Baltimore OUTloud • September 2, 2016

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

Feds Lambast Baltimore Police, Community Gives Feedback

By Bill Redmond-Palmer On August 8th, at St. Peter Claver Hall in West Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester, Baltimoreans met to give feedback to representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), on what should be included in the consent decree that they will negotiate with the City of Baltimore and the Baltimore City Police Department (BCPD).

The consent decree comes as a result of an investigation by the DOJ in which they found that there is reasonable cause to believe that the BCPD engages in conduct that violates the U.S. Constitution and/or federal law, including making unconstitutional stops, searches, and arrests; using excessive force; and unlawfully targeting African-Americans. Among other issues, the feds also alleged that officers display unlawful gender bias when interacting with trans persons.

The meeting, coordinated by the West

Baltimore Community Commission on Police Misconduct, was supported by several other grassroots community organizations such as CASA, Safe Streets, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, and Showing Up for Justice (SURJ), as well as commission members including the No Boundaries Coalition, Build One Baltimore, the NAACP and the Greater Baltimore Urban League. The commission gained worldwide attention through the report they created on police misconduct, that was presented in many forums including the UN. The organizations present urged Baltimore City and the DOJ to integrate civilians into the consent-decree process and subsequent trials for police misconduct, especially on issues such as unnecessary use of force.

“It is critical that our community organizations are included at the negotiating table.

If not, we Baltimore City, would be making

Suzanne Young in The Prevalence of Mrs. Seal

credit: Ken Stanek Photography

September 2, 2016 | Volume XIV, Issue 9

a terrible mistake by not considering the opinion of the most affected people by police abuse and brutality,” said Lydia Rodriguez-Walter of CASA. Lawrence Granpre of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, stressed the need to lobby Annapolis and City Hall to ensure that community members are involved in trial boards for police misconduct, because “The police are not afraid to go to jail. They are however, afraid of being fired or demoted.” Granpre criticized the collective-bargaining process traditionally used to negotiate consent decrees. “We should not let the secretiveness of collective bargaining stand in the way of community input,” he said.

Representatives of the DOJ said that the city has expressed a commitment to resolve the issues included in their report, and that the DOJ seeks community input in crafting the consent decree. The meeting broke into small groups for further conversations, with

results then discussed by all.

Among the ideas proposed for inclusion in the consent decree were • ensuring that police get to know and build trust with the community • improving screening and hiring practices for officers • collecting appropriate data and making it publicly available • proper training • proper supervision of police • a civilian role in police misconduct review and oversight, especially in cases of abuse of power and use of force • clear benchmarks and accountability.

Further meetings are planned and LGBT groups and individuals are encouraged to participate. As of the writing of this story, none of the over 15 groups contacted have responded to the request to participate.

The DOJ has set a goal of reaching a consent decree by this coming November 1st. t

Theatre Magic at Spotlighters

ing at shows from a variety of time spans, as

By Ryan M. Clark Fuzz Roark serves as the artis- well as content areas. Only theatre allows the tic director of the Audrey Herman audience to transported to so many times, loSpotlighters Theatre. We talked cations, and situations in such a magical way, and that theatre, like magic, can be a about their 55th season: bit scary, but it is so much fun as RC: I noticed well. RC: you landed on the l In looking theme of “Theatre a i at c Magic” for this e tre season, your p you season. How S ea ! have chosen did that come e th su plays that will about? is resonate with the LGBT comFR: Our promunity – Spring Awakening has a direct duction selection team reads the numerous scripts a n d gay narrative and The Women is just a fabproposals that the theatre receives. ulous cult classic! Why did you choose The theme of “Theatre Magic” was these plays? What kind of conversation created after we had a few shows are you hoping to enter with the LGBT selected. We realized we were look- community through the presentation of

these plays?

FR: The 55th season is very diverse.

Each show speaks to a different aspect of our community. Among the selections are these: Das Barbecu is a fun, campy send-up of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, made even more hilarious set in the heart of Texas. This show —continued on page 16

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Chase Brexton Remains Committed to Serving LGBT Community

by Nate Sweeney The changing landscape of healthcare in America can lead to some tumultuous headlines. A nonprofit organization responsible for employing over 415 employees, and that serves over 30,000 patients does not always move at the speed of Twitter.

In the space between communication, many different factors can affect trust, allow for commitment to be questioned, and sometimes for facts to be set aside for narrative.

We wish to be emphatically clear: Chase Brexton remains dedicated to providing comprehensive whole person care to the LGBTQ Community. In fact, over the past three years, Chase Brexton has devoted significant time, energy, and resources towards creating the LGBT Health Resource Center, because we understand where our history lays, who is in need today, and who we want to serve across a lifespan.

In the past two years, Chase Brexton has diligently worked to: • Create Gender JOY, the first comprehensive medical service for transgender and gender diverse youth in the region. We have seen over 540 patients since its inception.

• Work with SAGE to create the first local programming and services for LGBT older adults and their informal caregiving partners.

• Create and hired dedicated staff position of Trans Clinical Lead • Develop a more formalized training program to teach new Chase Brexton medical providers about becoming a trans care specialist • Put the POWER Project out into the streets, empowered by a new mobile van, to bring testing, prevention, and PrEP to young people at risk for HIV • Start a LGBTQ Young Professionals Network to engage a new generation with philanthropy through professional development events • Grow the [soon to be announced] expansion of behavioral health into the LGBT Health Resource Center for a specialized environment of care and support • Teach hundreds of our colleagues in Maryland in different health systems about LGBT health and wellness, so that LGBTQ people have better experiences in more places. This year, our goal to train 1,000 professionals on how to better serve the LGBTQ community, because the disparities in our lives expand beyond what is covered by a primary health care clinic.

This must also acknowledge that while we have been working to serve the LGBTQ community in new and innovative way, our organization as a whole is serving many different populations, in many different locations, and in many new and innovative ways as well. This has been the case for decades, welcoming more and more people in need of health care to a system that can help them.

And despite the fact that for decades that we have served more people outside of the LGBTQ community than in it, Chase Brexton has continued to be committed to the LGBTQ community. Such was the case yesterday, such is the case today, such is the case tomorrow.

To try and serve the LGBTQ community is to serve many different LGBTQ communities. All of our perspectives, all of our intersecting identities create an incredibly diverse patchwork of people, and that diversity is our strength. But regardless of who you are, and how you identify, at some point nearly everyone needs healthcare. There is no right or wrong way to be part of the LGBTQ community, only your way. And our doors are open to you. If we can help you feel better, healthier, and stronger as you find what spot in the community is the best fit for you, than we are glad to do so, and moreover, proud to do so.

A few weeks back, 15 local LGBTQ organizations co-signed a statement of both concern and support. We hope this information is a first step to alleviating those concerns, and wish to thank the signed organizations for their offer to help rebuild trust that has been shaken. Among those groups, we have a long history of working together and supporting each other, and that history can form a foundation today for future growth in service and support of LGBTQ people. Just like health care, the services that these organizations provide are as vital to the people we serve as anything we do. Working together, and with all corners of the LGBTQ community, we can continue to work for a future where health disparities for LGBTQ people no longer exist. As such, I will be reaching out to each of these organizations to meet, listen, hear their thoughts and concerns and see how we can move forward together.

Be proud, be healthy! t The author is executive director of the LGBT Health Resource Center of Chase Brexton Health Care.

Chase Brexton responds to labor controversy

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Rally Draws from Across the U.S. for LGBT Rights and Gun Reform

By Bill Redmond-Palmer People from across the U.S. braved scorching heat on Saturday, August 13th, to support “Disarm Hate: The Young gun Rally for LGBTQ Equal Rights & Realistic Gun Law Reform,” in Washington, D.C.’s West Potomac Park, adjacent to the Martin Luther King, Jr., memorial.

“The heat was dreadful but the National Parks Service and Parks Police estimate that over 10,000 attended,” said the event’s coordinator, Jason Hayes, “with the average person staying an hour to an hour-and-a-half due to the extreme heat.”

Hayes was spurred to action by the 49 people murdered on June 12th at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

“Everyone kept asking me what LGBTQ equal rights and gun law reform have to do with each other,” said Hayes. “I say a lot: 43,000. Do you know what that number is?

It is the estimated number of hate crimes against LGBTQ people between 2010 and 2014 that involved a gun.”

“Some 33,000 Americans will die as a result of guns this year,” echoed Ohio State student Jeremy Cronig, a founding member of Students Against Gun Violence. That statistic was further buttressed

by Lelia Spears of Moms Rising, who appeared on stage with her wife and toddlers, and pointed out that “there are 300 million guns in circulation in the U.S. That is one for every man, woman, and child, and it is too many.”

A core team of seven people assisted Hayes in putting the event together with another 40 volunteers working the day of the rally. Participants came from as far as Canada and the U.K. The rally was live streamed over C-SPAN and can also be viewed online at C-span.org, by searching for “Disarm

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Hate.” Three different documentary crews attended the rally, along with a crew from the politically focused reality TV show House Divided.

Banners stating the goals of the protesters, including equal rights in all states for the LGBT people; banning assault weapons; background checks on all gun sales and transfers; restoring CDC funding to research gun violence; repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), the unprecedented gun industry immunity law; closing the “Charleston Loophole” (that allows anyone to purchase a gun after three days has expired and no background check has been completed); and closing the “terror gap”: no fly, no buy.

Despite the disproportionate effects of gun violence on black people, there were only a small number attending the event.

“I think perhaps they made a conscious choice to attend the National Action Network Rally on August 27th,” said Hayes “where Rev. Al Sharpton will commemorate the MLK ‘I have a dream’ speech – which will be held in front of the NRA headquarters this year.”

The rally organizers met their goal to raise the necessary budgeted funds just prior to the event but additional expenses related to the EMS services came in over budget, and Gofundme site fees means they are still working to raise funds. As of August 16th, their site at Gofundme.com/ disarmhate/donate indicates that they are within $1,000 of reaching their goal, with over 1,600 contributions made. t

Chase Brexton Professional Staff Succeed in Unionization Bid

By Bill Redmond-Palmer On August 25th, close to 100 Chase Brexton Health Care professional employees from facilities in Mount Vernon, Columbia, Randallstown, Glen Burnie, and Easton, participated in a vote to unionize as part of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. The SEIU is the nation’s largest health care workers’ union.

Shortly after the vote concluded, the union issued a press release announcing the votes results, in which 89 of the participating employees voted in favor of joining the union, with nine voting against.

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Of the 136 professionals eligible to vote, 111 cast ballots in the election, with 15 of those voters challenged and not counted.

The majority of the votes not counted were challenged due to their job title, as prior to the election, the union and the CBHC management could not agree to whether or not those titles should be part of the bargaining unit, so the two sides agreed to disagree. Had the election outcome been closer, they would have been counted. The remaining excluded votes were either for individuals who were no longer employed or new hires. The status of those individuals will be resolved through the collective bargaining process.

Eligible employees included all of the full-time, regular part-time, and per diem health care professional employees who worked an average of a least four hours per week for the 13 weeks preceding the eligibility dates and who were employed at any of Chase Brexton’s five sites. The eligible positions included case managers, various consultants, trans health coordinators, nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse care managers, certified nurse midwives, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, dentists, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

All office employees, managerial employees, guards, and supervisors were excluded from participation. The final list of positions to be included in the bargaining unit will be finalized during contract negotiations.

“We are disappointed with the outcome of the vote,” Chase Brexton management declared in a statement issued early Friday morning, “and … believe the run-up to the election was seriously flawed and tainted by illegal behavior. We maintain our belief that the SEIU is not the right long term solution for Chase Brexton, and continue to have serious concerns about the unintended consequences union representation will have for our organization. Nonetheless, our primary focus is to deliver on our mission to provide compassionate, quality health care that honors diversity and inclusion, inspires wellness, and improves our communities top of mind. We want to reiterate that nothing will change our dedication to fulfilling this important mission.”

On August 22nd, Chase Brexton filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) stating that they had “received evidence that management and supervisory employees of Chase Brexton, with the illegal encouragement and support of the 1199 SEIU union, have interfered with the NLRB election process,” said a statement issued by Chase Brexton vice president Becky Frank, adding that management

“asked the NLRB to postpone the upcoming election, until the charges have been fully investigated.” According to the SEIU, the complaint centered around the fact that the five professional staffers who had been fired, had, after termination, encouraged other staff members to join the union. The complaint failed to delay the election, however it may still be under consideration, as so far, Owens of the SEIU has not yet been asked by the NLRB to speak about the complaint.

“Workers chose to organize despite management intimidation, delaying tactics and the firing of five long-time supervisors,” said the SEIU in a press release. The majority of the terminations prior to the vote were of managers working with LGBT- or HIV-related programs, some for decades.

“Chase Brexton professionals showed that when they are united they can withstand anything. Management tried to hold the workers back but they’ve spoken loudly with this vote,” said Brian Owens, lead organizer with 1199 SEIU. The union says that the employees’ reasons for pursuing the unionization effort, which include diminished quality of patient care, increased staff burnout, decreased staff retention, lack of respect and transparency from management, and changes to the pay structure that tie compensation to the volume of patients that certain professionals are able to process, incentivizing providers to spend less time with their patients. The union asserts that all of these issues affect staff members’ ability to provide the best quality of care to their patients.

Moving forward, each side has seven days to file objections to the election results.

If neither side does, the NLRB will certify the election, and the two sides can begin to bargain. “Now we look forward to working with management on addressing our concerns at bargaining,” said Owens. “We hope to negotiate a contract that gives professional workers the ability to advocate for their patients and continue their reputation as a respected health care provider.”

The fate of the five employees fired in the wake of the unionization effort remains uncertain. Chase Brexton has not yet responded to questions from Baltimore OUTloud about if or when the managers will be fully reinstated, or whether some other action will be taken to remedy the situation. t Bill Redmond-Palmer is the community outreach liaison for Baltimore OUTL oud, 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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Chase Brexton Charms Baltimore at the B&O

By Bill Redmond-Palmer On Saturday, September 17th, Chase Brexton Health Services (CBHC) will host its annual “Charm Ball” at Baltimore’s historic B&O Railroad Museum (901 West Pratt Street) in Pigtown. Beginning at 6 p.m., CBHC promises to offer attendees a “charming” evening, as they take you through the neighborhoods and style of Baltimore and beyond during an evening of dinner, drinks, dancing, entertainment and auctions to support patient care in the communities they serve.

The Charm Ball raises funds to support the C B H C Hardship F u n d , w h i c h provides critical assist a n c e to those who need it most, and who could not otherwise afford it. The fund helps eliminate quality-of-life barriers which prevent in-need patients from receiving quality health care, and plays an important role in helping CBHC provide quality, compassionate care to every patient that walks through their doors.

The fund provides a variety of assistance with items such as copays, transportation vouchers, prescription refills, emergency housing, and even eyeglasses. Last year, the 300 Charm Ball attendees raised $125,000 to support the fund.

The event’s presenting sponsor is Allied Universal Security Services, and will include an auction with prizes that include a “Ravens Game Day” package, “Pet Sitting” package, and a “Maryland Wine Tasting” adventure, complete with limousine ride.

Tickets are $250 each. To purchase tickets, make a direct donation to the CBHC Hardship Fund, or to take a sneak peek and place an early bid on one of the auction items, visit Charmball.com.

For more information or to purchase tickets over the phone, contact CBHC’s Amy Tignanelli at atignanelli@chasebrexton.org, or 410-837-2050 x1034. t

Dining Out for Life – September 15th

By Samantha Flottemesch Dining Out For Life, now in its 23rd year, is still going strong and the same purpose remains – to encourage people to Dine Out and Fight AIDS. This year, Dining Out for Life will take place on Thursday, September 15th at 50-plus restaurants across Baltimore and throughout the surrounding counties. The premise is simple: eat at a participating restaurant and at least 25 percent of your check will be donated to Moveable Feast.

That’s it. No gimmicks, no small print, just eating and drinking to help sopport Moveable Feast’s life-saving work in the community.

For the past 25 years, Moveable Feast has been providing free, nutritious meals to our neighbors who are homebound and living with a critical illness. When Moveable Feast was founded in 1989, they served meals to people who were living with HIV/ AIDS in Baltimore City. Over the past 28 years, they’ve expanded their service and in addition to serving people with HIV/AIDS now also serve people living with cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. Not only is their service provided to those living within Baltimore, but also the five surrounding counties and the entire Eastern Shore.

Two years ago, Moveable Feast opened a distribution site on the Shore in Hurlock, Maryland. This has allowed for a greater number of clients to be more efficiently served in those counties. Last year, Moveable Feast provided 847,680 meals to over 5,721 individuals in Maryland.

Along with meal delivery, Moveable Feast also provides nutritional counseling, medical transportation, and a culinary training program. All of these services are at no cost to their clients or students.

It is through events like Dining Out For Life, that they are able to continue to provide this support free of charge.

Dining Out for Life has become one of Moveable Feast’s two signature events and their longest running fundraiser. There is truly something for every appetite and budget.

Be sure to check out Charmington’s, Hoehn’s Bakery, Tavern on the Hill, or the Southside Diner for breakfast; Amiccis or Sobo Cafe for lunch; or one of the many restaurants serving dinner. This year there are two restaurants donating 100% of their sales for dinner: Pascal’s Chophouse in Easton, Maryland, and Shake Shack.

Woodberry Kitchen and Gertrude’s will return as 50% restaurants. And Eggspectation in Owings Mills, the Brewer’s Art, and the Southside Diner will all be donating 35%.

Wherever you decide to dine that evening, please be sure to make your reservation well in advance as places will quickly fill up. If you use OpenTable, be sure to check out the Dining Out For Life website.

This year diners will be able to make reservations directly from the Dining Out For Life website through OpenTable.

This event has given Moveable Feast the opportunity to spread awareness within the community, and also establish longstanding relationships with their restaurant partners. Take, for example, Mt. Vernon Stable – the restaurant has been participating in Dining Out For Life since its inception.

“This is our 33rd year in the community and we cannot think of a better way to support an organization that does so much for those living in Maryland,” says owner Lorie Yagjian. “We champion this cause, and as a community oriented restaurant want to be able to not only serve the people living in Mt. Vernon but all over the state. Moveable Feast provides so much and we’re just happy to be able to help.”

Please be sure to join Lisa at Mt. Vernon Stable and don’t forget that diners who donate, or sign up for Moveable Feast’s mailing list, are also entered into a drawing to win our grand prize: two VIP tickets to Adele at the Verizon Center with a free overnight stay at the Renaissance D.C. and ground transportation, along with other great prizes.

Don’t miss the 23rd annual Dining Out for Life. Dine Out at a participating restaurant on Thursday, September 15th and help Moveable Feast to continue their critical work in the community. t Learn more at Diningoutforlife.com/baltimore

Retiring: Moveable Feast’s Tom Bonderenko

marks of the leadership for which he was known throughout the community.

Karen Brennan, president of the Moveable Feast board said it is “extremely proud of Tom’s leadership. Moveable Feast has never been in a better place than we are right now. I am very grateful for all of the —continued on next page

Moveable Feast Head Retires

By Bill Redmond-Palmer On September 2nd, Tom Bonderenko will retire after nine years as executive director of Moveable Feast and over three decades of working in human services in Baltimore.

His passion for the mission of Moveable Feast, to “feed people, fight disease, and foster hope,” and his deep concern for people who face serious illness, were hallBALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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Moveable Feast Head Retires After 32 Years of Human Services —continued from previous page long hours and hard work he invested to ensure excellence in our internal culture and in every service and program.”

“The best part of working at Moveable Feast,” said Bonderenko, “is being inspired by the clients every day. They face so many obstacles yet remain positive and optimistic and hopeful despite it all.” In addition, he said, “I was always humbled by the thousands of individuals in our Baltimore community who help us fulfill our mission each day. We could never have distributed more than 850,000 meals a year without the time, effort and support of the Baltimore community.” In addition, he said, “it has been my great privilege to work with an exceptionally dedicated and skilled staff and Board, and many community leaders and partners, who have taught me so much over the years.”

“The hardest part of working here was seeing the impact of the recession in 2008,” he said. “It made fundraising very challenging. Staff was nervous about losing their jobs.

I was challenged to find ways to insure that people who needed our services could continue to access them. We made it. Not one employee was laid off. Not one client went without services.”

During his tenure, the organization made major advances in providing services to their clients, including opening its first satellite distribution center; growing and achieving national recognition and certification for its culinary training program; and receiving certification as a home-delivered meal provider for the Maryland Medicaid waiver program.

Bonderenko also helped lead the improvement of Moveable Feast’s financial health as well. Revenue for the annual agency fundraiser increased from $180,000 to $750,000; they have grossed $3.3 million, with a net profit of $1.4 million so far through a program to sell food at an affordable rate to other mission-related causes; and they are nearing the completion of their capital campaign to raise $2.5 million to expand services to 1.5 million meals by 2020, with almost all of them made from scratch in their kitchen, allowing them to never have clients waiting to access services.

“I believe that my greatest accomplishment during my time at Moveable Feast was

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making the organization a household name. I wanted to be sure that everyone in Baltimore knew of Moveable Feast, our mission, and the excellent service we provide to the community.” Asked what he wished he could have accomplished in a perfect world with infinite resources, Bonderenko responded that “we believe that ‘Food is medicine.’” I would like that one day, no one in need of medically tailored meals would ever have to wait to go on service, and that they could remain in service for as long as they need food as medicine.”

Bonderenko’s sucessor is Christian Metzger, who begins work on September 6th.

Metzger has served for the past six years as head of the Franciscan Center of Baltimore, and is excited to be joining the staff of Moveable Feast. “I am honored to be a part of this highly respected nonprofit organization,” he said.

“I have every confidence that he [Metzger] will continue the great work of Moveable Feast, and be a stronghold for the organization,” said Bonderenko.

Asked about his plans for retirement, Bonderenko said that he plans “on traveling to some bucket-list destinations and then deciding what the next chapter in life will look like.” t

beyond the beltway compiled by Jim Becker

Trump gives to anti-gay church, rabid pastor’s home flooded Atlanta, Georgia – According to CNN, Donald Trump has donated $100,000 to Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, currently pastored by Family Research Council boss Tony Perkins. The donation could be a violation of election finance rules, since Perkins previously provided services to Trump’s election campaign. According to Trump, Perkins wrote his notorious “Two Corinthians” speech.

Perkins – who in the past has alleged that God sends storms and floods to pun-

God shed a lot of tears

ish LGBT people and their allies – was flooded out of his home in Louisiana recently and had to escape in a canoe. His church was also damaged. Instead of being punishment for homosexuality, Perkins claims that God sent this deadly flood not to punish the gays but rather “as an incredible, encouraging spiritual exercise to take you to the next level in your walk with an almighty and gracious God who does all things well.” In fact, he urges Christians to 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.

rejoice that God considers them “worthy of suffering for his sake.”

News of Trump’s donation comes just a week after the candidate confirmed he would be attending a Family Research Council rally, alongside a number of anti-LGBT activists. Every Republican presidential nominee since George W. Bush has avoided Perkins’ annual rally because of his extremist views. He also branded the “It Gets Better” anti-bullying campaign “disgusting,” saying, “It’s part of a concerted effort to recruit [kids] into that lifestyle.”

Trump’s campaign would not comment on the CNN report. (Seattle Gay News – Mike Andrew at Sgn.org)

Transgender woman kills transgender friend in Thailand Udon Thani, Thailand – A transgender woman has turned herself in to police and admitted she strangled a transgender friend to death after the friend insulted her by saying she was not fit to live and should never have been born. Theerawat Muenwan, 25, surrendered to police on Wednesday night for the murder of her friend at Nang Rin waterfall in tambon Nong Kungsri, Pol Capt Sayant Nanthapong, a deputy investigation chief at on Sa-at police station, said on Thursday.

Theerawat took police and rescue workers to the waterfall, where they found the body of the woman, Wanpen Hangsalad, 29, lying face-down on a rock about 10 pm on August 24, Thai media reported. Wanpen, who had short hair and was wearing a blue T-shirt under a blue denim jacket with black trousers, had been strangled with a cord, said Pol Capt Sayant.

Theerawat told police that she and the victim were long-time friends. They went to the waterfall on Wednesday by motorcycle and they drank alcohol there. Around 6pm, by which time they were both drunk they began to quarrel. Wanpen had started by insulting her for her effeminate lifestyle.

She said she should never have been born at all and scolded her with rude, hurtful words. Her friend’s insulting remarks had made her increasingly angry, Theerawat said. She took the cord she used to hold

Pretty falls, foul deeds

up her pants, wrapped it around her neck and strangled her until she fell down onto the rock they were seated on. She then held her down until she stopped moving.

According to Theerawat, she was shocked when she realized her friend had also stopped breathing. She sat there for three hours before deciding to turn herself in to police. The suspect was held in police custody on a charge of murder. (Bangkok Post Online at Bangkokpostonline.com/news/ general/1023821/transgender-kills-tomboy-friend-for-insulting-remarks. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and Goo.gl/ ou6Ip)

North Carolina and all Southern states love gay porn Charlotte, N.C. – Nothing could be finer than to watch porn in Carolina in the morning. And the afternoon. And the evening. Especially if it is gay porn. According to a recent PornHub survey, North Carolina and Mississippi are among the top five gay porn-consuming states in the country.

These are also the two states whose legislatures have recently enacted the most sweeping anti-gay laws in the U.S. Oh, yes. And Tar Heels and Mississippians don’t just like gay porn: their top preference is for porn showing well-endowed black men. This is ironic considering the tradition of racial prejudice against African-Americans in both states. The more Republican and religious the state is, the more their residents love porn. So except for District of Columbia and New York, all of the Southern red states are the leaders in watching gay porn. And lots of it.

So gay porn sites around the country are thankful for Gov. Pat McCrory and the

Republican state legislators who continue to promote HB2 and keep cities and towns from enacting anti-discrimination ordinances to protect LGBT people. The more they hate on gays, the more North Carolinians want to watch man-on-man porn. It was confirmed during the Republican National Convention. The numbers of people watching gay porn in the Cleveland area dramatically increased, as well as those posting ads on Craigslist and social media apps like Grindr. And hustlers did a booming business at the convention.

It needs to be noted that straight porn consumption in the Tar Heel State is also way above the natural average. So what is going on here? First is the fact that abstinence education was the only sexual education permitted in North Carolina for 15 years and is still the focus for school districts. A study showed that the red states like North Carolina had higher percentages of Google searches for “sex.” Secondly, the more the religious right and the

Southern comfort?

Republicans promote a culture of secrecy and fear around human sexuality, the more people are likely to try to find out more and check out porn sites. Perhaps Gov. McCrory and other conservative leaders in North Carolina should pay attention to the 2009 Harvard study which found that people who agreed with statements like “I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage,” and “AIDS might be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behavior,” were the ones who most looked up sex-related topics on Google. And watched more porn. So the more shame and opposition, the more North Carolinians love their forbidden fruit: gay porn.t (Q-Notes Online – Bill Allen at Qnotes.com)

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quality of life

Ask

Dr. J

Janan Broadbent, Ph.D.

Are You Emotionally Free?

When you saw the title of this column, what did you think? Was your immediate reaction: Of course, I am emotionally free… but what is the concept of emotional freedom?

It is having a direct connection between your conscious mind and the state of your emotions. It is knowing what you are feeling. Quite often, when I ask someone what he or she is feeling, the answer comes in the form of: I think… Thinking and feeling are two different states of human consciousness. They tap into different areas of the brain. In general terms, thinking is a left-brain activity and feelings reside in the right brain. Of course there are connections between the two hemispheres so we are able to function as a whole system. But it is also true that some people give weight to one side or the other, with factors such as nature, hormones, and life experiences affecting the balance.

Let’s look at how an emotionally free person handles relationships. A major factor in building up a partnership is authenticity, or being genuine. Having actions be consistent with words. So if my loved one keeps turning down invitations to go to places or social events, saying this one is boring, or that one is inconvenient, what

would I conclude? That socializing with me, or being seen in public together is embarrassing? How much simpler it would be if my partner was able to look inside, realize there is fear there… fear of not knowing how to behave, fear of unfamiliar places, of change in routine, you name it… Emotional freedom is being in touch with what you are feeling and expressing it openly.

An additional component to acknowledging your emotions is the ability to seek help and support. An issue that comes up more with mental conflicts is that seeking help is a sign a weakness. The reality could not be any further than this unfounded opinion. We do not perform surgery on ourselves; we realize an expert is needed.

Ergo with emotional matters. No human being is perfect or completely self-sufficient. We may be able to provide food, housing, transportation and the like but the only thing we cannot provide by ourselves is emotional connection. That is where we need others. And in that need lies the catalyst for motivation to be transparent to one’s self. For those who know what it is like to be in touch with your emotions, you know how liberating it can be and at times, how uncomfortable…Yeah, to realize I am jealous of my coworker who got promoted, is not a good feeling. But then, being able to bounce back, understand and accept the emotion, and move forward, is being resilient, a most admirable trait. Or saying you are angry with a partner, without much drama, and resolving the misunderstanding is equally empowering and strengthens the relationship.

So people, appreciate who you are in your humanness, set fear aside of what you are feeling, and confront that inner self. There is much good there. And the less than good needs sunshine to be accepted as a part of who we are. t

Law Office of David M. Lutz, P.A. •Auto Accidents

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1901 Fleet Street Baltimore, MD 21231 Phone: 410-558-3700 (English) 410-299-2898(Español) E-mail: LawLutz@aol.com www.lawlutz.com

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BALTIMORE OUTLOUD

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

quality of life

Fit

for

Life

Joshua H. Buchbinder

Road Trip Workout Part 2 Now that we have shed our excuses for why we shouldn’t workout on the road it’s time to get to work! Some of the exercises listed in the workout from the previous week are relatively self-explanatory while others need some clarification!

First we need to activate our core to get ready to work: Everyone’s body needs to prepare for exercise by actually doing some lighter exercises or warm-ups in order to prevent injury and increase range of motion.

Planks: four sets for 30 to 60 seconds – Start with your forearms and knees on the

floor with the arms parallel to one another, if you can, straighten your legs and squeeze your entire body. This will tell your body, especially your core, to turn on and that more work is coming.

Floor bridges: four Bird dogs sets for 15 repetitions – While the plank primarily turns on the front side of the body this motion acti- vates the back side or posterior chain (calves, hamstrings, glutes and muscles of the back). Lay on your back with your knees bent, squeeze through your hamstrings and drive your hips up to the ceiling.

Remember not to lift your head and to keep your neck relaxed.

Cobras: four sets for 15 repetitions – So many of us spend time chained to a desk. This causes our head to move forward and our shoulders to round. Cobras are a great exercise to improve posture. Lay on the floor face

“First we need to activate our core to get ready to work.”

down with your legs straight and your arms down at your sides. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and use this motion to lift your chest off the ground.

Keep your lower body relaxed, legs on the ground and don’t push through your stomach.

This is a small motion, but very effective.

Next it’s time to do some work!

Air squats: three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions – Stand with feet hip to shoulder width apart, hands across the chest, out in front or on your head.

Lower your hips until your upper leg is parallel with the ground or lower. Keep the chest elevated trying not to bend over at the waist.

Squats are one of the best exercises for your glutes, not only does it make them strong but they’ll look great too!

Single leg balance and toe touch: three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions per side – Standing on one-foot bend at the waist and try to touch the opposite hand to your foot. If you cannot touch your foot attempt to touch your shin. If this is still too difficult touch your knee.

The more you do this the better your balance and flexibility will become and soon enough you will be able to touch your toes and balance with ease!

Bird dogs: three sets of 12 repetitions per cross angle – For this exercise start on all fours (basically a table top position) slowly raise one leg and the opposite arm straight out from the body, not to the side. Hold the end position for one second and keep your core tight. This is a great exercise for your shoulders, back, glutes, hamstrings and, of course, your core.

To be continued... t Joshua Buchbinder, M.S. is the owner and operator of B-Strong Fitness and Medi-Fit: jbuchbinderfitness@gmail.com, on Super mans Instagram @jbuchbinderfitness.

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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thinking outloud // David’s Thoughts

The Hate Within

By David Placher LGBT people face a society that is slowly becoming more accepting, but the dark shadows of the past linger and the present spontaneous acts of violence remind the LGBT community how much further society must evolve to create a future where the LGBT community is safe and accepted. Over the years, the LGBT community has been a target by a few politicians and public figures that use disparaging rhetoric to describe the LGBT community. For example, in the presidential election in 2004, George W. Bush campaigned on pushing Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage. That act alone placed the LGBT community in an inferior state because Bush wanted to divide people: continue to allow opposite-sex couples with the option to marry, while permanently denying same-sex couples the option to marry, including in Massachusetts where it became legal on May 17th, 2004, or prevent the LGBT community from continuing its fight for marriage equality in the courts. Years ago, Jay Leno, the former host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,”

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was criticized by the LGBT community about his jokes about sexual minorities.

The negative light that public figures have sometimes placed on the LGBT community can have consequences because some of their followers’ beliefs are shaped over time by listening, which molds behavior. Violence can follow.

“Hasidic Jews who beat and blinded gay black man are handed just 150 hours community service – and are trying to avoid doing it in a ‘culturally diverse’ NYC area,” reported the Daily Mail on August 17th.

Taj Patterson was walking alone when he was approached by a group of men who beat him into unconsciousness while they shouting homophobic slurs. Pinchas Braver, 22 and Abraham Winkler, 42, two from the group, admitted to their crime.

The hate and rage that powered the per-

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

petrators’ violence against Patterson can be assumed it was built over time, but not against Patterson specifically, but against the LGBT community in general, which thrusted the perpetrators to attack a gay man, who happened to be Patterson. If Patterson would have been walking with a girlfriend or wife, the odds are he wouldn’t have been attacked.

“Georgia Man Gets 40 Years in Prison for Hot-Water Attack on Gay Man,” was another recent sobering headline (New York Times, August 25th). Marquez Tolbert, 21, and his boyfriend Anthony Gooden, 24, were in bed together at Gooden’s mother’s place. Martin Blackwell, Gooden’s mother’s boyfriend, boiled a pot of water and poured the scalding water on the couple while they slept, burning both so severely that one was in an induced coma because of the pain and both required skin grafts.

His justification was that he did not believe in gay relationships, and that he acted on

“Within 100 years or less, there is hope that all people will treat members of the LGBT community the same as left-handed people: normal.”

“old-school culture, old school thinking.” It is hard to understand how a person can act in such a dark and evil way. The screams of the victims, the smell of the burning flesh, the blood that flowed onto the bed sheets, the nightmare scene that unfolded as he stood and watched both victims react in horror, and justifying his actions on following a culture that is anti-gay. The culture that he follows is warped, but parts of it may be reinforced by others’ anti-LGBT rhetoric, which allows him to justify his actions as “old-school culture.”

The LGBT community has been under attack by people for years, although it may be taking less verbal fire today and even less in the future, it is the previous years’ intense attacks that have created groups of people that will harm the LGBT community and blame it on a belief that people in the LGBT community are inferior. As history has demonstrated, people that are different have always been persecuted, for example people in the left-handed community, but society has evolved to where members in the left-handed community are rarely, if ever, discriminated against or labeled inferior. Within 100 years or less, there is hope that all people will treat members of the LGBT community the same as members in the left-handed community: normal. t

Thinking OUTloud

Narratives on

New Beginnings Merrick Moses

Black Man Walking A curious thing happened on the way to freedom: encountering deep learning curves in socialization. As a black man of transgender experience in America, I have had to quickly learn survival and social skills necessary to stay alive as a black man in America.

As a kid growing up in Queens, I spent lots of time with my dad, my uncles, and male cousins playing sports, running errands, and talking about life. I vicariously lived through them, as a boi, listening to their stories of triumph and travail. One thing I heard lots about was how the police treated black men and how the men in my life survived traffic stops, stop and frisk, and street harassment by law enforcement.

These stories were tales of survival, narrow escapes, and angel inspired rescues. In the New York of the 80s and 90s, no black man – or woman or child, for that matter – was isolated from the prospect of all manner of dehumanization from the NYPD. There are documented cases of unjust murders and convictions. It was a frightening time filled with racial tension coupled with Reagan’s shady economics, the AIDS crisis, and the crack epidemic. There was no reprieve of the murders fueled by the drug trade with homeboys shot and killed along with scores of young

people who became zombies overnight. I grew up in these realities buffeted only by my Depression Era born parents and the teaching nuns who taught me in parochial school.

Fast forward to today as a man of transgender experience: I draw on these memories to help me navigate the perilous but freedom-loving journey of black manhood at the dawn of the 21st century. I remember the instructions I received from my uncles and father about encountering the cops. I remember what my homeboys and cousins taught me about walking in certain areas at night and early morning. The dawn of the 21st century is just as dangerous for black people as it was in the late 80s and early 90s.

I am not exempt from the bias toward black men in this country. I have had to quickly discard any socialization regarding these dangers I received based on my sex assigned at birth. I am a black man in America. I am a black man in the center of the American empire watching the literal terror of dehumanization rained down upon me and my kin. At times, I am overwhelmed by the daily reminders of black death and suffering. Other times, I am compelled to ask the Universe how long shall we suffer this demonic torment based on the delusion of white supremacy. All of these situations forces one to take up residence next to the “mercy seat” as the elders would say. I remain “next to the cross” or rather, at an intersection of human experience: a bisexual Afro-Latino man of transgender experience. Some would see these identities and proclaim some sort portrait of a 21st-century tragic Negro story. However, I see this experience through the prism of resilience, resolve, and faith. I proclaim my heritage as the son of those who chose to survive the Middle Passage. These is plenty strength in that. And wisdom to boot. t

To my beloved Nick, I’m so blessed to have met you, and I’m so grateful to spend the rest of my life with you. As Bill & Ted said, ‘Let’s be excellent to each other’

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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Thinking out loud

Freddie Gray: Killing Unpunished

by Jim Becker Last week, the U.S. Justice Department released a scathing report on the widespread unlawful enforcement activities of the Baltimore Police Department. The investigation found a police culture that was caught in the zero-tolerance mentality of the later 1990s, despite the official abandonment of this approach to policing by the leadership under the past three commissioners. Officers on the street were constantly encouraged to rack up numbers – the more stops, street searches, and arrests the better. Police disproportionately targeted people of color, which has had a poisonous effect on the relationship between law enforcement and poor communities, particularly poor black communities.

The arrest of Freddie Gray might well be Exhibit One for this approach to policing.

The Justice Department investigation also peeled away the thin veneer of a post-racial America to reveal deep-seated, perhaps subconscious, racism in the police force that makes every encounter between a police officer and an African American, especially an African-American man, unpredictable, often humiliating, and potentially dangerous. The investigation was so disturbing that it is hard to imagine what it will take to reform the force. And, all of this is playing out against the backdrop of Baltimore’s killing fields where murders happen almost daily! We have asked some leaders and members of the LGBTQ communities to let us know their thoughts on the death of Freddie Gray and the prosecution of the six police officers involved with his arrest.

Here are their responses. t ANDRE POWELL was an early member of the Baltimore Gay Alliance as a youth and a founding member of the GLCCB. He is a black LGBT liberationist socialist and trade union activist in Baltimore for the past 41 years. He is running a writeAndre Powell

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in campaign for mayor of Baltimore in this year’s election.

THE FAILURE of the criminal convictions of these officers is not unique to Baltimore.

It reinforces the difficulty seen around the country in simply getting officers to trial in the first place. The police have become an occupying force in urban poor black communities and they represent the status quo, not the everyday working people.

The LGBTQ communities nationwide can be a teacher to the Black Lives Matter Movement. We have been there.

After all both movements started as a response to continued police oppression. Let us not forget Stonewall was a rebellion that sparked a political movement in 1969. With continued organizing over several decades look what we’ve achieved – a much greater path to liberation than we’d ever imagined in those early years. In fact the BLM movement was started by black lesbians. I look forward to its growing success just like our LGBTQ movement. We are natural allies.

Regarding the federal findings Andre said, “The U.S. Justice Department report confirms what anti-police brutality activists in Baltimore have been saying for years.

My group – the Peoples Power Assembly – has held four or five different Peoples’ Tribunal Speakouts throughout Baltimore City for the past three years. The attendance reaches up to 120 people who gave testimony of the continued harassment and frequently being stopped by police as they were simply walking down the street.

The amount of disrespect they received at the hands of the police was astounding.

We also have heard many complaints from the transgender community who still face harassment from police for simply being on the block in which they live.

It is much more than a handful of rogue cops. When citizens complain politicians and higher ups turn a deaf ear. Hence when it hits the fan we get rebellions.

What does the failure to achieve justice or accountability mean for Baltimore’s minority communities?

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

LOUIS HUGHES is a founding member of the Baltimore Gay Alliance and the GLCCB and served on the boards of both organizations. He has been an LGBT and community activist for over 40 years and was honored as an LGBT elder on “National Louis Hughes

Honor Your LGBT Elders” Day, May 17th,

by SAGEGAP of Chase Brexton Health.

[MARILYN MOSBY] MADE HISTORY in charging the officers. I am very proud of this young Afro-American woman. The system is weak on police convictions. The police blue wall of silence obstructed the warrants of cell phone evidence and intentionally blocked training records release in time and other acts of cover up. I am proud of the BCPD’s LGBT liaison, Sgt. Bailey, and the progress of the new part of the force. We have had a good relationship with the BCPD across the decades.

I am glad to be a part of two trainings of the force 1988 and 2016. The whole community not just a few Anglo-Saxon male LGBT community members working with the BCPD across this decade.

Expanding on his comments about the “blue wall of silence” Louis said, “These request for information for the trial were intentionally delayed so the defense would say that the evidence was turned over to the defense late. The truth is the evidence for training and the warrants for cellphones were all allowed to expire or given to the state prosecutor’s office late.”

WAYNE CURTIS is a well-known Baltimore real estate agent and Baltimore OUT loud columnist.

WHILE THE INITIAL ARREST does raise questions of racial and class bias in how the city is patrolled and how the police treat people in custody, the fact that the

defendants were of multiple races, the first jury was made up of multiple races, and the judge was African-American says to me that the judicial system did as well as it could to give a fair hearing to Wayne both sides. In my Curtis opinion, the unsuccessful prosecutions – from the way they were first announced to the way the investigations were conducted and concluded – were meant to further a political career rather than to find justice.

Shouting from the courthouse steps, a naive and inexperienced prosecutor over-promised and under-delivered. Nothing good can come from that combination.

RABBI JOHN FRANKEN serves at the Bolton Street Synagogue THE ENTIRE FREDDIE GRAY EPISODE illustrates the deep chasm that was etched into our landscape over the course of many decades. One part of our populace justifiably complains of ill-treatment, abuse, and prejudice while another part is frightened by the violence, destruction, and lawlessness that took place in the name of of those grievances.

T h e r e are no easy fixes. Each of us must contribute to the unity, well-being, and peace Rabbi John Franken of our city by creating conditions for all of its citizens to thrive.

At the same time, for crime to decline to New York levels (a tall order nowadays), our police must feel supported even as they are held accountable for their behavior. In this respect, the rush of some elected officials to prosecute and pay a seven-figure settlement before ascertaining the facts and properly applying the law was counterproductive and a breach of the public trust. t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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Lively Arts // out on STAGE

Chesapeake Shakespeare Classics With Flavor

By Ryan M. Clark Thirty-seven is a magic number for Chesapeake Shakespeare Company – it is the number of plays that William Shakespeare is believed to have penned. Ian Gallanar keeps that number in mind when he’s putting together his season for his c o m p a n y.

“At least half our productions are Shakespeare so it makes the task a bit easier.

The question we ask is – What should we be doing now?” says Gallanar. The company is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year mostly performing at their outdoor space in Ellicott City, Howard County. Having just completed their third year in the renovated Mercantile Building at 7 South Calvert Street, Gallanar feels that the company is, “still introducing themselves to Baltimore.”

“To ignore Shakespeare’s most famous play that deals with race would be inappropriate,” says Gallanar. He is, of course, referring to Othello. In the wake of the 2015 Baltimore Uprising and the verdicts in the Freddie Gray case, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company will tackle the “Moor of Venice” September 16th to October 9th. The theatre will be offering additional programming to accompany the play, which they are calling, “The World of Othello.” On September 10th at 2 p.m., the company will present a reading at the Walters Art Museum of Lolita Chakrabarti’s play Red Velvet that recounts the life and career of Ira Aldridge – the first African-American actor to play Othello. George Washington University professor Ayanne Thompson will present a pre-show conversation about the play on September 17th. Finally, the theatre will be doing a reading of Toni Morrison’s Desdemona at the Baltimore Book Festival, which happens September 23rd- to 25th.

Anne of the Thousand Days runs Octo-

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ber 21st to November 13th at the theatre.

Maxwell Anderson’s play gives voice to Henry VIII’s most famous wife, Anne Boleyn. An entire female production staff is being lead by Baltimore / D.C. director Kasi Campbell.

The company’s annual favorite, A Christmas Carol, will be returning to the stage December 2nd to 23rd. This original re-telling of Dickens’s classic story has a unique Baltimore flair.

A Chesapeake Jason B. McIntosh Shakeis Othello and Diane s peare Curley as Desdemona, favorite in Chesapeake’s makes a Othello credit: Teresa Castracane return to the boards in February with one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains, Richard III. Gallaner said, “Richard was one of our most popular plays outdoors (Ellicott City venue) so we wanted to remount it in o u r new space here on Calvert Street.” The production will be set in World War I with a stunning visual palate.

Ian Gallaner has had a long relationship with The Taming of the Shrew (March 17th to April 9th) having directed it several times.

The ending of the play can be particularly challenging as the heroine, Kate, capitulates to her husbands “rule” – or does she? “You have to take this play head on. You can’t ignore the problems in the play,” says Gallanar, “and, it’s great storytelling.”

Later in April (April 21st to May 21st), the company will produce its first musical, The Fantasticks. Gallanar said in choosing the season, “I am always testing the limits of the canon to see what we can do outside of the canon. The Fantasticks seemed to be a good fit.”

Finally, the company will return (as it does every year) to the PFI Historic Park for Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest. This nautical take of mystery, magic and love will take on a special significance for the community of Ell-

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Theatre Magic at Spotlighters —continued from page 1

provides a look at love and myth, and great story telling with a cast of five (two men, three women) playing over 30 roles.

The Women is a 1939 classic, written

by Clare Boothe Luce. The original work shocked the stage and later the screen, because there were no men in the show.

It is a very solid look at the period, when class stereotypes and gender roles were written in stone.

The Wiz, was chosen because of the narrative and for the non-white casting. Like many theatres (both large & small) our audiences are predominately older and white. Spotlighters hopes to encourage a younger and not so white audience to check out theatre, and to hopefully decide to take a chance on seeing works that may have originally been predominately white casts to see them casts with actors of color.

She Kills Monsters is a new work, written in 2012 by a young Korean playwright.

It won the 2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award. A young work, dealing with suicide, gender identity, sexual orientation, and the world of nerds and geeks in Dungeons and Dragons, this play speaks to many millennials, as they seek to understand each other and the world around them. We are working on a post-show discussion around suicide and gender issues.

Spring Awakening rocked audiences in 2006, as it portrayed turn of the century (1900) youth dealing with coming of age, sex-

uality, and sexual orientation. The musical can be powerful and will hopefully provide the basis for conversations within families and friends. There are multiple issues in the work: rape, suicide, and more.

RC: Can you provide our readers with an update on how your relocation plans are going?

FR: Well, it’s a waiting game right now. At this point we are waiting for a decision from Baltimore Development Corporation on our proposal. One of the exciting aspects of our plan for the Read’s Drug Store space (123 North Howard Street), is to create a living memorial to the 1955 sit-in at the lunch counter

by Morgan State University students. The first recorded desegregation sit-in in the nation. The mezzanine level will be restored and will serve as the theatre lobby and concessions area. The lunch counter will be recreated from photos and descriptions from the 1955 sit-in, and will include artwork and photos graphs as well as information on each of the students.

RC: Spotlighters is turning 55 this year. How do you envision the 60th birthday of the theatre? The 70th?

FR: My vision for Spotlighters’ 60th birthday would have us in our new facility, a community arts center, providing the same intimate and powerful theatre to our Baltimore audience, but in a better setting. We would be able to provide space for other local arts and theatre organizations to perform and for support of the theatre community at large. I hope to see more diversity in our playwrights, our directors and in our audiences. We are committed to have our audience reflect the people of Baltimore. It was so important for me at an early age to see someone on stage that I knew was like me.

By our 70th season, I will approach my 75th birthday, and will begin to consider retiring – maybe! But only if we have reached our diversity and quality goals! t Check out Spotlighters entire season at Spotlighters.org.

“By our 70th season, I will approach my 75th birthday, and will begin to consider retiring – maybe!

But only if we have reached our diversity and quality goals!”

icott City. “I’m hoping this play has a healing effect for the community,” says Gallanar.

Chesapeake Shakespeare is a theatre that is constantly asking the question, “What makes Shakespeare so great?” It is an unanswerable question that has confounded scholars, performers, and audiences for centuries. This season, takes another crack at answering the question. t For more info, Chesapeakeshakespeare. com.

Lively Arts // out on STAGE

Great Expectations Await for Everyman’s 26th Season

By Ryan M. Clark Laughter and discovery are driving Everyman Theatre’s 26th season leaving Baltimore audiences in for quite a feast of exciting theatre offerings this year. In the wake of their enormously successful “American Classical Season,” which included A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, and (while not billed in the same rep) Fences, Everyman is looking to bring levity and intrigue into its continual conversation with Baltimore audiences.

Checking off the discovery box first off is Frederick Knott’s (adapted

by Jeffrey Hatcher) suspenseful mystery, Wait Until Dark opening September 7th directed by Everyman staple Donald Hicken. Next is Jen Silverman’s The Roomate, which has been billed as “a mash-up of Thema and Louise meets The Odd Couple,” (opens October 26h). Audiences will be treated to a combination of laughter and discovery right in time for the holiday season in Colman Domingo’s Dot, which delves into the world of a dysfunctional African-American family from West Philly. Pip’s timeless journey of discovery will launch at Everyman in February with Charles Dickens’s (adapted by Gale Childs Daly) Great Expectations. One of the theatre’s most ambitious projects next year will be the Baltimore / D.C. premiere of Ellen Fitzhugh and John La Chiusa’s musical Los Otro. Finally, Everyman’s entire resident company will bring loads of laughter to the stage in May with Michael Frayn’s Noises Off. “Season planning is the single most important thing I do for Everyman and it occupies the vast majority of my time,” said Everyman artistic director Vincent M. Lancisi.

“The process is complex and made even more so by Everyman’s mission of being a repertory theatre with a resident company of actors. Everyman is committed to the professional theatre community in the Baltimore / Washington corridor and has a resident company of ten actors who appear in several plays each season. In addition to curating a dynamic and diverse slate of plays from

classics to new plays in scope, it’s important that different genres of plays be included and that a plethora of opportunities be afforded to the resident actors to transform, surprise audiences, and shine in the roles offered to them. Our audiences are sophisticated.

They have come to expect first-rate acting and productions that both introduce them to new work they can’t see anywhere else and at the same time see revivals of classics and theatrical gems that they’d like to revisit or may have missed in the past.“ E v eryman is also discovering new ways to bring more national attention to the theatre through its hiring of Noah Himmelstein as associate artistic director. Originally from Baltimore (a Carver High School grad), Himmelstein will serve as Everyman’s “ambassador” to New York. With impressive regional and NYC theatre credentials, Himmelstein will be directing the aforementioned musical Los Otros. He and the company will be doing a workshop of the play in New York prior to its arrival at Everyman. “Everyman has always balanced the classics with new work. My goal will be to bring some of the new work that is happening with playwrights in New York to Everyman thus raising the theatre’s national profile,” says Himmelstein.

Himmelstein also has a commitment to producing LGBT work both for Everyman and nationally. Many of the plays this season feature gay characters that are “fully fleshed humans that happen to be gay. This rich portrayal interests me,” he said. The Roommate, Dot, and Los Otros all have LGBT representation, which will intrigue members of the community in the Baltimore area. Additionally, Everyman will be offering other LGBT programming this year. Stay tuned!

As Everyman completed its quadranscentennial last year, it’s next 25 years look bright. The laughter and discovery await! t For more information about the Everyman season, visit their website at Everymantheatre.org.

A Look at the 2016-2017 Season at Toby’s

By Frankie Kujawa Toby’s Dinner Theatre, the theatrical jewel of Columbia, Maryland, continues to delight audiences with its season of memorable performances. As the 2016 season begins to come to a close, audiences will delight in the angelic voices of Sister Act, running from September 8th to November 16th. Based on the 1992 smash film, Sister Act follows the brassy Deloris Van Cartier who leads a singing chorus of nuns in finding their true voices, all while rediscovering her own.

Running from November 17th to January 8th, audiences will enjoy the festive tale A Christmas Carol. With music from Alan Menken, A Christmas Carol is the musical telling of the Charles Dickens classic. This version of the classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge has been a ten-year tradition at Madison Square Garden and is now being performed at Toby’s just in time for the holiday season.

Starting off the year, and pulling double duty as both part of the 2016 and 2017 season, Show Boat will run from January 12th to March 19th. The American classic is one of the most influential musicals of the 20th century. Show Boat follows the lives of the people aboard the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi show boat. The story showcases three generations, telling a powerful story of hope, freedom, and love.

The new year will also usher in performances of Beauty and the Beast, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Dreamgirls, and Miracle on 34th Street. With a captivating array of shows planned for the 2017 season, Toby’s will continue to enrapture audiences with its acclaimed performers in the year to come. t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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Lively Arts // out on STAGE

Iron Crow Goes Edgy

By Frankie Kujawa Dark. Unorthodox. Outrageous. These are just a few words to describe the upcoming 2016-2017 season at the Iron Crow Theatre. Touted as the Season of Dark Play, the Iron Crow starts off with Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party. Running from September 30th to October 9th, The Wild Party sets the stage for one wild evening in a Manhattan apartment that gives audiences an unadulterated insight into the game of love. Running from February 3rd to February 12th is Suzan Lori-Parks’ Fucking A, inspired by the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, complete with a dystopian twist. Robert O’Hara’s Booty Candy, running from June 9th to June 18th, is a semi-biographical comedy that portrays the outrageous odyssey of growing up gay and black.

In addition to three main stage performances, the Iron Crow

THE WILD PARTY SEP 30 - OCT 9

MAINSTAGE AT BALTIMORE THEATRE PROJECT

FUCKING A

FEB 3 - 12

BOOTYCANDY JUN 9 - 18

SECONDSTAGE AT BALTIMORE THEATRE PROJECT

THE ZERO HOUR NOV 2 - 4

EDITH CAN SHOOT THINGS & HIT THEM

MAR 31 - APR 2

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is introducing a new SecondStage Series. Adding an additional two performances this year, this series will feature work from local artists to published masters with smaller, more intimate needs. Beginning in December, Madeline George’s The Zero Hour runs from December 2nd to December 4th and has been hailed “a tour-de-force for two actors playing eight different roles.”

A. Rey Pamatmat’s Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, running from March 31st to April 2nd, explores the gap between childhood and whatever comes next, forcing audiences to engage with what it means to remain young when exposed to the adult world far too quickly.

Honorable mention goes to the October performance of Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show running October 27th to October 31st.

The quintessential queer theatrical experience awaits audiences with this performance complete with call-outs, cascading toilet paper and an array of other audience participation props. t

“In addition to three main stage performances, the Iron Crow is introducing a new SecondStage Series. Adding an additional two performances this year, this series will feature work from local artists to published masters.”

Lively Arts // out on screen

Tidy but Derivative Nothing highly original in Morgan

by Chuck Duncan Hollywood has always had a reputation for people getting ahead because of either the “casting couch” or nepotism. With the arrival of the new sci-fi thriller Morgan, it won’t be hard to ignore the fact that this stripped down, niche film got a major studio release due to director Luke Scott’s relationship with one of the producers, Ridley Scott, his father. Papa Scott gave 20th Century Fox a hit with the original Alien, and is currently at work on more Alien-related films (under the Prometheus banner), so it probably was a no-brainer for the studio to do a favor for Scott.

Morgan is the story of Lee Weathers, a “fixer” for a company that develops new biomechanical life forms. Weathers is dispatched to what looks like a dilapidated country estate that also has a secret underground lab. The latest experiment, named Morgan, has severely harmed one of the team and Weathers is sent to take care of the company’s asset. Which means “killing” it.

But the team has come to see Morgan as a person, artificial or not, and thwart Weathers’ mission. Of course, things go horribly wrong.

Morgan is a tidy little thriller, but comparisons to films like Alien are unavoidable. That film had a crew trapped on a ship floating through space at the mercy of an alien killing machine, nowhere to run. Here, the good ship Nostromo is replaced by the house and by extension the forest surrounding the facility. Even the team are cinematic types destined to die, from Morgan’s empathetic psychologist (who may also have more than professional feelings for the “girl”) to the nutritionist who claims to hunt to feed the team but can’t hit a target in a key moment. And there is a twist that most people can see coming from a mile away.

Perhaps it’s the story’s familiarity that at least manages to make the film mildly entertaining. While the cast features a few familiar faces like Brian Cox, Paul Giamatti, Michelle Yeoh, Toby Jones, and Jennifer Jason Leigh in very small roles, the film belongs to Kate Mara as Lee and Anya Taylor-Joy as Morgan. Both turn in phenome-

nal performances and should be the main selling points of the movie. Taylor-Joy (from The Witch) gives Morgan a childlike innocence (she’s technically five years old although she looks like a teen) that can turn to violent outbursts when pushed too far. You want to empathize with her as much as the rest of the team The does, and seductive then you’re side of thrown for a five loop when she snaps, seeing how easily she was able to manipulate everyone including the audience.

Mara (House of Cards) is also terrific as the cold, tactical assassin, for lack of a better word, who doesn’t let herself be seduced

by Morgan’s innocent charms. She refuses to refer to Morgan as anything other than an “it” and she is totally focused on her mission, even when nutritionist Skip attempts to make an ill-timed move on her. Mara is there to take names and kick ass, and she manages to kick a lot of ass in high heels in the forest. Not the most sensible shoes for the job, but she knows how to work them (and let’s see if she gets the same kind of criticism that Bryce Dallas Howard got for her shoes in Jurassic World).

Luckily, Morgan only runs a bit more than 90 minutes so you won’t feel like you lost hours of your life.

It is a very well made film (although some of the fight scenes suffer from the “I don’t know how to shoot a fight scene so let’s make it all a close up” school of beginner filmmaking), and the two lead performances are worth seeing.

It’s just a shame that there really isn’t much new or original here (it even evokes the 2009 sci-fi thriller Splice), but Mara and Taylor-Joy should see their stars rise. t

Rainbow Film Fest Charms Area Cineastes

By Jacob Pierce & Kenneth Moore Jr. Baltimore’s Creative Alliance held its fifth annual Rainbow Film Fest July 28th to 30th. A memorial to LGBT activist Kathleen Happ, Rainbow kicked off with a happy hour hosted by the Latino group IRIS Baltimore (Individualidad, Respeto, Integrided, y Sexualidad), whose name recalls the Spanish word arcoiris – rainbow. The group works “to address gay issues particular to the Latin community,” says Juan Ortiz.

Isaac Oliver, Baltimore native and openly gay comedian, capped off Thursday’s event reading from his new book, Intimacy Idiot. Oliver shared stories of his adventures and sexual escapades with humor, nudity, and video as he says “there’s great strength and comradely and healing in telling your stories and trying to find humor in them.”

Friday followed with a second happy hour and “Hot Short One: Queer Time Machine,” featuring 85 minutes of shorts such as “Stealth” (which deals with young transgender people), and “Closets” (a British film in which two gay men meet through a time machine – which happens to be a closet). The feature film for the night was Akron, which dealt with two gay characters (Benny and Christopher) falling in love and how their mothers effect their relationship.

Director Brian O’ Donnell, an Ohio native, says he wasn’t out growing up and he wanted to “write from the perspective of these 18 year olds today as opposed to my story.”

Preserving the LGBT history captured individual by individual, laughing your pants off, and a film-inspired burlesque drag show highlighted the final day of the festival on Saturday. In “Reel in the Closet,” filmmaker Stu Maddux chronicles LGBT history using footage found in the closets, basements, and attics of ordinary people from the early 1930s and beyond.

Capturing both mundane and well known historic events, the documentary shows the significance of home movies in recording LGBT life.

Interwoven throughout the film were rare images such as Boston’s first pride parade in 1970, never-before-seen footage of Stonewall pioneer Marsha P. Johnson, and childhood reels of Christine Jorgensen in the Bronx circa 1939, years before she became the first person widely

known in the U.S. to have sex reassignment surgery. The film takes the viewer on a journey through LGBT lives one house party, skinny dipping brunch, and lavender marriage at a time – imploring everyone to take ownership of our personal history.

This point was reinforced in a post-screening Q&A led by GLCCB archivists Patrick Alexander and Arnie VandeBrake, along with Smithsonian preservation specialist, Taylor McBride. “Everyone has a story and every story is important,” Alexander said.

A wild range of comedic short films closed out the screenings at Rainbow Fest.

In Joel Moffett’s “Technical Difficulties of Intimacy,” a trans man and trans woman struggle to find intimacy in a hilarious look into the challenges of finding answers to the age-old question “Do you find me attractive?” Indonesian filmmaker Yudho Aditya’s “Pipe Dreams” followed a heterosexual teenager raised by two gay dads who has a mishap with a penis enlargement device. Finally, Laura McGehee’s “Mother of God” provided loads of laughs in a story where an interracial lesbian couple believes they’re about to give birth to the “second coming” of baby Jesus.

The 2016 Rainbow Fest came to a close with a drag show hosted by Betty O’Hellno. In a tribute to Purple Rain, Pamela De La Cruz electrified the audience with a high-octane set wearing a purple sequenced train. Nikki Coxx gave a riveting performance inspired by Mona “Hatchet Face” Malnorowski from John Waters’ film Cry-Baby. Paying homage to Pitch Perfect, burlesque performer Private Tails transformed from a raucous cheerleader to a tantalizingly risqué tease – revealing a curvaceous silhouette. Headliner O’Hellno then closed out the show with a sexy burlesque number inspired by Blue Velvet. t The LGBT community has experience many storms, struggles and victories over the years – events at the 2016 Rainbow Fest served as a reminder of our resolve to live, love and laugh authentically with pride. As the festival concluded, a torrential rainstorm threatened to dampen the enthusiasm at the event. Unperturbed by the elements, O’Hellno quipped somewhat tongue and cheek that “we have to make it through the rain to see the rainbow.” t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

19

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21

out in the valley

Parenting OUTloud

Rev. Kelly Crenshaw

Change is Hard

I have raised a lot of children with behavioral issues. Many of my kids came to me through the foster care system. They were abused, neglected, and then put into the system. And while I do believe that we need to rescue children from abuse and neglect, I have found that the system can be equally abusive in its own way.

Many of my kids remember the day they went into foster care. They talk about being scared and feeling alone. They recall how it felt to go their new home and how confused they were about what was going on. They remember new rules and new expectations; new fears and new uncertainties. Time may dull those memories some,

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but they never forget. They were told that things would be better, but all they knew was that their lives had changed.

Things are different in other families.

There are changes to routine, environment, and food. In our family, there was a bedtime. Most of them had been allowed to stay up as long as they wanted. We had regular mealtimes. They were not used to this. We took baths, wore pajamas at night, and put on clean clothes for school. We put sheets on the beds and washed them on a regular basis. We wore summer clothes in the summer time and winter clothes in

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

winter. We ate with silverware and put our food on plates. For many of them, this had not been the case.

Change is hard. None of us likes to change our routines, even if it is for the best. We should eat better. We should exercise more. We should drive the speed limit, even if we’re late for an appointment.

But, all of that involves change.

And yet, children change all the time.

They start out as swaddled infants, then they roll over. They begin to crawl and then they walk. They walk and then they run. They babble and then speak. Before we know it, they start school and, in the blink of an eye, they graduate, get jobs, and make a family of their own.

It’s our job as parents to help our children through the many changes in their lives.

We cushion the blows when change is hard and celebrate the successes when change is fruitful. We guide and direct the changes when we can. Basically, our goal is to provide our best attempt at advice and direction and watch our children grow and mature into happy, healthy adults.

But, we aren’t always able to achieve our goals. What about the kids who don’t respond the way we expect? What about the kids with behavioral challenges or intellectual disabilities? What do we do when change becomes impossible for them?

One of our boys is an adult now. His IQ is around 55 and he has a number of psychological and physical diagnoses. Before he came to our home when he was 14, he had lived much of his life in psychiatric institutions. He learned that if he threw a huge fit and tried to hurt himself, people responded – quickly. If he didn’t get his way, he would start to scream and cry. He would bite himself and scratch his face. If that didn’t work, he would

run away and hide. Workers would fly from every corner to get to him before he did more damage. They held him, restraining him to prevent him from hurting himself or running away. And, on some level, he enjoyed this. It was his way of getting someone, anyone, to hug him and provide physical attention.

Because of his intellectual limitations, it’s been hard for him to change this behavior.

It worked for so many years.

He hasn’t realized that our household isn’t restricted from basic physical attention.

We’re free to give him hugs and to kiss his Cassandra dines forehead. He isn’t used to this behavior and still has no idea how to respond. So, although the fits are, for the most part, fewer and further between, they still happen. He likes being hugged. He likes it when people talk to him and listen to what he says. But, even after all these years, it’s still a change for him. And, change is hard.

This son may be an extreme example, but it shows us just how difficult change can be. It serves us to keep this in mind when our kids take a while to adjust to something expected. They don’t learn their behaviors overnight, so we shouldn’t expect them to change immediately. It takes time and repetition to alter a behavior. So, be patient with your kids and give them room to grow.

They’re counting on you. t

out in the valley

Brian’s

Brain

Brian George Hose

Back to School Lessons Back to school time always makes me feel a bit sappy and nostalgic. I always enjoyed school and learning new things, but I was never quite ready to let go of the warm, carefree days of summer. As a teenager, summer meant freedom; going back to school meant giving up some of that freedom and taking on new responsibilities and conforming to the rules of the school and my peers.

By high school, the end of summer brought with it a small underlying sense of dread. Going back to school meant another year of hiding in plain sight. At the time, there were no openly LGBTQ students at my school, and for good reason. Even the suspicion of being “different” opened students to teasing, bullying, harassment, and sometimes violence. I remember it being a very difficult time, of always being on guard. Despite having a close group of friends, I remember being lonely. After all, there were parts of myself that I couldn’t share with others; things I wanted to talk about that I simply couldn’t say without putting myself at risk.

When things got rough I reminded myself that I was getting closer to college.

I thought of college as a kind of happy ending, a place where I could be myself, be out, and live as openly and honestly as I wished. I secretly hoped that all the things I’d hidden from the world would be celebrated in a new place, that I would finally belong and be accepted as I was.

Luckily, my hopes became reality. My roommate, a brilliant punk kid from Baltimore, and I became fast friends. I was helping him move his stuff into our shared room when I noticed a blue and yellow

// health HRC equality sticker on a trunk. Before I could comment he gave me a sideways grin and said that he may be straight, but he wasn’t narrow. In that moment I felt myself step away from the person I had been in high school and toward the person I wanted to be.

This time in my life is filled with bittersweet memories. In hindsight, I wonder what would have happened if I’d been out in high school. I had shared my secret with my mother, my favorite teacher, and my best friend, and the consensus was that coming out would be dangerous in our small, rural town. tIt would be better to wait for college where I would be away from home and all the reasons and people that made it necessary for me to hide. I imagine this is a familiar story to many of us in the LGBTQ community.

The world was a different place when I was in high school. Coming out was a real risk. There were stories of families disowning their LGBTQ kids, of hate crimes, and countless consequences of being honest.

Though these risks are still present, they are becoming the exception and not the rule. I think it’s important to remember this in the wake of the Pulse shootings in Orlando and the anti-LGBTQ sentiments expressed by politicians and community leaders. These voices are becoming the minority as more and more people support LGBTQ rights and equality.

They only want us to go away because it has become clear that we have arrived, that we have been invited to the party just like everyone else.

It makes me happy that more and more LGBTQ youth are feeling safe to be out at school. For our youth, it’s becoming less necessary to put their lives and themselves on hold, waiting for a safe opportunity to be the person they want to be. This is a victory for all of us, proving that our efforts have opened doors that once were closed, that things really do get better.

Now that students are back in school, let’s celebrate that LGBTQ youth are learning they don’t have to hide to be loved, and we all play a part in teaching this lesson. t

“By high school, the end of summer brought with it a small underlying sense of dread. Going back to school meant another year of hiding in plain sight. At the time, there were no openly LGBTQ students at my school, and for good reason.”

Health Chat

Debbie Anne

Taking the MDeity Out of Medicine Last week someone I know had a fall and injured her foot, and it fell to me to take Kathy to get her foot examined.

So, after some consideration about going to the emergency room or to an urgent care center the decision was made to opt for urgent care. Since it was a Friday evening, the thought of spending hours in an emergency room surrounded by people either hacking, bleeding, or vomiting was not appealing to either of us.

Boy, was I relieved, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure that urgent care wouldn’t be the same thing.

Once we were able to get Kathy into the car, we took off toward the only urgent care center that we knew about. Then before we got to that center, we saw the sign to another urgent care and pulled in there instead. We lucked out! The staff from the center came out to the car to help Kathy in and quickly had her in the back to an exam room. They took a complete medical history and then took x-rays. Next the doctor came in and told Kathy that her foot was broken in two places, and that they would apply a splint and wrap her foot until she could see an orthopedic specialist on the following Monday.

Well actually, the person who had come into the room to give her a diagnosis was not a doctor; she was a nurse practitioner, and she was the practitioner who was on duty that evening. She was confident, competent, and very pleasant to deal with. Kathy always has 100 questions about everything, and the nurse practitioner was very patient with her and didn’t rush her in any way. Even with Kathy’s 100 questions, we were out of there within an hour. That level of customer service is rare in the world of doctors and medicine, and I think it’s a perfect example of the qual-

ity of care that nurses – including nurse practitioners or advanced practice nurses – bring to the arena of medicine.

The role of nurse practitioners is rapidly expanding. In fact, the numbers of nurse practitioners grew from 60,000 in 1999 to 171,000 in 2013. At the same time the doctor shortage is expected to reach up to 90,000 by 2025, according to a USA Today (July 27, 2015). There is an obvious shift in the medical community toward non-physician practitioners. And over the past decade much new legislation has paved the way for expanding roles for both nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants. The reimbursement rate that insurers pay for non-physician practitioners has steadily grown as well.

New legislation in Maryland in October 2015 also made it possible for nurse practitioners to operate their own practices independent of physi- cian oversight. Even in t h e world of public health, nurse practitioners are playing a vital role.

When I began to look for a practitioner in Frederick County to whom we could refer individuals for PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection), it was an independently practicing nurse practitioner who stepped forward to take the role. Of the individuals we’ve referred to Michelle Cooper, many of them are now using Michelle for all of their primary care needs, not just for PrEP. They come back to tell me that they “love her.”

Anyone in the field of medicine has known for a long time that our medical system is broken and needs total rehabilitation. With every nurse practitioner who enters the field, I believe we will be on our way to a system that has customer service written all over it.

To read more about the role of non-physicians go to: usatoday.com/story/ news/nation/2015/07/27/role – nurse-practitioners-and-physician-assistants-growing/30463537/ 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.

The emerging role of nurse practitioners

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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out in the valley // FAITH

Spirit Speaks

Rev. Dr. Rob Apgar-Taylor

A Christian Like Joey Friday, August 26th was National Dog Day. It is the day we celebrate the love and companionship we have with our canine “fur-babies.” You know, those drooling, shedding, jumping, licking little balls of fur that find their way into our hearts and soon end up running our homes? Yeah that’s them.

It also reminded me that I forgot my dog’s birthday! It’s okay because he’s gone now. He would have been 21 years old this month. How I still miss that sweet boy. He was more than a dog, if you know what I mean. He was my children’s childhood pet. He was our guardian, protecting us from untold numbers of very menacing squirrels and rabbits in the yard. He made sure everyone who walked down the street knew in no uncertain terms “Hey, my family lives here! I’m protecting them.” (At least that’s what I think he was saying.)

One time I preached a sermon about him called “A Christian like Joey.” Now I know that dogs can’t technically be Christians, but as far as actions go, that dog was a better Christian than this pastor will ever be.

He was kind and gentle. Sure, he barked to let people know he was in control, but he would have sooner kissed you to death than bite you. But no matter how bad my day, when I came home, he made me feel like king of the castle.

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He was forgiving. If he did something wrong and I corrected him, he couldn’t wait to make nice again. He never held a grudge or refused to forgive.

He was compassionate and loving.

I know, all dogs love attention. But when someone was sick, he was there to make you feel better, with a nuzzle or a cuddle or a sweet little kiss on the cheek. It was the only way he could, but it was clear that he knew something was wrong and wanted to make it better. His company was his medicine.

As for me? I would do better to be a lot more like him. My words could be softer, and gentler. Sure there are times I have to protect those I love, but too often I have let anger take control. I could be more forgiving. Others are struggling too. Bitterness and resentment course like poison through our veins if we let them.

Compassion is sorely lacking in our world these days. Just to be present to those in need. Maybe my words won’t make a difference. Maybe there is nothing I can say or do to help someone’s pain, but there are times the best medicine I can offer is the gift of my presence: holding a hand, sitting watching TV by a bedside, reading a card that came for them in the mail. These are small gifts, but they can make a huge difference. Sometimes the most important gift I can give is the gift of my presence and love.

So yeah, I know dogs can’t technically be good Christians, but if I could be more like him, I think maybe I would be.

On this National Dog Day I celebrate the gift of my canine children. There are three adorable fur-babies who bless my life today. But I remember the gift of one boy who still touches my heart even six years after he left us. Today I lift a glass to toast him on his 21st birthday. Happy birthday Joey…I hope I can be half the man you thought I was. You taught me well. t

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Spirit Speaks Coming Home

By Rev. Kelly Crenshaw When I was a little girl, I remember going to my grandparents’ church each year for Homecoming. It was a big deal. The normal congregation of less than 80 swelled to hundreds on Homecoming Sunday. We gathered for worship that Sunday morning and we planned to get there early to make sure we got a seat.

Everybody prepared their best dishes and we sat at tables in and around the pavilion to share in the feast.

We visited with distant rel- All in atives that we only saw that one day a year. We played horseshoes, softball, and frisbee. Everyone left exhausted, promising that they would be better about staying in touch, but they rarely did. And then, the next year, the promises would all be repeated as families loaded their cars and headed out to drive the long trips home.

Unfortunately, many of our churches today no longer host anything like a Homecoming Sunday. Our culture is transient. We grow up in one town and often move to several others during our adult years.

We retire in yet another town. We make new friends, establish new homes and gradually grow away from the friends of our pasts.

This is what makes something like Homecoming so much more important.

Even if you didn’t grow up in a place, you still have memories. You made friends and shared a portion of your life with a group of people. These people hold a piece of your heart and you hold a piece of theirs.

This is why New Light MCC still holds an annual Homecoming celebration.

Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen members come and go. It always reminds me of the old song that says, “Make new friend, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” Our friends are precious and we cherish the memories of shared events and celebrations.

This year, our Homecoming is planned for September 18th. If you have ever attended New Light, please join us for worship. We would love to see you. And, if we have never had the pleasure of your company, consider this your official invitation. We would love to meet you.

And, one more thing… We have food. Plan to join us for our potluck luncheon after worship that day. We’ll see you then!t For more info about New Light contact one of the co-pastors at 301-797-5698 or newlightmcc@hotmail.com.

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25

dining out

Finger’s Food

Richard Finger

Waffle House

10422 Sharpsburg Pike Hagerstown, Maryland Wafflehouse.com

Although the forecast was calling for thunderstorms, we could not pass up the opportunity to view the Persied meteor shower. So, last Saturday night, we took a long drive out to Flintstone, Maryland. According to my husband-to-be, this was going to be a place dark enough for optimal viewing. On the way out, I spied a Waffle House sign as we drove past Hagerstown, and we all agreed on the way back, we were stopping in for a late-night snack.

We did manage to find a secluded field in Flintstone, but our only clear view was of the Big Dipper and we also did see the International Space Station fly through the

Presque magnifique!

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BALTIMORE OUTLOUD

sky. We hung around for almost a half hour as the cloud cover increased and light rain began to fall. Looks like viewing the Peried meteor shower was not in the cards for us this year, but, all was not lost.

We were heading to Waffle House! I had olfactory and taste memories of the many times I had been to Waffle House as a child on our many car trips down the I-95 corridor, and grew more excited scrambled eggs along with my as we drove closer to it.

Upon walking in, we were kindly greeted by one of the wait staff, and took a seat in a back booth. The Waffle House was not too busy, but it was almost midnight at this point, so I wasn’t expecting a large crowd.

As usual, the menus were on the table, placemat-style, the breakfast menu on

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

one side, and lunch and dinner menu on the other. Very simple. I had only one purpose in mind, and that was to have a delicious waffle!

Waffles are served either plain, or with options of blueberry, strawberry, peanut butter, chocolate chips, or pecans. I wasn’t interested to ruin perfection with any of those options. I just wanted a little butter and lots of syrup. My son did opt for the peanut butter. This option is served with peanut butter “chips”, and I could see them melting into the waffle. That does sound delicious doesn’t it? Not on the m e n u , but written on a poster in the store, there are over a dozen $6 breakfast options. I threw in two scrambled eggs along with my order to take advantage of this deal.

All I can say is that waffle didn’t stand a chance. It was gone within just a few

minutes. Delicious, just like I remembered.

I was not disappointed. I should mention that the $6 breakfast included coffee. The coffee was quite good, in my opinion. Our waitress, Josie, was just amazing, and refilled my cup a few times during our meal.

For almost midnight, she had enough energy to power the restaurant. She provided me with a “to-go” cup of coffee to take on the road.

We all enjoyed our visit to Waffle House.

Admittedly, this is not considered a restau-

rant chain of refined quality, but for me, it was like visiting an old friend, and enjoying the experience. Next time you find yourself on the road, I recommend stopping in for a bite.

Prices are reasonable, food tastes great, and service is friendly. What more could anyone ask for? t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

27

your money The More you Know About

Business

Richard Finger

Ethical Dilemmas In recent conversations with some of my HR colleagues, we began to discuss ethical dilemmas we often are faced with. One of the many aspects of our profession that I enjoy is counting on the unexpected, and it is often in times like these, when our principles are most tested. Typically, a strain between a business request and perhaps a conflict with a statutory law or a company policy or practice is when these situations surface. In many of these circumstances, for me, I always ask myself this question, “What is the right thing to do?”

Let me provide examples from my own experience. Picture this: 2004 presidential election year. One of the hot topics of the time was the outsourcing of jobs overseas (and 12 years later, it still is). The company I was working for at the time was proactively preparing for a significant revenue loss years down the road, and was looking for creative ways to cut operating costs, while continuing to invest in its product pipeline. One of the outcomes of this strategic plan was to consider outsourcing positions in information management and financial transaction processing. I was fortunate enough to work with the best and brightest leaders at that time, and we had decided as a team to be completely transparent with our employees through every phase of this decision to outsource. Making a long story short, the period of time from selecting our outsourcing partner and the scope of services they would be providing took much longer than we had anticipated. I refer back to that summer and fall period as the “dark period,” as we had not communicated anything to our employees during this time. Once the ink was dry on the deal, and we were ready to communicate, it was the week before Thanksgiving. Company practice had been not to communicate any “bad news” after November 15th. Morally, I advocated to executive leadership that our employees had waited long enough, and thought it best to communicate immediately. The amount of stress on our employees was taking its toll. I wanted our employees to know whether their jobs were secure or not

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before the Holidays were upon us. It seemed like the most responsible thing to do. Surely, we did move ahead with our communication.

Most employees were grateful to finally know their fate. Of course, there was a small minority of disgruntled employees that did not appreciate our efforts. Did we do the right thing? To this day, 12 years later, I think so.

That was a large-scale business issue.

Now I’ll discuss a situation impacting just a handful of people. Working at a location where position eliminations were frequent due to us being acquired, the number of employees had dwindled down drastically over a three-year period. My location was asked to contribute more operating cost savings.

With one of our administrative staff eyeing retirement, we had taken a hard look at the number of administrative assistants required for our site. There was a unique dynamic at the time where three administrative assistants were offered the opportunity to apply for the one position being vacated by the retiree. The two that were unsuccessful securing the position would then lose their jobs with the company. One of the three was, by far, most qualified. Her boss, the senior most executive on site, would be transferring overseas. He was convinced that we should offer her the job without going through a fair interview process. No matter how I tried to explain the need to conduct a fair process, he was convinced I was approaching this the wrong way. Shortly after interviewing for our position she resigned, as she had accepted another job with another company. As you can imagine, her boss was quite cross with me upon her resignation. Did I do the right thing here? Again, I think so. Handing her the job automatically would have resulted in an unfair selection process, and in my opinion, would have decreased morale on site.

In all situations, in the spirit of keeping the work environment fair and aspiring to do the right thing, I know some folks were unhappy with the end result. I learned many years ago that it is unreasonable to think that everyone will always like you, and that has to be okay. As my boss used to say, “No good deed goes unpunished”. Even so, I believe those that have disagreed with me can still reflect on my body of work, and at the end of the day, believe that they, and all employees, were treated with respect. t

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Planning for Singles

By Woody Derricks Most of my articles have been geared towards couples, yet individuals have financial concerns as well. In a relationship, generally, one person handles most of the financial planning and money issues. But what happens when the spouse who actively managed the couple’s assets and financial future is no longer the decision maker? The less experienced spouse has to step up to the plate, usually with little or no warning. Because this transfer of responsibility is often occasioned by death, disability, or divorce, it can be an emotionally challenging time.

Yet critical decisions concerning investments, insurance, financial, and estate planning need to be made to avoid or minimize financial hardships later.

Insurance: Typically, when we think of insurance, we think of life and/ or long-term care insurance. While it may be necessary to carry some of those types of insurance, singles often don’t require as much coverage as a couple may.

Without dependents to provide for, should a death or long-term care event take place, it’s not normally a priority for singles to spend the money on insurance simply to provide a larger inheritance to adult children, extended family, or friends.

One area of insurance that is especially important for singles is disability coverage.

Because you are self reliant, you need to protect your income. If you suffered a disability and didn’t have sufficient savings, the disability could prove to be financially catastrophic.

I suggest that you consult your human resources department about group disability coverage and your financial advisor about supplemental insurance. While open enrollment may not be until the fall, knowing your options now will help you prepare for you benefit elections. You may decide to apply for individual coverage and be declined. In which case, the group coverage may be your only option for disability insurance.

Retirement Planning: When it comes to retirement, you can’t start planning for the future soon enough. Again, because

you’re relying on your income and savings, it’s important to assess your needs and begin saving.

Estate Planning: In order to make sure that your estate is disposed of properly, consider getting a basic estate plan in place-at a minimum. A basic estate plan begins with naming the

beneficiaries on your accounts.

Many singles (without children) name parents, siblings, or nieces/nephews as beneficiaries of their accounts.

Your parents may already be retired and your siblings may not need the money. If that’s the case, you could consider donating a portion of your estate to a charity.

The next piece of an estate plan is getting a Will. While a Will does not bypass probate, it will help the court transfer your estate per your wishes. If you do not have a will, the probate court will create one for you. Typically, the court’s will passes assets on to your closest living relatives. This may or may not be your desired result.

Arguably the most important part of an estate plan for singles is getting a Power of Attorney in place for health care and financial issues.

In the Power of Attorney, you’ll name someone to handle your health care and/ or financial matters should you become incapacitated. Without these documents, your family may have to hire an attorney and present to a court why a particular family member should be in charge of your wellbeing. This may not be the person you would select.

In order to protect yourself and prepare for the future, you need to act. 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.

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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Rodney Burger

Connecticut Couple Takes Atlantic States Titles Mr. Connecticut Leather 2016 Thomas Matt and his partner Mr. North America Daddy Bear 2015 Trell Walters from Berlin, Connecticut, were selected Atlantic States LeatherSIR 2017 and Atlantic States Leatherboy 2017 during the inaugural Atlantic States Leather Weekend held in Baltimore on August 19th and 20th.

Mid-Atlantic Leatherboy 2012 John Urso from Glen Burnie, Maryland, took home the Atlantic States Community Bootblack title. Also competing for the title of Atlantic States Leatherboy

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was Jonathan Kitchen from Wilmington, Delaware. Many may remember both Sir Thomas and Jonathan from this year’s Mid-Atlantic Leather Contest in D.C., where both also competed. There were no additional contestants.

Produced by Maryland Mr. Leather 2011 Alex Lemaire and Mr. eXile Leather 2010 Sir Robert Chandler, this new contest is a preliminary to the International LeatherSIR / boy / Community Bootblack Contest held over Labor Day Weekend in Dallas, Texas. Since it is already late August, the Atlantic States leather titleholders will represent the region in Dallas in 2017.

Originally scheduled to be held at the Baltimore Eagle – which has not yet opened – the event was moved with the help of the Baltimore Eagle staff to the Charm City Play Space (252 West 23rd Street). This 10,000 square foot adult venue opened in September 2014

september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Atlantic States Leather Contest winners

and is located not far from the Baltimore Eagle.

It proved to be a wonderful alternative location.

Friday night’s Meet & Greet reception included music by DJ Ryan Doubleyou, two bars, and a leather vendor mart that included Wolfstryker Leather, Anubis Gear, Z Kiltz, and Anarchy 4 All. There was also a rope bondage demo by Thomas Fincannon and a fire play demo by Mr. Maryland Leather 2016 Eli Onyx.

I was very proud to have been asked to judge the first Atlantic States Leather Contest.

Joining me at the judge’s table were other leather titleholders from the area: Mid-Atlantic LeatherSIR 2010-2011 Sir John Krikorian, Mid-Atlantic LeatherSIR 2003 Sir Mike Mitchell, Mid-Atlantic Leather Woman 2012 Morgaine, Mr. New Jersey Leather 2015 Thomas Fincannon, and Mid-Atlantic Leatherboy 2013 boy quinton. Judging the Atlantic States Community Bootblack Contest were International / Mid-Atlantic Community Bootblack 2014 boy ed and Mid-Atlantic Community Bootblack 2013 girl amelia. The judges held interviews with the contestants on Saturday afternoon and the contest was held on Saturday evening.

The job of the emcee of a contest is to keep

the contest moving along and often to provide filler entertainment. The job of emceeing the first Atlantic States Leather Contest went to two performers who had never emceed a leather contest before. Performer and Mr. Philadelphia Leather 2016 Rudy Flesher and from New Orleans Dorian (a.k.a Todd Chafin). Both provided lots and lots of witty repartee, which unfortunately caused the contest to drag and end around midnight. Don’t get me wrong – it was a very entertaining contest. I only wish that there was time afterwards for the planned victory party.

I also tend to be more serious about the leather community and don’t like when emcees refer to the selection of leather titleholders as “pageants” or onstage fantasy performances as “numbers” – but that sometimes happens when the host is unfamiliar with leather contests. Dorian performed two very funny musical numbers and Baltimore’s own Queen of Comedy Shawnna Alexander brought down the house with her performance of “I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It.” Contestants appears onstage in bar wear, jockstrap, and formal leather, answered an onstage question, performed an onstage fantasy, and gave a brief speech.

Another highlight was Sir Thomas Matt’s Colonel Sanders-inspired skit. It was truly finger licking good.

The audience contained a good number of leather titleholders from the Atlantic States area as well as the current International LeatherSIR Tug, who travelled from Dallas, and was given a few minutes to address the crowd.

It is a lot of hard work and is never easy to stage a new leather contest and I must applauded Sir Robert Chandler and Alex Lemaire for pulling off a fun weekend. I am sure that next year’s Atlantic States Leather Weekend will be even better.

Plus our region now has three outstanding new leather titleholders who will make us very proud when they compete in Dallas in 2017. A new tradition has started and an old tradition has been kept alive. I couldn’t be happier. t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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september 2, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com