argument and offers the example of Scotty Weaver who in 2004 was tied up, tortured, partially decapitated, thrown onto a pile of debris, and then burned. He elaborates that the perception of Matthew’s case as the most recent or the worst of these inhumanly malicious acts is more than untrue; it is shamefully false. “Matthew Shepard was a precedent setting case,” and we’re letting it work its way out of the discussion. “We need to decide as a culture what’s important.”

“Statistics are tricky.” Grant says. If you go to Scott Hall’s site GayAmericanHeroes.com (a non-profit organization that is working to increase the visibility of hate crimes), in our country a gay person is murdered in a hate crime every 9 days.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, which tracks violent acts inflicted on the LGBT community reported that in 2008 there were 2,424 documented acts of violence against homosexuals in the US. Grant asks if an African-American were being violently murdered every 9 days, would we react with the same indifference? After Grant began his research on hate crimes and why they are so particularly violent, he proposed a theory.

He says, while the reasons are complex and varied, from repressed homosexual tendencies and the residue of childhood persecution, “Often it is because hate is the motivator that they become excessively violent; because of the idea that gays deserve it.” He has found that heterosexist

culture itself creates the fodder that justifies these attacks.

On the masculinity front he explains, “Men police the boundaries of heterosexual behavior. It becomes more important to kill to preserve the masculine ideal than to open ourselves to other viewpoints.” As for the best way to stop the attacks from happening, he presents the same argument as Harvey Milk, “knowing someone is the one way to break these stereotypes.”

Harvey Milk recorded, in an audio statement before his death, that if every closeted homosexual were to come out, it would do more for mainstream acceptance of gays and lesbians than any legislation ever could.

More work is needed before Grant will consider his project finished. He is still looking to interview a victim who has had their life and well-being irreparably harmed by a hate crime. By telling their story, and the stories of others who have had brushes with anti-gay violence, he hopes to put a new human face on the issue. While the project will eventually be completed, it will never fully be over for Grant; he admits it will stay with him.

As for why he’s doing it, he simply says, “This issue is not going away. Can we get federal hate crime legislation? Maybe, and that would be great. My idea is to shine a brighter light on the issue that people can connect with; it needs to be looked at. Let’s not debate the right or wrong of homosexuality or place blame on the gay community. Let’s study social stigma and the perpetrators of violence against sexual minorities. Violence exists, let’s look at why.”

ACCESSline’s fun guide Our picks for things to do this July...

• June 25-July 25, Dubuque: Little Shop of Horrors www.TheGrandOperaHouse.com • July 2-12, Cedar Rapids: Schoolhouse Rock Live www.TheatreCR.org • July 10-11, Marion: Erin Bode and her band www.CampbellSteele.com (The Campbell Steele Gallery) • July 10-12, Cedar Falls: No Biz Like Showbiz, Follies 2009, Cedar Rapids Symphony www.gbpac.org (Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center) • July 10 - 19 - Des Moines: Six on Six: The Musical www.SixOnSix.com (Hoyt Sherman Place ) • July 10-25, Waterloo: High School Musical www.wcpbhct.org (Waterloo Center for the Arts) • July 17-19, 24-26 Urbandale: Hello, Dolly! www.UrbandaleTheatre.org (Urbandale Community Theatre) • July 16-19, Iowa City: The Wizard of OZ www.Englert.org (The Englert Theatre) • July 17, Sioux City: David Cook, www.orpheumlive.com (Orpheum Theatre) For more events, see IowaLisa’s List, starting this page

Deep Inside Hollywood by Romeo San Vicente

McKellen goes Gandalf again in The Hobbit While it was assumed by many— himself included— that queer acting-legend Sir Ian McKellen would once more don the robes of wizard Gandalf in The Hobbit, Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming prequel to the smash hit Lord of the Rings trilogy, there was no official confirmation of his casting. Until now. Del Toro is now telling reporters that McKellen will be reprising his role from the Peter Jackson/J.R.R. Tolkien movies, as will Andy Serkis (Gollum) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’s Hugo Weaving (Elrond). Director del Toro (the man behind Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies, among others) remains cagey about who will be cast as protagonist Bilbo Baggins, but he’s still got time to make up his mind—The Hobbit isn’t expected to hit screens until 2012.

Gandalf Pride parades expected to ensue.

Megan Fox: The new Buffy?

The blogosphere erupted in a furor when

it was announced that the producers of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer feature film were planning to do a remake—without writerproducer Joss Whedon, whose TV adaptation of Buffy turned the franchise into a veritable pop culture phenomenon. Once that hubbub died down, there was a whole new wave of Internet chatter regarding rumors that fierce Transformers babe Megan Fox would be cast in the new movie. While the Buffy producers have been quick to say that the Fox rumors are merely speculation and hearsay, Romeo would like to cast a vote for the actress. Onscreen, she’s sexy and ferocious, and off-screen, she gives franker and funnier interviews than any of her peers in this generation of screen sirens. Most importantly, though, she’s as sexy a lesbian object of desire as Tara and Willow combined. Here’s hoping for a Fox-y Buffy.

World of Wonder buzzes with environmental responsibility The production company World of Wonder—run by gay filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato—tends to make films that are a touch oddball; they’ve explored televangelism (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), homicidal club kids (Party Monster), porn and pop culture (Inside Deep Throat), fetishists (Plushies & Furries) and Andy Williams (The Christmas Special Christmas Special).

But they’re not afraid of inconvenient truths: WOW will soon release the provocative The Last Beekeeper, which addresses the struggles of three American beekeepers against the backdrop of the global crisis surrounding the disappearance of the honeybee and the TTDEEP INSIDE continued page 18

Ber Fox

Ber Fox is not under any illusions about the Hollywood dream. His background in professional tennis would seem to be doing him well in the entertainment industry: he has discipline and he keeps practicing and expanding his skills. He goes to audition after audition and is willing to do something that is very hard for some actors, but also can be more rewarding than one would expect.

That is, Fox is the understudy for the lead role in a very challenging play currently running at the Macha Theatre in West Hollywood, “He Asked For It”, by author Erik Patterson.

“I knew when I read it that it could be risky, and it could be bad if it wasn’t in the right hands. Fortunately it is in the right hands. There are great producers on board, the director takes is seriously and works really hard, and the actors are all really good.

It’s heartbreaking and it’s funny and it has every element that any actor would hope for. So I feel really blessed to be a part of it. And challenged.”

When the casting director asked Fox if he would take the role of understudy for the character Ted—who falls in love with an HIV+ man and then decides to get himself infected so they can be together—he initially said no. Then, two minutes later, he called back.

“Why wouldn’t I do it?” The role is his dream role, and being an understudy doesn’t make the experience any less challenging

or important.

Fox has been in previous stage productions but nothing as intense as this. He has also been in films, playing the lead role in the award-winning short film “Secrets”, which is part of the Boys Shorts 5 collection.

One of the projects he is most proud of also provides a lesson for those who hope to make acting their profession. In the brilliant and touching film starring Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby (Lifetime TV, available on iTunes), all of Fox’s speaking scenes were edited out of the final cut in order to fit the channel’s time format.

That didn’t stop him, and Hollywood has more to see from this promising actor.

IowaLisa’s List by Lisa Schreihart This is a list of live music, arts, social events and culture in Iowa. The list focuses on events for, by, featuring, and of interest to women and friends, but it is by no means exclusive of events for other interests. Following is the list for July into the early fall (so you can mark your calendar!). To submit events and announcements, or to sign up to receive this list, e-mail iowalisa@juno.com. Visit IowaLisa on Facebook at www.facebook.com/iowalisa or on MySpace at www.myspace.com/iowalisa. She’s on Twitter too!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: LINEUPANNOUNCED FOR 2009 IWMF!: Prairie Voices Productions is uber-excited to announce the 2009 16th Annual Iowa Women’s Music Festival, set for Friday-Saturday, September 11-12 in Iowa City. A Friday night music & comedy show with West Hollywood’s Poppy Champlin and Iowa’s own rocker grrl Lojo Russo kicks things off at Old Brick. The Saturday lineup in Upper City

Park includes emcee Kim-Char Meredith, Lynne Rothrock Quartet (Jazz from Cedar Rapids), Tracy Walker (soulful folk from Cincinnati), Carolyn Wonderland Band (blues-rock from Austin, TX), and the legendary Michelle Shocked! Saturday continues at the Mill for an 80’s rock and hip-hopthemed dance party with Kim-Char Meredith, Iowa’s coolest gem-studded hip-hop artist Leslie and the LY’s, and local 80’s rock sensation Jodie Foster Connection! And more to be announced! Check www.prairievoices.net for updates.

HELP THE 2009 IOWA WOMEN’S MUSIC FESTIVAL: This year’s IWMF will be a big one and we need your support to pull this off and keep it free for years to come. Mail donations (and make payable) to: Prairie Voices Productions, P.O. Box 3411, Iowa City, Iowa, 52244-3411.

If you want to charge donations, you can do so securely on-line at http://bit.ly/5RvKr. PVP/IWMF

TTEVENTS continued page 14

ACCESSline Page 14 SScontinued from page 13

Events

is a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization, so your donations are tax deductible (we will send you a receipt), and your place of business may match too.

Check it out please! If volunteering is your thing, we need you! Contact me at iowalisa@juno.com if you want to help plan the festival or volunteer the day of the festival.

SUMMER OF THE ARTS CONTINUES: Iowa City Jazz Festival is July 3-5 on the Ped Mall in downtown Iowa City. The summer Free Movie Series on Saturdays runs til August 22 on the U of Iowa Pentacrest outside of Macbride Hall in Iowa City. All films start at sunset. Also enjoy the everpopular and always wildly entertaining Friday Night Concert Series on the downtown Iowa City Ped Mall running now through August 28, all starting at 6:30 p.m. Check out www.summerofthearts.org for more info on all of these events.

IOWA SUMMER REP: Presenting the work of contemporary playwright SARAH RUHL, now through July 19 at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Lots of other great things going on at U. of Iowa in the arts, including book readings, art showings, plays, concerts, recitals and dance. Check out www. uiowa.edu/artsiowa.

IOWA CRUSH: Did you know there is a women’s professional football team in Des Moines, Iowa? Visit www.theiowacrush.com. Tryouts are currently being held for the 2010 season.

THEATRE CEDAR RAPIDS ANNOUNCES 2009-2010 SEASON: All shows are subject to change, so get updates at www.theatrecr.org. On tap for the new season: Altar Boyz, Sept. 11-27; Rock ‘N’ Roll, Oct. 16-25; Annie, Nov. 20-Dec. 6; The Laramie Project, Jan. 15-24; The Producers, Feb. 26-March 14; Proof, April 9-18; Still Life with Iris, May 14-23; and Hairspray, July 9-25.

MOTO POSSE: Revving their engines! Moto Posse is a group of LGBT motorcycle enthusiasts who go on bi-weekly organized rides to explore the scenic back roads around Iowa City. The group typically rides on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 pm, with an hour to eat lunch. Saturday rides for 2009 are planned for July 3-4 (overnighter!), July 18, August 1, August 15, and August 29. On Wednesdays, the Moto Posse meets at 6 p.m. to ride to dinner. For details on scheduled rides, visit: http://bit.ly/3kqRfF or contact Jewell at: crazelefty@hotmail.com.

ART FEED: A new website that promotes local Corridor artists is online at www.TheArtFeed.com.

The Art Feed is part online gallery and part promotional tool for artists. Artists can upload images of their art for a low annual membership. The public can come and browse as well as find out about artrelated businesses and events.

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS GROUP IN THE CORRIDOR: Find out more at www.access-iowa.org.

CEDAR RAPIDS CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION IS RETOOLING: The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission has two articles concerning important GLBT news. Also, they are at the climax of a long process of a total retooling of our civil rights code which will serve as an example of how-to for communities nationally. Visit http:// cedar-rapids.org/civilrights/, http://bit.ly/nwUPI, and http://bit.ly/HcGaM. FAMILY POTLUCK IN DES MOINES: A group in Des Moines is planning casual family potlucks with a short time dedicated to brainstorming and getting organized. People interested in joining the group should e-mail mfender@lambdalegal.org or call Matt Fender at 515-288-4019 ext 202. Matt is also requesting feedback from people regarding events that families would be interested in attending in the future.

FEMINIST, POLITICAL, SMART, ESSENTIALLY ESTROGEN! Check out www. essentialesstrogen.com for blogs by and concerning women. The link www.essentialestrogen.com/ blogroll.html has a list of Iowa blogs of all different sorts by women of all different sorts. For feminist blogs, go to www.esssentialestrogen.com/essentialfeminists.html. Check it out!

WEDDING PICTURES NEEDED: Are you and your same-sex partner married, civil unionized, or have you celebrated your bond with a commitment ceremony? One Iowa is putting together a collection of photos from these ceremonies featuring couples from across the state, to demonstrate the need for marriage equality in Iowa. E-mail digital or scanned photos of the ceremony to justin@oneiowa.org with

the fun guide partner names, address, city, and phone number.

For privacy purposes, One Iowa will only share first names and City with the public. By sending photos, you release the right to use the images to One Iowa in promotional, educational, and other publications or multimedia. For more info, contact Justin Uebelhor at justin@oneiowa.org.

OUTHISTORY REQUESTS HISTORIES OF LGBT EMPLOYEE AND OTHER GROUPS: Knowledgeable members of the public can create on-site histories of LGBT corporate employee groups, unions, and professional groups.

Any logged-in users can contribute to the site. The entries can be accessed on OutHistory through their group titles: LGBT Employee Groups: A History; LGBT Union Groups: A History; and LGBT Professional Groups: A History. OutHistory.org is a freely accessible, nonprofit, educational website produced by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. For more info, e-mail Jonathan Ned Katz at outhistory@ gc.cuny.edu.

GLBT EVENTS LIST: Bridget Malone sends a comprehensive monthly (and sometimes more often) listing of GLBT events in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area. To get on her list, e-mail malone. bridget@gmail.com. Bridget’s list comes out twice per month, around the 1st and the 15th. If you hear of GLBT related events, please send them to her at malone.bridget@gmail.com.

QUAD CITIES GROUPS: The Lesbian Book Club is reading books by or about lesbians.

Non-lesbians are welcome to attend. All meetings are held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3707 Eastern Ave., Davenport, and meet the 4th Saturday of each month from 7-8:30 p.m. OUT (Our United Truth): A GLBT Support Group meets every Tuesday evening from 7-8:30 pm, also at the Unitarian Universalist Church (address above). For more info, call 563-359-0816.

CEDAR RAPIDS GLBT READING GROUP: The GLBT Reading Group meets in the conference room at Red Cross Building at 6300 Rockwell Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month. The group is open to new members; please contact crglbtreadinggroup@ yahoo.com for further info.

CEDAR RAPIDS GLBT SPIRITUAL GROUP: The GLBT Spiritual Group meets to socialize, discuss topics, share stories, hang out and have fun! The current plan is to meet alternating months for dinner and get together to do a fun activity other months. To be included on future e-mails and invitations, contact Susan at liddelles@aol.com.

Or sign up for the new Google Group cedar-rapidsglbta-interfaith-group@googlegroups.com.

OUTLOOK MAGAZINE, Iowa City’s own LGBT magazine, is looking for volunteer photographers, copy writers and advertising salespeople.

Contact Scott Hoffman for more info at snhoffman@ mchsi.com.

ONE IOWA, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy organization, is dedicated to supporting full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals living in Iowa through grassroots education and advocacy. Check out their website, donate, volunteer, and become involved: http://www. oneiowa.org/web/.

OLD CAPITOL CITY ROLLER GIRLS: Iowa City has started a roller derby team and is recruiting new members. For more info, contact: Sarah Carter (Huzzie Lecher #FU), Coach, Asst.

Team Manager at 515-201-0161 or kaylola3@ aol.com; or Amanda Sergent (Kila Kaylola #H8), Team Manager, Asst. Coach at 515-201-4743 or kaylola3@aol.com. Visit the Old Capitol City Roller Girls at http://www.myspace.com/oldcapitolcityrollergirls or e-mail occrgirls@yahoo.com.

Practices are Sundays 6-9 p.m. at Grant Wood Elementary School (1930 Lakeside Dr. Iowa City) and Wednesdays 9-10 p.m. at Robert A. Lee Rec. Center (220 S. Gilbert St. Iowa City).

NEW WOMEN IN MUSIC CDs! Visit www. ladyslipper.org for the best of women in music!

COMMUNITY CALENDAR: Find GLBT events of interest at www.glbtiowa.com.

DO YOU GET LC? Lesbian Connection is the free worldwide forum of news, ideas, and information for, by, and about lesbians, with info on festivals, travel, conferences, retirement communities, books, health issues, relationships, politics, and much more. Ambitious Amazons have been publishing since 1974, and they mail issues out every other month in plain brown envelopes. If you’d like to start receiving LC for free, all you need to do is email elsiepub@aol.com with your

full name and mailing address. LC’s official name and address is Elsie Publishing Institute (EPI), PO Box 811, East Lansing, MI 48826, ph 517-371-5257, fax 517-371-5200. EPI is a tax-deductible 501(c)3 nonprofit charity.

WEBSITE FOR MIDWESTERN EVENTS: If you want to know what’s going on in neighboring states for women, check out Kai Phillipi’s website www.lambdabuzz.com.

BETA SIGMA PHI is an international women’s friendship network. It provides educational programs to its members and opportunities for service to others. It includes women of all ages, interests, and educational and economic backgrounds. It’s the largest organization of its kind in the world. For more info, contact Mackenzie Hootman at mmh52204@hotmail.com or call 319-721-2105.

CONNECTIONS, the Iowa City organization that provides social and networking opportunities for GLBT folks and friends with a range of interests, is in full swing. Connections offers it all (a nature group, a spiritual group, a chess group, a movie night group, a cooking group, and a sewing group, just to name a few), and what it doesn’t offer can be arranged! Check out the Connections website at www.queerconnections.org. For more info, e-mail queerconnections@yahoo.com.

IOWA PRIDE NETWORK: If you are interested in getting more involved and active in Iowa’s GLBTQ community, focusing on safe schools and LGBT student leadership and development, check out the Iowa Pride Network’s new website http:// www.iowapridenetwork.org. Register at http:// www.iowapridenetwork.org/jointhenetwork.htm to join this LGBT and Allied network of students and supporters.

WOMEN’S CULTURAL COLLECTIVE: Check out the happenings in Des Moines and the surrounding areas that are sponsored or supported by the Women’s Cultural Collective (WCC) at www. iowawcc.org.

IOWA COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN: Visit www.women.iowa.gov to find resources and tools for women, ICSW initiatives, and information for girls.

PRAIRIEWOODS: Check out all the events for women and friends at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Hiawatha. If you’ve never been there, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Visit www.prairiewoods.org for more info and a long list of events. An Environmental Book Club starts September 16. Many other workshops and groups are listed on the website.

ONE-TIME EVENTS: Thursday-Sunday, July 2-5, NATIONAL WOMEN’S MUSIC FESTIVAL in Madison, WI. Visit www.wiaonline.org for the line-up. Held over the 4th of July weekend, NWMF will feature fireworks too!

Friday-Saturday, July 3-4, 80/35 FESTIVAL, Western Gateway Park, downtown Des Moines. 80/35 will feature some of the top progressive bands with more than 40 national, regional, and local acts. Prominent female acts include Tilly and the Wall, Girl in a Coma, and several others. For more info, visit www.80-35. com. For tix, go to www.iowatix.com.

Friday-Sunday, July 3-5, IOWA CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL on the Ped Mall in downtown Iowa City. This is the place to be if you are in Eastern Iowa. Check out www. summerofthearts.org for full details.

Wednesday, July 8, 7 pm, THE VERONICAS with Pretty Reckless and The Love Willows at People’s Court, 216 Court Ave., Des Moines. For tix, visit www.iowatix.com. For directions and more info, visit www.peoplesdm.com. All ages show.

Friday-Saturday, July 10-11, ERIN BODE and her band live at Campbell Steele Art Gallery, on the historic downtown Marion strip, 1064 7th Ave. Tickets are $40. For more info or tix, call 319-3739211 or visit www.campbellsteele.com.

Friday-Sunday, July 10-12, NO BIZ LIKE SHOWBIZ, FOLLIES 2009, presented by the Cedar Rapids Symphony – Orchestra Iowa, at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. For more info or tix, visit www.gbpac.org or call 319-273-4TIX. July 10-19, 2009, SIX ON SIX THE MUSICAL 8 performances only at Hoyt Sherman Place Theater, Des Moines Six on Six the Musical celebrates the tradition of six-on-six girls’ high

July 2009 school basketball in Iowa – its glorious history, unique rules, phenomenal popularity, colorful personalities, and the controversy that ultimately resulted in the game’s demise. Featuring a cast of 36 and 17 original songs, SIX-ON-SIX: THE MUSICAL is a big, fun, old-fashioned musical for the entire family. It’s a must-see for fans of the game, especially the thousands of Iowa women who actually played the game and wish to share a piece of their history with their children and grandchildren!

www.ticketmaster.com.

Thursday-Sunday, July 16-19, THE WIZARD OF OZ at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City. For tix, visit www.iowatix.com. For more info, go to www. englert.org.

Saturday, July 18, 12pm SIX ON SIX EXHIBITION GAME at the air-conditioned AIB College of Business Activity Center, 2280 Bell Avenue in Des Moines.. More than twenty notable players, coaches and dignitaries of the six-on-six girls’ basketball era in Iowa will reunite for a very special event to be held in conjunction with the Des Moines premiere of SIX-ON-SIX: THE MUSICAL. The event, which will also feature six-on-six memorabilia, personal recollections, door prizes and entertainment, will be emceed by Dolph Pulliam.

Saturday, July 18, 7 pm, GAYLA DRAKE PAUL performs as part of the Bear River Concert Series, in the rustic Sill Barn at Camp Courageous in Monticello. For reservations, call 319-465-4069.

For a full schedule of this concert series, go to: http:// bearriverconcerts.com/2009/05/17/2009-bear-riverconcert-series-the-story-of-how-it-began/.

Thursday, July 23, 5-7 pm, CATHERINE MCAULEY CENTER 20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, “20 Years of Transforming Lives,” Community Picnic on the Center’s grounds, 866 4th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. Meat, beverages, and cake provided. Bring a dish to share. The event will feature multicultural entertainment and a brief anniversary program. Reserve for food count by calling 319-363-4993 or by e-mailing info@cmc-cr.org.

Sunday, July 26, 10 a.m.-3 pm, KIM-CHAR MEREDITH will provide the special music at the 10 a.m. service for Unity Center of Cedar Rapids, 3751 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids.

Following the 10 a.m. service, Unity Center will host a luncheon. Then Kim-Char will perform a full concert in the sanctuary starting at 1 p.m.

The public is invited to all events. A love offering will be accepted. Kim-Char’s music is a mixture of adult contemporary, lively pop-rock, and Christian music. Kim-Char hosts an internet radio station named SpiritRise Radio. Check it out on-line at www.SpiritRiseRadio.com. Visit www.kimchar.com and www.myspace.com/ kimcharmeredith. Kim-Char is also the emcee and a performer at this year’s IWMF! August 4-9, 2009 MICHIGAN WOMYN’S MUSIC FESTIVAL: Here is the sample of the line-up: Doria Roberts, Amy Ray, Leslie and the Ly’s (from Iowa), Elvira Kurt, Ubaka Hill, Poppy Champlin, Melissa Ferrick, Issa (formerly Jane Siberry), C.C. Carter, Teresa Trull, Vicki Randle, Barbara Higbie, Medusa, Girl in a Coma, Lava, Emma’s Revolution, Nervous But Excited, God-des and She, Ruth Barrett, Aleah Long, Jen Foster, Rachael Davis, Topp Twins, Sarah Bettens, and a lot more!

If you’ve never gone, you don’t know what you’re missing! Check out www.michfest.com.

Saturday-Sunday, September 5-6, NEW BOHEMIA VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL, at New Bohemia Park in front of Bottleworks, 10th Ave. and 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. This festival features 50 plus Midwestern artists showing and selling their work, street performers, interactive arts demonstrations, family arts activities, food and great music provided by local musicians. If you are interested in showing or performing, or if you are interested in serving on one of our planning committees, e-mail new.bohemia@gmail.com.

Friday, September 11, 8 pm, THE JOFFREY BALLET with the UI Symphony Orchestra, at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. This is a benefit performance for Hancher Auditorium and the UI School of Music. For tix or more info, visit www. civiccenter.org or call 800-745-3000.

Friday-Saturday, September 11-12, IOWA WOMEN’S MUSIC FESTIVAL, 16th Anniversary, Iowa City, featuring Kim-Char Meredith, Lynne Rothrock, Lojo Russo, Jodie Foster Connection, Tracy Walker, Leslie and

TTEVENTS continued page 23

July 2009 “I lived through eight years of the Clintons and then eight years of Bush.

Through it all, gay people were treated at the federal level like embarrassments or impediments. With Clinton, we were the means to raise money.

With Bush, we were the means to leverage votes by exploiting bigotry.

Obama seemed in the campaign to promise something else. ... But I have a sickeningly familiar feeling in my stomach, and the feeling deepens with every interaction with the Obama team on these issues. They want them to go away. They want us to go away. Here we are, in the summer of 2009, with gay servicemembers still being fired for the fact of their orientation. Here we are, with marriage rights spreading through the country and world and a president who cannot bring himself even to acknowledge these breakthroughs in civil rights, and having no plan in any distant future to do anything about it at a federal level. Here I am, facing a looming deadline to be forced to leave my American husband for good, and relocate abroad because the HIV travel and immigration ban remains in force and I have slowly run out of options.”

— Gay writer Andrew Sullivan on his blog, May 13.

the fun guide Six-on-Six Girls Basketball Exhibition Game Long, Olson and Coates Among 20 Players and Coaches To Reunite For Six-On-Six Girls.

Basketball Exhibition Game DES MOINES, IA . More than twenty notable players, coaches and dignitaries of the six-on-six girls basketball era in Iowa will reunite for a very special event to be held in conjunction with the Des Moines premiere of SIX-ON-SIX: THE MUSICAL. An exhibition game is scheduled for 12:00pm on Saturday, July 18th at the air-conditioned AIB College of Business Activity Center, 2280 Bell Avenue in Des Moines. The event, which will also feature six-on-six memorabilia, personal recollections, door prizes and entertainment, will be emceed by Dolph Pulliam.

Participating in the game, which will showcase the evolution of six-on-six girls. basketball from the three-court version played in the early 1900s to the two-court version played when the sport officially came to an end in Iowa in 1993, will be Hall of Fame players Jeanette Olson and Denise Long, whose Everly and Union-Whitten teams battled in the legendary championship game of 1968.

Other participants include players Deb Coates (Mediapolis), Kim Peters (Andrew), Kay Pick (Lake View-Auburn), Cindy Long (Union-Whitten), Sharon Tyler (South Hamilton), Rhonda Penquite (Ankeny), Shelly Soe (Manilla), and Lisa Brinkmeyer (Hubbard-Radcliffe), and coaches Bud McCrea (Lake View-Auburn) and Dick Rasmussen (Ankeny), and former Executive Secretary of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union E. Wayne Cooley.

The Outfield by Dan Woog The Reality of ‘Training Rules’

In 2004, Jennifer Harris was the top scorer on the Penn State University women’s basketball team.

In 2005, she was dismissed from the squad. Harris broke the third of coach Rene Portland’s three rules: “No drinking. No drugs.

No lesbians.”

Several minutes into “Training Rules”— Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Dee Mosbacher’s searing, pull-no-punches documentary that covers Portland’s 27-year history of homophobia—Harris stares into the camera.

She would like to tell her story, she says.

But she cannot. Instead she reads her attorney’s statement. Part of the settlement with Penn State was an agreement not to discuss the case.

That’s the only equivocation in the hourlong film.

Using plenty of archival footage, plus interviews with female basketball players and sports experts, “Training Rules” shines a light on an aspect of women’s athletics that for many years was talked about only in whispers—if at all.

Harris came of age along with women’s sports. She received her first recruiting letter in fifth grade, and by senior year in high school was one of the top 20 players in the country.

Her mother and sister were Penn State graduates, so when Portland came calling, Harris was all ears.

Her ears burned a bit during the recruiting process—when Portland said, “At Virginia they

date girls; at Penn State we date boys”—but playing for one of the nation’s most legendary coaches was a dream.

Dreams, of course, are not reality. Lisa Faloon learned that lesson in the 1980s. At her first team meeting as a freshman, Faloon heard Portland’s warning: If you are a lesbian—even if you talk with a lesbian—you will lose your scholarship. And you will never play basketball again.

Faloon was conflicted. She invented a “boyfriend” back home. Portland, she said, “created a tremendous amount of fear I would wish on no one.”

In 1986, a Chicago newspaper reported allegations of Portland’s policy, but Penn State officials took no action. Don Rung, former math professor and chair of the university’s intercollegiate athletic group, called that reaction systematic of “the insulation of athletes from the norms of the university.” If he said something similar to Portland in his calculus class, he notes, there would be an immediate investigation.

USA Today columnist Christine Brennan wonders rhetorically how quickly a coach who said “I will not recruit black, Jewish or Asian people” would be fired.

But Portland was allowed—even encouraged—to continue. Twice, her coaching colleagues named her Coach of the Year.

When the Philadelphia Inquirer re-examined the anti-gay issue in 1991, times had changed. The press now framed the issue not as “lesbians in sports,” but as homophobia. Penn State reacted by hiring University of Massachu-

All participants will also be honored at the Saturday, July 18th evening performance of SIX-ON-SIX: THE MUSICAL. The event, organized and hosted by the Golden Girls Car-X Strutters team of the Iowa Granny Basketball League, is open to the public. Tickets are $5.00 and may be purchased at the door; children 12 and under will be admitted free. All proceeds benefit Mentor Iowa. Questions about the exhibition game can be emailed to sixonsixthegame@ gmail.com.

SIX-ON-SIX: THE MUSICAL will be presented July 10th through 19th at Hoyt Sherman Place Theater in Des Moines.

Celebrating the tradition of six-on-six high school girls. basketball in Iowa, SIXON-SIX: THE MUSICAL was created by Robert John Ford, whose CAUCUS! THE MUSICAL received rave reviews and international acclaim during its premiere run in Des Moines in January 2008.

Tickets for the play may be purchased at the Hoyt Sherman Place box office or through Ticketmaster (online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000, or at all outlets). Prices range from $15 to $25 per ticket; the student (college age and younger) price for all performances is $20.

More information about the play, performance schedule, and ticket prices may be found at www.sixonsix.com.

Fans of six-on-six won.t want to miss this rare opportunity to see these great players and coaches on the basketball court once again,. says Ford. Both the exhibition game and the play are great ways for women who played six-on-six to share a piece of their history with their children and grandchildren.

setts diversity expert Pat Griffin for a one-shot, mandatory coaches’ workshop. Portland—who arrived near the end of the meeting—was defended by participants as a “victim.”

Griffin—one of many articulate voices in Mosbacher’s film—calls Penn State “the poster child (for anti-gay harassment by coaches),” and says, “It happens every day, all over the United States.” She adds that the impact of such actions extends beyond lesbian athletes. Straight athletes receive the message that lesbians should not be tolerated—and female athletes and coaches feel pressured to act “ultra-feminine,” no matter how they feel.

Courtney Wicks, who starred at Penn State in 1996-97, is another victim of Portland’s policies. When the coach told Wicks’ parents that she ran a “lesbian-free program,” the message was this, Wicks says: You can feel safe sending your daughter here. And you can feel safe knowing she is not a lesbian.

But Portland’s policies had its limits.

Brennan says there was a reason the coach never won a national championship: “Fear limits your fullest potential.” During the last few minutes of a crucial game, the Lady Lions lacked the most important element a team must-have: trust.

(Another player asked, only half-jokingly, “Does she really think she’ll win a national title without a lesbian?”)

Harris—forced off the team—found the courage to confront Portland. Griffin calls Harris’ lawsuit against Penn State “David versus Goliath.” A six-month internal investigation found that Portland created a “hostile,

ACCESSline Page 15

“The gays aren't going to break marriage. Think about it: They're gay. They'll probably spruce it up and make it a little nicer.”

— Eric McCormack, Will from Will & Grace, speaking from the stage at Meet in the Middle for Equality, May 30 in Fresno, Calif.

Rene Portland from the film “Training Rules”.

Photo by Nathan A. Smith.

intimidating and offensive environment.” She was fined $10,000—a meager sum, given her lofty income—and ordered to undergo diversity training. The school did not offer to reinstate Harris, who had transferred to James Madison University. In 2007, the lawsuit was settled out of court.

But shortly thereafter, Portland resigned.

Mosbacher’s epilog says that Portland refused to be interviewed for the film.

It notes that, after Harris, similar cases of anti-gay discrimination have resulted in millions of dollars of damages. And, at her next Penn State training, Pat Griffin received a standing ovation.

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

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

ACCESSline Page 16

the fun guide

Cocktail Chatter by Camper English The Best Bartending Books Whether it’s a lack of money or an excess of agoraphobia, you’ve decided to start making more cocktails at home. But there are so very many recipe books on the market. Which do you choose, and do you really need them at all, now that everything is online?

The problem with online drink databases is that they have thousands of recipes, and most of them are just plain awful. They recipes come from many different sources, so you end up with 17 bad recipes for the Martini when you’re only looking for one good one. Also, to make the drinks you end up running back and forth between the computer where the recipes is and the kitchen where the ingredients are.

When it comes to collections of recipes, I say less is more. A book with 10,000 drink recipes in it will likely have 9500 that you’d never try. Even the classic, 1500-drink Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide was pretty lousy with bad cocktails until this year’s makeover that eliminated a lot of the calls for pre-mixes like Collins mix and sour mix. That book is a good bartender’s quick reference, but if you want and the Master’s level study on bartending pick up Gary Regan’s very detailed The Joy of Mixology.

I open Regan’s book when I have a nerdy drink question, but not when I’m whipping up something tasty for happy hour. For that, most often I turn to Dale DeGroff’s The Essential Cocktail. It has all the classic recipes you’ll need. But if I’m

feeling in the mood for experimentation with new drinks, I’ll pick up Robert Hess’s The Essential Bartender’s Guide (it’s not, but the recipes are good) or the inspiring The Art of the Bar by Jeff Hollinger and Rob Schwartz. That book will make you realize the kitchen and the bar are not so different- you’re just cooking with liquids instead of solids.

If you love a particular spirit, you can just skip the rest of the recipes and go for a specialty book. W. Park Kerr’s Viva Vodka is nice, as is Joanne Weir’s Tequila, Kim Haasarud’s 101 Champagne Cocktails, and Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s Sippin’ Safari for rum.

You can also find many of Beachbum’s recipes on an iPhone application, called Tiki+. It was developed by the same people behind great historical cocktail recipe app called Cocktails+. Gary Regan, cited above, released the app Flip N Drink with classic and modern recipes combined.

The great thing about these drink applications is most of them offer only as many recipes as you’ll find in a book, rather than the tens of thousands you’ll find online. This is certainly useful when you’re out at a bar and forget a recipe, but I still find myself reaching for the hard copy instead of my phone at home. Not only do I like all the extra information about glassware and mixing technique you get from the books, I also strongly dislike getting my phone all sticky when trying to hold it and shake a drink at the same time.

Infusion Confusion The best thing about infused liquor is how easy it is to make. The second best thing is how impressed people are when you make it. “Ooh,” they’ll swoon, “How did you ever come up with this wondrous cherry-infused vodka recipe?”

What I’ll do is stick some cherries in some vodka and wait a couple days.

But what I’ll say is “Oh, that’s my secret recipe. Just enjoy your beverage!”

Should you want to get started making infusions (and impressing your friends), simply pick a flavor, pick a spirit, and combine the two. For the spirit, vodka is the most neutral and allows whatever you infuse to shine through, but any other spirit will work too. I’ve infused gin, rum, tequila, and whisky with different fruit, vegetables, herbs, and spices; all to good effect. If you want more flavor to come out of the material faster, use a higher proof spirit like Skyy 90 or Absolut 100, both of which are stronger than standard 80 proof vodkas.

You can infuse almost anything edible into alcohol, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Some of the ingredients that give up flavor the fastest include dried herbs and spices and anything hot and spicy like peppers and horseradish. Fresh herbs, flowers, and grassy and delicate produce can also start to taste like dead vegetation quickly and must be carefully monitored.

Slower going are infusions of citrus peels and non-juicy fruits and vegetables.

July 2009

Use organic produce when possible and thoroughly wash everything first. Remove anything that has a bitter taste such as the white pith of citrus peel, stems of mint, cucumber skins, and anything woody like pits or seeds. Select a container made of glass, with a tight-fitting lid, that’s not much larger than you’ll need so there’s not a lot of air in the jar.

Test the infusion each day to see when it’s done. Spices and peppery infusions are finished when the flavor is intense enough, which may take a few hours to two days.

(You can always dilute it with more vodka if it comes out too hot.) Fresh ingredients should be removed at the first sign of losing freshness, which may take a day up to a couple weeks. Strain out the solids and store your infusion in the refrigerator to make it last longer.

But where to start? Think of a cocktail you want to flavor and infuse the base spirit with an added ingredient. Some suggestions are the Basil Gimlet, Lemon and Lime Drop, Orange Cosmopolitan, Strawberry Mojito, or a Wasabi Bloody Mary.

Practice with a small infusion jar first, then make a bigger batch when you’ve got the timing down. A bottle of infused vodka makes a great party gift - everyone loves homemade secret recipes. Just don’t share the secret about how easy these are to make.

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

July 2009

the fun guide

ACCESSline Page 17

Hemming and Hawingby Aaron Stroschein Column #4: Wait... Don’t Wait!

I recently attended the Iowa Composer’s Forum new music concert entitled Windsongs. I have always had a musical interest.

I have played the cello for over a decade and was lightly considering a musical degree before I transferred colleges a few years ago. The Windsongs concert was a varied production. Many composers presented their works consisting of obscure to fairly plain musical pieces. The piece grabbing my attention the most, though, was not related anything tonal I heard.

There was a piece on the program before the intermission catching my eye.

The summary stated the piece was created in 2007 and that the performance at this concert was a world premier. The composer got up to speak and said he had taken roughly less than two years to write the score.

This lengthy creative process does not limit itself to music, however. Any form of art can take time depending on various factors.

Tight deadlines were always followed in my previous job as a graphic design intern with the Corridor-based Gazette newspaper. What happens though when one starts a creation on their own and then leaves it for months unfinished?

I myself am guilty of this as well. I am currently 13,000 words or so into writing a science-fiction book, but now I have postponed writing more. It is a temptation to let the manuscript go for weeks and I tell myself there are lots of other pending things in my

life as an excuse. I work as a door-to-door canvasser for One Iowa Along with being Assistant Editor for this newspaper, but those jobs do not last all day. One other thing I catch myself doing is actually planning to work on the project and then letting it go once I get the Word document opened. The text I have created has become so vast it overwhelms me to a degree. I tell myself I do not have enough time for this and shut down MSWord.

Those are simply my excuses, however.

Are there legitimate reasons for stalling on a project where the drive was strong at the beginning? Perhaps there could be a family emergency, one could injure themselves, or one could even just stop caring about the project for a period. Sometimes it is not divine inspiration that comes down through a muse to us. Rather, it may be inspiration coming in pieces.

Not everyone can be an overnight success and dive right into commercialism.

We just happen to live in a society where it is all too easy to envy immediate stellar success. Take for example American Idol sensation Adam Lambert: a man with a stellar voice and a great icon for the LGBT community.

Who is to say we would know him the same way if we had not seen him on AI rising to runner-up? The show gave him exposure to the point where people were ranting about him on Facebook, Twitter, and even 365gay.com.

With the fame therein lies the constant identity crisis the creative community sees:

defining the true meaning of success. From where, then, can we draw a common ground on which to build our hopes and dreams?

Do we just idly go about our lives and work piecemeal on what we consider to be our greatest creative works?

Sometimes one must simply be happy to do the footwork of gradually building one’s own fame. Going to social functions and making contacts. Not being shy about self promotion. Sometimes finding people who want to see previous works are the key.

And there’s nothing painful about attending a wine-tasting, or an exhibit, or a fundraiser.

It can be beneficial to both you and the people you meet. And perhaps they might be the next bit of inspiration needed to complete your project!

“It was like a moment of truth.

(A reporter) asked me the question (of whether I was looking to date a man or a woman) and I thought, Hmm, do I say the truth, or do I just say, ‘It’s none of your business,' which is my standard answer? I said: ‘You know, I’m just going to say the truth. Definitely a woman.’”

— Top Gun actress Kelly McGillis to People magazine, May 28.

ACCESSline Page 18

the fun guide

Newly Listed Wedding Services and Resources Kliks Photography Kliks Photography is a digital portrait photography studio. After eleven years, its approach to photography remains simple; provide a comfortable and aesthetically enlightening environment for their clients to unfold their own artful stories. Audree shoots the photos while her small staff packs a punch with their seasoned eye, excellent computer graphic skills and friendly enthusiasm. Kliks photographs all families, seniors, business, pets and semi-nudes. Kliks also offers custom framing and rents its gallery and bar space for events.

For more information and examples of their work, visit www.kliks.biz.

Kitchen Essentials and Gifts Kitchen Essentials carries a wide line of kitchen supplies and quality cook ware such as All-Clad, Le Creuset, Analon, Emile Henry, Viking, Chantal and more. Kitchen Essentials strives to find products that are “Green” like Envirosax re-usable shopping bags or renewable products such as bamboo

towels, cutting boards, serving pieces and kitchen utensils. Kitchen Essentials has virtually every kitchen tool that you’ll ever need for your kitchen! Kitchen Essentials has the most fantastic assortment of malted milk balls—more then twenty different flavors. Saturdays are sample days when there is often a pot of soup in the crock pot or chips & dip for tasting! Kitchen Essentials has an online wedding & gift registry and also keeps a holiday season wish list for shopping convenience. www.KitchenEssentialsAndGifts.com Ramada Inn Des Moines West Got a Wedding in Des Moines or Need to stay in Des Moines? Stay at the Ramada Inn Des Moines West, where everyone is welcome! This is a hotel where you can be yourself. Whether you wear eyelashes or leather, high heels or practical shoes, we welcome you with open arms. Don’t hide who you are, stay where your true colors can show. So come stay with us and be free to be yourself.

“Sometimes people ask me, ‘How does being gay affect the way that you see the world?’ And I’m, like, ‘I don’t know, I’ve been gay since I was 17!’ I’ve never not been gay and seen the world. So I’ve never been a broadcaster who didn’t have an AIDS activist background. So I don’t know how it changed me.

I mean, it’s definitely changed some of my political orientation. I learned from the AIDS movement that people should speak for themselves. And I think that maybe manifests on my show ... in that I do long introductions before I let guests talk usually, but then the payoff is that they get to talk without being interrupted.”

— MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow to Poz magazine, June issue.

SScontinued from page 13

Deep Inside cataclysmic consequences this apian extinction could have on the world’s food supply.

Any company that can juggle issues like that and RuPaul’s Drag Race at the same time deserves a tip of the hat; The Last Beekeeper is playing festivals now and will hit theaters later this year.

Hairspray 2: Not just a tease This is one of those news items that sounded like a joke, a rumor or just plain wishful thinking, but nope, it’s true—gay director Adam Shankman is working on Hairspray 2: White Lipstick, working off of a concept from Hairspray creator John

Waters. Marc Shaiman is expected to return as composer, although no writer has yet been attached to the project. What may be the most exciting development to the project is that Shankman is talking about making the film in 3-D, since he’ll direct Hairspray 2 after producing Step Up 3-D, and the choreographer-turned-filmmaker is apparently very excited about the possibilities of filming dance in the format. Would it be too much to ask to have the Hairspray kids meet the Dreamgirls in the sequel? We’ll find out when Hairspray 2 hits theaters, which probably won’t be until 2011.

Romeo San Vicente refuses to allow anyone to stop his beat. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.

“I’ve heard from readers, mostly gay men, who wonder why their local gay paper has vacuumed sex out of the pages and treats gay life as if it’s more like an ethnic identity than a sexual identity. They feel increasingly alienated from the leadership and commentators.

Though gay men are half our movement, they often feel like their issues have been put on the back burner by the major queer political groups and newspapers, even as they’re expected to pay much of the cost of keeping the organizations, the court cases and the lobbying going. We try not to do that at Pink Triangle Press, where we make an effort to remember that at its root, ours is a struggle for sexual freedom.”

— Gareth Kirkby, editor in chief of The Guide magazine, to the gay press newsletter Press Pass Q, June issue. Pink Triangle Press also owns the Canadian chain of Xtra! newspapers.

July 2009

the fun guide

July 2009

Wake Up With

Pride!

Come to the First Friday Breakfast Club at 7 AM on the first Friday of every month at Hoyt Sherman Place.

We are an educational, non-profit corporation for gay men and the largest breakfast club in Iowa. We gather 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.

Visit us on the Web at ffbciowa.org.

For a reservation contact Jonathan Wilson at 515-288-2500 or jonathanwilson@davisbrownlaw.com.

ACCESSline Page 19

ACCESSline Page 20

the fun guide

July 2009

July 2009

the fun guide

ACCESSline Page 21

ACCESSline Page 22

the fun guide

July 2009

Pride Pics 2009

Karma: Cedar Rapids’ Dance Club with Something for Everybody Sitting in the lounge in the front of the dance club “Karma” on a breezy summer Wednesday night, it is easy to imagine I might step outside and find myself on a New York street in Chelsea or the theatre district, or perhaps a block from the sands of Miami Beach.

Decorated by ARA Gallery & Interiors, Karma’s atmosphere and décor are upscale and contemporary. Stepping inside, one is welcomed by a sexy, curved granite bar opposite the dance floor. It is the perfect spot to cozy up, collect a drink, and casually look around.

The bar is manned by Eric and Dave, both of whom are friendly and thoughtful – as well as dangerously good at mixing your favorite drink, or perhaps suggesting something new for you to try. (Beware: they are also incorrigible flirts, as all the best bartenders are.)

As one looks around, across the room in tones of warm red and tan is the elevated lounge toward the front of the dance club.

It is cozy and inviting, asking you to come up and relax with your drink. It provides another great spot to view the entire room, and the seating is so comfortable it’s hard not to nestle in—by yourself or with company. The lounge is backed by a large, sliding, garage-style door, which promises cool breezes when the weather is right.

And center stage at Karma is the generously sized and accessibly positioned dance floor, with its mirrored wall on one side and the granite-topped sitting bar on the other. It is a welcome treat.

Wednesday nights are Salsa nights, and I am sitting on the very comfy red sofa chatting with Greg Garza (aka Kylie Cass) about the bar’s recent decision to go “alternative”. As we chat, at least two dozen people—of all ages and appearances— are spread across the dance floor getting a weekly lesson in Salsa dancing from instructor Ken Hegwood. Ken is cracking wise about a twosome on the dance floor that somehow became a threesome when one of the dancers missed the cue to switch partners; his good-natured ribbing is breaking the tension for the beginners, and making the lesson enjoyable for everyone, even the audience up the stairs.

Greg explains the club’s new approach. “We try to have something for everybody. We mix it up a little bit every night and every weekend. With Salsa on Wednesday nights, Service Industry Night (or ‘SIN’) with two dollar ‘you-call-its’ on Thursday nights, DJ Michael Swenson on Fridays, and strippers or drag shows on Saturdays.”

The previous Saturday, when I had dropped in to Karma for the first time, I saw the result of having something for everyone first hand. Up in the lounge were three people having a very fun and comfortable time together. At first I wasn’t

completely clear who was with whom in the group, and the impression was further blurred on the dance floor when all three danced with each other and even with the very sexy girl serving shots. (It turned out to be a straight couple out having a good time with their gay friend and neighbor, and all three felt carefree, comfortable, and relaxed at Karma.

I think anyone would feel the same, the moment they walk in the door.

Cedar Rapids has well established gay clubs. Hamburger Mary’s is irreplaceable, and Basix—a local favorite—is Cedar Rapids institution. And while not specifically “alternative” locations, downtown’s Piano Lounge and the northeast side’s Cibo both draw comfortably mixed crowds.

But if you want to dance to live DJs spinning real vinyl—Salsa, techno, deep house, and more—Karma is the place to dance in Cedar Rapids.

Karma Dance Club 616 2nd Ave Cedar Rapids, IA 52401-1306 (319) 362-3591

the fun guide

July 2009 SScontinued from page 14

Events the LY’s, Carolyn Wonderland Band, Poppy Champlin, Michelle Shocked, and more!

Watch for updates at www.prairievoices.net.

Thursday, September 17, 7:30 pm, SUGARLAND at Hilton Coliseum, Ames. For more info and tix, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Friday, September 25, 7:30 pm, IMANI WINDS with Stefon Harris, at Iowa City High School, Opstad Auditorium. Visit www.hancher.uiowa.edu for more info.

September 23-October 18, WICKED (Broadway production) at the Des Moines Civic Center. Tickets at www.ticketmaster.com.

Saturday, October 11, ESPECIALLY FOR YOU RACE AGAINST BREAST CANCER in Cedar Rapids, sponsored by Mercy Medical Center. Cindy Staton sings the at the race kickoff ceremony.

Sunday, November 8, 6-10 pm, ALL-IOWA AIDS BENEFIT, Des Moines.

Saturday, November 14, SIGHT & SOUND, “Celebrate the Unexpected,” a bi-annual gala supporting the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and Orchestra Iowa, at the Cedar Rapids Country Club.

For more info or to purchase tix, call 319-3667503.

Thursday-Friday, December 3-4, CROSSROADS FESTIVAL, downtown Des Moines.

Featuring 5 stages of music, a visual art showcase, film, theatre, comedy, food & drink tastings, and seminars. Visit www.crossroadsiowa.com.

Saturday, December 5, 7:30 pm, NATALIE MACMASTER, Christmas in Cape Breton, at Riverside Casino Event Center, Riverside. This is a Hancher Auditorium production. Visit www. hancher.uiowa.edu/order for more info.

RECURRING EVENTS: Every Sunday, 5-6 pm, GLBT AA, First Baptist Church at 500 N. Clinton St., Iowa City.

For more info about Intergroup and Alcoholics Anonymous call the 24-Hour Answering Service at 319-338-9111 or visit the AA-IC website: http:// aa-ic.org/.

Every Sunday, 7 pm, L WORD LIVES: L NIGHT at the Firewater Saloon, 347 South Gilbert St., Iowa City, 319-321-5895. The night will start with Season 1, Episode 1 of the L Word... because a good thing should never die. FoLLowing the L Word wiLL be a Drag King show at 9:30 p.m.

No cover.

Every Sunday, 6-8:30 pm, THE QUIRE: EASTERN IOWA’S GLBT CHORUS REHEARSALS, at Zion Lutheran Church, 310 N. Johnson St, Iowa City. Membership is open to all GLBT folks, as well as allies who support the community. There are no auditions; you only need to be willing to attend rehearsals regularly and learn your music. The Quire prepares two full concerts each year in the winter and spring, and occasionally performs shorter programs at events in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. The Quire is a member of Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA), and has developed a reputation for excellence and variety in its concert programs. For more info, visit http://www.thequire.org/.

Every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month, 3-6 pm, TANGO LESSONS at CSPS, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. Cost is $5. Everyone welcome; no partner or experience necessary. For more info, call Elie at 319-363-1818 or e-mail epsa@aol.com.

Second and every other Sunday of the month, 3-4 pm, IOWA CITY PRIDE PLANNING COMMITTEE, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room D. Come help plan the 2009 Iowa City Pride Festival (to be held Saturday, June 20).

For more info, contact Bridget at malone.bridget@ gmail.com.

Third Monday of every month, 6 pm, PFLAG OF CEDAR RAPIDS METRO AREA, 6 p.m. (social time), 6:30 p.m. (meeting time), in the Middle Room of Faith United Methodist Church, 1000 30th St, NE, Cedar Rapids. Call 515-537-3126 for more details. Coffee and refreshments will be served before the meeting, beginning at 6 p.m. Everyone is welcome; confidentiality is required. PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed

public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights.

First Monday of the month, 6:30 pm, IOWA PFLAG QUAD CITIES CHAPTER MEETING, at Eldridge United Methodist Church, 604 S. 2nd St., Eldridge. For more info, call 563-285-4173.

First/Second Monday (alternating) of the month, 7 pm, IOWA PFLAG NORTH IOWA CHAPTER MEETING, at First Presbyterian Church, 100 S. Pierce St., Mason City. For more info, call 641-583-2848.

Fourth Monday of the month, 7 pm, IOWA PFLAG WAUKON/NORTHEAST CHAPTER MEETING, at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, 309 W. Main St., in the Parish Center, Decorah.

For more info, call 563-535-7680.

Fifth Monday in June, August, and November, 7-9 pm, WOMEN’S SINGING CIRCLE: Meet at Lori’s home for a short ritual followed by singing and chanting. Lori will supply lyrics and melodies for many circle songs and chants, but please feel free to bring your own songs to share (preferably with printed lyrics to pass around). However, singing is not required - you can still be involved and contribute by simply being present in the circle. Musicians, feel free to bring drums or other percussion instruments.

To RSVP and get directions, e-mail lori-eiserman@ uiowa.edu.

Second Tuesday of each month, 7-8:30 pm, SPIRITUAL SEEKERS, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 E. College St, Iowa City. Spiritual Seekers is a group for people of all faiths, or of little faith, who wish to make deeper connections between their sexual identities and the spiritual dimension in their lives. Meetings include discussion of specialized topics, telling of pieces of our faith journeys, and occasional prayer and meditation. (On the 4th Tuesday of each month, the group gathers at a local restaurant for food and fellowship.) For more info, contact Tom Stevenson: tbstevenson@mchsi.com or 319.354.1784.

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

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

Second Tuesday of every month, IOWA PFLAG AMES CHAPTER MEETING, 7 pm, at the Youth and Shelter Services Offices, 420 Kellogg Ave., 1st Floor, Ames. For more info, call 515-291-3607.

Every Tuesday, 7-8:30 pm, CONNECTIONS INCLUSIVE BALLROOM at Old Brick 26 E. Market St, Iowa City. An equal opportunity social dance workshop/rehearsal for LGBT people. All skill levels are welcome. American social dance, Latin, a mix of dance from the last 100 years. For more info, contact Mark McCusker at iowadancefest@gmail.com, 319-621-8530 or Nora Garda at 319-400-4695, or visit http://iowadancefest. blogspot.com/.

Every Tuesday evening, 7:30-9:30 pm, ARGENTINE TANGO practice and open dance, at the Iowa City Senior Center, 28 S. Linn St, Iowa City. A donation of $1-2 per person is requested for use of the Senior Center. For more info, contact Karen Jackson at 319-447-1445 or e-mail kljedgewood@msn.com.

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

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

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

First Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8 pm, WOMEN’S SACRED CIRCLE at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, 120 E. Boyson Rd., Hiawatha. This group is for women who are interested in gathering for spiritual growth. The

ACCESSline Page 23

TTEVENTS continued page 23

ACCESSline Page 24

the fun guide

July 2009

“When Proposition 8 passed, I felt the gay community thought because it was California, a liberal state, they didn’t need to pay attention and so they didn’t do enough work to fight for it. I think like all minorities who have had to struggle to get their rights politically we should have been more organized. I think it forced everybody to come to their senses about that. Over the next couple of years I think gay marriage will just be accepted; we’ve got too many other things to think about. I think that some people who are really freaked out about it will just throw in the towel like they did when they were racist.”

— Comedian and actress Sandra Bernhard to London’s Pink Paper, May 28.

Across 1 Foreman, formerly of NGLTF 5 Marlon Brando’s hometown 10 Frisbee, for one 14 As to 15 Sarah of Alaska 16 Rubber stamp 17 Eyelid ailment 18 Humped antelope 19 In the public eye 20 Start of a New York Post headline after Stonewall 23 Stirred up 24 Title for A. Spear 25 However, briefly 26 Unhappily Ever After actor 27 Sitarist Shankar 30 Radiant 32 NASDAQ rival 34 Fey of 30 Rock 36 Students may take them out 37 More of the headline 40 Name derived from Nicholas 43 Austria’s capital, to Austrians 44 Watch a NY Liberty game here 48 Irritating 50 ___ of Seventeen 52 Toto’s home state (abbr.)

53 Come out on the beach 54 Surg. locales 56 Everett’s ___ Monkey Zetterland 58 End of the headline 62 Adult filly 63 Western director Sergio 64 His grandmother had a Woody 66 Art Deco design name

Q-PUZZLE: “Stonewall Headline”

67 Shaft of a knight 68 Trickle through the cracks 69 Twosome 70 Second name in cross-dressing 71 Doest own

Down 1 Wrong (prefix) 2 Reformer Susan B. 3 Cattle calls, e.g.

4 Is abundant

5 Unzipped partner?

6 International ___ 7 “What a shame” 8 Dropped hankie and such 9 Mitchell of NBC News 10 Lucie’s father 11 Brewed drink for teetotallers 12 Golfer Patty 13 “No glove, no love” subjects 21 Finish’d 22 Avoid going straight 23 Hightailed it 28 Vidal’s A ___ from the Diners Club 29 Torso opening 31 Give the slip to 33 Prefix with lateral 35 In the sack 38 “Lead ___ into temptation” 39 Casey Jones, e.g.

40 Got excited 41 Hollinghurst’s The Swimming-Pool ___ 42 Edmonton’s province 45 Many a place near Aspen 46 Ball whackers, in Ping-Pong 47 U-turn from SSW 49 Gate design 51 C. Marlowe’s tongue 55 Golfer Sam 57 Overhand stroke, for Mauresmo 59 It gets spilled at wild parties 60 Beat it 61 Peruvian native 65 Quit, with “out” • SOLUTION ON PAGE 27

July 2009

“I understand why this discussion (of whether gay journalists are or should be activists) exists in North America where too many journalists still worship the false god of ‘objectivity,’ a nonexistent state of mind. I can also see why a gay journalist working in a mainstream paper has to avoid getting the ‘activist’ label. But I’m saddened that some journalists working at gay papers won’t embrace the label. ... If we’re doing our jobs, aren’t we helping our communities find their place in the sun in a world that still largely hates homos? How do you really help your lesbian and gay readers without getting in the battle beside them? You don’t. Of course, you still have to keep your head, be analytical and show perspective. But you can do that while admitting you’re an activist journalist.”

— Gareth Kirkby, editor in chief of The Guide magazine, to the gay press newsletter Press Pass Q, June issue.

the fun guide

ACCESSline Page 25

ACCESSline Page 26

the fun guide

July 2009

Out of Town: Three Great New York City Neighborhoods can relax over in the leafy courtyard garden and easily forget you’re in one of the largest, gayest cities in the world.

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

by Andrew Collins This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which galvanized New York City’s GLBT community and helped ultimately to kick-start the modern gay rights movement. To commemorate this occasion, the city has a particularly impressive Gay Pride celebration planned for the end of the month (events take place from June 20 through June 28). It’s a terrific time to visit one of the world’s leading gay destinations, although any time of year, there’s plenty to see in this exciting city.

With this in mind, here’s a look at some of the more noteworthy places to eat, play and stay in three of Manhattan’s most gaypopular neighborhoods, Chelsea, the East Village and Hell’s Kitchen. If you’ve never been to New York, these are three must-see parts of the city. And if you have been, you may be surprised by some of the cool new hangouts and hotels that have opened in these neighborhoods.

Chelsea The neighborhood’s gay area is situated primarily along 8th and 7th avenues, between West 14th and 23rd streets, and on the blocks connecting these two thoroughfares. Here you’ll find dozens of bars, restaurants and shops, plus a few accommodations of note.

For dining, neighborhood stalwarts include Mare, which presents creative, super-fresh seafood with contemporary American and French preparations. The chatter-filled, high-ceilinged space looks like a bit like a Marseille fish market. Yet another slick corner eatery with French doors, Niso’s describes its cuisine as Mediterranean but definitely emphasizes - and excels - in Greek-style seafood. The grilled-octopus appetizer and broiled snapper entrees score high marks.

Romantic East of Eighth has a cute patio, wonderful cabaret shows and delicious French food at reasonable prices.

On 7th Avenue you’ll find great noshing at Cafeteria, a trendy diner-style spot that’s open 24/7; Restivo, a romantic spot serving first-rate Italian fare and Regional Thai Taste, a reliably good Thai restaurant.

Chelsea sets the pace for New York’s boy-bar scene. Longtime favorites include G Lounge, Splash Bar and Barracuda. If you’re a fan of gay sports bars, definitely stop by Gym for a drink. Next door, the relatively new Ate Ave is a friendly lounge and restaurant that’s fast developing a loyal following among Chelsea boys (it’s also a good bet for brunch the morning after barhopping into the wee hours).

Fans of leather should venture to the neighborhood’s western reaches and check out the venerable Eagle, which is also a fun spot to shoot pool.

This neighborhood with few hotels received a nice boost in 2009 with the opening of the GEM Chelsea, a mid-priced, sleek property that has a wonderful location on 8th Avenue, steps from bars and restaurants. Rooms are cozy, but well-equipped and the staff couldn’t be friendlier. Just down the street, the charming Colonial House Inn has long been a reliable place to stay in Chelsea.

The Little Black Book

The Boiler Room, in New York City’s East Village, has long been a favorite gay hangout in this hip and trendy neighborhood. Photo by Andrew Collins.

The East Village Although intensely gentrified over the past decade, the “EV” acts as the city’s hub of alternative dress, nightlife, and entertainment. Cheap eateries, iconoclastmeets-slacker bars and lounges and garagesale-inspired shops keep a steady stream of tourists and locals slinking about at all hours of the night. One of the best streets for strolling is St. Marks Place, which is jammed with divey bars, groovy shops and cheap restaurants. It’s not a particularly gay part of the neighborhood, but it is fun for a browse.

Great shopping and people-watching can be had along the neighborhood’s avenues, which take on an increasingly hip ambience the farther east you go.

Ethnic eateries have always thrived in this part of town. Fans of Basque cooking adore Euzkadi, a homey, old-world space with hearty, rustic food. Just a block south of the EV, Sorella serves exceptionally tasty Piedmont-inspired Italian food (it’s especially fun for brunch). You’ll often see folks lining up outside the door at Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, a simple-looking storefront pizzeria that’s become famous for its delectable thin-crust pies. One place that shouldn’t be missed in this neighborhood is Veselka, a beloved Ukranian diner that doles out generous (and amazingly tasty) portions of home-style fare, from cheese blintzes to feathery pierogi dumplings.

Gay bars in the East Village still draw heavily, as they always have, from the city’s dressed-in-black ranks. Just off Avenue A, the Phoenix is a crowded no-frills chat bar that swells nightly with students, arty types and even a few Chelsea boys. There are erotic shows, drag events and hormone-charged crowd at the sleazy-chic Cock. Actor and East Village resident Alan Cumming is a regular at Eastern Bloc. One other gay hangout that’s long been popular in the neighborhood is the Boiler Room, which has a strong following with students from nearby NYU. Although the East Village is lacking in hotels, there are a couple of excellent lodging choices right on the edge of the neighborhood, including the quirky yet stylish Cooper Square Hotel. And in the ultra-chic Lower East Side, the Thompson LES is garnering raves for its stunning, high-ceilinged rooms and fabulous pool - plus an outstanding restaurant, Shang.

Hell’s Kitchen It’s almost unheard of to pass through New York City without taking in a Broadway show and strolling around Times Square.

In the past decade, plenty of attention has been given to the neighborhood to the west, Hell’s Kitchen, a once tough-as-nails Irish working-class enclave that’s become increasingly fashionable. Many lesbians and gays have moved here in recent years, and the gay-trendy dining and entertainment scene has lately spread like kudzu vine.

It can be a challenge scoring a table at celeb-chef Mario Batali’s fabulous space, Esca, but do persevere - you’ll be rewarded with exceptional yet reasonably priced seafood like whole-roasted sea bass with lemon and olive oil. A sophisticated pan-Latin American eatery named for the neighborhood it anchors, Hell’s Kitchen is the place to sample such stellar victuals as duck-confit empanadas, or pan-seared halibut with sweet-plantain puree and salsa verde.

Dig into exceptionally tasty Moroccan fare at Tagine, a riotously colorful eatery with its own fleet of exotic belly dancers.

Inexpensive pan-Asian and American cooking - including Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese specialties - is served at Vynl, a funky retro diner with a friendly staff. And for you homesick southern girls, fill up on amazingly authentic Cajun and Creole fare at the Delta Grill, a brassy and seductive neighborhood canteen that pays homage to down-home faves like fried chicken with candied yams.

Sassy and sexy lounges are all the rage in Hell’s Kitchen. Notables include Posh, which could just as easily be called “Lush” for its fab drink specials; Barrage, a favorite happy hour hideout for gay scenesters and media upstarts; and Therapy, a snazzy, two-level bar known for great music, potent drinks, and a cheeky unisex bathroom.

You’ll find dozens and dozens of worthy hotels near Hell’s Kitchen around Times Square and the Theater District. But if you want to be away from the touristy fray and right in the heart of the neighborhood, check out the Skyline Hotel, an affordable property on 10th Avenue, steps from several popular restaurants in the neighborhood. A more intimate experience can be enjoyed at Hotel 414, a dapper boutique hotel that’s set inside a pair of restored, historic townhouses. You

-- Artichoke Basille’s Pizza

212-228-2004

www.artichokepizza.com -- Ate Ave 646-763-8355

www.ateave.com -- Barracuda 212-645-8613 -- Barrage 212-586-9390 -- Boiler Room 212-254-7536

www.boilerroomnyc.com -- Cafeteria 212-414-1717

www.cafeteriagroup.com -- Cock no phone

www.thecockbar.com -- Colonial House Inn 800-689-3779

www.colonialhouseinn.com -- Cooper Square Hotel 212-475-5700

www.thecoopersquarehotel.com -- Delta Grill 212-956-0934

www.thedeltagrill.com -- Eastern Bloc no phone

www.easternblocnyc.com -- East of Eighth 212-352-0075

www.eastofeighth.com -- Eagle 646-473-1866

www.eaglenyc.com -- Esca 212-564-7272

www.esca-nyc.com -- Euzkadi 212-989-9788

www.euzkadirestaurant.com -- GEM Chelsea 212-675-1911

www.ascendcollection.com/

hotel-new_york-new_york-NY426 -- G Lounge 212-929-1085

www.glounge.com -- Gym 212-337-2439

www.gymsportsbar.com -- Hell’s Kitchen 212-977-1588

www.hellskitchen-nyc.com -- Hotel 414 212-399-0006

www.414hotel.com -- Mare 212-675-7522

www.chelseadining.com/mare/ -- Niso’s 646-336-8121

www.nisos-ny.com -- NYC and Company (aka the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau)

212-484-1200

www.nycgo.com -- Phoenix 212-477-9979 -- Posh 212-957-2222

www.poshbarnyc.com -- Regional Thai Taste 212-807-9872 -- Restivo 212-366-4133 -- Skyline Hotel 212-582-4604

www.skylinehotelnyc.com -- Sorella 212-274-9595

www.sorellanyc.com -- Splash Bar www.splashbar.com

212-691-0073 -- Tagine 212-564-7292

www.taginedining.com -- Therapy 212-397-1700

www.therapy-nyc.com -- Thompson LES 212-460-8888

www.thompsonles.com -- Veselka 212-228-9682

www.veselka.com -- Vynl 212-974-2003

www.vynl-nyc.com

the fun guide

July 2009

ACCESSline Page 27

“Dykes on bikes, Tarzana Trannies, Jewish Leather Daddies and Kathy Griffin’s mom. Don’t get me wrong. I love these people. Let’s call them the ‘Usual Suspects.’

They fought for my rights and taught me how to dance. But they should no longer be representing ‘the pride.’ It’s a different time. ... I cringe when a local newsperson shoves a microphone in the face of some young 95-pound twink (who) looks into the camera and screams into the reporter’s microphone: ‘Get down here now. The drinks are big. But you know what’s bigger...’ He laughs in a high-pitched cackle and his ‘girlfriends’ join in. I wish they’d read more and drink less. I’m depressed.

Why is this the voice speaking for me? I know there were many types of interesting, smart people on the parade route showing their support. But guess what, guys and gals? None of you have a loud enough, strong enough or powerful enough voice to be heard over the thumping techno backbeat of the big gay parade. This is a huge problem.”

— Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick writing at the Huffington Post, June 18.

SScontinued from page 23

Events direction and activities of the group are determined by participants. $5 per session. For more info, visit www.prairiewoods.org.

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

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

Every Wednesday, 7:30-8:30 pm, FREE SALSA DANCING LESSONS at Karma, Cedar Rapids.

First, third, and fifth Thursdays of each month, 6:30-8:30 pm, EVENINGS FOR SPIRIT at SpiritHill Retreat, 604 Cedar Valley Road, West Branch. Women gather at SpiritHill to share our spiritual experiences, visions and longings. The evenings include time for sharing and time for silence. Laughter, tears and singing are often shared as well. No specific spiritual practice is followed.

This event is always open to newcomers. For more info, call 319-643-2613, or e-mail spirit-hill@ earthlink.net.

Second Thursday of the month, 7-9 pm, OPEN MIC WITH MARY MCADAMS at Ritual Café, on 13th St. between Locust and Grand, downtown Des Moines. Visit www.ritualcafe.com. For more info, e-mail mary@marymcadams.com.

Second Thursday of the month, 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. social time), IOWA PFLAG OMAHA/ COUNCIL BLUFFS CHAPTER MEETING, at Mead Hall, First United Methodist Church, 7020

Cass St., Omaha. For more info, call 402-2916781.

Third Thursday of every month, 7-10 pm, OPEN MIC HOSTED BY KIMBERLI, at the Blue Strawberry Coffee Company (now open after the flood), 118 2nd St. SE, Downtown Cedar Rapids.

Signup at 6:30 p.m. or by e-mailing flyingmonkeyscr@aol.com the week prior to the open mic.

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

Third Thursday of every month, 7 pm, Iowa PFLAG Dubuque/Tri-State Chapter Meeting, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1276 White St., Dubuque.

For more info, call 563-582-9388.

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

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

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

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

First Friday of the month, GUERRILLA QUEER BAR MEETUP! Tired of the same old bars? Crave the idea of bringing your queer and straight friends together in a fun, new environment?

We’re descending upon an unsuspecting straight bar and turning it into a gay bar for the night. To join in: join our Facebook group, Google group or Twitter feed. You’ll receive an email the morning of each event with the name of a classically hetero bar and the meeting time. Call your friends, have them call their friends, show up at the bar and watch as it becomes the new “it” gay bar for one night only.

Visit http://groups.google.com/group/iowa-cityguerrilla-queer-bar.

Every 2nd and 4th Friday of the each month at 7 pm, a DRUMMING CIRCLE meets at the Unity Center of Cedar Rapids, 3791 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids. For more info, call 319-431-7550.

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

Every Saturday, noon to 1 pm, WOMEN FOR PEACE IOWA host Weekly Street Corner Vigils for peace, rain or shine. Meet at the corner of 1st Ave. and Collins Rd. SE (in front of Granite City Brewery), Cedar Rapids. Show your support for our troops by calling for their return from Iraq. For more info, e-mail khall479@aol.com.

Third Saturday of every month, 2-4 pm, QUEER SCRIBBLE FEST at Old Brick on the corner of Market St. and Dubuque St., Iowa City. Different subjects or motifs highlight each month. All are welcome. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Straight Allies are gathering to scribble, draw, write, talk, or what you will.

Bring some music and a snack. It’s FREE but taxdeductible donations are welcome. Donations of papers, pencils, books, and other art materials are also appreciated. For more info, call Mark McCusker at 319-621-8530 or e-mail a.c.experiment@gmail. com.

Fourth Saturday of every month, 7:30 pm, TANGOVIA, join area tango dancers at the Wesley Center, 120 N. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Enjoy a candlelit evening of dance, hors d’oeuvres, and conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. Cost is $5.

Partner not necessary. Beginners welcome to come

at 7 p.m. for an introductory lesson. For more info, call Gail at 319-325-9630, e-mail irelandg@gmail. com, or visit www.tangovia.com.

Fourth Saturday of every month, 7 pm, THE LESBIAN BOOK CLUB is reading books by or about lesbians. Non-lesbians are welcome to attend.

All meetings are held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3707 Eastern Ave., Davenport. For more info, call 563-359-0816.

Every Saturday, 3:30-5:30 pm, BAILE LATINO: SALSA, CHA-CHA, MERENGUE AND BACHATA LESSONS taught by Gloria Zmolek, at CSPS, 1103 3rd St. SE, Cedar Rapids. No experience or partner necessary. All ages welcome.

No sign-up required. $5 per person requested. For more info, contact Gloria at 319-365-9611 or visit www.crsalsa.org.

HAMBURGER MARY’S WEEKLY HAPPENINGS, at 222 Glenbrook Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids, off of 1st Ave. Tuesdays – Kid’s Night; Wednesdays – Thift Store Bingo at 10 p.m. with Katrina Cass; Thursdays – Mary-oke with Nic from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Fridays – Drag Show at 9 p.m. (all ages) and 11 p.m. (21 and over); Saturdays – Open Mic Night followed by Drag Show at 9 p.m. (all ages) and 11 p.m. (21 and over). For more info, e-mail hamburgermaryscr@mchsi.com or visit www.hamburgermaryscr.com.

ACCESSline Page 28

the fun guide

July 2009

July 2009

Section 3: Community

ACCESSline Page 29

The CENTER: The New Place to Be for LGBT Folks and Allies in Des Moines

By Sandra Patton-Imani There is a new place for LGBT folks and their allies to gather in Des Moines! “The CENTER” opened on June 1, 2009 at 1300 Locust Street in downtown Des Moines.

It has been several years since the greater Des Moines area had a community center or gathering place for the LGBTA population in central Iowa.

The mission of The CENTER is to provide a voice and visibility to central Iowa’s LGBT communities, to work with supportive progressive and allied groups toward mutual enrichment of collective visions and strengths.

The aims of The CENTER are to improve the lives of LGBTA people through support and education, by taking a “big picture” approach to addressing issues that disproportionately affect our communities, including health, poverty, disability, aging, race, and ethnicity.

A number of programs and groups will be beginning at The CENTER, some of these will begin in July, including: Bisexual Support Group, Help and Support for Families of Transgender Iowans, Grief Support Group, The Roundtable (a group for LGBT women of color, their partners, and allies), Parents

with Kids, Des Moines PFLAG (Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays), Coming Out Group for Gay Men, Coming Out Group for Lesbians, and LGBT Health Group. The CENTER will house a number of LGBT and allied groups, including, at this point, Progressive Coalition of Central Iowa, Marriage Equality USA, Central Iowa chapter, I'm for Iowa, Equality Iowa, LGBT Aging, and PFLAG. The CENTER was founded by Equality Iowa, the oldest LGBT organization in Iowa, a statewide, grassroots, non-partisan organization working to secure and uphold equality under the law and in society for Iowa LGBT communities and their allies, emphasizing the needs of the un- and under-served.

Equality Iowa (www.EqualityIowa.org), founded in 2003 by Sandy Vopalka, has reemerged in 2009, after being dormant for about 18 months. While Iowa has other organizations devoted to LGBT issues, Vopalka has reinvigorated Equality Iowa with a newfound zeal for serving those members of our community whose lives and needs are often left out of the mix.

In a predominantly white state like Iowa it is understandable that LGBT people of

“I’m a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. I know that when I used to use and drink, that my mind situation was altered completely. Your caution goes out the window and you think, ‘Oh, well, we’ll gamble, we’ll have...’ and luckily, I was so lucky enough to not be HIV-infected.”

— Elton John to CNN, May 19.

color might slip through the cracks, particularly in light of historic tensions within some communities of color regarding nonheterosexual identities. At this point in our history it is often a challenge just to find other LGBT people of color with whom to create a sense community. One of the goals of The CENTER is to provide a place where people of color can congregate.

Other underserved groups within the LGBT community in Iowa include the transgender community, bisexuals, LGBT people experiencing poverty, and LGBT

people with disabilities.

Vopalka, who has worked tirelessly for years to promote equality for LGBT Iowans, said she looked around and saw a great deal of attention being given to the Ls and the Gs, but almost none to the Bs and the Ts. She also took note of a paucity of concern with the needs of LGBT people of color. These concerns motivated her to find a funder and help establish The CENTER. The CENTER can be reached by email at thecenterdm@gmail.com or by phone at 515-288-9625.

ACCESSline Page 30

Section 3: Community

Jeff Lanman was the moderator of Transformations, a local Transgender, cross dressers and significant others support group in Des Moines.

Sadly, Jeff committed suicide. Leaving behind his wife, Karen, his mother, sisters, nieces, nephews, and many, many friends who Jeff touched the lives of with his nerdy sense of humor, and love of fishing, sci-fi, music, and movies.

It is with boundless energy that the group must continue to support the community. Jeff will not die in vain.

Written by Jayden

July 2009

Section 3: Community

CEDAR AIDS SUPPORT SYSTEM

July 2009

ACCESSline Page 31

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

319.272.2437 | 800.617.1972 www.cvhospice.org

Colors Across the River for Equality [C.A.R.E.] In a truly inspiring gesture of symbolism on Sunday, June 21, 2009 hundreds of participants transported nearly 1000 Rainbow Pride flags from the Iowa banks of the Mississippi river over the Centennial Bridge in Davenport to the Illinois bank in neighboring Rock Island. This was the quad-cities’ Pride Week kick-off event entitled “Colors Across the River for Equality” [C.A.R.E.] sponsored by QC Pride, Inc. The event began with an interfaith picnic of affirming churches and organizations from 2-3 pm in picturesque Le Claire Park along the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport.

Following the picnic, members of various faith communities presented an interfaith service featuring presentations of support for equal rights by respective Clergy.

Speakers were from various fdenominations and Religions including Metropolitan Community Church, the United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalists, Congregationalists, the Jewish Faith and Islamic Society. The service was closed with the entire crowd singing “Over the Rainbow”.

Participants then walked the three blocks to the Centennial Bridge where they were supplied with a Rainbow Pride flag.

They began the one mile walk from the

Iowa gate to the Illinois landing in what promoters hoped would be an inspiration to the citizens of Illinois to follow suit in providing members of their own LGBT population with the same marriage equality opportunities recently given to their Iowa counterparts.

The marchers were greeted with camera crews from the media while mobile supporters sounded their car horns as they drove by the parade of rainbow flags on the bridge!

The event was planned as a kickoff to an entire week of Pride Events in the quad cities featuring a Pride dining Out event, a huge LGBT and allies Patio party, concerts and the week’s highlight, an all day Pride Fest featuring live music and over 50 vendors on the 27th, also to be held in Le Claire Park along the River.

“The bridge is just the beginning of the rainbows this week!” said QC Pridefest co-chairperson Rich Hendricks. “ The city of Davenport will light up our new skywalk Bridge in Rainbow colors all week long and Le Claire Park will be a spectacular display of Rainbow colors as Pride flags illuminate the Pride fest in downtown!”

Pridefest co chair Jeff Simpson added, “This year’s International Pride theme is Your Rights, Our rights, Human rights and this event shows that the Quad-cities and all of Iowa embraces that motto!”

CASS A program of Cedar Valley Hospice

ACCESSline Page 32

Morals & Values

Upward Still and Onward

by Rev. Julian Rendon

Shortly after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal, the Indianola Record Herald published an article that pointed out that I am the only church pastor in Warren County who is willing and able to perform a same-sex wedding. (Some other clergy are willing, but prevented by church discipline, or do not currently serve a church.)

I feel fortunate to be part of a denomination, the United Church of Christ, that affirms and welcomes LGBT people, and I am blessed to be the pastor of a congregation, Crossroads United Church of Christ, that formed with inclusivity as a core value.

My decision was no decision at all. As I said to the Record Herald, “I think it’s good that we be open and affirming to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. That said, each of us has to work out what the truth is and I understand that people of good faith can look at the same evidence and come out at two different places.”

Local reaction was positive. Of the three messages we got on the church answering machine, all three were encouraging. The only negative reaction we received was a letter quoting the usual scripture passages.

Obviously I differ with the writer on the interpretation of those scriptures.

I did worry that I would be deluged by requests for weddings, and that I would have to say no to many of them. I am not interested in performing weddings for people who are not religious; a church wedding is by definition a worship service so if the couple is not religious it makes more sense of them to go to a judge. However, the deluge has not materialized, and that’s fine.

The old hymn, “Once to Every Man and Nation” by James Russell Lowell, says: “New occasions teach new duties, Time makes ancient good uncouth; They must upward still and onward, Who would keep abreast of truth.”

Lowell reminds us that what was once accepted as God’s will—slavery, the subjugation of women, exploitation of the earth’s resources—is later recognized as wrong. I am confident that all Christian churches will come around to the realization that sexual orientation is not an issue for God. I am just

Section 3: Community

sorry that so many people will continue to be hurt, and will not be nurtured by the church, in the meantime.

Rev. Julian Rendon is pastor at Crossroads UCC in Indianola, Iowa.

We Are Brothers and Sisters

by Rev. Tom Capo

“If, recognizing the interdependence of all life, we strive to build community, the strength we gather will be our salvation. If you are black and I am white… if you are female and I am male…if you are older and I am younger…if you are progressive and I am conservative…if you are straight and I am gay…if you are Christian and I am Jewish, it will not matter. If we join spirits as brothers and sisters, the pain of our aloneness will be lessened, and that does matter.

In this spirit, we build community and move toward restoration.”

- Reverend Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley I stood outside the Recorder’s office on April 27, 2009 with others who were there to support gay and lesbian couples applying for marriage licenses. There was a small group of people there wanting to submit petitions to stop the Recorder from providing these marriage licenses. I remember one of the protesters, who found out that I was a minister, asking me over and over: “What Bible do you believe in.” But I didn’t respond. In my mind though, I was thinking, the Bible I believe in is a book written by people of faith for people of faith to deepen their understanding of themselves, to help people increase their love for one another, and to explore their connection with something greater than themselves—whether that be God or Goddess, the universe, the Buddha, humanity, Mother Earth, or whatever cause or spirit someone places their faith in.

My hope is that one day the whole issue of gay or lesbian marriage is a nonissue. I hope that we human beings come to understand that we are all brothers and sisters regardless of our beliefs, our sexuality, our socio-economic status, or the color of our skin. This hope may seem foolish and unlikely at times, but I refuse to give it up.

I will continue to work to make this hope a reality in this world, even realizing that this work may not be done in my lifetime.

When I arrived in Iowa in September of TTSPIRITUAL continued page 33

July 2009

Section 3: Community

July 2009 2008, I did not realize that gay and lesbian marriage would become a reality here. I did not realize that part of my hope for the rights of gays and lesbians would become actualized, and that I would be officiating legal gay and lesbian marriages. This seemed miraculous and wonderful that such a thing could happen.

I have officiated gay and lesbian Holy Union Ceremonies while a minister in Texas.

But these ceremonies were always bittersweet. I loved being able to bless the lifelong commitments of homosexual couples, and to let them know that there are people of faith who honor and bless their commitment. I officiated at Holy Union Ceremonies for people of color, for people of different beliefs, for people whose churches refused to recognize their unions. I even officiated at a Holy Union ceremony for a young lesbian couple deep in the Big Thicket of Southeast Texas, with family members who wore camo-gear and had gun-racks in their pickup trucks. From these experiences, my hope began to rise that people of all backgrounds were beginning to bless, honor, and accept gay and lesbian couples.

But I was also very sad that these unions were not legal, and provided no legal rights or benefits for the couple. My hope for the future of legal marriages for gay and lesbian couples in my lifetime seemed even more unlikely as Texas voters passed an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

But then I came to Iowa. My hope became renewed in this unlikely place.

We are called on as people of faith and those who support gay and lesbian rights to bring hope to all our gay and lesbian brothers

and sisters that one day their rights will be realized across this country and throughout our world. Being here in a state where gay and lesbian marriage is legal gives us the obligation, at least I believe it does, to share our joy and hope with those from other states and countries where our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters do not have these rights.

Their hope may wane at times, and they need us to keep that hope alive and to keep working for basic human rights, including marital rights, for all our brothers and sisters across this planet.

Keep working my brothers and sisters.

And keep hoping. Change will happen.

Reverend Tom Capo is pastor at Friends Unitarian Universalist Church in Cedar Rapids.

Joel Larson In summer 1991, a young, visually impaired gay man named Joel Larson was gunned down in a park near his home.

Originally from Des Moines, he had lived in Minneapolis for only a few months.

A group of friends, family and budding activists held a memorial for him blocks from Iowa’s Capitol. As a staff member of Minnesota’s (then) only gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender social-service and advocacy agency, I was asked to speak. I hadn’t been to Iowa since I was a child, but it was important to honor the man’s memory and his all-too-short life.

The pain in his friends’ eyes was unspeakable. Activists were angry; family members simply wept. Shaking hands with Joel’s father, I found myself at a loss for words. His son was killed because of his sexual orientation by an aspiring serial killer.

FINANCIAL ADVISOR

ACCESSline Page 33

“What do we do to stop it?” he pleaded with me. “We pass laws preventing discrimination,” I grimly replied.

At the time, downtown Des Moines and the area around the Capitol were pretty rough. Smug and superior, I looked around and couldn’t see how Iowans would ever pass protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity any more than they would revitalize their largest city.

I happily admit I was wrong on both counts. And Iowa went one step further: In a stunningly sensible way that we Midwesterners have, the state’s Supreme Court unanimously found that civil marriage cannot be denied to couples of the same gender.

It is unconstitutional.

My Iowa roots run pretty deep. My mother was born in Dubuque and cousins still live there. I drove back from Joel’s memorial that night through an awesome thunderstorm, Shakespearean in its power, the lightning illuminating the beauty of the northern Iowa landscape. It was as if nature was unleashing its fury over this man’s senseless death.

Since then, Des Moines has become one of my favorite weekend getaways. I rave about the beauty of the state capital and extol its museums, restaurants, art galleries and historical sites as well as the sheer beauty of Iowa’s environment. And I never cross the border without thinking about Joel Larson.

Like me, many remain cautiously optimistic that Iowa will not stand alone in the Midwest as a beacon of equality for long, but the record is mixed in the region and elsewhere. In 2006, Wisconsin and South Dakota passed constitutional bans on mar-

riage equality. South Dakota’s ban passed by only 52 percent after a remarkable grassroots campaign fighting the ballot initiative with the simple slogan, “Good neighbors don’t discriminate.” This year, an effort to ban discrimination in North Dakota went down in flames. However, both Maine and New Hampshire passed marriage-equality legislation recently. Marriage equality in my home state of Minnesota may be litigious rather than legislative.

At the federal level, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens enjoy no civil-rights protections, receive no federal recognition of their marriages and cannot serve openly in the military. We are secondclass citizens.

Since Joel’s memorial, I’ve spoken on human rights at Central College in Pella and the University of Iowa. I attended the 2008 presidential caucuses. I’ve made close friends and even had a beau in Cedar Falls, all as an openly gay man. Not once did I suffer a slur or even a side-long glance. I am proud of Iowa for that.

When gay friends around the country had asked me what I thought would happen with the Iowa Supreme Court case, I always said, “They’ll do the right thing.” And they did. I also expect that after a short while the furor will die down - that’s how we roll in the heartland. There is soil to till and crops to plant.

And soon the wedding invitations will appear in the mail. I can’t say I’ll be able to attend every nuptial, but I can promise you this. At every single one, you’ll find a kindred and sweet spirit of a man who was once called Joel. May he now, finally, find rest and peace.

TAXI CAB - CEDAR RAPIDS

MASSAGE THERAPIST

FREELANCE WRITER

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

PHOTOGRAPHER

GIFT BASKETS

HOME INSPECTIONS

WINE

Ryan B Weidner Financial Advisor .

The Livery Building 806 7th Street Boone, IA 50036 515-432-6713 www.edwardjones.com

Member

SIPC

ACCESSline Page 34

Section 3: Community

July 2009

July 2009 DIRECTORY NOTICE The ACCESSline directory is updated each issue.

The directory may also be found at ACCESSlineIOWA.com.

LISTINGS ARE FREE. Information about new groups must contain a phone number for publication and a contact (e-mail address, land address, or website) for our records.

For more information or to provide corrections, please contact Editor@ACCESSlineIOWA.com or call (319) 550-0957.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund 1705 De Sales St NW, Ste 500 Washington, DC, 20036 www.victoryfund.org.

202-VICTORY [842-8679] Human Rights Campaign National political organization, lobbies congress for lesbian & gay issues, political training state and local www.hrc.org 1-800-777-HRCF[4723] Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund I I E. Adams, Suite 1008 Chicago, IL 60603-6303 www.lambdalegal.org 312-663-4413 Fax: 312-663-4307 National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) 1325 Massachusetts Ave NW, Ste 600, Washington, DC, 20005 www.ngltf.org / taskforce.org National Organization for Women (NOW) 733 15th ST NW, 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20005 www.now.org 202-628-8669 PFLAG National Offices 1726 M St. NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036 info@pflag.org www.pflag.org 202-467-8180

STATE ORGANIZATIONS Equality Iowa P.O. Box 18 Indianola, IA 50125 www.equalityiowa.org 515-537-3126 Faithful Voices Interfaith Alliance of Iowa’s marriage equality project. www.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 www.imperialcourtofiowa.org Iowa Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) David Steward, President, IA NOW 1010 Charlotte Ave. Davenport, IA 52803 Iowa PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gay) State Council PO Box 18, Indianola, IA 50125 www.equalityiowa.org/PFLAG 515-537-3126 or 641-583-2024 Iowa pridenetwork 3839 Merle Hay Rd, Ste. 285 Des Moines, IA 50310 www.iowapridenetwork.org 515-243-1110 LGBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force PO Box 1997, Des Moines, 50306 515-243-1221 One Iowa PO Box 3, Des Moines, IA 50309 Stonewall Democrats of Iowa 5 Creekside Ct Mason City, IA 50401 Contact: Dean Genth figfinesse@yahho.com 641-583-2024

Ames First United Methodist Church 6th & Kellogg Contemporary worship Sat. 5:30; Sun at 8:30 and 11:00am. www.fumcames.org.

515-232-2750 Living with HIV Program 126 S. Kellogg, Suite 1 Ask for Janelle (Coordinator) 515-956-3312 ext 106 or I -800-890-8230

Section 3: Community ISU LGBTA Alliance GLBT Support, Activism, Social Events, Newsletter G-46 Memorial Union, ISU Ames, IA. 50014 alliance@iastate.edu http://www.alliance.stu.org.iastate.edu 515-294-2104 Lord of Life Lutheran 2126 Gable Lane, Ames 50014 Services Sundays at 9:00a.m.; Wed. 7:00pm.

515-233-2350 PFLAG Ames Youth and Shelter Services Offices 420 Kellogg Ave 1st Floor.

2nd Tuesday, 7pm www.pflagames.org 515-291-3607 Romantics Pleasure Palace 117 Kellogg Street Ames, IA 50010-3315 http://www.romantixonline.com 515-232-7717 Stonewall Democrats of Ames tlloman@aol.com goodwinm@istate.edu, or Terry Lowman, 515-292-3279, or Mary Goodwin 515-292-0352 United Church of Christ-Congregational 6th & Kellogg Ames, 50010 Sunday Continental Breakfast, 9:00am; Sunday School, 9:30am; Worship, 10:45am. uccames@midiowa.net.

515-232-9323 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames 1015 Hyland Ave. Services: 9am and 11am, Sunday uufa@aol.com 515-292-5960 Unity Church of Ames 226 9th St. Sunday service and Sunday school 10:30am.

Wednesday mediation 6:30pm, class 7:15pm. www.websyt/unity/ames Daily dial-a-blessing 515-233-1613

Arnolds Park, Okoboji, Spirit Lake Wilson Resource Center An Iowa Great Lakes area gay-owned nonprofit community based organization.

PO Box 486 Arnolds Park IA 51331-0486 F.JosephWilson@aol.com.

712-332-5043

BURLINGTON Arrowhead Motel 2520 Mount Pleasant St Burlington, IA 52601-2118 (319) 752-6353 - www.arrowheadia.com 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 Steve’s Place 852 Washington St, Burlington 319-752-9109 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Services start at 10:30 am 625 N 6th St, Burlington, IA 52601-5032 (319) 753-1895 - www.uuburlington.org

Cedar Falls - Waterloo Black Hawk Co. Health Department Free HIV testing (donations accepted); MW, 1:00pm to 3:00pm; Thurs, 1:00pm to 4:45pm 1407 Independence Ave. (5th fl) Waterloo 50703 319-291 -2413.

Cedar AIDS Support System (CASS) Service, support groups & trained volunteers for persons with HIV/AIDS in Waterloo/Cedar Falls call Elizabeth or Karla, 319-272-AIDS(2437). cvhospice@forbin.net Cedar Valley Counseling Services Promoting personal growth and development in a strengths-based environment Joan E. Farstad, MA, Director.

319-240-4615 www.cvcounseling.com farstd@cvcounseling.com.

Cedar Valley Episcopal Campus Ministry. In Lutheran Center 2616 College St. Cedar Falls, IA 319-415-5747 mcdinoiwa@aol.com www.episcopalcampus.org All welcome!

Community AIDS Assistance Project (CAAP) Funding for special personal needs, community projects, and small grants that are AIDS related.

PO Box 36 Waterloo, IA 50704

LGBTA Support Group at Hawkeye Community College Call Carol at 319-296-4014 for time and location of meeting chedberg@hawkeyecollege.edu Iowa Legal Aid Free civil legal service available to low income persons who qualify under income/asset guidelines.

607 Sycamore, #708, Waterloo, IA 50703 1-800-772-0039 or 319-235-7008 Kings & Queens Tap 304 W. 4th St. Waterloo, IA www.//myspace.com/kingsandqueensspace 319-232-3001 Romantix Waterloo (Adult Emporium) 1507 La Porte Rd. Waterloo, IA 50702-2713 319-234-9340 http://www.romantixonline.com/ Stellas Guesthouse 324 Summit Ave Waterloo, IA Private B&B, Overnight accommodations for adults only.

319-232-2122 St. Lukes Episcopal Church 2410 Melrose Drive Cedar Falls, IA 50613 www.st-lukes-episcopal.org Sunday services 8:00 and 10:15, Thurs 11:30.

319-277-8520

Linn County Public Health 501 13th NW Free confidential HIV testing, 319-892-6000 Linn County Stonewall Democrats Second Wednesday of every month, 6:30-8 p.m.

The LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party, meets at Hamburger Mary’s, 222 Glenbrook Dr. SE, behind 2nd Wind off of 1st Ave SE in Cedar Rapids. For more info, contact linnstonewall@ gmail.com Rapid AIDS Grant Wood Area Red Cross 3600 Rockwell Dr NE Cedar Rapids, 52410 319-393-9579.

PFLAG Cedar Rapids 3rd Monday, 6:30pm, 6 social Faith United Methodist Church 1000 30th St, NE 515-537-3126 People’s Church Unitarian Universalist A welcoming congregation.

600 Third Avenue SE. 11AM Sunday.

319-362-9827 Stonewall Democrats of Linn County Contact Roy Porterfield royboycr@mchsi.com 319-362-5281

Council Bluffs, Omaha(Ne)

Together For Youth 233 Vold Dr. Waterloo, IA 50703 www.TogetherForYouth.net 319-274-6768

AIDS Interfaith Network 100 N. 62nd Omaha, NE Call Br. Wm. Woeger 402-558-3100

UNI-LGBTA Alliance-Student Organization 244A Bartlet Hall, University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls 50613 lgbta@uni.edu 319-222-0003

Citizens For Equal Protection 1105 Howard St, Suite #2 Omaha, NE 68102 www.cfep-ne.org info@cfep-ne.org 402-398-3027

United Church of Christ Cedar Falls 9204 University Avenue Cedar Falls 319-266-9686

Council Bluffs NOW Write PO Box 3325 Omaha, NE 68103-0325

Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk County 3912 Cedar Heights Drive Cedar Falls, IA 319-266-5640.

Cedar Rapids/marion Adult Shop 630 66th Ave SW, 319-362-4939 Adult Shop North 5539 Grain Lane, 319-294-5360 Club Basix Open 5pm to 2am M-F, Sat & Sun 3pm to 2am 3916 1st Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids www.clubbasix.com 319-363-3194 Coe Alliance Education, activism, & fun for GLBT and straight students, staff, faculty and people from the community. Regular meetings.

Coe College 1220 First Ave. NE jchaimov@coe.edu www.public.coe.edu/organizations/Alliance.

Call John Chaimov (contact) at 319-399-8594 for details.

CSPS Legion Arts Contemporary Arts Center 1103 3rd St. SE info@legionarts.org 319-364-1580 Faith UMC 1000 30th Street NE, Cedar Rapids, 52402 Pastor Kathy Moore Sunday services at 11:00am. www.crfaithumc.org 319-363-8454 Foundation 2 Crisis Counseling 24-hour telephone crisis counseling. f2crisis@aol.com or www.f2online.org 1540 2nd Ave. SE Cedar Rapids, IA 319-362-2174 or 800-332-4224 GLRC of Cedar Rapids Support, social activities lnfo@crglrc.org www.crglrc.org or, write to P.O. Box 1643 Cedar Rapids 52406-1643 Call and leave a message -- all calls will be returned.

319-366-2055 Hamburger Mary’s 222 Glenbrook Dr. Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 319-378-4627 www.hamburgermaryscr.com www.myspace.com/hamburgermaryscr Krug Law Firm 401 1st St SE Suite 330 319-297-7515

ACCESSline Page 35 River City Mixed Chorus Gay/lesbian chorus PO Box 3267 Omaha, NE 68103 Call Stan Brown, marketing 402-341-7464.

Romantix Council Bluffs (North) (Adult Emporium) 3216 1st Ave. Council Bluffs, IA 51501-3353 http://www.romantixonline.com 515-955-9756 Romantix Council Bluffs (South) (Romantix After Dark) 50662 189th St. Council Bluffs, Ia 51503 http://www.romantixonline.com 712-366-1764 Youth Support Group for GLBT Youth 13-21, meets twice monthly.

Omaha, NE 402-291- 6781.

Decorah Decorah Diversity Appreciation Team Martin Klammer, Luther College 700 College Dr., 52101 563-387-2112.

Luther College Student Congregation Contact Office for College Ministry 700 College Drive Decorah, IA 52101 563-387-1040.

PFLAG Northeast IA (Currently seeking a place to meet.)

563-535-7680 PRIDE Luther College Diversity Center, 700 College Dr. Decorah, IA 52101 Contact Chris at 563-387-2145 or Melanie at 563-387-1273 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Meets alternating Sundays at 10:30am, Decorah Senior Center 806 River St. Call Bill at 563-382-3458.

Des Moines

DC’s Saloon 610 S. 14th St. Omaha, NE Open everyday 2pm to 1am, western/levi/ leather.

402-344-3103

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

Diamond Bar 712 S. 16th St. Omaha, NE 10am - 1am, M-Sa, closed Sun 402-342-9595

Blazing Saddle 416 E 5th St www.theblazingsaddle.com 515-246-1299

Front Runners/Front Walkers Walking/jogging club.

P.O. Box 4583 Omaha, NE 68104 402-496-3658.

Gilligan’s Pub and Grill 1407 Harney Omaha, NE Everyday 4pm-1am. Friday and Sat. After hours 12-4am 402-449-9147 GLBT Rainbow Outreach Omaha Serving GLBT community in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Excellent message and info. Also office for Imperial court of Nebraska.

1719 Leavenworth St Omaha, NE www.rocc.org 402-341-0330 Heartland Gay Rodeo Association (HGRA) PO Box 3354, Omaha, NE 68103 www.hgra.net 402-203-4680 HGRA serves both Iowa and Nebraska

Buddies Corral 418 E 5th St Des Moines, IA 515-244-7140 Church of the Holy Spirit-MCC Pastor Pat Esperanza Sunday service 10:30am at the 1st Christian Church 2500 University, Des Moines chsmccdmia@aol.com 515-287-9787.

Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus 515-953-1540 PO Box 12269 Des Moines, IA 50312 dmgmc@mchsi.com www.dmgmc.org.

Family Practice Center Safe, supportive LGBT health care.

200 Army Post Road, Ste 26 www.ppgi.org 515-953-7560

Imperial Court of Nebraska P.O. Box 3772, Omaha, NE 68103 402-556-9907

First Friday Breakfast Club Educational breakfast club for gay/bisexual men. Meets first Friday of each month.

Contact Jonathan Wilson for meeting topic and place.

Jonathanwilson@davisbrownlaw.com 515288-2500

L.E.O. (Leather Engineers of Omaha) Educational-social group for Gay Men with interest in Leather Lifestyle. Meets 2nd Saturday at Gilligan’s Pub at 7:00pm. Write

First Unitarian Church 1800 Bell Avenue Services Sundays at 9:30 & 11am 515-244-8603

L.E.O. PO Box 8101 Omaha, NE 68108.

The Garden 112 SE 4th Des Moines, IA 515-243-3965 Wed-Sun. 8pm-2am www.grdn.com

The Max 1417 Jackson at 15th, Omaha, NE 68102 6 bars in 1 402-346-4110.

MCC of Omaha 819 South 22nd P.O. Box 3173, Omaha, NE 68103 Sun. 9 & 11 am.

Contemporary Worship Service, Sat 7PM 402-345-2563.

PFLAG Omaha Mead Hall, First United Methodist Church 7020 Cass St. (Omaha) 2nd Thursday, 7, 6:30 Social time 402-291-6781

Gay & Lesbian AA & AI-Anonymous Mon. 7 pm; Tues. - Thurs. 6 pm; Sat. 5:30 pm at Drake Ministries in Ed. Bldg. 28th & University Gay and Lesbian Issues Committee 4211 Grand Avenue, Level-3 Des Moines, IA 50312 515-277-1117 Heartland Gay Rodeo Midwest Division of the International Gay Rodeo Association.

402-203-4680

ACCESSline Page 36 Iowa Affirmation Lesbian/Gay United Methodist Thoreau Center, 35th & Kingman Blvd. Write Affirmation PO Box 1726 Des Moines, IA 50309 Java Joe’s Gay friendly 214 4th St. 515-288-5282 Lavender Victory Fund Financial assistance for women in need for medical emergencies.

700 Rose Ave Des Moines, IA 50315 Contact Bonnie at 515-244-7946 Liberty Gifts 333 E. Grand Ave., Loft 105 Des Moines, IA Gay owned specialty clothing, jewelry, home decor.

Libertygiftsonline.com 515-508-0825 MINX Show Palace 1510 N.E. Broadway Des Moines, IA 50313 Open 9am - 2am, M-Th; 9am - 4am, F-Sat. 10am -9pm Sun. 515-266-2744 National Association of Social Workers (NOW) (Nat’1 Organization of Women in Des Moines) http://www.meetup.com/locale/us/ia/desmoines North Star Gay Rodeo Association of IGRA, Iowa Division of North Star NSGRA@ NSGRA.org or 612-82RODEO Rainbow Union, Drake University Contact Sara Graham ru@drake.edu PFLAG Des Moines 515-537-3126 or write 3520 Grand Ave #51 Des Moines, IA 50312 Plymouth Congregational UCC Church and the Plymouth GLBT Community 4126 Ingersoll Ave. 515-255-3149 Services at 5:30pm Sat, 9am & I lam Sunday. www.PlymouthGLBT.com Polk County Health Department Free STD, HIV, and Hepatitis B & C testing.

HIV. Rapid testing also offered.

1907 Carpenter Des Moines, IA 515-286-3798.

Raccoon River Resort Accommodations for men, women, or mixed in campgrounds, lodge, Teepees or Treehouses. Reservations: 515-996-2829 or 515-279-7312 Ramada Des Moines West/Clive 1600 NW 114th Street Des Moines, IA 50325 US ( I80/I35 & Exit 124 ) 515-226-1600 Fax: 515-226-9022 Ritual Café On 13th between Grand and Locust. ritualcafe@aol.com Gay owned great music, awesome food and coffee.

515-288-4872 Romantix North Des Moines Iowa (Bachelor’s Library) 2020 E. Euclid Ave. http://www.romantixonline.com/ Des Moines, IA 50317-3668 515-266-7992 Romantix 1401 E. Army Post Rd. Des Moines IA 50320-1809 http://www.romantixonline.com/ 515-256-1102 Spouses of Lesbians & Gays Contact Ruth Schanke, 515-277-3700 St. John’s Lutheran Church 600 6th Ave “A Church for All People.”

Services Sat 5pm, Sun 7:45, 8:45 & 11am.

See web page for other services.

515-243-7691 www.stjohnsdsm.org The CENTER 1300 Locust; The new LGBT and progressive place to be. thecenterdm@gmail.com Trans-Formations Monthly meetings for the female to male and male to female transgender community and their significant others. For location and info, email Jeff at frogestyie@aol.com or call Jordan at 515-284-0245 Trinity United Methodist Church 1548 Eighth Street Services Sundays at 10a.m.

515-288-4056

Section 3: Community Urbandale UCC An open & affirming congregation.

3530 70th St. Urbandale, IA 50322 515-276-0625.

Walnut Hills UMC Join us at 8:30 or 10:30am for Sunday worship. Sunday classes and group studies are at 9:30am.

12321 Hickman Rd. Urbandale, IA 50323 515-270-9226.

Westminster Presbyterian Church 4114 Allison Ave. www.westpres.org Sunday services 8:45 and 11am. Of note is their Gay Lesbian Straight Affirmation small group ministry.

515-274-1534 Word of God Ministries Join us at 3:30 for Sunday Worship at 3120 E. 24th St. Des Moines, IA Mailing address: PO Box 4396 Des Moines IA 50333 515-276-6614 Women’s Culture Collective (WCC) A lesbian social group.

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

Dubuque Adult Warehouse 975 Jackson St., Dubuque, IA 563-588-9184.

The Q 920 Main Street, Dubuque, IA Open Mon - Sun, 7pm to 2am. www.myspace.com/qbar_dbq 563-557-7375 Dubuque Friends (Quaker) Worship Group. An unprogrammed meeting at 10am Sunday through September May. Meeting at the Roberta Kuhn Center 1100 Carmel Drive Dubuque, IA 563-556-3685 for info and directions.

Dubuque Pride Monthly social group, meeting for meal and conversation. www.dubuquepride.org Dubuque Regional AIDS Coalition Direct services, education. HIV+/AIDS support group and family/friends support group. Contact Kay Auderer or Connie Sprimont, Mercy Health Center.

563-589-9606.

PFLAG Dubuque St. John’s Lutheran Church 1276 White St. 3rd Thursday, 7pm 563-582-9388 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Dubuque 1699 Iowa St. Dubuque, IA “The uncommon denomination.” Adult religious education meets Sunday at 9am before general services at 10am. www.uuf-dbq.org.

563-583-9910

Fort Dodge Romantix Fort Dodge (Mini Cinema) 15 N. 5th St, Fort Dodge, IA 50501-3801 http://www.romantixonline.com

Grinnell Saints Ephrem & Macrina Orthodox Mission. Welcoming worship in the Eastern Christian liturgical tradition.

Sunday services at 10am. (Affiliated with the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America.)

1226 Broad Street, Grinnell, IA 641-236-0936 Stonewall Resource Center Open 4:30pm to 11:30pm, Sun through Thurs and by Appointment.

Grinnell College 1210 Park Street PO Box B-1, Grinnell, IA, 50112 srcenter@grinnell.edu 641-269-3327

INDIANOLA Crossroads United Church of Christ (UCC) An Open & affirming congregation. Services: Sunday 10:30am, Summer worship: June, July, Aug, @ 9:30 am, worshiping in the Lounge at Smith Chapel, Simpson College, corner of Buxton and Clinton. Mailing address: P.O. Box 811 Indianola, IA 50125 515-961-9370.

Iowa City AA (GLBT) Meetings Sundays 5 - 6pm at First Baptist Church, 500 North Clinton Street. For more info, call IC Intergroup Answering Service, 319-338-9111 Congregational Church UCC An Open and Affirming Congregation Sunday Worship 9:15am (July & August) 30 N. Clinton St. (across from Ul Pentacrest) 319-337-4301 - www.uiccic.org Counseling Clinic Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sensitive and supportive counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups. Sliding Fee. 505 E Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240 319-354-6238.

Counseling and Health Center Client-centered therapy.

Les-Bi-Gay-Trans always welcome.

616 Bloomington St. Iowa City, IA 319-337-6998.

Crisis Center 1121 Gilbert Court Iowa City, 52240 319-351-0140.

Emma Goldman Clinic 227 N. Dubuque St. Iowa City, IA 52245 319-337-2111or 1-800-848-7684.

Faith United Church of Christ 1609 De Forest Street, Iowa City, IA Services Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

319-338-5238 GLBTAU-U of l Student support system and resource center, info, activism, events, and other community involvements.

203 IMU, University of IA Iowa City, IA 52242-1317 glbtau@uiowa.edu 319-335-3251 (voice mail) Hope United Methodist Church Worship Service at 9:30am.

2929 E. Court St., Iowa City, IA Contact Rev. Sherry Lohman.

319-338-9865 ICARE Iowa Center for AIDS Resources & Education Practical and emotional support, youth programs, information, referrals and support groups.

3211 E 1st Iowa City, IA 52240-4703 319-338-2135.

Iowa City Free Medical Clinic Free & strictly confidential HIV Testing.

2440 Towncrest Dr Iowa City, Call for appointment 319-337-4459 Iowa City NOW PO Box 2944, Iowa City, IA 52244 for information & meeting times/places Iowa Women’s Music Festival P.O. Box 3411 Iowa City, IA 52244 319-335-1486 Men Supporting Men HIV prevention program exploring issues that gay/bisexual men deal with on a daily basis.

Discussion Groups, Educational Series, Safer Sex Workshops, Book Club. Contact Andy Weigel, email: aweigel@co.johnson.ia.us 319-356-6038, Ext 2 New Song Episcopal Church 912 20th Ave Coralville, IA Sunday services at 1Oam. Rev. Elizabeth Coulter, Pastor Rev. John Harper, Associate.

319-351-3577 Pride Committee WRAC 130 N. Madison Iowa City, IA 52242 Bridget Malone 319-338-0512 Charles Howes 319-335-1486.

Romantix Iowa City (Pleasure Palace I) 315 Kirkwood Ave. Iowa City, IA 52240-4722 http://www.romantixonline.com 319-351-9444

Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City Inclusive and free religious community nurturing intellectual and spiritual growth and fostering ethical and social responsibility.

10 S. Gilbert Iowa City, IA Sunday services: 9am & 10:45am. www.uusic.org 319-337-3443 United Action for Youth (UAY) A GLBTQA youth group providing support and counseling for teenagers and young adults processing sexual identity issues. Meets Mondays 7-9pm at UAY 410 Iowa Ave. Iowa City, IA 319-338-7518 or Teen Line, 319-338-0559.

The Ursine Group Bear Events in the Midwest.

P.O. Box 1143 Iowa City, IA 52244-1 143 319-338-5810 The Vortex 211 E. Washington, downtown Iowa City 319-337-3434 Women’s Resource Action Center (WRAC) Leads & collaborates on projects that serve Uofl & the greater community, offers social & support services, including LGBT Coming Out Group.

University of Iowa 130 N. Madison Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-1486

Marshalltown Adult Odyssey [Adult Video] 907 Iowa Ave E 641-752-6550 Domestic Violence Alternatives/Sexual Assault Center, Inc. 24 hour Crisis Line: 641-753-3513 or (instate only) 800-779-3512 MASON CITY Cerro Gordo County Dept. of Public Health 22 N. Georgia Ave, Ste 300 Mason City –Iowa 50401.

Free confidential AIDS testing.

641-421-9306 PFLAG North Iowa Chapter 1st Presbyterian Church 100 S. Pierce.

1st/ 2nd Monday (alternating), 7pm 641-583-2848 Mount Vernon Alliance Cornell College 810 Commons Cir # 2035 alliance@cornellcollege.edu www.cornellcollege.edu/alliance contact person: Glynnis 319-895-5874 NEWTON PFLAG Newton UCC Church 308 E 2nd St N. 3rd Thursday, 7pm 641-521-7436

July 2009 Mary’s On 2nd 832 W. 2nd St. Davenport, IA 563-884-8014.

MCC Quad Cities - Svcs Sat 5pm, Sun 11am Bible study Wed. 7 pm 3019 N. Harrison, Davenport, IA 52803 Call 563-324-8281.

Men’s Coming Out/Being Out Group Meets 2nd & 4th Thursdays, 7pm. dennyray3@juno.com.

Call Dennis, 309-755-7346 PFLAG Quad Cities Eldridge United Methodist Church 604 S.2nd St., (Eldridge) 1st Monday, 6:30 pm 563-285-4173 Prism (Augustana College) Augustana Gay-Straight Alliance Augustana Library 639 38th St. Rock Island, IL Contact Tom Bengston 309-794-7406.

Quad Citians Affirming Diversity (QCAD) Social & support groups for lesbian, bi, and gay teens, adults, friends & families; newsletter.

309-786-2580 Community Center located at 1608 2nd Ave, Rock Island.

Quad Cities Pride Chorus.

At the MCC Church in D’port, 3pm Sun. qcswede64@aol.com Call Don at 563-324-0215 Rainbow Gifts www.rainbowgifts.net 309-764-0559 T.R. Video Adult books & video 3727 Hickory Grove Rd. Davenport, IA 563-386-7914.

Venus News (Adult) 902 w. 3rd St. Davenport, IA 563-322-7576

SHENANDOAH PFLAG Shenandoah 712-246-2824

Sioux City Am. Business & Professional Guild. Gay Businessmen.

Meets last Sat. of the month; ABPG P. O. BOX 72, Sioux City, 51102 abpguild@yahoo.com Grace United Methodist Church 1735 Morningside Avenue 712-276-3452.

Jones Street Station (Bar) 412 Jones St. Nightly 6:00pm to 2:00am.

712-258-6922 Mayflower Congregational Church. 1407 West 18th Street, Call 712-258-8278.

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

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

Quad Cities AIDS Project Quad Cities Info, education & support. Ste 360 1351 Central Park West Davenport, IA 52804 563-421-4266.

Augie’s Tap 313 20th St. Rock Island (IL) Noon - 3am daily.

309-788-7389 Black Hawk College Unity Alliance Serving GLBT community at Black Hawk College.

6600 34th Ave. Rock Island, IL 309-716-0542.

Connections Nightclub 822 W 2nd Street Davenport, IA 52802 Phone: (563) 322-1121

Studio 13 13 S. Linn St. (in the Alley) Iowa City, IA Open 7pm ‘til 2am, daily 319-338-7145

DeLaCerda House Provides housing and supportive services, advocacy and referrals for people living with HIV/AIDS. P.O. Box 4551 Rock Island, Il. 61201 309-786-7386.

U of I Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Staff & Faculty Association c/o WRAC 130 N. Madison Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-1486

Holy Spirit Catholic Faith Community Meets one Sunday per month for Mass at 5:30pm at MCC-QC 3019 N. Harrison St., Davenport For more info, call 563-340-7488

Morningside College Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Alliance Contact Professor Gail Dooley, Advisor Morningside College GSA 1501 Morningside Ave. Sioux City, IA 51106-1717 dooley@morningside.edu 712-274-5208 PFLAG Siouxland PO Box 1311 Sioux City, IA 51102 siouxlandPFLAG@aol.com Romantix Sioux City (Adult Emporium) 511 Pearl St. Sioux City, IA 51101-1217 St. Thomas Episcopal Church Service Sun 10:30am 406 12th St. Waverly, IA Rev Mary Christopher 712-258-0141 Western Iowa Tech. GSA widemal@juno.com for info.

Waverly Cedar Valley Episcopal Campus Ministry.

717 W. Bremer, (St. Andrew’s Episcopal) Waverly, IA www.episcoplcampus.org 319-415-5747 Gay, Lesbian Bisexual Student Alliance Write to: Alliance Wartburg College Waverly, IA 50677 Contact Susan Vallem 319-352-8250 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church 717 W. Bremer We welcome all to worship with us on Sunday at 10:30 am. Bible discussion Wed. 6:45pm Rev. Maureen Doherty, Pastor 319-352-1489

July 2009

Section 3: Community

ACCESSline Page 37

ACCESSline Page 38

Section 3: Community

July 2009

July 2009

Wake Up With

Section 3: Community

Pride!

Come to the First Friday Breakfast Club at 7 AM on the first Friday of every month at Hoyt Sherman Place.

We are an educational, non-profit corporation for gay men and the largest breakfast club in Iowa. We gather 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.

Visit us on the Web at ffbciowa.org.

For a reservation contact Jonathan Wilson at 515-288-2500 or jonathanwilson@davisbrownlaw.com.

ACCESSline Page 39