Gay City News, May 8, 2013 by Schneps Media

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May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

COVER STORY

THEATER

HEALTH

PERSPECTIVE

NYS bill filed to ban “conversion therapy”

Missing the meningitis message; Mayor’s race gets complicated

POLITICS

Papi & Mommie Dearest

ENDA’s troubling carve-outs

IN THE NOH

5 8 GFiat WOF 4C GCN 5/3/13 11:29 AM Page 1 Cover Illustration by Michael Shirey

26 - 27

ADVOCACY

The impact of Jason Collins coming out

“The Duberman Reader”: a lifetime of essential writings

Christine Baranski’s timing

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| May 8, 2013

COMMUNITY

Did the Kick Get Anything Started? YouTube videographer raises $176K for gay rights doc, but some crowdfunders now squawking n early January of 2012, Ryan James Yezak launched a film project on kickstarter.com, the crowdfunding website. The feature-length documentary, “Second Class Citizens,” would take “an all-encompassing look at discrimination based on sexual orientation,” according to a website he has since established. The Los Angeles resident borrowed seven minutes of footage from various documentaries and news reports spanning decades. He set it to “The First Days of Spring,” a song by Noah and the Whale, and posted that promotional video on YouTube. It eventually received nearly three million views and was picked up by gay blogs, including towleroad.com and joemygod.blogspot.com. While Yezak said he needed $50,000 to fund “Second Class Citizens,” a small figure for a feature-length documentary, by March 9 of last year he had raised more than $176,000 from 4,272 backers. Most of the backers gave $100 or less. After Kickstarter took its five percent fee and some pledged funds did not clear, Yezak had $153,000, he told Gay City News. Just over two months later, complaints began to appear on Kickstarter. Backers said they were not getting updates. Yezak posted three Kickstarter updates over 14 months, with the most recent on May 6 of this year and the prior one coming in July 2012. He responded to some complaints in the website’s comments section. Other backers said they had not received gifts they were promised for their support. It generally appeared Yezak was making little progress on the documentary. “There are a lot of people involved, and I’m not going to be able to please all of them,” Yezak said. “I’m doing the best I can... It’s my life, and I’m working very hard to do it.” Production began in July of 2012, and he shot footage with Eric Jones, an Eagle Scout who was fired from his job as a Boy Scout camp counselor after disclosing that he was gay. Talking to Gay City News, Yezak named roughly a half-dozen other subjects who have been interviewed. “There’ve been multiple subjects from around the country,” Yezak said. He expressed frustration that he has been unable to interview others, such as Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging part of the Defense of Marriage Act that is before the US Supreme Court, and Chad Griffin, president of the

2NDCLASSCAMPAIGN.COM

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE

Ryan James Yezak turned to Kickstarter to fund a featurelength documentary taking “an all-encompassing look at discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay lobby. “We’ve shot a lot of footage,” Yezak said. “There’ve been multiple trips across multiple states. I don’t have exact numbers.” Of the $153,000, “about a third is left,” Yezak said. The money was spent on equipment, travel, crew compensation, and producer consulting fees. Yezak paid himself “a very small stipend” of $5,000. The tentative production completion date is October of this year with a “January 2014 premiere.” Those dates may change. Yezak has launched a campaign to promote and raise more funds for the documentary by traveling to cities in California, Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania, where he charged people interested in being photographed wearing black shirts with their wrists bound with an American flag. He has a planned shoot in Colorado in June. Yezak gets $20 for an individual photo and $25 for a group shot. According to his Linkedin.com page, Yezak has held low-level jobs at several production companies, including MTV Networks, since 2009. He has posted roughly a dozen videos on his YouTube channel. And he raised $7,600 on Kickstarter in 2011 to successfully produce a music video. Kickstarter is probably the best known

KICKSTARTER, continued on p.30

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

HEALTH

Glick, Hoylman File Bill to Ban “Conversion Therapy” Local gay activist who suffered electroshock treatments was an impetus to action in NYS BY ANDY HUMM

hile California’s 2012 first-in-the-nation law to ban therapists from trying to turn gay minors into heterosexuals is being challenged in federal court, similar legislation was just introduced in the New York State Legislature — though without the backing of a strong coalition of LGBT and mental health groups. Its prospects in Albany are uncertain, sponsors said, but they wanted to get the ball rolling. The bill, introduced by two West Side Democrats — out lesbian Assemblywoman Deborah Glick on April 29 and out gay Senator Brad Hoylman on May 1 — prohibits “mental health professionals from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with a patient under the age of eighteen years.” If found to have engaged in what the bill defines as “professional misconduct,” therapists in violation could lose their licenses. Glick heads the Higher Education Committee, to which her bill was referred, and said, “I have a relatively good feeling about it getting out of committee,” though it might have to go next to the Codes Committee “since it deals with a sanction.” She added ruefully, “Lots of things go to Codes to die.” Glick said she was motivated by the plight of homeless gay youth who are expelled by their families. “We want to ensure that young people aren’t given negative messages that undermine their self-esteem,” she explained. The justification section of the bill says that “being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not a disease, disorder, illness, deficiency, or shortcoming” and that the mental health establishment has “recognized this fact for nearly forty years.” It cites the many professional associations that have condemned “reparative” or “conversion” therapies as “dangerous” treatments. The Empire State Pride Agenda did not have this bill on its list of priorities at its annual lobby day on April 30 in Albany, but Hoylman said he spoke about it in his speech to activists gathered there that day. George Simpson, ESPA’s communications manager, did not make anyone from the group available to discuss the legislation and whether they will get behind it, but wrote in an email, “We support efforts to ban the abuse of minors under the fraudulent promise of ‘curing’ them.” The bill was not introduced with a press conference or gathering of LGBT

and mental health profession backers. “I have learned that if you wait for the macro strategists on whether to proceed or not, nothing will happen,.” Hoylman said. “A lot of people said that Mary Bonauto [of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders] should not have filed the marriage case” in Massachusetts that emerged victorious in 2003. Asked about the pending court case in California and how it might impact the New York bill, Glick said, “We don’t sit on our hands waiting to see what happens somewhere else. If as a result of that case there is some language that would mitigate a negative response, we would look at it. I am not in the business of predicting failure.” She said that she has “gotten some positive responses from different [mental health] associations,” but doesn’t have a timeline for getting the bill done. “We have to do some consciousnessraising,” Glick said. Dr. Jack Drescher, a prominent New York out gay psychiatrist, told Gay City News he “wasn’t consulted” before the bill was introduced. While he has led efforts at the American Psychiatric Association to study and curb conversion therapy, he voiced misgivings about the California bill in comments to the newspaper in October. “The law makes people feel good,” he wrote in an email at that time, “but doesn’t solve problems of unlicensed therapists who do this. And I’m not sure it is constitutional. If it gets overturned it will be a victory for anti-gay organizations. It will be a setback for the public in education about the harm of ‘conversion therapy.’” When the California law was challenged in court, however, Drescher filed an amicus brief defending it and is testifying on May 15 before the New Jersey Assembly in favor a similar bill. (Massachusetts is the other state considering a ban.) He continues to express some qualms about the potential for backlash. “Despite the problems, a decision by the court that the California law is unconstitutional would be a public relations debacle,” validating the therapy and emboldening its practitioners on the religious right, he said. But Drescher is now persuaded that these laws can help. “If you’re a person looking into the therapy from a curious position, you’ll see it is outlawed and that could have an inhibitory effect,” he said. He supports the effort Glick and Hoylman are waging in New York. Dr. George Weinberg, author of

State Senator Brad Hoylman said his thinking on conversion therapy was shaped by input from a constituent, Dean Dafis (above), who suffered through it as a teenager.

the groundbreaking “Society and the Healthy Homosexual” in 1972, is a strong supporter of the ban on the practice. “I think of reparative therapists as social orthodontists,” he told Gay City News. “They want people to be all the same — straight, white, and interchangeable. The narrower their definition of health, the more needed they are.” Hoylman said he got involved in the issue through “a constituent who had been subjected to conversion therapy and is now out and proud.” That constituent, Dean Dafis, 43, an attorney and marriage equality activist in New York, referred Hoylman to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been active in fighting the discredited therapy. “When I came out to my family — from a pious Greek Orthodox culture — around age 12, they had a hard time with it and hoped it would go away,” Dafis told Gay City News. They sent him to a family counseling and Christian group in Philadelphia. “This guy claimed he could convert homosexuals depending on where they fell on the spectrum of homosexuality, and after a few conversations he felt I was a good candidate,” Dafis recalled. “At times it was benign talk so he could get me to trust him, but at times it got harmful. Electroshock was part of it, and my family said they were willing to try it. It also consisted of how to act like a man, speak like one, and increase masculinity by working out, going to the gym more

often, having a girlfriend. I didn’t even know what being gay meant at the time and I didn’t quite understand my sexual fantasies.” Dafis was shown pornographic images of men and received shocks "when it was clear I was stimulated by the images," he said, explaining, "The idea was to nurture my brain to associate this as a bad thing so that eventually I would suppress any such desires.” The shocks, Dafis asserted, were not physically harmful, but he said, "I became emotionally and psychologically damaged for years after, very insecure not just about my sexuality or masculinity but generally very lost as to who I was or who I could be as a person in society. I even went to the great length several years later of getting married to a woman in order to deny my truth.” Dafis said that when he went home crying from the electroshock treatment, “that part stopped,” but the overall therapy continued for two years “and eventually I said I wouldn’t go anymore. My family relationship deteriorated.” He left home at 14. “I bummed around, spending a week here and a week there with friends,” he said. “I went home six months later and engaged in very self-destructive behavior, and I was very rebellious against everyone. My parents took me and my younger brother back to Greece.” Dafis finished high school there and returned to the United States five or six years later, eventually becoming an attorney and gay activist with Marriage Equality New York (now Marriage Equality USA). “Conversion therapy sounds innocuous,” Dafis said. “Embedded in it is the idea that you can change something that is not good. I was very fortunate. I was strong enough to get through it, but there were lots of moments where I considered suicide. I told the therapist, and he said that that was ‘drastic’ and asked, ‘Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?’ And I said, ‘Yes, stop this.’ I left at that point.” Dafis thinks the legislation is “a nobrainer” and that conversion therapy should also be banned from being practiced on adults. But Hoylman said, “We feel that the age of consent is 18, and that seems like a natural point when people can make up their own minds” about whether to subject themselves to such treatment. The California law, which has gotten contradictory rulings from two federal judges, was heard by a three-judge

CONVERSION THERAPY, continued on p.30

| May 8, 2013

LEGAL

Fed Employee Grievance Ruling Dings DOMA, Oregon Marriage Ban Ninth Circuit judge’s opinion found federal recognition must apply to married couples nationwide BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD

federal appeals court judge, hearing a grievance case brought by a US public defender, has ruled she is entitled to coverage for her same-sex spouse under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. In an April 24 decision, Judge Harry Pregerson, ruling on a claim brought by attorney Alison Clark, found that Oregon’s Measure 36, the 2004 ballot initiative that bans recognition of samesex marriages in that state, violates the 14th Amendment, and he made a similar finding regarding the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act’s bar on federal recognition of such unions. The federal government, Pregerson ruled, must recognize Clark’s samesex marriage, even though she and her spouse live in a state where that marriage might not be recognized. A few weeks after Clark’s marriage to Anna Campbell in British Columbia last June, she applied for spousal benefits. The Administrative Office of the Federal Courts rejected the application, citing DOMA, and also finding that the Clark-Campbell marriage is not valid in their home state of Oregon. Clark filed a grievance, arguing that the federal benefit plan lists sexual orientation as a prohibited ground for discrimination and that her the Fifth Amendment equal protection and due process rights were also violated. Clark’s complaint ended up before a committee Pregerson chairs, and his opinion is consistent with rulings in two prior Ninth Circuit cases presenting similar facts — though regarding 2008 California marriages and not ones from Canada. “The only reason Clark was unable to make her spouse a beneficiary under the FEHB program was that, as a homosexual, she had a same-sex spouse,” Pregerson wrote, in finding that the denial of benefits was sexual orientation discrimination at odds with the plan’s provisions. The judge next considered whether Oregon could refuse to recognize the marriage. Before Measure 36 was passed, he observed, “Oregon law did not expressly limit marriage as between a man and a woman,” though state courts construed that limitation as existing. Measure 36 made the

limitation explicit, and though Pregerson felt the amendment should be subjected to the most rigorous form of judicial scrutiny, he concluded that it would not even stand up to the most deferential form of review. He noted that the 1996 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Colorado’s Amendment 2, which barred jurisdictions there from enacting gay rights protections, found that “a classification treating homosexual individuals differently from heterosexual individuals cannot rationally be justified by the government’s animus towards homosexuality… Here, Oregon does not state any reason for preventing same-sex couples from marrying.” None of the purported state interests were “rationally related to prohibiting same-sex marriages,” Pregerson found. The judge made short work of arguments based on the need to encourage “responsible procreation” by heterosexuals, the superiority of oppositesex couples in creating “stable and enduring families for raising children,” and the wisdom of “proceeding with caution in changing a basic social institution.” Pregerson concluded, “I can see no objective that is rationally related to banning same-sex marriages, other than the objective of denigrating homosexual relationships” — something not permitted under the high court’s 1996 Colorado ruling. The implication, though not explicitly stated by the judge, is that Clark and Campbell’s marriage would be entitled to recognition in Oregon as a matter of equal protection. Analyzing Clark’s alternative due process claim, Pregerson applied strict judicial scrutiny to the Oregon Amendment since Supreme Court precedents hold that the right to marry is fundamental. Here again, though, he concluded that Measure 36 flunks even the more lenient rational basis test. Based on his conclusion that Clark and Campbell have a valid marriage, Pregerson then found that the federal government cannot constitutionally deny Clark’s application for spousal benefits. None of the “three rationales” for DOMA’s section 3 — the provision denying federal recognition — identi-

DOMA, continued on p.10

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May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

POLITICS

Legal Advocates Voice Concerns About ENDA Religious Carve-Outs BY DUNCAN OSBORNE

hile the introduction of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in Congress in late April was greeted with cheers by many, four legal groups said that the bill’s religious exemption was an invitation to some employers to discriminate against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. ENDA would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment. If enacted, the bar would apply to businesses with 15 or more employees, labor unions, employment and training agencies, and state and federal employers except for the armed forces. One section exempts religious organizations — a legal term that does not have an agreed-upon definition in the federal courts — from ENDA’s provisions. The bill refers to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to define that exemption. Among its provisions, the 1964 act banned discrimination in employment, schools, and public accommodations based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. While churches, mosques, temples, and similar institutions are generally considered exempt from anti-discrimination provisions under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, entities that have a religious nature

or affiliation, such as a Roman Catholic hospital or a Baptist university, may be exempted from the ban on religious discrimination so they can hire those who share their religious views. ENDA’s language, the groups argued, goes further and exempts such affiliated organizations entirely from its provisions. “If you have the right to prefer certain members of your own religion, then under Title VII’s exemption, you have the right to be free from any claim of sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination under ENDA,” said Greg Nevins, an attorney at Lambda Legal. “What ENDA would allow them to do is discriminate on a basis other than religion, which would be new.” Nevins said that there is “quite a division in the courts” about how to define an exempt religious organization. The gay rights law firm joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and the Transgender Law Center in raising this concern in an April 25 statement. ENDA was introduced in the House with 161 sponsors, including three Republicans. In the Senate, the bill had five sponsors, including two Republicans. Given that Republicans currently control the House, ENDA is unlikely to get a vote. The religious exemption issue was raised in 2007, but the discussion over ENDA that year was consumed

POLISFORCONGRESS.COM

Lambda, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Transgender Law Center, ACLU Warn of Inviting Discrimination

Congressman Jared Polis, an out gay Colorado Democrat, is the lead ENDA sponsor in the House of Representatives.

by the acrimony over excluding gender identity as a protected class. “It was brought up in 2007,” Nevins said. “I don’t know if it was brought up since then.” The 2007 version also allowed companies to give employee benefits to the married spouses of their heterosexual employees and deny those same benefits to the married spouses of their gay

and lesbian employees. The 2007 version cited the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to define marriage. That language, which was added to buy the neutrality of major business lobbies, is not in the 2013 bill. “There were some things in prior legislation in prior Congresses that were improved,” Nevins said, and then, referring to the religious exemption, added, “This wasn’t one of them.” Jared Polis, an openly gay Colorado Democrat, is ENDA’s lead sponsor in the House. “I am proud to have worked with the Senate co-sponsors and Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on a bi-partisan and bi-cameral bill, which gives us a better shot at moving the Employment Non-Discrimination Act forward,” he said in a statement. “There were several improvements that I was pleased were included in both the Senate and House language, including the removal of discriminatory language restating the Defense of Marriage Act and a different approach to shared facilities that better reflects successful approaches under state law and respects the rights of transgender individuals. The bill’s religious exemption has not changed. Like last Congress, the bill includes a broad religious exemption. As we move forward, we will continue to strengthen the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in both the Senate and the House.”

LEGAL

Big Win for Lesbian Parents in Iowa High court rules presumption mother's husband a parent invalid if not extended to same-sex spouses BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD

he Iowa Supreme Court ruled on May 3 that a state law providing that the husband of a married woman who gives birth to a child is the presumptive father is unconstitutional to the extent that it doesn’t provide the same presumption of par entage for married lesbian couples. The high court rejected a lower court interpretation the existing statute allows for that presumption of par-

entage, but affirmed the lower court’s ruling based on its conclusion the law is unconstitutional. The ruling, however, also points up the lingering impact of a 2010 statewide election in which three members of the Iowa Supreme Court, facing what are typically routine retention votes required to stay on the bench, lost their seats in the wake of the court’s unanimous decision a year before granting marriage rights to same-sex couples. Melissa and Heather Gartner, a couple since 2003, had a commit-

ment ceremony three years later and decided to have children together. After Heather gave birth to a child conceived through donor insemination, they went through a second-parent adoption ceremony and obtained a substitute birth certificate showing both women as parents of the child. Heather was pregnant with a second child using the same anonymous donor when the Supreme Court issued its marriage ruling. After the child was born, the couple applied for a birth certificate showing both women as parents, on the assumption that a

child born to a married woman would also be deemed the child of the mother’s same-sex spouse. But the State Health Department listed only Heather and insisted that if Melissa wanted to be listed she would have to go through an adoption proceeding. Polk County District Judge Eliza J. Ovrom ruled in favor of the Gartners by construing two existing state laws to require it. First, she cited the requirement that a husband presumptively be listed on the birth certificate

IOWA, continued on p.10

| May 8, 2013

POLITICS

LGBT Advocates Wary as Senate Immigration Mark-Up Begins BY PAUL SCHINDLER

s d e b a t e o v e r immigration reform moves center stage in the US Senate — with the Judiciary Committee beginning mark-up this week of a comprehensive bill developed by a bipartisan gr oup dubbed the Gang of Eight — advocates for couples in which one member is not an American citizen remain concer ned they could be left out of the legislation as it moves forward. More than 50 binational same-sex families descended on Capitol Hill the last week of April for visits with 150 members of Congress, and in the wake of that lobbying one top advocate voiced strong concern. “I was troubled to hear some Democrats sound hesitant about LGBT inclusion,” said Rachel T iven, the executive director of Immigration Equality, which works on issues facing LGBT and HIV-af fected immigrants. “I think we have to ask a question of the Democrats who have been — especially of Democrats, who have been tripping over each other to espouse their support for marriage equality. When actual legislation is on the table, are they abandoning LGBT families?” The Gang of Eight’s bill as crafted in advance of the Judiciary Committee hearings failed to incorporate the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would allow American citizens to bring their same-sex partners into the US on the same-terms that enable opposite-sex married spouses to gain permanent residency and citizenship. That legislation was originated by West Side Democratic Congressman Jerrold Nadler and is sponsored in the Senate by Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, after having initially been introduced by New York Senator Chuck Schumer. Nadler has consistently pressed for UAFA to be part of immigration legislation — and has the support of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on that point. When it became clear it would not be in the legislation coming out of the Gang of Eight, he said Leahy’s support for UAFA as Judiciary chair provided a firewall against efforts to exclude same-sex couples. On May 7 — the deadline for filing amendments to be considered by the committee — Leahy offered one incorporating UAFA’s language into the

Gang of Eight bill. Still, advocates remain nervous about the success of Leahy’s effort. For Tiven, the situation confronts Democrats — who hold a 10-8 majority on the Judiciary Committee — with the challenge of proving that their unanimous endorsement of equal rights for same-sex couples is not merely “lip service.” Voicing support for gay and lesbian couples, she said, “is hollow if when push comes to shove you are not going to push for legislation.” Despite the fact that Schumer, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, claims credit for originating UAFA in the Senate, he is one of the key players Immigration Equality and others worry about. Ticking off senators she is watching carefully, Tiven said, “I am likewise concerned about Senator Schumer. Chuck Schumer has looked LGBT families in the eye and said he is committed to seeing Uniting American Families as part of the bill. He has asked for patience and he has gotten it. They want to know that he is with them and they don’t want to hear that his support is shaky. He has told families that Chairman Leahy will offer the amendment and he will support it.” Emphasizing that advocates reject the notion that adding UAFA to the immigration bill would weaken it politically, she added, about Schumer, “We want him to say to his colleagues on both sides of the aisle what we believe to be true — that including LGBT families will strengthen immigration reform.” As he has done consistently since January, Schumer reiterated his commitment to UAFA in April 26 comments to Gay City News. “I believe strongly in UAFA and I’m going to do everything I can to get it into the bill,” he said. Schumer declined to speculate on how that might be accomplished and, specifically, if an amendment in committee was the right way to go. He made no promise or prediction of success for those pushing UAFA. Schumer was among the Gang of Eight, and UAFA was missing from its efforts from its first legislative outline released late in January. When President Barack Obama issued his own priorities for immigration reform a day later and included relief for samesex binational couples, Arizona Senator John McCain, another Gang of Eight member, immediately respond-

MICHAEL LUONGO

Binational couple seeking relief focus on reluctant Democrats, plan demo at Schumer’s Midtown office

Senator Chuck Schumer in the 2012 LGBT Pride Parade in Manhattan.

ed that incorporating UAFA raised a “red flag.” His fellow Republican Gang member, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was so put off by the president’s proposal that he struggled to make a coherent critique, saying, “Why don’t we just put legalized abortion in there and round it all out?” This week McCain and Graham remained hostile to efforts for including same-sex couples in immigration reform. According to Politico.com, the Arizona Republican, on May 6, told reporters, “I’ll do everything in my power to see that it’s not there,” though he did not say definitively he would withdraw support for the reform bill if UAFA were added. Graham, however, said flatly, “It’ll kill the bill.” Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and a key member of the Gang of Eight in shaping the reform pack-

age, has been signaling for weeks his concern that GOP members of the House will push back against even the version of reform he, McCain, and Graham have endorsed. Such talk is widely seen as part of an effort to scare of f any Democratic thought about liberalizing the bill in the Judiciary Committee. It is not clear that Democrats are yet ready — or will ever be — to call the GOP’s bluff. Another Judiciary Committee Democrat whom T iven had raised concerns about — California’s Dianne Feinstein — this week signaled she is prepared to support relief for samesex couples, even if not UAFA itself. Feinstein, who is the lead sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Mar riage Act (DOMA) — the 1996 law that stands in the way of equal treatment of immigrant same-sex partners — has never signed on to UAFA, even as a stand-alone measure. When queried by Gay City News several weeks ago, her of fice did not respond, but in comments May 6, according to Politico, Feinstein explained she was not comfortable with what she sees as UAFA’s loose definition of who would qualify as a permanent same-sex partner of an American citizen. She endorsed an alter native amendment to Leahy’s preferred option, requiring any binational couple seeking permanent residency for an immigrant partner to travel to one of the 11 states where they can legally marry. Leahy filed that amendment on May 7, as well. Even with a pro-marriage equality majority on the Judiciary Commit-

IMMIGRATION, continued on p.10

DELAWARE, RHODE ISLAND ADOPT MARRIAGE EQUALITY Democratic Governor Jack Markell, on May 7, made Delaware the 11th state to allow same-sex couples to marry when he signed legislation the State Senate approved earlier in the day on a 12-9 vote. In her remarks in favor of the bill, Senator Karen Peterson, a Stanton Democrat, came out as a lesbian and told her colleagues, “If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, you need to work on your marriage.” The Delaware House of Representatives passed the bill on April 23 by a 23-18 margin It was just last week that Rhode Island

became the last of the six New England states to enact gay marriage. There, the House of Representatives, in a 56-15 vote, gave final approval to the Senate’s amended language of a bill the House had originally passed earlier this year. The Senate okayed the bill on April 24, by a 26-12 margin. Governor Lincoln Chafee, an Independent, signed the legislation, sponsored in the Senate by out lesbian Senator Donna Nesselbush, a Pawtucket Democrat, and championed in the House by out gay Speaker Gordon D. Fox, a Democrat from Providence. — Paul Schindler

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

BY PAUL SCHINDLER

’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” So began Jason Collins’ cover essay in the May 6 issue of Sports Illustrated, in which he became the first player in what are considered the four major North American male professional leagues — the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League — to come out as gay while still an active player. An All-American in his days at Stanford University, Collins, since 2001, has played professional ball for the Nets, while they were still in New Jersey, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks, the Boston Celtics, and the Washington Wizards. But, he is also currently a free agent, with his future in the NBA uncertain. He’s had a career lasting more than a decade in the league — and made more than $30 million in the process — but has never been a star, averaging less than seven points a game in every season, and just a fraction of that in the past half-dozen. At seven feet, Collins is, according to USA Today sportswriter Jeff Zillgitt, a tall player “in a league short on big men,” whose “defense has allowed him to stick around.” With plenty of stories about his coming out beginning with some variation on the line, “Who is Jason Collins?,” a fair question to ask is how much impact his example will have on the image of gays in professional sports. At the other end of the spectrum, some have questioned why Collins’ action has generated so much attention after decades of other athletes — like swimmer Greg Louganis and boxer Orlando Cruz in individual sports and women such as tennis legend Billie Jean King and three-time WNBA most valuable player Sheryl Swoopes — doing exactly the same thing. Neither of those questions, however, diminishes the overwhelmingly positive media sensation Collins created by going public in Sports Illustrated. As with the early years of the debate about gays in the military, discussions of team athletes coming out have often devolved into snickering about how teammates would feel about sharing a shower room with them. The Wizards quickly put that to rest.

“We are extremely proud of Jason and support his decision to live his life proudly and openly,” Ernie Grunfeld, the team’s president, said in a written statement. “He has been a leader on and off the court and an outstanding teammate throughout his NBA career. Those qualities will continue to serve him both as a player and as a positive role model for others of all sexual orientations.” His teammates took to the Twittersphere to add their support. Bradley Beal, a 19-year-old rookie drafted third overall in last year’s NBA draft, wrote, “Proud of @jasoncollins34 for expressing his feelings! Great teammate, mentor and better person !!” Jan Veselý, picked sixth in the 2011 draft by the Wizards, tweeted, “I appreciate you for coming out. I am sure it takes a lot of courage to do so. I am proud of you. Great teammate!” The league itself also acted quickly to support Collins, with David Stern, the commissioner, issuing a statement saying, “Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue.” And some of the NBA’s biggest stars, as well, rallied to Collins’ side. Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, tweeted, “Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others #courage #support.” Nike, with whom Collins has an endorsement deal, challenged a longstanding assumption that a gay player would have problems with corporate sponsorship. “Jason is a Nike athlete,” it said in a release. “We are a company committed to diversity and inclusion.” Politicians got in on the act, too. President Barack Obama phoned him hours after the Sports Illustrated story went live online. The White House said the president wanted to “express his support” and tell Collins “he was impressed by his courage.” Former President Bill Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea was at Stanford with Collins, tweeted, “I’m proud to call Jason Collins a friend. http://wjcf.co/154piCi.” In his Sports Illustrated essay, Collins wrote that when he came out last year to his twin Jarron, who also played in the NBA, his brother was “astounded,” but quickly adjusted to the news. Jarron, also writing in the magazine, said, “I’ve never been more proud of him.”

TIME, INC.

The Impact of Jason Collins Coming Out

The cover of the May 6 Sports Illustrated.

To be sure, not all of the reaction was positive. Chris Broussard, a commentator on ESPN, took out after Collins for his expression of Christian faith in the Sports Illustrated piece — even as he sat across from with his out gay ESPN colleague LZ Granderson. “Personally I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly premarital sex between heterosexuals,” Broussard said. ”If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, the Bible says you know them by their fruits, it says that’s a sin… I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian.” The sports world, however, has in recent years become a less hospitable place for open expressions of homophobia. When cornerback Chris Culliver said that if any of his teammates were gay "they gotta get up outta here” in the days leading up to his San Francisco 49ers playing in this year’s Super Bowl, he was immediately forced to backtrack. “The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel,” Culliver said. Straight pro football players Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings and Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens snagged a good deal of favorable comment over the past year for their outspoken support for the LGBT community and the right of same-sex couples to marry — even if both now hint that their advocacy led to their post-season release

by their respective teams. The sense that professional sports could for some time have been pushed to allow more space for players to be themselves has led some in the gay community to question how laudatory Collins’ move was. “Did Collins have to wait until his career might be over?,” asked Josh Barro, writing on Bloomberg View. Noting that Collins’ career playing basketball goes back two decades to his time in high school, Barro argued he squandered his chance to have greater and earlier impact — and that other bigger names who remain in the closet simply aren’t stepping up as they should. “A main reason professional sports (especially male team sports) have remained a bastion of homophobia is that gay players have failed to show leadership by coming out and insisting on acceptance,” he wrote. “By coming out, Collins is fulfilling an obligation to lead — belatedly.” Ayanbadejo made headlines earlier this year when he said that four NFL players are preparing to come out — a prediction he has since pulled back from. Responding to Ayanbadejo’s flip flop, Wade Davis, an out gay former NFL player who now works at New York’s Hetrick-Martin Institute serving LGBT youth, told OutSports.com, “The problem is that you have straight people speaking on the behalf of these closeted gay athletes, instead of letting the gay athletes speak for themselves.” Dating back nearly four decades, some LGBT athletes have been speaking for themselves. In was in 1977 that Dr. Renée Richards won a ruling from New York’s highest court enabling her to play tennis as a woman in the US Open two years after undergoing gender reassignment surgery. A 1981 palimony suit forced tennis great Billie Jean King to acknowledge that she is a lesbian. That was the same year that a younger tennis star, Martina Navratilova, also came out. A host of WNBA players have come out — most famously, Sheryl Swoopes of the Houston Comets in 2005, and most recently, Phoenix Mercury rookie Brittney Griner. Star male athletes coming out have been few and far between, though in a sport that is arguably the most imbued with macho overtones, Orlando Cruz, a Puerto Rican boxer who is currently ranked number four among featherweights by the World Boxing Organization, made headlines late last

COLLINS, continued on p.30

| May 8, 2013

WeddingPrideDirectory Celebrating gay anD lesbian marriage

ATTORNEYS Ron L. Meyers, Esq.

515 Madison Ave. in New York, (212) 644–8787, ronmeyerslaw.com Ron L. Meyers is a leading practitioner of estate planning for LGBT clients. He was a major source for the New York Times’s October, 2009 feature, “The Higher Lifetime Costs of Being a Gay Couple.”

Rumbold & Seidelman, LLP

116 Kraft Ave. Ste. 3 in Bronxville, (914) 779–1050, www.adoptionlawny.com Rumbold & Seidelman has a long history of representing the LGBT community — whether through adoption or some form of collaborative reproduction.

AUTOMOTIVE Bay Ridge Subaru

1819 Cropsey Ave. in Brooklyn, (718) 234–7960, www.brooklynsubarudeals.com Visit Bay Ridge Subaru for a new or used Subaru Forester, Outback, or Tribeca. It supports same-sex couples.

Ford Lincoln of Queens

39-48 Queens Blvd. in Queens , (718) 657–8888, fordlincolnofqueens.com Leave your wedding in style in a new 2013Ford Fusion Hybrid!

Habberstad BMW

945 E Jericho Tpke. in Huntington Station, (631) 271–7177, www.habberstadbmw.com Proud supporters of the LGBT community — especially if they have a taste for luxury!

CEREMONY SITES Park Avenue Christian Church

East 85th Ave. in New York, (212) 288–3246, parkavenuechristian.com The historic building has Tiffany stained-glass windows and a 56-rank Holtkamp organ that fills hearts with the glory of music.

The Riverside Church

490 Riverside Dr. in New York, (212) 870–6802, www.theriversidechurchny.org Exchange vows where Presidents and some of the most historic figures of our time have stood then finish your perfect day in one of its event halls.

St John’s Lutheran Church

81 Christopher St. in New York, (212) 242–5737, www.stjohnsnyc.org In the heart of the West Village, St John’s Lutheran Church and Rev. Mark E. Erson, Pastor, openly accepts same-sex couples.

ENTERTAINMENT M B Sound Productions Entertainment

3034 Merrick Rd. in Long Island, (516) 322–1745, www.mbsoundproductions.com MB Sound Productions & Entertainment is a professional, high tech, well equipped, and mobile DJ entertainment company servicing the tri-state area.

Metropolitan Klezmer

(212) 475–4544, www.metropolitanklezmer.com Established in 1994, Metropolitan Klezmer brings eclectic entertainment to every event by performing vibrant versions of, trance, folk, swing, and tango styles.

FAVORS

him, her, and them. Surf through its site to quickly discover just the right thing.

your source for exquisite adornments.

FERTILITY

608 Fifth Ave. in New York, (212) 751–3940, www.weddingrings.com This Fifth Avenue jeweler has been manufacturing wedding and engagement rings since 1953. It offers an unusual assortment of its own vintage-influenced designs and classical rings.

Genesis Fertility and Reproductive Medicine

Multiple locations, Genesisfertility.com, (718) 283–8600 Genesis Fertility & Reproductive Medicine is a nationally recognized center of excellence for comprehensive fertility services.

FLORISTS Fleurs Bella

55 E 11th St. in New York, (646) 602–7036, www.fleursbella.com Fleurs Bella creates unique, floral designs, from the smallest flower arrangement to the most lavish event decor. The team at Fleurs Bella will capture the essence of your vision.

FINANCIAL COUNSELING Prymar Associates

917 Fulton St. in Brooklyn, (718) 789–7900 Prymar Associates is a one-stop destination for event needs, financial consulting, and investment guidance. Operating for 15 years, Prymar can arrange weddings and birthdays of any size.

HEALTH & BEAUTY Bay Ridge Skin & Cancer Dermatology

9921 Fourth Ave. in Brooklyn, (718) 833–2793, www.bayridgederm.com Put your best face forward with the help of David Biro, who was voted one of “New York Magazine’s” best doctors. The medical office offers Botox, microdermabrasion, and laser hair removal.

Emergency Medical Care

200 Chambers St. in New York, (212) 962–6600, www.emcny.com Emergency Medical Care is a gay-friendly healthcare practice and an efficient and compassionate urgent care concept. It is a healthcare practice dedicated to better, timely medicine.

Dr. Kate Brayman, DDS: Cosmetic & General Dentistry

44 W. 10th St., Ste. 1A in New York, (212) 505–0295, www.westvillagesmile.com Contact Dr. Kate Brayman for a great smile. Her office provides teeth whitening and porcelain veneers. Look your best on your big day and call Dr. Brayman today.

Lavaan Dental Spa

474 6th Ave. in New York, (212) 837–1833, lavaansmile.com Lavaan is the only true spa for your smile. There’s no drilling, no filling, just clean, while smiles.

INVITATIONS PaperPresentation

23 W. 18th St. in New York, (212) 463–7035, www.paperpresentation.com Paper Presentation is a unique retailer of specialty papers, envelopes, custom invitations, giftwrap, craft and art supplies, and other products to inspire your creativity.

JEwELRY The Clay Pot

(516) 860–9288, www.kupcakeswithak.com Kupcakes with a K offers over a dozen different unique flavors for you to enjoy! Sold in certain locations and through its website for your party or event.

162 7th Ave. in Brooklyn, (718) 788–6564, www.clay-pot.com The Clay Pot opened in 1969 as a pottery studio and now sells designer jewelry with an impressive wedding ring selection. Come visit and see what everyone is talking about!

Lou Babs & Moogs

Greenwich Jewelers

Kupcakes with a K

95A Main St. in Port Washington, (516) 883–8585, lbmgifts.com/store Lou, Babs & Moogs opened its doors in 2002, and sells an inspiring mix of unique and useful gifts for

64 Trinity Pl. in New York, (212) 964–7592, www.greenwichjewelers.com If you’re in search of something classic, contemporary, or completely eclectic, Greenwich Jewelers is

Wedding Ring Originals

MEN’S FORMAL wEAR Black Tie Formals

Multiple locations, www.blacktieofny.com Family-owned and operated since 1970, Black Tie Formals offers tuxedo and suit, rentals and sales. It has a large inventory with many labels. Come in and try on a style and see how dashing you look!

PARTY PLANNERS 2 To Tango

(646) 302–2801, www.2totango.org 2 To Tango believes that excellent planning starts with a clear understanding of the clients’ needs, style, and wishes. It offers help finding interfaith Ministers, caterers, wedding insurance, and more.

PARTY RENTAL Classic Party Rentals

336 W. 37th St. in New York, (212) 752–7661, newyork.classicpartyrentals.com At Classic Party Rentals, exceptional customer service is its hallmark. It offers a network of party specialists that can provide everything you need anywhere you need it.

REAL ESTATE SERVICES Accurate Building Inspectors

1860 Bath Ave. in Brooklyn, (718) 265–8191, www.accuratebuilding.com Accurate Building Inspectors is a full-service home and building inspection firm servicing the tri-state area since 1961.

RECEPTION SITES & CATERERS Alger House

and improved Staten Island venue can provide the perfect. elegant backdrop for your reception with prime dates still available.

Le Cirque

151 E. 58th St. in New York, (212) 644–0202, www.lecirque.com Le Cirque has offered an unparalleled dining experience for over 38 years. It welcomes you to enjoy a meal in its modern, circus-themed dining room where the food is just as exciting as the decor.

The Provincetown Business Guild

3 Freeman St., Provincetown, Mass., (508) 487–2313, ptown.org In 2004 Provincetown quickly became the number one destination for LGBT unions. The inclusive, gay-friendly spirit provides the perfect place for all couples to host a wedding, commitment ceremony, or spend their honeymoon.

reBar Brooklyn Gastropub

147 Front St. in Brooklyn, (718) 766–9110. rebarnyc.com This DUMBO gastropub located on the mezzanine of a 19th century tea factory offers seasonal New American fare, 135 beers, an organic wine list, and an extensive scotch selection.

Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel

370 Canal St. in New York, (212) 966–3400, www.sheratontribeca.com Let the Sheraton Tribeca help you celebrate your same-sex wedding. The sleek, modern hotel works with various New York City wedding venues in the area.

Tio Pepe

168 W. Fourth St. in New York, (212) 242–9338, www.tiopepenyc.com At Tio Pepe you have a choice of atmosphere. The skylight dining room supplies a touch of romance while the enclosed sidewalk cafe provides a room with a view of Greenwich Village.

Top of the Garden

251 W 30th St. in New York, (212) 643–0055, www.totg.biz Top of the Garden is an L-shaped raw loft space that lets your imagination come alive for a wedding. It’s 4,000-square feet offer seamless spaces in which to primp, prep, cook, and set up.

(212) 627–8838, www.AlgerHouse.com Alger House is a great venue for smaller weddings and corporate events (30 to 106 guests). The very private reception hall has high ceilings, custom lighting, and nearby transportation.

The Vanderbilt at South Beach

Brooklyn Museum

Villa Vosilla

200 Eastern Pkwy. in Brooklyn, (718) 638–5000, www.brooklynmuseum.org The Brooklyn Museum is an extraordinary venue located in the heart of Prospect Heights. It has oneof-a-kind backdrops for private events.

Circle Line

89 South St., Pier 17 in New York, (212) 742–1969, www.nywatertaxi.com Treat your guests — and yourself — like royalty aboard an enchanting Zephyr luxury yacht for your wedding, post-wedding brunches, rehearsal dinners, and more.

Columbia’s Faculty House

64 Morningside Dr. in New York, (212) 854–1200, facultyhouse.columbia.edu A smart and stylish choice for your unique New York City wedding, the prized University landmark has classic, flexible spaces with a surprising, modern twist.

Fort William Henry Resort

48 Canada St. in Lake George, (518) 668–3081, www.fortwilliamhenry.com The gay-friendly hotel is located on 18 acres that span the entire southern shore of Lake George. It assures that your wedding will be one spectacular memory — for you, your wedding party, and guests.

Grand Oaks Country Club

200 Huguenot Ave. in Staten Island, (718) 356–2771, www.grandoaksnyc.com Formerly the South Shore Country Club, this new

300 Father Capodanno Blvd. in Staten Island, (718) 447–0800, www.vanderbiltsouthbeach.com Boasting both a luxurious banquet hall, as well as magnificent outdoor oceanfront space, 6302 Main St. in Tannersville, (518) 589–5060, www.villavosilla.com Villa Vosilla is located in the middle of the Catskill Mountains. The hotel can customize your wedding with a cocktail party and gourmet cuisine prepared by a culinary chef from Italy.

World Yacht

81 W. 41st St. in New York, (212) 630–8100, www.worldyacht.com Operating since 1981, World Yacht at Pier 81 is the premiere destination on the Hudson River. It has four stunning vessels and is an ideal venue for romantic dinners, group outings, and weddings.

Yacht Owners Association

101 W. 23rd St., New York (212) 736–1010, www.yachtsny.com Yacht Owners Association has over two decades of experience planning events at sea, and the largest number of yachts in the tri-state area. The Yacht Owners Association can accommodate weddings anywhere from 2 to 600 guests.

TRAVEL Ace World Travel

8320 13th Ave. in Brooklyn, (347) 915–4287, www.aceworldtravel.net This full-service and certified romance travel agency specializes in destination weddings and honeymoons. It can also create custom-built itineraries.

10 c

IMMIGRATION, from p.7

tee and two alternative amendments that would provide relief for samesex couples eligible for its consider ation, advocates are taking nothing for granted. At a May 8 rally, Immigration Equality will be joined by Santiago Ortiz and Pablo Garcia, a US-Venezuelan couple living in New York, and other binational gay and lesbian partners in a demonstration outside Schumer’s Midtown office. The Human Rights Campaign, meanwhile, is focusing its fire on McCain, Graham, and the other two Gang

IOWA, from p.6

“unless pater nity has been deter mined otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction.” She then looked to another statute that provides that state laws should be interpreted as applying to both men and women when only one gender is used in the statute. Based on that, she concluded that because of the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling, the law regarding presumptive parentage should be construed in a gender -neutral manner. The birth mother’s spouse, she found, should be listed regardless of sex. The state appealed. Writing for the Supreme Court, Justice David Wiggins found that the trial court’s interpretation was incorrect. Iowa law does provide for gender-neutral interpretation, but not when a statute refers to both genders. The parental presumption statute refers to both the mother and the father, each having a distinct role, Wiggins asserted. The Supreme Court then turned to an issue the trial court had avoided — whether that statute is constitutional. And the court, applying straightforward equal protection analysis, found it is not. The 2009 marriage decision found that cases of sexual orientation discrimination are subject to heightened scrutiny under Iowa’s Constitution. The state, therefore, must “show the statutory

DOMA, from p.5

fied by Pregerson from the law’s House legislative history provided sufficient justification, in his view. For example, regarding the argument that DOMA preserves scarce government resources, the judge noted that the Congressional Budget Office concluded the 1996 law does not save the federal government money. Government cost savings from recognizing same-sex families, the CBO found, outweigh possible tax revenue losses. Even if there were a fiscal benefit from DOMA, he wrote, “there is no rational basis for distinguishing between samesex couples and opposite-sex couples

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com of Eight Republicans, warning that if they block same-sex inclusion in reform, “they should just own it and call it what it is: homophobia.” Mark-up on the bill begins formally on May 9, and Leahy’s office has indicated votes on amendments will likely be taken on May 14, 16, and 20. With Congress in recess the week that begins on May 27, Memorial Day, the Judiciary Committee is aiming to complete action on the legislation no later than May 24. Victory on the Senate side in providing relief for same-sex couples, of course, is likely less than half

the battle. As Florida’s Rubio has warned, it is not yet clear whether the Republican-controlled House is on board for immigration reform, UAFAinclusive or otherwise. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will rule by the end of June on Edie Windsor’s challenge to DOMA. Though many observers are optimistic the court will strike down the 1996 law, a victory for Windsor could be a narrow one. If the court were to issue a thoroughgoing decision, however, that would likely achieve the aim of Feinstein’s favored amendment. Privately, advocates worry that

Senate Democrats are counting on the Supreme Court to relieve them of the heavy lifting UAFA requires of them. Given that 39 states still do not recognize same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court throwing out DOMA would grant nationwide relief for gay and lesbian binational couples as long as its ruling provides for federal recognition based on where a couple marries, not where they live. Even then, many couples would face the burden of traveling out of state in order to gain access to rights available under US law.

classification is substantially related to an important governmental objective” since it treats like classes differently. Under the law, when a married woman bears a child through anonymous donor insemination, her husband is nevertheless listed as the father on the birth certificate. The same is not true for the wife of a mother. Married lesbians and married heterosexual women who become pregnant through donor insemination are similarly situated, as are their spouses, yet they are treated differently. The court made mincemeat out of three purported state interests Iowa put forward — “accuracy of birth certificates, efficiency and effectiveness of government administration, and the determination of paternity.” Given that a husband is listed as a parent even if his wife uses an anonymous donor, Wiggins wrote, a birth certificate “does not always accurately identify the biological father.” In fact, a woman has no obligation to reveal the artificial insemination to the state. Requiring a lesbian mother’s spouse to adopt rather than simply be listed on the birth certificate, consequently, does not provide for any more accuracy. Turning to the issue of administrative effectiveness, the court found that requiring an adoption procedure is less efficient, not more efficient, than simply listing the legal spouse on the certificate

automatically. And, on the question of a court rebutting the presumed paternity on a birth certificate, Wiggins wrote that it is rare for a sperm donor to come forward to mount a challenge. Anonymous donors, who are not informed about the use of their sperm, of course never step up. Identifying a child’s two legal parents from birth is also important to the state, the court found. “When a lesbian couple is married, it is just as important to establish who is financially responsible for the child and the legal rights of the nonbirthing spouse,” Wiggins wrote. “It is important for our laws to recognize that married lesbian couples who have children enjoy the same benefits and burdens as married opposite-sex couples who have children. By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple’s child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth.” The inescapable conclusion for the court was that discrimination alone accounts for the disparate treatment of same-sex couples having a child. “The only explanation for not listing the nonbirthing lesbian spouse on the birth certificate is stereotype or prejudice,” Wiggins wrote, using a phrase that appeared numerous times in his opinion.

The trial court had ordered the Health Department to issue the birth certificate the Gartners requested, but had stayed its order regarding any other lesbian couples. In affirming the trial court on constitutional grounds, the court lifted that stay. There was no dissent, but significantly the three justices appointed in place of those denied retention did not join the court’s opinion. One did not participate in the case. The other two, in a brief “special concurrence,” observing that the state “accepts the [2009 marriage equality decision] for purposes of this appeal,” agreed that in that case, the statute on presumptive parentage “cannot be constitutionally applied to deny Melissa Gartner’s request to be listed as parent.” These two justices clearly seem leery about any appearance that they accept the validity of the marriage decision. That despite the fact that a fourth justice from the 2009 court, up for a retention vote last fall, prevailed. Lambda Legal represents the Gartners, joined by Des Moines counsel Sharon K. Malheiro of Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts P.C. While a number of LGBT, civil liberties, and professional groups wrote amicus briefs in support of the couple, the anti-gay Iowa Family Policy Center weighed in on behalf of the Department of Public Health.

if the government’s objective is to cut costs.” He concludes that Section 3 is unconstitutional under both the equal protection and due process requirements of the Fifth Amendment. Despite the Obama administration’s conclusion in early 2011 that Section 3 is unconstitutional, it will continue to enforce DOMA until it is repealed or definitively overturned by the courts. Pregerson is not inclined to wait for such a clear-cut resolution. Instead, he ordered the government to submit Clark’s benefits application to “the appropriate health insurance carrier.” In addition, he would require the Administrative Office of the Federal Courts to process future applications “without

regard to (1) the sex of a listed spouse and (2) whether a validly executed samesex marriage is recognized by a state.” If the federal Office of Personnel Management “blocks this relief,” Pregerson would alternatively order monetary relief for Clark — a solution that would prove more costly to the government. Though Pregerson’s ruling is only binding on the parties to this case, it tackles a question left hanging dur ing the Supreme oral argument in New Yorker Edie Windsor’s challenge to DOMA — whether the US Constitution would require the federal government to recognize legally-contracted marriages, regardless of where the married couple resides. This is a sig-

nificant question because state marriage laws generally do not have residency requirements so many same-sex couples who live in states that do not authorize or recognize same-sex marriages have gone to other states — or Canada and elsewhere — to get married. Windsor’s attor ney, Roberta Kaplan, when asked about such a situation, responded her client was only asking for federal recognition in states that recognize the marriages. It is difficult, however, to see how a federal constitutional right could be “cabined” in this way, and it would be unfortunate if the Supreme Court were to strike down DOMA’s Section 3 without addressing this question of broader application.

| May 8, 2013

ADVOCACY

A Breathtaking Catalog of Integrity and Insight New collection of Martin Duberman’s essential writings chronicles a lifetime of liberationist thinking and coalitionist commitment SELECT PUBLISHED WORKS BY MARTIN DUBERMAN “Charles Frances Adams, 1807–1886,” Houghton, 1961 “In White America” (play), 1963 “The Antislavery Vanguard: New Essays on the Abolitionists" (editor), Princeton University Press, 1965

THE NEW PRESS

“James Russell Lowell,” Houghton, 1966

Martin Duberman was the nation’s first major intellectual to embrace gay liberation unashamedly.

BY DOUG IRELAND

ueers of all colors, styles, and status owe an enormous debt to Martin Duberman. Anyone who doubts that would likely learn otherwise from “The Martin Duberman Reader: The Essential Historical, Biographical, and Autobiographical Writings,” just published last week by The New Press.

THE MARTIN DUBERMAN READER: The Essential Historical, Biographical, and Autobiographical Writings By Martin Duberman The New Press $21.95; 374 pages

Marty, as he is known to legions of same-sexers and gender rebels, has been our radical conscience throughout the 44 years of the modern gay movement. He was the very first — and for too long the only — major American intellectual to unashamedly embrace gay liberation from its earliest days. As the author of more than 20 books — see accompanying sidebar — and an endless stream of insightful essays and articles, Marty has long been the perfect example of a public intellectual engagé. He somehow found the time to match his intellectual and historical explorations and trenchant analyses with a tireless and militant activism that helped launch a skein of organizations — from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Lambda Legal Defense

and Education Fund to the Gay Academic Union and Queers for Economic Justice — that inspired several generations of committed movement soldiers. “The Martin Duber man Reader” reminds us of the sweep and scope of this courageous activist-scholar’s life that have made him one of our wisest men — and greatest heroes. Marty is known as the “Father of Gay Studies” because of his decadelong struggle to establish the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at CUNY, the first such program at any American university; and one of the chapters in “The Martin Duberman Reader” — an excerpt from one of his three volumes of memoirs — recounts the enormous homophobic resistance he encountered in the supposedly enlightened world of academia as he fought to do so at Yale. His 1989 essay collection “Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past” is not only a seminal reference work but also helped define the nature of gay history. “There really is a gay subculture, a way of looking at life and coping with its joys and sorrows that has much to offer the straight world — if it would bother to listen — and also to offer the multitude of gay people who prefer to claim that we’re just like everybody else,” Marty insists. “We’re not, and to insist that we are contributes to the destruction of a special set of values and perspectives that could do much to provide needed shifts in mainstream patterns. Gay people are entitled to all the rights straight people enjoy, but aren’t carbon copies of straight people.” As a precocious historian, Marty first made his name by his pioneering work

on the anti-slavery movement in the pre-Civil War days — which brought him the Bancroft Prize, the most prestigious award for American history (he’s also been given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Historical Association.) He’s always been involved with the question of race in America, and the “Reader” includes chapters on “The Northern Response to Slavery” and on “Black Power and the American Radical Tradition,” as well as an excerpt from his brilliant, monumental biography of Paul Robeson. In a chapter entitled “On the Death of Ronald Reagan,” Marty emphasizes, “Historical truth matters. As a nation we care little for it, much preferring simplistic distortions that sustain our national myths about ‘freedom,’ ‘opportunity,’ and ‘democracy.’ You can’t grow into adulthood when you’re fed pablum all your life. And that’s why we remain a nation of adolescents, with a culture concerned far more with celebrityhood than with suffering.” While the “Reader” also includes excerpts from his biographies of queer arts impresario and writer Lincoln Kirstein (detailing his role in helping George Balanchine establish his ballet company) and of radical historian Howard Zinn, and essays on Cuba, Kinsey, Masters and Johnson, and life in the theater (Marty is also a distinguished playwright), the greater part of this book will be of direct interest to readers of this newspaper, illuminating a broad swath of gay politics, culture, and history. There is Marty’s eye-opening biographical exposé of “Donald Webster

DUBERMAN, continued on p.22

“Black Mountain: An Exploration in Community,” Dutton, 1972 “Male Armor: Selected Plays, 1968– 1974,” Dutton, 1975 “Visions of Kerouac: A Play,” Little, Brown and Company, 1977 “About Time: Exploring the Gay Past,” Gay Presses of New York, 1986 “Paul Robeson,” Knopf, 1988 “Hidden From History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past” (co-editor with George Chauncey and Martha Vicinus), NAL, 1989 “Cures: A Gay Man's Odyssey,” Dutton, 1991 “Stonewall,” Dutton, 1993 “Midlife Queer: Autobiography of a Decade, 1971–1981,” Scribner, 1996 “Left Out: The Politics of Exclusion: Essays, 1964–2002,” Basic Books, 2002 “Haymarket” (novel), Seven Stories Press, 2004 "The Avenging Angel" (a reconsideration of John Brown), The Nation, May 23, 2005 “The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein,” Knopf, 2007 “Radical Acts: Collected Political Plays,” The New Press, 2008 “Waiting to Land: A (Mostly) Political Memoir, 1985-2008,” The New Press, 2009 “A Saving Remnant: The Radical Lives of Barbara Deming and David McReynolds,” The New Press, 2011

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

THEATER

Papi Dearest Cuban hustlers seek true love; Christina Crawford tackles Mommie issues BY DAVID KENNERLEY

hen you go see a play about Cuban hustlers, chances are you expect a certain amount of swarthy macho studs, furtive sex, and self-deception. In Eduardo Machado’s richly ambitious new work, “Mariquitas,” you get plenty of that and much more. And I’m not just talking about full-frontal nudity.

Theater for the New City 155 First Ave., btwn. Ninth & Tenth Sts. Through May 19 Thu.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sun. at 7 p.m. $15; theaterforthenewcity.net Or 212-254-1109

Set in a gay-friendly guesthouse in Old Havana circa 2008, “Mariquitas” (derogatory slang for homosexuals) is an impassioned study of complex contemporary Cuban life and ideology inspired by a trip the New-York based playwright took to Cuba, where he was born.

SION FULLANA

MARIQUITAS

Carlos Valencia and Oscar Hernandez in Eduardo Machado’s Eduardo Machado’s “Mariquitas” runs through May 19 at Theater for the New City.

The drama features Cubans from disparate social classes playing each other to get what they need. Not just food, shelter, money, and sex, but a sense of belonging and of being loved.

Matthew D. Wayne

We meet conniving Cuban hustlers, their affluent European papis who visit for weeks at a time, well connected, artistic progressives, and a charismatic gay rights activist who happens to be the

People. Performance. Passion®

daughter of President Raúl Castro. The ensemble is quite strong, ensuring there’s not a stale stereotype in the bunch. José María (Oscar Hernandez), “at death’s door” from lung cancer, has come to spend his final days with the love of his life, Tito (a brooding, tattooed Carlos Valencia). Ramón (Omar Chagall), the guesthouse owner and a renowned theater director, is madly in love with long-term partner Ricardo (Liam Torres), who has decided to go straight. Jacinto (Ed Trucco) is a controlling client from Spain who has bought himself the title of playwright. Ricardo Dávila and Matthew d’Amato manage to add nuance to their boytoy roles. Even the maid, as played by Ana Valle, has surprising dimension. On one level, “Mariquitas” is a bold, fascinating psychosexual study of a hidden subculture where gay-for-pay, double lives, and sweaty three-ways with friends — breathlessly documented on smartphones — are business as usual. In this sphere sexuality is refreshingly fluid; many of the men have wives and

PAPI DEAREST, continued on p.22

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| May 8, 2013

FILM

Hollywood Insiders Spoof Hollywood’s Insides Michael Urie calls in favors for edgy comedy about celebrity obsession

BY GARY M. KRAMER

movie life I don’t. I’m attached to her through Ryan. You learn a lot about Halley in the film by seeing how other people such as Michael Chernus and Ben Stiller react to her.

s indie film actress Halley Feif fer (“The Squid and the Whale,” and daughter of renowned cartoonist and satirist Jules Feiffer) playing a fictionalized version of herself in “He’s Way More Famous Than You”? Does it matter? This funny, observant, but often cringe-inducing film about celebrity culture — featuring cameos from Ben Stiller, Natasha L yonne, and Jesse Eisenberg, among others — will prompt viewers to laugh at the rude and unruly Halley as much as they laugh with her.

Directed by Michael Urie Gravitas Ventures Opens May 10 AMC Village 7 66 Third Ave. at 11th St. amctheatres.com

Director Michel Urie’s insideHollywood comedy showcases Feiffer’s daring-teetering-on-shrill per for mance as a freckly, blonde drama queen, who happens to be named Halley Feiffer. An extended scene, in which the self-absorbed actress imitates her idol Ralph Macchio’s per formance as Johnny in “The Outsiders” in a crowded restaurant, may cause eyes to roll, but her deadpan delivery of the line, “I’m going to the bathroom to change my tampon and maybe wash my hands” is as hilarious as her barbed retort to a cab driver. “ H e ’ s Wa y M o r e F a m o u s T h a n You” stars Feiffer as an unemployed indie film actr ess grappling with her lack of celebrity through massive alcohol consumption, uninhibited behavior, and a need to constantly video-record herself. When Halley’s boyfriend Michael (Michael Cher nus) leaves her, she turns her to her gay brother R yan (Ryan Spahn, Feiffer’s co-writer but not her real brother) to make “The Untitled Greenlight Halley Feif fer Vehicle Promo T railer Project” in which they play lovers. R yan was Halley’s second choice; she wanted Macchio for the part. Ryan’s boyfriend, Michael Urie (aka the gay guy on “Ugly Betty”) winces when Halley is in the apartment, but he reluctantly agrees to direct his boyfriend’s film. Urie, currently appearing in the one-man Off-

GRAVITAS VENTURES

HE’S WAY MORE FAMOUS THAN YOU

Ryan Spahn and Michael Urie, a couple on and off-screen.

Broadway show “Buyer and Cellar,” spoke with “Gay City News” about making “He’s Way More Famous Than You.” GARY M. KRAMER: Halley is a handful in the film. How did you handle her on set? MICHAEL URIE: I encouraged her to go further. She was always asking if things were too much. I wanted her to go there. GMK: The film’s humor is awkward, uncomfortable, and often very funny. How do you describe your sense of humor, and what comic bits did you play up in the film? M U : We w a n t e d t o s e t u p t h e audience to think one thing was going to happen but then have something else happen. We didn’t want anyone’s expectations to be fulfilled… I like the screwball aspect of the film. I love the idea that the celebrities walk on almost by accident. It’s like we almost did not tell Vanessa Williams or Ben Stiller they were on a set. GMK: Speaking of Williams and Stiller, one gets the sense this film was a bunch of friends calling in favors and making a movie… MU: To an extent it was calling in favors, but every instance, the script was tailored to each person, each actor. We’d figure out how to make the “character” for Mamie Gummer or Ralph Macchio, and they all jumped

on board because they read and liked the script. Jesse Eisenberg said yes based on the script. GMK: Your character has a line that it takes heart, not celebrity, to make a movie great. Do you believe that? Where is the heart in this film? MU: The heart lies with Halley’s relationship with her brother R yan, and the two of them doing something together. It is a story about alcoholism and ambition and we wanted to strike a true chord. The audience should either be laughing, crying, or horrified. GMK: I definitely laughed at the public embarrassment, the jokes about incest and anal sex. Do you feel you crossed any lines? MU: We did not want to be afraid of the extreme. We wanted to make the outrageous not outrageous — go all the way and not be afraid to find the funny in the extreme. People say they were uncomfortable. Halley and Ryan aimed to go there. The normal characters were very normal, very in the real world. Halley and Ryan’s shenanigans were the comic centerpieces. GMK: How did you come to know Halley? MU: [Laughs.] Well, I knew her thr ough R yan, who is my actual p a r t n e r. T h e y w e r e f r i e n d s a n d started writing together, and I got to know her. In real life I love her, but in

GMK: Halley films herself constantly. What do you think your film says about our obsession with celebrity and filming ourselves? MU: Why are people posting crazy things on YouTube and Facebook? Ryan says it’s like starring in your own movie — and for folks not in acting or not in the public eye, it is a release to show yourself to everyone you know. Halley in the movie is not finding the outlets she needs as an actor, which is why she’s obsessed with filming and being famous. She’s a narcissist. It’s not true of all actors. We wanted to comment on celebrity, fame-obsessed culture, and the “me” culture of filming yourself and putting it out there. A lot of people are into that. We chose show business because it’s so easy to show that self-obsession. GMK: How do you think a film so inside Hollywood will play to viewers outside the industry? MU: I saw it recently in Dallas and it was a room full of people who I knew growing up, but not showbiz people. There were a couple of jokes that didn’t get a laugh — like my favorite bit with Austin Pendelton, where he mouths along with his lines. They didn’t know who he was. But it will play well because the characters Halley and Ryan play are not inside Hollywood. It’s like “Buyer and Cellar.” There are a million references to Barbra Streisand, but because the jokes are so well crafted you get why it’s funny, even if you don’t get the references. GMK: This is the second film you directed. Are you transitioning your career to direct more films? MU: I have no interest in stopping acting. But I love directing, and I’m dying to do it again. I agree that gay actors should be making their own opportunities until a mainstream studio makes a movie with gay characters in center roles played by gay actors. I don’t doubt that time is coming. Even before I was out, I was playing fabulous gay characters. And I don’t regret playing different ones — if I hadn’t done that I wouldn’t work and I like to work — but before this was the path, I always wanted to direct and produce my own projects. It’s sort of out of necessity, but I work better doing what I know.

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

THEATER

Gut Wrenching BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE

n “The Nance,” Douglas Carter Beane’s extraordinary new play set in 1937, during vaudeville’s waning days, creaky-joked, groan-inducing broad theatricality is the background for a heartbreaking tragedy about a man trapped in a sense of himself and his place in the world that puts the love he longs for out of his reach.

THE NANCE Lyceum Theatre 149 W. 45th St. Tue. at 7 p.m.; Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m. Wed., Sat. at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m. $37-$132; telecharge.com Or 800-432-7250

Chauncey Miles is a vaudeville star. He’s a nance, an effeminate man who spouts puns and doubles entendres in routines and often gets the upper hand over the straight — in both senses of the word — man. Chauncey, unlike others who play the nance role, is actually

gay, and Beane immediately sets up the conflict between Chauncey’s “out there” public image and his tormented private life. Trying to steer clear of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s crackdown on deviancy, he searches for assignations in a restaurant automat in a brilliant opening scene that lays out the dance of cruising and furtive connection between men seeking sex with one another. It is there, amid coded speaking and paper folding that Chauncey meets Ned, a much younger man from Buffalo. Chauncey assumes Ned will be a passing trick, but instead Ned falls in love with him and decides to join the vaudeville troupe. Together, they set up housekeeping in Chauncey’s Hell’s Kitchen basement apartment. When the mayor, cleaning up the city in advance of the 1939 World’s Fair, goes after indecency in vaudeville, Chauncey’s act becomes a target. Rather than laying low, he challenges the city’s enforcement on stage and is jailed. When he returns to vaudeville, he is no longer allowed to play a nance and instead appears on stage in women’s clothing, which apparently does not run afoul of LaGuardia’s sense of decency. Chauncey, however, is

THE HARTMAN GROUP

Nathan Lane hits career peak in “The Nance”; Constantine Maroulis nearly blows out a lung in “Jekyll and Hyde”

Constantine Maroulis in the revival of “Jekyll and Hyde.”

humiliated, feeling his art has been corrupted. And his internalized homophobia prevents him from truly embracing his one salvation — Ned’s love. With the help of John Lee Beatty’s set and Ann Roth’s divine costumes, Beane intersperses Chauncey’s story with subplots about New York politics, unions, and wonderfully cheesy vaudeville rou-

tines. “The Nance” perfectly evokes vaudeville’s end days both visually and emotionally. Director Jack O’Brien deserves high praise for negotiating a complex narrative coherently while capturing the gritty joy of a down-at-heels vaudeville world. His cast is flawless. Lewis J. Stadlen gives an outstanding performance as company manager Efram, who is willing to tolerate Chauncey’s homosexuality. The troupe’s girls, played by Cady Huffman, Jenni Barber, and Andréa Burns, are dead-on types but also fully realized characters. Jonny Orsini gives a stunning Broadway debut as Ned, convincingly and movingly changing from naïve country boy into a man on the brink of maturity. Nathan Lane in the title role gives what may be the performance of his career — though his track record of topping himself has made virtually everything he does an event. He is as brilliant at the arcane vaudeville shtick as he is at subtly conveying the heartbreak of Chauncey’s offstage life. It’s a perfectly

GUT WRENCHING, continued on p.15

FILM

When Promise Runs Off the Track Jack Reynor scores as privileged, handsome young man who can’t take back his crime BY GARY M. KRAMER

hat Richard Did” asks viewers to wait on tenterhooks for the rich, handsome title character (the excellent Jack Reynor), to commit a crime that forever changes his life. The second half of this absorbing Irish chamber drama shows how Richard, a teen who is in his final summer before college, reacts to and grapples with the conse-

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson Tribeca Film Opens May 10 Cinema Village 22 E. 12th St. cinemavillage.com

quences of his actions. It would, of course, spoil the film to say exactly what it is that Richard does,

TRIBECA FILM

WHAT RICHARD DID Director Lenny Abrahamson and actor Jack Reynor, the title character is “What Richard Did.”

but director Lenny Abrahamson, working from Kevin Power’s source novel “Bad Day in Blackrock,” creates an intensity and an intimacy before and after Richard’s crime. Every scene is freighted with meaning as this quietly devastating

drama builds to its climax. As the film’s protagonist, Reynor never hits a false note. In separate interviews, Abrahamson and Reynor met with Gay City News to discuss “What Richard Did.”

In his lovely Irish accent, director Abrahamson recounted that he connected with the material because he came from a similar background. “I went to one of the schools that were associated with privilege, so I knew kids like Richard who are successful and able and blessed,” he said. However, it was the director’s selfimage as an outsider — “not part of the privileged middle,” he said — that gave him a perspective on the how to present this nuanced character study. Many teen films about rich, good-looking characters tell stories from the point of view of those on the edges, but “What Richard Did” makes the golden boy the protagonist, examining the pressures he faces and how he copes with them. Reynor explained, “He has hopes and dreams, things he wants to do, and things he loves. He’s never set out to cause any problems. Richard’s not

RICHARD, continued on p.25

| May 8, 2013

Nathan Lane and Lewis J. Stadlen in Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Nance.”

GUT WRENCHING, from p.14

calibrated performance notable for its integrity and in balancing elements that illuminate a culture, an art form, and a man. Lane’s is a generous performance, and his chemistry with Orsini is real and affecting. “The Nance” is not to be missed.

Anyone familiar with Constantine Maroulis knows

he sings in the overwrought, high belt style popularized by “American Idol.” Deborah Cox is an established R&B singer with a truckload of hit singles and a distinctive, idiosyncratic style and sound. They are legitimate music stars, and those buying a ticket to the revival of “Jekyll and Hyde” know what they’re getting into — and it’s what they want. But they better move quickly. The show has announced a May 12 closing.

JEKYLL & HYDE Marquis Theatre 1535 Broadway at 45th St. Through May 12 Mon., Thu.-Sat. at 8 p.m. Tue., Sun. at 7 p.m. Sat.-Sun. at 2 p.m. $50-$135; ticketmaster.com Or 877-250-2929

Maroulis nails his big first act number, “This is the Moment,” and his second act assault on “Transformation,” done as a duet with himself in a video, is rock-show slick. Cox is more confident in ballads like “Someone Like You” and “A New Life” than

she is with the more classically Broadway “Bring on the Men,” but she is exciting when she kicks into full diva mode. Simply put, “Jekyll and Hyde” is perfect to showcase their talents. Neither of them can act worth a lick, but Leslie Bricusse’s lame book was never anything that demanded Actors’ Studiolevel characterizations. What Maroulis and Cox bring to the table is their ability to sing the heck out of Frank Wildhorn’s pop-rock, lung-wrenching power ballads. The result is much more like a rock concert with a story — and replete with heavy amplification and tons of stage smoke — than a traditional musical. Teal Wicks does a fine job as Emma, the girl Jekyll is supposed to marry before his transformation into the evil Hyde. Her second act number, “Once Upon a Dream,” is sung beautifully and makes a nice theatrical counterpoint to Cox’s more aggressive and throaty sound. Jeff Calhoun hasn’t so much directed the show as moved stuff around and created settings for Maroulis and Cox, surrounded by a largely generic ensemble. Tobin Ost’s sets and costumes are undistinguished, except for the red underwear and its variations he created for Cox to underscore her hooker-witha-heart-of-gold role. The book is full of bromides and clichés that are generally laughable, but that doesn’t matter much if you’re willing to go along for the ride. If ever there were a production that is what it means to be, this is it. If you love seeing Cox and Maroulis do what they do so well, go and have a great time.

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May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

What is STRIBILD? STRIBILD is a prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before. It combines 4 medicines into 1 pill to be taken once a day with food. STRIBILD is a complete single-tablet regimen and should not be used with other HIV-1 medicines. STRIBILD does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. To control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses you must keep taking STRIBILD. Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to reduce the risk of passing HIV-1 to others. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about STRIBILD? STRIBILD can cause serious side effects: • Build-up of an acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include feeling very weak or tired, unusual (not normal) muscle pain, trouble breathing, stomach pain with nausea or vomiting, feeling cold especially in your arms and legs, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or a fast or irregular heartbeat. • Serious liver problems. The liver may become large (hepatomegaly) and fatty (steatosis). Symptoms of liver problems include your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice), dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored bowel movements (stools), loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and/or stomach pain. • You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking STRIBILD for a long time. In some cases, these serious conditions have led to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of these conditions.

10043_pgiqdp_GayCityNews_Winston_lo1.indd 1-2

• Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you also have HBV and stop taking STRIBILD, your hepatitis may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking STRIBILD without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health. STRIBILD is not approved for the treatment of HBV. Who should not take STRIBILD? Do not take STRIBILD if you: • Take a medicine that contains: alfuzosin, dihydroergotamine, ergotamine, methylergonovine, cisapride, lovastatin, simvastatin, pimozide, sildenafil when used for lung problems (Revatio®), triazolam, oral midazolam, rifampin or the herb St. John’s wort. • For a list of brand names for these medicines, please see the Brief Summary on the following pages. • Take any other medicines to treat HIV-1 infection, or the medicine adefovir (Hepsera®). What are the other possible side effects of STRIBILD? Serious side effects of STRIBILD may also include: • New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do regular blood and urine tests to check your kidneys before and during treatment with STRIBILD. If you develop kidney problems, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking STRIBILD. • Bone problems, including bone pain or bones getting soft or thin, which may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones. • Changes in body fat can happen in people taking HIV-1 medicines. • Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking STRIBILD. The most common side effects of STRIBILD include nausea and diarrhea. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or don’t go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking STRIBILD? • All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection. • All the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. STRIBILD may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how STRIBILD works. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. Do not start any new medicines while taking STRIBILD without first talking with your healthcare provider. • If you take hormone-based birth control (pills, patches, rings, shots, etc). • If you take antacids. Take antacids at least 2 hours before or after you take STRIBILD. • If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if STRIBILD can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking STRIBILD.

| May 8, 2013

STRIBILD is a prescription medicine used as a complete single-tablet regimen to treat HIV-1 in adults who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before. STRIBILD does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

I started my personal revolution Talk to your healthcare provider about starting treatment. STRIBILD is a complete HIV-1 treatment in 1 pill, once a day.

Ask if it’s right for you.

• If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk. Also, some medicines in STRIBILD can pass into breast milk, and it is not known if this can harm the baby. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Please see Brief Summary of full Prescribing Information with important warnings on the following pages.

2/28/13 3:27 PM

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

Patient Information STRIBILDTM (STRY-bild) (elvitegravir 150 mg/cobicistat 150 mg/emtricitabine 200 mg/ tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg) tablets Brief summary of full Prescribing Information. For more information, please see the full Prescribing Information, including Patient Information. What is STRIBILD? • STRIBILD is a prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before. STRIBILD is a complete regimen and should not be used with other HIV-1 medicines. • STRIBILD does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. You must stay on continuous HIV-1 therapy to control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses. • Ask your healthcare provider about how to prevent passing HIV-1 to others. Do not share or reuse needles, injection equipment, or personal items that can have blood or body fluids on them. Do not have sex without protection. Always practice safer sex by using a latex or polyurethane condom to lower the chance of sexual contact with semen, vaginal secretions, or blood.

• Do not stop taking STRIBILD without first talking to your healthcare provider • If you stop taking STRIBILD, your healthcare provider will need to check your health often and do blood tests regularly for several months to check your HBV infection. Tell your healthcare provider about any new or unusual symptoms you may have after you stop taking STRIBILD Who should not take STRIBILD? Do not take STRIBILD if you also take a medicine that contains: • adefovir (Hepsera®) • alfuzosin hydrochloride (Uroxatral®) • cisapride (Propulsid®, Propulsid Quicksolv®) • ergot-containing medicines, including: dihydroergotamine mesylate (D.H.E. 45®, Migranal®), ergotamine tartrate (Cafergot®, Migergot®, Ergostat®, Medihaler Ergotamine®, Wigraine®, Wigrettes®), and methylergonovine maleate (Ergotrate®, Methergine®) • lovastatin (Advicor®, Altoprev®, Mevacor®) • oral midazolam

What is the most important information I should know about STRIBILD?

• pimozide (Orap®)

STRIBILD can cause serious side effects, including: 1. Build-up of lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Lactic acidosis can happen in some people who take STRIBILD or similar (nucleoside analogs) medicines. Lactic acidosis is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Lactic acidosis can be hard to identify early, because the symptoms could seem like symptoms of other health problems. Call your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following symptoms which could be signs of lactic acidosis: • feel very weak or tired • have unusual (not normal) muscle pain • have trouble breathing • have stomach pain with nausea or vomiting • feel cold, especially in your arms and legs • feel dizzy or lightheaded • have a fast or irregular heartbeat 2. Severe liver problems. Severe liver problems can happen in people who take STRIBILD. In some cases, these liver problems can lead to death. Your liver may become large (hepatomegaly) and you may develop fat in your liver (steatosis). Call your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following symptoms of liver problems: • your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice) • dark “tea-colored” urine • light-colored bowel movements (stools) • loss of appetite for several days or longer • nausea • stomach pain You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking STRIBILD for a long time. 3. Worsening of Hepatitis B infection. If you have hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and take STRIBILD, your HBV may get worse (flare-up) if you stop taking STRIBILD. A “flare-up” is when your HBV infection suddenly returns in a worse way than before. • Do not run out of STRIBILD. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare provider before your STRIBILD is all gone

• sildenafil (Revatio®), when used for treating lung problems

10043_pgiqdp_GayCityNews_Winston_lo1.indd 3-4

• rifampin (Rifadin®, Rifamate®, Rifater®, Rimactane®) • simvastatin (Simcor®, Vytorin®, Zocor®) • triazolam (Halcion®) • the herb St. John’s wort Do not take STRIBILD if you also take any other HIV-1 medicines, including: • Other medicines that contain tenofovir (Atripla®, Complera®, Viread®, Truvada®) • Other medicines that contain emtricitabine, lamivudine, or ritonavir (Combivir®, Emtriva®, Epivir® or Epivir-HBV®, Epzicom®, Kaletra®, Norvir®, Trizivir®) STRIBILD is not for use in people who are less than 18 years old. What are the possible side effects of STRIBILD? STRIBILD may cause the following serious side effects: • See “What is the most important information I should know about STRIBILD?” • New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys before you start and while you are taking STRIBILD. Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking STRIBILD if you develop new or worse kidney problems. • Bone problems can happen in some people who take STRIBILD. Bone problems include bone pain, softening or thinning (which may lead to fractures). Your healthcare provider may need to do tests to check your bones. • Changes in body fat can happen in people who take HIV-1 medicine. These changes may include increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (“buffalo hump”), breast, and around the middle of your body (trunk). Loss of fat from the legs, arms and face may also happen. The exact cause and long-term health effects of these conditions are not known. • Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV-1 medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you start having any new symptoms after starting your HIV-1 medicine.

| May 8, 2013

The most common side effects of STRIBILD include: • Nausea • Diarrhea Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. • These are not all the possible side effects of STRIBILD. For more information, ask your healthcare provider. • Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking STRIBILD? Tell your healthcare provider about all your medical conditions, including: • If you have or had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis B infection • If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if STRIBILD can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking STRIBILD. – There is a pregnancy registry for women who take antiviral medicines during pregnancy. The purpose of this registry is to collect information about the health of you and your baby. Talk with your healthcare provider about how you can take part in this registry. • If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you take STRIBILD. - You should not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby. - Two of the medicines in STRIBILD can pass to your baby in your breast milk. It is not known if the other medicines in STRIBILD can pass into your breast milk. - Talk with your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements: • STRIBILD may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how STRIBILD works. • Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you take any of the following medicines: - Hormone-based birth control (pills, patches, rings, shots, etc) - Antacid medicines that contains aluminum, magnesium hydroxide, or calcium carbonate. Take antacids at least 2 hours before or after you take STRIBILD - Medicines to treat depression, organ transplant rejection, or high blood pressure - amiodarone (Cordarone®, Pacerone®) - atorvastatin (Lipitor®, Caduet®) - bepridil hydrochloric (Vascor®, Bepadin®) - bosentan (Tracleer®) - buspirone - carbamazepine (Carbatrol®, Epitol®, Equetro®, Tegreto®) - clarithromycin (Biaxin®, Prevpac®) - clonazepam (Klonopin®) - clorazepate (Gen-xene®, Tranxene®) - colchicine (Colcrys®) - medicines that contain dexamethasone - diazepam (Valium®)

- digoxin (Lanoxin®) - disopyramide (Norpace®) - estazolam - ethosuximide (Zarontin®) - flecainide (Tambocor®) - flurazepam - fluticasone (Flovent®, Flonase®, Flovent® Diskus, Flovent® HFA, Veramyst®) - itraconazole (Sporanox®) - ketoconazole (Nizoral®) - lidocaine (Xylocaine®) - mexiletine - oxcarbazepine (Trileptal®) - perphenazine - phenobarbital (Luminal®) - phenytoin (Dilantin®, Phenytek®) - propafenone (Rythmol®) - quinidine (Neudexta®) - rifabutin (Mycobutin®) - rifapentine (Priftin®) - risperidone (Risperdal®, Risperdal Consta®) - salmeterol (Serevent®) or salmeterol when taken in combination with fluticasone (Advair Diskus®, Advair HFA®) - sildenafil (Viagra®), tadalafil (Cialis®) or vardenafil (Levitra®, Staxyn®), for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). If you get dizzy or faint (low blood pressure), have vision changes or have an erection that last longer than 4 hours, call your healthcare provider or get medical help right away. - tadalafil (Adcirca®), for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension - telithromycin (Ketek®) - thioridazine - voriconazole (Vfend®) - warfarin (Coumadin®, Jantoven®) - zolpidem (Ambien®, Edlular®, Intermezzo®, Zolpimist®) Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. Do not start any new medicines while you are taking STRIBILD without first talking with your healthcare provider. Keep STRIBILD and all medicines out of reach of children. This Brief Summary summarizes the most important information about STRIBILD. If you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider. You can also ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about STRIBILD that is written for health professionals, or call 1-800-445-3235 or go to www.STRIBILD.com. Issued: August 2012

COMPLERA, EMTRIVA, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, GSI, HEPSERA, STRIBILD, the STRIBILD Logo, TRUVADA, and VIREAD are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. ATRIPLA is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb & Gilead Sciences, LLC. All other marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. © 2013 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. QC14559 02/13

2/28/13 3:27 PM

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

FILM

Mayhem Missing a Message Ben Wheatley’s third film lacks the heft to push beyond its morbid comedy BY STEVE ERICKSON

ritish director Ben Wheatley’s “Sightseers” is a pitch-black comedy about obnoxious people killing other obnoxious people in a world of kitsch. With only three films to his name — though he has several projects in the works — Wheatley has already built up a small cult following. His second film, “Kill List,” was genuinely uncanny and startling, drawing on a distinctly British strain of dark mysticism amidst a tale about hit men.

SIGHTSEERS Co-writers Alice Lowe and Steve Oram star in Ben Wheatley’s “Sightseers.” Directed by Ben Wheatley IFC Films Opens May 10 Landmark Sunshine 143 E. Houston St., btwn. First & Second Aves landmarktheatres.com

The sensibility of “Sightseers” is all over the map — Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” filtered through Mike Leigh and Chris Morris. Wheatley depicts a couple of serial killers on the road, indulging in a murder spree. His protagonists are pretty unlikeable, but almost everyone they meet is just as annoying. Wheatley draws on the broad characterizations of Leigh and the misanthropy of Morris, who created a genuinely hilarious half-hour TV show about pedophilia that, of course, created a firestorm of controversy. “Sightseers” is aesthetically far superior to “Natural Born Killers.” Ethically, I’m not so sure. It seems largely devoid of subtext. A scene in which Chris (co-writ-

er Steve Oram) rants about class before a murder is obviously thrown in for the benefit of people like me. “Sightseers” is very funny, but I can’t help feeling that if you’re going to play murder for laughs, you’d better have a point to make with it. Stone turned his killers into folk heroes and suggested that most of the people they murdered were worse than them. In its final half hour, “Sightseeers” makes some vague gestures about female empowerment, but ultimately feels too lightweight to really deal with its subject matter. Chris picks up Tina (co-writer Alice Lowe) at her mother’s house for a journey across Northern England. The couple are in their mid-30s and have been dating for a few months. Tina’s mother distrusts Chris, but she sends them on their way. Chris wants to show Tina the Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct, and the Keswick Pencil

Museum. Along the way, the couple run into a few irritating people, like a man who gives Chris the middle finger after Chris complains about his littering. It soon becomes clear that Chris has a penchant for engineering “accidents” for such people. In fact, Chris is a full-blown serial killer. At first, Tina just observes, but eventually, she joins in his pastime. Chris and Tina seem to hate the world around them, yet they are as engaged in it as anyone else. The house where Tina lives with her mother is filled with so much dog-related memorabilia the duo could appear on the TV show “My Crazy Obsession.” Chris and Tina plan their journey to tourist sights across England with no irony. Wheatley, on the other hand, approaches their trip with plenty of sarcasm, but it’s difficult to tell if he intends to mock everything the couple

encounters. The caves that Chris and Tina tour are genuinely attractive and look like they’d be worth a visit. Chris befriends a nice inventor, but other people they meet are epitomized by a gaggle of bachelorettes who see nothing wrong with flirting with Chris, even though he's with his girlfriend, and a group of “shamen” who play drums all night and then sacrifice chickens to the goddess Kali at dawn. Chris and Tina see these folks as expendable, and so does “Sightseers.” Chris eventually drops his pretensions of being a writer, which might have allowed him to redeem his experiences in some fashion. Wheatley’s relatively staid style is preferable to the mania of “Natural Born Killers,” which looked like it was edited by a 12-year-old given a computer with postproduction software, but visually, the film only really comes alive in a montage sequence that cuts between Tina making breakfast, Chris throwing a man off a cliff, and the shamen killing chicken. To Wheatley’s credit, this is all a good deal more watchable than it sounds on paper. The filmmaker’s sense of humor is deadpan, but it might work better in the format of a half-hour sitcom. “Sightseers” seems to draw on the British TV tradition of Morris — Oram and Lowe actually originated their script onstage and then envisioned it as a TV pitch — but it takes out the ideology Morris’ work conveys. Maybe I’m wrong about that — the finale expresses some sort of message about feminism, misogyny, or some muddled combination of the two. What “Sightseers” doesn’t do is take the satirical leap Quentin Tarantino took in “Django Unchained” that would justify asking us to laugh at murder.

A Disappearing World’s Splendor and Ugliness Anthology brings an underexposed Wang Bing to New York audiences BY STEVE ERICKSON

hy has Wang Bing, one of the most important Chinese directors of his generation, received so little attention in the US? Anthology Film Archives has played all three of his documentaries, but even they haven’t been able to show his sole narrative film, “The Ditch” — though not for lack of trying. Wang’s work challenges the dominant, triumphal narrative about China’s economic rise by focusing

THREE SISTERS Directed by Wang Bing In Mandarin with English subtitles Opens May 10 Anthology Film Archives 32 Second Ave. at Second St. anthologyfilmarchives.org

on people still damaged by communism and left behind by capitalism. His latest film, “Three Sisters,” is a documentary about a rural village where most people don’t have electricity — although we do see one family watching TV at night — or indoor

plumbing. A cynic could accuse him of making “poverty porn” and catering to Western notions of China’s backwardness, but the decrepit industrial city depicted in his debut film, “West of the Tracks,” looks no worse than Detroit or other ailing Rust Belt cities. The single biggest reason for Wang’s obscurity outside China no doubt has to do with the extraordinary length of his films. “West of the Tracks” was nine hours long; Anthology showed it divided into three parts, but even that approach included one segment that lasted for four hours.

“ F e n g m i n g : A C h i n e s e M e m o i r, ” lasted three hours, which might not sound nearly as intense, but almost the entire film consists of an inter view with He Fengming, an elderly woman whose life was ruined by the Cultural Revolution of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I think it’s a definitive account of how Mao wrecked his country, superior to narrative films like Zhang Yimou’s “To Live” and Tian Zhuangzhuang’s “The Blue Kite,” but it requires a great deal of patience. While “Three Sisters” is Wang’s most

SISTERS, continued on p.25

| May 8, 2013

BOOKS

Going for the Silver Publishing Triangle Awards celebrate quarter century of achievement

Your doctor spent 5 minutes?

BY SETH J. BOOKEY

SETH J. BOOKEY

t a ceremony April 25 at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium, the Publishing Triangle Awards, which recognize LGBT writers and writing, celebrated their 25th anniversary. Trent Duffy, the group’s treasurer, recalled that the Publishing Triangle was created when a handful of motivated lesbians and gay men in publishing met in the winter of 1989. "One way to be publicly out there was to give awards," he said. Within a few months, the group bestowed its first honors. John D'Emilio, who won the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award this year, is an historian and pioneer in the field of gay and lesbian studies. "History is the story of change," said D'Emilio, the author or editor of more than half a dozen books, including “Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States” and “His Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin.” "Forty years ago, it was unimaginable to me and everyone I knew that [the LGBT community] would provide a body of work that would lead to this award,” he said. “Thirty years ago, it was still possible to write notes on gay history and still have time to go to the beach.” D'Emilio, who teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said that many of his students are unaware, before entering his classroom, of the AIDS epidemic or that gay pride parades "commemorate a rebellion." However, students "of all genders and sexual identities and backgrounds,” he said, “are eager to consume stories about the past." Award-winning novelist and essayist Edmund White, on hand to introduce the finalists for the Publishing Triangle’s debut fiction award named in his honor, reminisced about Bill Whitehead, a pioneering editor of gay and lesbian books who died of AIDS in 1987. The Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction went to Lysley Tenorio for “Monstress,” a collection of stories exploring the experiences of Filipinos/as in a variety of cultural settings around the world. Ira Silverberg, a long-time agent to LGBT authors and currently the director of literature at the National Endowment for the Arts, was awarded the Publishing Triangle's Leadership Award. Back in the 1980s, he noted, gay and lesbian literature was a newly "discovered" segment of literature. "Now, we're part of the dominant culture, which is funny because people out there still hate us," he said.

Fiction winner Trebor Healey and poetry honoree Rachel Rose.

Another reason to call.

Explaining that new technologies and social networking allow authors "to build things now we couldn't before,” Silverberg said it is a "hopeful time for publishing." Lesbian author and cartoonist Alison Bechdel won a second Judy Grahn Award for Non-Fiction for her graphic memoir “Are You My Mother?” In a written statement, she said her mother's "crisp editorial voice was in my head" while working on the book. The Randy Shilts Award for NonFiction was given to novelist Christopher Bram for his nonfiction “Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America,” a chronicle that looks back 70 years and celebrates the power of books and the written word generally. The Ferro-Grumley Award for Fiction went to Trebor Healey, whose novel “A Horse Called Sorrow” explores the lives of gay men in San Francisco in the 1980s and 1990s at the height of the AIDS crisis. Lesbian and gay poets were also recognized, with the Audre Lorde Award going to Rachel Rose for “Song and Spectacle” and the Thom Gunn Award presented to Richard Blanco for “Looking for the Gulf Motel.” A full list of finalists in each category appears in the online version of this article at gaycitynews.com. Seth J. Bookey is a member of the Publishing Triangle’s steering committee.

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22 c

DUBERMAN, from p.11

Cory, Father of the Homophile Movement,” and how this strange figure became — under his real name of Edward Sagarin — a vocal opponent of gay liberation. In a “Reader” excerpt from Marty’s 1993 book “Stonewall” — the best history of the rebellion that launched the gay liberation movement — we learn, “Some of the Mob members who worked gay clubs were themselves gay — and terrified of being found out. ‘Big Bobby,’ who was on the door at Tony Pastor’s, a Mafia-run place on Third Street… almost blew his cover when he became indiscreet about his passion for a Chinese drag queen named Tony Lee (who, though going lamentably to fat, was famed for her ballerina act). The Stonewall Inn seems to have had more than the usual number of gay mobsters. ‘Petey,’ who hung out at Stonewall as a kind of freelance, had a thick, Italian street accent, acted ‘dumb,’ and favored black shirts and ties; he was the very picture of a Mafia mobster — except for his habit of falling for patrons and coworkers.” In the chapter on “Racism in the Gay Male World,” Marty writes, “No movement born to protest inequality can hope to accomplish contradictory purposes. In its current guise, the gay movement may well succeed in gaining broader access to the preexisting club-

PAPI DEAREST, from p.12

children and might consider themselves bisexual if they accepted labels at all. Under the sensitive direction of Michael Domitrovich, “Mariquitas” is the rare gay play that dares to merge eye-popping drama with intricate, substantive sociopolitical themes. But I’m afraid this strength may also be a liability. By attempting to cram so many vital ideas, multiple subplots, and titillating sexual scenarios, the emotional impact is blunted. The overlong play runs about two-andone-half hours. While we might nor mally think of Cuba as a Communist state oppressed by a dictatorship blind to individual rights — the play reminds us that under Fidel Castro, gays were rounded up and sent to work camps — the unblinking “Mariquitas” paints a picture of change. The scene of Fidel’s niece, Mariela Castro Espín (eloquently portrayed by Begonya Plaza), speaking at a gay pride rally where men hold hands and kiss while the chief of police looks on, is especially moving. Her words were lifted verbatim from actual speeches. I plead ignorance here — I had no

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com houses of power, but it can’t pretend that it’s centrally devoted to a struggle for improving the lot of the many. The gay movement can’t opt for approval and simultaneously pretend not to have jettisoned its earlier determination to address the plight of all gay people: the invisibility of lesbians, the discrimination against nonwhites and gender nonconformists, the scornful disregard of the rural poor. Of the national gay organizations, none focuses its current efforts on behalf of those nonaffluent, nonprivileged gays who constitute our actual majority, who everywhere dot the land, doings its dirty work, unacknowledged and unorganized, self-esteem disfigured, future hopes dim. Who among the leaders of our burgeoning gay officialdom speaks to those needs, acknowledges their existence? “ The “Reader” includes chapters on “Feminism, Homosexuality, and Androgyny,” on “Feminism and the Gay Academic Union,” and on “Pleasuring the Body: Reflections on Gay Male Culture.” On almost every page of this wide-ranging “Reader,” one can find lessons and analysis and injunctions that are relevant to our thought and conduct today and challenge us all to be better and more complete human beings. The “Reader” closes with a “CODA: Acceptance at What Price? The Gay Movement Reconsidered,” a must-read. Based on a speech Marty gave last December, it is a ringing declaration of

his radical gay politics and worth quoting at length: “Those in this country who selfidentify as left-wing, as I do, have never been able to solve the conundrum of how to prevent a radical impulse from degenerating into reformist tinkering — which comes down to how to mobilize a large constituency for substantive change when most of its members (think the Human Rights Campaign here) prefer to focus on winning cer tain kinds of limited concessions (like, for gay people, the right to marry or to serve in the military) and show little interest in joining with other dispossessed groups to press for a broader social reconstruction… “Gay radicals insist that our special historical experience has provided us, just as it has for black people, with special perspectives and insights into mainstream American culture — insights we feel should be affirmed, not denied… “‘Gay ‘differentness’ isn’t some second-rate variation on first-rate mainstream norms, but rather a decided advance over them. Gay subcultural values could richly inform conventional life and could open up an unexplored range of human possibilities for everyone. Could, that is, if the mainstream were listening, which it isn’t. And the reason it isn’t is due in part to us — to our denial or concealment of our own specialness in the name of being let

into what is essentially a middle-class white male clubhouse. “I think it’s a disgrace that our country as a whole is far more entranced with improving the technology of drone strikes, those anonymous killers in the sky, than with the plight of the poor. And I’m afraid I have to add that I also consider it a disgrace that our assimilationist-minded national gay movement does a far better job at representing the white middle- and upperclass elements in our community than it does representing those of our own people who suffer from a variety of deprivations — to say nothing of the nongay multitude who are also afflicted… We are in danger of becoming part of the problem. My hope is that we may yet become part of the solution.” To all of which I can only add a loud “Amen!” I have been reading and learning from Marty Duberman nearly all my sentient life, long before we became friends, and I hope to continue doing so for years to come. I’m happy to report that Marty, now 82, is still going strong — he’s currently putting the finishing touches on a dual biography of gay and AIDS activists Michael Callen and Essex Hemphill. Hopefully, “The Martin Duberman Reader” will introduce a new generation to this inspiring man and encourage many to explore the rest of his prolific output. Cent’anni, Marty!

clue there was a burgeoning LGBT c o mm uni ty i n H avana. J ust la st week, the activist made headlines when the State Department allowed her to accept an awar d fr om the Equality Forum in Philadelphia, where she visited the Liberty Bell.

acerbic pearls of wisdom, and proving why she is a true survivor. Presented at the Snapple Theater Center, it appears they simply took over the stage of another production and set up a little movie screen, like the kind you had in grade school. The lack of direction was only surpassed by the lack of production values. Definitely one of the more surreal events I’ve witnessed in a New York theater in a while. Written and directed by Crawford herself (Jerry Rosenberg co-directed), the film has picked up awards on the festival circuit and seems raw and incomplete, but it’s mesmerizing nonetheless. We s e e f o r g o t t e n 1 9 4 0 s h o m e movies of lavish birthday parties staged by Joan more for the consumption of the press than for the kiddies, who appear strangely sullen. Among the many horrors, we learn that Crawford and her adopted mail-order siblings were plucked from school without war ning. She landed in a jail-like institution with no possessions, phone, or letter writing privileges. Later, attempts at launching her own acting career were repeatedly thwarted by her jealous mother. Crawford has kept busy since

writing her infamous “Mommie Dearest” tell-all in 1978 (which spawned the camp classic movie starring Faye Dunaway), moving to the wilds of Idaho, opening a country inn, and dedicating her life to children’s advocacy. Perhaps it’s the category-defying, exquisite contradictions that make the evening so oddly fascinating — somewhere between a “Where Are They Now?” exposé and a self-help seminar. The tale, presented without irony, is as tragic as it gets, yet has an air of T inseltown melodrama that occasionally elicited bursts of laughter from the savvy New York audience (Jackie Hoffman and Michael Musto were there the night I attended). I forgot to mention the film’s cheesy subtitle: “Tears to Triumph.” If, as Crawford insists, the past is ancient history and it’s the present that truly matters, and if, after years of therapy she has banished her old demons, then why did she create this documentary and leave her comfy ranch in Idaho to present it live in New York? If you go to this peculiar “show” — and if you loved “Mommie Dearest,” I recommend that you do so — be sure to ask that question.

“Surviving Mommie Dearest,” starring none other

than Christina Crawford herself — that’s right, the abused adopted da u ghter of H ol l yw ood m ega sta r Joan — is billed as “an empowering and inspirational new production,” limited to only five per for mances Off Broadway, that includes a film documentary about her healing the wounds of a tortured childhood.

SURVIVING MOMMIE DEAREST Snapple Theater Center 1627 Broadway at 50th St. May 8-9 at 8 p.m. May 10-11 at 5 p.m.; May 12 at noon $25-$40; 212-921-7862

Not quite. This is no theatrical production. It’s really a documentary screening hosted by the estimable Crawford, who is somewhat stiff until the post-show Q&A, where she comes to life cracking jokes, tossing of f

| May 8, 2013

OPERA

Wagner All Over Bicentennial moments from New York to Strasbourg to Cologne BY DAVID SHENGOLD

KARL FORSTER

ichard Wagner's bicentennial, celebrated by the Met with Francois Girard's splendid new “Parsifal” and Robert Lepage's misconceived “Ring” — an achievement as empty as Otto Schenk's kitschy realism, and less popular — also spurred ambitions elsewhere. Strasbourg's Opéra du Rhin, on April 2, mounted a new “Tannhäuser,” K e i t h Wa r n e r ' s a m b i t i o u s , o f t e n visually striking, but finally incoherent production. Granted, “Tannhäuser” alongside “Parsifal” — based on a work by one of the earlier opera's characters, Wolfram von Eschenbach — often sounds like a throwback to Albert Lortzing. Warner and generally effective conductor Constantin Trinks perhaps exacerbated this perception by using a composite version of Wagner's “Dresden” (1845) and “Paris” (1860) editions of “Tannhäuser.” Essentially, we heard the “Paris” Bacchanale — cheesily choreographed by Karl Alfred Schreiner, with what could have been escapees from the bordello scene of the Met’s Vegas “Rigoletto” — followed by the “Dresden” Venus scene. This gave ample stage time to Béatrice Uria-Monzon's sightly, well-enacted goddess — in flaming Rhonda Fleming wig and slinky purple gown. This local favorite sang excitingly except for some evident effort in the part's upper reaches. Still, the music got repetitive. So did the blocking and imagery, which introduced e l e m e n t s t h a t e v o k e d Wa g n e r ' s stormy relationships with his first wife Minna and his married mistress Mathilde Wesendonck and included over-freighted props (torn-up letters, an intrusive child). Act Two largely reverted to “Dresden,” so we got to hear Walther's song, very nicely done by Gijs Van der Linden. Kaspar Glarner's otherwise splendid 19th century costumes offered Scott MacAllister's T annhäuser only a standard-issue long black leather Manrico coat, followed by a vest befitting a veteran Kiss roadie. The Colorado-born tenor exuded little appeal or success in conveying the “artist” figure Warner sought to create. His virtues were pitch, clarity of diction — accentuating, however, very American-sounding vowels — and sheer stamina, at least until the outrageously testing “Erbarm' dich mein” passage defeated him, as

Marco Jentsch in the title role of Opera Cologne’s production of Parsifal.

it has so many Tannhäusers, causing lost or lowered notes and escape-valve crooning. Also like most before him, MacAllister recovered substantially for the Rome Narration. Barbara Haveman's lovely-looking, wonderfully acted Elisabeth showed a combination of almost maidenly vocal purity and unpredictable pitch lapses. Audience preference among Elisabeth's suitors audibly ran toward Wolfram — Jochen Kupfer, tall and youthfully handsome at 44. Operagoers today applaud what they see. What I heard was a cultivated — perhaps over-cultivated — textual mastery in the style of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and basically attractive sound compromised by Kupfer's boxed-in vocal placement. Even with some passing rusty patches, Kristinn Sigmundsson's Landgrave exuded authority and warmly nasal resonance. The Pilgrims' choruses proved the most enjoyable singing. Boris Kudlicka's striking but unattractive set served for all three acts. Beneath a gallery, on which characters often appeared and lingered, stood a raised glass inset box in which we saw, among other things, the distressingly off-key treble Shepherd, Heinrich, and followers in archetypical Biedermeier hunting clothes as well as Elizabeth’s body after she hanged herself. Um…. Wasn’t suicide a sin in the prevailing cosmology? Above, sometimes descending to the floor, was a neon-tubed cage that at full extension resembled a blender. Tannhäuser climbed inside to ride to

OPERA, continued on p.30

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

IN THE NOH

Baranski’s Timing A great comedienne, a cult filmmaker, a rediscovered songwriter have been enslaved by the comic talent of Christine Baranski ever since seeing her in John Guare’s brilliant classic “The House of Blue Leaves.” As the endearingly coarse, deliriously deluded Bunny Flingus, she had a moment when she fantasized about her loser composer lover, Artie, winning an Oscar, and she said, “And now, to present the Academy Award for Best Song, the Lady, Greer Garson!” In those few words, she hilariously encompassed the viewpoint of an entire celebrity-obsessed generation, but when I mentioned this to her, she said, “I seriously have no recollection of that. Don’t get me wrong, I loved playing the part, but that was so long ago. I took over from Stockard [Channing] but went on to play it for months. And it’s one of the three or four highlights of my career. It doesn’t get any better than John Guare’s writing!” Baranski is about to stretch the musical chops we enjoyed in the film of “Mamma Mia” (which she liked making, and where she was, incidentally, the best thing) and onstage in Washington in “Sweeney Todd” and “Mame.” She will play Peggy Porter field in the Encores! revival of Rodgers & Hart’s “On Your Toes” (131 W. 55th St., through May 12; nycitycenter.org), a role she described as “the Money Lady. It’s her idea to modernize this traditional Russian ballet company with jazz. Walter Bobbie plays the Diaghilev-like director of the company, and we do a charming soft shoe routine together. I have two songs, one of which is ‘Too Good for the Average Man.’ As this is a serious ballet company, we also have the great, great dancers — Irina Dvorovenko [American Ballet Theater] and Joaquin De Luz [New York City Ballet] — with us.” Baranski counts her DC “Sweeney Todd” as another career gem: “I saw Mrs. Lovett as a survivor above all, with a feral animal quality to her. I did a lot of research into Victorian times and lear ned what a tough, tough period it was, especially for a woman. But, along with everything else, she has this fantasy about this man, Sweeney, and really just wants to be a nor mal housewife with him. “There’s a song which doesn’t get as much attention, ‘By the Sea,’ but I loved doing that, because in it

JOAN MARCUS

BY DAVID NOH

Christine Baranski, Irina Dvorovenko, Kelli Barrett, and Karen Ziemba star in Rodgers and Hart’s “On Your Toes” at City Center through May 12.

she gets to pour out her innermost desires. Stepping into Angela Lansbury’s shoes was, of course, daunting, as it was when I did ‘Mame,’ but you can’t think about that. And she was so lovely and came to see us and lent encouragement. “Everyone, of course, was very daunted by Steve Sondheim. But he was so supportive and just wanted everything to be as good as it could be. I had my 50th birthday in DC and got to spend it with him in a restaurant, over glasses of white wine, as he told me all these incredible stories for two hours. Imagine!” Given the great success of “Sweeney Todd” at the Kennedy Center, I asked her what she’d like to do next: “I played the title role in ‘Mame’ in my Polish Catholic girls school outside Buffalo. Along with all the brittle sophistication, she’s a warm, loving woman and I tried to emphasize that in my performance. “The problem was we didn’t have enough rehearsal time — or perfor mances. The stairs weren’t even finished by the first preview. But Gregg Barnes’ costumes were the best – I think it was filmed but I wish everyone could have seen them up close. The detail, the beading!! “There was talk about bringing it in, but Broadway is all about the bottom line and they’d have to cut the magnificent full orchestra or the cast number or the stairs, so….”

Asked about her crack comic timing, Baranski said, “I don’t know. It’s like music. When I read a script, it’s very musical to me. Although I’m now doing this heavily dramatic role on ‘The Good Wife,’ comedy is something I’m known for since doing ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in Central Park, which put me on the map. You go with the hand you’re dealt, and I’ve been very happy with the incredible people I’ve worked with — Sondheim, Mike Nichols, who’s such a friend — and the opportunities I’ve gotten, like now, with ‘On Your Toes.’” Although dressed in all-black rehearsal mufti — T -shirt, jeans, and baseball cap — I’ve seen Baranski out on the town, always dressed to the nines, the very image of posh Upper East Side. “I know, and now people always expect it of me!,” she explained. “But I’m dressed normally, like this, a lot. I’ve become friends with Renee Fleming and we went to see Bette Midler the other night. What an idol of mine and what a performance she gives. That’s a star!”

A t t h e Tr i b e c a F i l m Festival I caught a wonderful documentary,

“Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton.” A bisexual San Francisco-based poet and experimental filmmaker, Broughton (1913-99) led an incredibly varied,

rich life. His film “The Bed” (1967) was an ultimate “Summer of Love” ode to carnal joys, featuring pioneering images of gay sex and frontal nudity, which did much to loosen the grip of the still prevailing censorship. Filmmakers Stephen Silha, Eric Slade, and Dawn Logsdon, using rare archival footage and rich inter views, made a deeply rewarding and inspirational look at this storied man. Although he was a singular absentee failure as a parent, he did father a daughter, Gina, by no less than critic Pauline Kael, seen in one of her final interviews, and a fascinating one at that. Married to costume designer Suzanna Hart, who also bore him children, Broughton left her in the 1970s when a much younger film student, Joel Singer, fell in love with him. They remained together until Broughton’s death, and the doc happily doesn’t refrain from showing all — at times painful — sides of the story. Shilha, who attended the April 21 Chelsea Clearview screening — along with flamboyantly garbed members of the Radical Faeries, who counted Broughton as one of their number — told me that the Hart interview took place entirely by chance when he discovered she lived in an adult care facility near one of their locations. Hart’s words are breathtakingly honest and ruefully funny, especially when she describes her heartbreak as Broughton “rode happily off into the sunset like a cowboy, which I found… extremely irritating.”

On April 8, I attended “ Ta k i n g a C h a n c e o n Love: The Music of Ve r n o n D u k e,” o n e o f t h e

best entries ever in the 92nd Y’s L yrics and L yricists series. Heidi Blickenstaff, James Clow, Rebecca Luker, Erin Mackey, and Matthew Scott all did their terrifically urbane best with the songs of this leastknown but brilliantly potent Great American Songbook composer. Duke (1903-69) was born in Russia and classically trained ther e before fleeing with his family to America in 1921. His oeuvre consists of classics like “April in Paris,” “I Can’t Get Started,” “Taking a Chance on Love,” “What is There to Say,” and the essential “Autumn in New York,” for which the brilliant

IN THE NOH, continued on p.25

| May 8, 2013 IN THE NOH, from p.24

host and director of the afternoon, David Loud, gave a tantalizingly literate introduction. Choreographer Noah Racey executed a pas de deux for Kylie Shea Lewallen and Michaeljon Slinger, to illustrate Duke’s rich classical side. Dawn Upshaw, who also definitely knows how to do it,

RICHARD, from p.14

a bad kid; he’s a nice kid. You want the world to work out for him. All he really wants is harmony, and when that goes away, that’s the tragedy.” The film creates a delicate balance, making audiences care about Richard’s fate even though his irrevocable action in a moment of rage causes pain to others, including his family, his girlfriend Lara (Róisín Murphy), his friends, and other members of the community who are shocked and saddened by his crime. Despite the terrible things Richard does, Reynor said, “The most impor tant thing for me is that the audience empathizes with Richard.” Abrahamson concurred, explaining that his interest in examining the flawed hero goes deeper. “What the film is trying to do is show the degree to which other people are slippery,” he said. “I posit a very clear character at the beginning, but viewers lose hold of who Richard really is during the film. Film tends

Scotch, but I learned that Broadway doesn’t go in for booze and pills.” There was more to this, but he refused to read it “because I’m not gay!”

23) raised another record-breaking

amount — $4,250,542 — and I was overjoyed to welcome the snarky return of “Urinetown”’s Little Sally (Jen Cody), who effectively demolished this so-called “Year of the Little Girl.” But the funniest line of the afternoon came from Tom Hanks, who told the audience he was suf fering from a bad cold: “On a film, you just suck it up and take a Sudafed and a swig of

to push us toward creating an easy psychological shorthand for a char acter. And yet, in the experience of life it is impossible to encapsulate a person — they continue to slip out of your grasp.” One way the filmmaker and the actor hook viewers is by making Richar d her oic in the film’s first half. He shows humility and decency, often caring for the weaker ones among his friends and even protecting those who are bullied. Richard sees himself as a decent kid. When guilt overtakes him in the wake of his crime, Reynor said, Richard does things that make him the hero again — even if it is just for a few hours. “He needs to take that mantle back… to feel respectable again and be the good person he always thought he was,” Reynor said. Richard’s success in regaining his moorings, however, are fleeting, and that drives him further into despair. The director builds the tension inexorably in scenes where Richard is alone and introspective — at the

shoreline, outside a party, or confined in a room that underscores his stress. “The isolated character is a very dangerous character for a filmmaker,” Abrahamson observed. “If there isn’t really something happening — even if it’s very simple and subliminal — what you end up with is the filmmaker desperately trying to imbue the image with intensity while having some guy look very alone.” “What Richard Did” avoids this pitfall due to Reynor’s strong per formance. The actor explained that it “would have been contrived” for him to try to put himself in Richard’s shoes during the scenes of reflection. Instead, he said, “I was thinking about what’s around me — looking through the window at the trees — that’s what I’m concentrating on.” A scene in which Richard screams in angst is particularly power ful, as he wakes up from a serene sleep but immediately reconnects to his despair and anger. “The things most present in your

mind will always hit you straightaway when you wake up,” Reynor said of his preparation for that scene. “In that moment, he wakes up and he’s petrified and disgusted, and just can’t face it or hold it in anymore.” How Richard copes with the consequences of his actions and makes decisions about his future are per haps the most interesting and telling aspects of “What Richard Did.” The film is deliberately ambiguous, something that will certainly spark discussion and disagreement among viewers. “You’re looking at a boy with tremendous opportunity,” Abrahamson explained. “He’s trying to negotiate grabbing hold of that opportunity and still maintain a sense of himself as valuable. It’s not an ordinary portrait of guilt. He isn’t courageous. He is egotistical and narcissistic. I refuse to let the audience off the hook. You have to keep looking at him. That’s the end of the story I wanted to tell.”

has just recorded a CD of Duke songs on Nonesuch, which should help restore his reputation among a larger audience.

Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS’ 27th Annual Easter Bonnet Competition (April

SISTERS, from p.20

accessible film so far, it’s still challenging. Wang’s style of documentary is based around experience, not storytelling; he wants the spectator to feel like they have spent the film’s running time living alongside its subjects. “Three Sisters” follows three young girls in a remote mountain village in Yunnan, China. Eighty families live there, all of them raising livestock and growing potatoes. (His subjects’ living room doubles as a potato storage bin.) Wang quickly opens the film up to take in the girls’ relatives and neighbors. His methods are elliptical at times. He gets on the bus with a man who’s leaving the village to travel to a city in search of work. One expects Wang to accompany him there — this is the only moment when one of his subjects acknowledges his presence — but the director apparently got right back off the bus and stayed in the village. (In any event, the man couldn’t find a job and soon returned home.) “West of the T racks” showed Wang’s eye for the expressive potential of sheer ugliness and destruction. This may seem an odd comparison, but the film came across like the visual equivalent of the attempts by rock bands like Père Ubu and Joy Division to communicate the decay of late-‘70s Cleveland and Manchester in music. “Fengming,” on the other hand, was filmmaking degree zero, made up entirely of images of the interviewee framed in medium shots — a Chinese counterpart to Shirley Clarke’s “Portrait of

Contact David Noh at Inthenoh@ aol.com follow him on Facebook and Twitter @in_the_noh and check out h i s b l o g a t h t t p : / / n o h w a y . w o rd press.com.

documentaries from the past 25 years. This body of work, created largely away from the prying hands of Chinese government censors, is one of the most exciting currents in world cinema at the moment, yet it’s received no exposure at venues like Film Forum, which regularly showcases documentaries from elsewhere to enthusiastic audiences. The institutional backing of MoMA should help put recent Chinese documentaries on New York cinephiles’ maps. “Three Sisters” is an urgent dispatch from a part of the world that’s rapidly changing. Catch it before that world is gentrified beyond recognition.

Jason,” stylistically, at least. “Three Sisters” isn’t quite as visually spectacular as “West of the Tracks,” but it takes advantage of the hillside setting of the village, as well as its morning fog. Wang’s style isn’t without its ironies. The prettiest scene depicts children collecting sheep dung. Like “West of the Tracks,” “Three Sisters” reminds us that beauty and ugliness can coexist. The New York opening of “Three Sisters” coincides with a month-long MoMA series called “Chinese Realities/ Documentary Visions,” which is mostly — though not entirely — devoted to Chinese

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WTF? Meningitis Message Missing Young Gay Men of Color BY MIGUEL ZAPATA

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Duncan Osborne

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Christopher Byrne (Theater), Susie Day, Doug Ireland (International), Brian McCormick (Dance)

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Seth J. Bookey, Anthony M.Brown, Kelly Jean Cogswell, Andres Duque, Michael Ehrhardt, Steve Erickson, Erasmo Guerra, Frank Holliday, Andy Humm, Eli Jacobson, David Kennerley, Gary M. Kramer, Arthur S. Leonard, Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass, Winnie McCroy, Eileen McDermott, Mick Meenan, Tim Miller, Gregory Montreuil, Christopher Murray, David Noh, Pauline Park, Nathan Riley, Chris Schmidt, Jason Victor Serinus, David Shengold, Yoav Sivan, Gus Solomons Jr., Kathleen Warnock, Benjamin Weinthal, Dean P. Wrzeszcz

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I’m a 20-year -old young man of color living on the Lower East Side. I was raised by my mother who is from the Dominican Republic. I’ve worked in retail sales of trendy clothes since I was 17. I am trying to get back to college and I think I want to become a social worker. I like helping people and listening to them and maybe making a difference in their lives. I came out at the age of 16 and have been sexually active since the age of 14. I’m single, enjoying the single life and the New York City nightlife. I like going out to parties and I’m looking forward to my 21st birthday in two weeks. It’ll be exciting to be in bars and mingle with people and being able to have a drink without being carded. Befor e this week when my mentor brought up the meningitis outbreak,

I had never heard of such a thing and never believed that I could be at risk. T o d a y I v i s i t e d t h e N e w Yo r k C i t y Department of Health webpage and I was shocked by the statistics and how at risk I am. I was shocked to learn that gay men are most at risk and that the Department of Health is now recommending that sexually active gay and bisexual men state-

Why haven’t my peers and friends and I heard of this outbreak? Why isn’t there more information on the subject? My friends and I are all sexually active and most of them aren’t practicing safe sex. This is a big issue in my community, especially with gay men of color because there aren’t messages about these types of things or even about safe sex for us. I haven’t heard about this from anyone until now. I haven’t heard anything in Spanish. I haven’t heard anything from anyone that looks like me. This is a big problem. The Department of Health needs to get it together and inform more people in our community about this outbreak ad how to practice safe sex. I don’t know how to create a pubic health campaign, but this is what people like me need to know: We need to be informed about meningitis and how it’s contracted. This is something serious happening in my community, among gay and bisexual men who are sexually active. Prevention and information about this needs to be spread and talked about more so that it gets out and reaches everyone in our community, and doesn’t leave out young gay men of color who are at real risk, like me. This is an outrage.

Before this week when my mentor brought up the meningitis outbreak, I had never heard of such a thing. wide should get vaccinated. I’m traveling to Los Angeles this weekend to see a friend and I am saddened and surprised to learn that a few weeks ago, a 33-yearold man from West Hollywood died from meningitis four days after being diagnosed. What he f---?

francesco@gaycitynews.com

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Mothers' Day and the Queer Kitchen BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL

ne of the few times I've been back to Kentucky in the last zillion years, my mother offered to make lunch if I came over. The menu turned out to be frozen pizza and brownies made from a mix, and for that I was truly grateful. The woman's a rotten cook. Mostly because she hates to. And why not? It's a helluva lotta work and absolutely poisonous in social terms. You have to wonder why the kitchen was ever women's place at all. It's dangerous and a little brutal. You could even say it's butch. You hack at things with sharpened knives, heave around enormous pots of boiling liquids. I worked as a prep cook one summer during college, and scalded the crap out of myself when the 40-pound pot I was lifting spilled over just a little and the hot water landed on my belly.

When I tried to pull my pants away, half the skin came, too. That same summer, a girl I knew lost her eyebrows lighting a stove and was lucky to keep her eyes. Still, I got pleasure out of learning the craft. Not to mention getting the paycheck. But I'm puzzled by people who idealize any part of cooking, especially the "traditional" kind. Whenever I read about yuppie chicks starting to make their own jam and pickles, I imagine my grandmother or great-grandmother trapped in a kitchen in the middle of August with mounds of fruits and vegetables all around her and no air conditioning in sight. It must've been like a stint in hell. But if she didn't do it, her whole family would starve. And if she screwed up, didn't boil those jars long enough, she'd poison them all by spring. If you want to get back to your roots, what you really need is a little heat stroke or botulism. Women didn't need feminism's encouragement to flee the kitchen. On the con-

trary, idealized femininity demanded it of them. White women who could afford it already had black and brown women getting their surrogate hands dirty. That's tradition, too. And part of why my mother embraced middle-class magazine food when she finally left her secretarial job and got married. It was not only quick, but arranged things so she wouldn't have to break a nail, or even a sweat. It was a sign she'd succeeded, lifted herself out of her working class origins, turned her back on parents who had been factory workers once they left failing farms. They spoke with seriously embarrassing twangs. Said warter instead of water. Warshed their clothes. Yeah, a lot of cans were opened in my house. A lot of tuna and hamburger was helped. Though once a week, when my dad was home from his job on the road, she would roast something. A chicken. A hunk of beef. On Thanksgiving, too, while she conceded to tradition and made the turkey, the stuffing still came out of a cellophane bag and the pièce de résistance was the casserole of green beans slathered in canned cream of mush-

COGSWELL, continued on p.27

| May 8, 2013

PERSPECTIVE

Mayor’s Race Gets More Complicated, But Advantage is Still Quinn’s BY NATHAN RILEY

hris Quinn remains the frontrunner in the race f o r m a y o r, b u t s h e i s not likely to be win the Democratic nomination flat out in the September 10 primary election. The City Council speaker’s leg up among her party’s field has been narrowing, but she had enjoyed such a large lead that this was not unexpected. The hope that she can get the 40 per cent needed in the primary to avoid a runoff two weeks later is fading. The current election maneuvering focuses on who might finish second and win the right to oppose Quinn in a one-on-one contest. Anthony Weiner, should he decide to make the race, could end up helping Bill Thompson by siphoning votes from Bill de Blasio. Weiner, of course, is a smart politician and it is hard to say with certainty what his impact on the race will be. But his campaign will emphasize the middle class, which is often a code phrase for outer borough residents. The very people de Blasio is trying to attract in Brooklyn and Quinn is seeking in all boroughs. Elections are unpredictable. The September 11 attack on the World Trade Center happened on primary day in 2001, forcing its cancellation, and the aftermath changed the outcome in November. Nobody could have predicted it. Who knows what will happen this year? Public discussion of a potential Weiner candidacy will make his sexting an old and tired scandal by the time he announces. But it is unclear if antipathy among some women voters will persist or if the voters will ignore him because he is entering the race at such a late date. These are

COGSWELL, from p.26

room soup, topped with canned French's onions. It was chic and convenient, with French right there in the title. There were also "salads" consisting largely of Jell-O, canned fruit, and frozen whipped "cream." Half the meal needed quotes. I think about her sometimes when I'm making dinner. What an irony it's her dyke daughter who ended up back in the kitchen, cooking from scratch. Though

problems that political campaigns try and solve. Weiner enjoys remarkable support from his wife, Huma Abedin, who shows no hesitation about his returning to the political fray. Her close ties to Hillary Clinton — as a top aide dating back to her days in the US Senate — may spark rumors that Weiner is the Clinton candidate. The media buzz surrounding Weiner notwithstanding, Quinn has a good shot at seizing the public’s attention over the next eight weeks. The City Council has received a budget from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and its job, at the behest of the speaker, is to turn it into a workable document. Issues surrounding the NYPD’s controversial stop and frisk practices will also be at the fore. A Quinn measure to establish an inspector general for the police department and another bill barring racial profiling by the NYPD — which the speaker opposes — will both come up for votes. To be sure, in the limelight, Quinn will be walking a high wire. Putting

also chip away at the notion that she is Bloomberg’s lap dog. They have disagreed sharply on the inspector general measure, the mayor arguing falsely that it would undermine the police commissioner’s authority. Inspectors general make recommendations to the heads of city departments, they don’t manage them. The mayor’s all-out assault on the IG proposal helps Quinn shed the narrative that she corruptly enabled Bloomberg’s third term. Thompson can count on strong support in the black community, which is a major force in any Democratic primary. The former city comptroller supports stop and frisk — an unmistakable nod to anxieties in African-American communities about continued street crime — but he also makes a convincing case that had he been mayor (Thompson came sur prisingly close to beating Bloomberg in 2009), the egregious racial profiling that has resulted would not have developed.

Anthony Weiner, should he decide to make the race, could end up helping Bill Thompson by siphoning votes from Bill de Blasio. the final touches on the city budget is hard work, and shepherding measures regarding the police through the Council invites devastating headlines from the Daily News and the Post. To her advantage, however, is the fact that such news headlines would

Quinn also belongs to the “mend it, don’t end it” school on stop and frisk, hence her support for an inspector general. De Blasio, the city’s public advocate, is the candidate who has mounted the sharpest attacks on the mayor as well as the speaker for sup-

I'm not the only one. In my East Village neighborhood overpopulated with restaurants, when you see gaggles of people in checked pants and white aprons sneaking a quick smoke, there is usually a tattooed dyke among them. I've never seen any girls as prissy as the ones featured on cooking shows. No buxom motherly types. No sex pots. Just wiry white girls who like the pace and the competition. I was startled to discover my Cuban girlfriend's mom cooks no

better than mine. Before blood pressure issues put her on a low-sodium diet, her favorite meal was pretty much anything from the Chinese take-out down the block. She was a grade school teacher. Her husband an accountant. A teenaged girl fresh from the countryside would do most of the cooking. When Faustina finally approached the kitchen, it had been transformed, not by revolution or scarcity, but by

porting the business community. Jarrett Murphy. the editor of City Limits, a policy wonk magazine for progressives, wrote in The Nation, “Public Advocate de Blasio has articulated the most cogent critique so far of the Bloomberg era, recently chastising the mayor for having ‘transferred more public value to the private sector in the past twelve years than at any time before in our history.’” De Blasio hopes to build a coalition of Brooklynites and progressives citywide to winning the coveted number two spot on September 10. The public advocate’s cause has certainly profited from a TV ad featuring a smoke-filled room that accuses Quinn of representing the one-percent. The speaker, meanwhile, has in recent months worked to build an alternate narrative, for example, endorsing a bill guaranteeing paid sick leave to private sector employees in the city. De Blasio and others criticized the move as too little, too late, but the speaker had an impressive array of labor leaders standing with her as she announced her new position. Stuart Appelbaum, the openly gay leader of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, has worked hard to organize that kind of support to demonstrate that Quinn retains vital progressive support. Weiner would enter the mayor’s raise with sufficient money from his past campaigns to be taken seriously, but he has not participated in the debates nor explained why he is now looking to run. A September 24 runoff pitting Weiner against Quinn, however, would surely be New York politics at its most dramatic. Quinn, should she prevail on the 10th or the 24th, continues to look good against Joe Lhota, the establishment candidate among those seeking the Republican nomination. Matched against the for mer MTA chair and Giuliani deputy mayor, Quinn would easily assume the progr essive mantle, her appeal as a woman and a married lesbian compelling to many New Yorkers.

Nitza Villapol whose cookbook, “Cocina Criolla” (“Creole Kitchen”), was aimed at the modern cook in the modern kitchen. It had a few recipes for the traditional dishes like picadillo, arroz con pollo, and beans sped up in a pressure cooker. But it also had Waldorf Salad, the same disgusting concoction of apples and walnuts and mayonnaise that my mother used to make when she bowed to tradition and entered the room she hated.

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com

THEATER A Funkalicious Haven

THU.MAY.9

FOOD Cupcake Wars Hit Sheridan Square

Ron and Ruthie Bzdewka, winners of season two of the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” host the grand opening of the newest location of their House of Cupcakes, which offers more than 35 varieties baked fresh daily. To celebrate the occasion, House of Cupcakes will give away free cupcakes to the first 1,000 people beginning at 2 p.m. May 9, 101 Seventh Ave. S. at Sheridan Sq. Follow the company at Facebook. com/HouseOfCupcakes.

“Neon Baby” is a new musical about Puerto Rican B-Boy and Keith Haring muse Juanito Xtravaganza. Inspired by the life of Juan Rivera and Arnaldo Cruz-Malavé’s book “Queer Latino Testimonio, Keith Haring and Juanito Xtravaganza: Hard Tails,” “Neon Baby” is set in a mythical dance club where runaway gay youths of color find family and courage Pregones Theater, 575 Walton Ave., btwn. 149 & 150th Sts. (#2, 4, or 5 train to 149th & Grand Concourse), Bronx. May 9-11, 16-18, 23-25, 30-31 & Jun. 1, 8 p.m.; May 12, 19, 26 & Jun. 2, 3 p.m. Tickets are $24; $15 for students & seniors at pregones.org or 718585-1202; $40, $28 at the door.

COMMUNITY Surviving AIDS in a Third Decade

“Is This My Beautiful Life? Perspectives From Survivors of the AIDS Generation” brings together New Yorkers who lived through the worst years of AIDS, educators, and scientists for a panel discussion that will tackle chronic disease, mental trauma, aging, and activism. Stephen Spinella, who won a Tony for his performance in “Angels in America,” hosts. Dr. Perry N. Halkitis, a professor of applied psychology

and public health at NYU and the author of “The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience,” moderates the panel that includes Jim Eigo, an activist, regulatory reformer, and writer; Peter Staley, who has worked with ACT UP New York the Treatment Action Group; Dr. L. Jeannine Bookhardt-Murray of Harlem United; Dr. Mark Brennan of the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America; Jesus Aguais, of Aid for AIDS International; and Joe.My.God’s Joe Jervis. Mason Hall at Baruch College, 17 Lexington Ave., entrance on 23rd St. May 9, 7-9 p.m. This is even is free, but registration is required at broadwaycares.org/life.

FILM Neil LaBute, Bill T. Jones, Laurie Anderson Recommend…

The Modern School of Film is a series where special guests present a favorite movie. Tonight, Neil LaBute (“Death at a Funeral,” “In the Company of Men”) screens and discusses John M. Stahl’s “Leave Her to Heaven,” a lurid, Technicolor 1945 film noir starring a menacing Gene Tierney. IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. at W. Third St. May 9, 8 p.m. On May 13, 8 p.m., choreographer Bill T. Jones (“Spring Awakening,” “Fela!”) presents Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1975 “The Mirror,” the Russian filmmaker’s enigmatic, dreamlike meditation on childhood and pre-World War II Soviet life. On May 28, 8 p.m., musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson shows Vittorio De Sica’s “Miracle In Milan,” a 1951 comic fable about the battle between the residents of a poor shantytown and an enterprising industrialist. Tickets are $17 per screening at ifccenter.com.

FRI.MAY.10

DANCE Dance Iquail’s New Season Dance Iquail, a culturally and ethnically diverse repertory dance company from New York and Philadelphia, kicks off its fifth season with two world premieres — “Sweet Surrender,” which explores the emotional differences in intimate relationships between men and women, and “Inward Flux,” an abstract journey through a dream-like state of mind. Dance Iquail presents programs that confront the destructive nature of racism, sexism, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and poverty. Kumble Theater, LIU Brooklyn, Flatbush Ave. btwn. DeKalb Ave. & Willougby St. May 10-11, 7:30p.m.; May 12, 3p.m. Tickets are $30, $17 for students & seniors at 718-488-1624.

MON.MAY.13

ACTIVISM Courage in International Human Rights Work

Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Cynthia Nixon hosts the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's Celebration of Courage. Honorees are Yasemın Öz, a founder of that nation’s LGBT movement and an advocacy attorney; Dr. Binnaz Toprak, a professor, member of Turkey’s parliament, and LGBT ally; and Dorothy Sander, IGLHRC’s longest serving board member and an LGBT philanthropist for three decades. Studio 450, 450 W. 31st St. May 13, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tickets, which include hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, and a dessert reception, are $200 at iglhrc.org.

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KICKSTARTER, from p.3

crowdfunding site on the web. Sites that raise modest equity investments in small businesses will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission when that federal agency finalizes regulations, but sites that raise funds for charities or projects in which contributors gain no financial stake, such as kickstarter.com, are unregulated. The press office for New York’s attorney

CONVERSION THERAPY, from p.4

appeals panel of the Ninth Circuit on April 17 that weighed whether it was “an unjustified infringement on free speech or a valid effort to prevent therapeutic malpractice,” the New York Times reported. Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute, which is challenging the law, told the Times their case is “about protecting the First Amendment rights of young people to get the counseling they

COLLINS, from p.8

year. Most who have come out did so after retiring — including the NFL’s Dave Kopay, baseball’s Billy Bean, and the NBA’s John Amaechi. Retired Olympic swimming star Greg Louganis caught uninformed flak when he came out, not for acknowedging he is gay but rather for not earlier disclosing his HIV-positive status to competitors who shared a pool with him. Given the kind of money involved with the big four men’s sports leagues — in terms of salaries and television rights — and the stereotype that gay men do not make for good athletes (a prejudice lesbians have never faced), it is hardly surprising that Collins’ story has made a big

OPERA, from p.23

Rome and did so again when it became the Pope's staf f, having changed miraculously to (blender appropriate) wheat-grass green. In one of the production's truly memorable images, an Elisabeth double was lowered to reach down for the redeemed singer as he struggled upwards. But this visual coup evoked the Met's “Machine” — untold funds and energies spent scoring several seconds of stunning visuals.

I moved on to Cologne,

a pleasant and culture-laden Rhine city with a palpable queer presence everywhere. Due to opera house repairs, Opera Cologne performs in the Oper am Dom a remarkably satisfactory temporary structure right near the city’s world-famous cathedral. The train station and several impressive major museums are just minutes away, as are hotels and clubs. I can't think of a major

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com general, Eric T. Schneiderman, did not respond to an email seeking comment. Kickstarter, which was founded in 2009, has received pledges of $595 million, but only $505 million was collected and distributed. The site is an all or nothing proposition, so project creators must meet or exceed their fundraising goal by a set date to get the cash. Of the 96,000 projects launched on kickstarter. com, roughly 40,000 were funded and 88 percent of the money pledged went to

those 40,000. Kickstarter does not track funded projects and cannot say how many creators complete their projects. If Yezak does not complete “Second Class Citizens,” the backers have little recourse other than declining to fund any new project he proposes. For backers who pledged small amounts, suing would cost far more than the initial pledge. “Frankly, if it was easy for me to reverse payment on Mr. Yezak and

retrieve the money I invested, I absolutely would,” wrote Shivian Morgan, a “Second Class Citizens” backer who is among the most vocal complainers on kickstarter.com, in an email. “This level of negligence is both disappointing and unacceptable. I will never invest in any project he puts forward again, and would encourage others to avoid him at all costs. If he ever puts out a documentary with the funds he was provided, I’ll be very surprised indeed.”

feel they need, their parents feel they need, and that a licensed counselor may feel they need.” The group is also arguing that it violates their religious freedom. But lawyers from the California attorney general’s office told the court the law is “an unremarkable exercise of the state’s power to regulate professional conduct.” US Judge Morgan Christen asked the challengers for evidence that conversion therapy works, and Kevin Snider, also

of the Pacific Justice Institute, said, “We don’t have the burden of proving whether it’s effective or ineffective.” Writing on Law.com, Scott Graham observed that that the appeals court judges “sounded ready” to uphold the law. Libertarians Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman of the Institute for Justice, writing in the National Law Journal, however, argued, “Whatever one’s view of the merits or evils of ‘reparative’ talk therapy, it consists entirely

of spoken communication. That is enough to bring it presumptively within the scope of the First Amendment’s protection.” Hoylman said that he has “not received any pushback [on his bill] from civil libertarians.” Dafis said, “There is no First Amendment issue. It is just like the FDA coming out against a drug that has harmful side effects.” The New York Civil Liberties Union did not return a call seeking comment on its view of the Glick-Hoylman bill.

splash. In Sports Illustrated, Navratilova acknowledged as much, writing of Collins, “He is the proverbial ‘game-changer.’ One of the last bastions of homophobia has been challenged. How many LGBT kids, once closeted, are now more likely to pursue a team sport and won't be scared away by a straight culture?” Jon Wertheim, one of the Sports Illustrated reporters who sat down with Collins, addressed how the Wizard player neatly fits the jock stereotype, writing, “He’s been a bruising player, an enforcer who’s laid out players, dispensed his share of trash talk, drawn technicals — in short, whose style splinters every shabby stereotype of gay men being soft.” Wertheim, in fact, asked Collins

whether his aggressive style of play represented some form of overcompensation, to which the player smiled and said “he’ll get back to us on that one.” But while challenging homophobia and shattering stereotypes win cheers in the gay community, such actions can also cause uneasiness. J. Bryan Lowder, a gay writer on Slate.com, was not among those who hailed Collins as a hero for coming out. “Collins makes the classic maneuver of exempting himself from the dreaded gay ‘LABEL’ (I’m never sure what that means) and then spends multiple paragraphs telling us how butch and eager to foul he is,” Lowder wrote. “At this point, I’m waiting for it, and Collins delivers: ‘I go against the gay stereotype, which is why I

think a lot of players will be shocked: That guy is gay?’” What Lowder’s comments and those from partisans of King, the WNBA, and featherweight boxing, as well, prove, as much as anything else, is that despite the widespread praise Collins has won, even the LGBT community is not unified in its reaction. In fact, some may even agree with that unrivaled arbiter of contrarian views, Stephen Colbert, who was biting in his observation that Sports Illustrated had buried the lead in its Collins story. "That's right: He came out as black and gay," Colbert told his Nation. "Even more shocking, he came out as a player for the Washington Wizards. You gotta wonder how his parents took it.”

city easier to visit. “Parsifal,” directed by Carlos Padrissa of La Fura dels Baus, was visually stunning — though self-congratulatory “transgressive” video footage of race car crashes and snuff films served only to distract, and certain tropes like fireeating seemed designed to show off the Catalan troupe's skill set rather than enhance the musical or dramatic text. The extended projections of Nietzsche quotes were tiresome and pretentious. But Roland Olbeter's set — resembling a huge bee hive-like jungle gym on which the Grail Knights seemingly collected flour for Gurnemanz to bake host loaves — allowed for the kind of breathtaking high-tech effects (incredible work with lighting and holograms) that Lepage's team so often fudges. With his still craggily mellow bass and warm presence, Matti Salminen — a Finnish international star celebrating 40 years at Opera Cologne — made Gurnemanz the sentient, committed

center of everything. Silvia Hablowetz, fabulously costumed, left mixed impressions as Kundry. As long as the music didn't challenge her essentially midsize mezzo, she sounded lovely and expressive. In Act II's last 15 minutes, when the part suddenly becomes dramatic soprano territory, she could only scream desperately. I'd like to hear Halbowetz again as, say, Geschwitz. Kundry taxes her unduly. Still, she gave a terrifically committed performance, seductive and athletic by turns — it’s hard (but fun) to imagine past Kundrys such as Jessye Nor man or Regine Crespin scrambling backwards up the steep jungle gym set or, at the final redemption, swimming goldfish-like, nude-suited in the Holy Grail. Marco Jentsch, transitioning from Mozart to light Wagner roles, was adequate but like many a Parsifal a bit of a cipher, only showing his true vocal potential in the final scene. Boaz Daniel's dark-complected, sometimes

raspy tone proved hard to accept as the noble Amfortas after Peter Mattei's terrific Met incarnation, but suited his turn as Klingsor (Amfortas' antagonist) quite well. Fine bass Young Doo Park, stationed in the pit, sang Amfortas' father Titurel almost too commandingly for a disembodied character. In another atavistic touch in Act III, after Amfortas knife-scored Titurel’s corpse, he fed it to raven-dancers. Markus Stenz led an admirable orchestral per for mance featuring committed, exciting choral work. The ritual processions extended out into the auditorium in Acts One and Three — the monks even distributing slices of Gurnemanz's loaves at the final redemption. Without undue religiosity, Cologne's unforgettable “Parsifal” truly felt like a participatory, collective aesthetic renewal. David Shengold (shengold@yahoo.com) writes about opera for many venues.

| May 8, 2013

musical. “The Dreamer and the Woman in the Moon” featuring hits by Nicki Minaj, Carlos Santana, Freddie Mercury, and Christina Aguilera in a cosmic journey through alien abduction, sexual awakening, magic, betrayal, and love. National Dance Institute, 217 W. 147th St. (A, B, C, D to 145th St. or #3 to 148th St.). May 18, 8 p.m.; May 19, 5 & 8 p.m. Tickets are $40-$45 at youthpridechorus.org or 212-344-1777.

14 DAYS, from p.28

WED.MAY.15

SAM DEVRIES

BENEFIT Small Works, Big Change

PERFORMANCE All That Gregory Nalbone Is

Model-turned-crooner Gregory Nalbone returns to the Metropolitan Room with poignant songs — standard to pop — that inspire him. He brings sensational looks, winning stories, and humor to the works of Cole Porter and Mick Jagger — and many in between. 34 W. 22nd St., May 15, 7:3 0p.m. $25 cover, with a two-drink minimum. Reservations at 212-206-0440.

THU.MAY.16

COMMUNITY Holly Came From Miami, FLA Warhol transgender superstar — and Lou Reed muse (“Take a Walk on the Wild Side”) — Holly Woodlawn screens her 1973 short "Broken Goddess" and discusses her life with NYU drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys. “Broken Goddess” salutes silent films with the story told by singer Laura Nyro. The LGBT Center, 208 W. 13th St. May 16, 6:30-9 p.m. Suggested donation is $10.

BOOKS Readings Short & Sweet

Kathleen Warnock, host of “Drunken! Careening! Writers!,” welcomes Karen E. Bender, author of “Like Normal People”; Kelli Dunham, everyone's favorite ex-nun genderqueer nerdy nurse comic and author of “Freak of Nurture”; and Janice Erlbaum, author of “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir.” KGB Bar, 85 E. Fourth St., btwn. Second Ave. & Broadway. May 16, 7 p.m. Free.

POLITICS GOP & the Mayor’s Race

The Log Cabin Republicans of NYC host George McDonald, a Republican candidate for mayor who followed up a career as an apparel industry executive by founding the Doe Fund, which employs innovative models to create jobs for low-income New Yorkers. Women's National Republican Club, 3 W. 51st St., 7:30-9:30 p.m. This event is free, and is preceded by dinner and drink specials from 6-7:30. RSVP to nyc@logcabin.org.

SAT.MAY.18

PERFORMANCE The Voices of Youth

The Youth Pride Chorus, galvanizing the voices of LGBT and allied youth 13-22, presents its first original

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project Collective, which provides legal services and advocacy for New York’s transgender community, hosts a benefit silent auction of photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, textile pieces, and mixed media installations. Chanel International is emcee for an evening that includes music by DJ Tikka Masala and raffle prizes. Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Sq. S. at Thompson St. May 18, 5-9 p.m. Bidding ends at 8 p.m. Admission is free, and bidding price points from $10. More information at srlp.org.

SUN.MAY.19

PERFORMANCE Musical Theater to Opera

The Empire City Men’s Chorus, a classical ensemble composed of gay and gay-friendly men, concludes its 20th season with two evenings of opera and musical theater works. ECMC is joined by the Manhattan-based Quo: Queer Urban Orchestra. Church of Saint Ann and the Holy Trinity, 157 Montague St. at Clinton St., Brooklyn Heights. May 19, 5 p.m. The second show is at the Church of the Holy Apostles, 296 Ninth Ave. at 28th St., Manhattan. May 23, 8 p.m. Tickets are $25; $15 for students & seniors at empirecitymenschorus.org or 212-545-4110; $30, $20 at the door. VIP seating tickets for May 23 performance are $75: $100 for two.

MON.MAY.20

BENEFIT More than Skin Deep

Drama Desk Award-winner Tovah Feldshuh hosts the seventh annual “Broadway Beauty Pageant,” a benefit for the Ali Forney Center, which provides housing and social services to homeless LGBT youth. The pageant features male Broadway cast members competing in interview, talent, and swimsuit categories. Judges include Andrea Martin (“Pippin”), Billy Porter (“Kinky Boots”), and Michael Urie (“Buyer and Cellar”). NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Pl., btwn. Washington Sq. S. & W. Third St. May 20, 8 p.m. Tickets are $25-$150 at aliforneycenter.org.

Larry Kramer Kisses David Drake

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS presents a 20th anniversary performance of David Drake’s “The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me,” originally a one-man show about the AIDS crisis that will be performed tonight as an ensemble. Drake appears with Robin De Jesús, André De Shields, Rory O'Malley, Anthony Rapp, and Tony winner BD Wong. Proceeds benefit BC/ EFA and the Sero Project, which fights stigma and criminalization aimed at those living with HIV. Gerard W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 524 W. 59th St. May 20, 8 p.m. Tickets start at $95 at broadwaycares.org or 212-840-0770, ext .268.

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce LGBT-2-B Committee Presents…

Funding Your Business Ambition Looking to raise capital to expand your business? Are you aware of all your options? Join Manhattan Chamber of Commerce on May 23rd for the final program of its Business Accelerator Series and network over cocktails as a panel of specialists and experienced business owners discuss the factors affecting capital raising such as: • • •

The JOBs Act and the new rules on private offerings Debt financing, venture capital and angel investors Crowd funding and public offerings

WHEN:

Thursday, May 23, 2013 6:00pm –8:00pm (Panel discussion and Q&A @6:30pm)

WHERE:

Morgan Stanley 1585 Broadway (4th Floor Auditorium) @ Times Square, NYC

RSVP:

Email events@manhattancc.org, call 212-473-7875 or visit http://bit.ly/17ZR29U

COST:

Free for Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and StartOut members $15 for non-members

May 8, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com