Baltimore OUTloud • October 28, 2016

OUT 37 YEARS OF

LGBT HISTORY

EDITORIAL Vote for Clinton: & Our Other Endorsements IF YOU KNOW THIS NEWSPAPER, you know we’d never be so presumptuous as to tell you how to vote. However, we do give you our thoughts on the candidates and the reasons for our endorsements. This year we’ll be voting enthusiastically for Hillary Clinton for president, Chris Van Hollen for U.S. senator, and Catherine Pugh for mayor of Baltimore City. We have never been big fans of City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Comptroller Joan Pratt, and are not making an endorsement for these positions. However, we urge you to look at the unaffiliated, independent socialist Worker’s World Party candidate for council president, Sharon Black (Baltimorecampaignforpeoplespower.org).

Hillary Clinton for president Every presidential election is a really big deal but this year the outcome could have “HUGE” consequences, to quote a

certain reality TV star turned presidential candidate. After decades of extremely conservative majorities on the Supreme Court, there is a chance that the court could begin to tilt toward the middle if Hillary Clinton wins the election. This opportunity to break the right-wing stranglehold on the court is reason enough for us to vote for her and we hope you will agree. The death of extremist Justice Antonin Scalia is a gift that can’t be ignored.

There are many other reasons that we will be voting for Hilary. Her experience as first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state is a resume that far exceeds most of her predecessors. She is smart, thoughtful, and steady. She has spelled out economic positions that are far more progressive than we might have expected, thanks no doubt in part due to the campaign of Bernie Sanders, our choice during the Democratic Primary. Hillary’s economic plan

BY Frankie Kujawa The 5th annual Charm City Fringe Festival descends upon Baltimore this November bringing a multitude of entertaining acts reaching far beyond the typical standards of drama and comedy.

Running from November 3rd to 13th, the festival will take place at venues across Hampden and Station North.

“It’s a way for people to discover the next up-and-coming thing,” explains festival co-founder Zachary Michel. “It’s a place where you can explore those new and emerging artists who are

5th annual Charm City Fringe Festival certain to offend & delight

October 28, 2016 | Volume XIV, Issue 13

includes reform of the tax code to make it more equitable with what she calls a “fair share surcharge” on multi-millionaires and billionaires, strong support for labor unions and the right to collective bargaining, and free college tuition at public universities for families making up to $125,000 annually.

We are concerned about her hawkish approach to foreign policy and military intervention but are hopeful that she has learned from the mistakes of the recent past. We are also cognizant of her role in her husband’s presidency and its dismal record on economic policy towards poor people, her comments about “super predators,” and the mass incarceration of African-American men. As strong believers in sexual freedom and liberation, we con-

demn all non-consensual sexual acts but fear her policy statement on what is claimed to be an “epidemic” of campus sexual assault furthers the rush to judgment currently in vogue which condemns as rape “having Hillary Clinton

sex while drunk” and “sex that’s regretted”; that sees rape if every sequential sexual act was not affirmatively consented to.

—continued on page 4

Thriving on the Fringe coming to the city. They will eventually be the ‘movers and shakers’ down the road. They will be the freshest artists you can find.”

Founded in 2012, Charm City Fringe was the brainchild of Michel and co-founder Michael Brush. Fringe festivals date back to the first festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947. A number of companies performed on the outskirts, or fringe, of the Edinburgh International Festival.

“Mike and I have been involved with the arts and have been friends since 8th grade,” Michel explains. “In college, we both took theater along with our individual majors. Upon

graduating, I did a couple of fringe festivals, and got more into theater as I went on.” Michel further explains that it was in-between careers that their idea of a Baltimore-based Fringe festival was born. “We looked around and we thought about our friends who had moved to other cities with theater because they couldn’t find enough of it here in Baltimore.”

Spanning across ten different venues in 11 days, the festival infuses new artistry into the Baltimore cultural scene. “The Fringe Festival is a way for people, like our friends, —continued on page 19

ARE YOU AN LGBT ADULT OVER 50 OR A CAREGIVER?

Join us for an upcoming atrics for her. Primary care for you. All in one location.

SAGECAP Lunch & Learn & get information, resources, & support (as well as a free lunch!)

to make the years ahead healthier & easier...

Hope to see you there!

(By the way: did we mention lunch is provided?)

WHEN: Every Second Thursday, 12PM to 1:30PM WHERE: Chase Brexton Health Care, Mt. Vernon Center Community Rooms

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

Know the 10 Signs of Dementia Presented by: Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Maryland

RSVP:

lgbt@chasebrexton.org 410-837-2050 x1107 SAGEUSA.ORG RESOURCECENTER.LGBT

The LGBT Health Resource Center

SAGECAP is Generously Funded in Part by the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

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BALTIMORE OUTLOUD

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

news // LOCAL

Approved February 29, 2016

Try Out to be King / Queen of Pride 2017

By Bill Redmond-Palmer On Saturday, November 19th a new King and Queen of Baltimore Pride will be crowned – and it could be you! The contest will include opportunities to demonstrate your abilities in modeling, live vocal or lip-sync, creativity, communication, speech among othChastity Vain, er aspects of your Queen 2016 talents.

Pageant categories are Interview, Formal Image, Solo Talent, Pride Wear, and Speech.

A non-refundable application donation of $25 must be made via money order,

Register Now: 2016 Annual World AIDS Day Conference

By Bill Redmond-Palmer The University of Pittsburgh’s Mid-Atlantic AIDS Education and Training Center, in partnership with Positive Health Clinic, Allegheny Health Network, and Pittsburgh AIDS Center for Treatment, University

made out to “GLCCB,” at the time of the application submission. Applications and the money order are due by 5 p.m., November 1st, “without exception.” They should be delivered to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland, (GLCCB), on the third floor at 2530 North Charles Street.

Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The volunteer promoters will be accepting only six contestants for Queen and six for King, so time is of the essence.

Contestants must be at least 21, live within Maryland, and present identification to verify their age at the contest.

Paid employees of the GLCCB are not eligible to apply. Contestants who are crowned Baltimore King and Queen of Pride 2017 will be prohibited from Tyger Black St. James competing for 2016 King of Pride any other title within the year in which they reign.

For more information, contact: Rik Newton – 410-236-5286; Gabrielle Remsen Ruby – 443-447-7723; or Jessi Blurgle Merriken – missmd.directors@gmail.com. t

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE CENTER FOR LEARNING AND HEALTH

IF YOU ARE LIVING WITH HIV, YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS STUDY YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE IN MEDICAL CARE TO QUALIFY WHAT CAN YOU GET IN THE STUDY? • We will refer you to medical care if needed • Learn the benefits of taking HIV medications • Earn up to $1,030 for completing assessments • Some people may earn up to $7,300 over 2 years for providing blood samples that show that they take HIV medications regularly HOW CAN YOU APPLY FOR THE STUDY? Call the Center for Learning and Health at

1-866-857-9851

Principal Investigator: Kenneth Silverman, Ph.D. Protocol Number: IRB00044740

tober 31st and $45 through registration close on November 24th. Continuing medical education credits are available.

For more info, visit Maaetc.org/events/ view/8202 or call 412-624-1895. t

of Pittsburgh Medical Center, will host a World AIDS Day Conference, open to all health care professionals and HIV treatment team members.

The conference will be held at University Club (123 University Place, Pittsburgh) from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on World AIDS Day, December 1st, 2016. Lunch will be provided.

The fee for attendees $35 through OcBALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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editorial // elections 2016 —continued from page 1 Although polls show that vast numbers of the American people don’t trust Hillary, we believe that the complaints are in large part the result of an unrelenting campaign since the early 1990s that she correctly identified as “a vast right-wing conspiracy.”

We only need to remember what House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said about the various Republican investigations of her as Secretary of State. The countless hours spent on Benghazi and her private email server have uncovered nothing of sig-

nificance and certainly no criminal conduct but Mr. McCarthy let slip the real purpose of these various hearings – they caused her poll numbers to drop. Her judgment has been far from perfect (the Iraq War is exhibit 1) and her husband’s presidency in which she played in major policy roll, left much to be desired in terms of economic and trade policies. However, she has evolved from a right-leaning “New Democrat” during the 1980s and 90s, to a mainstream, slightly left-of-center Democrat who will make the country better for average people.

Contrast Ms. Clinton’s lifetime of pub-

Chris Van Hollen for U.S. Senate U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CHRIS VAN HOLLEN is facing conservative Republican State Delegate and Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga, Green Party candidate Dr. Margaret Flowers, and Libertarian candidate Arvin Vohra in the election to replace longtime Senator Barbara Mikulski.

Again the choice for us is easy. Representative Van Hollen has established an impressive record of support for progressive policies since he was first elected to Congress in 2002 after serving 12 years in the Maryland House of Delegates and State Senate. Because he is bright, hardworking and thinks seriously about the issues, he has risen to hold important leadership positions within the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives. He has a comprehensive progressive economic plan that would end tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas, provide equal pay for equal work, and expand investment in early education and after-school programs. He is a strong supporter of the right to vote and sensible gun control. He has been a reliable ally of the LGBTQ communities since his early days as a state legislator and is the only Maryland member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus.

Delegate Szeliga, owner with her husband of a construction company, has an interesting personal resume and likes to say that she started at the bottom working minimum wage jobs such as dishwasher, parking lot attendant,

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maid, and waitress. Although she calls for “reform” rather than repeal of Obama Care, most of her policy positions track those of her party. While promising to keep all options open, she sees the national debt as a Chris spending problem not a Van revenue problem. She Hollen would cut regulations on businesses, oppose an increase in the minimum wage, push border security before immigration reform, and promote an energy policy that includes renewable energy but also favors increased use of fossil fuels. Szeliga has also maintained staunchly conservative positions on gay marriage and gun control and was chief of staff to extreme rightwing US Representative Andy Harris.

If it weren’t for the hopelessness of third parties in this country, the Green Party candidate Dr. Flowers would be worth consideration. She is a pediatrician and fulltime advocate for a single payer health system. She has organized and participated in numerous campaigns to promote fair trade, a new economy, and investment in peaceful public infrastructure. Not so for Libertarian Arvin Vohra, an educational business owner and vice chair for the Libertarian National Committee. Although we are sympathetic to Vohra’s isolationist foreign policy positions, he calls for the elimination of the Department of Education, the FDA and the IRS and advocates free market positions that we see as dangerous. So for us it is Chris Van Hollen without hesitation! t

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

EDITORIAL Vote for Clinton: And Our Other Endorsements lic service accomplishments with that of her major opponent. She is facing opposition from a racist, misogynist, tax-dodging, pathological liar who speaks to all of the darker impulses of the American spirit. Donald Trump has shown that he is only interested in himself and his businesses.

In the first debate, he quite outrageously said as much by boasting that he had not paid taxes while complaining about crumbling infrastructure, terrible border security, horrible conditions in the inner cities, and a depleted military (not true – we spend more on national defense than any other country in the world), all things that are paid for by taxes. He has promised to deport millions of people who have been here for decades, build an astronomically expensive wall on the Mexican border, repeal the Affordable Care Act, appoint extremist right-wing judges to the Supreme Court who will repeal the right of samesex couples to marry, restrict voting rights through voter identification laws aimed at minority and poor people, and provide more trickle-down tax cuts to the wealthy. The list of his horrible policies seems unending. His authoritarian personality was on full display in the second debate when he promised to jail Secretary Clinton if elected president.

As we have said in the past, we would never vote for a candidate solely on the candidate’s positions on issues of importance to LGBTQ people. However, here too, the choice of Clinton over Trump is clear. She is a strong supporter of our communities and he has been embracing anti-LGBTQ positions throughout the campaign. In the U.S. Senate, Hillary fought for federal non-discrimination legislation. As secretary of state, she advanced LGBT rights within the State Department, and declared in a 2011 speech in Geneva, Switzerland, on International Human Rights Day that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” She updated the State Department’s policy so that transgender peoples’ passports reflect their true gender. She has pledged to continue the fight for an AIDS-

free generation.

Trump has been a consistent opponent of same-sex marriage and said on Fox News that he would strongly consider appointing Supreme Court justices that would reverse the same-sex marriage decision. He says he would sign the so-called First Amendment Defense Act that would allow anti-LGBTQ discrimination based upon religious beliefs, and although he said he thinks the law is a bad idea, he supports North Carolina’s right to pass its anti-Transgender law. Most tellingly, he chose Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate – a solidly antigay religious conservative who the Human Rights Campaign described as the face of anti-LGBTQ discrimination after signing a bill to allow businesses to discriminate and deny service to LGBTQ people.

Pence is rabidly anti-choice, questions climate change, been unclear on his beliefs about evolution, and in 2000 said that smoking does not kill.

Quite frankly, we doubt that Trump is deeply homophobic or that he believes some of the positions he is now touting – sixteen years ago he supported federal job protections for LGBTQ people, in 2015 spoke positively about Elton Johns’ wedding, recently said, “I have so many fabulous friends that happen to be gay,” and at the Republican National Convention boasted, “as your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology, believe me.” But he is duplicitous in everything he says and does. He simply cannot be trusted. He is the opposite of Hillary’s steady hand.

We understand from various polls, that some people, particularly younger voters, are considering third-party candidates, Ron Johnson the Libertarian or Jill Stein the Green. We recognize the appeal of third parties however in this country they simply do not succeed and often become spoilers as happened in the 2000 election when Ralph Nader likely tipped the election to George W Bush. Because a presidential election is

editorial // elections 2016 actually, 50 separate state elections and because Clinton has a huge lead in Maryland, some of our editorial advisers are in favor of a vote for Dr. Stein. We understand the sentiment but believe that in this stark and scary election we don’t have that luxury – Trump

signs are everywhere on the Eastern Shore for instance. A vote for Mr. Johnson or Dr. Stein is one less vote that could help stop a Trump winning even in Maryland. We urge people everywhere to pull the leaver for Ms. Clinton even if it pains them to do so. t

Catherine Pugh for Baltimore Mayor STATE SENATOR CATHERINE PUGH was our choice in the April Democratic Primary and nothing has happened in the ensuing months to change our belief that she will be an excellent mayor.

She is running against Republican Alan Waldon, a retired WBAL radio announcer, and Joshua Harris of the Green Party.

Senator Pugh holds an MBA from Morgan State University and has a background in business that should help her manage the huge bureaucracy that is Baltimore City government. She owns a marketing and public relations firm, a consignment shop in Pigtown, and has worked as a banker and business developer. She was onetime dean of Strayer Business College.

Senator Pugh also has extensive political experience as a city councilwoman from 1999 to 2003 and a state senator since 2006, where she is majority leader. She has shown herself to be thoughtful and bipartisan. With Baltimore so dependent on the largess of the state, her experience in Annapolis and relationships with Senate President Miller and House Speaker Busch should bode well for the city. She is running on a comprehensive plan that focuses on education, economic development and jobs, public safety, transparency and accountability, and quality of life which she breaks into eight critical areas – health, housing, transportation, lighting, property tax reduction, the environment, infrastructure, and improving the city’s image. She wants governance of the schools returned to the city. Reflecting on the 2015 riots, Senator Pugh has said, “We must address the police and community divide and improve the neighborhoods that have been neglected for decades leaving the impression that we at war with our own citizens.”

Her public safety plan does just that. As we said in April, all of these positions are competently developed and can serve as a workable blueprint for a Pugh ad-

ministration.

Republican Alan Waldon is a thoughtful man with a deep commitment to Baltimore, the city he adopted in 1988 when he and his wife moved here from New York. The lifelong award winning journalist and retired WBAL radio announcer and commentator, is running for all of the right reasons. The self-described “volunteer by nature” has been Catherine involved in many civic Pugh organizations but says he wants to do more, to bring inspired, imaginative, and scrupulously honest leadership to the city. However, although we applaud his civic spirit, we strongly disagree with the philosophy of governance he articulates on his website, which tracks the small government, pull oneself up by the bootstraps, dismissal of justified anger over injustice, and blame-the-victim mentality that is Republican orthodoxy.

Green Party candidate Joshua Harris is a community activist who is campaigning on a promise of creating attainable solutions for the challenges Baltimore faces. He grew up in poverty, attended public schools and knows firsthand many of the problems facing Baltimoreans. He sits on a number of community organization boards and is active in the fight for social justice. Like his Green Party colleague, Dr. Flowers, his passion is commendable but his task hopeless.

Just as we were going to press, the Baltimore Evening Sun reported that former Mayor Sheila Dixon is launching a write-in campaign to reclaim the job she was forced to relinquish following a corruption conviction. As we said in our April endorsement of Senator Pugh, sadly we are of the opinion that Ms. Dixon’s ethical lapses are disqualifying. We say sadly because Ms. Dixon ran the city with an energy and passion that was impressive and she was effective. Despite her expressions of contrition, however, we think that her behaviors over the years evidence a moral compass that is lacking. For us it is a strong vote Senator Pugh. t

news // LOCAL

Black Treatment Advocates Network Chapter Launches

By Bill Redmond-Palmer A new chapter of the Black Treatment Advocates Network, a national group of HIV/AIDS stakeholders, is forming in Baltimore.

BTAN builds local and national HIV/AIDS leadership by raising HIV science and treatment knowledge in black communities. They connect and mobilize people to advocate for policy change and research priorities. They also work to link and support black Americans with HIV to care and treatment, and to reduce stigma and create an open, supportive environment for people living with HIV/AIDS. Service providers, community members, educators, and people living with HIV/AIDS are all welcome to join.

BTAN is a program of the Black AIDS In-

stitute (Blackaids.org). They work with local partners, Star Track at the University of Maryland and both the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Baltimore City Health Department.

If you care about ending HIV/AIDS; can provide community insights, knowledge or organizational support; want to meet other motivated, like-minded people; and want to connect with a fun, supportive group of advocate, BTAN invites you to join the movement to bring an end to HIV/AIDS in the black community.

For more info about their next meeting email btanbaltimore@blackaids.org. t

Marching to Support Trans Outreach Workers

By Bill Redmond-Palmer On August 12th, two African-American transgender women outreach workers from the Transgender Action Group (TAG), were out doing harm reduction work in Baltimore.

Walking along their designated route, they

were approached and robbed at gunpoint by two unknown assailants. Ironically, the area where the outreach workers were working, commonly referred to as ”The Stroll,” tends to be crawling with police officers, who that night were no more than two or three blocks away from the assault. The two women approached the police to ask for assistance, but were repeatedly rebuffed and misgendered by the police. No action was taken whatsoever by the police on their behalf.

In response to this action, and in support of the important work these outreach workers do around harm reduction and providing resources and information to commercial sex workers, Sista’s of the T, a local trans group, has planned a “Walk of Support,” 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, November 5th starting at the Ynot Lot (4 West North Avenue).

“Our goal,” said Monica Stevens, of Sista’s of the T, “is to bring greater awareness to the important work these women do, and to get out the message that there are transgender women making a difference in Baltimore communities, who need the help of law enforcement, community members, and everyone else.” She notes that the event is not formally affiliated with or endorsed by TAG. “The Baltimore Transgender Alliance is proud to support this event,” said Ava Pipitone, executive director. “The BTA is positioned to amplify our voices. On November 5th, we are amplifying the community’s support for the TAG outreach workers telling them that we see the work you do; we value you; and we are humbled by your consistent, effective efforts to provide direct services to the transgender community.”

TAG is a program of legal services and health outreach targeted for transgender people engaged in sex work in the Old Goucher neighborhood in Baltimore. TAG is a coalition including FreeState Justice, Homeless Persons Representation Project, state and city health departments. TAG project includes a late-night street outreach program conducted two Friday nights per month, as well as a legal services clinic hosted twice a month at the Community Center (GLCCB).

To join TAG’s work or for more info, contact Jer Welter at FreeState Justice at jwelter@freestate-justice.org.

The event organizers have caps for sale for the march, at $10 each, with the funds raised to go to outreach workers.

For more information about the event, or to purchase a cap, contact Monica Stevens at 410-558-7447 or monicastevens09@gmail. com.

“Sex workers are people,” said Pipitone.

“Trans sex workers are people. Black trans sex workers are beautiful, powerful people who deserve more respect from their neighbors and the city. On November 5th we are marching to demonstrate this support.” t

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beyond the beltway compiled by Jim Becker

Early Gay Liberation Front and Black Panthers alliance New York City, NY – Few instances in the modern movement for gay and lesbian equality (what we now call the LGBT movement) produced as much controversy – and turmoil – as the New York Gay Liberation Front’s relationship with the Black Panthers, a late 1960s-early1970s radical organization that stood for the complete overthrow of the capitalist American government to achieve equality for African-Americans. The Gay Liberation Front was the first and most radical organization to be formed after the Stonewall Riots (or Uprising) in June of 1969.

Perry Brass joined GLF in mid-November 1969, and by this time there was already a definite, but not always comfortable, relationship between the two groups.

For many GLF people, the Panthers were a complete model for their own politics; both groups wanted revolutionary changes in society. But, the Gay Liberation Front took most of its cues from feminism and the feminist movement. Many of its leaders were lesbians. The Panthers tried to uphold a street-savvy, macho, male-dominated image that often contradicted the reality that women, in the face of so much violence from the police, did hold the Party together. Black Panther Party leader Bobby Seal famously said, “The position of women in the Black Panther Party is prone!”

A group within GLF proposed as a revolutionary act, “in support of our black sisters and brothers,” that GLF donate $500 to the Panthers – quite a large sum 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.

of money in 1969. The money was raised by a weekly gay-community dance at Alternate University and some in GLF felt that it should stay in the community, since it came from the community, in support of young street queens sleeping on sidewalks and older gays and lesbians struggling to eat, or to start our own community center.

Bob Kohler, an older fortysomething very “alpha” leader of the pro-Panther faction, gave an impassioned speech to the overwhelmingly white GLF membership, “Think about every time you ever used [the N word], every time you yourself ever oppressed black people just by being white in a racist world.” GLF finally agreed, but the gift spurred a rush for some politically active men to join the Gay Activists Alliance, a newer competing group started by exGLFers who only wanted a single-issue, gay-focused organization. It also caused many women to drop out of GLF. Despite the controversy, this was the first time that an open and actively gay organization had embraced another oppressed group, as part of recognizing a common oppression with them. We now understand that Black Lives Matter. The truth was the Gay Liberation Front understood this in 1970. (Bay Windows – Perry Brass and Philadelphia Gay News at baywindows.com – More info: Perrybrass.com.)

Gay couple successful contemporary Christian musicians Charlotte, NC – Since arriving on the scene, Jason and deMarco, full names Jason Warner and deMarco DeCiccio, have occupied a unique niche. As a gay couple performing contemporary Christian music, they haven’t always had the easiest path to walk within the industry. Yet their talent shown through and they found their audience. A documentary called “We’re All Angels” came out in 2007 and gave fans an inside look into their relationship, their faith and their passion for music.

Jason and deMarco are now proud fathers and spend most of their time off the road, but still manage to tour from time to time thanks to help from family. They will appear in Charlotte, N.C. for Different Roads Home’s “7th Annual Evening

of Hope and Inspiration” concert on November 12. They will be joined by Teresa Giudice, from “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” and country music star Louise Mandrell. They were not familiar with Different Roads Home but liked what they learned about the organization and immediately wanted to be a part of it. They are very committed to charitable work and focus on providing services for youth aging out of foster care through their organization SAFE (Safe, Affirming, Family Environment). SAFE operates on their six-acre ranch in Tennessee (Safehouseforall.org) with the ultimate goal of providing transitional housing to youth aging out of care, helping them transition to independent living.

The duo say that there has not been much progress accepting gay singers within the Christian music world. Jason said, “It’s so frustrating that this is still happen-

Jason Warner and deMarco DeCiccio

ing. As much as I’d like to say the Christian industry has shifted or evolved, it hasn’t.

We’ve been told by labels for years that they would love to sign us but can’t. They’re afraid. Their music would be pulled from Christian bookstore shelves and songs from Christian radio. It all comes down to money….. There is good news, however.

Although the industry isn’t shifting, churches are. There are more and more churches opening their doors and theology to the LGBT community. (Q-Notes Online – Jeff Taylor at Qnotes.com)

Ex Disney Mouseketeer plays gay porn star in movie

Boy next door!

an, Garrett Clayton had to answer those questions. So the 25-year-old ex-Disney star pored over videos of the notorious twink teasing the camera at just 17, when Corrigan starred in a throng of high-profile porn videos that led to his storied, controversial adult-film legacy.

Corrigan’s past is the lurid centerpiece titillating every juicy frame of director Justin Kelly’s sexy and scandalous King Cobra (now available via video on demand), embodied by Clayton and his hypnotic come-hither gaze. Christian Slater plays gay porn producer Bryan Kocis (renamed Stephen in the film), who gets tangled in a mess of controversy and murder after illegally jumpstarting Brent’s porn career.

James Franco, who co-produced the project, sustains his oft-onscreen queerness, starring as a rival producer.

But who saw Clayton, who will star as Link Larkin in NBC’s “Hairspray Live” in December, taking his post-Disney dive this deeply? After his role in Teen Beach Movie, the 2013 Disney Channel film that saw a squeaky-clean Clayton frolic beachside, Clayton laughs at a radical career shift even he can’t believe. “It’s been kind of like a slingshot!” Asked if he is pressured to reveal his sexuality because he is playing a gay porn star, Clayton said, “I mean, they probably would feel a lot differently if people were calling them and saying ‘So tell me: What you do in your bedroom every day?’ This is my job. And I’m happy to promote my work. And I’m happy to stand up for things I believe in.” t (Dallas Voice at Dallasvoice.com)

Dallas, Texas – “Do they like biting lips? Do they like using more tongue?” To play former gay porn mogul Brent CorrigBALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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It Takes Two Introducing the GLCCB’s new co-directors By: Jennifer Eden The co-director leadership model has been adopted by many businesses and organizations and is becoming increasingly popular in the nonprofit world. This model employs two or more people at an equal level of influence over an organization, rather than having one person in charge. The GLCCB has implemented this structure by dissolving the position of Executive Director, previous held in interim by Jabari Lyles. The highest staff seat will instead be shared between the Director of Programs, Kenneth Morrison, and the Director of Operations, Mimi Demissew.

Kenneth’s passion for people is deeply engrained in his Baltimore roots, having served as Manager of Youth Services for

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Park Heights Renaissance, Lead Classroom Instructor for John Hopkins University (At Civitas), Director of Community Partnerships for Pimlico Road Youth Program and Community School Coordinator for Partners in Progress. In addition to his role with the GLCCB, Kenneth is currently the president of Dew More Baltimore, a professor at Maryland Institute College of Art, and Baltimore’s reigning Grand Slam Poetry Champion.

Even before accepting her new position at the GLCCB, Mimi had a presence at the center as the adult advocate for Youth Against Oppression. Mimi has over 12 years of experience in strategic management. Prior to assuming her current role, she helped launch a social entrepreneurship in 2008 as

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Mimi Demissew

Director of Operations

its Director of Marketing and Business Development. Previously, she worked with the Maryland State Department of Transportation as a Performance Excellence Project Manager during which time she facilitated the development of 26 separate business plans for 26 different state agency offices. Mimi is a native of Virginia and current longtime resident of Baltimore.

I had the pleasure of asking the GLCCB’s new co-directors a few questions about their roles in the organization. They excitedly shared their goals for the organization and some insight into their working relationship.

What are the benefits of the co-director structure?

Kenneth: “Often leadership is a lonely position where one person bears the burden of creating and executing a vision. Co-Director models create space and opportunities to share the heavy responsibility, bounce ideas, vet decisions, and deepen analysis. Also, given the intense turn around with leadership at GLCCB, this model helps protect institutional memory and builds necessary consistency, which leads to more community trust.”

Mimi: “The co-director structure allows us to separate and specialize in our fields of expertise in order to allow the center’s work to be done more effectively and efficiently, much in the same way that we think of comparative advantage in economics. At the same time it provides the leadership of the center a way to do more collaborative work.”

What is your favorite thing about your counterpart?

Kenneth: Mimi and I could not be more different. We approach this work with incredibly different work experience, education, perspectives, lived experiences, and to some extent different values. However we come with the same passion to see GLCCB reach its potential and become what Baltimore and the LGBTQ community needs it to be. Our

Kenneth Morrison

Director of Programs

differences enrich the type of leadership we can offer the center. The thing I appreciate the most about Mimi is her attention to structure and process.

Mimi: When it comes to Kenneth, I find he and I are each other’s yin and yang, constantly evolving and balancing each other for the benefit of the center. As such it allows us to broaden our perspectives and provide a much more holistic analysis to the work that we do. It’s really an amazing thing when you can find someone that you respect and genuinely enjoy working with. For that matter, I can sincerely say that about each and every person who works at the GLCCB. What are your short-term goals for the GLCCB? Mimi: I want to have our center running as efficiently and effectively as possible.

In the short term I plan to have all of our organization’s systems in place, all of our key business processes identified and running effectively. I want to see sound procedures documented and followed. I want the organization to look forward but first we need to place the correct organizational structures in place and what’s great is that we are getting there.

What are your long-term goals for the GLCCB? Kenneth: [My long-term goals are] to position GLCCB to guide citywide strategies to support our community, to have significant ongoing community level investment in the center, [and] to work with other neighborhood centers to ensure all centers are safe spaces for our community.

Our Director of Programs and Director of Operations are working together to ensure a secure future for the GLCCB. Their partnership will solidify community partnerships and create new opportunities for the center. We’re happy to have them both and excited to see where they will take us!

Sunday

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Friday

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2530 N. Charles Street, 3rd Floor • Baltimore, MD 2121 • glccb.org 410-777-8145

Narcotics Anonymous

11:00am-1:00pm

Yoga

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The GLCCB closes at 6pm

No evening programs

3:30pm-5:00pm ($10)

06 Narcotics Anonymous

11:00am-1:00pm

Yoga

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The GLCCB closes at 6pm

No evening programs

3:30pm-5:00pm ($10)

Program Highlight

SLAY CAMP By: Jennifer Eden Getting in shape and staying healthy are tough. Exercising can be boring. And traditional gyms, with their gender-specific locker rooms and sex-segregated training programs, aren’t always affirming to queer folks.

In August, the GLCCB launched SLAY CAMP in effort to provide the community with a safe space to work out and have fun. SLAY CAMP is a strength-training fitness class that uses your own body weight in a simple series of dance grooves and across the floor combos to work out your entire body.

This bi-weekly class employs fun versions of workout moves to engage even the hard to reach muscles while improving endurance, strength, and balance as well as promoting body positivity. And the group setting provides a welcome alternative to a solo at-home workout.

SLAY CAMP is led by Ciera “Vegas” Adair. Ciera is a choreographer, dance Instructor, and personal trainer with a passion for dance and making it accessible to all.

“The best thing about having a queer-affirming place to work out is that you don’t feel any pressure to be anything but yourself and you’re able to let off way more steam and feel more positive about your body and your

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Alcoholics Anonymous 5:00pm-8:00pm Dress Up and PrEP Up Halloween Party 6:00pm-10:00pm

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$5 suggested donation

The Mankind Project 6:30pm-8:30pm TransBaltimore 7:00pm-9:00pm

7:00pm-10:00pm ($5)

5:00pm-8:00pm

SILhouette

Baltimore Trans-Masculine Alliance 6:30pm-9:00pm

Giovanni’s Room Poetry Workshop 6:30pm-8:30pm

7:00pm-9:00pm

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Black Men’s Xchange 6:00pm-8:00pm

Saturday

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GLCCB Board Meeting

Free & Confidential HIV Testing 6:30pm-8:30pm

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6:30pm-8:30pm

Free & Confidential HIV Testing 6:30pm-8:30pm

Free & Confidential HIV Testing 6:30pm-8:30pm

The Mankind Project 6:30pm-8:30pm

SLAY CAMP Dance Fitness Class 6:30pm-8:00pm

FreeState Justice Legal Clinic 3:00pm-5:00pm

surroundings,” Ciera says. “I love it when my students feel comfortable moving around as they are and when I can enhance their movements to where they feel amazing, look amazing, and can get a great workout without even feeling like they’re doing ‘exercise.’”

“My favorite part about teaching at the GLCCB is being able to work with the LGBTQIA+ community in a way that they feel safe and nurtured while transforming them they want to be, both (in) dance and physically. It’s a great feeling when someone finally gets a dance move they’ve been trying to understand for a while or find that they have rhythm or can move their hips like Shakira.”

The GLCCB’s new location is equipped with a large meeting room that functions as a dance studio for SLAY CAMP. The room is complete with a mirrored wall for participants to check themselves out while they slay. Dance and fitness enthusiasts as well as those just starting out enjoy the casual and inclusive atmosphere offered in this class.

Our staff loves SLAY CAMP too! Tasha Stennett, the GLCCB office manager, tried SLAY CAMP. “I thought it was going to be more dancing. There’s dancing… but it’s a workout! But I like the fact that she concentrates on making sure all your muscles are warmed up.”

Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and footwear for SLAY CAMP, keeping in mind that the room is car-

Youth Against Oppression 4:30pm-7:00pm

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Youth Against Oppression 4:30pm-7:00pm

Sisters of Pride

Giovanni’s Room Open Mic

Alcoholics Anonymous

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Black Men’s Xchange 6:00pm-8:00pm

6:30pm-8:30pm

peted. Attendees should also consider bringing a towel to blot sweat and a water bottle to keep hydrated throughout this 60 to 90 minute workout.

SLAY CAMP is accessible and modifiable to all fitness and dance levels. All ages are welcome to slay. A suggested donation of

$5 per participant is asked, but is not mandatory. Please feel free to attend even if a donation does not fit within your budget. The class meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesday from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the GLCCB. The next class will be held on Tuesday October 25th.

The GLCCB Peer Navigators would like to thank all those who attended our Open House on Sunday October 16, 2016. It felt great to open our doors to the community and show off our new space. We ate, we networked, and we enjoyed each others’ company.

You shared your thoughts, your stories, and your ideas for new projects. We appreciate each and every one of you.

We hope to see you again soon. There’s plenty going on at the GLCCB. Please check our program schedule for upcoming meetings, support groups, and socials.

There’s something for every age, interest, and background. We’re working hard to develop programs and events that meet the ever-evolving needs of our local and global community.

If you missed the Open House, you can stop by the center anytime to meet the staff and get your own personal tour of the space. For one-on-one visits, we’re here six days a week, Sunday through Friday. We offer referrals to health care, mental health resources, legal services, jobs, education, housing, and food. We’re also here if you just need a safe and affirming space to vent, process, and/or heal.

Our doors are always open to meet our community’s needs.

Sincerely, The GLCCB Peer Navigators: Jennifer Eden Kevin Holt Key’Ayshia Tucker BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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thinking outloud

Pointing it Out

By Sage Piper

Yes, Virginia, Homophobia Rages On in Voters’ Hearts This election season has been like no other, and my pursuit of the defeat of irrational Trumpism and the politics of division has taken me to three different states and featured hours of canvassing, phone calls, and sign waving in the streets. I have spoken with Americans of every age, background, and political opinion – a wild ride, indeed.

One phone call in particular stands out.

Late one October afternoon, I sat in the

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BALTIMORE OUTLOUD

small office at the corner of Charles and 22nd Street which serves as the headquarters of the Baltimore City Coordinated Campaign. The place is strewn with flyers and campaign lit for all the Democratic nominees for whom city residents may cast their ballots at the city, state, and presidential level. The script for these phone calls is different than most, as the goal is to ask potential Democratic voters if they are planning to vote the straight ticket. I began this call – to a 65-year-old African-American man – identifying myself and stating the reason for my call. He was receptive. I began by asking him if he was planning to support Democratic Senate candidate Chris Van Hollen.

He asked, “Where does he stand on same-sex marriage?”

“He supports it,” I responded, happily. I knew that Van Hollen had a strong record of prohibiting discrimination based on sex-

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

ual orientation and supporting gay rights across the board.

“Then he won’t be getting my vote,” he stated firmly. I was taken aback for a

At Pulse

moment, as he continued that the problem with the Democratic Party was that it had taken up same-sex marriage.

“That’s why I left the party – I’m Independent now. Don’t get me wrong,” he continued, “I just don’t want all this lesbianism and homosexuality everywhere. The party has gone completely downhill. I don’t want any part of it.”

My gut reaction was to inform him that at that very moment he had a live rep of said “lesbianism” on the line, but I did not.

I calmly asked if he was then planning to vote for the Independent candidate Gary Johnson; he replied, “Oh no, no – he’s a Libertarian.” So he had clearly made the effort to be an informed voter. Solicitously, I asked him to explain to me how he could be considering giving his vote to Donald Trump, when every word out of his mouth was so insulting to so many sections of our society. “And he’s so obviously racist...” I offered…

He interrupted me, “Oh, no, no – he’s not a racist. Now listen, I’m a 65-year-old African-American and I’ve lived in this city all my life, and believe me, I know racism when I see it. He’s not racist.”

We began a lengthy conversation about Trump’s supporters and the complicated measures of a leader’s responsibility when it comes to inciting darker passions in his audience.

The conversation was polite. The man believed he was “helping me out” by revealing the truth about voters’ real feelings– that they may be saying that they

weren’t going to vote for Trump, but once they “got in there and closed that curtain,” it was a different story. He predicted that people would be surprised come Election Day. He railed against the Democratic Party – “they push same-sex marriage and then called you a bigot” if you weren’t a supporter. I decided to tweak him a bit.

“You know, it is not for certain that Trump is against same sex marriage. He’s only recently actually became a Republican.”

“I know,” he lamented. “I never said I was voting for him. Some other Republicans have also folded. It’s disgusting.”

We talked some more, and I could literally feel his fear of the world that was changing before his eyes. Then I thanked him for his time and his honesty. He returned the thanks, saying he liked talking to me and that what I was doing was important.

He appreciated that someone had actually listened to him. Again, the temptation to reveal myself. What if he was suddenly informed that the friendly voice on the phone who politely disagreed with him was the very kind of person he was so disgusted and afraid of? Wouldn’t that make him think twice? Could I inject some doubt in his so-deeply-entrenched beliefs?

What possible difference could it make to his life if I was in love with a woman and we married each other? Would his world stop spinning on its axis? Isn’t there enough hatred out there, I wanted to scream – wouldn’t it be better if gay people were able to feel safe and loved as they went about their business – thereby injecting more positive energy into the world?

Of course, the answer is no, and I made no such revelation. I knew that telling this man in a triumphant voice at the end of the conversation that I was gay – that would have been for me, not for him. I was there to ask him about his voting intentions, and I had kept my cool and done that.

But as I hung up the phone I thought – he was born in 1951. In the course of his life he had surely experienced untold fathoms of racism and discrimination. And if he actually lived that and was now unable to recognize that he was doing the same thing to another group of people –well, it left my heart hurting. What will it take to learn?

It is hurting still. t

“‘That’s why I left the party – I’m Independent now. Don’t get me wrong,’ he continued, ‘I just don’t want all this lesbianism and homosexuality everywhere.’”

Thinking OUTloud // mark my words

You Must Vote for Hillary

By Mark Segal You have no choice but to vote for Hillary Clinton. Your very life depends on it.

This is LGBT History Month and we’re also at the close of a very contentious presidential campaign, an interesting convergence.

It is often said that one thing we as a community learned from the AIDS epidemic was that we had to learn to organize since we were fighting for our lives. We have a new generation that does not know what that time was like, what that statement meant or how it shadows this election.

The LGBT community of the 1980s was one in sheer shock. Gay men were dying and no one seemed to care and some officials went so far as to suggest that we should quarantine gay men. Some religious people suggested that AIDS was a message from God. Those in the medical sciences were not sure what they should do. And why? Because leadership from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health did not feel that they should act quickly in a time of a major-health issue since they received silence from elected officials, namely President Ronald Reagan. Even Reagan’s own Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, admitted years later that he felt guilt for the many lives that were lost. In times of crisis, a president can make all the difference.

What about today? We’re still fighting AIDS and funds need to be spent to find a cure. Apart from the epidemic, LGBT lives are at stake in other areas.

Take, for example, Uganda. The country keeps attempting to pass legislation

that would make homosexuality a crime punishable by the death penalty. What does it have to do with the election in our country? Donald Trump has been endorsed by the very evangelicals who support this legislation. To date, it was only the Obama administration that has kept this f r o m becoming law. If Donald Trump was elected, do we want take the chance? We’re not playing with the lives of our LGBT community.

And how about here in the United States? Trump’s vice-presidential running mate believes in conversion therapy. Conversion therapy – and let’s not mince words here – is the torture and imprisonment of LGBT youth. It’s just the latest term of aversion therapy.

Still not enough?

When the Pulse Nightclub was the target of what looks like antigay terrorism. Trump at first would not mention the word “LGBT.” Instead, he said he would not allow Muslims into our country. The fact that the man who did this was a Muslim was all he cared about – as well as making a few campaign points.

He did not care about our lives. Trump then said he’d stop gay terrorists from coming into this country … What about the antigay terrorists who are Americans? Oh, he’s standing on a stage with them, shaking their hands and accepting their endorsements.

Vote like your lives depend on it. They do. t Mark Segal is publisher of Philadelphia Gay News. His new memoir And Then I Danced is out now. You can follow him oat Facebook.com/MarkSegalPGN or Twitter. com/PhilaGayNews.

Narratives on

New Beginnings Merrick Moses

Gay & Bi Trans Guys Exist Sexual orientation and gender identity are not mutually exclusive. Sexual orientation is who you are attract to, who you want to have sex with or be in love with. Gender identity is your internal sense of who you are – whether male, female, or anything, or nothing in between. So it amazes me that people do not think that there are gay or bisexual transmen. There is some thought that when people transition that there is some automatic attraction to the opposite gender or sex. That is so far from reality.

The reality is that transguys have sexual attractions to a multiplicity of genders just like everyone else.

From my own walk, there is an expansion of orientation. In my pre-transition life, I primarily dated women after I came out as gay in 1998. In high school, I dated boys because that is what I thought I was supposed to do. But when I accepted my gayness in 1998, a whole new world of freedom opened for me. I became more of the self I could accept at the time. It was one of the bravest times of my life. Also, one of the scariest, in that homophobia became an all too real thing, especially in my family. Even my hotep cousin had something to say about it ... LOL. My attraction to men became dormant. I actually thought it was magically cured by my lesbianism. But once I began my transition, there was a shift.

This isn’t a story about one day waking

up and saying “I think I like beef now.” It is really a description of a part of the journey many only whisper about. My mentor calls this “orientation expansion.” This is a fitting description of this process. I began to notice that I was attracted to women and men over the course of my time in transition, which is still in progress. And the thought of that was very frightening to me.

This was not what I had planned on nor did I think this would happen. I also began to notice strains of homophobia / biphobia within transmasculine communities. Sometimes in transguys space, there is the “no homo” vibe or the “stop acting like a bitch” vibe. But there are also brothers that will check that language and stand up to that homophobia and biphobia. Like all communities, transmasculine communities also have their share of anti gayness.

I have also had to confront my own inner biphobia. And that has been transformative. What I realize is that who I love is not determined by a person’s sex or gender but by the condition of the heart.

I have had to confront my own internalize sense of self loathing, which I consider part of my own fundamental darkness. Doing spiritual work and therapy about these issues has given me a level of clarity about my own self that I have never experienced.

This has eased my anxiety and fears about being bisexual. I have come to understand that living authentically and walking in truth is more than just embracing my transition.

Walking in authenticity involves also confronting shame that has its origins in bad theology. It involves the on going effort to deprogram self defeating thoughts, rewiring my self to embrace the Divine within. t

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Thinking outloud

The struggle for LGBT acceptance at Johns Hopkins

by Jacob Took This article first appeared in the September 29 edition of the Johns Hopkins Newsletter and is reprinted with the permission of the Newsletter and the author. The article may be found on the Newsletter website at Jhunewsletter. com/2016/09/29/the-struggle-for-lgbt-acceptance-at-hopkins/) Only a few decades ago, the LGBT community at Hopkins struggled to establish a presence on campus. Now, Hopkins students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer have a number of resources and support groups available to them. But the road there was not easy.

David Horowitz, class of 1986, served as vice president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) during a turbulent time in the gay rights movement. After graduating, he went on to cofound the Lesbian and Gay Alumni Association (LAGA) in 1987, the first LGBT alumni group at Hopkins. Horowitz described what it was like to be LGBT on campus before the creation of today’s support networks.

“The environment on campus [back then] is really hard to describe for students today,” Horowitz said. “It was really difficult to be out.

You grew up gay back in those days, and you thought you were the only one. Until you met other people, you had no idea how many other people in the world were gay.”

GALA’s meetings provided a place for Horowitz to connect with other LGBT students at Hopkins, but the social attitude at the time was not accepting of his sexual orientation.

Some people, particularly gay men who weren’t involved in the group, avoided Horowitz because he was publicly out and they did not want to be associated with the gay community.

“On campus, you were alone,” Horowitz said.

The significance of the meetings quickly became apparent, and he befriended Joshua Einhorn, with whom he co-founded LAGA. They were no strangers to social intolerance.

“The most important thing I got out of being involved with the organization was identification with other students at Hopkins,” Horowitz said.

Einhorn, class of 1986, who served as the president of GALA, spoke about the resistance they encountered with the formation of LAGA. He reached out to the Alumni Association and explained that there was no existing organization for LGBT alumni, hoping they would promote their new group.

“They said to me a definitive, unilateral, unequivocal no,” Einhorn said. “I was flabbergasted. Even to this day, I’m getting chills because it was so flabbergasting.”

With the Alumni Association unwilling to help, he turned to Johns Hopkins Magazine.

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BALTIMORE OUTLOUD

Einhorn asked them to include a small advertisement promoting their group, but received another unwavering “no.”

However, Einhorn and Horowitz did not let this resistance get in their way.

“We were not beaten down,” Einhorn said.

“While I was told two unequivocal ‘no’s’ from people in power, it didn’t stop us. Life’s full of obstacles. They said no, and I moved right along as if they had said yes.”

Einhorn remembered specific examples of the individual impact their group had on the greater Hopkins community.

“A gentleman from Texas said, ‘Knowing that [LAGA] exists is so heartening to me and so earth-shattering that this is happening in my lifetime. Thank you,’” Einhorn said.

“The impact, especially for the older generation, was such a great thing.”

The new LAGA members marched in annual gay pride parades.

“We ended up having about 200 members. And how did we promote it? We got ourselves a banner and marched in the annual gay pride in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York City,” Einhorn said.

Einhorn thinks they could have helped many more if the Alumni Association had lent their support.

“There are a lot of people who could have been involved had these people in positions of power made a difference,” Einhorn said.

Horowitz recalled far fewer participants among undergraduates on campus.

But even with their limited numbers, they were active in the community.

“In the discussion group meetings we’d have about twenty people a week,” Horowitz said.

The group helped lobby Baltimore City Council to protect against discrimination.

“The gay and lesbian student group was involved with a lot of lobbying efforts in 1986 to get a gay civil rights bill passed in the Baltimore City Council. It was a law that protected against discrimination in public accommodations and public employers,” Horowitz said. “The medical students dressed up in their white coats and went down to City Hall to make the point that there are doctors and students at Johns Hopkins who are going to be affected by this.”

GALA successfully helped enact change, both within the local community and the University administration.

“The administration was actually, in many respects, more liberal than the student body,” Horowitz said.

However, LGBT members of the current Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance (DSAGA) board spoke about the difficulties they still face

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

today. Specifically, they say that the University has dragged its feet on vital policy updates.

Some members of the DSAGA executive board spoke anonymously because they are not fully out to everyone in their lives.

“I fear that the people running the school don’t care as much,” the DSAGA Publicity Chair said. “They made up some excuse as to why they didn’t want to change the bathroom signs to be gender-neutral, which is frustrating.”

DSAGA board members agreed that the social attitude toward LGBT issues has definitely improved since the 1980s.

However, the DSAGA Director of Operations said that there is definitely room for improvement.

“I think there’s actually quite a large contingent of people who are explicitly hostile,” they said. “The modern cultural zeitgeist leans more toward left values at the moment, but they’re ready to crop back up again as soon as the cultural zeitgeist in the country shifts. The overall progressive leaning of colleges in general prevents hateful people from becoming known.”

Members of DSAGA say that it is as meaningful as GALA was in the 1980s because it provides a safe space to connect with other LGBT students. The Publicity Chair believes that the community today can cast a wider net.

“Here, I feel like we’re in a position where we can focus more on [sexual and gender] identities,” they said.

Einhorn acknowledged that other identities and orientations were significantly underrepresented in GALA. Horowitz recalls an awareness of some other sexualities, but agrees that other sexual and gender identities were not as prevalent within the organization.

He recalled difficulty in engaging with women because they were uncomfortable in a male-dominated space.

“I won’t lie, the men dominated things for a long time,” he said “Transgender issues were never discussed. People just didn’t talk about it back then, and we certainly didn’t have any members who were known to us to be transgender.”

Horowitz imagined it would have been terrifying to be out as transgender during that time.

“Things have changed so much for the better now,” Horowitz said.

However, DSAGA members said that they still do not feel comfortable being out in many communities because of the backlash they may face.

The path forward: 1987 through 2016

They said that Americans today feel as though the struggle of the LGBT community ended with the implementation of nation-wide marriage equality in 2015, which reduces society-wide interest in the ongoing problems faced by members of this community.

The DSAGA publicity chair emphasized that the issues faced by the LGBT community are not over.

“Here, I think we’re doing better,” they said, referring to the safe space offered by DSAGA meetings. “But there are also places where it’s not better.”

DSAGA treasurer JoJo Castellanos spoke about the importance of having support groups for LGBT students on campus and what it has personally meant for him to be a part of DSAGA. “My [high] school didn’t really have a space where it was okay to be queer so it was really hard for me to find a queer community,” Castellanos wrote in an email to The Newsletter. “Once I came to Hopkins, it was the first time I really felt that I wasn’t alone in respect to my identity because there were other people who were visible. DSAGA was really the first time that I saw a community of peers, who were around my age, who were comfortable being out and being themselves.”

Castellanos urged students to take advantage of the resources at the University that can help provide a sense of community and inclusion.

“This is why… I reach out to even more students who might be struggling or questioning. Even though our members may come sporadically, I hope that they know that they are always welcome to come back and that this is a space specifically for them,” Castellanos wrote. “I know as an executive board we are as inclusive as possible with our events, too, so that nobody feels left out in regards to different intersections of their identities, whether it be queer-related or not.” [See the article on the Hopkins Newsletter website at Jhunewsletter.com/2016/09/29/the-struggle-for-lgbt-acceptance-at-hopkins] t Editor’s note: Josh Einhorn told Baltimore OutLoud that he is delighted that the Newsletter reported on this important history of early LGBT organizing at the university. He added, “We marched with a JHU banner in cities along the East coast. Alum were so excited that we now existed. One much older alum from Texas relayed in tears how he never thought he would see this in his lifetime. Another alum shared how that the only gay life when he was a student in 1922 was a bathroom at the end of a corridor in Remsen Hall where closeted male students would meet to connect.”

quality of life // health

Open Wide ask Dr Eva

Dr Eva Hersh

Your Vote and Our WellBeing Only a week left until Election Day. Consider this: What do the two presidential candidates think about the American people? It’s not hard to tell, considering their words, histories, debate performance, and proposed policies.

Hillary Clinton thinks of Americans as individual women, men, children, and families. She realizes that each of us has a unique life, problems, successes, dreams, and stressors. She sees herself as part of the group, part of the greater Us that makes up the country. Her goal is to make life better for American people, particularly for people in need. She does not disparage or dis-include LGBT individuals or families, or any other social or ethnic group, as “less American” than others. She has plans to help long-neglected groups, such as unpaid family caretakers of elderly or disabled people. Clinton’s history as a leader is to seek out multiple points of view before making a decision. Without a doubt, she has personality flaws and has made judgment errors in the past, but she is firmly in touch with reality.

Donald Trump is convinced that there is room for only one Leader, and one opinion, at the top of his pyramidal vision of the world. He has no doubt that he is destined to be that One. The rest of us? For him, most of us are the Little People. What makes us “little people”? We have much less money than he does, so we don’t matter. His speeches and interviews show concern only for certain groups, such as the wealthy, anti-abortion activists, and those who have lost jobs in manufacturing or coal mining.

What are his proposals for the groups Trump does show concern for? For the wealthy, he plans major tax cuts that will significantly lower their taxes (not ours).

Independent analysts say that if this tax plan were carried out, it would greatly increase the national debt. For anti-abortion activists, he promises more restrictions on abortion, which has already become unavailable in some states. He argues for Election further abortion re2016! strictions using madeup stories of fetuses being aborted right up to the delivery date. Anyone familiar with obstetric and gynecology practice will tell you this does not happen. Trump also has made a major campaign promise that he will fill the Supreme Court with justices who agree to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that made abortion legal in the U.S. This would make it possible to pass state or national laws prohibiting abortion. Unfortunately, there is plenty of historical evidence that laws against abortion do not stop them, but merely drive women out of the offices of gynecologists and into those of untrained hacks. The richest, like Donald Trump’s daughters, could fly to Puerto Rico or elsewhere if they needed an abortion. But for most of us, abortion restriction means illegal abortions performed in homes, often leading to death or permanent injury. It means forced parenthood, a dangerous situation for both parents and child.

In another move to attract anti-abortion voters, Mr. Trump has promised to cut all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest provider of contraception and preventive gynecologic care.

This would lead to more unplanned pregnancies and therefore more abortions. Is this logical? It is not, but that’s not a problem for Trump.

For those who have lost jobs, Donald Trump has not proposed a way to revive those industries. Coal mines are closing because it is now more cost-effective to

A presidential election editorial

use gas and other fuels rather than coal.

Mr. Trump has not explained how he plans to bring those jobs back – perhaps because it can’t be done. Manufacturing jobs have left the country because wages are so much lower in Mexico a n d Asia.

Early in the campaign, Mr. Trump proposed lowering the minimum wage. If the minimum wage was lowered enough, it might bring some jobs back – but at a cost of increased poverty for low wage working people.

The differences in their positions on parental leave illustrates the differences between Clinton’s and Trump’s worldview.

Clinton proposes 12 weeks’ (unpaid) parental leave for each parent after the birth

or adoption of a child. That would mean, for parents who can afford to take that much time off work, up to six months for a couple to take turns being at home bonding with and learning to care for their baby.

Trump’s initial position on parental leave was that it should be minimized because it is “an inconvenience to the employer.”

After prodding from his daughter Ivanka, Trump proposed just six weeks’ (unpaid) leave for the birth mother only, “to get her strength back.” To sum it up, Trump • Does not understand the purpose of parental leave (parent-child bonding) • Does not regard fathers as full parents • Does not consider adoptive mothers “real” parents • Does not acknowledge the existence of same-sex parents.

Whose side is he on, folks? Not ours – I can promise you that!

Please vote. The election isn’t over until it’s over. Vote Hillary Clinton, for all our sakes. t Eva Hersh is a Baltimore family physician. Please send questions and comments to her by email at dr.eva@baltimoreoutloud.com

Join the Human Race

against HIV/AIDS The NIAID Vaccine Research Center is looking for HIV-positive volunteers 18 to 70 years old to participate in clinical research.

Studies will evaluate investigational products that target HIV. Financial compensation will be provided.

To volunteer, call 1-866-833-LIFE (toll-free) or TTY 1-866-411-1010, email vaccines@nih.gov, or visit www.vrc.nih.gov.

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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quality of life

Ask

Dr. J

Janan Broadbent, Ph.D.

Look Back & Take Inventory

Have you ever taken some time to look back and review all of the relationships you have ever had? This is a mental exercise you can do whether you are in, in-between, or out of a relationship. It will give you insight into your own behavior. It may provide ways to improve your present partnership. It may facilitate choosing a compatible mate, and even more importantly, help you in processing the hurts from a past one.

I liken this self-exploration to organizing your files so that future behavior

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is more productive. Take doing a mental parade of past partners. What can you tell from the types of people you have chosen?

Were they similar in any ways? What about a person who is very unlike anyone you have been attracted to? What was it about them you favored? What were those traits that turned you off? Further, and perhaps most importantly, what are those behaviors or personality types that you loved at the beginning but then became major obstacles?

This last issue often comes up in therapy when couples are in conflict. It is jarring when you realize that that cute tic you loved back then is now a huge irritant. More frequently, a trait you sought – say, a social and friendly person – is now a burden because their need to be out and about spending time with friends takes away from your need for solitude and space.

Then the question I ask is: Did you need that solitude and space back then and didn’t realize it, or did both of you change over the duration of the relationship? If you have changed, then, take a look at what brought this about, and whether there is room to moderate your need. This will be especially significant if your partner has not changed over time. Of course the reverse will hold if you are the same person now and the other has evolved into a different person.

Developing in personality, evolving in beliefs, changing in opinions happen to all of us. We grow, we add experiences, we mature. I sure hope I am not the same person I was as an adolescent, that I have grown in all the good ways. Change is an inevitable component of life. We have to welcome it and accept that just as physical changes take place in the human body, so do modifications happen in the human mind. It is our task then to understand what is going on and relate to others with the acceptance of our own and their evolution.

Therein lies the difficult work of maintaining relationships in a healthy way. And the key to it all is self-knowledge, bolstered by paying attention to your partner. A skill that is central to this work is listening to each other. If you are barely registering what the other is saying because you are thinking of formulating your next response, you are not listening. Take the time to do so. Then check it out with them as to whether you heard them. Give yourself the time to look inside and understand what is going on with you. Challenge your mind as to why you said or did something. These all help with the work of a relationship.

To know yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. – Aristotle

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Spirit Speaks

Rev. Tim Hughes

Hard-Earned Blessings “I had a book of Bible Stories when I was a kid. There was this picture that I would look at 20 times, every day. Jacob Wrestles the Angel. Jacob is young and he’s very strong and the angel is a beautiful man with golden hair and wings, of course. I still dream about it. It’s me. And that struggle, fierce and unfair.” - Joe Pitt, Angels in America When my friend Bryan asked if I would join a panel discussion about religion and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, I knew I had to say yes. I’m a sucker for any opportunity to talk about my dual citizenship in the LGBTQ and faith communities.

Kushner’s beautiful play goes right to the heart of everything that makes that conversation so fraught. There’s no way to begin to summarize Kushner’s epic work here (though it is in production through the end of October at the Round House Theater in Bethesda, and available as a miniseries on HBO), but the

“He is captivated by God even as he feels perpetually cheated and rejected by the religious institutions which teach that his sexuality is fundamentally flawed.” play presents several characters grappling with death, desire, and the seeming absence of God in the face of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Each character has their own faith tradition and perspective, but the image offered by the repressed Mormon Joe

Pitt is a helpful microcosm of the struggle of so many queer people to reconcile sexuality and spirituality.

Pitt sees the biblical image of Jacob wrestling the angel as intertwined symbols of his homoerotic desire and spiritual struggle. He is captivated by God even as he feels perpetually cheated and rejected by the religious institutions which teach that his sexuality is fundamentally flawed. In my own work as an openly gay Presbyterian minister, I regularly find myself in conversation with people who are either comfortably queer and troubled by their religious desires or precisely the opposite. Either problem presupposes a rigid binary between spirituality and sexuality that is almost always unhelpful. While Joe is fascinated by the image of two men wrestling through the dark hours of the night, he cannot ultimately accept the story’s conclusion, where Jacob

is blessed because he “struggled with God and prevailed” (Genesis 32). In my own life and in conversation with other religious exiles, it has been profound and healing to discover that the struggle for integration and wholeness has not defeated either my spirit or my sexuality. In fact, there is profound interplay between them that connects me to both God and the world. The struggle has yielded some hard-earned blessings.

Angels in America concludes with a moving monologue from a character who has struggled with ex-boyfriends, AIDS, angels, and despair. Nonetheless he affirms the value of his life and extends a hand of blessing to the audience. To me that “religious” gesture is all the more powerful because of its unlikely source.

It smacks of the authentic love and hardearned hope that queer people know all too well. t Rev. Tim Hughes is the Associate Pastor at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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Lively Arts // out on screen

Old School Scares

by Chuck Duncan Horror movie fans, and movie fans in general, reacted quite negatively when Universal announced they would be bringing another board game to the big screen after the debacle that was 2012’s Battleship.

But under the guidance of Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions (and the unfortunate participation of Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes), the first Ouija movie wasn’t as bad as most people thought it would be. And it was successful enough to spawn a sequel ... or rather prequel with Ouija: Origin of Evil.

In the original, a group of friends decide playing with a Ouija board is just silly fun, but when they contact the spirit of a young girl named Doris, things turn very badly. They discover photos and information on the family who previously lived in the house and track down Paulina Zander (Lin Shaye), the older sister of Doris, in a psychiatric hospital. She tells them their mother was a medium and used Doris as a

vessel to communicate with the dead, then went mad and sewed Doris’s mouth shut. Paulina tells the kids where to find Doris’s body inside the walls and to unstitch her mouth to release the evil spirit of their mother. Except that was a lie, and the mother was trying to prevent the release of the evil contained within Doris ... and Paulina was the one who stitched her sister’s mouth shut.

Ouija: Origin of Evil actually goes back in time to 1967 to show us the story of the Zander family and how introducing the Ouijia board into Mrs. Zander’s fortune telling business impacted the family. Everything that we knew peripherally from the first movie is here, but you don’t need to have seen that one to understand anything going on here. In fact, these two would play perfectly in viewing them in reverse order (although the actors playing the Zander family are different save for a post-credits tease featuring Lin Shaye in the hospital).

The new film also deepens the story to show how the death of the Zander husband

Ouija: Origin of Evil – Board game to Silver Screen

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OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

and father put the family into dire financial straits, and how easily Doris was taken over by the evil inside the house (which has a bit of a surprising history). There is also a priest, played by Henry Thomas, who is concerned about the children and tries to help (there is an obvious homage to the famous Not just fun & image of the priest games outside the house from The Exorcist).

The film does a great job of evoking its 1960s era from hair to production design, and the cast is terrific. Elizabeth Reaser as the mother is a beautiful, loving woman who only wants to do right by her kids and her late husband. She knows what she does for a living isn’t real, but she has convinced herself – and Doris – that what they do actually helps people (older daughter Lina just thinks it’s a scam). Annalise Basso is also quite good as Lina,

having the more difficult role of playing the skeptic and reacting to all the horrors going on around her. It’s nice to see Henry Thomas again, and even at 45 he is still unmistakably Elliot from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The real star of the film, however,

is young Lulu Wilson as Doris. Doris is a quite, completely innocent child, perhaps too innocent and trusting. But once she realizes her gifts, she wants to do nothing more than speak with all of her friends and help others speak to their departed loved ones. At one point during her possession, Wilson has one long interrupted stream of dialog that will leave you breathless and impressed that this child was able to pull it all off in a single take.

As for the scares, the film goes easy on them for the first half and, thankfully, refrains from amping up the sound effects and music to give the audience a fake jump. Unfortunately, things to get dialed up a bit later in the film, particularly that egregiously loud sound effects for lights turning off. Seriously, no light has ever been that loud when it was turned off. There are also some moments – like Lina sewing up Doris’s mouth – that may have benefited from an R-rating.

All of the more violent moments that would have made the audience even more horrified happen off camera. The real scares are actually rather mild, but they take one back to the classic horror films of the past where what you thought you saw was more frightening than what was actually on screen (although having Doug Jones play two of the evil spirits really ups the scare factor), and quite often without a lot of CGI trickery except in the obvious cases involving facial distortions.

Ouija: Origin of Evil may not be as scary as any of the Conjuring or Insidious films, but it still shows that old school horror can still be done, and done well, for modern horror movie fans. t

Lively Arts // out on stage

Charm City Fringe —continued from page 1 to find work when you’re young and you don’t have the experiences or a big body of work.

It’s such a cool way to give a start to a young artist.” Michel adds, “We found that there is a lot of theater in Baltimore, but it’s so hard to discover it all. It’s especially harder if you’re an outsider because there’s a lot that’s very below the surface. We wanted to give at least one to two weeks a year where you can’t miss this theater. We wanted to say ‘Boom! We are putting down 20 productions at once and if you miss it you’re missing something special.’”

Michel discusses that there are many new artists who will be joining the Charm City Fringe this year. “Collectively, we probably have our best pool of applicants that we’ve gotten in the last five years. This is the first year we have brought outside panel judges.”

Michel explains. “We brought in seven people from the community. We reached far and wide as we could find to bring their insight into the applications and add some perspective.

I’m excited to see how that’s going to have an impact on the end result, as well.”

Michel also boasts that many of these performances are not something that a theater goer may know, but audiences will be excited with what they see. “We have Piper Bidet: Bathroom Detective. It sounds fun and totally strange just based on the name alone.

We have Sharing a Dance with You, which sounds dark and passionate. It’s like a dance show mixed with cooking and storytelling.

The way it’s integrated is beyond my grasp to explain.” Michel adds, “A steam-powered punk, rock opera is also coming. It’s called Magnificent Machines & Astonishing Tales.”

Michel’s excitement radiates when he discusses Valerie David’s one-woman show.

“Her show is called The Pink Hulk: One Woman’s Journey to Find the Superhero Within.

She talks about her two-time battle with cancer and her life since then. I’m excited because we never really had that voice before.

As a young male, I don’t know how much I can connect to it, personally, but I know that other people will and I’m excited for others to

connect.”

Along with the success of the festival, Michel and Brush also hope that audiences will see the importance of Baltimore on the theater scene. “We want people from across the city, state, and country to know about Baltimore theater. Our mission is to start here and go beyond that. In the last year, we’ve had two artists that went on to perform at the international Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. We have a company making their first film. We had a company go on to the New York Fringe. We had an artist who is now putting out a book of short stories. We have these artists that are finding success beyond Fringe, and having people use us to grow and then move on. That helps everyone. We’re trying to build the community and we want to shine a light on Baltimore in that positive way.” t Browse to Charmcityfringe.com for more info.

Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella Adds Twists to Timeless Tale

BY Frankie Kujawa A heart-racing glance across a crowded ballroom. The staccato sound of glass heels running. The tolling of midnight bells from the clock tower. These are just some of the timeless images that come to mind when recounting the fairytale Cinderella. Running at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre from November 1st through 6th Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella tackles the timeless tale with a contemporary approach. More than just a pretty face with the right shoe size, this Cinderella is a spirited young woman with savvy and soul vying to make the world a better place.

Chris Woods, who plays Jean-Michel, recently joined the cast in August. “I play a fresh, new character in this performance.

He is a friend of Ella, our lead princess.

He’s a revolutionary, and he’s helping Ella

TobysDinnerTheatre.com

realize the political turmoil in the kingdom.

That’s just one of the many new elements to this classic story,” Woods added. “I am also a love interest to Gabrielle, one of the stepsisters.” Woods quickly explained that the stepsisters in this interpretation are a little different than compared to previous incarnations: “They’re not necessarily evil, and they even have a bit of a romantic side.”

Woods’s favorite moment in the performance shows the more tender side of his love interest.

“Not only do I get to have that urgency of the political nature, but I get to have a romantic, comedic Chris Woods scene with Gabrielle. It’s one of my favorite moments when I actually get to kiss her. It usually a crowd favorite, as well.”

A native of New Orleans, Woods grew up performing in theater. “After high school in 2008, I moved to New York and I’ve been there ever since. I love New Orleans, but I consider myself a New Yorker now.” Woods, who has been part of many national and regional tours, explained that this will be his first time performing in Baltimore. “I’ve passed through Baltimore, but I’ve never played there before. I’m very excited about coming to the Hippodrome.”

Woods added that the performance has something for all ages. “This version is definitely funny. It’s a romantic comedy.

There’s contemporary references that the adults will definitely appreciate.” Woods recognizes that there is also a certain pull to the timeless tale of Cinderella. “I think Rogers and Hammerstein’s version [of Cinderella] is so sweeping and beautiful and so many people know those tunes. Our tour is based off the 2013 Broadway production. The story of dreaming and one day your dreams will come true.”

Woods quickly added that Ella’s dreams come true in a way different than the classic tale. “I appreciate her dreams don’t come true because she got the man, but because the princess recognizes the kindness and generosity in her spirit.”

Woods acknowledges that even though there are contemporary humorous elements, that there is still a valuable lesson to be learned. “There is, of course, a fancy dress and all the transformations are magical and incredible. But it’s the lesson about kindness and generosity in her spirit that’s important for all the little girls and boys to learn today.” t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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Lively ArtS // screen savor

Little Girls Blue and Colorful

By Gregg Shapiro Originally airing at Christmastime 2015 and now available on DVD, Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors (Warner Brothers Home Entertainment) is a “family-oriented, faith-based” dramatization of Parton’s beloved song, one that she considers to be her favorite. In many ways, Coat of Many Colors is exactly what you might expect it to be considering its genesis and that it’s a prime-time network TV movie.

Although safe and sanitized, sensitive queer viewers will no doubt feel a stirring while watching the early stages of what would go on to be a lifelong friendship between Dolly and her close childhood friend Judy.

Parton’s story begins in 1955, around the time she was nine years old. Outspoken and self-assured Dolly (Alyvia Alyn Lind) was the middle child of eight siblings (there were more to follow). A gifted singer, Dolly regularly soloed at the church where her maternal grandfather Jake (Gerald McRaney) was pastor. Dolly’s deeply religious mother Avie (singer Jennifer Nettles proving her mettle as an actress) was often at odds with Dolly’s father Robert (Ricky Schroder), who would drive the family to church but would never set foot inside.

The movie, with its simplistic and lazy script, details the many tragedies and few triumphs that befell the Partons at the time that Avie sewed the infamous patchwork coat for Dolly. Religion is lost and found, bullies are bested and friendships and relationships survive all kinds of tests. Heartfelt, but hokey, and bursting with old and new testament references (see Joseph and his Technicolor “dreamcoat”), the movie is almost saved by the strong performances by Nettles, Schroder, and Lind.

DVD bonus features include an “alternate version,” deleted scenes and a featurette.

How’s this for an interesting fact? Janis Joplin was born on the same day as Dolly Parton, three years earlier. Stop and think about that for a moment, won’t you?

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Released, as it was, shortly after the Oscar-winning Amy Winehouse doc Amy, Janis: Little Girl Blue (MVD Visual), written and directed by Amy J. Berg, is another cautionary tale about musicians, substance abuse and a tragic death at the age of 27. Narrated by musician Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power), who gives voice to notorious letter-writer Joplin’s missives, Janis: Little Girl Blue utilizes vintage concert and interview footage and other source material to remind us of Joplin’s stunning talent as well as the hardships and triumphs she endured.

Including interviews with Joplin’s sister Laura and brother Michael, childhood friend Karleen, high school friend J. Dave, Rolling Stone Magazine’s David Dalton, Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, music impresario Clive Davis, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop), Dick Cavett, former boyfriend David Niehas, and ex-girlfriend Jae Whitaker, among others, Little Girl Blue paints an intimate portrait of the talented but troubled artist. Covering her outsider status in Port Arthur, Texas (both at home and at school) to Joplin finding herself in the Austin music scene of the early 1960s and relocating to San Francisco in 1963 where she began a lesbian relationship with Whitaker, director Davis illuminates Joplin’s tough exterior but sensitive interior.

Seeking solace in alcohol and drugs, and in need of constant stroking, Joplin was conflicted about her sexuality. Most fully alive when performing, we follow Joplin as she begins to sing with Big Brother and the Holding Company in San Francisco’s counterculture revolutionary music scene. From there it’s a short ride to her breakthrough performance in June 1967 at the Monterey Pop Fest. Before 25-year-old Janis surpassed her band members, they signed with Columbia Records where its debut album Cheap Thrills went achieved gold status in three days.

Dividing her time between New York’s Chelsea Hotel and Los Angeles, and dealing with the band’s complicated reaction to her fame, Janis goes solo, and in the process became a caricature of what she was. The negative press she received and the huge pressure to succeed was almost more than she could bear. But a success-

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

// qmusic

Brexit Music

By Gregg Shapiro Galloping in a couple of years after Oxford’s Foals’ breakthrough disc Holy Fire, What Went Down (WB) does a remarkable job of sounding alternately massive and intimate, sometimes even in the same song, as in “Give it All.” The riveting titular opening track sets the tone and “Mountain at My Gates” simply soars. “Birch Tree” is an irresistibly funky workout that could find club success with the right remix. In fact, listeners should have no trouble shaking their asses to “Albatross,” “Night Swimmers,” and “Snake Oil.” The 1975 is kind of a misnomer for the Manchester band The 1975 because it sounds an awful lot like 1985 on its second album I Like it when You Sleep for You are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of it (Interscope).

That’s meant to be something of a compliment because The 1975 do such a stellar job of taking listeners back 30 or more years ago on tunes such as the retro funky “Love Me,” the Princely “Ugh,” the dance-floor friendly “She’s American,” the Tears For Fears-like “Somebody Else,” and “The Sound,” which sounds like the best song Madonna never recorded. Instrumentals such as the title cut and “Please Be Naked” are added bonuses.

Like The 1975, Oxfordshire’s Glass Animals returns with its second album, How to be a Human Being (Harvest). Full of fascinat-

ful European tour momentarily raised her spirits. Nevertheless, her increased drug use, described as “out of hand,” and her somewhat incoherent performance at Woodstock led to another dark period.

Regardless, Janis kicked heroin while in Brazil, where she also fell in love. Attending her ten-year high school class reunion in Texas, we still see her pain when she talks about how she “felt apart” from her classmates. Clean and comfortable about life, Joplin went into the studio to record what would be her final album, Pearl, containing “Me and Bobby McGee,” which would become her biggest hit single. As we know, she wouldn’t live to enjoy that good fortune, dying of a “one last hurrah” drug overdose in October 1970. DVD special features include deleted and extended scenes, as well as a few featurettes. t

ing observations and enticing beats, there’s never a dull moment here. Expanding on the distinctive sounds of 2013’s Zaba, Glass Animals pour a frothy mug full of tasty funk on “Pork Soda,” pound out exotic rhythms on “Life Itself,” samples the Carpenters (!) on the gorgeous “Mama’s Gun,” does unexpected things to your spine on “Cane Shuga,” and redefines modern blue-eyed soul on “The Other Side of Paradise.”

In other words, Glass Animals shatters expectations with How to be a Human Being.

Almost 30 years since The Proclaimers (harmonically-oriented Scottish identical twins Craig and Charlie Reid) topped the charts with its irresistible hits single “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” the duo is back with its tenth studio album Let’s Hear it for the Dogs (Compass). Dogs rule in songs such as “What School?” and “Through Him,” while humans fare less well in songs including “Then Again,” “Be With Me,” “Moral Compass,” “Rainbows and Happy Regrets,” and the propulsive “The Other Side.” Regardless of the dog domination, The Proclaimers still sound good after all these years and haven’t lost its love of retro rock, which comes through on “In My Home,” “Forever Young,” and “You Built Me Up.” It’s been ten years since Dublin’s Bell X1 first caught our attention with its Flock album.

On Arms (Belly Up), Bell X1 makes creative use of samples and soulful choir on appealing opener “Fail Again, Fail Better.” What follows is equally alluring, especially “Bring Me A Fireking” (featuring an unexpected sax solo), the sexy “I Go Where You Go,” the 80s retro rhythms of “Sons And Daughters,” and the unforgettable beat of “Fake Memory.”

For a trio, Glasgow’s Biffy Clyro makes a lot of noise on Ellipsis (WB / 14th Floor).

Prog-rock/semi-metal guitars crunch on “Animal Style,” “Wolves of Winter,” “On A Bang,” and “Flammable.” The band also displays a softer side on “Small Wishes,” “Re-Arrange” and “People,” which, if nothing else, is a good example of versatility.

Ullages (Partisan / Knitting Factory) by Leeds’ Eagulls draws on `80s Brit influences including The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen. If, as it’s been said, that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then those bands should be flattered by songs such as “Euphoria,” “Velvet,” Lemontrees,” “Skipping,” and “Blume.” t

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out & ABOUT // David’s Thoughts

Puerto Rico | America’s Carribbean Jewel San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a perfect place to visit for a mini “gaycation” because of its uniqueness. It has beautiful mountains, beaches, and a rainforest. It is home to the coqui, a small frog that is native only to Puerto Rico. It is also home to Ricky Martin, the gay pop singer. The flight from Baltimore is a little more than four hours, and if you catch a Southwest Airlines sale, a round trip ticket can cost around $240.

A four-star hotel can cost as little as $90 a night. Puerto Rico has a special relationship with the U.S. because it’s an unincorporated U.S. territory. San Juan is the capital and it was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521. Since then, the island has evolved and transformed into a place where many residents have a deep-rooted sense of regional pride. Although improving, the treatment of the LGBT community within Puerto Rico has been rocky. There have been horrific events that have left a stain on its LGBT history. With Puerto Rico’s complex status with the U.S., its evolving LGBT history, and its tourist sites, makes this a fascinating place to visit.

Because Puerto Rico is not a state, its population of 3.5 million is without a po-

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Urban sophistication meets sexy beach

litical voice because it has no U.S. senators, no U.S. representatives, and no electoral votes to apply toward presidential elections. (D.C. residents enjoy the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution that entitles it to three electoral votes.) Instead, it sends a Resident Commissioner to the House of Representations that serves a four-year term. (America Samoa, D.C., Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands send delegates to the House for two-year terms.) The Resident Commissioner and the delegates are both without full House voting privileges, but can vote in House committees of which they are a member and can introduce legislation. Although Puerto Rico does participate in U.S. presidential primaries, it only sends delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions to vote on the nominee.

Although the environment for the LGBT community continues to improve in Puerto Rico, the LGBT has encountered social problems and the LGBT history is filled with recent tragedies. Many in Puerto Rico are influenced by the

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Roman Catholic Church as well as socially conservative Protestants. This may reflect a Pew Research Center survey that shows in February 2014, 33 percent of Puerto Ricans support same-sex marriage and 55 percent opposed. Although the law has changed since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges in June 2015, which held bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, the opposition to same-sex marriage prior to the decision was high.

There have been several cases of violence against the LGBT community. On November 14th, 2009, the dismembered body of Jorge Steven Lopez, a 19-year-old college student was discovered in Cayey, Puerto Rico. He was a volunteer and advocate for organizations that promote gay rights and HIV prevention. On April 19, 2010, the body of Ashley Santiago, a transgender woman, was discovered in her kitchen. She was found naked and stabbed 14 times. On September 13th, 2010, the bodies of Justo Luis “Michelle” Gonzales and Miguel Orlando “La Flaca” Soto, two transsexuals, were found murdered along the road in Juana Diaz. Overall, within the past 15 years, there have been several homicides targeting members of the LGBT community in Puerto Rico.

The laws in Puerto Rico have evolved to help reflect social change. Puerto Rico does have anti-discrimination laws in the workplace and has taken other steps to stomp out discrimination.

However, it still does not have anti-bullying laws to protect LGBT students or any laws that ban conversion therapy.

Like many states in the U.S., Puerto Rico is still evolving.

San Juan does have a large gay community. It has more than five gay bars. La

Sombrilla Rosa, a gay bar, is located in the heart of the historic district of Old San Juan, a walled city that has beautiful colored houses and lots of shops. In that area, you can also find amazing historic sites that include the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, a beautiful old fort that that was used to protect the city. Condado is the beach area that has several wonderful restaurants and pathways alongside the beach. Oasis, another gay bar, is located in the heart of that area.

With Puerto Rico’s warm climate always calling, escaping Maryland’s cold winter days is just a few hours away. There is no need to worry about converting money because the dollar is the currency. Although Spanish is the dominate language, a vast majority of locals speak English.

With Puerto Rico being a part of the U.S., you should explore and see what wonderful diversities your country has to offer. t

out in the valley

Parenting OUTloud

Rev. Kelly Crenshaw

Trick or Treat It’s almost Halloween and you know what that means – Trick or Treat night. Crazy costumes and candy! What more could a us. But as parents, our focus was on the safety of our kids, so we inspected candy child want?

When I was a little girl, trick or treating every single year. We walked with them as from house to house. was a major deal. My friends and I planned they went I start to feel old our costumes and our route. We when I think about knew which neighbors gave out the Charms candy how much better best candy each year. We tried to out of Scrooge things were when I make sure we had a group when we was young. And to be went to the house where someone honest, I’m not sure if jumped out of the bushes to scare it was really better or us. We figured there was safety in we just didn’t know numbers. But honestly, it was all in what went on in othgood fun. We weren’t afraid of our er places. What I do neighbors. We knew them by name. know is that being a We laughed and screamed and mom changes my walked around without any real fear. perspective. I want It was a good time. my kids to have fun Of course, there were the new and experience stories that terrified our parents. Each the innocence of year, there was that story about a child trick or treating who was poisoned or cut by a razor and wearing fun blade in an apple. We hear rumors of costumes. I want teenagers who threw eggs at houses them to feel safe. And or bombed outbuildings. But that never most of all, I want it to be a good experihappened in our neighborhood.

When our kids starting ar- ence for all of us.

We only have a few rules for riving on the scene, Criminals the trick or treaters. No one over we were excited to flee in the age of 12 is allowed to go to the continue the trick or terror door. Teenagers who accompany treat traditions that little kids are more than welcome to we’d both known as dress up. No one does any damage children. We lived to anyone else’s property and agrees in the country, so to report anything they see. And, evwe didn’t have any eryone who goes agrees to make the neighbors. Fortunight fun for the little people. nately, the church So, we buy costumes for the that I pastored deyounger ones. The older kids get crecided to add a trick ative and make original designs that or treat ministry, express their unique personalities. so our kids were Sometimes, they go with themes. Othable to go trick ers, it’s whatever you get. But, everyor treating in our one has fun – and that’s what matters church neighbormost. hood. Again, we Not everyone who celebrates Halknew the neighloween takes their kids out to trick or bors. They knew

treat. Some go to parties or haunted hayrides, corn mazes, or buildings. Maybe your family enjoys a harvest festival at your place of worship.

No matter how it’s celebrated, the best part for me is seeing their smiles, hearing their laughter, and knowing that this is a small part of childhood that can never be replaced. Happy Halloween! And, have a great time, no matter how you celebrate. t Rev. Kelly Crenshaw is the mom of 16 adopted kids, two biological kids, guardian

of one baby girl and foster mom of dozens.

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

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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out in the valley

Beyond the Ice

Machine L:aura Anderson

Looking Back Ten years ago, the struggle for transgender awareness and acceptance was a struggle largely unnoticed. I had just begun my own transition and could never have imagined how much society would transition with me. Transgender people were so far off the radar that it was actually legal for a transwoman to use the ladies restroom in North Carolina. Ten years have brought profound change in our struggle for equality – some beyond anything we thought possible, and some changes that have brought renewed hate and suspicion.

It was ten years ago, in 2006, that Kim Coco Iwamoto became the highest elected transgender official in the country when she was elected to the Hawaii State Board of Education. In 2008 the first trans mayor, Stu Rasmussen, was elected mayor of Silverton, Oregon – the first openly transgender mayor in America. In 2010 Amanda Simpson was the first transgender presidential appointee – senior technical advisor in the Department of Commerce. Phyllis R. Frye in Houston, Texas was the first openly transgender judge (2010). In 2012 the Girl Scouts in Colorado announced that they were welcoming all children who identified as girls. Also in that year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) declared that transgender employees must be protected from discrimination based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

At long last, in 2013, the American Psychiatric Association updated the DSM, replacing “Gender Identity Disorder” with “Gender Dysphoria.” In 2014 the Department of Health and Human Services declared that Medicare must cover Gender Confirmation Surgery. LaVerne Cox, in 2014, became the first trans person ever on the cover of Time magazine and was the first transgender person nominated for an Emmy.

We look back on 2015 as an incredible year. President Obama mentioned “transgender people” in the State of the Union Address – a first. Caitlyn Jenner introduced herself and appeared on the July cover of Vogue. The Pentagon announced

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plans to lift the transgender ban on military service, and the White House hired its first openly transgender staff member, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan.

In May of 2016, the Department of Education directed public schools to permit students to use restrooms consistent with their gender identities, citing Title IX of the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based upon sex. And in August, White House staff member Sarah McBride was the first openly transgender speaker to address a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

In spite of the advances, there have been significant setbacks in the past ten years. In 2007 transgender people were removed from inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in order to secure enough votes for passage. This move was regarded as yet further marginalization of the transgender community.

The measure ultimately failed.

In 2015, HERO (Houston Equal Rights Ordinance) was rejected by voters, largely because of the restroom scare. Despite the lack of any evidence, transgender people (trans women in particular) were portrayed as a Sarah McBride predatory threat in at the DNC public restrooms.

In North Carolina, HB2 was passed and quietly signed by the Governor. This measure prohibited trans people from using any restroom or locker room other than the ones matching their birth sex and has been viewed as a contentious step backward for civil rights. The backlash over HB2 has been swift and strong.

But worst of all, exactly ten years to the day after the start of my own transition in 2006, the horror in Orlando occurred on June 12 – a tragedy not only for the trans community and others on the LGBT spectrum, but for all Americans who value diversity and equality.

As I look back over my own first ten years as living female in this society, I am struck by how far we have come as a people in embracing acceptance and diversity.

Just as marriage equality seemed distant and elusive back in 2006, so too does the Equality Act seem today. It is with courage and anticipation that we look ahead toward the next ten years and wonder just how far we will possibly go. t

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

Brian’s

Brain

Brian George Hose

Halloween: Invitations to the Party I love Halloween, and not just because it’s a holiday built around candy, costumes, and creepy stuff (my favorite things). Halloween is unique in that it’s the only time of year that we celebrate fear, a feeling most of us spend the rest of the year avoiding.

We watch scary movies, tell ghost stories, and dress up as whoever, or whatever, we want to be. We have fun, eat too much candy, and enjoy time with friends. In the process of celebrating and enjoying fear, we take away some of its power.

I’ve dedicated my recent columns to the subject of fear because fear plays a significant role in our lives. Fear can be helpful, keeping us safe by telling us that we’re in danger. But fear can also be harmful.

Stress and anxiety thrive on fear, creating a slippery slope; if we give fear an inch, it takes a mile. Once we give in to fear it’s easy to imagine countless “what if” scenarios that result in something bad, something scary, happening to us. When this happens, we allow fear to control our lives, to influence our decisions. We think we’re playing it safe, but we’re just limiting our options and getting stuck in our problems.

The LGBTQ community has an interesting relationship with fear. Though our community has made great political and social strides in recent years, we know that there are still people in this world who don’t like us, some of whom threaten us with harm.

Many of us were afraid of what would happen if we came out of the closet, but only because we had reasons to be afraid.

Having experienced this, myself as a teenager, I look back and realize the affect fear had on my young mind. Fear told me that I shouldn’t come out, that doing so would put me in danger. For a while I listened to my fear, thinking it would go away if I heeded its warnings. It didn’t. Instead, fear consumed my life, trapping me in its grasp. Fear told me I wouldn’t survive coming out, but my heart told me I had to try – otherwise I would remain stuck, unable to be the person I wanted and needed to be. Fear had taken control of my life and it didn’t want to let go.

That changed when I was 17. Fear had isolated me, straining my relationships and making me feel alone. I realized nothing would change unless I faced my fear, so that’s what I did. I began coming out to the people closest to me and realized that fear had been lying to me for years. Nobody hated me, nobody wanted to hurt me. Even the worst reaction was exponentially better than what fear told me to expect. That is perhaps the best lesson fear can teach us, that we are braver than we think we are.

Since then I’ve made an effort to become friendly with fear.

Fear has become my dramatic, over-the-top friend.

I’ve learned to listen to what fear has to say, but also to put its messages in perspective. Yes, I should be careful climbing ladders; no, my life won’t be over if I try (and fail) to pull off skinny jeans. I’ve learned to accept fear for what it is – a feeling that tells us to pay attention and to make good decisions, even when the best decision is to tell fear to take a rest.

But that’s not all fear is. Fear is also a signal, an invitation that asks courage, bravery, strength, and growth to attend the party. It’s fear that makes all the wonderful things in life not only possible but special.

After all, there cannot be good without bad.

That’s what’s so great about Halloween – we celebrate fear by taking away its power. For a night, we can be fearless. We can be what we want to be. And, if we are brave enough, we can live this way all year long. t

out in the valley // HEALTH & Faith

Health Chat

Debbie Anne

Influenza Season & Nurses From September to December each year, nurses give more shots than all other times of the year put together, and we absolutely love it. There’s just something very satisfying about being the agent of prevention and keeping people safe from influenza because the flu is serious stuff. Over the past ten years an average of 32,743 deaths have occurred annually in the United States due to influenza. We nurses think that’s not something to sneeze at (pun definitely intended), at least when a simple vaccine can prevent the flu.

Even still, many people refuse flu vaccine saying that the flu shot gives them the flu. Let’s be very clear here – that is scientifically impossible! I n j e c t able flu vaccine is made from dead virus; it is not possible to be infected by a dead organism.

A dead mosquito can’t bite you, and a dead flu viron cannot infect you. Infection is caused only by live and reproducing organisms.

Some people, however, may experience a day or two of inflammation after getting a flu vaccination. This is a sign that the vaccine is working by making your immune system go into overdrive to produce antibodies to the flu.

Those antibodies are what protect you from actually getting influenza infection. That inflammation may make you feel not quite up to your usual self, but it will be mild and short-lived and should not last longer than 24 to 48 hours. Other people may coincidentally get an infection from some other organism around the time of getting a vaccine that has nothing to do with the vaccine.

The most typical organism associated with cold and flu symptoms (upper respiratory symptoms, runny nose or congestion and coughing), is Rhinovirus.

Then some people may coincidentally get a strain of the flu virus that was not targeted in the vaccine they received. There are literally thousands of strains of flu that mutate and evolve

from season to season. Each year the the producers of flu vaccine use data from the previous year’s flu season to predict up to four strains that will dominate the coming year’s outbreak.

With current technology, the vaccine cannot provide protection to all strains of the flu virus but at most to only about four strains. This is called quadravalent vaccine. Theoretically then, someone may, following a flu vaccine, coincidentally become infected with one of the other thousands of flu strains. Again, this is coincidental and has nothing to do with the flu vaccine that was received.

Anecdotally, I’ve received the flu vaccine for the past 20 years; it’s required as a public health worker. I’ve only gotten the flu one time in those 20 years, obviously to a strain for which I wasn’t protected by that year’s vaccine. I say those are very good results, and I wouldn’t even consider not getting the yearly vaccine. Getting the flu just that one time made me know that I want to take advantage of anything I can so I don’t get the flu again.

Let’s just say it was no fun at all.

So, let me point out the obvious – we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t provide universal protection against all strains of the flu virus. At least not yet. Researchers from several institutions here and abroad are working on a universal flu vaccine and say that they are making exciting headway. Reported this month on Sciencedaily.com, scientists are working on a vaccine that will teach the immune system to detect and destroy a portion of the virus that remains the same throughout all strains and mutations of the virus. This has the potential to end yearly flu vaccination. In theory then, a person could be vaccinated once for life – good news for all of you that refuse flu vaccine because you hate shots. Speaking of shots, for those of you who have been using Flumist to avoid shots, the Centers for Disease Control and Protection are not recommending Flumist this year due to poor efficacy.

Now I must do my nursely duty and urge you to get your flu vaccine. The sooner you get it, the sooner you will be protected against this year’s targeted strains. Get a shot, and make your nurse’s day. t Debbie Anne is a public health nurse with Frederick County Health Department in Frederick, Maryland and has particular expertise in the field of HIV/AIDS. She has served in the field for thirteen years and in 2014 was awarded a Governor’s Citation for her work with Marylanders living with HIV/AIDS.

Spirit Speaks Sharing our Gifts

By Rev. Kelly Crenshaw When most of us think about giving to our church, we think of money. We think of passing the offering plate and some of us get a bad taste in our mouths about it.

Between operating expenses, foreign missions, local missions, and special projects, it seems that the church is always asking for money. And, to be honest, it is.

It costs money to keep the lights on and have running water in our church kitchens and bathrooms. Our pastors need to pay their own bills. Many churches have mortgages or other debt that needs to be paid each month. Running a church involves money.

But, the church is also looking for ways you can give back that don’t involve money. Churches need people that can help run mission programs or donate food for the homeless. They need people who are willing to give of their time and energy for remodeling projects or to supervise at a youth event. Sunday School doesn’t happen without people being involved, neither does the choir or the governing board or any other church function you can name. Gifts of time and talent are just as valuable as gifts of money.

We have been given so much by God. Our world is beautiful in many ways.

We encounter wonderful, kind people as we go about our lives. By sharing our gifts, we can give back to God and enrich other lives as we do so.

Think about how a homeless person feels about a hot meal. What about the child whose only exposure to God is in Sunday School? What would happen if the church couldn’t afford to open the doors each week? What if the pastor had to take a job that required him or her to work on Sunday mornings? And worse, what is no one showed up for worship each week.

Your gifts are important to the church. Money, time, talent, and participation are all ways you can give back to God and your church. We’d love for you to come and worship with New Light each week, but if not, we invite you to find a church home where you will be spiritually fed. t For info about New Light call a co-pastor at 301-797-5698 or email newlightmcc@hotmail.com.

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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OUT oN Campus

The Most Insane Election We’ve Ever Seen?

By Roger E. Hartley With just two weeks to go in the 2016 race for the presidency, we have seen just about everything haven’t we? Three of the most spectacular debates that have been “highlighted” by brutal remarks like “she’s a nasty woman,” a parade of a dozen women with charges of abuse following “the tape” and remarks that have led many Republicans to publicly declare that their own candidate is not fit to serve as president. All candidates have flaws and there are in fact low approval ratings for both candidates. Wikileaks of emails sprinkling out daily have confirmed the hard-ball politics played by the Clinton campaign and these have apparently underscored low approval ratings that she is taking into the election. Under any “normal” election, with a traditional candidate on the GOP side, we might see the tightest of races now.

But would we see a tight race really? What does this rather tumultuous moment in pol-

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itics mean for the future of politics and our two political parties?

In this election, we are seeing the deepest of divisions between urban and rural voters, young and old, men and women, educational differences, and deeper political division by race. I’ve been a political scientist for more than 20 years and many in my circles say we’re seeing the final stages of a political realignment.

A realignment is a moment in time when the traditional coalitions supporting parties are altered. Realignments are often generational and come about with issues that cut across existing parties. They split them up, coalitions of voters find new candidates and new parties to support.

Realignments lead to different types of parties and end in a new party or coalition dominating American politics for what might be decades.

I believe we are here now. The Trump coalition appears to be the “last stand” of the GOP of old. For many years, the GOP held together a powerful coalition of business-interested voters that were higher educated and of higher socio-economic status. Let’s call them the “Chamber of Commerce” voter. They have big money to spend on campaigns, a lot of power of networks, but there are fewer of them to vote.

The GOP could not dominate on “Chamber types” alone. The “Chamber” voter and GOP strategists needed more and brought into their tent far right leaning social conservatives with the “moral majority” of Jerry Falwell, “Christian Coalition” of Ralph Reed, and today groups like the Family Research Council. Then comes the Tea Party and the candidacy of Donald Trump that brought forth largely rural, white men, from a blue-collar background. Rural America and Rust Belt cities offered a new brand of “conservativism” that is populist, not conservative. Interestingly, this base of voters was, in fact, mobilized by GOP operatives, big money from the “Chamber” types, and a wave of conservative media designed to appeal to the anger, despair, and fear of a changing America. It was, in essence, a long time marketing campaign designed to mobilized voters who feared new values, new ideas, diversity in race, gender politics, and LGBT rights. Families are no longer the same and that scares a lot of people in the heart of conservative/ populist America. The marketing campaign did its job well, appealed to fear, took advantage of some deep seeded anger and even hate. It did bring out voters and it might have been fine as long as the party

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

and the “Chamber” could still control power after the election.

What was unexpected, however, was that what they created, could no longer be controlled. The Tea Party activism has brought new populist policies that have turned on the “Chamber” and Wall Street.

The candidacy of the Donald Trump and the deep, deep divide between urban and rural America is evidence. Populism is a conservative force on patriotism, traditional conservative values, but also more liberal on regulation of business, trade, and more.

Moreover, American business has always changed with its customers. It is forward thinking and adapts to the customer and its need for a top-notch work force.

For the “Chamber,” a diverse and changing society means a need for a diverse and talented employee who is open-minded to diversity and inclusion. It means a diverse customer base that demands products and treatment in the marketplace that is consistent with pluralist values For the traditional “Chamber” voter and GOP intellectual at the National Review, Trump is not only “no business conservative” but he is also the type of thing that drives the wealthier, intellectual Republican that adapts to societal change…away… far away. And then there is the “moral majority” conservative that may not see Trump as exhibiting the morals of their part of the base. Where do they all go after what is likely a big win

by Hillary Clinton? Some of the Chamber types are already voting Clinton, some are voting libertarian, and some may just stay home. Others, however, are straddling the fence and in an unbelievable position of knowing that their careers as elected leaders is inexplicably tied to the need for this new, angry, blue-collar and largely male base to turn out. Without them, they lose, and with them… they may lose anyway. Thus, the new populist GOP taints and brands this party as a different kind of GOP with an uncertain and cross-cutting set of values that may not stand up to even the demographic of today’s America.

What makes this a realignment to me is not only this division but demographics. It is why I call the Trump candidacy the “last stand” of the GOP of old. The Trump voter is older, male, blue-collar, rural, and deeply conservative. It is also a small part of the American voters base, it is not the most reliable voter, and it is dying … quite literally. It has pushed the party far to the right and farther away from the middle and independents. It has alienated the fastest growing demographics like millennials, minority voters, and women.

It is also alienating the “Chamber” voter. If the GOP stays wed to the Tea Party and continues mobilization of this base, it loses this election and perhaps the next.

If the Chamber and party operatives are still in power, they can only hope to change who they mobilize. They tried this several years ago with an important GOP report that stated the dire need to adapt to a new and changing America. They tried and clearly failed miserably in this election.

They created a political conservative, populist force that they expected to continue to control and this time they could not. If indeed this new populist GOP is the “new party” then they have created a rather loud, active base of voters that is small, shrinking, and that doesn’t reflect the values of the “Chamber” voter. This party will lose again, and again, and again on the national stage, on the state stage, and will become isolated in legislative districts in rural areas of America. That is sad too because rural America is suffering, it does need help, and yet their elected leaders will not have the power to do so unless the newly dominant Democrat party reaches into rural America to help.

“Last stands” are tumultuous and even can be violent. It is really, really hard to watch a demographic in America lose power. Loss of power breeds desperation and a clinging together with a hope that the ideas you share will matter. This election certainly is a “last stand” for the GOP and its aftermath will be a moment of reckoning. A time to change or to be lost forever as it was once known. t Roger E. Hartley is dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore.

quality of life

Violet’s New Friends

Violet’s Vet

Dr. Tony Calo

When Dad is Away, the Violet Will Play I just got back from a veterinary conference that I go away to every October.

Connor stayed at home to be official dog and cat dad in my absence. This did bring up an interesting question however. What should someone do about pet care when going away? Owning and caring for a pet is an incredible responsibility but our lives cannot stop entirely because of our animal family. Going away for business meetings and conferences are necessary for many professions.

Furthermore, vacations are an important part of maintaining sanity in this crazy world. When travel becomes mandatory for work or necessary for mental health, what arrangements should be made to keep our animal families comfortable, happy, and healthy? Of course there are several options and which options works best for you depends on you and your pet’s specific circumstances.

The first consideration is your pets’ health. If your dog or cat requires daily medications or supportive care, on option is to ask your primary veterinarian if medical boarding is possible. An example of this would be if your dog has a condition such as diabetes mellitus.

This condition requires that feeding schedule, administration of insulin injections, and constant monitoring are imperative. This may be best accomplished in a medical environment. The obvious trade-off is that your pet will need to stay in a cage or a kennel, but most veterinary hospitals will provide strict schedules required to maintain your dog or cat’s health. Additionally, if an emergency does

develop, immediate veterinary care will be available. This could mean the difference between a minor adjustment and a medical crisis.

If your veterinarian does not offer medical boarding, then you can always inquire if one of the veterinary technicians or assistants offer at home pet sitting services.

The vast majority of people that work as veterinary technicians and assistants love animals and are genuinely and inherently concerned about a pet’s care and health.

This would allow for a professional’s skill in terms of administration of medications, monitoring for health issues, and for keeping your pet as happy and healthy as possible in your absence.

If your pet or pets are healthy and do not require chronic health care, then the best option is to hire a reliable, knowledgeable, and caring pet sitter.

For our pets, this amounts to a family friend that Daisy, Violet, and Henry lovingly call Uncle Tommy. Tommy is a close friend of Connor and I. He has a flexible work schedule, he is as responsible as a person can be, and most importantly, he loves our dogs and cats as much as we do.

Our animal family has the advantages of being at home where they are most comfortable, of maintaining their daily routine, and of being with their third most favorite human being.

Tommy brings them on long walks, plays with them, and keeps them fed and happy. Violet absolutely loves her “vacations” with Uncle Tommy and Connor and I do not have to worry about anything when we are away.

If you do not have your Miss Chief is my own Uncle nickname Tommy, then establishing a good relationship with a professional pet sitter may be in order.

In some cases, at home pet sitting is not an option. Although it may be less comfortable to have someone that is not a friend or family member stay in your home, it is still considered best to have your pet stay in his or her own natural environment. If this option is pursued, it is recommended to carefully interview the pet sitter and to have multiple interactions between the sit-

Hey there! My name is Rebel. I’m a sweet boy who loves to cuddle! I’m pretty laid-back and would be happy to lounge on the couch all day, but I also enjoy sunning myself outside. In my perfect world, I would be the only pet in the home, as I do like to be the center of attention. Okay, so I might be a tad bit selfish when it comes to getting attention ... I also enjoy chewing on kongs & nylabones, and I love to splash around in kiddie pools. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you my most favorite thing of all – booty Rebel scratches! That’s right, just above my tail.

I love it! It’s the most amazing thing ever!

I’ll even talk to you and tell you how much I love it! One last thing I will tell you is I love treats! I do lots of tricks to get them including sit, down, paw, and even roll over! So, if I seem like I might be a good fit for you or your family, please come out to meet me! I’ll be waiting. t Hi everyone! My name is Maggie Moo, and I am looking for my new family. I am sweet, super friendly and very outgoing. I love giving and receiving affection. I’ll even roll over for some belly rubs! I am a beautiful kitty with unique markings and a cute round face. I enjoy lounging around in comfy cat beds checking out the birds. But if you have some mice or a wand toy I’ll play with you too. Stop by the Baltimore Humane Society to meet me. You won’t be disappointed! t The adoption fee is $100. For more information, visit Bmorehumane.org.

ter and your dog or cat to make sure that they have a good connection. It is also extremely important to have multiple references. When talking to the references, ask many specific questions such that you gain as much information as you need to feel

“If you do not have your own Uncle Tommy, then establishing a good relationship with a professional pet sitter may be in order.” comfortable with the pet sitter. The sitter will be caring for your best friend after all.

Only when you are completely comfortable should you hire the pet sitter.

Finally, when medical boarding or at home pet care is not available, you may need to pursue boarding your dog or cat at a pet boarding facility or kennel. This is not the recommended course of action but may become necessary. When your pet is

Maggie Moo

away from home, they are more stressed and are therefore more prone to being restless and agitated. They may sleep poorly. Additionally, they may be exposed to infectious disease such as intestinal parasites, kennel cough, and viral or bacterial intestinal issues.

Before choosing a boarding kennel, it is imperative to tour the facility on multiple occasions and to meet all of the staff members from the office manager to the animal care givers to the facility workers.

Confirm that all pets entering the facility are current on vaccinations, are free of heartworm, and are free of flea and ticks.

It is also recommended to ask for as references and to check on-line reviews. The more information that you obtain, the more comfortable you will feel about leaving your pet in the care of a boarding facility.

Whichever option you pursue, it is imperative to put your pet’s best interest first and foremost.

Consider all of the specifics of your pet’s health, mental status, and emotional condition before making a decision and then make the best decision for your and your pet’s situation. t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com t

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dining out

Finger’s Food

Richard Finger

Starlite Diner

510 East Belvedere Avenue, Baltimore 410-878-0069 Starlitebaltimore.com

The Starlight Diner took over from Shoofly Diner, across from the Belvedere Square market. Living nearby, I’d been able to watch the renovations over several months. I was anxious to see the finished result, and of course, to give the place a try. We decided to take advantage of a beautiful day, and sit outside on the front porch to enjoy a late breakfast. If I recall correctly, we arrived in the late afternoon, so it was in between the lunch and dinner rushes. For us, this meant we were able to relax outdoors, without much hustle and bustle.

And, when settin’ out on the porch on an Indian Summer afternoon, what better way to

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pass the time than with some fresh-squeezed lemonade? Although a bit tart, I found it to be quite refreshing, definitely a sipping drink.

We looked over the menu, and as with most diners, there are many options available. We were in the mood for breakfast, and the all-day breakfast menu does not disappoint.

I think what sets Starlite apart from traditional diners are the non-traditional offerings such as the Red Velvette Waffle ($10) served with fruit and cream, or the Egg in a Hole ($10).

Eggs sunny side down inside buttery grilled rustic bread with cheddar cheese, bacon, and grilled tomato includes home fries and side salad.

I decided on something more traditional, the 222 Breakfast ($10), two eggs your way, two sides (one meat), two silver dollar pancakes with whole wheat toast and 100% maple syrup. Nick selected the House Benedict ($12) with cheddar biscuit, pulled pork

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

shoulder, hollandaise sauce, including home fries and side salad. We were both really impressed with our meals, with portion size, quality, and taste.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always found when having breakfast at a traditional diner, sometimes the food presentation comes across as a bit sterSunny ile and bland. I felt dining the opposite of at Starlite that was true with Starlite – everything seemed fresh and bright.

Being outside in the sunlight also added to the effect.

Starlite all-day breakfast options include varieties of pancakes, waffles, omelets, and “On the Range” options. Some of the highlights worth checking out: Breakfast on a Waffle ($12 – buttermilk waffle sandwich with fried chicken breast, fried egg, bacon, and maple syrup, with home fries and side salad. OR there’s Stuffed French Toast ($12) – Texas toast

stuffed with sweet mascarpone cheese, banana, salted caramel drizzle, maple syrup, and mixed fruit. The Smart Omelette ($12) features egg whites, spinach, caramelized onions, sautéed wild mushroom, with home fries and side salad.

With a quick peak inside the diner, I did

“I think what sets Starlite apart from traditional diners are the non-traditional offerings.” notice two full service bars which are open until midnight Sunday through Wednesday, and 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. I am hopeful to arrange a happy hour one night soon with our friends so they can experience something new with us. It’s great to see a new business in our neighborhood with reasonable prices for a reasonable menu. If you’re ever over in the Belvedere Square area, maybe to see a movie at the Senator, or just out and about, consider stopping over to the Starlite. I do not think you will regret it. t

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your money The More you Know About

Business

Richard Finger

Baby Boomers vs. Millennials The theme of managing a multigenerational workforce has surfaced several times over the past weeks, and thought this would make for an interesting topic to share with the readers. There seems to be inherent conflict between the baby boomer generation vs. the millennials, in terms of what each expects, generally speaking, in the workplace. Another way to look at it is from the aspect of digital immigrants, those born before the advent of personal computers, laptops, smartphones, etc., and those born afterwards.

I recently received a phone call from a baby-boomer senior leader in an organization. One of her responsibilities is to manage the MBA program in her organization.

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It seems some of the MBA students were taking issue with swiping in and out of work each day. We talked about the legalities of tracking work time, but very quickly, the conversation turned to the expectations of millennials in today’s workplace. The baby boomer generation has been programmed to work standard hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each workday, primarily completing their work while at work. Millennials are not programmed that way.

Research shows, they want to work when the mood strikes, which could be at any time, at any place. It is easy to see how baby boomers can conclude the younger generation lacks work ethic, and could be judged as lazy. What is not easy to see is that the millennials just want to work differently. It was also important to talk about evolving the company culture of “You’re only working when I see you” to one of managing performance and engagement.

These are two very different approaches.

A second incident involves the conflict between a male employee in his 40s and a female employee in her 20s. The male employee seems to use the “f” word in the

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office like the word “the” – in other words, very commonly. The female employee took offense to this language and raised the issue to her manager. The manager of the two individuals called me to discuss, and once again, the conversation evolved to the conflicts of generations at work. What is acceptable to one generation may not be to another. Younger workers may become more easily offended than older workers. The important takeaway from our discussion was for the manager to relay a message that all employees, no matter what age, should always behave professionally, and be respectful of all others. It is quite possible the male employee has no idea his behavior was offending her, or anyone else.

To remain competitive in recruiting millennial talent in organizations it is imperative to recognize how company practices, policies, and overall culture will play

out while meeting the needs of other generations of workers. I have spent a great deal of time with baby boomer management explaining one key component of the digital native worker …since most of their communication happens electronically between them, digital natives have a hard time empathizing, and understanding body language. Managers need to assess when the right time to speak directly to their millennial employees, and when it is best to communicate electronically.

I have seen popping up more frequently in organizations the idea of reverse mentoring, where a younger worker is partnered with a more seasoned worker. Each learns from the other, and helps the other to understand and work through their different approaches to work and problem solving.

The respect for linear thinking vs. generational thinking. From a human resources perspective, it has been fun to watch how diversity in thought has led to better collaboration, and how more powerful solutions are created. t

Generations spar in the workplace

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leather line

Leather

Line

Rodney Burger

Coffee with boy david On a warm autumn day that felt more like spring awaking than a prelude to winter, I found myself sitting in the middle of a busy Mt. Vernon coffee shop. Across from me sat David Zeidler, a handsome young man who was still beaming from having been selected American Leatherboy 2016 first runner-up during the recent American Brotherhood Weekend (ABW) in Chicago.

He lives in Glen Burnie, Maryland, now but his leather journey began when he was growing up in Chesterton, Indiana.

Behind his childhood home was a graveyard. While other children may find this creepy, he found it fascinating and peaceful. “When you are different and growing

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up in a small town you get the best of both worlds,” boy david explained. “You get picked on by some and others want to be your friend.” After seeing a leather man in a television show and in movies like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Cruising, he found himself experimenting with bondage and tried tying up his best friend. Years later when he walked into a porn store he discovered that not only was there porn about leather, but there were books and magazines describing a whole leather lifestyle. Behind his parents’ back he googled “leather man” and “leather lifestyle” and found the computer screen flooded with images and websites. The leather community was bigger than he imaged! On a trip to Chicago he found the S&M boutique Leather Sport and continued to explore his kinky side.

He also discover the hookup site Recon with its many gay fetish profiles. Through Recon he connected with a Master looking for a slave and in keeping with a desire to move out of his small town, he relocated to Georgia to serve. He found himself collared with a lock that was so heavy that it bruised his chest. After six months he knew he had made a mistake. Although it was an abusive relationship, he stayed

OCTOber 28, 2016 • baltimoreoutloud.com

with this man for a year and a half.

His advice to anyone thinking of doing what he did would be to “Do your homework before you surrender everything.”

He remained in the Atlanta area and became involved in the leather community there. He even ran for the title of Mr. Atlanta Kinkster, a feeder to International Mr. Leather.

Although he was not awarded the title, it was a good experience. He started to find his voice as a leather boy. Although he enjoyed the leather community in Georgia, he really wanted to relocated again and start fresh.

When he met Sir John from Glen Burnie he relocated to Maryland. It was here that he really started to grow as a leatherboy.

He competed and was sashed Mid-Atlantic Leatherboy 2014 and is currently the president of the Leatherboys of Maryland. While attending Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend (CLAW), he met American Leatherboy 2011-2012 Tyler Fong who inspired him to run for the American Leatherboy 2016 title. Although the title went to Steve Carlisle of West Hollywood, California, boy david was honored to have been selected first runner-up. He added that returning to Chicago for the contest was like a homecoming and that he felt a strong sense of family. He was also very proud of his fellow representatives from Baltimore. Margaret Irene was awarded that title of first runner-up American Leatherwoman 2016 with Steph from Charleston, South Carolina,

taking the sash. Although Doug Kuhn of Phoenix, Arizona, was selected American Leatherman 2016, Sir Kevin Lowery from Baltimore also made a good showing in the contest.

When asked what advice he would have for someone entering a leather contest boy boy david stated, “Do david your homework.

Know the judges and history of the event. Plus make sure you are prepared.

Something may go wrong. A prop may fail or a piece of leather may be forgotten or have a problem. Have a backup plan.”

The hustle and bustle of the busy coffee shop faded away as I listened to the story of boy david’s leather journey. I am thankful that his road brought him to Baltimore. He added that he would like to run for another leather title sometime. I am sure he will make us proud. This leatherboy has really found his voice.

Breaking news: Due to delays in the opening of the Baltimore Eagle, the Thursday night “Gear Party” that kicks of Mr. Maryland Leather Weekend on November 3rd has been moved to Leon’s, the contest has been moved to Grand Central, and the Saturday night victory party for Mr. Maryland Leather 2017 has been moved to Flavor. For details go to Commandmc.org. t

Self Management and Recovery Training www.smartrecovery.org

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Free Mount Vernon Meeting: Thursday 6:30—8:00 pm 1111 North Charles Street • Community Room Info: George Bowden 443-224-8500

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