February, 2010

BRANCHING OUT Tallahassee’s LGBT Community Newspaper

February 15th, 2010

Volume 14, Issue #2

PROUDLY BLACK. PROUDLY WOMAN.

PROUDLY GAY.

Celebrate Black History and Women’s History Months

Jade Esteban Estrada Returns to Tallahassee

Tallahassee PRIDEFEST 2010 - Two Months from Kickoff Family Tree Closes Current Location

WELCOME

BRANCHING OUT

Everything Changes.

is published monthly by The Family Tree Community Center.

Appearance in this publication makes no inference about sexual orientation or gender identity.

By Patrick Patterson Branching Out Production Team

BRANCHING OUT’S mission is to be the paper of record for the LGBT community of Tallahassee, and in that capacity it seeks to inform, advocate, engage, and entertain while being a responsible representative of the LGBT community and its allies to the outside world.

Contact Branching Out:

P.O. Box 38477, Tallahassee, FL 32315 (850) 222-8555 branchingout@familytreecenter.org

Publication Schedule - 15th of Each Month Submission Deadlines - 1st of Each Month

Contributors in this issue: Terry Galloway Elyse Grant Cantor Tania Greenblatt Melissa Grovac Diana Kampert Greta Langley Ivan Sondel

in this issue...

News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Faithfully Speaking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

From The Team

Production Team:

Steven Hall, Andy Janecek, Margeaux Mutz, and Patrick Patterson

With Valentine’s Day behind us... we can get on to things that matter. Can you sense bitterness? Good. It’s not that I COMPLETELY despise the holiday... I just wished there were more cupids flying around with better aim!

Branching Out, as we know it has changed a lot over the past two years. They just keep getting better and better. I am pleasantly surprised every month to see what our community is doing and the future has in store.

The feature of this month’s edition of Branching Out is dedicated to the women in history who have struggled with their own equality because they were black, woman, and gay.

Each of these women have dedicated a part of themselves to becoming a part of history in their own way. Using talents, gifts, and humor over the years, they have found their way into all of our lives.

In celebraion of Women’s History month, this is the first of three issues that we will run an excerpt from Terry Galloway’s autobiography - Mean Little Deaf Queer. What an awesome person this lady is. We are so proud to have her as part of this publication.

This issue of Branching Out is full of information from a wonderful article on faith to a wellness piece that gives guidance to the health nut in all of us.

The Familly Tree, over the next few weeks will be moving from their current location and temporarily relocating. This move is to strategically plan the future of YOUR community center and to move into the future with the ability to meet the needs of the community better.

Tallahassee PRIDEFEST 2010 is coming up in just two short months. Next month’s edition will be our annual PRIDE GUIDE and will announce all of the event information for the entire week. Still want to get involved? Check out Steven’s article in this edition.

We hope that you find the information in this issue helpful as you maneuver through each of your busy schedules and live your day to day lives. Each of you is important to our community.

And we hope, by reading Branching Out, you’re able to become better informed about what’s going on in the community. We hope that you find that laugh you’ve been looking for. That tear that you’ve been waiting on and that enjoyment that comes from knowing that there’s someone always on your side.

Enjoy!

Wellness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Voices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Mean Little Deaf Queer Excerpts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 What’s Happening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 News From The Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

When Finished...

Please Recycle!

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We Want To Hear From You!!!

Next Month’s edition of Branching Out is the Annual PRIDE GUIDE. If you have a Pride related story and you would like to share it with your community, please send it to us!

E-mail your submissions to branchingout@familytreecenter.org by February 1st.

BRANCHING OUT

NEWS

Jade Esteban Estrada Returns to Tallahassee with the World Premiere of his latest Show

P: This year’s visit will be your sixth trip to Tallahassee. Why Tallahassee? Why do you keep coming back to us?

J: Tallahassee means a lot to me. Tallahassee means a lot to the state of Florida.

Tallahassee is where everything happens for Florida and through it lays the groundwork for our country. I understand that my time in Tallahassee is usually brief... and it’s my job to make the most of that. I am always thrilled to come back to a place where I know that I am wanted and my shows are enjoyed. Tallahassee is an extension of (Washington) DC... it’s important to be where the movers and shakers are.

P: What originally brought you to Tallahassee?

J: I was doing a show in Jacksonville and travelling afterward to Pensacola... no, Mobile to do another show. I called around and got Jim VanRiper’s name (who at the time, I didn’t know from Adam). We were able to set up my first show here... ICONS 1.

P: You’ve performed all three of the previous installments of the ICONS series.

Will anything be different about the new show that we haven’t seen with the previous three?

J: I’m a Virgo... and I like format. I see the creation of ICONS 4 as a challenge and very appealing to me because it’s an updated version of who we are as a people.

Through these shows, I have changed as a person and the shows change with me every time I perform them. ICONS 4 will not be complete until it’s performed. and I can’t wait to see it. ICONS 1 was ground-breaking because it brought historical figures to us and speaking to people as if they had stepped off a time machine. When ICONS 2 came about... I wanted to bring the audience to the character’s time period. ICONS 3 really made the audience interactive with the show. As far as the fourth show... we’ll just have to wait and see.

J: I like to keep my eye on the characters that are still with us. I truly believe that my shows respect the characters that are portrayed. I like to take great care and respect with the living characters because Oscar Wilde and Sappho can’t come to one of my shows and beat me up after.

P: What characters are in store for us in the debut of ICONS 4?

J: Wouldn’t you like to know! Wouldn’t we ALL like to know! It’s a totallly American Idol thing I go through with the selection of the characters. A beauty pageant of history. I am excited to see what characters come forth in ICONS 4 because I feel that I’ve grown so much as a person. ICONS 3 was more bold than its prequels... and so, I expect that 4 will be even more bold.

Jade Esteban Estrada’s earliest recollection of being on stage was in the second grade, bitter because he wanted to dance instead of sing.

From his earliest performance until now he has entertained millions as “the greatest chorus boy who ever lived.”

ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 4 will premiere in Tallahassee as the eighth event of Tallahassee PRIDEFEST 2010. To get tickets and more information, please visit www.tallahasseepride.com.

We hope to see you there!

ICONS The Lesbian and Gay History of The World

Vo l .

A Musical Comedy written and performed by:

JADe ESTEBAN ESTRADA

P: What is your favorite character to perform on stage.

Wednesday, April 14 Comedy Zone 401 E. Tennessee Street

8PM

I ERE M RE

WOR L D

J: He and I are the same person. If we were to switch lives, there would be no difference. He is a big ham... very toungue-in-cheek... and I act like that all of the time!

P

J: I get asked this question 98% of all interviews I do. And I will give you the same answer I give to everyone else. Oscar Wilde. No contest.

P: Why him?

4 Photo by AARON KEITH

If you missed Jade Esteban Estrada’s Icons: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Volumes 1-3... you’ve missed a lot of LGBT history and a lot of laughs. However, you can experience the fourth, much anticipated installment of the series in Tallahassee on April 14th at the Comedy Zone as part of Tallahassee PRIDEFEST 2010.

I sat down to talk with Jade a few weeks ago as he took a break from writing his new show to talk about the history, the laughs and what else he had in store for us.

P: Any other characters that are special to you?

www.tallahasseepride.com

By Patrick Patterson Branching Out Production Team

General-$15 . Student-$10 . VIP-$25

The Family Tree Announces Upcoming Community Resource Directory

By Greta Langley, Branching Out Contributor The Family Tree Center’s LGBT Business Partners Group is rolling out the first Edition of the 2010 LGBT Community Resource Guide. The Guide provides a detailed listing of: LGBT Businesses and Alliances, Services and Support Organizations, and Governmental Allies in the Tallahassee and surrounding areas. At your finger tips there will be Restaurants, Shopping, Nightlife, Real estate, and much more. Never seen in Tallahassee before, so get in on this first time ever Resource Publication.

As a Business Owner, Salesperson, Manager or Alliance yourself who supports this cause I am asking you to demonstrate your commitment by becoming an advertiser listed in the first edition of the LGBT Community Resource Guide. The introductory rates will only be offered this year so you can not afford to miss this opportunity. This exciting free annual Guide will be distributed to hundreds of people for the first time at Tallahassee Pride held April 10-17th. After Pride there will be thousands of free copies for the public at local Tallahassee businesses and news stands.

If you are a member of LGBT Business and Professionals Group, you receive a discount for the ad as a membership benefit. The annual dues are very affordable at $25.00 per year. There are numerous membership benefits including having your business featured in the Branching Out Newspaper. The mission of the LGBT Business and Professionals group is to provide a network of people who are dedicated to the promotion of Business and Social Opportunities. To join this growing group, contact Greta Langley at greta@familytreecenter.org for a membership application.

It is not required to be a LGBT Business Partner to place your ad in the Community Resource Guide.

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2

To place your ad in the 2010 Community Resource Guide, see below for this one time offer. Submissions are due March 15, 2010. Ad spaces are limited so hurry to lock in your rate. The graphic format for the ad needs to be in a jpeg format. You will see these spaces are offered at such low prices, you do not want to miss out. Remember the ads are priced as introductory and will only be available for this year’s publication.

I am very excited about the continued momentum of the growing group of businesses joining together to help promote those who support each other. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email at greta@familytreecenter.org.

Basic Listing 1/8 Page Basic Listing + 1/8 Page 1/4 Page 1/2 Page 1/2 Page (Rear Inside / Rear Outside) Whole Page Whole Page (Rear Inside / Rear Outside)

$12 $20 $30 $35 $60 $75 $100 $125

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FEATURE

PROUDLY BLACK. PROUDLY WOMAN.

PROUDLY GAY.

By Elyse Grant Special To Branching Out “I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay” is a recent statement made by contemporary comedian Wanda Sykes. This wonderful declaration of pride in being oneself captures an extraordinary moment. While profound in its own right, such a statement arguably would not have been publicly addressed without the strong, proud, and inspiring African-American LGBT women who came before.

African-American women throughout LGBT history have made great strides towards securing greater equality for themselves and future generations. The strength of these women to be “out” as lesbian, bisexual, or transgender at a time when society was dominated by anti-homosexual ideology, racism, and oppressive views on women, has contributed greatly to the LGBT movement and has led to greater freedom for LGBT individuals today. Contemporary African-American women who advocate for LGBT rights continue to carry the torch of these women who came before them, allowing for acceptance to spread and ensue. In celebration of Black History month, Women’s History month, and in keeping with our LGBT roots, I will evoke some of the most influential African-American LGBT women throughout history.

While the oppression of the 1900’s led many LGBT individuals to suppress their desires or keep them hidden from society, a few women were at the forefront of proclaiming their status to the world. Ruth Ellis, open lesbian and LGBT rights activists humbly describes her life, “My life has been nothing special. I am a quiet person who came from a very ordinary, middle-class Negro family. I was born July 23, 1899 in Springfield, Illinois...After high school in Springfield, a neighborhood man taught me how to set type and run his presses...I had one real girlfriend. Her name was Ceciline.

We called her Babe. She was the only person I ever lived with...We lived together for 30 years” (From interview with Miss Ruth by Terri Jewell, in Piece of My Heart).

Throughout her life, Ellis was an advocate for the rights of gays and lesbians, and of African Americans. In the 1940’s, Ruth’s home became a refuge for gays and lesbians in her community. The Ruth Ellis Center has been formed to honor Ellis and functions to provide help to homeless LGBT youth and young adults.

Audre Lorde, born in 1934, describes herself as a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, (and) poet”. Criticized for her multicultural feminist views by white feminists, Lorde’s life work focused on seeking the end to racism, sexism, and homophobia, believing that all forms of discrimination were interlinked and stemmed from the inability to tolerate difference. Throughout her life, Lorde published multiple books confirming her political aims on feminism, and gay and lesbian rights. Lorde was also an active participant in gay rights culture in Greenwich Village and became a co- founder of the first U.S. publisher for women of color, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press (Creative Commons).

June Jordan, born in Brooklyn in 1936, was a poet, teacher, and committed social activist. Her literary and advocacy focus was on battling the constructions of race, gender, sexuality, politics, war, violence, and human rights. She is still known today as one of the most significant bisexual writers of the twentieth-century (Creative Commons). In one of her famous quotes, Jordan expresses her interpretation of bisexuality, “bisexuality means I am free and I am as likely to want to love a woman as I am likely to want to love a man, and what about that? Isn’t that what freedom implies?” (Gay Bears: June Jordan). Her philosophy on her own sexual orientation embodied a fluid and open interpretation of love, advocating for a freedom of sexuality that was not bound by labels.

Lorde’s advocacy and work has had a lasting impact on sex and gender studies as well as personalized definitions of sexuality.

The Harlem Renaissance was another great source of empowerment for AfricanAmerican gays and lesbians. During the 1920’s the atmosphere in Harlem was tolerant and the gay and lesbian subculture was able to develop in the speakeasies of the day. The growth of this subculture gave way to night clubs in Harlem hosting LGBT performers.

Among the top talented African-American LGBT performers on the scene were Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, “Moms” Mabley, Mabel Hampton, Alberta Hunter, and Gladys Bentley. Many of these women used the stage as a declaration, expressing their emotions and experiences regarding their lesbian relationships through song and blues or dance performances.

Gladys Bentley was a famous blues singer during the Harlem Renaissance at 133rd Street and Harlem’s Ubangi Club, both well-known for being notorious gay speakeasies.

Bentley performed in a men’s tuxedo and top hat, was backed vocally by drag queens while singing crude lyrics, and flirted heavily with women in the audience. Her transgender persona intrigued audiences and her talent gained her national recognition.

Bentley openly discussed her transgender personality and masculine appearance in Ebony Magazine by stating, “It seems I was born different. At least, I always thought so.

From the time I can remember anything, even as I was toddling, I never wanted a man to touch me… Soon I began to feel more comfortable in boys’ clothes than in dresses”.

However, during the McCarthy Era, fear of being persecuted for her masculine demeanor forced Bentley to announce that she was no longer a lesbian and she traded her style of men’s suits for women’s skirts.

Josephine Baker, another well-known performer during the Harlem Renaissance became a world-famous entertainer by singing and dancing in Paris during World War II. Baker dazzled audiences with her erotic stage performances paired with pet cheetahs

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decorated with diamond collars. Earnest Hemingway described Baker as “… the most sensational woman anyone ever saw”. Baker’s bisexual status was only speculated until after her death when her son released his book, Josephine: The Hungry Heart. The book openly discusses many of Baker’s lesbian affairs while she was married and single. In addition to her entertaining performances, Baker made profound contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, and the French Resistance, while also becoming the first African-American female to star in a major motion picture. Today, Baker’s memory lives on. Her most famous performance, consisting of the banana skirt dance, has been relived through a performance

by Beyonce` Knowles in 2006.

Much like African-American women of the past, contemporary African-American women are continuing to carry on the goal of greater equality through their LGBT status or advocacy efforts. The list of contemporary African-American women who are making strides for equality includes Wanda Sykes, Tracy Chapman, Sheryl Swoopes, and Doria Roberts.

Actress and Comedian, Wanda Sykes, announced at a protest of California’s Proposition 8, “I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay.”

Along with this statement and her appearance at the rally, Sykes has been an active participant in advocacy for LGBT individuals. In recent years she has contributed to a public-service announcement for the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), made appearances at pride festivals, and has given support to equal marriage by marrying her wife in 2008. Additionally, Sykes was the first African-American woman and the first openly LGBT individual to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in May 2009 (Belge, About.com). Her successful career as an actress and comedian paired with her passion for LGBT rights has made her a favorite among the LGBT community.

Tracy Chapman, is a Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter. Her most famous songs include “Fast Car”, “Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution”, and “Give Me One Reason”.

Chapman’s relationship with the famous African-American writer Alice Walker in the early 90’s publicized her lesbian sexuality. While Chapman remains private about her personal life, her life as a recognized lesbian and well-known songwriter has given acknowledgment to the pervasiveness of the LGBT community.

Incredibly talented WNBA superstar Sheryl Swoopes has been making plays on the court for years. She has been called “one of the best collegiate players of all time” and has been referred to as the “female Michael Jordan” (Ikard p.169). Sheryl’s amazing offensive and defensive skills has helped her go on to win three Olympic Gold Medals throughout her career. After her public announcement in 2005 stating that she is gay, Swoopes became one of the most high profile African-American sports players to do so. Together Swoopes and her partner are currently raising her son and hope to be able to marry one day (The Washington Post).

Doria Roberts is a singer-songwriter whose music has been described as “a delicious, bohemian blend of folk, jazz and pop” (Doriaroberts.com). After receiving her big break at Lilith Faire in 1999, Roberts has seen wonderful success as an out lesbian in the music business. Aside from being a world renowned musician and owner of her own record label, Roberts simultaneously supports many advocacy efforts dedicated to LGBT rights.

These incredibly strong, celebrated, and prolific figures from our past and contemporary culture have given great strength to the LGBT movement. Their notable pride and tenacious efforts have and will continue to impact the societal changes that lead to a more just society.

As LGBT issues of the day such as gay marriage, and the Don’t ask, don’t tell (DADT) policy gain public attention, we can look to the strength of these women to give us vigor in our fight for true equality. In the face of adversity, these remarkable women and other LGBT revolutionaries have given us steam to fuel our fight for justice and now we have the ultimate honor to carry on their vision. We must continue from this moment with tenacious certainty in our cause and create a society in which all individuals are treated fairly, equally, and compassionately.

BRANCHING OUT

THE BEST MUSICAL. EVER.

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2 SHOWS! February 22 & 23 • 7:30 pm DATE Co-Sponsored By:

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DATE or 1-800-322-3602 Charge By Phone: 222-0400 Photo: Paul Kolnik

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2

VENUE

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New Cast Recording Available on Masterworks Broadway

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FAITH

WELLNESS

Faithfully Speaking:

Buyer Beware!

Smart Marketing in Nutrition is Here...

Marriage Equality

By Melissa Grovac Branching Out Contributor

By Cantor Tania Greenblatt Special to Branching Out Scott Greenblatt and I got married in July at my childhood Temple in Massachusetts.

Having found my life partner, I was eager to sanctify our love through Jewish ritual, and also to have our relationship recognized by law.

The period of betrothal in Jewish tradition is a time between statuses. Long ago, the betrothal ceremony, erusin, occurred up to a year before the wedding, kidushin. If a man died or abandoned his bride before the kidushin, she was left in a permanent state of ineligibility, unable to marry another under Jewish law. Recognizing this problem, the rabbis moved the erusin blessing to the wedding, under the chuppah.

Today, engagement mirrors the ancient betrothal period. An important distinction, however, is both partners are still eligible to marry someone else if they choose. Today, the anxiety of engagement stems from a lack of legal recognition. If one is critically ill or injured, will the other be denied hospital visitation, not being an immediate family member? If one had children, who love their future stepparent, and their biological or adopted parent dies before the wedding, will those children be torn from the remaining parent who loves them and end up in foster care? If the primary wage earner dies before the wedding, will the other be left without any livelihood or access to health care? After the wedding, these fears are alleviated; the spouse is the first person in the emergency room, children can stay in their family home with their remaining parent, and benefits such as social security and savings automatically go to the surviving spouse.

Before my wedding, I didn’t really lie awake at night worrying about such unlikely events, but for members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, these fears and more are a constant shadow over loving, committed relationships and stable, two parent families.

Scott and I considered getting legally married sooner, and then sanctifying our marriage through Jewish ritual later, for reasons such as these. We ultimately decided to wait, not only because we decided it would mean more to us, but also because we didn’t want to get married in Florida, where, by legislation and now by constitutional amendment, marriage is only recognized between one man and one woman. We are proud that our marriage is recognized by the state of Massachusetts, where all loving couples are able to marry under the law.

Let me be perfectly clear: this is not a political issue; it is a civil rights issue.

According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, “Legally recognized partnership such as marriage in Massachusetts and California and civil unions in Connecticut and New Jersey must, and in those cases do, secure essential rights and protections for our families and children. But same-sex couples, even those legally recognized by their states, are denied the 1,138 federal benefits available to or required of married oppositesex couples. The denial of those benefits hurts our families.”

The Union for Reform Judaism has long been a champion of equal rights, both civil and religious, for LGBT individuals, couples and families. We cannot and will not stand by and admit defeat when we see the clear injustice, hatred, ignorance, fear and bigotry of this constitutional amendment. We can make a difference.

Cantor Tanya (Tamarkin) Greenblatt is a member of the American Conference of Cantors (www.accantors.org) and serves at Temple Israel, Tallahassee, FL, an open and affirming community within the Reformed Jewish tradition.

The New Year has passed and we are all wondering what amazing things are in store for us these next 12 months of our lives. Well, one thing you can be certain of, if you’re pursuing a healthy lifestyle change and trying to eat right is what I like to call “Smart Marketing”.

I was in the supermarket the other day, shopping as usual, and noticed a huge, colorful configuration advertising a snack chip on it. In big red letters on the side of this monstrosity, it said “No Trans Fat!”. I decided to stand there inconspicuously in my mission impossible playsuit (batteries sold separately) and watch to see who bought these snacks. Shoppers walked up to this display and continued to take 1 or 2 bags each and place them into their shopping buggies. I was amazed! Now mind you this product did not say “Buy 1 get 1 Free!”, nor did it have any other special promotion attached. People merely saw the no trans fat advertisement and were drawn to this product like a moth to a flame. Now lets examine this! This snack chip still contains the average amount of saturated fat that a normal potato chip does, within it’s approximated serving size and still contains a large amount of empty calories. The fact still remains that this manufacturer used Smart Marketing to target consumers with it’s no trans fat advertisement and it works! Trans fat is extremely taboo within the consumer market right now, and just by whispering those words, repel customers from the product. However, this snack corporation (who will remain completely anonymous) has done the exact opposite. They have used a negative and turned it into a positive by using a powerful marketing tool known as the power of suggestion! This is genius as far as marketing is concerned, but the population of consumers who are trying to eat healthier, need to be aware of this tactic.

Lets look at another product that absolutely fascinates me! These little creations claim to have a large amount of fiber in each and every product they manufacture.

Now, without telling you the name of these products I will simply use the generic terms of these food items so that you can identify them when you are in the store.

So, you’re shopping in the refrigerator section and you see a yogurt that claims to have 9 grams of fiber in every serving! Wow, I want to buy that because fiber is our friend, right? Wrong! Many of the products being marketed recently claim to have a significant amount of fiber within each product, but the fact of the matter is, this just isn’t true. Why? I thought you would never ask! Maltodextrin is a popular form of fiber used in a multitude of manufacturers products such as yogurt, breakfast bars and other yummy little items you see everyday in the supermarket.

However, maltodextrin is not a FUNCTIONAL fiber such as whole grains or the fiber that comes from the pulp of fruit! So technically, can the manufacturers state the claim that there is 9 grams of fiber in every product? Sure, it’s in there right?

Well, maltodextrin, unlike natural whole grains that are loaded with fiber, only causes gas and bloating to say the least! Once ingested, maltodextrin does not work as a functional fiber, it only passes through your system. Remember, the best sources of fiber come from whole grain foods such as breads, pastas and cereals made from 100% whole grains and my personal favorites, fresh fruits and vegetables. So next time you are purchasing a yogurt or breakfast treat that claims to have 9 grams of fiber per serving, check the label, you can’t go wrong!

Melissa Grovac is a graduate student at FSU in the Nutrition Education and Health Promotion major and is a regular contributor to Branching Out.

For more info:

2010.census.gov 6

BRANCHING OUT

PRIDEFEST 2010: Show Us What You’re Made Of!

By Steven Hall Branching Out Production Team Can you believe it? Tallahassee PRIDEFEST 2010, Show Your True Colors, is LESS than two months away! The Pride Planning Committee has been hard at work for over 6 months trying to find ways to top last year’s PRIDEFEST. I can’t speak for everyone on the committee, but trying to outdo the previous year is getting more and more difficult, but we’re going to keep doing it, every year.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to rattle off the events, particularly since next month’s Branching Out will feature the Pride Guide, and you can access most of the event information on our website, www.tallahasseepride.com, and on Facebook. Rather, I want to take this opportunity to hopefully elicit some additional interest in getting involved. We are still in need of sponsors and volunteers. We cannot make the week happen without both.

I am extremely proud of all we are able to do, eight days of fantastic events, for a relatively small amount; far less than what some organizations spend on a single event. The week of pride in Tallahassee costs around $12,000. We are about half way there with sponsorships, but we still need more. Did I mention that most events are FREE to attend? There won’t be many opportunities to “raise” money during most of the events, so we are depending heavily on sponsorships. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can fill out a form on the Pride website, e-mail sponsors@ tallahasseepride.com, or contact me directly, steven@familytreecenter.org. Being a Pride sponsor shows your commitment to the community, and is an excellent opportunity to showcase your business, both via advertising in this paper and having a booth at Pride in the Plaza.

APRIL 9-17, 2010

It also goes without saying that we cannot put on any of these events without the help of dozens of volunteers. Some events are easier to setup and require fewer volunteers than others, but we will need lots of help throughout the week, particularly during Pride in the Plaza. There is a volunteer sign-up form on our website. Please take a moment to fill it out, or e-mail admin@tallahasseepride.com.

The one event related thing I want to highlight is the change in parks for this year’s main event, Pride in the Plaza. Yes, plaza, not park. This year’s main event will be in Klemen Plaza on Saturday, April 17 from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. If you don’t make it to anything else, be there for this event! And plan to stay a while!

I hope you are getting as excited about what’s coming up as we are. We have a great lineup of events and entertainers, and will even have representatives from the US Census on hand during Pride in the Plaza. I just have one question for you. Are you ready to Show Your True Colors????

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2

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VOICES

Community Stories, Opinions, Happenings, and Ideas.

News, Cues, & Reviews

By Ivan Sondel Branching Out Contributor

Local Theatre: Feb. 19-21, 26-28 Grease @ Quincy Music Theatre; Feb. 12-28 Rent @ FSU Fallon Theatre. Call 644-6500 for tickets to these events. Feb. 22 and 23 A Chorus Line @ Leon County Civic Center. Call 222-0400 for tickets. Theatre a la Carte presents The Light in the Piazza @ Tallahassee Little Theatre Feb. 26-28 and March 5-7.

Call for 385-6700 tickets.

Book News: now in stores: American Voyeur: Dispatches from the far Reaches of Modern Life a non-fiction collection by out author Benoit Denizet-Lewis (Random House); Just Kids a memoir of her life with Robert Mapplethorpe by Patti Smith (Ecco). DVD: coming 3/2: Marathon (QC Cinema) a feature film which tells the true and inspirational story of poet William Meredith and his longtime companion Richard Harteis as they cope with William’s devastating stroke.

Movie Review: A Single Man @ The Miracle 5  I read Christopher Isherwood’s novel A Single Man at least a dozen years ago, and remember thinking it a real downer.

So, when I heard that Tom Ford was making a film my reaction was – of all the gay literature, why A Single Man? Well, Tom obviously knows best, for A Single Man is one of the best films of the year – if not the best.

I’ve read a number of derogatory comments about former fashion designer Ford’s artsy-fartsy direction, and its all bullshit. Each of the production elements is top drawer: the music, costumes and cinematography are elegant and sophisticated. The look of the film is fresh and it moves with a sexy, sinewy fluidity.

The screenplay by Ford and David Scearce is as faithful an adaptation from a literary source as I have ever seen.

The cast is headed by a brilliant Colin Firth as George, a literature professor who has only recently lost his companion of 16 years (Matthew Goode). Firth has been one of those generic British actors who fill out the casts of costume dramas like Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient, or plays second lead in comedic films like Bridget Jones’ Diary and Mama Mia! His performance here is simply a revelation, communicating volumes with a simple glance or gesture, his face registering each emotion with a subtlety and surety that warrants idolatrous praise and prizes.

Unlike Firth, Julianne Moore has been delivering great performances for the better part of two decades. As George’s lonely, boozy, British friend Charley, Moore creates an indelible character, perfectly articulated without a trace of overreaching or camp.

Goode, from last year’s Brideshead Revisited, plays George’s deceased lover Jim; Jon Kortajarena plays a fetching young hustler; and Nicholas Hoult (from About a Boy) plays Kenny, a student who pursues George, reviving his faith in the possible and the future.

In lesser hands this could have turned into a vapid or maudlin ‘day in the life’ or ‘a grief observed’ movie of the week. However, the opposite is true. A Single Man is a sad, though oddly life-affirming film.

K’s

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(Driveways, House Exteriors, Decks, Patios, Gutters)

LGBT Book Preview 2010: I’ve told you to be on the look out for Michael Cunningham’s new novel Olympia sometime this year (still no release date), here are some more titles of LGBT interest coming this year: 3/30 Robin and Rudy by K. M. Soehnlein; 4/6 The Moonlit Earth by Christopher Rice; 4/27 My Queer War by James Lord; 5/4 Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk and The Two Krishnas by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla; 5/25 Role Models by John Waters, Inseparable: Desire Between Women in Literature by Emma Donoghue and The Battle of the Sun by Jeanette Winterson; 6/1 Remembrance of Things Forgotten

by Bob Smith and The Bucolic Plague: From Ad Man to Goat Farmer (Following a Brief Drag Queen Detour) by Josh Kilmer-Purcell; 6/8 Insignificant Others by Stephen McCauley; 6/15 Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis; 6/29 Smothered in Hugs: Essays, Interviews, Feedback and Obituaries by Dennis Cooper; 7/8 Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters; 9/21 Half Empty by David Rakoff. Also, there are new books rumored and promised from Dorothy Allison, Peter Cameron, Christopher Bram and Alan Hollinghurst.

Passages: Actor James Mitchell died on January 22. Best known for playing Palmer Courtland on All My Children for the past 30 years, Mitchell was a veteran of numerous Broadway and Hollywood musicals, dancing for Agnes de Mille, Gower Champion and Jerome Robbins. His greatest Broadway success was as Marco the Magnificent in Carnival! opposite Jerry Orbach and Kaye Ballard, and Brigadoon (for which he won a Theatre World Award). He was featured in the original Broadway casts of Bloomer Girl, Billion Dollar Baby, Paint Your Wagon and played William Desmond Taylor in Jerry Herman’s classic flop Mack and Mabel. Additionally Mitchell was in the premiere casts of the American Ballet Theatre productions of Fall River Legend and Aaron Copland’s Rodeo; he was seen in such films as Oklahoma! (as Curly in the dream ballet), The Band Wagon and The Turning Point. He is survived by his longtime companion, costume designer Albert Wolsky (Oscar winner for All That Jazz and Bugsy).

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Tallahassee Prime Timers A social group for mature men, featuring gatherings, house parties, monthly dinners and weekly happy hours PrimeTimersWW.org/talprime

BRANCHING OUT

VOICES

Transgenderscope

By Margeaux Mutz Branching Out Staff Writer

Once upon a time in the late 1950’s there was a child, less than 10 years old, who because of a particular body part was brought up male. At the same time there was a woman who thru no fault of her own had become the object of a media circus. As fate would have it the child and the woman became inexorably linked. THAT CHILD WAS ME! THE WOMAN WAS CHRISTINE JORGENSEN! No, we never met, though as I read her autobiography I wish we had. Her story is well chronicled but many of you have never heard of her. Recently at FSU I spoke to a class room of students on gender issues and not a one of them had ever heard of her either, so don’t beat yourself up. Her book as well as 2603 others is available in The Family Tree Library, a much underused treasure in our community.

You can see for yourself what is available for your pleasure by going to our website at familytreecenter.org.

But what is the connection between Christine Jorgensen and me?

As I scanned my brain cells looking to write this article so that it coincided with our theme this month of Women in LGBT History, Christine’s name kept coming up. She is such an important person in my life but I really knew very little about her. This was the perfect excuse.

Where do I start? Well maybe by saying that on that day in the late 50’s a young child became aware of the possibilities hitherto unexplored. The possibility of a woman born into what society calls a man’s body.

Christine as she readily admits in her story was not the first to have undergone a sex change but she is whom the media latched on to. Because of their utter disregard for her and her family’s privacy I became aware of her story. It set off a reaction in my brain that culminated in who I am today. Not surprisingly, some of her experiences have been much like mine. Specifically her unwanted visibility led her into a life that she would never have considered for herself if she attempted to avoid detection. Once she realized that anonymity was not to be her lot in life she grew into a role that was very public and she became mindful of what it would mean too many others. She writes “Can you realize what success for me will mean to literally thousands of people? For I am not alone in this affliction.

It may mean new hope and life to so many people. I think we (the doctors and I) are fighting this the right way---make the body fit the soul, rather than vice versa. For me, it is the heart, the look in the eyes, tone of the voice, and the way one thinks that makes the real person.” She goes on to say in later pages that “It occurred to me that aside from my own personal aspirations, I somehow represented a concept that might possibly be important to others. Success and acknowledgement, therefore, represented something larger than my own life or ambitions. I can’t say I particularly relished the idea, but it was a responsibility I felt strongly, nevertheless.

I too have had feelings that maybe my admission of who I am can be of help to others as they search for their path in life. My quest has been made easier because I do not have to survive the media gauntlet that was Christine’s. Yet I think Christine would be saddened to know that 50 years later people like myself are treated by some as mentally ill. Dammit, the DSM IV still lists transsexualism as a mental illness.

She would be amazed and profoundly hurt that we are deemed the oddest of the odd. That we are poked fun at by people who feel bigger by making others appear smaller and that we are beset with many of the same problems that she faced. Yes, surgical procedures have greatly improved and many more people have availed themselves of the services available to them. Still lack of understanding and acceptance continues to plague us. It is an acceptance that will continue to avoid us if we all continue to hide the real person within us.

Christine Jorgensen stepped up and though she was an unwitting heroine at first, she continued on and became the heroine of her own story. She is what eventually led me to The Family Tree to find others like myself. Others, each and every one of my generation, who without fail, share the same connection with her. She didn’t do it specifically for us, she needed to do it for herself first, but along the way she became one of the heroines in my story.

Ask Margeaux

Q: How did you make yourself comfortable enough as a woman to venture out in public?

A: Baby steps, definitely baby steps! I started by going to The Family Tree to meet with a woman transsexual that I had heard about. I admired her strength and could never imagine myself being that strong. She told me of the chat groups that she was doing at The Tree. I attended a few of the meetings dressed as a woman and proceeded from there. If I couldn’t feel comfortable with people in the same boat as I, how was I going to feel comfortable in the world at large?

Slowly, I began making the rounds of small women’s boutique’s looking for clothes. I steered clear of the malls for the most part, but did find allies in small shop owners whose main goal was to sell clothes and not make an issue of anything else.

Eventually, believe it or not, I started going to garage sales on Saturday mornings. The small crowds and open air made me feel safer. Once again people were just trying to sell their stuff and treated me with respect. Gradually, I started to venture out into more public places, by going to other cities. In Pensacola I went dressed to my first Mall. In Orlando and Birmingham I attended Hair Shows and Outlet Malls as a woman. Not to be outdone I attended Southern Comfort (a gathering of 100’s of transgender people) in Atlanta. Slowly but surely I built myself up and waited for the moment when I couldn’t live any other way than the woman that I am. It was worth it!

Margeaux Mutz is the facilitator of the Transgender Tallahassee group. To ask your question, email us at branchingout@familytreecenter.org. Your question – and Margeaux’s response – may be published in next month’s issue of Branching Out!

Send your questions to branchingout@familytreecenter.org

“The longest journey must begin with the first step.”

-Chinese Proverb VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2

9

Mean Little Deaf Queer

Excerpts from an Autobiography In Celebration of Women’s History Month, we thought it would be nice to present one of Tallahassee’s own inspiring women to you. Over the next three months, we will be presenting excerpts from her recently published autobiography: Mean Little Deaf Queer.

The first time I met Terry Galloway I sat down next to her moments before she stood up to give a reading of something she had written. I had no idea she was deaf so she probably thought I was some kind of idiot as I blabbered away. Years later, after we had become friends, I did what some of you have always wanted to do and knocked her down when I hit her in the head while moving a ladder during a Faust production job. Unintentional though it was, it added to her resume in the school of hard knocks.

Though I am shocked that incident wasn’t included in her book Mean Little Deaf Queer we still have decided to run excerpts of it for the next 3 months. Terry’s hardheadedness aside she is a true Tallahassee treasure and we at Branching Out want you all to see for yourself if you don’t already realize it. Thank you Terry and Beacon Press for allowing us to make this happen! Enjoy!

Mean Little Deaf Queer can be purchased online @ www.meanlittledeafqueer.com Them and Me

I don’t know if it was morning or evening when the doctor injected my gorgeous little mother with a mycin antibiotic. That part of the story never registered with me. I do know she was six months pregnant with me when she entered the American military field hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, although her figure was so trim, the admitting nurse refused to believe she was pregnant, much less in her second trimester. And I know from the countdown on my fingers that the fateful moment had to have occurred in July, even though I’ve always imagined it bracketed by weather dark and coldly foreboding.

Stuttgart was where my father, Paul, had been sent to spy by the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps after World War II. My mother, Edna, was in a field hospital there because she’d developed a nasty kidney infection. “Field hospital” always makes me think of some MASH with a blood-soaked, packeddirt floor, but this one, judging from the image of it on my birth certificate, was a staid, unornamented square of brick that the American military had claimed as a spoil of war.

As Mother tells it, when the doctor came into her room, she was reading a book (I once told this story saying she was reading a movie magazine and Mother objected, saying it made her sound like some bimbo, so I changed it back). So, she was in her bed reading a book and put it aside while the doctor, who looked a little like Elmer Fudd, shot her up with the antibiotic. He then checked her pulse, checked mine, marked her stomach with a big red X where my heart beat, and left us there. The doctor had just gone out the door, my mother says, when she felt me turn in her belly. As I did, she could feel her feet go cold and then icy as a chill started moving up and up her body. The chill had almost reached her heart before she realized she was dying. She buzzed for the nurse and then she couldn’t move anymore. The nurse came in, took one look, and panicked. “Oh, Mrs. Galloway! What is it? What is it?” She could find no pulse. My mother was in a private room with huge French windows that opened onto a balcony, and after the nurse went running for the doctor, my mother thought, If only he will open those windows, maybe I can breathe. Right when she had that thought, the doctor walked back into her room. He didn’t say one word. He just looked down into her eyes as if what she was thinking was clear as a voice in his ear, then turned on his heel and opened the windows. When he did, she felt her pulse (and mine) begin again.

A year earlier, a continent away, American medicos had already discovered that pregnant women who were given the antibiotic called mycin suffered unforeseen complications, most of them to the fetus. When I was up and grown I asked my mother, during one of our two a.m. confidentials, if the military hospitals in Europe, the ones caring for the American troops and their families, had used the mycin knowingly. We were sitting on the green molded-plastic lawn chairs out in the garage of her Texas ranchetta, where Mother likes to smoke. She took an illicit puff of her little cigar (she’d just had a quadruple bypass) and said, “Oh, they knew about it all right. I used to think it was just another one of those sneaky, underhanded tricks they were always pulling back then, you know, like thalidomide. But when you were older your daddy and I read a book about it. They were being kind of sneaky, because they knew the risks of that drug to the fetus and they didn’t bother to tell us.

But doctors back then didn’t have all that many options for treating things like kidney infections, and mine was a bad one. If they hadn’t used that mycin on me, I might have died and you right along with me. So there you go.”

In all my decades of listening to my own life story, that was the first I’d heard of that. I’d grown up with the distinct impression that the doctor who

10

poked us with the needle was a lying snake who had deliberately set out to harm us. This new information so surprised the talk out of me I forgot to ask the question I was dying to: if he had told her the consequences of the drug, what would she have chosen?

As it is, I remain grateful to have made it out of the womb alive, and whenever Mother tells the story about the doctor opening the window, I cry at the happy outcome. Only at those times when I am feeling gloomy do I fasten on the one detail—the baby turning in her belly. I keep thinking the fetal me must have felt that chemical torrent coming and tried hard as hell to get out of its way.

The only other untoward incident in the saga of my birth occurred October 31, the morning I was born. I was coming out in the corridor on the way to the delivery room and for some reason Mother’s doctor took my early appearance as a personal affront. He didn’t want me to be born in the corridor but in the delivery room, where propriety dictated I should be born. In order to keep me contained that short stretch of linoleum longer, Dr. Fudd took my mother’s legs and crossed them at the ankles. He might as well have pinched my face in a vise. When I was finally pulled out of there my features were as accordioned as a shar-pei’s and my nose was a swollen purple.

My daddy, though a handsome man (Mother says he was a perfect mix of William Holden and Frank Sinatra), had something of a purplely swollen nose himself and when he first laid eyes on me he laughed like he’d been punched in the gut. “Good God, Edna,” he said. “The poor little stinker looks just like me.”

Mother didn’t find it one bit funny. When she felt my face being pressured into her thighs, she’d spat and cursed that doctor, a fucking Major, with the foulest words she could think of (and she could think of quite a few). It still rankles her that she couldn’t unhook her legs to kick him in the balls.

I’ve never been too happy with my nose. The worst of the swelling has gone down somewhat but there’s no denying the tip’s still round. As it was, I made my entrance as comic relief, and the interior tragedy of my screwed-up fetal nervous system didn’t make itself known right then and there. If it had, who knows that I’d even be here to write this. From the stories I swap with my disabled friends, I know that the physical facts of an infant’s body can determine the welcome that baby receives, even the ones lucky enough to be born smack in the middle of the US of A. Over margaritas, my friend Laura recently told me about the day in a Texas hospital in the early seventies that she was born with foreshortened arms, hands like flippers, and a lower body that would need a brace to straighten it out. Her mother’s obstetrician didn’t do the usual things my mother’s did with me—wipe her off, suction her nose, spank her bottom. He just stared blankly at Laura’s little baby body, then leaned over and whispered to her mother that if she wanted, he’d put the thing aside.

Stories like that do a lot to fuel my paranoid sense that every corner of the world has a mean streak even a baby has got to be prepared to survive. Which may be why I find parallels most people don’t between the stories my disabled friends tell about their narrow escapes and the stories my mother tells about living with Daddy and my older sister, Trudy, in post-Nazi Germany when she was pregnant with me. “You got to understand,” Mother told us three girls when we were grown and gathered in the kitchen of her Texas ranchetta late one night, “what it was like arriving in that place, knowing what we did about what those German skunks had done to the Jews. When we first came to Stuttgart it was just a handful of years after the war and that place was all bombed out. Rubble everywhere you looked. But the factories were

BRANCHING OUT

still running, belching out smoke day and night. The three of us, Daddy, me, and Trudy, we moved around until they finally put us up in a requisitioned two-story house. Yeah, we’d taken it from the Germans, but the Germans had stolen it first from the Jews. The furnace of that house was in the kitchen. It was meant to heat both floors, so it was huge. Your daddy was gone doing his spy stuff most of the time and by then I was nearing my last month and about as big as the dining room table. I couldn’t handle that furnace all by myself, so Military Command assigned us a German, an ex-Nazi infantryman, to run it. What he was, was a stoker. But we called him the Fireman. The Fireman had his own key to the place. He’d come in the morning right after Daddy had taken Trudy to elementary school, while I was still asleep, and the click of the latch would wake me up. I knew he was trying to be quiet, tap tap tapping in his boots across the tile. I knew he was trying not to disturb me, but it gave me the creeps. I’d get up and go downstairs just to be sure, just to see for myself, and there he’d be, kneeling down by the furnace, his face all red from the heat. Seeing him crouched there, feeding the fires like that, knowing what his people had done, that would have been enough. But then he’d look up at me—those pale little eyes of his never quite catching mine—and he’d grin. Nod his head and grin. I could never tell if that grin was polite or mocking. It was like he was saying, ‘You win. But be careful sleeping.’

“And it wasn’t just that one thing,” Mother said, trying to make us, her now grown daughters, understand the urgency of the distrust that had mystified us as children. “It was everything. You could smell their defeat. I mean that literally.

You’d walk down the street and they all looked unbathed, their hair unwashed, their clothes all filthy, like they’d given up, didn’t care how bad they stunk. I had to pour on the perfume before I could walk out the door. And they knew me for what I was. American. Dressed too good, looked too clean, looked like I ate. We’d beaten them, so we had the food, the clothes, all the money and the hope, and they hated us for it.

“This one day, when I was in that last month with Terry and, like I said, really, really big, I took a bus to food shop or something, I don’t remember what. The minute I got on I could feel the hate. The bus was crowded and hot and stunk, and they were all looking at me like I was some kind of bug. And then they started pushing. It wasn’t even a conscious thing, I think. I was standing there right at the lip of the steps, that bus speeding along, and they just did it, all of them, started nudging me, crowding me, pushing me back, trying to push me, a pregnant woman, right out that open door. The driver, he was watching it all happen in his mirror and he wasn’t going to stop or even slow down. He was in on it, too.”

Trudy, who like me had loved her childhood years in Germany, took a quick bite of brownie and fixed Mother with her scholar’s gaze. “But you made it,” she said with a hint of defensiveness. “You survived.” To which Mother replied with a sharp huh of anger, “Yeah. We made it. No thanks to them.”

“Lucky to have made it no thanks to them” is a popular mantra among my disabled friends, the them shifting with the circumstance, the story. They can be upper-class parents who stick you in an institution when you’re a toddler because your spine twists where it shouldn’t; or scientists who conduct thirtysix exploratory operations so they can test their theories on your eleven-year-old body; or just superstitious passersby who gawk at the newborn you like you’re some kind of nasty insect and they wish they had a swatter. Their insufferable self-regard and trumped-up cultural standards of purity are a shallow disguise.

Look deeply enough into their eyes and you’ll see the smoldering loathing of their own flesh that flares fast into meanness toward you. Beware them. Steel yourself against them. They are everywhere and won’t hesitate to put the imperfect infant aside or crowd a pregnant woman off the lip of a speeding bus. They can even be you, hating your own screwed-up body, wanting it dead.

WHAT WILL YOU TAKE PRIDE IN?

We need your help!

We want you to get involved!

Hidden Valley Adult Super Center 1838 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32303

(850) 219-1515 Where there is prejudice,

ACCEPTANCE. Where there is silence,

COMMUNICATION.

We want to hear your story!

Where there is hate,

We want to hear your voice!

Where there is fear,

Photos courtesy of Terry Galloway and www.meanlittledeafqueer.com

We want to see your true colors!

LOVE.

SAFETY.

Where there is discrimination,

EQUALITY.

Tallahassee

PRIDEFEST Show Your True Colors

April 10-17

2010

To find out how you can Show YOUR True Colors, visit:

www.tallahasseepride.com VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2

Tallahassee’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center

www.familytreecenter.org 11

OUT & ABOUT

What’s Happening... this month February 17, 2010 – 6:30pm Where is the Love – A Series of Discussions About The Status of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Civil Rights in Florida Session One: We Can Do It! Ending Employment Discrimination Against Gay and Lesbian Workers Did you know someone can legally be FIRED for being gay?

Come and learn more about equality in the workplace!

Hosted by the Capital City GLBTA Democratic Caucus Tallahassee City Hall, 300 South Adams FMI: ccglbtdems.org; info@ccglbtdems.org February 17 – 21, & 24 – 28, 2010 (Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm; Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm) RENT Based on Puccini’s ‘La Boheme,’ Rent tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians living in modern day New York City. Centered on two roommates, Mark and Roger, the story captures the struggle of musicians and artists, trying to create in an atmosphere under the scrutiny of consumerism, change, and old friends. Over the course of a year, the group must deal with love, loss, and themselves in a riveting and powerful rock opera like no other.

Fallon Theatre Fine Arts Building (Copeland & Call Streets) FSU Campus, Tallahassee FMI and tickets: (850) 644.6500; tickets.fsu.edu February 20, 2010 The Chocolate Ritual Hosted by Red Hills Pagan Council For those who have heard the call of the Goodie Goddess, she the Great Mother of all Chocolate, she who has been worshipped in secret and brought pleasure to her most faithful servants. She who of old called: Godiva, Suzy-Q, Little Debbie, Dolly Madison, Fanny Farmer, Sara Lee, and by many other names. We will soon gather to worship and adore her presence; to munch, nosh, snack, feast and make yummy noises all in Her presence.

Doors open at 3:45pm; ritual begins at 4:00pm.

Lee’s Wine Bar 1700 North Monroe Street FMI: redhillspagans.org February 26, 2010 – 8:00 pm That Mancini Magic Mac Frampton and Cecil Welch-Henry Mancini’s longtime trumpet soloist-promise an enchanting voyage through the inspired melodies that won the legendary composer multiple Oscars and the hearts of a worldwide audience. Thomasville Cultural Center Auditorium 600 block, E. Jackson Street, Thomasville, GA Box Office: (229) 226-7404; tef@rose.net Tickets: $35 - general public; $15 – students @ TEFconcerts.com Online ticket purchase: TEFconcerts.com February 26 – 28, March 5 – 7, 2010 (Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm) “The Light in the Piazza” Award-winning musical by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas, presented by Theatre A La Carte.

Tallahassee Little Theatre 1861 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee FMI and tickets: (850) 224-8474, or visit www.theatrealacarte.org, beginning February 19

March 6, 2010 -- 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Big Bend Barkfest The 1st annual Big Bend Barkfest is a festival to celebrate the joy of the human-canine bond and to benefit homeless dogs in the Big Bend. With wiener dog races, working dogs, costume and fashion contests, frisbee dogs and more. With food, exhibitors, and lots of vendors, it will be a fun-filled day for everyone.

Wakulla High School 3237 Coastal Highway (Highway 98), Crawfordville FMI: (850) 926-9129 www.BigBendBarkfest.com.

March 11, 2010 – 6:00 to 8:00 pm Marc Adams of HeartStrong at PFLAG Marc Adams, Executive Director of HeartStrong, will be speaking at the March meeting of PFLAG Tallahassee. HeartStrong is a non-sectarian organization established to provide outreach to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and other persons adversely affected by the influence of all denominations of religious educational institutions. HeartStrong is also committed to educating the public about the persecution of GLBT’s and others at religious educational institutions.

St. John’s Episcopal Church 211 N. Monroe Street in the Cobb Library FMI: Susan Gage (850) 597-2374; Facebook at: PFLAG-Tallahassee March 19 – 21, 2010 Tallahassee Writers’ Conference and Book Festival The Tallahassee Writers Association is teaming up with the Florida State University, the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library System, the Florida Book Awards, the Friends of the FSU Libraries, and Barnes and Noble to bring you an incredible conference and book festival. There is a fee to attend the writers conference sessions. All book festival events are free and open to the public, including special performances throughout the day (March 20) of the fantastic, incredible street magicians, The House of Flying Cards.

Keynote: Julianna Baggott Featured Speakers: Mike Grunwald, Claudia Hunter Johnson, Robert Olen Butler, Lucia Robson, Jeff Shaara, Don Yaeger and many others!

The Turnbull Center, FSU’s new conference center on Pensacola St. next to the Civic Center.

FMI: http://twaonline.org/ Through April 5, 2010 – 9:00 am to 4:30 pm (Sat. 10 am – 4:30 pm; Sun. & holidays, Noon to 4:30 pm) “Voices of Florida Women” A new and original exhibit about women in Florida who have made significant contributions to the state. The exhibit is made up of artifacts, vintage photographs, text panels, interactive components, and beautiful designs.

Museum of Florida History R. A. Bray Bldg.

500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee Free FMI: Wanda Richey (850) 245-6400; wrichey@dos.state.fl.us; www.museumoffloridahistory.com

February 27, 2010 – 7:30 pm Womyn’s Music Legend Alix Dobkin in concert Alix will be singing, commenting, and reading from her new book: MY RED BLOOD: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement.

Abundance Wellness Center 325 John Knox Road, Bldg T, Suite 1 Tickets: $15 – $20 sliding scale - no one turned away FMI: Robin McDougall (850) 212-0760; robin.mcdougall@comast.net February 27, 2010 – 4:00 pm Big Bend Community Orchestra Double Cello Concerto in G Minor by Vivaldi - Terice and Christopher Allen Concertino by Radames Guattali - Guitar Soloist Jesse Hale Turner Auditorium at TCC Free and Open to the Public FMI: www:BBCOrch.org Email: ginnyden@comcast.net Phone: (850) 893-4567 February 27, 2010 -- 6:30 pm Boys’ Choir of Tallahassee Benefit for Gadsden Meals on Wheels The Boys’ Choir of Tallahassee will be performing with all proceeds going directly to Gadsden Senior Services’ Meals on Wheels Program.

National Guard Armory 2049 Pat Thomas Parkway, Quincy Tickets: $20 advance (ending Feb. 22); $25 at the door.

FMI and tickets: Drop by the Senior Center in Quincy 79 Lasalle Lefall Drive, Quincy, or Jill Williams at (850) 663-2280; B419@aol.com.

March 4, 2010 -- 5:00 to 7:30 pm A Celebration of the Voices of Florida Women The program includes a tour of the exhibit, “Voices of Florida Women,” songs by Pam Laws, and music with Bill Peterson at the piano. Juanita Greene will speak about her life as a reporter in Miami and her work with Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Excerpts of the Ken Burn’s film on the national parks will follow.

Museum of Florida History R. A. Bray Bldg.

500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee Free FMI: Wanda Richey (850) 245-6400; wrichey@dos.state.fl.us; www.museumoffloridahistory.com March 4, 2010 -- 4:00 to 9:00 pm 2nd Annual Art Goes Wild Tallahassee Auto Museum will be hosting Art Goes Wild featuring wildlife art show and silent auction.

Admission includes a tour of the Automobile and Train museum, beverage, and light appetizers. A cash bar is available. Great items up for auction and unique artwork can be purchased from local artists.

A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Florida Wild Mammal Association and Goose Creek Wildlife Sanctuary to be used to care for sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife in our area.

Tallahassee Automobile Museum 6800 E. Mahan Dr., Tallahassee Tickets: $20 in advance ($15 for seniors in advance), or $25 at the door. Advanced Tickets can be purchased at the Tallahassee Automobile Museum or order by phone.

FMI: (850) 942-0137. www.goosecreekwildlifesanctuary.org ; www.wakullawildlife.org.

March 5, 2010 – 8:00 to 11:00 pm Benefit for Big Bend Hospice Featuring The Sarah Mac Band, Del Suggs, Low Flying Planes. All proceeds go towards Hospice patient care. American Legion Hall 229 Lake Ella Dr., Tallahassee Tickets: $25 each or $40 for couples. Available at Big Bend Hospice, Old Town Cafe, Premier Health & Fitness Center, and at the door. FMI: Laura at Hospice (850) 701-1341; or Randy: mailto:rhock63@aol.com www.lowflyingplanes.com/bbh

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We have a wide selection of:

Birdseed Bird Feeders Optics Nesting Boxes Birdbaths Nature Gifts

1505-2 Governor’s Square Blvd

850-576-0002

www.wbu.com/tallahassee BRANCHING OUT

News

from theCenter

Change of Guard Change of Scenery

By Jim VanRiper Co-Chair In typical fashion, 2010 is shaping up to be another challenging yet exciting year for The Family Tree. As you may have heard, we will be changing locations as part of our overall plan to re-focus our mission as a community center. We also have a new board that will face these challenges and opportunities in the coming year.

On February 15th the Family Tree closed our current location at 310 Blount Street. The property has new owners and our lease expired February 1st. The board has agreed that now is the time to move on and begin working on our long-range mission to become a community destination. We envision the community center being a destination where people can relax in a welcoming environment for social events or just meeting friends, possibly including a coffee shop and bookstore.

We will be moving to a building owned by long time community supporter, Jackie Watts of Watts Mechanical. The new location is at 5126 Woodlane Circle. This move will be temporary, for 6-12 months, while we locate a more permanent home. It is our desire to ultimately be located in the central urban core, convenient to downtown, FSU, FAMU and the Capitol, but with less of an “office-like” environment. We have some possibilities in mind but will need the next few months to explore options and work out specific details. Making this temporary move will give us the time to build something special for the entire community.

If you can lend a hand with the big move we will be meeting at 310 Blount Street for two work shifts on February 20th. The early shift will be from 9am to noon and the second shift, for the late risers, will be noon to 4pm. Send us an e-mail or give us a call if you can be there to help, staff@familytreecenter.org or 222-8555.

I would also like to take a moment to recognize and thank the last board of directors. Elections were held February 8th and there are a few changes to announce. Special thanks go to Kay Casey, Patrick Patterson and Margeaux Mutz, who have resigned due to time commitments, but have assured us they will continue to volunteer. All of these people are devoted supporters of the Tree and we appreciate everything they have done.

Greta Langley has stepped down as Co-Chair. Steven Hall and myself are the Co-Chairs. Andy Janecek is our new secretary and Debbie Baldwin is the new Treasurer, replacing Steven.

David Glaze, Greta Langley and Christy Baldwin fill three of the at-large positions. Two at large board positions remain empty so if you have a desire to get involved in your community center please contact us.

I appreciate the willingness of these individuals to commit their time and resources to helping make The Family Tree successful.

Thank you all for stepping up to the challenges we face.

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2

LGBT Business Partner of the month

Nancy Ryer Bass, MA, LMHC What is your profession?

I am a licensed mental health counselor.

How long have you served the community as a mental health counselor?

I have been a licensed counselor since 1996 but I have been doing counseling work for over 30 years. I currently work with children, adolescents, and adults.

In addition to your professional license, have you received training in your profession?

I obtained my Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Georgia State University in Atlanta. I have state licenses to provide professional counseling services from Florida and Georgia. I have additional certifications in addiction counseling, critical incident stress debriefing, and forensic counseling.

Have you always been interested in being a mental health counselor?

I chose to study the field of psychology when I was a college sophomore and have enjoyed my work throughout my career.

I continue to find it to be fascinating and rewarding. There is always something new because every person is an individual and different in their own way.

How does your membership in the LGBT Business Partners benefit you professionally?

Being a Business Partner of the Family Tree Center benefits me because it gives me an opportunity to live my values.

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND US! BO Distribution - Google Maps

1/18/10 6:43 PM

Branching Out Drop Off Locations

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FAMU - Room 116 of Health FSU - Pride Student Union Mickee Faust ClubHouse All Saints Cafe Fat Sandwich Brew & Bean TCC - Daily Grind Coffee Shop MoMo’s Pizza Crystal Connection Borders Video 21 Bada Bean Unitarian Universalist Church Red Eye Coffee Black Dog Cafe Club Rayn Lee’s Wine Bar St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church United Church of Tallahassee

If you own a business or know of a business that would be willing to be a drop off location for Branching Out, please let us know!

branchingout@familytreecenter.org ©2009 Google - Map data ©2009 Google -

Help the Family Tree while you’re browsing and shopping online! http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&m…c9f98f7&ll=30.459476,-84.279556&spn=0.121779,0.153637&z=13&pw=1

Page 1 of 1

Visit - www.goodsearch.com and select Family Tree (Tallahassee, FL) from the pulldown charity menu Contact Us:

Mailing address: P.O. Box 38477, Zip 32315 Phone: (850) 222-8555 Email: Staff@FamilyTreeCenter.org www.familytreecenter.org

Programs and groups LGBT Business Partners Diversity of Spirit AA Gender Chat Support and Social Group Youth Group Women’s Chat Group Men’s group Globe (Narcotic’s Anonymous)

Services

Producer of Tallahassee PRIDEFEST Community meeting space Support and social programs Branching Out Newspaper Resource library Switchboard/referral support Community advocacy and outreach LGBT Speaker’s bureau Free Wireless internet

Mission Statement The Mission of The Family Tree, A lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community center, is to provide services which promote the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, to work to eliminate the conditions in society which allow homophobia to exist, and to be a place where everyone is welcome.

JOIN THE MAILING LIST

Branching Out is mailed free every month to nearly 1,000 recipients. We do not share or sell your information with anyone, and we value your privacy. Please sign up by sending us this form, or update your address information. Mail to P.O. Box 38477, Zip 32315, or call (850) 222-8555 Full Name Street Address/P.O. Box City, State, Zip Code

14

BRANCHING OUT

Recurring Events

Diversity of Spirit AA Every Friday evening, 7p.m. A welcoming LGBT group of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Location TBA: Call for details Tony 681-1891 Weekly Bible Study Every Wed. at 7p.m. at Gentle Shepherd MCC 4738 Thomasville Road. (850) 878-3001.

Coffee Talk Hosted by The Family Tree Wednesdays - 7:00 pm Brew & Bean Coffee Company Corner of Chapel Drive and W. Pensacola Street, across from Mellow Mushroom

Lesbian Spiritual Group Every other Monday, 7-9pm.

Marcy or Rebecca, (850) 878-8997

Prime Timers Happy Hour 6pm+, Wednesdays Ming Tree Restaurant, 1435 East Lafayette Street

Family Tree Board Meeting Second Monday of every month at 5:30 Location TBA: Call for details

Dinner Potluck and Service Last Sunday of every month, a potluck at 5:30p.m. and then religious service. Gentle Shepherd MCC. 4738 Thomasville Road. (850) 878- 3001.

Gender Chat Second Tuesdays. 7:30p.m. Location TBA. E-mail for details.

Margeaux.mutz@comcast.net

Noon Potluck and Service First Sunday of every month, a religious service at 10:45a.m. and potluck at 12p.m.

Gentle Shepherd MCC. 4738 Thomasville Road. (850) 878- 3001.

Women’s Chat Wednesdays, 7-8:30p.m.

Location TBA

LGBT Business Partners First Thursdays, 12noon luncheon Third Thirsdays, 5:30p.m. - 8:30p.m. social. Locations and times vary.

Contact Greta@FamilyTreeCenter.org for information about upcoming meetings.

Family Tree Merchandise Available @ gear.familytreecenter.org

PFLAG - Tallahassee 2nd Thursday of each month - 6pm St. John’s Episcopal Church 211 North Monroe Street Contact: Susan Gage, 850-597-2374

Community Resource Directory

Community Organizations

Board Members Co-Chair - Jim VanRiper, jim@familytreecenter.org Co-Chair - Steven Hall, steven@familytreecenter.org Treasurer - Debbie Baldwin, debbie@familytreecenter.org Secretary/Webmaster - Andy Janecek, andy@familytreecenter.org Member-at-large - Paul Anway, paul@familytreecenter.org Member-at-large - Greta Langley, greta@familytreecenter.org Member-at-large - Christy Baldwin, christy@familytreecenter.org Member-at-large- Dave Glaze, dave@familytreecenter.org Member-at-large - VACANT POSITION

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•

•

•

• • • •

The Family Tree has 10x10 tents available for rental.

• •

Pride Student Union PSU—FSU’s Lesbian/Gay/ Bisexual/Transgender Student Union 850-644-8804, www.fsu.edu/~sga/pride Youth Group A group for youth/teens 850-222-8555 facilitator Jennifer Martinez: jhm06e@fsu.edu Prime Timers A club for mature men over 21 850-877-4479, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/talprime Tallahassee Area Lesbian Moms rainbowshappen@lycos.com Big Bend Cares Support Group, www.bigbendcares.org For HIV-positive members Mondays, 7-8 Diversity of the Spirit AA Meeting (Alcoholics Anonymous), Contact 850-2228555 Healthline 211 (Telephone Counseling and Referral Service) Crisis intervention and referrals 24 hours a day, 850-224-NEED (850-224-6333) Refuge House Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Center, www.refugehouse. com, e-mail refuge.house@tallahassee.net, 24 Hr Hotline: 850-681-2111, LGBT Program: 850-395-7631 Safe Zone Tallahassee, A program designed to identify people who consider themselves to be open to and knowledgeable about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered issues, 850-644-2003 Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), 850-597-2374 North Florida Lesbians Listserve: nfll@yahoogroups.com

Religious Support All Saints Catholic Community............................................................................656-3777 Gentle Shepherd Metropolitan Community Church...................................878-3001

Rental Fee: $40

Nichiren Buddhism (contact Carol)....................................................................878-8467 Quaker Meeting.......................................................................................................878-3620 St. Catherine of Siena (Catholic)..........................................................................421-0447

Interested?

Call 850-222-8555 or email staff@familytreecenter.org

Unitarian Universalist Church.............................................................................385-5115 St. Stephen Lutheran Church..............................................................................385-2728 United Church in Tallahassee...............................................................................878-7385 Temple Israel.............................................................................................................877-3517 First Presbyterian Church of Tallahassee..........................................................222-4505

Submit your organization for the resource directory! Email staff@familytreecenter.org or call (850) 222-8555 VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2

15

WHAT We need your help!

WILL We want you to get involved!

YOU We want to hear your story!

TAKE We want to hear your voice!

PRIDE We want to see your true colors!

IN? Tallahassee

PRIDEFEST 2010

Show Your True Colors April 10-17

To find out how you can Show YOUR True Colors, visit:

www.tallahasseepride.com