September, 2010

Tallahassee’s LGBT Community Newspaper

Tallahassee Schools Back in Session Community Groups You Should Know About Behind The Mask

Join Us For The Masqueerade

September 1, 2010

Volume 14, Issue #8

BRANCHING OUT is published monthly by The Family Tree Community Center.

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

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 - 1st of Each Month Submission Deadlines - 15th of Each Month Production Team:

Andy Janecek, Executive Editor Steven Hall, Features Editor Patrick Patterson, Layout Editor Margeaux Mutz, Voices Editor Melissa Henderson, Circulation Assistant Marty Enright, Circulation Assistant Dan Beam, Layout Assistant

Contributors in this issue: Pastor Paul Anway Lisa Livezey Comingore Terry Galloway Michael Kenny Jimmers Micallef Ivan Sondel Vickie Spray

in this issue...

News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4

School Ties

By Patrick Patterson Branching Out Production Team I’m gay. Yep, I said it. Those two words seem to come out a lot easier than they used to. Maybe it’s my age and not caring anymore what other people think about me. Maybe it’s due to the fact that society is changing (incrementally) for the better. Lately, I’ve been going over my past, in my head, due to an event that’s coming up this month. In just a few short days, I will be attending my ten-year high school class reunion. This event, for me, will be sort of a new beginning. I was not out in high school. But hey, I was in Show Choir… so, I wasn’t far from the threshold of the closet. Of course, I knew about myself in high school. However, due to certain plot elements, I did not feel comfortable being what I was. A lot of it, I think, had to do with the fact that I had no one to look up to (on the gay issues) or to talk to about my feelings. My friend, Josh, was the only other person that I knew was “like me”—well, him and the freshman he was dating as a senior (I know… scandal!). Josh had always held a special place in my heart because he did eventually come out and I admired him for that. I also saw the backlash that ensued after his departure from the closet. I just wasn’t in a place that I could be told by my best friend that I was going to hell, etc. Josh was the kind of person that didn’t let things bother him. He knew who he was and just went with it. I remember passing notes to him in Chemistry about certain guys and about our feelings and then talking on the phone with him for hours. Josh meant more to me than he knew. I really hope that he changes his mind and comes to the reunion.

Coming out of the closet is easy for certain people and not for others. There are different circumstances and built up anguish over the whole ordeal. Now, however, it seems that everyone who’s gay in high school is coming out. I don’t know if it’s easier for them—it sure seems like it. My friend Brandon (the author of the Founding Fathers’ article a couple months back) is out and proud in his school. He is the President of Leon High School’s GSA (read about his and other groups on page 6 and 7). I look at him sometimes in wonder. As strong as Josh was, Brandon is just as strong in a different way (granted, there is a big difference in Tallahassee and Fitzgerald, GA). I’m so proud to know him and to see all of the great things he is doing.

For everyone who has the courage to come out as early as high school or even earlier, just know that it is inspiring to others. You do, however, stand on the shoulders of giants. Those who have come before you have laid the way and made this an easier road for you to journey.

This trip, in the coming days, back to Georgia, back to friends that I left 10 years ago, back to the place where I left the closet is going to be nerve wracking. I know that I have changed. I have grown into the person that I will be for the rest of my life. I just hope that the people I left will see ME, and not just the fact that I am a proud gay man.

September 18, 2010

12p.m. to 8p.m.

“The Kids Are All Right” Movie Review . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

John W. Saunders Memorial Park

Community Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7

Off of River St. Valdosta, GA

Between Twilight and Dawn Excerpt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Kym Berry & The Crew

www.southgapride.org

Transgenderscope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 News, Cues and Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Faithfully Speaking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 What’s Happening This Month. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 News From The Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

When Finished...

Please Recycle!

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Featuring Mrs. Elke Kennedy of Sean’s Last Wish and Mr. Roy Kirkland

Performances by Kym Berry & The Crew and many others!

Elke Kennedy

For more information, please visit www.southgapride.org Roy Kirkland

BRANCHING OUT

Florida Together Federation Hosts State Leadership Conference

by Michael Kenny News Release

Local leaders, including leaders of local chambers of commerce, community centers, political and advocacy organizations, youth and student groups and other types of organizations, along with clergy, community organizers and elected officials met on July 24, 2010, at a Leadership Conference organized by Florida Together Federation.

Participants came from all across the state, from the Panhandle to Southeast Florida.

On the agenda: building stronger local communities and creating a better Florida, where gay and transgender people can live better lives and enjoy equal rights and obligations alongside all Floridians.

Conference participants met and networked with leaders from other parts of the state, participated in trainings, heard from inspiring speakers, and then met in break out groups to identify needs and strengths in their communities and to develop strategies for local and statewide progress. Specific plans were proposed on how to improve capacity of local communities, and consensus emerged on the need to protect gay and transgender people from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations at the local and state level.

Participants had a choice of trainings to attend, including trainings on utilizing social media, running for public office, and improving workplace policies. There were presentations from Craig Lowe, new openly gay mayor of Gainesville, Scott Maddox, former mayor of Tallahassee, State Senator Dave Aronberg, Colorado Congressman Jared Polis, and the Regional Director of the Human Rights Campaign, among others.

Michael Kenny is Executive Director of the Florida Together Federation, a federation of local organizations dedicated to achieving equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Floridians For more information, visit www.outfl.org.

Capital City GLBTA Democratic Caucus Hosts Successful Casino Night Fundraiser

by Lisa Livezey Comingore Special to Branching Out

If you missed the Capital City GLBTA Democratic Caucus’ 1st Annual Casino event at the Allen home on August 7th, then you missed out! The Caucus had Black Jack, Roulette, Texas Hold Em’ and Craps, not to mention tons of good food and a cash bar.

Over 50 people attended including numerous elected officials and the highlight of the evening was a visit from Rep. Kendrick Meek, candidate for U.S. Senate. The Caucus also raised some much needed funds that will enable its membership to keep working for GLBT rights in Leon and the surrounding counties during this important election year and into 2011. Which leads to another big announcement! The Caucus will host the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus Winter Conference in March 2011, so stay tuned for specific dates and activities as GLBTA Democrats from all over Florida will be converging on Tallahassee right at the beginning of the next legislative session. This will be something you will NOT want to miss.

The Caucus holds its regular meetings on the first Monday of each month at various locations.

For more information, visit http:// www.ccglbtdems.org or find them on Twitter and Facebook.

Fundraiser attendees participate in a game of poker while Leon County Commissioner Cliff Thaell looks on. Image Credit: Michelle Comingore

Lisa Livezey Comingore is the President of the Capital City GLBTA Democratic Caucus and Secretary of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus and is a former member of The Family Tree’s board of directors. She publishes a progressive blog – Wonk This Way – which can be found at http://wonkthiswayllc.blogspot.com. Lisa can be reached at lisa@ ccglbtdems.org.

Mickee Faust Club Announces Fall Schedule

by Terry Galloway News Release Oil gushing in the Gulf. Temperatures boiling the mercury in thermometers. And politicians playing to our basest fears for votes. It’s a mixed up, muddled up, mad, mad world which creates no end of material for Tallahassee’s homegrown cabaret theatre troupe, the Mickee Faust Club.

The Faustkateers are kicking off their 23rd season of original skits, songs and staged bad jokes. Under the leadership of a giant cigarpuffing scruffy rodent named Mickee Faust (aka performer and author Terry Galloway) and Dr. Donna Marie Nudd, the troupe has migrated over its history from the back room of The Warehouse on W. Gaines Street and the old Finale’s restaurant on W. Tennessee

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8

Street to their Clubhouse home at 623 McDonnell Drive in Railroad Square where they’ve been for the past decade. In this funky warehouse space, the company stages two to three cabarets a year, and creates material for award-winning video shorts and radio programs, and produces full-length plays and one person performance pieces. For three years, the Mickee Faust Club has hosted a “Queer As Faust” month-long festival in June, bringing in outside performers such as Tim Miller and Tallahassee native Elizabeth Whitney.

This fall, the Mickee Faust Club ramps up the live performances on the First Friday of October (October 1) with the sometimes annual “Bad to Verse: Bring Your Purse”. This is an opportunity for Faustkateers and those audience members with enough guts to get up on stage to perform literature that should never have been written and making it sound like it was penned by William Shakespeare. Or sometimes the impish might take something that was written by William Shakespeare and make it sound like a “never to be read aloud” rough draft. There will be lots of opportunities to pay for interpretive dancers to enhance the pieces, or simply to pay for the person reading to please stop.

“Bad to Verse” is just a warm up to the fall cabaret show, “Faustageddon”, with a theme of man-made disasters. The material runs the gamut from the oily goo surfacing on our Gulf beaches to the creation of political monsters and the media that loves them. Show dates are November 5, 6 and November 11, 12, and 13. Tickets for cabarets are sold through the Mickee Faust website (www.mickeefaust.com) and are usually available for purchase three weeks before opening night.

Also this fall, it’s the 17th annual Punk’n Chuck’n contest on Sunday, November 7th.

Take your Halloween gourd in whatever state of decay down to the Clubhouse and pitch it in the parking lot for a chance to win a really cheesy prize. This is one of the few events Faust does where the company can truly say it is “family-friendly”.

Besides the live performances, Faustkateers produce a radio show four times a year on WVFS-FM 89.7 called “Mickee Faust’s Fifth of Comedy”. The company rules the airwaves for one-hour starting at 9pm every month that has five Wednesdays. Be sure to tune in on September 29th and again on December 29th.

There are more events in the works for this fall. To stay on top of what is happening in the wild republic of Faustlandia, go to the website www.mickeefaust.com.

Terry Galloway is the artistic director for the Mickee Faust Club. She can be reached at TLGalloway@aol.com.

The Family Tree Makes Plans for the 2010 National Coming Out Day Gayla

by Paul Anway Branching Out Contributor Member, Family Tree Board of Directors This past month was historic in the struggle for same-gender loving couples toward attaining the right to legally marry as California’s Proposition 8 was deemed unconstitutional. While the struggle is far from over, the Court’s ruling established that the denial of marriage to same sex couples is not based on fact. Here in Tallahassee, that same struggle for equality took a major step forward with the inclusion of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as protected classes in the Leon County Human Rights ordinance. There are many reasons to celebrate this year, that’s for sure.

This year, the Tallahassee community will come together for the 2010 National Coming Out Day Gayla and Awards presentation on October 22nd. The theme for this special night is: “Masqueerade Ball, Celebrating life behind and beyond the Mask!” There will be dinner, dancing and time for honoring those special people in our midst who have gone above-and-beyond in some capacity.

The event is presented by The Family Tree and this year is sponsored by Allstate Insurance (Thank You Greta Langley Financial, LLC)!! It will be held at the Monroe Street Conference Center (2714 Graves Road) which is the old Marie Livingston location. This old Tallahassee landmark has been totally redone inside and out; you won’t recognize it!

The food and atmosphere are fabulous for sure! The dress for the evening is either formal or semi-formal and we invite you to wear a mask of some kind if you like. Some masks will be available at the door for purchase and there will be a fun “mask-making” party at the Family Tree in early October (look for information in the next issue). There will be live music to get the evening going during cocktails from 6:30 pm, then a buffet dinner followed by a brief awards presentation. After the awards we have a great DJ lined up for dancing!

The most important part of the evening, however, will be the awards. This year, the award recipients will be chosen by you – the community. Nominations are now open at gayla. familytreecenter.org You can nominate anyone for an existing award, or you can create an award if necessary. Once a nomination is made, that person will be contacted to see if they accept the nomination. If they do, then their name will go up for voting. You can get your friends, family and co-workers to vote for the person you want. Nominations are open to everyone, so please help spread the word. If you’re on Facebook, check out the event at The Family Tree: LGBT Community Center and please invite all your Facebook friends to make nominations too!

Tickets are now on sale and you can get them at www.familytreecenter.org they are only $40.00 each, or you can get a reserved table of six for $210.00 or a table of eight for $250.00 – that’s $10.00 off the full price! The ticket price includes a full meal with coffee and tea, all other drinks are available at the cash bar.

We still have some sponsorship opportunities available. If you, or your business would like to be a sponsor, please contact Paul@familytreecenter.org for more information.

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Jerusalem Hosts Subdued Gay Pride News Release

Thousands of Israelis marched calmly last month in Jerusalem’s longest gay pride parade despite opposition from anti-gay demonstrators.

The subdued Jerusalem march from the center of town to the parliament building contrasted with flamboyant gay pride parades elsewhere in the world. Organizers said they were adjusting to the religious character of the city and using their march to promote their political agenda.

“This is first of all a march of mourning,” said organizer Yonatan Gher, Executive Director of Jerusalem Open House for Pride & Tolerance, “and at the end we will try to put the mourning behind us and look forward to the coming year, and declare tonight the beginning of gay rights year.”

LGBT Milwaukeeans Organize After Trans Woman’s Murder News Release

Though nearly three months have passed since Andrew Olaciregui allegedly murdered Chanel Larkin on a Milwaukee street, the city’s LGBT residents continue to feel the aftershocks of the tragic loss of one of their own. Transgender activists have organized a series of meetings, hosted by a coalition of organizations, to support grieving LGBT Milwaukeeans with the hope of transforming their loss into a positive outcome. They hope to grant further visibility to anti-trans violence while working toward better media coverage and a safer environment for the city’s LGBT residents while ultimately gaining a sense of justice from Larkin’s murder.

In upcoming months, Hansell stressed, there will be unprecedented opportunities for LGBT advocates to offer recommendations on a number of concerns including adoption, youth, homelessness, seniors, and sex education. Historically, the federal government has not tracked data identifying the needs of LGBT youth or seniors, Hansell asserted, but is now implementing processes to do so in order to ensure that these vulnerable populations receive adequate funding and services.

Hansell said the LGBT community can best ensure that these new directives are enforced by working with the local or state office administering the specific program. If that doesn’t resolve the problem, advocates should contact the HHS Office of Civil Rights.

Hansell then fielded questions pertaining to transgender people. When the public comment process determining what federal benefits insurance companies must provide begins, he called for the LGBT community and health care advocates to vocalize the need to include gender reassignment surgery. Hansell claimed that HHS is already determining how best to assist homeless transgender youth. Raphel Bostic, assistant secretary for policy development and research for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), then detailed current administrative efforts to redress housing inequities in the LGBT community. 2010 marks the first time that HUD is including this issue in its oncea-decade study on housing discrimination. Because the Fair Housing Act does not include sexual orientation or gender identity, it is important to determine how federal policies and practices must be modified to ensure that all Americans are treated fairly in the housing and mortgage policies and funding.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) Repeal Gauram Raghavan, deputy White House liaison to the Department of Defense, provided a status report on the repeal of the DADT policy. He repeatedly stressed that the core issue is not whether the policy will be changed, only when and how DADT will be ended.

An interagency working group is currently conducting forums and surveys at numerous U.S military installations in the United States and abroad. The group will submit its final recommendations to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates by December 1st.

Maggi Cage, the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center’s executive director, said she too has been impressed by the way the city’s LGBT residents have come together after Larkin’s death on May 7. She said Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern have proven themselves dedicated to finding justice for Larkin, who was 26 at the time of her death. Though prosecutors have yet to seek hate crime-enhanced charges against Olaciregui, Cage is confident he will be prosecuted properly.

When Equality Federation representatives challenged Raghavan on the content and methodology of the surveys being used to gauge military attitudes on LGBT people, Raghavan said that he understood why LGBT servicemembers have taken offense to some of the questions and have raised concerns about whether confidentiality is properly protected. He assured the audience that the data will only be used to determine how the Pentagon needs to structure its post-DADT training programs to combat stereotypes and fears about LGBT people.

LGBT Leaders Participate in Historic White House Event

After Mo Baxley, executive director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coaltion, questioned why LGBT soldiers continue to be expelled during this process, Raghavan responded that the law is still in effect and therefore must be enforced. He claimed, however, that Gates has taken steps to ensure that the law is no longer abused. For example, military officials are no longer permitted to accept third-party testimony against an accused soldier. In the past, the use of such evidence created situations where jilted lovers or disgruntled colleagues could railroad or blackmail a comrade.

by Michael Kenny Special to Branching Out In early August, Florida Together participated in a historic far-ranging White House discussion between members of the Obama administration and the Equality Federation, the national umbrella organization for statewide equality groups. As Executive Director, I was proud to represent Florida Together at the briefing. As the only person from Florida to attend the briefing, I wanted to share with you a summary of the meeting.

Bostic added that the Pentagon is exploring how qualified soldiers who were expelled under DADT could reenter the armed services. When asked whether policy changes that would permit transgender citizens to serve are also being considered, Bostic said that might be the case in the future and asked for contact information from advocates who can advise the Pentagon on this issue.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act Tina Tchen, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, opened the gathering by asserting that the administration fully expects the provisions of the Defense Authorization Bill ending the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy to win congressional approval by year’s end. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the legislation and the U.S. Senate will soon consider the bill.

Family and Medical Leave, HIV/AIDS Policy Jeremy Bishop, special assistant to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, explained forthcoming changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act that will benefit LGBT families. Jeffrey Crowley, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, followed with an overview of the 2010 national strategy on HIV and AIDS.

Tchen said that the administration was prioritizing DADT over the Employment NonDiscrimination Act (ENDA) because it could attach DADT to other legislation, making it much easier to move through Congress. By contrast, ENDA- which would outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression - is stand-alone legislation that faces more congressional hurdles. In the current political climate, securing a firm commitment of 60 Senate votes to support ENDA is proving far more difficult than the administration anticipated. These obstacles have not, Tchen claimed, diminished President Obama’s support for the legislation.

Acknowledging that some LGBT advocates are quite frustrated with the president’s progress on equality issues, Tchen urged statewide leaders to let the White House know when their constituents are displeased. “When you are frustrated,”she stated, “you should speak out and hold our feet to the fire.” LGBT Health David Hansell, acting assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provided an overview of the work currently being done on LGBT health.

Through a coordinating group, the agency is including LGBT concerns in decisions made by its 10 divisions. Hansell outlined provisions of the Affordable Care Act that will benefit LGBT Americans including expanded access to health coverage and abolition of insurance companies’ practices barring those with preexisting conditions and imposing lifetime caps on pay-outs. As HHS adopts the thousands of forthcoming mandates and policy statements needed to implement federal health care reform, LGBT health and family advocates will have extensive opportunities to shape outcomes.

Marriage Equality In the meeting’s closing stages, Brian Bond, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and liaison to the LGBT community, took questions from the audience. Given recent statements reaffirming President Obama’s opposition to samegender marriage in the wake of a decision striking down California’s Proposition 8, Equality Federation members pressed him on the contradictions posed by the president’s call for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and his support for civil unions instead of full marriage equality.

Bond asserted, “There is still a lot of work to do” before DOMA will be repealed. “Look at the trouble we’re having with ENDA.” he added.But Bond conceded that there are inconsistencies in President Obama’s positions.

In response, Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director of Equality Maryland, stated, “Respectfully, we need President Obama to push for full inclusion of the LGBT community on ENDA, on marriage- we need the full get, not the lesser get. The highest office in the land sets the tone for the whole country.” Bond agreed, but expressed frustration at the often intense criticism levied, particularly by bloggers, against an administration that is “99 percent supportive of your issues.”

Hansell then offered a status report on President Obama’s April 2010 memorandum directing hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding to allow patients to decide who can visit them. The memo also bars discrimination based on a variety of characteristics including sexual orientation and gender identity.

The public comment process on the proposed visitation policy ended on Aug. 27. A draft policy outlining HHS regulations that would guarantee that hospitals honor advanced directives will soon be posted for 180 days of public comment. The subsequent regulatory change will make much clearer who is allowed to make decisions on a patient’s care if he or she is unable to do so.

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BRANCHING OUT

“The Kids are All Right” Is A Movie To Support Movie Review

by Vickie Spray Special to Branching Out “The Kids Are All Right” Starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore It appears that the mainstream movie industry is now mature enough to present a movie about a lesbian couple with their normal and not so normal challenges of family life. The normal side would include a couple busy with their work and two children. What is not so normal, but perhaps goes unnoticed, sits in the middle of the kitchen table while the family eats or hovers in the corner of their bedroom while the couple watches a porn flick.

The not-so-normal, if we want to compare the movie to the drama in mainstream heterosexual movies, would be that the two children, who were created by the fastest swimmers of one man’s sperm, take it upon themselves to locate him and introduce themselves. The ensuing aftermath of their successful location of the man whose genetics are intrinsically intertwined with their own is a poignant reminder of our modern possibilities and the complexities these possibilities can create in our lesbian and homosexual lives.

What follows is a hilarious, realistic and hopeful tale of five humans, their messy discoveries about friendship, love and what indeed, creates family. The fifth person is the man who admits to the boy his sperm helped create, that being a sperm donor seemed like a better idea than donating blood. He is a kind and gentle man who makes conscientious decisions concerning the foot print he leaves on the earth through organic gardening and living a simple life. His footprint, however, becomes larger than any of these people would have evidently predicted of its affect on their lives. The children that his ‘donation’ helped to create have some of the same facial expressions as he does. This is both noticed and commented on by one of the lesbian moms (played by Julianne Moore) and ends up influencing her in ways that surprise her and devastate her family. Her life is already in a state of flux with her oldest child’s impending departure from the nest and her recent segue into small business. It does not help that her partner of many years, played by Annette Bening, is and apparently has been very distracted by her professional life and seems to have zilch awareness concerning her need for control.

The love scene between the two women, whose lives together are mundane and supportive, is sure to confuse both homosexuals and heterosexuals in the theatre, but might also add to the thoughtful discussions amongst those of us in the LGBT community on the wide pendulum concerning human sexuality.. While we are talking about that wide swing of what human sexuality may be, we can also have a conversation about what expectations our lesbian community has concerning lesbians in film.

Instead of cardboard lesbians who live lives that consist of continuous relationship flare ups and flare outs, we have, in this movie, a lesbian couple who has been together for at least eighteen years. Instead of a couple who has been in therapy all the time trying to make the other one into something she cannot be, we have a couple who have slogged through some of the hardest relationship issues and raised two self reliant kids in the process.

If we wanted to see a movie, in which the lesbian couple did not have their relationship pinned to the wall and made to bleed the truth of how deep their commitment actually was, then we were deeply disappointed. But if we wanted to see two women struggle with what they really wanted from each other and the family they intentionally created, then ‘The Kids are All Right” is a movie to support and to rave about wherever there are ears to hear. And if we wanted to see two mature and sexy women kiss each other in such a way as to make us melt in theatre seats across the nation then we should see the movie again and again.

Vickie Spray is a Therapeutic Writing Coach and Founder/Owner of Your Life Expressions.

She can be reached at vickiespray@yourlifeexpressions.com. “The Kids Are All Right” can be seen locally at Miracle 5 Theaters on Thomasville Road in Tallahassee.

Jimmers’ Box

by Jimmers Micallef Special to Branching Out Introducation by Margeaux Mutz Jimmers Micallef has entertained us for years as a member of Mickee Faust. Recently he performed a skit during “Queer As Faust” that tugged at my heart. For all of you that missed it, I asked him to send us the script and let us share it with you. It is another example of why “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” must end.

I’m trying to figure out if I can actually fit back inside this box.

Let me explain.

Last week, my boyfriend put on a uniform. He’s in basic training, somewhere that I can’t divulge, as a member of our nation’s armed forces.

I support him on this. It’s his chance, his big chance to get started, to get training, an education, a career to “Be All That He Can Be” and hopefully get all the things that I can’t give him.

Anyway, I’m proud as hell of him for doing this, but it means he’s going to be living in a box. A box made from hate, fear, ignorance and shame, the “Don’t Fucking Ask – Don’t Fucking Tell” box. He can do that. He’s strong enough. The problem is, am I? You see, now I have to put myself in a box, too. I call mine, the “Don’t You Dare Blow His Cover” box. I hate it already.

In order to hold onto my love, I have to spend the next six years of my life pretending, publicly pretending that I don’t love him. I have to not call him “Babe” or “Peanut,” no holding hands on the street, no making out at the movies. I have to delete links between us on social networking sites. I can still send him emails, so long as I talk about work, our friends, politics, the goddamn weather, but not one word from the heart. If I visit, I have to take the rainbow ribbon off my backpack, the pride band off my arm and let’s leave this at home, shall we?

Me! Mr. “Loud and Proud!” I’ve spent decades out of the closet.

I’ve marched with ACT UP in New York and protested at the Mayor’s Office in Philadelphia; I’ve danced in pride fests from here to Chicago, lobbied the administrators of Catholic universities to fund queer student groups and held diversity talks with born again social workers at FSU. That was fun.

I’ve gone to human rights hearings and responded to countless Equality and HRC action alerts. I’ve even called legislators that I despise, trying to get them to change their minds.

I’ve read the names of dead friends into a fucking microphone on the National Mall. And I have stood here, on this stage in front of all of you for years, shouting my pride into the hot Florida night. All that for my own dignity, for the right to love whoever I damn well want to.

And now, in order to actually love who I want to, I have to shut up.

I have to shut up, take a deep breath and walk right back into that fucking box with my eyes wide open.

I’ll do my best Peanut.

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

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8

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SHOW YOUR COMMUNITY SUPPORT...

GET INVOLVED!

Our community is rich with clubs, groups, and faith-based organizations that are just begging for people to get involved with them. Whether you are a great volunteer, an artist, an actor, or a philanthropist... one of the following organizations would love to have you help out!

Big Bend Cares Big Bend Cares provides education and comprehensive support for people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. BBC purpose is to provide free case management, programs, and linkages to individuals served and to educate communities about HIV prevention methods, along with providing free HIV testing, in office and in the community. BBC provides its services to eight counties in the Big Bend Area; Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla.

BBC is currently providing an incentive based program of $25.00 and $5.00 for MSM’s and their friends who test with BBC. For more information, contact Victor Clay at (850) 545-1869. Visit BBC online at http://www.bigbendcares.org or contact them at (850) 6562437.

Capital City GLBTA Democratic Caucus An official chapter of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, the Capital City chapter strives to foster good will between gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied members of the Democratic Party and the community at large. A primary goal of the organization is to stimulate active interest and participation in political and government affairs. We meet on the first Monday of every month and hold special events throughout the year. As the meetings alternate between business and social, the location varies. Visit us at www.ccglbtdems.org or find us on Facebook for information on upcoming meetings and events!

Leon High School Gay-Straight Alliance Leon’s Gay Straight Alliance, more commonly known as GSA, is a group of open-minded high-schoolers on a mission to spread the word about civil rights and conquer discrimination.

Previous activities have included a Stamp Out Hate campaign, Mix-It-Up at lunch, and participating in the AIDS walk. This year’s officers are Brandon Young, Laura Mock, Julia Draper, and Amelia Brown. Along with their sponsor Mr. Scott Brown, club members meet monthly to discuss human rights and new GSA-related events. For further information or if you want to get involved, please contact Scott Brown at browns@ leonschools.net.

Mickee Faust Club The Mickee Faust Club is Tallahassee’s own “community theater for the weird community.” The leader of the club is Mickee Faust himself, a foul-mouthed, cigar chomping, giant rat. In real life, this male rodent is deaf, female performance artist Terry Galloway. Rallying around this rebellious rat bastard are the members of the Club who call themselves Faustkateers.

The Faustkateers write, direct and perform the raucous and wily cabarets that have become Faust’s hallmark. Faust also produces a nationally acclaimed radio show and comic video shorts that have been winning recognition in film festivals throughout the world. Learn more at: www.mickeefaust.com.

Mixit Tallahassee Women owned and operated, Mixit Tallahassee LLC creates and hosts events where Lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women and our allies can meet and mingle in a safe environment. Our unique events include a friendly mixture of mellow socials, thought-provoking activities, and adventurous celebrations, such as Red Light Open Mic, Alter Ego, Reel Talk Cinema and Wise Womyn.

Although we primarily focus on organizing women-only events, we offer full service event planning to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, our allies, and beyond. Our team proudly creates the most over-the-top productions imaginable!

Consider the women of Mixit Tallahassee for your next event. Our goal is to provide you with the highest level of personalized service and to make sure that your Mixit Tallahassee event experience exceeds your expectations.

Find us on Facebook, visit us on the web at www.mixittallahassee.com or call ShaniAngela (850) 210-5386. We will be happy to answer all your questions about all our events and services!

PFLAG-Tallahassee PFLAG is Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. We are the Tallahassee chapter of this national organization committed to supporting the families of LGBT people, providing education about the LGBT community, and advocating for a better, safer society for all people.

Join us the second Thursday of every month from 6-8pm at St. John’s Episcopal Church for a friendly atmosphere and educational programs. For more information, contact Susan Gage at (850) 597-2374.

Florida State University Pride Student Union

Red Hills Pagan Council

The Pride Student Union provides services and programs to address the needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered students and increases the awareness of issues pertinent to them within the Florida State University community. Further, the Pride Student Union attempts to create a supportive and healthy environment for the welfare of all students regardless of their sexual orientation. Our LGBTQ Student Resource Center is located in Oglesby Union on the 2nd Floor and is open from 10am to 7pm, Monday through Friday.

The Red Hills Pagan Council is a civic organization dedicated to serving people from the various Earth-centered spiritual traditions in the Red Hills Bioregion. The Council is an “umbrella group” which serves to unite the various local covens, groves, churches, circles and solitary practitioners. We welcome all genders, sexual orientations, races, ages, and paths to join together for the benefit of our community and environment. Among our activities, the RHPC sponsors public rituals at the eight seasonal festivals, and a charity Witches’ Ball in October. Our monthly potluck picnic is followed by a business meeting at noon. To learn more about the Council and our events, visit www.redhillspagans.org.

If you are interested in volunteering with FSU PRIDE or have any inquiries or questions, please feel free to email Frank Jaffe at fj07@fsu.edu.

Tallahassee PRIDEFEST 2010 was the largest pride celebration that Tallahassee has ever witnessed. Each year, the committee strives to make this week-long series of events better and better. Without the great volunteers, though, this week could not happen.

Already gearing up for Tallahassee PRIDEFEST 2011, the committee is looking for people will a range of skills and abilities. Whether you are an event planner, a local band, artist, or have skills that you think could help, the Pridefest Planning Committee wants to hear from you so that they can make sure your talents are utilized! If you are interested in getting involved, please contact admin@tallahasseepride.com. To see the great things that happened at PRIDEFEST 2010, visit www.tallahasseepride.com.

Gentle Shepherd Metropolitan Community Church We are just regular folks who believe that God’s love is for all people…GSMCC is a congregation that is diverse in age, gender, and race… and while not exclusively so, we are predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals who come from all different types of church backgrounds… and some folks, from no church background at all. Worship Times: Sundays @ 11am – Traditional; @ 7pm – Contemporary.

Tallahassee Pridefest Planning Committee

We are located at 4738 Thomasville Road in Tallahassee and can be reached at (850) 8783001. Find us on Facebook or online at http://www.gentleshepherdmcc.com.

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BRANCHING OUT

Tallahassee LGBT Business Partners The LGBT Business Partners is a network of LGBT friendly businesses and professionals dedicated to the promotion of business and social opportunities.

Our group contains all kinds of businesses and professionals to assist you with almost anything. We are organized to assist our community in networking within a friendly environment with our LGBT and ally members. We currently have over forty members (both businesses and individuals) and hold a networking lunch on the first Thursday of each month as well as a social evening on the third Thursday. Our current, standing location for the first Thursday lunch is the meeting room at Uptown Café across from TMH at the intersection of Magnolia and Miccosukee. We would welcome all those with interest to attend. The meeting starts at noon but you might want to arrive a little early to order some great food and find a seat. For more information, contact greta@familytreecenter.org.

Tallahassee Prime Timers Tallahassee Prime Timers is the largest organization for adult gay and bisexual men in the area. We have group parties, bowling, dining and happy hours that provide members enjoyable options every week. We are not a charitable or political organization, but our members are encouraged to share their interests with the group. Join hundreds of fellow members for exclusive events, as well as for shopping, catching a movie, having a game of cards or any mutual interest. To learn more, contact us by phone at (850) 877-4479, by email at talprime@primetimersww.org , or on the web at www. primetimersww.org/talprime.

Tree House Players Interested in getting involved in a local community theater group?

Want to learn more about acting and theater?

The Family Tree is introducing a new community group dedicated to promoting performing arts within the LGBT and supportive community. The Tree House Players hope to partner with other local performance organizations to present shows based on existing regional and national productions. The group will provide opportunities for all individuals with an interest in technical production and acting - from beginners to professionals - to take to the stage! The group’s first general interest meeting will be held at 7pm on September 21st at The Family Tree, 5126-C Woodlane Circle, Tallahassee. For more information, contact Danny Thomas at players@familytreecenter.org.

What do you get when you’re a member of Pre-Paid Legal?

Confidence in your daily decisions.

Peace of mind with your personal affairs.

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Protection of your legal rights.

Advice from courteous and concerned attorneys.

Answers to your questions.

Call today for more information on how to access the legal system!

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United Church in Tallahassee No matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here! UCT is an “Open and Affirming” congregation of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Nancy L. Dahlberg leads worship on Sunday mornings at 9 (contemporary music), and at 11 (traditional music). We offer an education program (Faith Space) during worship for all school-age children, and youth group activities bi-weekly.

Contact the church at (850) 878-7385 or uctoffice@gmail.com. You can reach Pastor Nan at uct.revnan@gmail.com. The church’s website is www.uctonline.org.

GENTLE SHEPHERD METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH Rev. Mark R. Byrd, Interim Minister 11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship 7:00 p.m. Comtemporary Worship Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer, Straight???

It doesn’t matter, because…

We are just regular folks who believe that God’s love is for all people…And YOU and YOUR LIFE are important to us.

Family Tree Merchandise Available @ gear.familytreecenter.org VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8

GSMCC is a congregation that is diverse in age, gender, and race… and while not exclusively so, we are predominantly LGBTQ individuals, who come from all different types of church backgrounds… and some folks, from no church background at all.

While neither Catholic, nor Protestant, we seek to… · Be a safe haven to spiritual travelers from diverse walks of life · Meet others where they are in life · Offer each inspiration and encouragement as followers of Christ · Make a difference in our own lives, others, and the Community.

You are always welcome at GSMCC...

A PLACE TO MEET NEW FRIENDS AND EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE

4738 Thomasville Road (850) 878-3001 www.GentleShepherdMCC.com

7

Support

Family Tree Community Center During the month of September

What to do: 1. Visit any Super‐Suds Express during September.

2. Touch the Fundraising button on the screen at the AutoCashier.

3. Enter the code 2801 to activate the Family Tree Community Center Ultimate Wash Package for $9.

4. Pay for your Wash and automatically generate a $3 donation to Family Tree Community Center. That’s 33%!!!

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BRANCHING OUT

This Summer...

Chrissy Jordan Takes Us “Between Twilight and Dawn” This month Branching Out presents the second of and final excerpt from the book “Between Twilight and Dawn” by Chrissy Jordan. Chrissy is a local MTF female who also happens to live with cerebral palsy.

It has been a true honor for Branching Out to be part of her creativeness. Please visit jrwpublishing.com to purchase a copy of her book.

Excerpt from Between Twilight and Dawn July 14, 2009. 12:58 AM Last night was a milestone. Despite my sadness of losing contact with my family, I wrote a letter to my father and his family. I printed it out, got in my car, and drove to his house. I parked in the pasture so that my car door would not wake anyone. I walked down to his house, folded the paper up, and stuck it between the handle of the porch door.

It reads below: Dad and Co., I am writing this letter with a tear in my eye and a weight in my heart. I find myself approaching the precipice of two worlds: one of which I am loved, and one of which I am happy. In three months and one day, I will cross that precipice to a world of happiness, congruence, and peace. Because of ideologies and traditions, I understand that I will no longer be welcome in my childhood environment. I accept this condition for being loved in a state of oppression and denial is not love. It is but a charade. I must live my life and to do so, I must be true to myself. After months of depression, self-directed hatred, selfinjurious behavior, and suicidiality, I have concluded that being loved is not worth the price of my life.

I am taking classes in Tallahassee. I made the dean’s list for two consecutive terms and will be attending Barry University in January. Life will go on. You will continue to live your lives, I will continue my paths to success, and the pursuit of happiness will still be the great motivator for progress in yours and my existences. It is just inevitable that we will live our lives and pursue our happiness apart.

Thank you for twenty-three years. Thank you for the education. I am truly sorry that I was not the person you needed me to be in order for you to love me.

Regards, Taylor Jordan Afterwards, I walked back to my car and left my first home for good. I crossed the highway and went down the dirt road I used to walk down growing up. It was a place where I could be alone and at peace. It was the road where I wrote Pursuit. As I turned back to get on the highway toward my new home, an owl swooped down onto the road in front of my car. It looked at me and flew away. Perhaps home is defined where one can be content.

Perhaps the owl and I are still searching for the right location.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided it was time to let go of my masculine identity. I got a trash bag, put on my music and went to work cleaning out my closet and closing the chapter on my life as a man. I plan to donate all but a few t-shirts that I will use for sleeping and one dress-shirt for any unplanned circumstances. For years, I have tried to please everyone.

I would dress according to my gender when the environment was right and at other times, I would dress according to my sex. Then, I came to realize that no one is bending over backwards to make me happy. Why should I cater to people’s ignorance? It is time for me to emerge. It is my time.

I have to be who I know I am. I have started my life. People accept me for myself, and I am unable to continue to live a lie. I am leaving for Colorado for the surgery I have longed for for the past eighteen years this autumn. My journey has brought the pains of being abused and disowned by my sister, the suicide attempt of my former partner, and now, the separation of my family. However, my coffin will hold but one person. My headstone only has room for but one name. And I can only be one person. I do not choose to be an actor, destined to play a role not fit for my soul. I have no choice in this life but to be who I am. This is why I have to let you go. I have to exist.

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8

9

VOICES

Community Stories, Opinions, Happenings, and Ideas.

Transgenderscope

By Margeaux Mutz Branching Out Production Team

Just a thought before I start: You know your partner loves you when she says “I love you but watch out for the paint!”

I came across a quote recently while reading about Jimbo Fisher, Florida State University’s football coach, for all of you that don’t follow sports. He quoted a guy by the name of Trevor Moawad who says there are four types of athletes: “unconsciously incompetent, consciously incompetent, unconsciously competent and consciously competent.” Sounds like another way of saying that those who are aware have a better chance of accomplishing whatever it is they need to do. Just as a quality athlete knows that the path to achieving goals is littered with frustration and pain, so must a transgender person understand the same thing. Understanding that there are many roadblocks to transgender happiness is one thing, but realizing that some of those roadblocks will never go away, is another.

Every month I facilitate a gender chat group, every month I hear things that send my mind tumbling backwards, painfully so. I do not feel comfortable with the past and pride myself at going forward, yet despite my best efforts the world won’t let me. I don’t fault the people in chat for taking me back, I can deal with the past when it is of my choosing, and chat is of my choosing. What is troubling though is the fact that some of the things of which they speak may never go away in my or their lifetime. Like me, they will forever be tailed by a past that is constantly rehashed by those around them, unwitting or not.

This last month has seemed to present constant reminders of exactly what I speak... For example, I have been spending seemingly interminable hours on the phone with Comcast.

I’m sure most of you can feel my pain but adding to my angst has been the constant litany of “sirs” that have nearly driven me batty. Each time I get transferred, which seems to be countless, I get another one, which if I didn’t love my hair so much would lead me into a hair pull out fit. I have begun wearing wigs occasionally because the pink in my hair is not well received everywhere I work, but I don’t really want the wigs to be an everyday thing, especially since I am one of the lucky ones who managed to keep their hair despite years of testosterone intervention. I actually have a friend who for a while had her partner make phone calls for her so that she could avoid the dreaded word.

Ask Margeaux Q: I am a lesbian who is by self definition “Butch.” I have been mistaken for a man numerous times. I do not consider myself to be a man and have no desire to live as one. Am I transgender?

A: The prefix “trans” is defined as meaning across, beyond or on the opposite side. When attached to the word gender it becomes crossing societal norms of gender. The key words here are societal and norms.

Society’s norms for gender expression are very arbitrary; they change over time from society to society. In our society for a woman to be seen as “Butch” definitely crosses gender norms, but being transgender in my opinion is a self definition.

I definitely define myself as a transgender person who is transsexual, but how you define yourself is for you and you alone.

However you define yourself, you have the right to be who you are. Hopefully, through such organizations as The Family Tree and Transgender Tallahassee, our society will realize that someday. Until then, know that you are loved by those who appreciate people for being who they are!

If you have a question for Margeaux, email her at branchingout@ familytreecenter.org. Your question may be featured in the next issue of Branching Out or online at familytreecenter.org!

If that wasn’t enough I have been trying to transfer a bond fund account, which has previously been listed in mine and my daughter’s names, into my daughter’s name only. It is one of the accounts for which I had neglected to change my name, 5 years ago. Should be no problem, right? Just send in the official name change document, file the transfer form and done. But NOoooo! I was asked for more documentation via a phone call that went something like this “Sir , we need you to send us a letter stating your intent using both your former and present names with your signature verified with a medallion stamp from your local bank.” Sounded like overkill to me especially since I had to march into the bank and once again go thru my personal history with people that have finally quit calling me “Sir.” Well guess what? That wasn’t enough. I received a letter back telling me that they needed more verification, which of course required another phone call and the requisite “How can I help you Sir?” Turns out that I needed to sign the document with not only my name but the signature of my former name. Damn, I’m not legally that name anymore. What the hell did I need my official name change document, with the seal of the Circuit Court of Leon County for, anyway? What a bunch of bulls…!

Moving on, I can’t wait for all the “Sirs” I’m going to get when I start calling the US Postal Service to change my name and get info on my US Postal Service Pension, or better yet what is going to happen when I change my gender marker to female while my State of Florida drivers license says male. Recent changes in passport regulations make it possible for me to change my gender marker with written notification from my endocrinologist or psychiatrist stating that my gender identity is female, while state law requires GRS (Gender Reassignment Surgery), for same. Sounds discouraging doesn’t it, yet not as discouraging as living as who you “ain’t.” It’s been a long time coming but no amount of “sirs” is going to take my femininity away from me. As my partner Sarah says about me “She wears the pink in our house!”

Margeaux Mutz is the facilitator of Transgender Tallahassee. Reach her at margeaux. mutz@comcast.net .

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BRANCHING OUT

News, Cues, & Reviews

By Ivan Sondel Branching Out Contributor Coming soon: • Books: Now in stores: Room, a novel by Emma Donoghue (long-listed for the Booker Prize); Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist and Sexual Renegade

by Justin Spring; 9/1: Remembrance of Things Forgotten a novel by Bob Smith; 9/28: By Nightfall a long awaited new novel by Michael Cunningham.

• CD: 9/28 La Cage aux Folles: The New Broadway Cast recording.

Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge star in this 2010 Tony winner for Best Revival of a musical. For those wishing to see Hodge in his Tony winning role, he has extended his Broadway contract through February 13th.

• Local Theatre: Ben Taylor and Randi Goldstein direct the musical comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Sept. 9 thru 26 at Tallahassee Little Theatre. For ticket information call 224-8474.

• Broadway News: Edward Albee’s Me, Myself & I will open September 12 at the Playwright’s Horizons Mainstage Theatre with Elizabeth Ashley and Brian Murray.

• Theatrical Films: 9/24: Howl starring James Franco as poet Allen Ginsberg.

This is the story behind the book banning and obscenity trials surrounding the publication of Ginsberg’s most famous and controversial poem. [imbd.com gives September 24 as the official release date, which just means that’s the day you can drive or fly to a city where it’s actually playing in America].

Reviews: Book: A Life like Other People’s a memoir by Alan Bennett (finally available from an American publisher 9/14).

In this truly inspired reminisce Bennett tells with great wit and measured sentimentality of his earliest and formative years: how his parents met, their absurd wedding ceremony (or lack there of), his mothers mental illness, and his father’s all consuming steadfastness.

There is a poignant scene of visiting his mother in an asylum; a harrowing scene of searching for an aunt with Alzheimer’s who’s slipped away from her hospital ward; and a heartrending episode in a nursing home between mother and son that left this reader gob smacked by the purity of the writing.

There are revelations of family secrets, as well as ribald stories of marital misadventure.

This volume is a precious gift of memories and observations, anecdotes and personal judgments harsh, humorous and unabashedly honest. [*cannibalized from my earlier review].

Feature Film: The Kids Are All Right The Kids Are All Right is a thoroughly entertaining slice-of-life domestic drama about two kids who look up their sperm-donor father, causing cataclysmic changes in the family dynamic. Not a unique premise save that the parents of the kids happen to be lesbians.

The entire cause célèbre for this film is to show straight America how “normal” gay families are and that they shouldn’t be afraid of “gay marriage” or “gay parenting,” thus it doesn’t delve too deep or wander too far off topic. Political film making is a tricky business.

You’ll remember the Tom Hanks drama Philadelphia was maligned by the LGBT activist fringe for all the issues it didn’t address; to which my answer has always been: it’s a two hour film, if you add too many spicy issues you’re left with something unpalatable.

The script and direction by Lisa Cholodenko (High Art) are tight, well focused and only occasionally heavy-handed. Her characters are fresh, while being stereotypically familiar to pre-conditioned movie-goers. These are folks we know, people we work with and/or live in our neighborhood: “normal” people. Is it perfect? No; there an almost fatally flawed plot contrivance that seems only there to provide the filmmaker an all too easy source of conflict.

What elevates the film above the run-of-mill movie-of-the-week domestic drama is the acting. Annette Benning is staggeringly good as the head of her household - the alpha female in this case. Her performance is embarrassingly rich; she presents a myriad of conflicting emotions, each one immediately recognizable, true and never over played. Julianne Moore turns in a lovely portrait of the less-successful, less self-assured partner. Mark Ruffalo is a revelation as a forty-something man finally approaching adulthood; a free-spirit, still capable of making disastrously foolish decisions in his pursuit to find personal fulfillment.

Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson are always on target as the kids, conveying the perfect blend of angst and innocence.

Just as they did with Juno and Little Miss Sunshine, the film community is falling all over themselves hyping this. Like those films, The Kids Are All Right is an entertaining, socially relevant effort and deserving of quantified praise; but don’t be mislead, it’s not Citizen Kane.

Faithfully Speaking BACK TO THE BASICS

By Paul Anway Branching Out Contributor Member, Family Tree Board of Directors I still remember her, Mrs. Cyr, my sixth grade teacher. When I found out that I was going to be in her class, I think I cried because she had a terrible reputation for being really hard. And she was. But she was also one of the best teachers I ever had. She let us have fun when the time was right, but she also challenged us to work hard, to learn and grow. When I graduated from High School, I went back to my old school, looked her up and told her how much I appreciated my year with her.

Life is complicated – sometimes really, really complicated. In the midst of all the drama and chaos it’s easy to get lost, or stuck or both. We loose sight of the things that matter most and soon the complications take over and we have no idea where we are, where we’re going or what’s going on. During times like that, it can be helpful to go back to the basics.

I am really privileged to teach “Faith Space” (aka Sunday School, but WAY better) and this past Sunday we had the kids help sort school supplies that had been donated. It was a very easy job, and they all worked together to get it done. They were excited to be doing something to help others. And that’s one of the basics we need to remember. One of the best remedies for the blues is doing something kind or helpful for someone else.

Don’t believe me? Try it out.

Another basic we need to remember is that hard work isn’t something to be afraid of.

Many (not all) of our problems can be overcome if we first get a vision for a new future with our problem resolved and then we set goals toward making that dream come true.

I never thought I was going to make it through sixth grade, at the time it was the hardest thing I ever did (sure wouldn’t mind having THOSE problems again), but I did it. I worked hard and it paid off.

However, hard work isn’t always the answer. There are some things we just can’t work our way out of, no matter how hard we try. There’s incurable disease, there’s clinical depression, there’s grief, and so many other things. Another basic we need is to realize our limitations and to seek help when we can’t do it alone. We can turn to God through prayer, we can seek out or create a community of faithful people to surround us and sustain us as we go through our ordeal. We can find professionals to help such as a spiritual leader or director, a counselor, chaplain or any “wise practitioner” that meets our need.

Finally, we also need to remember our role models. Each of us has those special people in our life who have made a difference in some way. Maybe it’s a friend of yours who inspires you through the work he or she does in the community. Maybe it’s a coworker who has an open and inclusive heart. Maybe it’s a teacher or a community leader who has shown the way to a better tomorrow.

We can honor these role models in a special way and by-the-way, that’s what this year’s Gayla Awards ceremony is all about. If there is a special person in your life you would like to honor, then go to www.familytreecenter.org and click on the Gayla Award button, fill out the form and then tell your friends to vote for your nominee!

As we see the population of Tallahassee swell with the yearly influx of U-haul trucks that heralds the return of the “students’ we can be reminded of a simpler time in our own lives. We can be called back to the days when we too learned the fundamentals of living.

Those lessons that matter the most will be the ones that sustain us in these complicated times.

DVD: I Love You, Philip Morris I simply couldn’t wait any longer for this film to open in America, so I bought the DVD from AmazonUK (yes, I have a region free DVD player).

Jim Carrey gives a performance worthy of year end award consideration in this funny, absurd and poignant romantic comedy about a gay con-artist. This is the Carrey of The Truman Show, Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine, and he shines in an often challenging role. Ewan MacGregor is equally affecting in the role of Carrey’s love interest.

This is actually one of the best films I’ve seen this year. There are some broad and outrageous moments; this is a comedy after all. However, there are an equal number of lovely, tender moments of romance and passion.

This films American distribution has been thwarted by legal battles. Hopefully it will find its way to theatres soon (or go straight to DVD); when it does, don’t miss it.

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8

11

What’s Happening... this month Community Calendar Compiled by Andy Janecek Branching Out Production Team

September 3, 2010 – 6:00 to 9:00pm COCA’s First Friday Gallery Hop The Gallery Hop is a popular regional event and participating destinations are open from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, some with music and refreshments. As you make your way through Midtown, Downtown and to the southwest corner of town, you’ll gain a special appreciation for the variety and quality of artists and historical offerings in the Capitol City.

Council on Culture and Arts http://www.firstfridaytallahassee.com/ September 6, 2010 – 7:00 to 8:30pm Capital City GLBTA Democratic Caucus General Membership Meeting Join us for a general membership meeting and learn more about Democratic politics in Leon County. The event is open to all interested persons. http://www.ccglbtdems.org/ September 8, 2010 – 6:30 to 9:30pm North Florida Wine & Food Festival’s Evening of Bubbles Hosted by Dedman School of Hospitality at Florida State University. Join us for a night of glitz and glamour featuring champagne and sparkling wines paired with a variety of culinary fare. Dress up in your favorite cocktail attire and mingle with fellow wine enthusiasts while enjoying fine hospitality and a fashion show. Admission is $50 per guest.

University Center Club Grand Ballroom FSU Doak Campbell Stadium, Building B, Tallahassee http://www.winefoodfest.com

October 1, 2010, 8 pm “Bad to Verse – Bring Your Purse!”

Mickee Faust’s almost-annual evening of “Good literature performed badly, or bad literature performed well.” Audience members are encouraged to participate! Get on stage and bring your poems, excerpts from plays, novels, or any weird thing you may come across—the weirder the better! Performers get on stage and deliver their performance, during which audience members shout out “orders” for certain “enhancements.”

Admission is free, but as the title says, “Bring your purse!” Performance “enhancements” cost dough. Cash bar also.

Mickee Faust Clubhouse 607 McDonnell Drive in Railroad Square, Tallahassee (850) 562-RATS; http://www.mickeefaust.com/ October 2, 2010 – 8:00pm to 12:30am 10th Annual Witches’ Ball – “From Transylvania to Fangtasia” Dance to the music of Bedhead Betty at this year’s Witches’ Ball. Clandestine costume contest, food, tarot readers, silent auction and more! A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Tallahassee Museum Animal Exhibits.

Tickets $13 at the door. Discounted tickets available in advance at Crystal Connection, Athena’s Garden, at the FSU Wednesday Market and via our web site.

American Legion Hall 229 Lake Ella Drive, Tallahassee http://www.redhillspagans.org/

September 9, 2010 – 6:00 to 8:00pm PFLAG-Tallahassee Meeting Monthly meeting of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

St. John’s Episcopal Church 211 N. Monroe Street, Tallahassee September 12, 2010 – 3:30pm Cultured Coterie Book Club Join Mixit Tallahassee on the 2nd Sunday of each month for a vivid literary discussion as we explore works about and written by lesbian women of color. The purpose of Cultured Coterie Book Club is to perpetuate kinship between lesbian and bisexual women by providing a sanctuary built upon friendship, support, and pride.

The Oasis Center 317 East Call Street, Tallahassee http://sites.google.com/site/coterieinc/home September 21, 2010 – 7:00 to 9:00pm Tree House Players The Family Tree is introducing a new community group dedicated to promoting performing arts within the LGBT and supportive community. The Tree House Players hope to partner with other local performance organizations to present shows based on existing regional and national productions. The group will provide opportunities for all individuals with an interest in technical production and acting - from beginners to professionals - to take to the stage! The group’s first general interest meeting will be held at 7pm on September 21st at The Family Tree, 5126-C Woodlane Circle, Tallahassee.

For more information, contact Danny Thomas at players@familytreecenter.org.

September 23, 2010 – 6:00 to 9:00pm LeMoynes’s 3rd Annual Art & Soul Celebration Auction Hosted by LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts. This year, Lemoyne has reached into its vault and pulled out an outstanding selection of fine art treasures to sell from its collection of pieces donated over the years from the best collections of appreciative artists and patrons. In what is one of the most anticipated social events in Tallahassee, the Art & Soul Celebration auction is a once in a lifetime opportunity to benefit LeMoyne. This historic event will feature works by celebrated regional artists such as George Milton, Nancy Reid Gunn, and Ralph Hurst, as well as internationally famed artists including Karl Zerbe, Syd Solomon and Alvar. Please join LeMoyne at the Hotel Duval for a chic night of hors d’oeuvres, bidding, and of course- fabulous art!

Admission for members is $75; non-members is $100.

Hotel Duval, Level 8 Lounge 415 North Monroe Street, Tallahassee September 24, 2010 – 5:30 to 9:00pm The Celebration of Women Hosted by The Oasis Center for Women & Girls. Please join us in celebrating the diverse talents of women & girls by attending an event brimming with creativity, fun, and food! Performances by: Acting Up (Scene), Andrea Jones (Monologue), Juliana Baggott (Reading), Lisa Best (Comedy), Rosalind Tompkins (Poetry), STOMP Performance and Thomasville Road Academy of the Arts (Violin). General admission is $35/person or $75 for reserved seating. Registration price includes food and 1 drink ticket. Please come prepared to bid high at our silent auction!

Goodwood Museum & Gardens 1600 Miccosukee Rd., Tallahassee

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 12

BRANCHING OUT

tree

San Francisco Treat

of the

By Steven Hall, Co-Chair Family Tree Community Center

As I write this month’s Co-Chair Corner, I am in San Francisco. I had gotten so excited in the days leading up to my trip because during my trip the ban on same-sex marriages was going to be lifted and I planned on being at City Hall watching the excitement build as 5 p.m. on Wednesday, August 18 arrived. Unfortunately, we all got the sad news last night that the 9th Circuit has issued an indefinite stay on Judge Walker’s decision. There was no celebration in the street; there would not be a celebration on Wednesday either. The people I met and interacted with after hearing about the ruling were all very somber. It was clear that it was indeed a sad day. The only silver lining to the news was that the 9th Circuit indicated the case was being expedited, with oral argument scheduled for early December, rather than sometime in the spring. This would be there could be a decision as early as February or March, instead of September or October. In the two years since Proposition 8 passed, from what I’m hearing and sensing around here, it is widely believed that if the measure was on the ballot this November, the results would be drastically different. I would like to think the same of our situation in Florida. I encourage you to keep up with what’s going on with this case (watch the video of the original trial and see the highlights of the opinion if you haven’t already).

This case could have a true impact on our own bit of discrimination in Florida, even if it’s not heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Looking more locally, August has been a good month for The Family Tree. Once again, we’ve had another successful share event, this time at The Red Elephant. These “share” programs are where a local restaurant designates one day or night during a month as “our night” and anyone mentioning our organization or handing in a flyer, depending on the restaurant, a portion of the proceeds from your meal goes back to The Family Tree as a donation from the restaurant. The Red Elephant, which gives back 15% (before tax and tip), was generous enough to offer the program at both of their locations for both lunch and dinner. Special thanks to Red Elephant for doing this! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you missed out on some fun! Keep an eye on advertisements in Branching Out, and be sure you are on our e-mail list, for information on upcoming share events.

In other news, The Pride Planning Committee is already in gear working on 2011’s events.

As it develops we’ll feature updates in Branching Out. September is gearing up to be a good, and fun, month. We hope to have another Gospel Drag Show at the end of September, plus at least one share event. Looking forward, we will be holding our annual Gayla in October and are trying to plan at least one event for November, not to mention the Holiday Drag Show in December. More information on the Gayla is in this issue, so I won’t go into it further except to say, I hope to see you there!

Finally, I would like to end this month’s Co-Chair article with a bit of GREAT news.

Margeaux Mutz has rejoined our Board of Directors! We are very glad she’s back, but then again she continued to be actively involved with Tree activities after she left the board, so it’s almost like she never left. She also writes the monthly Transgenderscope article and Ask Margeaux for Branching Out, and facilitates the monthly Gender Chat meetings.

Welcome back Margeaux!

tree

BECOME A

FRIEND OF THE

TODAY For a donation of $60 we will send you

The Family Tree has 10x10 tents available for rental.

Rental Fee: $40 Interested?

Call 850-222-8555 or email staff@familytreecenter.org VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8

• Membership Card • Family Tree car magnet and • Family Tree T-Shirt

How does your donation help the community?

• provides funding for programs that educate members of the community • provides support for the youth of our community that are struggling with coming-out and other issues • provides funding for a safe space for people to visit, hang-out and relax • provides support for the publication of Branching Out, Tallahassee’s LGBT Community Newspaper • provides support for the production of Tallahassee PRIDEFEST and many other events all year long “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To find out more, visit www.familytreecenter.org.

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Help the Family Tree while you’re browsing and shopping online!

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

14

City, State, Zip Code

BRANCHING OUT

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

Board Members Co-Chair - Steven Hall, steven@familytreecenter.org

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.

Co-Chair - VACANT POSITION

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.

Secretary/Webmaster - Andy Janecek, andy@familytreecenter.org

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.

Member-at-large - Greta Langley, greta@familytreecenter.org

Sunday Morning Service Every Sun. at 11a.m. at Gentle Shepherd MCC 4738 Thomasville Road. (850) 878-3001.

Member-at-large- Dave Glaze, dave@familytreecenter.org

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

Marcy or Rebecca, (850) 878-8997 Family Tree Board Meeting Second Monday of every month at 6:30 5126-C Woodlane Circle Gender Chat Second Tuesdays. 7:30p.m. Location TBA. E-mail for details.

Margeaux.mutz@comcast.net Women’s Chat Wednesdays, 7-8:30p.m.

Location TBA Patrice Brown, partrician1@aol.com PFLAG - Tallahassee 2nd Thursday of each month - 6pm St. John’s Episcopal Church 211 North Monroe Street Contact: Susan Gage, 850-597-2374 Beanstalk Ministries Sunday service at 6p.m.

850-766-3542

Treasurer - Debbi Baldwin, debbi@familytreecenter.org

Member-at-large - Paul Anway, paul@familytreecenter.org

Member-at-large - Christy Baldwin, christy@familytreecenter.org

Member-at-large - Margeaux Mutz, margeaux@familytreecenter.org

Community Resource Directory

Community Organizations •

•

•

•

•

• • • • •

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 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 Nichiren Buddhism (contact Carol)....................................................................878-8467 Quaker Meeting.......................................................................................................878-3620 St. Catherine of Siena (Catholic)..........................................................................421-0447 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 8

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October 22, 2010 Monroe Street Conference Center 2714 Graves Road (Former Marie Livingston’s)

Cocktails at 6PM • Dinner at 7PM • Awards to Follow $40 Single • $240 Table of Eight • $210 Table of Six Tallahassee LGBT Community Choice Awards Celebrate those members of our community who have had a positive impact by nominating and voting for your favorites.

www.fa milytr eecenter.or g To purchase tickets or reserve a table visit www.familytreecenter.org or call (850) 787-2555.

Tables must reserved and paid in advance by October 18 TH .

Follow us o n facebook: Th e Fa m ily T ree: LG B T Co mmunity C enter

Celebrate life behind and beyond the mask!

Create your own mask or purchase at the door.

Formal or Semi-Formal Attire Requested