Baltimore OUTloud • August 5, 2016

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AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER COMMUNI-

Community Center Moving This Weekend

By Jim Becker In a bold move that is seen as a step to reenergize the 39-year-old institution, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB) will be moving out of Mount Vernon to a larger location in Charles Village this Saturday, August 6th.

The Center’s new location – the entire third floor of 2530 North Charles Street – will provide larger, upgraded space for Baltimore’s LGBT communities to gather and receive services. The Waxter Center, the GLCCB’s current home, is too small and the building’s rules too constrainintg for the organization to meet its goals and be a beacon of LGBT visibility.

In a press release, GLCCB president and acting director Jabari Lyles said, “We have outgrown the Waxter Center. Aside from moving away from the many physical limitations of our current space, we are excited to begin a new chapter as a stronger,

smarter organization on which our community can rely.” The new location features spacious community rooms and offices, upgraded amenities and plenty of parking.

Longtime activist Rik Newton-Treadway, a current member of the Center’s board was involved with the Center as a gay youth when the Chase Street building was purchased. He told Baltimore OUTloud in a text, “I am excited about the move to Charles Village. It is like returning to our roots. Seems just like yesterday we were moving from Maryland Avenue and 22nd Street [the Center’s first location] to 241 West Chase. This move will allow for growth and stability of services and programs, as well as community access – after all it’s your center.” He also pointed out that next year the Center will celebrate its 40th anniversary.

In either the May or June 1980 issue of

August 5, 2016 | Volume XIV, Issue 7

the Gay Paper, the front page declared “It’s Ours,” with a picture of 241 West Chase Street. That proclamation marked the culmination of a never before seen and amazing fund-raising drive for Baltimore’s gay community. In 12 short weeks, the Center raised the unheard of sum of $20,000 to pay the down-payment towards the purchase price of $70,000. The building was constructed as a car dealership decades earlier but in 1980 was being used as a warehouse for pinball machines – four floors worth, stacked from floor to ceiling.

And it was ours!

Harvey Schwartz, then the Center’s executive director, who lead the effort to buy the building, told Baltimore OUTloud how he felt when he attended the settlement finalizing the purchase of the building, “We looked at a lot of properties all over the city and when I saw this building, I said, ‘this is it’ because of the size and location – right in the heart of Mount Vernon. For me, it was the culmination of our effort. We had so much programming that we were bursting at the seams with our rented space on Maryland Avenue. This gave us an opportunity to increase our programming. The first Saturday night we had an after-hours party

New digs, better space

FreeState Sues in Support of Transgender Boy

By Bill Redmond-Palmer On July 19th, FreeState Justice filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court on behalf of a 14-year-old transgender boy, who has been denied access to restrooms and to the locker room that align with his gender identity. In the lawsuit against the Board of Education of Talbot County, the superintendent of Talbot County Public Schools, and the principal of St. Michaels Middle-High School, the ninth-grader is listed in court documents only by his initials, M.A.B., in

GLCCB’s new space in Charles Village

accordance with a federal law protecting minors.

To their credit, the school has taken several steps to recognize M.A.B. as a boy, and to respect his gender identity, by addressing him with male gender pronouns and by his chosen name whenever possible, even prior to his legal name change.

In spring 2015, the school also conducted a professional development workshop for its staff on the subject of transgender students.

Tablot County Public Schools has, however, barred M.A.B. from using the communal boys’ toilets at the school for most of the past school year, and continues to bar him from using the boys’ locker room facilities at the school to change clothes before or after phys-ed classes and athletic activities.

In, M.A.B. ex rel. L.A.B. & L.F.B. vs.

Board of Education of Talbot County, FreeState Justice attorneys Jer Welter and Laura McMahon DePalma asked the court to enter a judgment declaring that the school’s policy is a violation of Title —continued on page 3

without any permit, the line was around the block. It went on all night. It was crazy!”

For the next three decades, the Chase Street building was the focus of the ever growing out LGBTQ community. It housed the Gay Clinic (later Chase Brexton), the Switchboard, the Gay Paper, Lambda Rising Bookstore, the Center’s executive offices, Womyn’s Space, and rooms for many community groups to meet, including regular meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Although the building was old, had many problems, and was not ADA compliant, it was ours. Sadly (some might say tragically), all of this history came to an end in 2012 when the GLCCB was forced to sell the building.

Fortunately for Baltimore’s LGBT communities, in its press release, the current leadership of the GLCCB has pledged not to “shy away from the poor decisions of the past.” Added Lyles, “The reasons GLCCB lost the building on Chase Street are —continued on page 4

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FreeState Sues in Support of Transgender Boy —continued from page 1 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, as well as Articles 24 and 46 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.

They have requested that the court require the school system to allow M.A.B. immediate access to the boys’ communal toilets and locker rooms at the school to the same extent and on the same terms as other students.

“Requiring a transgender boy to use a girls’ locker room or to use a separate and substandard facility that lacks benches, lockers, and showers violates equal access protections mandated under federal and state law,” said Welter. “School systems in Maryland should know the law, and should be protecting students who are transgender from discrimination, not singling them out for separate and unequal treatment.”

Title IX prohibits discrimination under any education program receiving federal funding. The U.S. Department of Education (D.O.E.) has subsequently issued regulations that allow for “separate toilet, locker room, and shower facilities on the basis of sex,” so long as “such facilities provided for students of one sex shall be comparable to such facilities provided for students of the other sex.”

Under the Equal Protection Clause, discrimination based on gender is unconstitutional. FreeState alleges the school is treating M.A.B. differently based on his gender, denying him the equal protection of laws, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Maryland Court of Appeals has held that the rights protected by Article 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights encompass a right to equal protection of the laws that is generally equal to the same rights established by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Article 46 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, known as the Equal Rights Amendment, says that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged or denied because of sex.”

Talbot County’s differential treatment of M.A.B. based on his gender, because he is transgender, and because they do not deem him to be male, FreeState argues, denies him the equal protection of the laws.

For the most part, fellow students have accepted and respected M.A.B. as a male. No other male students have expressed concern or discomfort with the idea of M.A.B. using the boys’ locker room facilities, and in fact, many of his fellow

students, both male and female, have congratulated him on finally gaining the right to use the boys’ toilets.

In spite of all this, the school has required M.A.B. to use three “gender neutral” single-occupancy restrooms for changing clothes for physical education classes etc., and until recently, for toilet use. M.A.B. says he gets “weird looks” from other students when using these restrooms, so he tries to use them as inconspicuously and infrequently as possible, or to simply “hold it,” if there is not enough time between classes to get to the remote restroom, passing the boys’ toilet on the way there.

The use of these special facilities is not only humiliating, embarrassing, alienating and stigmatizing for M.A.B., he says, but since none are near the gymnasium, it causes tardiness to class. While his regular teachers are aware of the issue, each time there is a substitute, M.A.B. is forced to “come out” again to explain why he was late.

The school system has suggested that M.A.B. could use the communal female locker rooms, which FreeState rejects as stigmatizing and socially awkward for both M.A.B. and the female users of that facility.

St. Michaels began to allow M.A.B. to use the boys’ toilet following a “Dear Colleague” letter, issued jointly on May 13, 2016 by the United States Departments of Education and Justice, which stated that under Title IX a school “must allow transgender students access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity,” that a school “may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so,” and that a school may “make individual-user options available to all students who voluntarily seek additional privacy.”

D.O.E. policy that “a school generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity,” has been consistently reinforced through a series of actions over several years, and is consistent with the view of the federal government generally, and of numerous courts that subjecting a person to differential treatment because they are transgender is a form of discrimination “on the basis of sex.”

This letter followed the April 19th, 2016 decision of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the court ruled that a male transgender student who had faced restric-

tions on using the common male toilets, had been discriminated against under Title IX. In that case, the boy did not participate in any physical education or sports related extracurricular activities at their school, and had no need to access the boys’ locker room, so it was not included in their complaint. Since there was no specific ruling by the court on that matter, Talbot County Public Schools claims the ruling does not apply to them.

The results of this case will impact transgender students across Maryland.

“Transgender students have an equal right to access all school facilities, including locker rooms,” said Welter. “Schools in Maryland will be held accountable if they violate the law by stigmatizing and segregating transgender students.” t

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Community Center Moving This Weekend —continued from page 1 shameful. I would be remiss to ignore the history that got us here. We have been working tirelessly to prevent old mistakes.”

The Center is looking for volunteers this weekend to help with the move. “We need our community more than ever during this time,” said Tasha Stennett, newly installed office manager at GLCCB. Community members interested in volunteering should call GLCCB at 410-7778145 or email Tasha at tstennett@glccb.org.

The Center plans to host an official grand opening event once it is settled in to its new home, with more details to come. It is one of the longest-running LGBT community centers in the U.S., serving the community since 1977. t

GLCCB’s new home: 2530 North Charles Street, third floor

Official grand opening to be announced

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Rally for LGBT Rights and Gun Reform

By Bill Redmond-Palmer “The deaths of the 49 people murdered on June 12th, 2016 at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, must not be in vain.”

That is the message that spurred Jason Hayes to action. He had called legislators, signed petitions, and made donations, but that just wasn’t enough. He needed to do something different. He decided to create a Facebook event inviting his friends to join him for a rally in Washington, D.C., and asked them to invite their friends.

The event quickly attracted volunteers and organizations offering their support.

In just a few days, a senior staffer from the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence was sitting at Hayes’s kitchen table to lend help. In less than two weeks, the Facebook event had gotten 22,000 shares, and the event had amassed a long list of “allies.” It has since attracted the attention of major celebrities, media outlets, and political leaders.

“Disarm Hate: The Rally for LGBTQ Equal Rights & Realistic Gun Law Reform” is planned for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on August 13th, 2016, in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., just west of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

The rally is focused on two primary themes: LGBT rights and “Realistic Gun Reform”. On the LGBT rights, “our primary focus is to work to create legislation to ensure that the LGBTQ community has equal rights and protections in all 50 states,” says Hayes. “No more, ‘We have the right here, but don’t drive across the state line.’”

Gun control is focused on three areas: a ban on assault weapons; preventing those on the FBI’s “Watch List” or the “No Fly List” from purchasing or owning a firearm; and universal background checks, as part of a 50-state registry.

“Now, perhaps more than ever before,” says Hayes, “vastly different groups of people are coming together with a common understanding that unless we join forces and voices, LGBTQ discrimination and gun violence will continue. We must join together, not as distinct communities defined by our differences, but emboldened by our shared humanity, to demand that our leaders solve this problem. I believe that Americans have a reasonable right to guns, but we also all have a reasonable right to feel safe.”

The rally organizers are still seeking sponsors to help cover the cost of what may be tens of thousands of people descending on the National Mall. “We are counting on businesses that understand the critical impact of these two issues, to step up and join us with their public support and contributions,” says Hayes. Donations of any size are being accepted on a Gofundme page that has raised over $15,800 so far at Gofundme.com/disarmhate/donate.

The Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence has put their full support behind helping to organize the rally and find sponsors, and a diverse group of over 40 “ally” organizations are lending their support in some way, including George Takei’s One

Pulse for America, the Trevor Project, Gays Against Guns, Women Against Gun Violence, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Students United Against Gun Violence, Rabbis Against Gun Violence, Stonewall Democratic Club, and Episcopal Peace Fellowship. To become an event ally, email disarmhate2016@gmail.com with “ally” in the subject.

Conspicuously missing from the list of “allies” are most national LGBT groups.

Hayes believes they will come to the table, as have many gun reform groups with differing perspectives, but he wouldn’t mind help from the members of and donors to those organizations, in getting them to the table.

For more information, visit DisarmHate2016.info, the events Facebook page at Facebook.com/disarmhate2016, or email disarmhate2016@gmail.com. t Bill Redmond-Palmer is the community outreach liaison for Baltimore OUTloud, and a longtime community advocate for HIV/AIDS, interfaith, and queer related issues. Have a community news story idea?

Email bredmondpalmer@baltimoreoutloud.com.

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Faith Leaders Honored at Pride Interfaith Celebration Communities of Baltimore with Pride (FCBWP); serving as the event coordinator for the LGBTQ Passover Seder; serving as the event coordinator for the Pride Interfaith Service held at Grace United Methodist Church; serving as the event co-chair of the World AIDS Day Interfaith Service in Mount Vernon; and serving as a member of the planning committee and liaison to the faith community for the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance event, including an interfaith service.

All of these activities, served in a volunteer capacity, helped to strengthen and build the opportunities for LGBT people of faith to be part of welcoming, inclusive, affirming and embracing faith communities in Baltimore.”

The second award, “The Baltimore Faith Leaders Award for Embracing Communities of Faith,” is awarded to a faith-based community or organization.

The 2016 recipient was First and Saint Stephens United Church of Christ. The award was presented by Ryan Sattler, event co-moderator, chair of FCBWP, and member of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Loch Raven.

“First and St. Stephens UCC was chosen because they are an open and affirming community that takes their welcoming message very seriously,” said Sattler. “The Keep in the faith – Honoring religious supporters of LGBT rights: event church proudly displays co-moderator Ryan Sattler, at podium; rear: Dr. Jennifer Langdon, its rainbow flag with Rev. William Ingram, Taylor Ramage, Nora Jones, Jacquie Perry, and the words, ‘God is still Vania Christian Dos Passos of First & St. Stephens UCC speaking.’ Considered a small congregation, it all queer people, at all levels.” The 2016 re- recently opened its doors to a young lesbian cipient was Bill Redmond-Palmer, event co- couple, who needed to find a faith community ordinator for the Pride Interfaith Celebration that would recognize and celebrate their love for the past 11 years, and the award was in the sacred covenant of marriage. This coupresented by Gordon Creamer, a member of ple, now married, is active in the faith life of the event’s planning team, from St. Ignatius the church.”

The 2017 awards, for service in the 2016 Catholic Community in Mount Vernon.

“Bill Redmond-Palmer was selected be- calendar year, will be presented at the 2017 cause of his tireless efforts for full inclusion Pride Interfaith Celebration, held annually of the LGBT community in all faith communi- during the week prior to the Baltimore Pride ties,” said Creamer. “Some of his faith com- Parade and Festival. Community members munity related accomplishments during 2015 are encouraged to submit nominations, once included serving as vice president and later the nomination period opens in 2017. For president of IFCMD; serving as a founding more info, contact awards@ifcmd.org. t – from staff reports member of the coordinating team for Faith In 2009, the first Baltimore Faith Leader Awards were presented to honor organizations and individuals in the community whose work furthers the aims of achieving a world where all LGBT people are welcomed, included, affirmed, and embraced, at all levels, of all faith communities. After a brief hiatus, these awards were revived for presentation at the 2016 Pride Interfaith Celebration, held at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation on Thursday, July 21st.

The first award was named in honor of Father “Skip” Koritzer, former president of the Interfaith Fairness Coalition of Maryland (IFCMD), who passed away in November 2015. The award is given to a clergy or lay faith leader who “demonstrates a commitment to promoting and expanding the ideal of a world where all faith communities, embrace

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beyond the beltway compiled by Jim Becker

First trans person speaks to Democratic Convention Philadelphia, Pennsylviania – Sarah McBride is a 25-year-old trans woman and former White House intern who works for the Human Rights Campaign, on July 28th became the first transgender woman to be a speaker at a national political convention. “Today in America, LGBTQ people are targeted by hate that lives in both laws and hearts,” she said. “Many still struggle just to get by. But I believe tomorrow can be different. Tomorrow, we can be respected

Sarah McBride

and protected – especially if Hillary Clinton is our president.”

Sarah told the delegates that she learned the need for urgency when her future husband was diagnosed with cancer.

“I met Andy, who was a transgender man, fighting for equality and we fell in love. And even in the face of his terminal illness – this 28 year-old – he never wavered in his commitment to our cause and his belief that this country can change. We married in 2014, and just five days after our wedding, he passed away. Knowing Andy left me profoundly changed. More than anything, his passing taught me that every day matters when it comes to building a world where every person can live their life to the fullest.”

The leaders of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus invited Sarah to speak during the portion of the Democratic convention program they planned. Caucus co-chair Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) said, “It is disappointing that it has taken so long for a transgender person to address a major party convention, but we are proud to host Sarah McBride as part of our program.” (Equality PAC Press Release and Baltimore OUTloud staff)

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Clinton VP was slow on samesex marriage Seattle, Washington – There are many reasons to like Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s pick to run for vice president on the Democratic Party ticket. For example, in 1984 he took his Harvard law degree and became a civil rights attorney, not a high-priced corporate lawyer, representing death-row inmates and victims of housing discrimination. Kaine gets an F rating from the National Rifle Association, but 100% from Planned Parenthood. That’s all the more remarkable because Kaine is Roman Catholic and says he’s personally opposed to abortion.

On the other hand, Kaine has been something less than a champion when it comes to LGBT rights.

He was late to the party on marriage equality – even later than Hillary Clinton – not coming out for marriage rights until 2013, two weeks after Clinton did. In 2012, Kaine, then-governor and a candidate for the Senate, said he was in favor of “relationship equality.” When asked if that meant marriage equality, Kaine refused to endorse marriage equality. “The labels get in the way of the issue,” he said. As governor in 2006, Kaine opposed an amendment to the Virginia state constitution forbidding same-sex marriages on the grounds that it also forbade civil unions. But when the legislature passed a bill to put the amendment on the ballot, he signed it anyway. As lieutenant governor in 2003, Kaine issued a statement distancing himself from a Massachusetts court ruling that gay couples had a right to marriage. “Marriage between a man and a woman is the building block of the family and a keystone of our civil society,” Kaine said at the time.

His primary contribution to LGBT rights as governor was an executive order banning discrimination against lesbian and gay – but not transgender – state employees. LGBT organizations by and large welcomed Clinton’s VP choice, some enthusiastically, but in their statements they tended to cite accomplishments not directly related to LGBT issues. “While Donald Trump doubled down on discrimination by picking Mike Pence, Hillary Clinton has bolstered her campaign’s historic commitment to LGBTQ equality by choosing Tim Kaine,” Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin said. “The stakes for LGBTQ people in this election couldn’t be high-

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er, and the choice for pro-equality voters couldn’t be clearer.” (Seattle Gay News – Mike Andrew at Sgn.org)

ACT UP Philly protests police brutality at Clinton HQ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Members of ACT UP Philadelphia carried body bags through Center City July 21st to protest police brutality. The action was notable as the first in ACT UP’s nearly two decades in operation to address a social-justice issue not related to HIV/AIDS. About two-dozen protestors took part in the action. The body bags were meant to symbolize Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, and others who have recently died at the hands of law enforcement.

Marchers proceeded to the campaign headquarters for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, at 18th and Market streets. The group demanded Clinton

ACT UP urges Hillary on police brutality

commit to backing policies that would require law-enforcement officers be vetted for mental-health issues and incidents of racism before they are issued firearms.

“People of color now have medications and treatment for HIV and may live longer lives but being shot to death by police is a distinct possibility,” ACT UP member Jamaal Henderson said in a statement. “Shooting unarmed people of color to death without convictions or dismissal sends a clear message: open season on people of color,” added Jon Rose. “It says our lives don’t matter.”

“Hillary Clinton must earn the votes of people of color,” said ACT UP’s Erica Goldberg.

“She cannot assume people of color will vote Democratic or vote at all.” (Philadelphia Gay News – Jen Colletta at Epgn.com)

Nice terrorist was a bisexual Muslim hustler Nice, France – The Daily Beast reports that what French investigators found on the phones of the Muslim murderer who slaughtered 84 people on the promenade in Nice, France, on July 14th (Bastille Day) should not be surprising. But it was. The police were looking for imams and people associated with jihad. Instead, they found many that were customers for his sexual favors.

It turns out Mohamed Mondher Larouaeij Bouhlel was “a hustler,” as one senior member of the French security establishment told The Daily Beast. He was inclined to have sex with any gender, and, according to a report in Le Parisian, likely from law enforcement sources, his most frequent customer or lover was a 73-yearold man.

Christopher Dickey, the author of the article, wrote in the online piece, “The profile of Bouhlel, 31, that has emerged from leaked reports of his cellphone contacts and police interrogations with his acquaintances is not just of a troubled young immigrant from Tunisia living in France, it’s of a midnight cowboy on the Côte d’Azur, depressive, confused, filled with rage.

None of which means Bouhlel did not, in his last days, choose to identify with the terrorist organization that calls itself the Islamic State, or perhaps with some affiliate of al Qaeda. At a press conference in Nice on Monday, Paris prosecutor François Molins, who oversees terrorism investigations, said that despite a vague claim by the Islamic State that Bouhlel was inspired by its propaganda, there was still no clear link. Bouhlel appears to be, indeed, part of a new genre of terrorist, the instant jihadist who decides more or less suddenly to turn his shitty little life into a world-famous spectacle of death. There are many people like that to be exploited. As the French dai-

Memorial for the Bastille Day killings in Nice

beyond the beltway ly Le Monde noted in its profile of Bouhlel, ‘Triggering from a distance the morbid impulses of fragile individuals is an integral part of the strategy of ISIS’” (The Daily Beast – Christopher Dickey at http://www. thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/18/ nice-attack-has-a-bisexual-muslim-hustler-put-france-on-the-path-to-civil-war. html)

Navy to name ship after gay rights icon Harvey Milk Washington, D.C. – The Navy is set to name a ship after the gay rights activist and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, the first openly gay California politician to be elected to office. He was assassinated in office in 1978. According to a congressional notification sent out July 14th, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus says he will name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206).

The ship would be the second of the John Lewis-class oilers being built by Gener-

Earl Warren, whose court ruled to desegregate U.S. schools; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; women’s right activist Lucy Stone; and abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth. Mabus has also named ships in the past for other civil rights icons, including the Lewis and Clarkclass dry cargo ships USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE-13) and USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE-14).

Milk came from a Navy family and was commissioned in the service in 1951. He served as a diving officer in San Diego during the Korean War on the submarine rescue ship Kittiwake until 1955. Milk was honorably discharged from the service as a lieutenant junior grade. Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and was wearing his US Navy diver’s belt buckle. (Seattle Gay News – Shaun Knittel at Sgn.org) Bring on the agony

Documentary explores male tickling fetish and exploitation

Milk as seafood

al Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego. For now, the Secretary of the Navy’s office is deferring releasing additional information until the naming announcement.

Mabus has said the John Lewis class – named after civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) – would be named after civil rights leaders. Other names in the class include Supreme Court Chief Justice

Auckland, New Zealand – Journalists routinely email subjects, asking them if they’d like to participate in a story. When David Farrier – a reporter based in New Zealand who specializes in human-interest stories about the bizarre – discovered a fetish called “male competitive enduring tickling,” he emailed the company that produces many such videos, Jane O’Brien Media, to ask for an interview. But rather than receiving a simple “no, thanks,” Farrier was met with a homophobic screed attacking “little gay Kiwis” and using the word “faggot.” The message was signed by Debbie Kuhn. Big mistake, Debbie.

Instead of scaring him off, Farrier took up the challenge to find out just who was behind this shadowy corporation, and uncovered a trail of exploitation, cyber-bully-

ing, and, frankly, psychological disorders dating back decades. The result of his investigation – the new documentary Tickled – emerges as part Catfish, part real-life thriller and all-around fascinating. But it’s all real. And it’s fascinating.

Farrier’s investigation is itself compelling, like those “gotcha” news segments that Mike Wallace used to do, but he intersperses the journalism with a campy, almost bewildered curiosity about male tickling, how gay it is, and how anti-gay Jane O’Brien Media is. (And we all know the truth about homophobia: The more you protest…) Like him, you spend a lot of time asking yourself, “What the hell – is this really happening?” That’s great storytelling.

(Dallas Voice – Arnold Wayne Jones at Dallasvoice.com)

Columbian peace deal to include LGBT and women’s rights Bogotá, Columbia – Yahoo News reports that if Colombia signs the draft of its landmark peace deal to end 50 years of civil war that has left 260,000 people dead, 45,000 missing, and nearly seven million displaced, the pact will offer equal social rights for women and LGBT victims.

Under the peace deal agreed to in principle, protection from gender discrimination is included. The partial draft was presented

by U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and the top U.N. envoy for sex abuse in conflict, Zainab Bangura. The Colombian government and FARC rebels have agreed to create conditions “for women and people in sexual minority groups, to achieve equal access to the benefits of living in a country that is not at war,” a joint statement said.

These news notes have been compiled, with permission, from the online version of various newspapers and other web sites. We thank these publications for allowing us to bring you their news stories. Usually the reports have been significantly edited and you can read the full story by going to the web site mentioned following the item. Comments are strictly the opinions of Jim Becker and not of Baltimore OUTloud or Pride Media.

Killing forgivable – sex not?

As reported by Yahoo News, the peace deal, which would end Latin America’s last civil war, women and members of the LGBT community are to be encouraged to take part in politics, may receive land to farm, or receive compensation to stop growing drug crops, among other benefits. “Putting gender in a peace agreement is a first. It has never before been done in (ending) war,” Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said.

According to Yahoo News the Colombian government and the Marxist Revolutionary

“The Colombian government and FARC rebels have agreed to create conditions “for women and people in sexual minority groups, to achieve equal access to the benefits of living in a country that is not at war,” a joint statement said.

Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are in the final phase of four years of talks that it is hoped will result in a peace deal to end a half-a-century of conflict. The rebels last month signed a ceasefire and disarmament deal with the government, with the aim of becoming a political party. The government said it hoped to move on to a full peace deal within weeks. t (Yahoo News at Sg.news.yahoo. com/colombian-women-lgbt-victims-standequal-peace-rights-214119281.html?nhp=1)

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out in the valley

Parenting OUTloud

Rev. Kelly Crenshaw

When Manners Matter

I’ve never been good with compliments.

Maybe it’s a self-esteem thing. Maybe I don’t get why I’m being complimented if I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

But, no matter the reason, I have to be purposeful in my acceptance of compliments.

So, when I started my family, I wanted to make sure that my children were gracious enough to accept compliments, instead of feeling flustered as I’d always been. So, we worked on that. We taught the kids to feel proud of being complimented, instead of embarrassed.

As the family grew, we realized that we needed to be purposeful about our fami-

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ly’s public image, too. As a pastor, I was often criticized if my children acted out in church. With a large family, the worst was assumed the minute we walked in the door.

So, we began to play a game. We called it “Counting compliments.” Here’s how it started: Let’s say the family was going to a restaurant for dinner. With a couple of adults, a number of teens and a whole bunch of elementary and younger kids, we were intimidating. It was not unusual for us to walk in with a party of 16 or more. As the restaurant staff moved tables to accommodate our crowd, we’d see the other patrons

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roll their eyes. Conversations would cease and people would openly stare.

We’d play it cool. We’d been in this situation many times before. The kids would stand calmly, waiting until they had a chance to sit down. Everyone would find a seat. There were no arguments about who got to sit next to whom. We just sat down.

Bigger kids sat next to smaller kids who might need help.

When the wait person showed up, we ordered our drinks – usually the same thing for everyone. It makes it easier on the wait staff and keeps the younger kids from being upset if someone got a redder / larger / fizzier drink than someone else. And, then we ordered or, more often, went to the buffet. Buffets are so much easier with a crowd of picky eaters.

Once everyone was settled and eating their food, the game began. It never failed. Over the course of the meal, people would start to comment. They might approach me and say how beautifully behaved the children were. Sometimes, they approached the kids themselves to tell them how much they appreciated the fact that they were so polite, always saying please and thank you. And, we counted each one.

One time, we got to 21 compliments out of one restaurant outing. The kids were thrilled.

I realize that our situation is unique.

Not every family has the opportunity to make an impression simply by walking in the door. But, every family can leave an impression – whether positive or negative.

We always said that our children had to stay in control simply because of the numbers. If you have a group of a dozen kids throwing fits, it is more disruptive than one or two. But, one kid, throwing a massive

tantrum, can destroy an experience for someone else.

I try to remember that the way I perceive my kids is not necessarily the way other people do. Recently, a colleague commented that she was so impressed that my teenagers got along so well. They seemed to really be friends, not just sisters, she told me. I laughed. If she only knew!

Our kids are typical kids.

They love each other one minute and hate each other the next. They are each other’s best friend and worst enemy. But, in public, when manners matter, they are considerate of others. They hold their tongues and save their arguments for another, better time.

I’m seeing more and So polite! more parents who don’t think that manners matter, but they do. Your lovely precocious child could grow up to be an entitled, spoiled adult, who is unable to get along in the world.

Our job as parents is to teach our children what they need to get along in the world. And, if nothing else, they need to be polite and have good manners. On behalf of everyone else on the planet, thanks for making that an important part of your parenting plan. t Rev. Kelly Crenshaw is the mom of 16 adopted kids, two biological kids, guardian of one baby girl and foster mom of dozens.

Some are lesbian, some gay, some straight, and some bisexual. Kelly founded a K-12 day school where kids could have a safe, bully-free environment for learning. She is co-owner of a counselling agency that works with children and their families. Send your parenting questions to her at pastor.kelly@comcast.net

out in the valley

Brian’s

Brain

Brian George Hose

The Glue Theory For years I’ve had a sneaking suspicion about us. It’s not something I talk about much because, until recently, it’s been more of a theory and less of an observation. However, recent events tell me that the world is changing, that my theory is indeed becoming fact, and that now is the time to share it with the world.

It’s simple, really. We, the LGBTQ community, are everywhere. We’ve been around forever, present in every culture, country, and society in the world. Our status varies according to the norms and values of each location and period in history, but still, we are and have always been here. We participate and contribute to society in a plethora of ways, either openly or subtly, just like everyone else.

What makes us different, though, is that our community transcends the boundaries of all other communities. Age, income, race, ethnicity, religion, location – we are present in every group, every demographic that makes up society as a whole.

For years our community’s political involvement has centered on “our” issues. Marriage equality, non-discrimination policies, equal protections under the law – these are important issues that affect everyone in our community and we have made great progress towards these goals in recent years. If there’s a down side, it’s that we have become a “special interest” group whose participation in the political process has been limited to our own interests.

That’s all changing now.

Following the mass shootings, a bona fide hate crime, in Orlando, LGBTQ interest groups and lobbyists are now branching out to advocate for change in gun control policy to prevent and minimize future violence by limiting access to assault-style weapons, expanding background checks, and making it more difficult for those with a documented history of violence to obtain guns.

// health Ours is a society prone to violence, and we’re doing something about it. We were the target of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, and now we’re taking action to protect not only ourselves, but everyone in this country. Gun control is a sensitive subject and I won’t attempt to fully discuss it in this column.

Instead, I’ll just point out the obvious. Mass shootings like the one in Orlando and so many other cities wouldn’t be possible without assault weapons. Police and other first responders would be safer if violent criminals weren’t armed with weapons more powerful than those issued to the men and women tasked with keeping us safe.

Will these changes end all gun violence?

Probably not. Will they save lives? Yes. Look at it this way: A gunman has decided to go to a crowded movie theater and hurt or kill as many people as possible before ending their own life. If you were in that theater, would you prefer the gunman have six bullets, or 100 that can be fired in rapid succession? This is the “common sense” of gun control advocacy.

Now that we’ve entered the political arena to advocate for change on an issue that affects not just the LGBTQ community but every person in this country, we have taken our advocacy to the next level. “Our” issue is everybody’s issue. Our advocacy benefits not just us, but every man, woman, and child in the U.S. Which brings me back to my theory. Our community knows no bounds. We are everywhere, part of every group. When we seek to protect those in the LGBTQ community, we also seek to make each and every community, every group, every faction, safer because we are part of every community, group, and faction.

So, what is my theory? My theory is that we are the glue, the common factor uniting not only this country, but the world. When we protect us, we also protect them. LGBTQ issues are human issues, just as LGBTQ rights are human rights. As our community becomes more prominent in mainstream politics, I’m excited to imagine how much better, how much brighter we can make the world for everyone.

Could we be the greatest untapped political power in history? If we stick together, like glue, we might just find out. t

Health Chat

Debbie Anne

Are You One of the 6,000?

June seems like a blur to me. There was so much going on – the tragedy in Orlando and of course a month of Pride activities. Somewhere in the midst of everything, I totally lost National HIV Testing Day, which is held June 27th each year. Some people use National HIV Testing Day as their reminder to get their annual HIV test. Others use their birthday, New Year’s Day, or some other significant day that will jerk their memory to take care of this important health screening. With all that happened in June this year, you may have missed your reminder.

If you are a young gay male, I want you to be aware of how important it is for you to get your annual test. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in five people in Maryland who are living with HIV don’t know it yet because they have not taken an HIV test. Since current statistics tell us that most new infections in Maryland are now occurring among young gay men, that means that you may be one of the almost 6,000 people in Maryland who are living with HIV and don’t know it.

Undiagnosed HIV accounts for the transmission of most new cases of HIV. If a person doesn’t know they are infected with HIV, they are much less likely to protect partners during sexual activity. On the other hand, those who know their status and are successfully treating their HIV to undetectable levels have

been shown to not transmit the infection at all even when having unprotected sex (not that you ever should have unprotected sex!).

The only way to know if you have HIV is to get an HIV test. In 2016, HIV infection no longer has to lead to sickness and death.

But all too often it does because people don’t recognize their risks for contracting HIV and don’t seek routine HIV testing. Testing routinely, at least once every year, is the key to early diagnosis and treatment of HIV. Testing is also a great chance to ask the counselor about PrEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) and whether PrEP may be right for you. PrEP is a medication that prevents HIV infection when taken once daily. It is recommended for people who are at higher risks of contracting HIV due to their sexual practices or their personal circumstances – like being in a long-term relationship with someone who has HIV. In 2006 the CDC recommended that all people between the ages of 14 and 64 have at least one HIV test. At that time, they were calling on physicians to make sure that all people got screened. Ten years later, that is still not happening, physicians are still not treating HIV like they would other health risks.

That means we have to take it upon ourselves to make sure that we get the screening.

To get an HIV test, you could ask your primary care provider to order one for you. Since 2012, insurance plans must pay for routine HIV screening. And if you don’t have health insurance or don’t want to go through a primary care provider, you can still go to your local health department to get a free HIV test. For Frederick County: Health.frederickcountymd. gov/256/HIV-AIDS-Services For Washington County: Dhmh.maryland.gov/washhealth/ Pages/communicable-disease.aspx.t Debbie Anne is a Public Health Nurse with Frederick County Health Department in Frederick, Maryland. In 2014 was awarded a Governor’s Citation for her work with Marylanders living with HIV/AIDS.

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out in the valley

August in Frederick!

By E.A. Perper Welcome to August in Frederick, dear readers! This month provides ample time for day trips and weekend forays into sports, film, theatre, comedy, gourmet delights, and more.

Looking for adventure the whole family can enjoy? Look no further than “Gulliver’s Travels in Space,” an original musical produced by Maryland Ensemble Theatre, in collaboration with the Ensemble School and Frederick Community College. Gulliver longs to travel the universe, but he’s stuck at home with his dad and uncle. Desperate, Gulliver stows away on his uncle’s spaceship, but he soon realizes the universe may hold more dangers than he expected. “Gulliver’s Travels In Space” runs August 4th to 13th. Visit Marylandensemble.org for show times and ticket prices.

Want to see old-school penny-farthing bicycles – you know, the ones with the tall, skinny wheels – take over the city of Frederick? Then you won’t want to miss the National Clustered Spires High Wheel Race on Saturday, August 13th. It’s the only one of its kind in the U.S.! Visit Highwheelrace.com or call 301-514-5172 for information.

What’s a penny-farthing race without

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an accompanying steampunk convention?

Steampunk Frederick, Maryland, is a weekend-long event (August 12th to 14th) that includes a bar crawl, improv comedy, information panels and a vendor hall, concerts, a beer tasting and much more. Visit Steampunkfrederick.com for tickets and more info.

Taste Frederick hosts the Market Street Food Tour – a three-hour guided walking tour of the best of Frederick’s specialty market and restaurant scene. In between delicious bites and delectable drinks, you’ll learn more about downtown Frederick’s history and architecture. Tours run throughout August. Visit Tastefrederickfoodtours.com for times and tickets, including a web-specific discount.

History buffs won’t want to miss the Historic House Series: Thomas Farm Open House on August 20th and 21st, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Thomas Farm experienced heavy battle during the Battle of Monocacy. Historians, rangers, and volunteers will be on-site to answer questions and help visitors explore.

The open house is free. Learn more at Nps. gov/mono/planyourvisit/event-details.htm?ev ent=9AA7FB1D-1DD8-B71B-0BFE4A19AB02CC6F. Inebriated History of Frederick brings

august 5, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

hooch and history together for one night only!

On Friday, August 26th, the Comedy Pigs liven up the old Frederick News-Post building with skits, trivia, and more to tell the history of our fair city. Tenth Ward Distilling and others will provide drinks and grub beginning at 7:30 p.m.; the show begins at 8:30 p.m. Ages 21 and up only. Tickets and more information at Downtownfrederick.org/calendar/events/ view/2723/redirTo:L2NhbGVuZGFyL2V2ZW50cy9pbmRleC8yMDE2Lzg Heat things up with “The Heat is On 5K and Fun Run” in downtown Middletown, Maryland on Saturday, August 27th. Starting at 8 a.m., this route will take you through 249 years of history, past lovely Appalachian Mountain views. All ages welcome. A portion of the proceeds benefits Middletown Valley People Helping People. Registration is $25. Register and learn more at Active.com/ middletown-md/running/distance-runningraces/2nd-annual-the-heat-is-on-5k-and-funrun-2016.

You’ve never attended a movie night

quite like this! The National Aviation Community Center hosts a showing of Planes: Fire and Rescue in an airplane hangar, complete with free hot dogs, popcorn, and soda. You’ll even have the opportunity to climb into the pilot’s seat of a plane or flying a flight simulator. Bring the whole family on Saturday, August 27th from 6 to 9 p.m. Learn more at Aopa.org/community/events/2016/august/27/movie-night. t

Spirit Speaks Talking it Out

By Rev. Kelly Crenshaw One of the most important ministries of any church is conversation and support.

Most of us offer worship services, outreach to a needy segment of our population and opportunities for education. But, one of the things that seems most important is the ministry of presence.

We all need or a strong shoulder or listening ear every once in a while. And, when that time happens, it’s good to know that there is a safe place to go where people will listen. Chatting Over the years, I have seen the church at Pride be the support system for folks who are in need. Maybe it’s because their family is all gone or lives far away. Maybe they’re disconnected from their family of origin. Maybe they are struggling with questions that are outside of their area of understanding. Whatever the reason, the church was there.

But, I think one of the greatest misunderstandings is that the pastor is the only one who can provide that support. The best churches have strong congregations that love and support each other. They don’t require the pastor’s presence to be supportive. They just are.

That is one of the reasons New Light has a time of fellowship and refreshments following the worship service each week. People are free to sit around and talk. Maybe they will catch up on the happenings of the week or maybe they will find a quiet spot to talk about matters that sit a little deeper in the heart.

All I know is that fellowship time involves significant time at New Light. It is not unusual for folks to stick around for up to an hour, just talking.

And, that conversation doesn’t happen only on Sundays. Conversations and support happen during the week, at festivals and in restaurants. The connections made at church extend farther and deeper than we can ever fully appreciate. t For more info about New Light contact one of the co-pastors at 301-797-5698 or newlightmcc@hotmail.com.

thinking outloud

Pointing it Out

By Sage Piper

The Fabulous Democratic National Convention I did not attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last month. However, I did watch as much of it as I could stand, in various sympathetic Baltimore living rooms and bars. I tried deep breathing, even deeper drinking, and invoking strength in numbers, in order to muddle through the simplistic and frightening one-colored proceedings. It was not pretty.

I did, however, find myself lucky enough to be part of the fervent party faithful, delegates, and guests in the Wells Fargo Arena at the DNC in Philadelphia, and I am still reeling from the adventure.

It was, in a word– well, it was messy – gloriously and humanly messy, and it was full of juicy contradictions.

It played on your emotions in unexpected ways, maybe because it was trying too hard – and it went all zigzag in ways that were zany and surprising, like characters at a family reunion. At times it was full of hot air, at others it left its heart out on its sleeve.

Then it broke your heart ... and tried to pick up the pieces.

What is there to say when there is a week’s worth of scheduled speakers leading up to a grand finale, and Michelle Obama delivers the best speech of the year, the most passionate and the most electric, on the very first night? You revel, you sway, you glory in it, and you shake your head knowing there is no better embodiment of grace under pressure and lived White House experience and lived parental experience and lived political experience to be recommending Hillary Clinton as the next Oval Office steward.

It came too soon, dammit, it was over too

soon – but, come it did.

What is there to say when there are Bernie supporters galore in their glowing yellow shirts pouring their hearts out and shouting their throats out and casting their votes in full passion? You understand they are given a voice at the convention’s beginning, and yet by Wednesday their every dissent is drowned out by swift arena-wide chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A.” – and they are swallowed up by it, even as they themselves fight for the vision of a more genuine U.S.A..

What is there to say about Bill? When he comes out to give his testament, when he goes on and on after “I met a girl”?

Some around you roll their eyes or groan audibly, others listen wide-eyed, and you can already hear the talking heads having a field day above you and yet underneath it all lives this truth: you can never really know what goes on between two people.

I say, let him talk. And all week you watch the mounted videos and hear the testimonials of life-long friends trying to break through with convincing words that Hillary does have a heart, and you feel frustrated and outraged that no one has ever felt the need to mount such a campaign strategy with a male candidate.

And you learn new things about the passionate early Hillary Clinton and all the years she has fought and all the years she has kept fighting, and you’re glad you’re there to hear it all.

And what is there to say when the heartbreak comes? You cry along with Joe Biden as he mourns his beloved Beau and you feel cancer’s inconsolable grief. And then up on that stage come the victims of the human-induced tragedies – the gun violence, racism, homophobia, war, intolerance, fear, and aggressive policing. There is Christine Leinonen, whose son was killed in the Orlando massacre along with his boyfriend, and she is saying, “Christopher was my only child, and as I used to tell him: You can’t do better than perfect.” She is supported on both sides by two beautiful young men, friends of her son, and somehow she is able to speak about passing gun safety measures so no one has to go through what she now lives.

There is Erica Smegielski, whose mother was the principal of Sandy Hook Elemen-

tary, saying she does not want to be up there on that stage speaking, she wants her mom back. There are two survivors of the A.M.E. Church shooting in Charles-

ton speaking about the power of love and forgiving the gunman, and they do not want to be up on that stage. There are the Mothers of the Movement, united in their grief and not wanting one new member to ever have to join their movement. There is

the wife of an Army pilot who died in Iraq, and a Gold Star mom whose son was killed in Afganistan. There is Khizr Khan, describing his patriotic American Muslim son and his sacrifice for the country he loved.

When these peoAnnointee ple spoke, when they were able to rise above their pain for those moments, the crowd was one. We were all there. And this was a beautiful thing.

There were no easy answers. The Democrats had the heart to let this be: some things cannot be fixed, they can only, somehow, be carried.

The laws we pass and our words and our actions have consequences, and we may be flawed people but as leaders our hearts must be in the right place.

Among the pageantry and the political speechifying, this could stand. It felt like real life. t

“Of the two conventions, only Democrats dare showcase the complicated heart of our matter”

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quality of life

The Law & You

Cheryl A. Jones

Don’t Leave a Mess for Your Spouse Statistics show that more than 50% of Americans die without having a last will and testament. People tend to put off this important planning because they are either procrastinators (“I’ll worry about it later!”) or misinformed (“I don’t need a will because my spouse/partner will get everything when I die.”) The consequences of this can be dramatic, whether you are a wealthy celebrity (look at the tabloid stories about Prince!) or just an “everyday Joe.” If you die without a will in Maryland, then you are considered intestate, and Maryland’s intestacy laws determine what

happens to your property. The intestacy laws are designed to protect your family members – first your spouse and children, then your parents and other extended family members. Often, however, what happens under these laws might not be what you expect – or what you might want for your loved ones. Here are a few key points: Without a will, your unmarried partner inherits nothing from your estate.

Unfortunately, your unmarried domestic partner is not considered family under Maryland’s intestacy laws. So, if you die without a will, your partner has no right to any assets that flow through your estate (such as a house, car, business, or bank accounts that you own in your own name), or any portion of your life insurance proceeds or retirement assets payable to your estate, no matter how long you’ve been together and no matter what you intended.

This can be devastating for a surviving partner, both emotionally and financially. Imagine losing your partner, only to be told that you won’t be receiving any portion of his or her estate – including the home you’ve lived in together for decades, or the retirement assets that you were counting on for your own financial security.

Even if you are married, your spouse

may not inherit everything Marriage doesn’t necessarily solve the problem for your spouse. That’s because if you die without a will, your spouse has to share your estate with your children who survive you. If you have minor children who survive you, then your spouse will only receive half of your estate, and your children will be entitled to the other half. If you have adult children who survive you, then your spouse receives the first $15,000 of your estate and half of the balance, while everything else goes to your children.

What if you have no children or other descendants who survive you? Then your spouse still has to share your estate if either or both of your parents survive you. Under those circumstances, your spouse will inherit the first $15,000 of your estate and half of the balance, and the other half will pass to your parents.

Other considerations Sound complicated? It is. Now imagine how much more complicated it becomes when: The relationships between your family members isn’t so great. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that after your death old hurts and rifts will suddenly be healed and the family will all share nicely with each other.

• Your parents are in a nursing home receiving Medical Assistance benefits at the time of your death. If they inherit from your estate (because you die without a will and have no children who survive you), then your parents will have to immediately pay that inheritance to the nursing home, or risk losing their Medicaid benefits. Is that really what you want to happen?

• Your 18-year old son or daughter inherits almost half of your estate and can do anything he or she wants with those assets, without anyone’s permission or oversight.

• You have a stepchild that you want to treat exactly the same as your biologi-

cal children, but because you died without a will, your stepchild will only inherit if you have legally adopted him or her, or if you have no spouse or other blood relatives – children, grandchildren, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and any other descendants of

“Unfortunately, your unmarried domestic partner is not considered family under Maryland’s intestacy laws. So, if you die without a will, your partner has no right to any assets that flow through your estate.” your grandparents – who survive you.

Of course, there’s an easy solution to these problems, which is to prepare a will.

Besides protecting your partner/spouse, a will can help you structure inheritances for family members, address any death taxes that might arise, and ensure that your estate passes the way you wish. t Cheryl A. Jones (410-769-6141 or cjones@pklaw.com) is an attorney at Pessin Katz Law (PK Law), whose practice includes estate administration, estate planning for same-sex couples, second parent adoptions, and other family building issues.

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BALTIMORE OUTLOUD

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quality of life

My Fabulous

Disease

By Mark S. King

When AIDS Activists Hijacked the Olympic Rings The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a very touchy organization, most especially when it comes to the Olympic rings.

They guard their trademark jealously and litigiously, commonly suing anyone who dares to approximate the iconic rings for their own purposes. Even local street vendors during the Games have been shut down for violating copyright.

Anthony Braswell wasn’t thinking about that when he and a co-worker came up with a dangerous idea. It was 1995, and Atlanta was in the height of Olympic fever as the city prepared to host the 1996 Summer Games.

Braswell served as director of the Grady Health System Infectious Disease Program (IDP), Atlanta’s new HIV clinic. One day he and his medical director, Dr. Jeff Lennox, were chatting about the enormous HIV education opportunity the Games presented. If only they could garner the attention of the worldwide media that would soon be streaming into the city for a two-week stay.

“A basket of condoms was sitting on the conference table,” Braswell said in an interview with My Fabulous Disease. “Jeff took five condoms out and starting arranging them on the table, and joked that we should make the Olympic rings out of them. I remember looking at him and saying, ‘Yeah.

Play safe.’ And that is how it started.”

At the time, they didn’t burden themselves with whether or not creating such a campaign was legal, or what the response of the mighty IOC might be. Or exactly how it might be done. They just started working.

“We didn’t think about next steps,” said Braswell. “We were just enjoying the simplicity of the message. There was no budget, no money at all for this idea.”

That problem solved itself when people began offering free services to design, photograph, print, and distribute a full-color poster of the fledgling idea.

A marketing company in Los Angeles

stepped in with a photographer and studio time. “They took great care in matching the color of the condoms to the Olympic ring colors,” said Braswell. “They also learned that the lubricated condoms caused damage to their camera lens, so they had to scrap those and find unlubricated ones.”

When the drafts of the poster arrived from a volunteer marketing company, Braswell couldn’t believe that “Our crazy idea came to life. But it was missing something.”

Meeting with others on his clinic staff, the group realized the “Play Safe” message simply would not translate to scores of international Olympic visitors. “To be effective we needed to communicate with many different nationalities, many different cultures,” Braswell recalled, “so we contacted all sorts of international groups to determine how the ‘play safe’ message would translate.”

They added a border to the central image that spells out the “play safe” message in 18 languages. “The hardest one was Chinese,” said Braswell. “There were no symbols that delivered the message of safe sex, and we wound up saying ‘Have good sex.’ But they did not have a symbol for ‘sex,’ either, so in the text we actually had to spell out the word in English.”

A final graphic detail was adding the phone number for the Georgia AIDS Information Line, a number that still operates today.

“We didn’t ask their permission,” Braswell said, because he wanted to protect them.

By then, a growing array of Atlanta HIV advocates, from gay men to the staff of AIDS service agencies to health department employees, had heard of the campaign plans and stood ready to accomplish the most daunting task of all: distributing the 750,000 copies of the poster, which a Los Angeles movie studio had paid to print and shipped directly to Braswell’s home.

“The weekend before the Olympics, several large trucks pulled up in front of my house,” Braswell said.

“Over one thousand boxes were on them. I was horrified.

We filled every inch of my house, floor to

ceiling with boxes, and there were still more to go. We took one truck to the clinic and hid about 400 boxes in the storeroom. Even my neighbor put a hundred boxes in her living room.”

Braswell, and the army of volunteers ready to unleash the campaign, knew full well how much the poster would infuriate the IOC. Any potential fallout very likely emboldened them, as much for the publicity as for the fact there was no love lost between the citizens of Atlanta and the IOC. The aloof and arrogant president of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, had actually asked locals to address him as “your excellency,” a request that went over like stale cornbread in a Southern city so unpretentious it featured a fleet of pickup trucks in its opening ceremonies.

On the opening weekend of the Atlanta Olympic Games, the plan was executed. “It was all very covert,” said Braswell. “Friends working in the Olympic Village helped us sneak the posters in.” Meanwhile, other volunteers had jobs at the hotels, including those where media was staying, so under every door they slipped press packets that included the poster and a statement about the need for AIDS awareness and safer sex materials. The poster was wall-papered on light posts, in store windows and in restaurants throughout the city.

Figures differ about the availability and number of condoms distributed in Olympic villages over the years. In a recent Slate ar-

ticle, Atlanta in 1996 shows a significant dip from the number of condoms distributed in previous Olympic villages – and even these figures are disputed.

Braswell doesn’t believe many condoms were distributed in Atlanta’s Olympic village. “When we asked about making condoms available, the Atlanta Olympic Committee said no, telling us that there would be no sex in the village. Oh my God.” The attitude contrasts sharply with the 450,000 condoms that will be made available to athletes in Rio. “What a different world we live in now,” said Braswell.

The 1996 poster effort, once the Games began and the materials got out, yielded… not much. At first.

“For a couple of days we heard nothing,” said Braswell. “And then the press began. Officials from the IOC and the Atlanta committee were looking for the people ‘who had done this to the Olympic rings.’”

In a city containing more press than any place on earth during that time, the Olympic condom rings gained traction, leading to officials having to answer questions about whether or not there was an “official condom of the 1996 Olympic Games.” Reporters gleefully reported the answer that no, there was not.

The attention was glorious but short-lived.

During the second weekend of the Games, a bomb was detonated in Centennial Olympic Park, an act of homegrown terrorism that stole the headlines and broke the hearts of the good people of Atlanta.

The tragedy took the heat off of the condom poster controversy and shifted attention to the very serious business of security and the bomb’s aftermath. The poster disappeared from media reports as quickly as it had appeared.

As with most acts of activism, whether a flash mob or a protest, the Olympic condom ring poster found an audience, made its point, and was gone.

“In the end, the campaign worked,” Braswell said. “I am so proud of the people who believed in this effort. And this was 20 years ago, before the power of social media!”

“No matter,” Braswell concludes. “It worked. And we pulled it off.” t

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Thinking OUTloud // mark my words

Tracing the LGBT DNC Legacy

by Mark Segal The Democratic National Convention that will convene in Philadelphia in July in just a couple hours with LGBT history on full public view. This will be the first national political party convention with LGBT participation on every level: the largest number of out LGBT delegates and delegates at every level, from a small county district to super delegate, from county commissioner to U.S. Senator. And while the Republican platform suggests same-sex married couples are at risk of raising drug-addicted children, denies transgender people any rights and asks that women not be allowed equal duty in the military, the Democratic platform embraces LGBT issues in broad strokes – from the Equality Act in Congress to the military and trans rights.

What is on full view is how far the struggle for equality has actually come. It wasn’t until 1974 that any LGBT person was elected to public office: Kathy Kozachenko to the city council in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In 1975 we saw the first state legislator: Elaine Noble in Massachusetts. One year later, Jim Yeadon was elected to the city

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council in Madison, Wisconsin. Also that year, we saw the first out LGBT delegates at a Democratic National Convention, which was held in New York City.

That first LGBT-involved convention saw a very low profile for the LGBT community and in the Democratic platform.

That year Jimmy Carter was the Democrats’ candidate for president and the first from a major political party to support LGBT rights as part of his campaign. He was elected and as president created the first liaison to the LGBT community and held the first meeting in the White House to look at LGBT issues. It was literally a page from the book of Democratic Gov. Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania who discussed the issues with Carter on the campaign trail during the primary season when Shapp ran against Carter in the

august 5, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Florida primary. Shapp was the first presidential candidate to have an LGBT branch of his campaign: “Gays for Shapp.” He also was the first

governor in the nation to meet with representatives of the LGBT community and create an office known as the Council for Sexual Minorities. I actually headed that effort and advised Shapp, and until I started writing this, I did not realize how that Council would later be used as a national model by a future president.

Just eight years ago, Philadelphia Gay News discovered that Sen. Barack Obama’s deputy campaign manager was a gay man named Steve Hildebrand, and we knew that was news. After all, never has an out LGBT person ever reached such a level in a national campaign. We requested an interview and that Hildebrand granted it was a decision that had to be made by the campaign manager David Axelrod and then-Sen. Obama himself. To their credit, they knew this was history and needed to be recorded, so the request was quickly approved.

Jump eight years later, and the 2016

DNC will not only see the largest LGBT delegate caucus in history, but also a lesbian U.S. Senator will speak from the podium; the platform of the party is almost an LGBT manifesto; the Democratic candidate is not only supportive of the LGBT community, she brings it up often in her speeches; and, oh, her campaign manager is a man named Robby Mook, who becomes the first-ever out campaign manager of a presidential campaign.

My thoughts at this moment are for former Congressman Barney Frank, who worked for another presidential candidate, John F. Kennedy. As a closeted gay man, Frank likely never thought he’d get anywhere with his passion for politics, as he heard gay slurs tossed around during that campaign. Frank of course followed Elaine Noble into the state legislature in Massachusetts and became the nation’s first out U.S. Congressmember.

It’s now 40 years since a brave Kathy Kozachenko was the first out LGBT person to be elected to office and who, along with those brave grassroots LGBT activists who served as the first out delegates, led the way for the creation of Human Rights Campaign in 1980 and Victory Fund in 1991.

The latter was led by inaugural executive director Brian Bond who professionalized the effort to elect out LGBT people across the nation, and who this year serves as one of the top executives in charge of the DNC. Democrats attending this week’s convention should hold their heads high, and enjoy the history they are creating. Know that you are building the blocks that will make history. t Mark Segal is publisher of Philadelphia Gay News. His new memoir And Then I Danced is out now. You can follow him oat Facebook.com/MarkSegalPGN or Twitter. com/PhilaGayNews.

Thinking OUTloud

Narratives on

New Beginnings Merrick Moses

This Journey Has Legs I was never what the doctor said I was. I realized this as I processed my decision to walk authentically in this life. Assumptions were made because of what my body looked like to deem me female, with all the associated cultural trappings. But what this designation gave rise to was years of self-doubt and loathing, years of confusion and misplacement. I never fit into the category of girl and I could not explain why. Hence I prayed for a life of congruence which led me to seek help for my feelings of being lost, confused, and full of self-doubt.

Smokey Robinson was right. There are tears of a clown when nobody is around or looking. I tried to mold myself into being female and it truly never worked. I tried to wish away the truth and it caused me more pain. I often felt isolated when I was in single sex situations with girls. I felt like I belonged when I was with the boys. But then there was also a point with the guys in which they would lock me out energetically. I could not figure out what that was initially. Then it dawned on me that I was being iced out because I was being perceived as a girl. Although we played stickball in the street and basketball with crates, the proverbial brotherhood locked me out. I got relief when I would spend time with my dad, going to Yankee games in the Bronx, road tripping with him to see friends and run errands. He treated me like a son and it was a balm to my heart and a temporary healing to my spirit. I didn’t feel trapped in my body nor in the wrong body. As a kid, I hoped that my body would morph into the boy I was inside. And with prayer, why not?

All things were possible with God, my parents and the nuns told me, so I prayed for the facial hair and the drop in voice. Unfortunately, nature had other plans. My gender dysphoria kicked in high gear at puberty.

I looked for hope for my gender conundrum. I was looking for a way out. I often prayed to “be a boy.” I felt that would make me free. The first transsexual I saw was on

// David’s Thoughts the Donohue show. I never knew such folks existed. I secretly wanted to find out the process of becoming “boy.” I watched with longing. I looked for confirmation of my feelings from my family. I asked my mother if she had ever wanted to be a man. I was hoping she would say yes. I just needed to know I wasn’t crazy or that something was wrong with me.

But when she said no, and a resounding no at that, my heart sank. Although I appeared amused at my mother’s emphatic no, inwardly I retreated. I decided to drift further into a carefully constructed closet in my heart and mind. At least, in there, I could be who I really was. I began writing and living in my head a lot.

The late 80s and 90s provided a fashion oasis for me in the desert of my gender confusion. In New York, at that time, girls wearing boys’ clothes was the norm. I often rummaged through my dad’s closet and hijacked the clothes he didn’t wear often. He and my mother allowed this to a certain extent. As I entered my late teens, my parents policed my gender presentation a little bit more and more. I seemed to escape full wrath with so called feminine touches like an earring and growing my hair out into long dreadlocks and wearing head wraps.

By the time I finished college, I determined that I was attracted to women. Looking back on it now, I have come to believe that my gayness was an outlet for me to express my masculinity through sexual filters. It was a relief to be perceived as a soft butch. I could be as boy as I wanted and to love women as I wanted. But even after 13 years in the life, (from coming out in 1998 to when I began therapy for gender dysphoria in 2011) I continued to feel isolated within. After my years of activism, I still felt incomplete and full of doubt. My foray into trans antagonism was a direct result of true self-loathing. The closet is a soul killer. These closets are carefully constructed to hide the most vulnerable part of the self, and that part, is the authentic self. I gravitated toward some of the most virulent anti-trans voices because I just wanted the man in me to die. I wanted my inner most self to quietly go away so I could get some peace. But as the Universe would have it, the prayers I prayed opened up a path to congruence for me that I could scarcely imagine. I asked the Universe to put me in alignment, to put me in congruence with who and what I was inside. The dreams of a young boy coming to the foreground at age 40. t To be continued in the next issue.

“It was a relief to be perceived as a soft butch. I could be as boy as I wanted and to love women as I wanted.”

Florida Congressional Candidate Attempts to Smash Ceiling

By David Placher On January 7th, former Florida Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe announced he is a congressional candidate for Florida’s newly created District 10. An openly gay congressman –albeit rare – is not new, but a gay HIV-positive congressman is. Poe’s personal history has been like a rollercoaster that reaches the stratosphere only to drop down to the Mariana Trench, with amazing twists and heart-pumping turns along the way.

Here’s one snapshot from the ride he’s taken: After Election Day in 2000, as the public anxiously waited for the Florida votes to be totaled, Poe, the state party chairman at the time, was in the middle of the national media storm, advocating for all Floridian votes to count, something that did not happen. As a result, George W. Bush became the U.S.’s 43rd president. Sixteen years later, Poe disclosed that during that stressful storm, he was HIV positive.

Born on August 18, 1954, Poe discovered politics at an early age by visiting the Sarasota Democratic Party headquarters, near his father’s convenience store. Poe’s family moved to Orlando when he was in high school and his first job was pumping gas. He went to college but didn’t finish.

In 1980, Poe ran for state senate, but lost during the Ronald Reagan landslide that swept the country, which left its mark in down-ballot races. Poe was devastated because he campaigned hard and his passion was real.

Thereafter, Poe married and in 1988, Poe and his wife had a beautiful baby, Virginia. Poe admits in several newspapers that he struggled with his attraction to men while he was married. In 1998, Poe became sick, got tested, and discovered he was HIV positive. Poe told his wife. The marriage eventually ended, but Poe was still discreet about his attraction for men.

He was also not active in the LGBT community, yet. During the late 90s, it is no secret that being gay was frowned upon and

widespread discrimination existed.

In March 2000, with his sexuality and HIV status secret, Poe became the chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, a very public role filled with stress. Florida elections in 2000 and 2002 did not produce many Democratic wins. In 2002, in particular, 9/11 revenge fever helped Republicans gain seats.

Later, Poe founded a company that provides “reverse 911” services. In 2008, Poe met his future husband Ken Brown. When Poe sold his shares in his company, his financial status skyrocketed.

Today, not only is Poe’s presence felt on the campaign trail in Orlando, Poe is also an artist, with his photography in shows all across the U.S. If Poe is successful, he will join the tiny group of other elected officials Bob who are HIV-positive, Poe except Poe’s congressional seat will be the highest elected office so far. The other politicians that are HIV positive, include the following: In New York, former Manhattan State Senator Thomas K. Duane, who busted a glass ceiling two decades ago, when he disclosed that he was HIV positive during a successful city council run, and later made history as the first openly gay member of the state Senate. Tom Duane is known as the first U.S. elected official who is openly HIV-positive. Former Medford, Massachusetts, State Representative Carol Sciortino stepped down shortly after he disclosed that he was HIV positive in March 2014.

John Duran and John D’Amico are current members of the city council of West Hollywood, California, and both are HIV positive. t To learn more about Poe’s campaign, visit Bobpoeforcongress.com.

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quality of life

Open Wide ask Dr Eva

Dr Eva Hersh

Loss of Sexual Desire: Men Dear Dr. Eva, I am a gay man. My partner and I have been together for 14 years. I am in my mid40s; he is 12 years older. We are mostly monogamous and use protection when we’re not. We love each other as much, and probably even more, than we did in our early years. He is a great guy and I have no plans to leave him, but our sex life isn’t what it used to be. He is usually willing to have sex when I want to, but without much enthusiasm. He rarely initiates sex. I get the feeling he has sex just to please me, and I miss the passion we used to have. What can be done

about this? Would Viagra help? What about testosterone?

Not the Same Dear NS, First, let’s make a distinction between loss of desire and loss of erections. Erections result from nerve stimulation and increased blood flow to the penis. Viagra, Cialis, and similar medicines work by opening up the blood vessels in the penis. But erections will not happen, even with Viagra, unless there is also a feeling of sexual arousal, or desire. Because feelings develop in the brain, anything which affects the brain can affect the ability to feel desire. (The exception to this is spinal cord damage,when erections can occur by reflex with no feeling of arousal.)

There are many potential factors that could be causing your partner’s lack of desire, or low sex drive. Some of these include boredom (lack of novelty), low testosterone, stress, depression, health problems, relationship problems, side effects of medications, and normal changes that occur with getting older.

Although you may have ideas about which of these factors are affecting your

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partner’s sex drive, it’s best not to guess.

Start by talking with him. Speak in terms of a change in your shared sex life, not only a change in him. Assuming the entire problem is with him is likely to make him defensive and less willing to talk. Try to avoid sounding hurt or rejected, even though you may feel that way. Talk to him about how hot you think he is and how you would like to bring back some of the passion of your early days. Get him to talk about how he feels. Has he noticed a loss of desire in himself, or a change in you? Ask if there is anything you can do to improve things.

Boredom, or lack of novelty, is one of the most common reasons for decreased sex drive in men. If you are able to discuss this, ask if he is more excited when he has sexual encounters with other people. If that is the case, it, does not mean there is anything wrong with you. Men naturally have greater sexual response with new partners and situations. You can find ways to vary your sex life to make it fresh.

If he reports he does not experience more arousal with new partners, that suggests the problem is not boredom.

A related issue is stress, for the individual or in the relationship. It’s not unusual for men to have decreased sex drive after losing a job, experiencing any sort of financial or other loss, or the death of someone close. And anything that causes stress in a relationship tends to negatively affect sex life.

Taking testosterone can be helpful in treating lack of desire, but only in men who have low blood testosterone levels. If the blood level is normal, treating with testosterone will not help. Even for men whose testosterone level was low before treatment, only half of those treated with testosterone notice increased sex drive. Over age 50, there is a normal, gradual fall in the level of testosterone. If the level of testosterone is low but is normal for the man’s age, it can sometimes be helpful to give additional testosterone, but in this situation there is often little or no change in sex drive after treatment. Testosterone cannot be given by mouth. It is given by injection, skin cream, or skin patch.

Many health problems, and also many

prescription medications, can cause lack of desire, problems with erections, or both.

Depression is the commonest health condition that lowers sex drive. Unfortunately, the medications that are usually prescribed to treat depression, the SSRI’s (examples include fluoxetine / Prozac, sertraline / Zoloft, and many others), also frequently cause loss of desire and delayed orgasm in both men and women. High blood pressure, diabetes, and atherosclerotic disease (blocked blood vessels that can lead to heart attack, stroke, or poor circulation) all affect erections through damage to blood vessels. Several types of medication for high blood pressure and heart disease can decrease both erections and sex drive. The main offenders are beta blockers (the names of these medicines end in –olol, as in propranolol) and the thiazide diuretics such as hydrochlorothiazide.

If your partner is taking any prescription or over the counter medicines or herbs, he should review all of them with the prescribers. If any of his medications are known to affect sex drive, he should ask if another medicine could be substituted or the medicine dose decreased. He should not stop or decrease the dose of any medication until he speaks to the prescriber, because doing so can be dangerous.

Finally, it is important to remember that sex drive naturally decreases with age, and your partner is more than a decade older than you are.

If you talk through all the possible reasons for decreased libido with your partner, you will probably find some factors which can be addressed. However, do not expect him to be able to be the same man sexually that he was 14 years ago when the relationship was new. He is already controlling the main factor a person can control by making himself available to have sex whenever you want to.

Sadly, it is not possible to control desire. t For a discussion of loss of desire in women, see this column in the previous issue, July 22nd, 2016. Eva Hersh is a Baltimore family physician. Please send questions and comments to her by email at dr.eva@baltimoreoutloud.com or editor@baltimoreoutloud.com

“If you talk through all the possible reasons for decreased libido with your partner, you will probably find some factors which can be addressed. However, do not expect him to be able to be the same man sexually that he was 14 years ago when the relationship was new.”

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Lively Arts // personalities

A Strong First Impression

By Gregg Shapiro Wise beyond his 18 years, with talent to boot, James T.W.’s aptly titled debut EP First Impressions (Island) make a good first impression indeed. From his respectful cover of the Natalie Imbruglia hit “Torn” (released the year T.W. was born), to empowering originals such as “Different” and “When You Love Someone,” he is an artist who definitely knows how to reach his audience and uplift them when necessary. Discovered, if you will, by label-mate Shawn Mendes (of “Stitches” and “Something Big” fame) with whom he is currently on tour, James T.W. is off to a strong start. I spoke with James in July.

Gregg Shapiro: James, if you don’t mind, I’d like to begin with your name.

What was involved in the decision to perform as James T.W., as opposed to James Taylor-Watts?

James T.W.: Well I guess the first thing was my dad named me after James Taylor. Although I think it’s very cool to kind of have that in the back of my mind, and that people might recognize that, I think in the beginning it was about when I was uploading Youtube videos and wanting people to find me. I did start as James Taylor-Watts.

People would search it and all that would come up is James Taylor [laughs]. To avoid that, we just went with James T.W.. That’s the honest answer, really.

G.S.: Thank you for being honest.

You co-wrote five of the six songs on your First Impressions EP. What can you tell me about your songwriting process?

J.T.W.: The process usually starts with concepts for me. I’m usually a lyrical guy first. In my phone I always have ten to 20 different song ideas. One of the songs on the EP is called “When You Love Someone.” It’s about parents getting divorced.

That was simply written in my phone as “parents explaining to child that they are getting divorced.” When I feel inspired to write about one of the ideas in my notes, I’ll have a search through, find the one I like the best and try and come up with some chords to it.

G.S.: As I mentioned, you co-wrote the songs. What do you look for in songwriting collaborators?

J.T.W.: That’s a good question. I play different instruments – guitar, piano and

drums. I’m very interested in songwriters that are also musicians. I find myself a lot of the time deciding where the chords and music are going. If I can write with someone who can take a chord sequence in a different direction then I value that very much. Really, it’s about having good chemistry with someone.

The people I enjoy writing with the most I’d quite happily go and spend time with them outside of the studio, too, or just chill with them.

G.S.: You mentioned James Taylor. Who do you consider to be your biggest musical influences?

J.T.W.: If we’re talking throwback influences, James Taylor is there with Bill Withers, Otis Redding, and Marvin Gaye. It’s all about the soul guys. Donnie Hathaway.

I love their voices. More modern influence – I love Norah Jones, I love “John Mayer.

Live,” I think I take a lot from Ed Sheeran.

I guess they all have a singer/songwriter quality to them. But I am a sucker for a soulful voice G.S.: The lone cover on the album is the song “Torn,” which was a hit single for Natalie Imbruglia. What is the significance of that song to you?

J.T.W.: I was having a chat with my label.

We wanted to include a cool cover. We all went searching and we found “Torn.” “Torn” was released the year I was born. I obviously can’t remember it from when it was released. But I always liked that song a lot. I was keen to try my best and cover it. I got together with a producer called Jordan (Orvosh) and he took my acoustic demo of the song that I had recorded and turned it into its own thing. We had a good crack at it and people are responding well to it.

G.S.: You mentioned “When You Love Someone,” a song I

An interview with James T.W.

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heard you perform when you opened for Shawn Mendes at the Mizener Amphitheater in Boca Raton Florida. You said the song was written for a music student of yours whose parents were going through a divorce. Do you know what the student’s reaction was to the song?

J.T.W.: That’s a tough question. I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s heard it. I’m not going to bring the song to him. What I do know is that it’s helped a lot of other people that I’ve reached. The responses online from people who are going through the same thing has probably been one of the most gratifying things I’ve done in my career. To write a song of that ilk that is helping people that I’ve never even met before; that’s an amazing feeling.

G.S.: You switched from acoustic guitar to electric guitar when you played “Sanctuary.” Do you have a preference for one over the other?

J.T.W.: I’m always fighting between the two. My favorite to play is electric. Acoustic is where I’ve come from with James Taylor James T.W. credit: Meredith Truax

and people like that. But there is time for me to grow.

G.S.: “Different,” a song about standing out, being who you are and not changing that, is a wonderfully empowering message, especially for an audience such as yours, which includes a lot of pre-teen and teenage girls. Would you say that also applies to your young queer fans, many of whom I also noticed in the audience at the show?

J.T.W.: Yes, definitely. Everyone goes through insecurities; even me. I was kind of writing songs for myself as well as other

“I am a sucker for a soulful voice.” people. Growing up, whether it’s school or everything that you’re going through, it’s changing. You have to remember to just be yourself, and that’s what that song is about.

G.S.: You took a video of the audience at that show. Is that something that you do at all of your concerts?

J.T.W.: Yes, I do. It’s very fun. It means that people at the show can go and try to find themselves in the videos. I like to keep the videos for myself, too.

G.S.: How do American audiences compare to audiences in other countries in which you’ve performed?

J.T.W.: [Laughs] that’s a good question! I think the biggest difference is sometimes, if I tell a joke on stage, it depends on the humor of the audience. Sometimes the joke will go way better in America than in Europe, for example. I guess you have to be careful about people’s sense of humor. I guess the only difference is when I play covers. Sometimes a song is huge in America and it’s not a big in the U.K. or vice versa. In my set, I do (Flo Rida’s) “My House” or (Justin Bieber’s) “Sorry,” I’d say that generally has gone down better in America than in Europe. “Sorry” was a big song everywhere, but “My House” was definitely a bigger song in America.

G.S.: Finally, James, When can we expect a full-length album from you?

J.T.W.: I’m going to be honest, I’m not sure yet. I released the EP and I’m touring it. I’m kind of all over the place with recording new songs which I’d like to be on the album. I think people can expect more music after the tour in November or around that time. t

Lively Arts // out on screen Trekking on

Escaping its Past

by Chuck Duncan After sitting through the dismal Star Trek into Darkness and all of its “He’s not Khan” bull – we all knew he was Khan before Benedict Cumberbatch finally said his name was Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaan – I really wasn’t sure if I was interested in seeing another Star Trek movie. They basically remade Wrath of Khan and flipped the script to have Kirk seemingly perish while Spock watched helplessly ... but he didn’t so it wasn’t going to be possible to remake The Search for Spock as the third movie. And with J.J. Abram abandoning ship to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many were wondering how the franchise would bounce back.

I have to say it has bounced back quite nicely under the direction of Justin Lin and the writing of star Simon Pegg and Doug Jung.

In Star Trek Beyond, we first see Kirk (Chris Pine) trying to negotiate a peace treaty between two warring civilizations. It doesn’t go well, but the artifact he hopes to present as a peace offering holds some interest for someone named Krall (Idris

as funny as ever. Jaylah is a terrific addition to the series as a kick-ass alien who takes no guff and knows her stuff, becoming a huge asset to Kirk and company when it comes to confronting Krall.

Krall, however, is the weak link. Not that he’s a terrible villain like John Harrison / Khan in the last movie, but there are too many questions about him – that I won’t discuss in this review as to avoid spoilers – that aren’t really answered satisfactorily. (And perhaps it was the lousy, extremely dark projection at my screening that impeded some of that information.)

Aside from that, it’s great to finally see the franchise cut its bonds to the original series (no doubt Nimoy’s passing helped push that forward, although there is still a nice nod to the original crew), and while it still may not be “classic” Star Trek, it’s still a rip-roaring good action flick with an entertaining story and some awesome

special effects. While the moments that acknowledge Nimoy are touching, there is still a bit of melancholy hanging over the film as Anton Yelchin’s Chekov has quite a bit more to do this time around than he has in the previous film. (Both actors get touching dedications after the main portion of the end credits.) It’s sad thinking we’ll never get to see him again (and Abrams has said that they will not re-cast the role, so Chekov is most likely gone forever now as well, at least until the next reboot).

Star Trek Beyond does indeed go above and beyond the last film, and perhaps is even better than the first. (And with the visual homage to Star Trek the Motion Picture on the movie poster, it seems they may be treating this as a “first” film in the series.) And with a fourth film already greenlit (with Chris Hemsworth somehow returning to the role of the late George Kirk), it looks like this Enterprise crew will be able to complete their “five year mission.” t

Elba). Luring the Enterprise to a desolate planet on the other side of a nebula, the ship is attacked, and the crew is separated, forced to survive on the strange world either as captives of Krall, or his prey so that he can get his hands on the artifact and carry out his mission. Along the way, the crew encounters Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who has her own bone to pick with Krall, and has to solve the mystery of how a Federation ship ended up on the same planet.

Some people have not taken to this particular iteration of Star Trek because it’s not in that more cerebral mold that Gene Roddenberry envisioned when he created the original series. Even the subsequent series that followed over the years opted to wage battles with words more than deeds until it was necessary to fight fire with fire. The new film series has always been more about action and spectacle and Star Trek Beyond is no exception.

We are given a few moments of humanity, especially when it’s acknowledged that Ambassador Spock has died, and the banter between Bones and Spock is just

“With J.J. Abram abandoning ship to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many were wondering how the franchise would bounce back.”

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Lively Arts // out on stage

Thunder from Down Under

By Frankie Kujawa Charm City will delight in a side of Australian beefcake this month as Australia’s Thunder From Down Under hits the Baltimore Soundstage on August 12th and 13th. The touring group, featuring some of the best-looking Aussie hunks has to offer, will delight audiences with seductive dance routines and chiseled physiques.

“Audiences can expect a very high energy, dynamic show,” explains hunk David Hughes. “It’s fully choreographed and acrobatic. We’ll be in the crowds and bringing them back on stage. It will be a classic, yet sexy performance straight from Las Vegas.” Hughes, who has been performing with the group for over ten years is also emcee. “He’s a veteran,” explains newly-joined Alex Martens. “He’s the wolf-pack leader and looks out for all of us boys.”

Martens brings his youthful energy and exuberance to his performances. “I’ve been with the national touring group since December,” Martens says. “I joined after one of the guys let me know there was a position available. I went through the audition and interview process. There’s a lot to it.

It’s exciting because you get to Alex travel the world Martens with your mates.

I had done some male entertainment prior to this so there was always an interest in performing.”

H u g h e s adds, “My older brother used to do ‘Thunder’ and I really looked up to him. I wanted to join because I wanted to come

to America and I thought it was going to be the next big thing.

You get to make some good new mates.”

Through their performance, each actor brings a different fantasy to life. “Each performer will have two dances. They have their own character in the performance and we are all performance back-up dancers,” Martens explains. “I’m a policeman so I cuff them down. It’s all to build the fantasy. We do Tarzan. We have your firefighters and GI Joes all doing these differDave ent fantasies with Hughes choreography. I’m the lead for the SWAT team – that’s my solo. Doing Tarzan, you can really embrace your inner animal.”

The show, which is for all adult demographics contains no frontal nudity. Regardless, audience members sometimes are overwhelmed with the sights and performances. “I once had a lady come up on stage completely naked,” Hughes recounts. Martens adds, “There was once a lady that got so excited that she passed out. She didn’t hurt herself, luckily – she was just overwhelmed.”

With all that primal sexiness in one room, who could blame her? t

Australian beefcake on parade!

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Lively ArtS // qmusic

Queer Summer Soundtrack

By Gregg Shapiro If you haven’t seen the Oscar-nominated 2015 lesbian love story Carol yet, what are you waiting for? Not only does it have two of the best performances ever given by Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, it also has a stunning and effective score written

by Carter Burwell (who received an Oscar nom for it) to match. Newly available as a two ten-inch LP set (making the most of the 1950s feel), Carol: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Varese Sarabande) smartly divides the soundtrack.

The first LP contains Burwell’s stirring and gorgeous score, including the unforgettable “Opening” theme. The second LP includes the period songs heard in the film, including “Easy Living” by Billie Holiday with Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra, “You Belong To Me” by Helen Foster & The Rovers and “Smoke Rings”

by Les Paul & Mary Ford. Additionally, three vinyl-only tracks, not found on the CD or digital editions – “Slow Poke” by Pee-Wee King, “A Garden In The Rain”

by The Four Aces, and Patti Page’s “Why Don’t You Believe Me?” – have been added to the soundtrack.

A longtime supporter and ally of the LGBT community, feminist icon and musician Kathleen Hanna is well-known for surrounding herself with talented queer people, beginning with some of the folks involved with the riot grrrl scene, followed by her groundbreaking all-female electro act LeTigre, featuring out lesbian J.D. Samson. When Hanna revived her The Julie Ruin project with the marvelous Run Fast in 2013 it not only signaled Hanna’s return to performance but also expansion into a full band, featuring out musician Kenny Mellman (of Kiki & Herb renown).

Hit Reset (Hardly Art), the second disc by The Julie Ruin owes more to Hanna’s days with punk band Bikini Kill than it does to LeTigre. Not that there aren’t songs that inspire dancing (listen to “I’m Done,” the funky “Time Is Up” and the retro title cut),

but the mood is definitely darker on “I Decide,” “Hello Trust No One,” “Mr. So and So,” “Be Nice,” and “Let Me Go.” “Calverton” might be the most heartbreaking song you’ve ever heard Hanna sing.

Queer classical superstar Cameron Carpenter presents his “first all-Bach recording,” the aptly titled All You Need Is Bach (Sony Classical). Playing his oneof-a-kind International Touring Organ (get your mind out of the gutter), Carpenter applies his inimitable interpretive skills to the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach. Classical purists and newbies alike will find something to their liking among selections such as “Trio Sonata #1 in E-flat major BWV 525-3. Allegro,” “Trio Sonata #3 in D-flat minor BWV 527-3.

Vivace,” “Prelude & Fugue in B Minor, BWV 5442. Fugue,” and “French Suite #5 in G, BWV 816 – Gigue.”

Gay actor/singer/Broadway star Jose Llana has some nerve. On his debut domestic English-language album Altitude (Yellow Sound) he tackles part of The King and I medley – “We Kiss In A Shadow”/”I Have Dreamed” – made famous by Barbra Streisand. Fortunately for Llana, he has the chops (and more) to pull it off. Altitude is easy to recommend because of the way it blends contemporary pop (Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Billy Joel’s “Lullaby Goodnight, My Angel”) with Broadway tunes from shows in which Llana has appeared including David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim’s Here Lies Love (“A Perfect Hand” and “Child Of the Philippines”) and William Finn’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (“Chip’s Lament”) alongside stage classics such as “Marry Me A Little” (Company) and “Lonely Town” (On the Town).

Camille Bloom brings a lot to the table.

She’s got a powerful and emotive voice.

She’s a confident musician, comfortable with guitars and piano. She also writes songs that have a way of staying with the listener after just the first spin. All of these things are true of her previous work and

her new album Pieces of Me (Camillebloom.com) as well.

Evocative opener “Lift Me Up” is followed by the torchy twang of “Turn Back To You,” the gorgeous ballad “Everywhere But Here,” the rocking lashing out of “I Refuse To” and the personal “In Another Life.” Bloom closes the disc with a dance remix of “Lift Me Up,” which is, as you might expect, uplifting.

Dedicated to his husband, Guatemalan artist Jorge Hernandez-Tevalan (who did the cover art), Bay Area legend Jim e Sparkle Pants is back with the album Drawing Me Into Your World (Cdbaby.com / Artist / JimeSparklePants). Still best described as an acquired taste worth acquiring, Sparkle Pants is never predictable, especially on the jazzy “Yellow Dog,” his collaboration with gay writer Trebor Healey (who can be heard reading excerpts from his novels A Horse Named Sorrow and Faun). Also worthy of your attention are the subtle Latin rhythms of “The Earth as their Lover” (dedicated to “eco-sexuals” Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens), the surreal funk of “Walk-

Cameron Carpenter

ing on a Frozen River,” and “Jonah’s Boogie,” and the bizarre rap of “My Brain’s Not Wired for These Times.”

A Little Single (Yellow Sound), the five-song EP by Drew Brody and Lance Horne might be the gayest thing you’ll hear this summer. “The Grindr Song” is so clever and catchy it’s destined to become a standard in cabarets from coast to coast.

The same can be said for the title track and the funny “Wingman.” Brody and Horne bring things to an affecting close with poignant ballad “Do You Think We Can Dance Now?” t

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Lively Arts // screen Savor

Heroes and Villains

By Gregg Shapiro You might feel like your heart is going to pound its way through your chest, almost to the very last scene of writer/director Jeremy Saulnier’s riveting third full-length feature Green Room (A24 / Broadgreen), but it’s only a movie. Because of that, the film takes its place at the head of the class of the new generation of horror/suspense flicks such as The Witch, It Follows, and The Babadook.

The Ain’t Rights, a young punk band from the Washington, D.C. (Arlington, actually, as one member points out) are scrambling to survive on tour, reduced to siphoning gas from other cars to fuel its van and playing shows to small crowds in Mexican restaurants. To make up for the latter, the quartet – Pat (the late Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Reece (Joe Cole), and lead vocalist Tiger (Callum Turner) – accepts an offer to play a better-paying opening act matinee gig from mohawked journalist / show promoter Tad (David W. Thompson), at a club where his cousin Daniel (Mark Webber) and Daniels’ girlfriend Emily (Taylor Tunes) are employed.

Warned that the crowd might be a little on the right-wing skinhead side, the band is un-

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prepared for how far to the right the white-power patrons lean. However, the swastika and SS graffiti and stickers emblazoned on the walls of the green room give them a better idea. Being the punks that they are, the Ain’t Rights open their set with the Dead Kennedys “Nazi Punks Fuck Off,” which, as you might imagine, doesn’t go over well with the crowd.

Can things possibly get worse? You betcha!

Just as the band is about to load out its equipment, Pat pops into the green room to fetch the mobile phone Sam left to charge, only to discover that Emily has been murdered.

Her body’s surrounded by the members of the headlining band, as well as bouncer Big Justin (Eric Edelstein) and her friend Amber (Imogen Poots). An attempt to dial 911 goes awry and suddenly the band, along with witness Amber, finds itself being held captive until club owner and Fuhrer-figure Darcy (an ominous Patrick Stewart) arrives to straighten out the situation in his distinctive and destructive fashion.

What follows is some of the most exhilarating suspense and stomach-churning gore to hit the screen in a long time. Handguns,

august 5, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

shotguns, box cutters, and machetes all play supporting roles. A pack of pit-bulls, trained to mutilate by Werm (Brent Werzner), also play a prominent part, although Green Room’s comment on the loyalty of dogs is as touching as it is terrifying.

Perhaps what’s most remarkable about Green Room is its prescience. Filmed before unstable Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had fully ignited his hateful following, Green Room is equal parts message movie and horror story. Trump supporters give it three Ks! DVD+Digital special features include a “making of” featurette and audio commentary by writer/director Saulnier.

When we last left our divergent heroine Tris (Shailene Woodley), in the crumbling dystopian remains of Chicago 100 or so years from now, she had handily disposed of ruthless Erudite leader Jeanine (think a smarter Donald Trump in a skirt) in 2015’s The Divergent Series: Insurgent. More determined than ever to discover what lies beyond the high and electrified wall (see: Trump) surrounding the city, Tris gathers a small team including love-interest Four (the ridiculously hot Theo James), repentant brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), diabolical Peter (Miles Teller), and petite but powerful Christina (Zoe Kravitz) and begins her journey in The Divergent Series: Allegiant (Summit).

Meanwhile, back in Chicago, Four’s mother Evelyn (Naomi Watts) who has become the de facto leader, attempting to share power with Allegiant head Johanna (Octavia Spencer), is not only unhappy that he has left with Tris, but also must deal with the rising tide of anger in the city (doesn’t seem like much has changed in the future Chicago). However, as Tris finds out when she meets with purity-obsessed David (Jeff Daniels), the man who governs the futuristic city in which the Bureau of Genetic Welfare operates, not everything is as it appears. As usual difficult choices, including the wrong ones, must be made, as allegiances are formed and broken.

The special effects in The Divergent Series: Allegiant alternate between being cool and clever or downright laughable. You be the judge when it comes to the orange memory erasing serum fog. The energy level is at its lowest here, which contributes to the trouble.

If you’re not thrilled with this installment (and it’s easy not to be), consider it to be a placeholder for the next chapter in the series, The Divergent Series: Ascendant, due to hit your local multiplex in June of 2017. Blu-ray+DVD+Digital HD exclusives and special features include half a dozen featurettes and audio commentary by producers Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher. t

Lively Arts

Conversation with The

Buchess Carlton Smith

Where’s the Spirit of Stonewall Now? President Barack Obama has just designated the area around the Stonewall Inn in New York City as the nation’s first national monument to LGBTQ rights. As you know, The Stonewall Uprising is largely regarded as the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ movement for civil rights. And our Pride celebrations grew out of that movement.

During the 1960s, very few establishments welcomed openly LGBTQ individuals.

Therefore, there weren’t many places for us to socialize.

Then, at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, 1969, eight police officers raided the

Stonewall Inn, located on the famous Christopher Street in the city’s Greenwich Village.

In 1969, police raids on gay bars occurred regularly. It was illegal to serve LGBTQ persons alcohol, or for them to dance with one another. During a typical raid, the lights were turned on, customers were lined up and their identifications checked. Those without ID or who dressed in full drag were arrested. Oftentimes, patrons would be roughed up. And, those arrested had their names printed in the newspaper, which resulted in some losing their jobs.

It was simply another risk of being gay.

During that early morning, approximately 200 people were in the Stonewall. The raid that early morning was the bar’s third during that week; and as always, the police entered with search warrants.

However, this time, those 200 patrons did not cooperate. They resisted and fought back. They were people of color, including Puerto Rican drag queens, black hustlers, bartenders, and some “butch lesbians” (who are not always mentioned in the narrative of what transpired).

While others were lingering outside the bar, the police were escorting patrons into the paddy wagon. Suddenly, a fight broke

out and the crowd started throwing cobblestones, bottles and garbage at officers, who retreated back into the bar as the crowd grew massive. As the rioting crowd spilled into the streets and alleyways, the police was forced to call for reinforcements. The uprising continued for two more nights.

It was the birth of a liberation movement.

The Stonewall Rebellion didn’t have “identifiable leaders.” However, it had community stakeholders who took a stance against oppression–resisting their oppressors. It was collective action. Stonewall became a model, a touchstone for gay liberation groups. A revolution had begun across the nation.

Now, having said all that, I have some pertinent questions: shouldn’t the Black Queer Lives Matter Movement be as revered and respected as the Stonewall Uprising? Shouldn’t it matter just as much?

Where’s the love for people of color who are constantly traumatized by oppression and hate?

Moreover, black and Latino trans individuals often face bigotry and violence as they try to live their lives like the rest of us, while too many of us take being exempt from it for granted.

On Sunday, June 12th, a gunman entered Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub and killed 49 people. This tragedy has claimed more lives than any other mass shooting in modern day American history–namely the lives of black and Latino LGBTQ people. However, mainstream media, politicians and others routinely continue to ignore the implications of race, citizenship, and class in narratives about the Orlando tragedy.

Actually, the “whitewashing” is nothing new. Storytelling about Stonewall and other acts of LGBTQ resistance has routinely been told without acknowledging the central roles of brown and black queer folk–especially transgender women of color.

Although this is rather disconcerting, together we must combat ignorance and hatred in our daily lives – even after the media spotlight dwindles, and then moves on.

I have to keep in mind to love my enemies according to the Scriptures. However, know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m not retreating back inside any closets, for that would be a spiritual and emotional death.

Remember: love is our greatest victory– and I’m in it for Love!

Sign me, His Royal Highness, Duchess t

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dining out

Finger’s Food

Richard Finger

Turp’s Sports Bar & Restaurant

1317 North Charles Street, Baltimore 410-347-0349 Turpsonline.com After a busy Saturday in the Towson library and then a quick run, I was anxious to go out for a night on the town. We were in the mood for pub-like fare, and decided to give Turp’s a try, as we had hoped to go from there to hit the bars. Given it had begun to rain, it wasn’t too difficult to find immediate seating. We were warmly greeted by our host, and decided to sit further back near the bar, away from the front door. Although a bit empty, I did love the comfortable atmosphere of the dining area. Each table had a private Presque TV monitor, and at once, magnifique!

I noticed the screens were showing horse racing, golf, tennis, and baseball.

Our server was happy to accommodate my wish to watch the remainFor ing bits of a live the big tennis match from hunger Montreal.

Turp’s did have plenty of b e e r options on tap, however, I was craving a Corona ($4.50), while Nick selected the draft Blue Moon ($5.50).

After one small guzzle, I felt myself relaxing a bit – much needed after a long week!

This was my second trip to Turp’s as I had been there a few years ago with a friend, and I had remembered the Old Bay Chicken Wings. We decided to order a dozen ($8.99) to munch on while we looked over the menu for our meal choices. The wings are served with celery sticks and bleucheese dressing, and can be order in ½ dozen increments ($4.95). Options for the wings go from mild to wild – Naked, Asian BBQ, Original Buffalo, Fire Wings, Texan BBQ, Honey Dijon, Spicy Garlic, and Teri-

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yaki Jerk. I usually opt for Old Bay when available, and I was not disappointed. The wings were great, and the Corona did a nice job to complement.

Choosing what to eat was not an easy chore. There were so many options, ranging from burgers, salads, subs, madeto-order pizzas, calzones, tacos, pasta dishes, and main entrees. I wasn’t feeling hungry enough to order a main entrée after the wings, so I went for the Raven’s House Salad (romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onions, carrots, and purple cabbage – $4.29), and a Meatball Calzone (homemade meatballs, marinara sauce, with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses – $5.99).

Nick went for the Roasted Turkey Panini (hand-carved roasted turkey breast, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, honey mustard on toasted sourdough – $7.95).

Surprisingly, the salad portion was enough for two people. All ingredients were fresh and crisp, the house Italian dressing was a bit tart, the way I like it. Honestly, after the wings and the salad, I felt as if I couldn’t eat another thing, but then our meals came out from the kitchen.

I struggled to get through even half the calzone. Not that there was anything wrong with it – it was just too much to consume all at once. The bit of the calzone that I did try was very tasty, and the cheese was plentiful. On the other hand, Nick’s panini, while quite large, seemed more like a lightly toasted sandwich, rather than pressed and a bit more done. No complaints on how it tasted, just not what we had expected.

Overall, we did enjoy our meals at Turp’s. We felt for prices we paid, the right balance of value versus portion-size / quality of food was certainly achieved.

On my next visit back, I’d definitely like to try one of the make-your-own burgers or one of the taco options. I will do my best to bring my appetite, too. For the record, once we left Turp’s Saturday night, the rain began to come down in buckets. The night of bar crawling will have to wait! t

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quality of life

Violet’s Vet

Dr. Tony Calo

A Violet

by Any Other Name How exactly did your dogs get their names? It’s an interesting question that I’m often asked. On the surface, it seems quite easy to answer. Violet did eat purple paint when we first adopted her after all. Looking at the name on a deeper level however, I feel that in many ways this name was chosen for her. It is a perfect representation of her character, her spirit, and her life. The name is derived from the Old French violette, a shortened version of viole, which is derived from the Latin word for viola. Viola is, of course, the flower that today we call the violet. Historically, violet transformed from flower to a feminine name in the Mid-

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dle Ages. Although the name waxed and waned in popularity over time, it has endured, which is a testament to its strength.

The violet is a beautiful and rich shade of purple. It’s a vibrant and bold color, both royal and demure, that demands attention.

It is all that my little Violet embodies.

Daisy is older and she has had her flower name much longer than Violet. When I adopted her as a three-month-old puppy, she had gone through two names already.

Her first owner had given her up because she had a broken elbow, and had named her Roscoe. This seems more fitting for a hound dog in the back up of a pickup truck.

The person that saved her from this situation and brought her to my hospital had named her Rosie to match her red coat.

This was an improvement but still did not match her brightness and her wonder. Daisy was natural fit for this fresh, energetic, happy soul. The name for the actual flower originated from the Old English word for the flower called the “day’s eye.” Day’s eye later became shortened to the modern word “daisy.” Soon after the flower transformed from “day’s eye” to “daisy,” it became popular as a girl’s name in England.

Both the flower and the name conjure wonder, whimsy, and delight. There is no more perfect name for this big red dog that had

august 5, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Violet’s New Friends

Violet could not make up her mind this week so here are two new friends. Please check them out, and their other friends looking for a for-ever home. You can find us at Baltimore Humane Society (1601 Nicodemus Road, Reisterstown) or look us up at Bmorehumane.org.

k

WHAT’S UP, everyone? I’m Tam Tam, a staff favorite here at the shelter. In fact, I am named after one of the staff members! I’m a super sweet and lovable gal who doesn’t realize how big I am… I’m actually quite the lap dog. I do have some energy, I love to go for long walks and runs, but my favorite things are treats, belly rubs, and people!

I love people and a t Tam tention!

There’s Tam nothing better than cuddling up on the sofa with someone for a nice snooze or movie night. Come out and meet me soon!

k

ARE YOU LOOKING for a new best friend? They Great, because here I am! My name is Ketch- call me Ketchup up, and I am a sweet senior man looking for my forever home. I am a social butterfly and very affectionate, which has quickly made me a staff favorite. I love to explore and I even go for walks on a cat harness. I love it! I like to be held as well. I am an all-around wonderful cat. Come and meet me today! t

become so important a part of me. I can’t imagine my life without my Daisy.

Then there is Henry. I can’t take credit for this. Henry came with his name, but it is extremely fitting for my boy dog. It is a strong and solid name for a strong and solid dog. It invokes images of Shakespearian plays and English royalty but easily translates into the name of a modern, happy-golucky guy’s guy. Henry is both strong of will and soft of spirit. He is both an old soul and a boyish clown. He required a name that had all of these traits. Happily, that name found him before I found him. He is truly a Henry.

I wrote this piece to give focus to the importance of a dog’s name. It is the way our animals relate to us and to the world

around them. Chosen carefully, a dog’s name can shout out exactly who they are and what they are all about. So would Violet be Violet by any other name? Perhaps, but I don’t think so.

Please share your pets name and the origin of their name with Violet. Not only does she love telling stories, she loves hearing them! t Please e-mail your stories and questions to violetsvet@baltimoreoutloud.com.

your money

Paying for Long-Term Care

By Woody Derricks Whether you are single or in a committed relationship, it is hard enough to take care of the challenges of day-to-day living without having to worry about planning for the future. Despite your hectic life, you may have already taken the time necessary to plan for retirement and for your life insurance needs. However, not enough people have taken the time to evaluate the need for long-term care.

What is long-term care? It’s the service provided by someone helping you manage your day-today routine. Typically, this would occur if you could not perform several activities of daily living (commonly referred to as “ADLs”) on your own.

These ADLs could include eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, or ambulating. C o g n i t i v e impairments such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s could also warrant long-term care. Those receiving this care could reside at home, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home.

What are the costs? Several factors affecting the population today make longterm care and the costs associated with this care a growing concern. According to a recent federal study, nearly 70% of those aged 65 and over will need some form of long-term care during their lives (Longtermcare.gov/the-basics). A 2016 study from Genworth estimates that a private room in a nursing home costs an average of over $92,000 per year. You can see the potential for your retirement assets to suffer greatly if you required nursing-home care. Worse yet, the costs could escalate should you require in-home or assisted-living care prior to or after your stay in a nursing home.

What are Your options? Depending on the level of your assets and income, you may elect to self-insure, spend down your assets and rely on Medicaid, or purchase long-term care insurance. For those who have a higher net worth, you may be planning on using those assets for your long-term care needs. If you are single and not planning on leaving an inheritance, you may also decide to spend down your assets to provide for your care. Using your own assets and income for long-term care provides you with the greatest flexibility on when to begin care, what type of care you receive, who provides the care, and where the care is administered. The downside to

self insuring is that you may wind up using most or all of your assets to provide for your care.

Often people with more limited assets and income may rely on Medicaid to cover their long-term care expenses. Medicaid will require that you spend down your assets and leave you with minimal income should you require their benefits.

Medicaid does allow a spouse to maintain some income and assets while his/ her spouse is receiving Medicaid payments.

If you want to protect your assets, your income, and your right to choose your options for care, you may want to look into long-term care insurance. When purchasing insurance, you often have the ability to choose your elimination period (length of time before benefits begin), length of coverage, benefit amount, inflation protection, and level of home care (other benefit options may also be available). By adjusting the options, you may create a policy that helps to meet your protection needs while fitting into your budget.

Since I have been in the industry, I’ve noticed a distinct trend with regard to longterm care insurance: the benefits seem to be decreasing while the cost of coverage increases. In some cases, insurance companies have been increasing premiums for people who already have policies in place; and I don’t believe that this trend will stop anytime soon. As a result, you’ll need to consider what’s best and most affordable for you now as well as to prepare yourself for the likelihood of a future rate increase.

I typically view long-term care insurance as a need for couples and individuals who can afford to insure their ability to maintain choice later in life. Couples need to protect income and assets for each other should one of them need some sort of care for an extended period of time. Individuals more often don’t need coverage unless they’re looking to preserve their choice-ofcare options.

If you’re single, you’re likely more focused on preserving choice. Evaluate your pension and Social Security income as well as potential income from your investments to determine how much long-term care insurance you may need. Keep in mind that

if you require care, you won’t have many of your current daily expenses and could sell your home in order to help meet assisted-living or nursing-home costs.

If you have a higher net worth and want to protect some of your assets yet don’t like the idea of annual premiums that could increase, you can look to a life insurance policy that contains a long-term care benefit.

Often these policies allow a single, upfront premium to cover the cost of the insurance.

In exchange, the insurance company will provide a benefit payable at your death (usually higher than your initial premium payment), long-term care coverage, and/or the ability to withdraw some or all of your initial premium and cancel the policy.

When we look at long-term care for clients, we clients understand their choices and help them make a decision that fits their current budget, their health concerns, and future goals. t Contact Woody Derricks at Partnership Wealth Management, a comprehensive financial services company. Visit Partnershipwm.com for more information. Info here for informational purposes only.

Have a Listing?

Our Real Estate Section Is the Right Place!

Call or Email us for great deals Taylor@BaltimoreOutloud.com 410.802.1310

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quality of life The More you Know About

Business

Richard Finger

Bad Behavior in the Workplace The inspiration for this article? Recountings of bad behavior in the workplace from anecdotes from my fellow Human Resources practitioners. I’ll start with the most recent. The scene is a customer-service department, housed in a cubicle environment. One co-worker said to another that she thought her supervisor, a man, was “checking her out.” The co-worker then walked over to this supervisor to see if he would “check her out,” too. Having my own experience with this supervisor, I could vouch for his professionalism, and highly doubt there was any inappropriate “checking out” of anyone. Clearly this is a case of creating office drama.

The remaining events all involve the inappropriate use of technology, and coincidentally, all occurred on the very same day.

The morning began with a call from an executive calling the HR manager over to his office.

He was sitting with two employees, a male and a female.

The male employee’s wife had received an anonymous Facebook message alleging that he had an affair with the female e m ployee. Both denied this alleged affair, and as you can imagine, the male employee was very upset at the potential damage to his marriage. This incident turned out to be the result of a bitter feud between the female employee and a female colleague.

Later that morning, the very same HR manager was called in to speak with another executive about taking down a sexually inappropriate joke he had posted to his Facebook account. It seems employees and customers were offended by the content of the joke. When confronted, the executive said “people have no sense of humor.” In my previous experience, this

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behavior would have resulted in some packed boxes and possible reason for termination with cause. However, other than being asked to remove the posting, no other punitive action occurred.

After lunch, the third incident occurred.

An employee had come to see the HR manager regarding a very unkind text message she had received from an anonymous phone number. When I was told about the text message, I was appalled by the vulgar language used, and the hostility. In this case, there wasn’t anything the HR manager could do to help this employee, as the number used was untraceable, and the employee could think of no recent incident to precipitate such a text.

Reflecting on these events, I come back to the root cause for them to have happened in the first place. What would cause such ill-mannered behavior to manifest itself at work? When discussing with my HR colleagues, we all concluded in these cases, the organization’s lack of transparency, and lack of aspiring towards an open, honest, and trustworthy work environment would create an atmosphere ripe for these in- cidents to occur. In this organization, employees are often seen as order takers, and are not provided with frequent information to provide them with the context of why their work is valuable and important in the grand scheme of things. Moreover, as illustrated with the executive with the inappropriate Facebook posting, no action is taken by the most senior management in the organization to send a signal that this behavior is unacceptable at work.

This HR manager conveyed to me her frustration. The volume of such incidents seem to be increasing in recent weeks, and faced with the idea that this could become the daily norm is quite demotivating. Not in a position to change the organization single-handedly, I encouraged her to appeal to her functional leadership and to upper management to lead by example, and to encourage taking small steps. In reality, this is much easier said than done, but I am hopeful that over time, sticking with the guiding principle of building organizational trust, changes for the better will result. t

august 5, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Tech

Talk

David Sugar

Moving Your Business?

IT Needs to Consider Baltimore’s GLCCB will be moving to its new home (2530 North Charles Street, third floor) this coming Saturday, August 7th. I have been lucky enough to be able to help the GLCCB with the move from a technical point of view. This article will look at the two primary things you need to consider when moving into a new space: phones and network.

As for your network you have two choices, wireless and wired.

Unless you’re an office of only one or two workers in a very small space you will most likely want a hard-wired network.

Work with your electrician to help determine where to place the proper network ports throughout the new space. My suggestion is a minimum of two network drops per room, and – depending on the size of the space – a few network drops in the ceiling. You will also most likely want to purchase wire-

less access points as part of your network.

I won’t suggest a specific brand but if you are able to purchase PoE (power over ethernet) capable access points and mount them on the ceiling network drops as determined by your IT professional. Just a quick explanation of PoE: it’s a technology that allows devices to power up by connecting to an ethernet cable versus having to plug into an electrical outlet. Your IT professional can help make sure your network is PoE enabled.

As for phones, unless again you have only one or two people working in your office you most likely will want to purchase some type of phone system. You have two options these days, digital or VoIP. A digital phone system typically will require traditional copper wiring where a VoIP phone system will only require your data network which will already be in place. As a result I typically suggest a VoIP phone system these days. Other advantages to a VoIP phone system is that it allows the users to move the phones to any location within your office space and continue to keep the same extension since the extensions are assigned to the phones themselves. While phone systems themselves can be pricey depending on your budget you can go with a hosted solution where the phone system is hosted at a remote data center and you just plug in the phones to your network or you can purchase the phone system and place it in your network. For a small business I suggest going with a hosted solution. t Send your tech questions to me at outloudtech@gmail.com.

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leather line

Leather

Line

Rodney Burger

Planning My Escape It has been a busy summer. At last I have been able to persuade my deadbeat tenants to move out of my rental property and I’ve been working on fixing up the house by myself so that I can sell it. I’m not saying they were bad tenants but they have a real future with a demolition company. If something was breakable, they broke it. If it wasn’t breakable they still found a way to break it. My plan is to get the house presentable by September and take a little vacation. I have been thinking about where I would like to go. Thoughts of a little escape out of town have been helping me keep my spirits up during an overwhelming task.

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If I don’t want to travel too far but still have a great weekend away, I can make plans to join the SatyrMen for their 25th anniversary weekend on September 9th to 11th at the Radisson Hotel in nearby Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The weekend starts on Friday, September 9th with a light buffet and a bar night at The Brownstone. On Saturday, September 10th there is a breakfast and in the evening a 25th anniversary banquet at the Radisson Hotel and on Sunday there is a brunch. You get all these meals for just $95 and hotel rates are $119 a night. The SatyrMen are a great bunch of guys who 25 years ago formed a “different kind of leather club with no meetings, no dues, and few rules.” They hail from several different states but consider Harrisburg as their home. For more information or to join in on a fun weekend contact me on Facebook and I can provide you with a telephone number for The SatyrMen’s event.

Another Pennsylvania leather club will also be celebrating their 25th anniversary in September. The Three Rivers Leather Club of Pittsburgh will be holding their anniversary dinner on Friday, September 23rd from 7 to 10 p.m. at the James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy in Pittsburgh. It should be a really enjoyable evening. Details and tickets

august 5, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Palm Springs – Leather in the desert

are available via Facebook.

On Saturday, September 24th Philadelphia Leather Pride Night will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. at Voyeur Nightclub located at 1221 Saint James Street in downtown Philly. This is a really fun night and I had the great pleasure of performing standup comedy at this event two years ago. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

If I want to get a little further away, on Saturday, September 10th the Mr. Connecticut Leather 2017 Contest will be held starting at 9 p.m. at the 168 York Street Cafe in New Haven. The New Haven Hotel is the host hotel for the weekend. There will be a Friday night Meet and Greet with entertainment provided by The De Luxe Sisters, BD/ SM classes and a cigar party on Saturday and a victory brunch on Sunday. Details can be found at Mrctleather.org.

Mr. Iowa Leather 2016 Rob Anderson was in Baltimore recently and joined the leather contingency as we marched in the Baltimore Pride Parade. He is a delightful man and our paths have crossed several times since I first met him a few years ago at leather night at The Loft above Grand Central. He was in Baltimore for a convention, but still remembered to pack full leather. My friend Alex and I went over to

him, introduced ourselves, and welcomed him to Baltimore. The judges in Iowa got it right last year when they selected Rob as Mr. Iowa Leather 2016. His very busy leather title year will soon be coming to an end. On October 14th to 17th I would love to travel to Des Moines for Iowa Leather Weekend. There will be a vendor mart, cocktail parties, and the 28th annual Iowa Leather Contest, which includes a Mr. Iowa Leather, Ms. Iowa Leather, as well as an Iowa Bear and Iowa Puppy title. One of the things I love about taking a leather-related vacation is exploring someplace that I have never visited before. I’m sure I would have a fun time in Des Moines!

Although I have been to Palm Springs, California, before, I have not been there during Palm Springs Leather Pride. This year’s big weekend is once again hosted by the Leather Order of the Desert and is scheduled for October 27th to 30th. There will be a formal leather dinner at the Palm Springs Hilton, a victory dance at Barracks, pool parties, and the 22nd annual Mr. Palm Springs Leather Contest will be held at the Palm Springs Air Museum. A VIP package that will get you into all of the events for the entire weekend is just $135 and also includes a t-shirt, dog tags, and a run pin.

Details can be found at Desertleatherpride. com. There are many great LGBT resorts in Palm Springs, but you will want to make reservations soon for Palm Springs Leather Pride.

This hot summer in Baltimore will soon be turning into fall and I really need to get away. Should I go to Harrisburg?

Pittsburgh? Philadelphia? New Haven?

Des Moines? Or even all the way to Palm Springs? Working on my house is driving me crazy, but don’t worry I am planning my escape. t

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SATURDAY NOVEMBER

5TH 2016

THE BALTIMORE EAGLE

DOORS OPEN AT NOON. CONTEST AT 1:30 PM.

NOVEMBER 3-6 2016

Eli Onyx

Check online weekend guide for participating bars, events and club info. @ www.commandmc.org

Mr. Maryland Leather 2016

NEW HOST HOTEL To book a room, go to http://tinyurl.com/hahof82 or call (410) 625-6200 SPONSORS

BENEFITING

FLAVOR SM

APPLICATIONS & INFO AVAILABLE AT

(443) 296-2198

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COMMANDMC.ORG

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