Empty Closet, April 2013

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number 466

a publication of the gay alliance of the genesee valley

Youth break the Silence on April 19

Pam Barres, center, with members of the trans community and allies at a vigil outside the Federal Building on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Nov. 20, 2007. Photo: Susan Jordan

By Susan Jordan The Day of Silence is a national, annual event bringing LGBT and allied youth together to keep silent all day, in order to remember and honor the youthful voices lost to hate violence – youth murdered because they were perceived as gay, and youth driven to suicide by relentless physical and verbal brutality. But it is not only a day to remember in silence.

The Day of Silence is also a day to break the silence surrounding homophobia and LGBT youth. This year, the Day of Silence takes place on April 19, and youth will come together at Tilt, 444 Central Ave., at 4

Tony Perri and Riley Sullivan talk at the Intergenerational Panel.

More photos p. 10. Photo: Jill Frier.

Our Family Tree: Youth, elders interview each other at Intergenerational Panel

By Susan Jordan It’s 2002 and Pamela Barres has just become Interim Executive Director of the Gay Alliance. As a trans woman, Pam is already a member of the Rochester Trans Group, and also of Rainbow Seniors (later Rainbow SAGE) and the Lambda Network at Kodak, where she was on the board before her retirement.

Since 1997 Pam has been an activist for LGBT rights and has helped transgender, genderqueer and intersex individuals find support and self-knowledge in RTG. Ironically, SONDA passes in 2002, giving basic anti-discrimination protections to every queer New Yorker except trans people. (Hence the need to pass GENDA.) Today in 2013 Pam is on the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation Board. She says, “My life changed, and changed (Fabulous continues page 6)

Gay alliance PARTNERSHIPS The Gay Alliance appreciates the continuing partnership of businesses within our community who support our mission and vision.

Silver Level

Photo: susan jordan

Look who’s 40 and fabulous!

Dontaee Williamson

p.m. to break that silence with loud, joyful noise, a video, performances, pizza and a dance (DoS continues page 6)

By Susan Jordan Around 40 people were in the audience on March 16 at the Intergenerational Panel presented by Rainbow SAGE and the Gay Alliance Youth Group at the Community Center. This year the theme was “Our Family Tree,” as youth and elders interviewed each other.

“Rainbow SAGE has a history of bringing intergenerational people together every year,” said Intergenerational Program Director Kelly Clark. She had matched pairs of youth and elders for “conversations at a family reunion.”

The first pair, Jeannie Gainsburg and Jasmine Rodriguez, are both what Kelly Clark

Healthcare providers got an education at the Transgender Healthcare Conference at UR on March 1. L-R: Scott Fearing, Gay Alliance Education Director; Dr. Linda Chaudron, Conference Activity Director; Jason Ballard and Rowan Collins of TheSelfMadeMen and Gay Alliance Speakers Bureau; Jeanne Gainsburg, Gay Alliance Outreach Coordinator.

UR Transgender HealthCARE Conference educated healthcare providers

By Jeanne Gainsburg, Gay Alliance Outreach Coordinator I was so excited about the Transgender HealthCARE Conference that took place on March 1 that I found myself wide awake at 4:30 a.m. Those of us at the Gay Alliance, who have fielded the many calls from transgender people seeking supportive and knowledgeable medical practitioners in the Rochester area, have known for years that the need for a conference of this kind existed and we were thrilled when the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry Office For Diversity stepped up to the plate to make it happen.

The conference, entitled Transgender HealthCARE: Transitioning, Transcending and Teaching our Community, was a day-long event that was sold out

weeks ahead of time. Accommodations were made to allow another 25 individuals to attend by live streaming the event to a breakout room. Total participation was capped at about 200 people.

The Gay Alliance was invited to provide the “Voices of the Community” program: an opportunity for participants to engage in conversations with transgender people about their experiences with doctors, clinics, health insurance, etc. Thank you to Jason Ballard, Rowan Collins, Jim Costich, Maur Delaney, Patti Jones, Debra Oppenheimer, Patrick Pitoni and Robert Rogers, our wonderful Speakers Bureau Members, for being the “Voices of the Community”. Our first session, facilitated by Robert, Patti and Deb, took place during registration and breakfast and was standing room

called “super allies.” Gainsburg, GAGV Outreach Coordinator, age 50, and Rodriguez, a sophomore at Rush Henrietta High School and GSA member, wore matching outfits as a joke, right down to identical “ally” buttons.

They compared notes on the challenges and rewards of being active allies to the LGBT community. Jasmine said, “I always thought being different was a good thing. I joined the GSA in Ally Week and realized, ‘that’s what I am.’ I want to let people know they should be supportive of each other and be themselves.”

Jeannie had a bad experience the first time she tried to be an ally many years ago – she

only. The room was so packed participants were spilling out into the hallway!

Linda Chaudron, Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Conference Activity Director, began the plenary session with a welcome and introduction, followed

by Jamison Green, President-Elect of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and author of the prize-winning book Becoming A Visible Man. Dr. Green spoke on opportunities and challenges in transgender lives and he started off by sharing the story of Robert Eads, a transman who died of ovarian cancer in 1999 because over a (UR continues page 6)

april 2013 attended a GSA meeting which had appealed for allies and then for some reason subjected them to straight-bashing. “I fled and it took 10 years for me to come back.”

After getting her masters in social work, she moved to Rochester. When reading about the suffrage movement, she decided she was being a hypocrite by not getting involved in “the civil rights battle going on today. I looked in the phone book under ‘gay’ and called the Gay Alliance.”

The second pair consisted of two transmen, Noah Wagner, 25 and Nick, 13. Noah has a BA in psychology and is now getting a degree in electrical engineering.

He is co-founder of the group Self Made Men and with his business partner Jason he works to help transmen. Nick is an 8th grader at School Without Walls and, Kelly said, he “is deeply embedded” in the Youth Group.

Nick told Noah he had seen a Michael Jackson video and realized, “I’m a guy.” He talked to a counselor and said at first he feared “I’m going psycho.”

Noah said “I knew I was a boy when I was three years old.

I was watching a Jerry Springer show and it was ‘boys trapped in girls’ bodies and girls trapped in boys’ bodies.’ That was me.

I realized there were other kids like me. I told my parents, who were accepting.”

Noah said he got most information on transgender from (Panel continues page 3)

Advocate for LGBT rights in Albany on April 30 Want to see GENDA passed?

Concerned about funding for LGBT health and human services and the other issues that affect your life?

Tuesday, April 30 is the day when gays head to Albany to lobby their elected representatives, empower their community and show that LGBT New Yorkers are united and concerned.

Gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people and straight allies will advocate, rally, network and learn lobbying skills.

For information and to register, see www.prideagenda.org/ejday or call 212-627-0305 or 518472-3330. ■

Contents

Rainbow Theatre Festival, Page 27

Editorials: .................................... 2 Local/State News........................ 3 National/International News..... 4 Interview: Richard Lusimbo.......... 7 Making the Scene......................10 Shoulders To Stand On ...........21 Columnists ................................22 Community ................................25 Entertainment: Rainbow Theatre Festival.............................27 Gay Alliance News.....................30 Rainbow SAGE News................31 Calendar.....................................34 Classifieds..................................34 Proud Publisher of New York State’s Oldest Lgbt Publication

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley

Perspectives The Empty Closet Editor Susan Jordan

Same sex marriage means gays are human beings “I had a 35-year relationship. Were we married? Yeah, I guess we were. We certainly felt that we were. We certainly treated each other like we were married to each other. Did we ever feel the need to get a marriage license? No, of course not.

We knew we were married to each other. All this legality that people seem so involved with nowadays, it troubles me just a little bit. I understand all the problems to come with wills and families denying access to the loved one and all of that, but come on, do we really want to be exactly like straight people?”

-Edward Albee Many gay men and lesbians have expressed similar views, and of course they are right: most LGBT people don’t want to be exactly like straights. Although the thought of living in a world where sexual orientation is not an issue is very attractive to a lot of people who would like to just get on with their lives, instead of having to fight discrimination and hate.

But my question is, why think of same sex marriage as exactly replicating straight marriage? The frantic conservative backlash would indicate that the idea of queers being legally married is absolutely terrifying to the Right.

Why? Why have national orga-

nizations sprung up with the sole purpose of “protecting” marriage? Why has the Right, including the Catholic and Mormon churches, poured billions into the campaign to deny LGBT people equal rights, families and the pursuit of happiness?

Is it only homophobia?

Maybe it’s because same sex marriage is NOT the same as traditional heterosexual marriage.

To the conservative supporters of patriarchy (male supremacy), marriage is all about the male being dominant and the female being submissive subhuman property. When two men or two women are equal partners, what happens to male supremacy?

It’s sad but true that gays are capable of inequality and intimate partner violence. Statistics indicate that abuse happens about as frequently with LGBT couples as with heterosexuals.

Gays are fallible human beings, just like straights in that sense – neither perfect nor demonic -and therefore we need the right to divorce as well as the right to marry legally. However, most LGBT relationships are equal partnerships.

From the level of anger and fear expressed by the Right’s patriarchs at the thought of legal same sex marriage, it’s obvious that they are terrified of letting male/heterosexual supremacy disappear. We can conclude that legal marriage between two men or two women – no matter how traditional the couple’s ceremony and no matter how traditional their suburban white picket fence – is NOT exactly the same as heterosexual marriage.

Our marriages are a transformation of traditional marriage because they are an affirmation of both queer humanity and gender equality. As humans we need love and stable relationships and equal treatment under the law. But we don’t want the traditional oppressive roles that come with heterosexist male supremacy.

And that terrifies the people who say that gays and women aren’t “real” human beings. ■

The Gay Alliance: Forty years of advocating for the fair and equal treatment of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Join us for forty more!

Gay Alliance Board of Trustees W. Bruce Gorman, Co-President and Secretary Emily Jones, Co-President, David Zona, Treasurer, John Altieri, Evelyn Bailey, Chris Hilderbrant, Jeff Markarian, Peter Mohr, Jessica Muratore, Steve Santacroce, William Schaefer

Board of Trustees Co-President emily Jones

Gay Alliance educates first Home Health LGBT Care team in the nation!

Once more the Gay Alliance is on the leading edge of change for inclusion of all LGBT people in Rochester. Working with the Gay Alliance, HCR Home Care has created the nation’s first nine person Home Health Care team that specifically supports the needs of LGBT people.

This team trained during two days for over eight hours on the unique needs of LGBT seniors aging at home. Scott Fearing, Educational Director, worked closely with HCR Home Care Executive Chairman Louise Woerner and Michael Rosario-McCabe, RN, team leader, to assemble a team that was welcoming and affirming of LGBT people.

Prior to the formal training, the Gay Alliance created a two-hour focus group of LGBT seniors for the HCR team to interview in advance of their training. The HCR Home Care team is comprised of two nurses, three therapists, one social worker and three home care aides.

This was the first step of a transformational change.

On March 14, the Gay Alliance, HCR Home Care, HCR Cares, AIDS Care, the Academy of Medicine and the Monroe County Medical Society cosponsored the First symposium

Name

on “The Clinician’s Role in Welcoming and Affirming Health Care for LGBT Seniors Across the Continuum” for physicians and health care professionals at the Academy of Medicine.

The Medical Director for Rochester General Hospital, Dr. Joseph Kurnath, facilitated the four-physician panel discussion on developing an understanding for the unique needs of the LGBT community. In order for a patient to accept and welcome homecare into their home there must be trust built with the primary care physician.

Until recently, the LGBT community in the United States, and the unique issues they face with health and health care, have been relatively unrecognized and unaddressed by the health care system. Because of this, many members of this community suffer from several health disparities.

It is still a fact that over 40 percent of LGBT people do not come out to their primary care physician. The physicians on the panel strongly advocated for an intake form that allows the patient to fully disclose their sexual orientation, gender and preferred name.

Dr. Kurnath concluded the session by saying that this was the first of an annual symposium on LGBT issues and needs that will be held every year.

Through the community’s continued support of our educational outreach to over 180 organizations throughout the year, we have added another first for Rochester and the nation. We thank our donors, sponsors and grant agencies for making sure that our seniors will be able to stay in their homes independently in a healthy and safe way for as long as they are able to do so.

With gratitude, The Board and the Staff of the Gay Alliance ■

4/13

PARTNERSHIPS continued The Gay Alliance appreciates the continuing partnership of businesses within our community who support our mission and vision.

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april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

page one (Panel from page 1) the Internet, while Nick said he had learned most from reading books.

The third pair was Tony Perri, 72, longtime member of Rainbow SAGE, and Riley Sullivan, 18, a junior at Brockport High School and member of the Youth Group; Riley is also the youngest member of the Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus.

Tony told Riley, “You remind me so much of my grandson.”

Tony said he was born in 1940 during World War II. “I’m happy where I am now. I grew up in Niagara Falls and knew I was somehow different. I didn’t share that with anyone for a long time. I was married and had two children.”

Riley said that he too realized he was different from an early age. “I never had a word for it. I was in a Christian school and was very sheltered… All the boys were joking about girl parts and being gay. I went on the Internet, which I think a lot of people do.” He said he came out to his family at 16 and was more nervous about telling his mother, but she has been very supportive.

Tony said, “I was scared of anyone finding out and didn’t act on my gay feelings until I was 35. It was such a different time from today… I was scared for my grandson when he came out. He wasn’t – he had a GSA and was involved in theatre.”

Riley said, “I’ve been blessed and have a very accepting family.” He said his grandmother was actually the most accepting of all. “In coming years I hope we’re all married and have kids,” he said. “Hopefully in the future everyone will be very accepting.”

The fourth pair included Chris Wilson, 24, health educator at The MOCHA Center, who was a participant in the youth group there. Kelly Clark commented, “He’s a big reason why youth are continuing to come, because they identify with him.”

Ed Brackenborough, 41, is a professor of education at the University of Rochester. He has been in Rochester for four years and, Kelly said, “has become a beloved member of the community” as past board chair of MOCHA. He works with LGBT youth of color.

Ed and Chris had stepped in at the last minute when a previous pair had to drop out of the event.

Chris joked, “Looking at the youth here, I think, ‘Oh, baby me’s!’” He went on, “In the 7th grade it got real for me because ‘you’re a faggot,’ ‘you’re gay’ came up. I didn’t know what that meant.”

When he was 13, Chris told his mother he is gay. “It was difficult. I had just crushed my mom’s dreams and hopes. When I was 16 or 17 she accepted it.”

Ed said, “In 6th or 7th grade it kicked in. There was no Internet. I read James Baldwin and Allen Ginsberg BOOKS.” Ironically James Baldwin was one of his activist father’s favorite writers, and Ed was able to read his books in his father’s library. It was that connection that helped his father accept Ed’s gay identity.

Living in a suburb of Phila-

delphia, Ed had to deal with the marginality of being gay, but, he said, “the bigger issue was race in school, the KKK marching through town. I was a student leader and one of the few black kids who could stand up to white people and explain our agenda.

“I came out in college. I came out as testimony in a gospel concert, during the song ‘The Lord will bring me out…’ Half the audience applauded, the other half sat there and looked at me.”

Chris said that his father is a reverend and his stepmother an evangelist. “I said, ‘it’s my life and I’m doing what I want with it.’ We haven’t been close since then but it made me a stronger person.”

The fifth and final conversation was between two lesbians, Karen Monast, 60 and Jash Hood, 18. Jash said, “I’m a responsible, engaged, accountable, determined youth.” Kelly Clark commented, “What impresses me about Jash is that she has brought some life to what happens around the Center.”

Karen is retired. She has been out since age 26. “I’ve known since early years that I was different,” she said. “I didn’t know what to call it. I worked with a lesbian couple who weren’t out, but everybody knew it. When one passed away, they still did not acknowledge being a couple, even at the funeral, and it’s a shame. It’s a different world.

I’m proud to play a small part in that. I went to the March on Washington in 1983, and have volunteered for the GAGV and worked with Anne Tischer and Bess Watts on marriage equality.”

Jash said that she wants to be an Army nurse. “I decided this when I was in 6th grade.

My grandfather was a vet and I always wanted to give back. The only downfall is my health. I’m working on getting that together.”

She said she is not worried about being a lesbian in the service, since the military has become much more accepting.

“I didn’t know I liked girls until 5th grade,” she went on.

“Then came the gay-bashing. In 8th grade a girl said I was staring at her when I wasn’t. It doesn’t really phase me anymore.”

Karen said, “Even as you get older you’ll run across people who aren’t comfortable. You’ll always have to push that barrier.

I believe my life is to let people understand that gays are no different from straights… Like with racism, people are always going to have their prejudices.

It all depends on how you react to them.”

A question and answer session followed, with audience members asking about how a panel member came out to his straight spouse, about trans hormonal issues, about coming out experiences and whether anyone in the group had ever thought of suicide. On coming out, Chris commented, “Coming out isn’t a term I use. It was more coming INTO myself.”

One person asked, “Do you think racism, transphobia and homophobia will be around forever?”

Ed said, “No, I don’t think so. I’m a former high school history teacher, and I understand these oppressions in their histori(Panel continues page 6)

NewsFronts Local and State

Christine Quinn

Christine Quinn kicks off NYC mayoral campaign Christine Quinn, the out lesbian speaker of the New York City Council, has officially announced her bid to be the city’s next mayor.

The 46-year-old Democrat, who was highly expected to run for the city’s top spot, would be New York’s first female and its first openly LGBT mayor.

Project Quinn married her longtime partner Kim Catullo last year. In addition to a biographical announcement video, Quinn kicked off her campaign with a “Walk and Talk” tour to the various neighborhoods of the city to interact with citizens.

As the New York Times points out, this tactic seems to be a nod to former mayor, the late Ed Koch’s “How’m I Doin’” routine. In 2011, Koch said he would endorse Quinn for mayor and that she was the ideal “center-to-the-left candidate.”

With strong fund-raising and a close working relationship with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Quinn is perceived as a front-runner in the crowded Democratic field. Other candidates eyeing the office include Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller John Liu, former Comptroller Bill Thompson, and former MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota, according to MSNBC. Quinn was also endorsed earlier this year by the Human Rights Campaign and the Empire State Pride Agenda.

“New York needs Christine Quinn because she approaches every issue she cares about with passion and drive,” HRC president Chad Griffin said in a press release. “Whether it’s equality for all New Yorkers, great public schools, or 21stcentury infrastructure, Chris is ready to fight for the city New Yorkers deserve.” HRC noted Quinn’s work for LGBT rights, funding for HIV/AIDS services, on-time and balanced budgets, and prevention of teacher layoffs and firehouse closings.

GLAAD bars NY Post from awards ceremony due to trans slurs The 2013 GLAAD Media Awards took place in Manhattan on March 16, where Madonna presented Anderson Cooper with the Vito Russo Award. Not in attendance was the New York Post, whose press pass request has been denied due to the paper’s history of nasty references to transgender people.

GLAAD writes, “GLAAD was founded in 1985 to challenge The New York Post’s blatantly anti-gay coverage of the HIV/AIDS crisis. More than 27 years later, the paper continues to defame the LGBT community with its sensational framing of transgender stories and its disgraceful practice of referring to transgender people with vulgar slurs.”

“The Post has been digging its feet in the ground for too long on this issue,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick.

“Transgender people, particularly those who are victims of crime, deserve more than the vile slurs and underhanded ‘jokes’ with which the Post describes them.

Until this paper changes its ways and apologizes for the damage done, GLAAD has no interest in supporting their work.”

Just a week before the ceremony, a Post headline used the word “she-male” to describe the victim of an assault by a New York City fireman.

-JoeMyGod.com

RIT hosts N.E. LGBT college conference From April 12 to 14, Rochester Institute of Technology in Henrietta will host the Eighteenth Annual Northeast LGBT Conference.

The Conference will bring hundreds of students and advisors from across the Northeast to celebrate, educate, and empower LGBT and Ally student leaders to become agents of change.

Featured speakers will include several well-known

3 members of the Rochester activist community; RIT’s President Bill Destler; Empire State Pride Agenda co-chair Frank Selvaggi; Ugandan LGBT rights activist Daniel Ngecha; bisexual activist Robyn Ochs; comedian Jennifer Joy Pawlitschek; RIT VP for Student Affairs Dr. Mary-Beth Cooper; historian and author of Queer America Vicki Eacklor; NCAA athlete Kye Allums and speaker, activist and author of My Two Moms Zach Wahls.

The conference, presented as a series of workshops, films, panels, and keynote speakers, will target students and professionals including faculty, staff, administrators, and others who currently work with gender and sexual minority students. This year’s event features the addition of a Deaf Culture track and scholarly sessions for students who wish to attend more in-depth, educational programs. Registrants arriving from more than a dozen universities throughout New York State and other northeastern areas will attend these and other open networking events, designed to build lasting personal and professional relationships amongst participants.

The theme of this year’s conference, “The Ally is YOU”, refers not only to the supportive people outside of the LGBT community, but also to those within who make an effort to include and support identities and cultures other than their own. “The Ally is YOU” encompasses topics of inclusion, equality, identity, culture, ethnicity, race, politics, and socio-economics.

Speakers who incorporate this theme in their workshop presentations were specifically chosen by the conference planning committee, comprised of several RIT students and staff.

The conference planning committee is headed by Dr. Henry Hinesley, LGBT Studies instructor at RIT, and coordinator of the RIT GLBT Center.

Gay Alliance receives Arts Council grant The Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester has awarded a $5,000 Decentralization Community Arts Grant to the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley.

The Arts Council presented the awards to winners at a ceremony on March 19.

The grants are provided through the support of the New York State Legislature and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Ralph Carter gets ESPA Community Service Award The Empire State Pride Agenda’s annual Spring Dinner will take place at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on May 18.

Pride Agenda supporters will gather to celebrate the work and accomplishments of Western New York’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and our progress towards equality and justice.

The Pride Agenda has announced that the recipient of the 2013 Community Service Award will be long-time local activist Ralph Carter. Ralph has been instrumental in working with communities of faith.

(Carter continues page 6)

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

NewsFronts national and international 51% of Republicans under 30 back marriage equality, poll says Fifty-one percent of Republicans under age 30 support the freedom to marry, according to a meta-analysis of national polling data and trends on the freedom to marry by Dr. Jan van Lohuizen, George W. Bush’s 2004 lead pollster, and Joel Benenson, President Barack Obama’s lead pollster in 2008 and 2012.

The report, commissioned by Freedom to Marry, analyzes recent polling and exit polls from the 2012 election and shows that the well-documented majority support for the freedom to marry is broadening and diversifying while opposition continues to diminish and is isolated to a few narrow demographic groups.

Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry applauded the report, which amplifies the group’s message that the freedom to marry is completely in line with conservative values of freedom, family, and limited government.

Margaret Hoover, a Young Conservatives leader who is a Republican consultant, CNN political commentator and author, said: “This report shows what we are hearing from more and more young conservatives: Our generation values marriage for all committed couples -- it makes our families and our nation stronger. GOP leaders need to bring the party in line with the next generation – and the American people – to continue to lead us forward.”

Tyler Deaton, a Young Conservatives leader who is executive director of New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality, said: “What a great affirmation of the changing tide in the Republican Party. We’ll continue to push for equality, knowing that the future of our party depends on full freedom in marriage.”

The polling memo shows that 51 percent of Republicans under 30 years old support marriage for same-sex couples. In addition, among Republicans who oppose the Tea Party, nearly half (47 percent) support the freedom to marry. These numbers are consistent with a 2011 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute that shows 49 percent of Republican millennials favor marriage for same-sex couples and a 2012 Washington Post poll showing Republicans aged 18-44 evenly divided on marriage.

Gay Polish lawmakers take prominent place due to Walesa’s bias Poland’s first gay lawmaker Robert Biedron and first transgender lawmaker Anna Grodzka took seats in the front bench of Parliament March 5 as a protest of Lech Walesa’s remarks earlier that week that gays have no right to sit there, and should even be kept “behind a wall”.

The Guardian: Both are members of the progressive Palikot’s Movement party, and party leader Janusz Palikot arranged for the two to sit in front, relinquishing his own seat to Biedron.

“Lech Walesa is an important symbol for us all and for the whole world,” Biedron told the Associated Press before attending the session. “I respect him and I’d rather he used other words – words of acceptance and of respect for other people.” ...The first row in the semi-circular lower chamber, or Sejm, is reserved for party leaders and prominent lawmakers.

Biedron and Grodzka – who have been in parliament since 2011 – usually sit in

the third row.

Walesa said he would not be apologizing for his remarks.

“I will not apologize to anyone,” the former president said in an interview March 4. “All I said (was) that minorities, which I respect, should not have the right to impose their views on the majority. I think most of Poland is behind me.”

Read more: http://www.towleroad. com/#ixzz2MlqnTTNF

Colorado civil unions will go into effect May 1 Colorado’s House on March 12 gave final approval to SB-11, the Colorado Civil Union Act, on its third reading in a 39-26 vote.

All Democrats and Republican Representatives Cheri Gerou and Carole Murray voted in favor of the legislation, according to LGBT rights group One Colorado.

Said Brad Clark, Executive Director of One Colorado, in a release: “This historic victory belongs to the thousands of committed couples across the state, who have worked tirelessly for three years to make it possible for all loving families to have the protection they need to take care of one another. Across the country, we’ve seen a sea change in public opinion on this issue. A vast majority of Coloradans support providing committed same-sex couples with the security they need, and these fair-minded folks are glad to see civil unions finally passed.”

One Colorado adds: “SB-11 includes commonsense exemptions for faith leaders to ensure they’re never required to perform or certify a civil union. Despite some faith-based opposition to the bill, the coalition advocating for civil unions includes more than 200 faith leaders.”

Said the Rev. Nancy Bowen, executive of the Mountain Desert District of the Unitarian Universalist Association: “As a faith leader, I celebrate the passage of civil unions. We believe that our congregations should honor all that is holy and what is more holy than love? Civil unions protect our religious freedom to recognize the unions of all loving couples in our congregations. We are honored to stand with the legislature on the side of love.”

Read more: http://www.towleroad. com/#ixzz2NLdgCqh6 The Colorado Civil Union Act provides gay and straight couples with the legal benefits, protections, and responsibilities that are granted to married spouses under Colorado state law.

“The Colorado legislature has taken a definitive step forward in the march toward equality,” said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin. “The passage of civil unions in the Centennial State is further proof that full equality for committed and loving gay and lesbian couples is in sight. From now on LGBT couples in Colorado will no longer be legal strangers in the eyes of their state, but rather recognized and supported by the law.”

Sponsored by Sens. Pat Steadman and Lucia Guzman in the Senate, and Speaker Mark Ferrandino and Rep. Sue Schafer in the House of Representatives, the bill passed the senate last month 21-14, and on March 12, 39-26 in the house.

Advocates at One Colorado worked tirelessly to secure passage of this bill. Gov. John Hickenlooper, a vocal supporter of the legislation, signed the bill into law on March 21 and couples will be able to apply for a civil union license beginning on May 1.

Colorado becomes the eighteenth

state – plus Washington, DC – to offer comprehensive benefits and obligations to same-sex couples. Nine states (Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington) and Washington, DC issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. And as of May 1, nine states (California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Rhode Island) provide the equivalent of state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples within the state. -HRC

tucky is one of the bill’s supporters.

The bill resembles the infamous “Manhattan Declaration” in which bigots declare they will disobey laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination.

Kentucky: bigots may disobey antidiscrimination law The Kentucky Religious Freedom Act, which activists claim would allow citizens to disobey LGBT anti-discrimination laws, was passed 9-2 on March 7 by the state Senate Judiciary Committee.

Opponents say it could let business owners and other individuals defy state and local civil-rights laws, including those in four Kentucky cities that prohibit anti-gay discrimination.

“Without those civil-rights protections, we fear the worst,” Derek Selznick of the ACLU said. He said the bill could invite legal challenges to local gay-rights laws and statewide civil-rights protections for such groups as racial minorities and women.

ACLU attorney William Sharp testified March 7 that the bill creates an impermissible risk. “For example, there are those in Kentucky who oppose homosexuality on religious grounds,” he said. And Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, said that he has serious concerns about the bill, particularly because it appears to be on a fast track.

The bill forbids governmental bodies from assessing “penalties or fines” when laws are broken on the basis of “religious convictions.”

The Catholic Conference of Ken-

Odawa tribe sees first legal gay wedding The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians has legalized same-sex marriage. Think Progress notes: “Under consideration by the tribal council since last March, the new statute will allow the tribe to both recognize and perform samesex marriage. A similar measure failed last July by one vote.”

Two other Native American nations previously approved same-sex marriage; the Suquamish in Washington state and the Coquille in Oregon.

On March 15 Michigan saw its first such wedding.

Planning a wedding in less than a week didn’t bother either Tim LaCroix or Gene Barfield. Arrangements still undecided -- what to wear and who to call since there was no time to mail invitations -- seemed not to bother the couple.

“We ordered some wedding cupcakes

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet and that is about it,” LaCroix joked.

For 53-year-old LaCroix and 60-year-old Barfield, both of Boyne City, their wedding March 15 was about finally having their 30-year relationship recognized.

It was also a historic statement. The couple had the first legal same-sex marriage in Michigan under the amended Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians marriage statute, which was signed at 10 a.m. March 15. Tribal sovereignty will protect their marriage from both a 2004 Michigan constitutional amendment and the federal Defense of Marriage Act -being debated in the U.S. Supreme Court -- defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

LaCroix is a tribal member and left this comment on a JMG post: “Just wanted to let everyone know that if and when the Tribal Chairman signs this into law that my partner and I have already obtained our marriage license and application. We have been together for 30 years and we are both veterans who met while we were in the service. We have been waiting for Michigan to pass it and hopefully they will do it soon. Luckily my tribe is ahead on this issue.”

-JoeMyGod.com

Pope has anti-gay, antiwoman, “dirty war” record in Argentina Blogger Andy Towle wrote on March 14, I posted some quotes from Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis I, related to his thoughts on samesex marriage and gay adoption.

The latter set of quotes, in which Bergoglio called same-sex marriage “the destructive attempt to end God’s plan,” came from a letter he wrote to a group of nuns that was never supposed to be made public, though when it did, the church drew backlash from Argentina’s secular population, Buzzfeed’s Chris Geidner explains in an excellent piece bringing context to these quotes.

After the letter was exposed, and its damage evident, this happened, Geidner explains: When it became clear that stopping the marriage law would be impossible, the church may have tacitly given its backing to a civil union law as a way to head off the marriage bill. Senator Liliana Negre de Alonso, a member of Opus Dei and one of the politicians most closely linked to the Catholic Church, sponsored the civil union bill. (This would be like Rick Santorum having endorsed a civil union law in the United States.) It went nowhere.

During the debate, the leader of the majority party reduced her to tears while calling her a “Nazi” for backing legislation that would create a “separate-butequal” status for same-sex couples.

After that, the church noticeably moderated its tone when fighting social issues.

During a debate over changes to the civil code in 2012, which included sensitive reproduction issues like surrogacy and the handling of fertilized eggs, the church

tread far more lightly — making their case but avoiding the strong language that cost them support in 2010.

“Today they come with a stance that is much more receptive to another point of view,” said the chairman of the committee leading the civil code reforms back in August 2012.

How much this experience has moderated Bergoglio himself remains to be seen. He was replaced as the leader of the Argentine church by Archbishop José María Arancedo, who is known for having a far less belligerent manner than Bergoglio.

We can hope that it has moderated Bergoglio, but, of course, that remains to be seen. Geidner notes that it has given Bergoglio a bit of practice in dealing with certain situations: Bergoglio understands far better than his predecessor the challenges of opposing the tide in favor of same-sex marriage in countries where the church is embattled on many fronts...If the position of the church itself does not change, Bergoglio — now Pope Francis — may nonetheless have a more grounded sense of how to lead an institution in countries where its policy positions are dividing it from the people it hopes to reach.

We’ll see.

Bergoglio and the “dirty war” In related news on character, David Mixner notes Bergoglio’s silence during Argentina’s “dirty war” in which “between 15,000 to 30,000 artists, writers, students, intellectuals, trade unionists and even priests were brutally killed, often tortured and their bodies thrown out of airplanes over the ocean.”

He writes: “The Catholic Church at the best was silent about the ‘missing’ and supported the military junta when it was in power and conducting the mass killings from 1976 to 1983. In fact, the church handed over two priests who refused to adhere to the church’s support for the military’s dirty war and they became among the missing.”

What we do know with certainty from that period is that the new Pope remained silent about the killing, torture and dumping.

Read more: http://www.towleroad. com/2013/03/new-pope-francis-a-veteranat-dealing-with-anger-over-the-churchsanti-gay-stance-his-quotes-in-cont. html#ixzz2NWuvFc9D Father Tony reacts: “Because there are no overtly gayfriendly cardinals on earth, when the 115 voting-age scarlet princes glided into the Sistine chapel to select from their ranks a new pope, hopes were slim that gay Catholics would benefit from the conclave.

When the chosen one stepped out onto the balcony of Saint Peter’s basilica, it was clear that the haze of white smoke over the crowd in the piazza was laced with carbon monoxide smuggled in from Argentina and lethal to gay Catholics. Unless the new Pope Francis does some serious backpedaling from his anti-gay words and record in Buenos Aires, the ‘Extra Omnes’

[Everybody out!] that is intoned when the doors to the conclave are locked, there will never be an exhortation to gay Catholics to feel free to come out of their closets and to share love openly.”

Father Tony Adams, writing for South Florida Gay News.

GLAAD reacts: “For decades the Catholic hierarchy has been desperately in need of reform. In his life, Jesus condemned gays zero times.

In Pope Benedict’s short time in the papacy, he made a priority of condemning gay people routinely. This in spite of the fact that the Catholic hierarchy had been in collusion to cover up the widespread abuse of children within its care.

“We hope this Pope will trade in his red shoes for a pair of sandals and spend a lot less time condemning and a lot more time foot-washing. The National Catholic Reporter said Pope Francis called adoption by gay and lesbian people a form of discrimination against children. The real discrimination against children is the pedophilia that has run rampant in the Catholic Church with little more than collusion from the Vatican.”

- GLAAD president Herndon Graddick, via press release.

5 anyone feel otherwise. I am particularly proud to represent our company at this event. I live in Hollywood with my partner, Mike, of over 20 years.”

Kaplan cited LGBT-inclusive policies Westfield, including domestic partnership benefits for its employees.

Kaplan also said he was a part of meetings last week between Westfield officials and LGBT organizations, from which he and the company emerged looking forward to “more events and partnerships in the spirit of today.”

The mall welcomed the demonstrators with a rainbow arch made of balloons, free water bottles and Mrs. Fields’ cookies, according to the Patch.

Hillary Clinton supports marriage equality Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on March 18 joined the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Americans for Marriage Equality series, a public engagement campaign featuring prominent Americans who support committed gay and lesbian couples getting married.

Her full statement can be viewed at: www.hrc.org/Clinton.

HRC says, “A hallmark of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement is the fight to have our relationships recognized as equal under the law. Full marriage equality is an important measure of our success in this area.”

The Americans for Marriage Equality series has included political and civil rights leaders, professional athletes, film and music celebrities, and business leaders: www.hrc.org/americansformarriageequality -Human Rights Campaign

Calif. mall apologizes for ejecting gay couple

Reconstructionist Judaism selects gay leader, Rabbi Klein

Representatives for the Westfield Galleria Mall in Roseville, Calif. formally apologized for a security guard who allegedly ejected a gay couple from the mall after they shared a kiss in public, according to Towleroad.

Daniel Chesmore and boyfriend Jose Guzman say that, at most, they shared a kiss on the cheek, a hug, and held hands while at the Westfield Galleria.That’s when a security guard told them they were violating mall rules regarding public displays of affection.

At a kiss-in protest held outside the mall, a gay employee delivered the company’s formal apology. Approximately 250 LGBT couples attended the demonstration, reports the Roseville Patch.

“I’m here today to unequivocally state that everyone is welcome here at Westfield,” said Keith Kaplan, Westfield’s vice president of development.

“And we sincerely apologize for any actions taken by any of us that made

By Timothy Kincaid (posted on Box Turtle Bulletin, March 13) As best I can tell, this is a really really big deal. (Haaretz) The newly elected leader of the Reconstructionist movement’s rabbinic association will be the first openly gay man to lead a national rabbinic association in the United States.

Rabbi Jason Klein, a Hillel rabbi at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was elected to lead the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association at the group’s annual meeting that took place in March in New Orleans.

There have been gay and lesbian priests and pastors and rabbis and even bishops, and of course the Metropolitan Community Church was founded by a gay man, but I don’t think there has ever been a major denomination of any faith – in the US – headed by an openly gay individual.

(NewsFronts continued page 13)

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page one (Panel continued from page 3) cal context. These things won’t go away soon, but we won’t have the same arrangements of power that make these ugly things necessary. Of course we’ll have other arrangements and other problems!”

Before the group had dinner together, Kelly Clark ended, “We’re thinking about our family tree and all the generations that have made it up.” ■

(DoS continued from page 1) party.

Dontaee Williamson, an alumnus of the Gay Alliance Youth Group, is a college student who is adult coordinator for Rochester GLSEN. He spoke to The Empty Closet about what’s coming up on April 19.

“It’s going to be awesome,” he said.

“GLSEN’s FOCUS group – students of color and allies – will be showing part of a video by Erica Eaton about the personal stories of Rochester youth, both gay and allies, and the power of coming out.

We want youth to make sure they know they’re the power of the future.

“I want the youth to watch the video, see how some people have it good and others not so good – in relation to family, church and school – and how they can make it better.”

Dontaee said that after the video the youth will break the silence, and then enjoy a mini drag show (featuring Miss Lady D and Taylor Made), a dance and pizza.

The theme this year is “It takes a nation to be silent before love can be heard.”

Dontaee knows that the opponents of gay civil and human rights hate the DoS and have invented a “Day of Truth” to

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013 counter it. Like the Tea Party, the Day of Truth is not a real grassroots movement, but a manufactured event created by the far right.

Dontaee said, “Day of Truth is a way of silencing us and telling us we aren’t important. DoS is so powerful that they want to make us be quiet.”

He spoke about his own teen years.

“I was 14,” he said, “when I went to my first DoS. When I was young, DoS was cool because all my friends were doing it.

It made me feel important to be involved with this national event. Growing up, it touched me even more. Being part of it, coordinating it and working with GLSEN make me feel complete. I am touching youth who can’t come out. I’m an adult now and I have choices and opportunities to make other people’s lives better.”

Youth who want more information about DoS or GLSEN should email Dontaee at wdontaee@rocketmail.com. The local branch of GLSEN also has a Facebook page at GLSENRochester.

GLSEN does more than organize DoS. “We had a fun night on March 8 with games and movies at AIDS Care,” Dontaee said. The gathering was part of LGBT Health Month. “We do trainings for Jump Start – students who want to become leaders and make their school a safer place by educating their peers and teachers. Last year we had a trans panel.”

DoS is observed by thousands of youth nationwide at hundreds of schools. “It takes a nation to be silent before love can be heard.” ■

(Fabulous continued from page 1) for the better, when in 2002 I became the Interim Executive Director of the Gay Alliance. It’s hard to be in the closet when you’re quoted in the newspaper and appear on the television news a couple of times. When I stepped down from the position, nine months later, I knew I

could be successful and be true to myself as Pamela. It is possible it saved my life; at the least, it allowed me to lead a more happy and meaningful life.

“The years 2002 and 2003 were tough years for the GAGV, but I am proud to say that when I stepped down we had a balanced budget and money in the bank. We did good work and made a positive difference in the lives of LGBT people.

“This is the 40th year for the Gay Alliance. The agency is still doing good work, but because of the recession and the massive cutback in State aid to all not for profits, the GAGV needs help getting back on sound financial ground. This is where you come in. I need you to help me support this organization.”

It’s our Forty & Fabulous Campaign!

Celebrate and Congratulate Henry Schroeder being the first member to meet his goal of $4000!

Individuals or Organizations can join the Fab 40 team who together will create a thriving community for all of us as we educate, advocate, incubate and celebrate a future that is truly inclusive of all of our fabulous gifts!

Go to the Gay Alliance website www. gayalliance.org and click on the GAGV 40 logo.

Check out who’s leading this campaign and help your favorite Fab 40 leaders become successful by joining their team, making a donation or choosing a year. Let the competition begin!

You are invited to join the initial 22 members of the “Fab 40”: Micheal Faucher, Bruce Gorman, Ralph Carter, Van VanZanten, Dan Meyers, Jennifer Leonard, Pam Barres, Peter Mohr, Bill Valenti, Emily Jones, Joe Nardone, John Altieri, David Frier, Chris Hilderbrandt, David Zona, Jessica Muratore, Evelyn Bailey, Henry Schroeder and Steve Santacroce, and the amazing staff at the Gay Alliance who have each chosen a year near and dear to their hearts so that this organization will be here for another 40 years.

Please sign up by sending an email to the 40help@gayalliance.org, Emily Jones (emilyjone@gmail.com or Bruce Gorman (wbruce.gorman@gmail.com) The need to empower pride and self respect in all individuals is as important today as the day we opened in 1973. So choose your favorite year and let’s get this party started! ■

(UR continued from page 1) dozen doctors refused to treat him. “Doctors drew the line by refusing to treat Robert Eads,” Green stated. “Doctors have a huge amount of power to reconfigure that line.”

He talked about how doctors don’t need to know all the right words, because they change every five minutes. “Knowing the labels is not the most important thing.

Being respectful, being willing to learn, those are the most important things.”

The next plenary speaker was Dr. Lisa O’Connor, Board Certified Family Practice Physician and Gender Specialist, who spoke about the healthcare needs of transgender patients across the lifespan. Her presentation was one part insightful advice and information and one part comedy show. She had the audience in stitches with some of her hilarious stories, commentary and “professional medical terms” like “up the wazoo.”

When asked if she comes out to her young patients she said, “I realized if I really wanted to make a difference, I had to live life openly. My kids love it. My parents are sometimes wary. Some of them think I’m recruiting for the tranny army.”

Lunchtime brought small group conversations at each table where you could talk casually with Dr. Bill Valenti of AC Center/AIDS Care about sexual health, Jennifer Mathews and Amy Parkhill from the Wegmans School of Pharmacy on educating students on transgender issues, Suzanne Piotrowski of the University of Rochester on caring for transgender patients, Henry Hinesley from RIT on pronoun usage and queer terminology, and much more.

It also brought a large group into the

“Voices of the Community” room to hear Maur Delaney speak on his experiences as a genderqueer individual. Special thanks go out to Maur Delaney and intersex speaker Jim Costich, for bringing your incredibly important voices to this conference and reminding practitioners to think beyond the binary when providing care.

Following lunch, additional presenters facilitated afternoon workshops including Emma L. Forbes-Jones on Families in Transition, Stephen R. Hammes, Nicolas Jospe, and Richard E. Kreipe on Assessing and Managing the Medical and Hormonal Needs of Transgender Youths and Young Adults, Reverend Moonhawk River Stone on Therapeutic work with Transgender Clients and much more.

The Gay Alliance staff and board would like to send a special thank you out to Linda Chaudron, John Cullen, Sharon Glezen, Suzanne Piotrowski, Craig Sellers and Daryl Sharp for bringing this important and much-needed conference to our community. Congratulations on a wonderfully successful event! We hope it will become an annual event with space for all who are interested in attending. Next year -- Frontier Field? ■

local and state (Carter from page 3) workplace to advance LGBT equality, and thereby helping to improve the lives of LGBT people locally, across the state and even nationally.

Working with Interfaith Advocates, he has helped many faith communities come together to welcome and affirm LGBT people. He has also been a leader at his own welcoming congregation, Third Presbyterian Church.

Ralph has also been committed in the workplace, serving with GALAXe Pride at Work, Xerox’s highly regarded LGBT employee network, and he was instrumental in creating Out and Equal NY Finger Lakes, one of the most successful chapters of this national organization dedicated to helping workplaces become more inclusive.

Be aware: DOMA means unequal insurance status for couples at 65

By Susan Jordan If the Supreme Court overturns DOMA as unconstitutional in June, we won’t have to worry about any of this. But for now, this mean spirited legislation, created by the Right expressly to block legally married same sex couples’ rights, and create an unequal status for our relationships, is the law of the land.

Jean L. found that out the hard way in 2012. She is retired, and was married legally in California in 2008, before Prop 8. In January of 2012, she was still covered by her spouse’s employer’s insurance plan. But when she turned 65 last year, everything changed.

In April Jean called their insurance company and told them she would turn 65 in July. She was told that her spouse’s employer insurance was primary and that she would continue to be covered, so she could decline Medicare Part B. So she did.

In July she turned 65, and at that point, her same sex spouse’s insurance coverage was no longer “creditable,” because Medicare is a government program and thus DOMA applies. Only no one told Jean that.

In October, she found that her insurance claims had been denied by the insurance company because the federal government (Medicare) does not recognize same sex marriages, even when performed legally in her state.

“Here’s the problem,” Jean said. “Health insurance companies’ employees have not been educated about the implications of DOMA for legally married same sex couples when one of (Be aware continues page 12)

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

Interview Richard Lusimbo

By Susan Jordan Richard Lusimbo is a 26-year-old gay man, lead researcher for SMUG, Sexual Minorities Uganda.

He has been quoted as saying, “The first time I understood my sexual orientation was when I attended a meeting with other school leaders as head prefect of my high school. That was the first time things really opened up for me — everything was vivid. I suddenly understood and accepted my sexual orientation. Then at university, I went back into denial, living quietly and dating women. That didn’t work.

“In 2011 I began to volunteer for SMUG, which led to my current fulltime position as their lead researcher. I’ve traveled with SMUG around Uganda, gathering stories from those who have had to hide — people who have been chased from their workplaces and homes, just for being who they are. Through this I have found my path and passion. I am dedicated to this work.

“But earlier this year, when cameras caught me leaving a courtroom during the high-profile Ugandan LGBTI HRDs v. Reverend Fr. Lokodo case, it was like a bomb went off in my life. Friends and family watching TV immediately began to text and phone me. Some wanted to know if I was OK; others hurled hateful remarks. I’ve always played it safe, stayed quiet. And yet suddenly, and in a big way — I am out.

“There’s a lot of ignorance and negativity in Uganda about homosexuality. In this country, dialogue is the best way to go, but government officials won’t allow

the conversation to develop.”

Richard was in Rochester in March and spoke with The Empty Closet. He said that SMUG is an umbrella organization for 17 organizations, which are either gay groups or groups working to help gay people. Although many gays must hide, SMUG is still able to be visible, although if the long-pending “Kill the Gays” bill, which will make “promotion of homosexuality” illegal, is passed, the organization may have to go underground.

Now, though, Richard says, “SMUG is all out there. The government, everyone knows about it, although we have to keep shifting our offices to avoid police raids.”

He added that even though the repressive law has not officially been passed, SMUG cannot operate like other NGOs. In February 2012 FARUG, a member organization of SMUG, had organized a workshop that was to equip the participants with leadership skills. The Minister for Ethics and Integrity stormed the meeting and shut it down, on grounds that it was illegal to hold such a gathering and in June 2012 the police raided and shut down a meeting of activists from all over eastern Africa. SMUG is now suing

the Minister of Ethics and Integrity.

SMUG relocates people who have been evicted for being gay; advocates for gay rights; provides emergency response and legal assistance, and documents violence and discrimination where such cases have been brought to trial. The group works both locally and internationally.

Richard said, “Due to advocacy work, we’ve got international recognition and LGBTI people in Uganda have received recognition. This puts the message out there that you have international media, which has been really good for us. We’ve used it as a platform to preach our message.”

SMUG provides lawyers for people on trial for being homosexual; their lawyers are allowed to proceed with defense, but may suffer harassment from other lawyers. SMUG also reaches out to the official Ugandan lawyers association. “We are trained to help more lawyers come on board,” Richard said.

When Richard returns home, he said, “There’s always the fear of arrest. It’s not something you know will happen, but I don’t travel with my laptop or any gayrelated materials.” This could land him in trouble or even get him arrested.

Richard said that virulent homophobia is not a traditional part of Ugandan culture. He said, “People lived in harmony. Christians brought the idea that to be a Christian you have to denounce gays.

North American evangelicals brought the idea of ‘promoting’ homosexuality.”

Jamaican human rights activist Maurice Tomlinson pointed out in a 2012 interview with The Empty Closet that for the past 30 years or more, U.S. evangelicals like Scott Lively have been disseminating homophobic hatred and bigotry all over the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa.

SMUG is currently suing Scott Lively in the U.S. through the Alien Tort Statute, which says that foreign nationals can sue U.S. citizens for any harm they have caused in foreign countries. The judge’s decision on whether the case can come to trial is still pending.

Richard says that these American rightwing evangelicals are “trying to do something they’ve failed to do in their own country. In Uganda people are now brainwashed to believe that homosexuals are evil for they ‘recruit’ children. It’s all about brainwashing and it’s taking new forms. They accuse American and European gay men of bringing in money to seduce Ugandan young men, but it’s the evangelicals who are bringing in money to bribe Ugandan churches and promote their anti-gay agenda.”

Why is the Ugandan government so afraid of allowing dialogue? Richard said, “Every time you talk about homosexuality you are ‘sick.’ In Ugandan culture sexual matters are not open for discussion. But we are saying, ‘We aren’t talking about sex – we’re talking about our rights!’ But they don’t listen.”

Under the Ugandan Constitution,

every Ugandan has equal rights – but the law says that homosexuals are not human beings and therefore do not have equal rights. Richard commented, “They used to say ‘there are no homosexuals in Uganda.’ Now they say there are homosexuals in Uganda – but they aren’t persecuted.”

He continued, “They say gays are brainwashed and given money to say they are gay – but who would want to say they are gay in Uganda?!

“They also ignore the fact that HIV will spread if people are too afraid to seek treatment… They depend on ignorance and can’t allow dialogue and information. The government wants people to be illiterate and ignorant.”

Richard returned to Uganda at the end of March. He said, “I may live in hiding… I need to address my family issues.” One of his relatives is supportive, but he says his father is still in denial. “I hope they will accept me for who I am,” he said.

The visibility that has helped American LGBT people win some acceptance is difficult to attain in Uganda, as is information on HIV and STDs. Richard noted, “I talk to people in remote areas, and when I met with a group of young

Virulent homophobia is not a traditional part of Ugandan culture. Richard said, “People lived in harmony.

Christians brought the idea that to be a Christian you have to denounce gays.

North American evangelicals brought the idea of ‘promoting’ homosexuality.”

7 gay men I was shocked when within a week they all contracted a social disease.

This was due to ignorance – there is no sex education, no condoms or lubricants or any form of protection available. They think they can use avocados to protect themselves!

“Speaking with them and sharing with them I can reach out to SMUG for condoms and lubricants for them.”

The LGBTI clinic is vulnerable to being shut down, but to avoid that, there is a professional, licensed doctor on the premises. There is a group in Kampala, the capital, which offers testing for HIV and all STDs, and SMUG hopes to provide the same in other parts of the country.

SMUG has been successful in many ways. In 2010 the now-defunct Rolling Stone newspaper published photos of gays with the intention that they be murdered.

Richard said, “The court ruled against them and granted an injunction to prevent the newspaper from publishing more photos.”

Victor Mukasa sued the government when police broke into his house searching for material that they could say was “recruiting” gays. The court ruled in favor of Mukasa. In the current lawsuit against the Minister of Ethics and Integrity, the irony is that the Minister shut down meetings on the grounds that the bill prohibiting “promotion” is law – but it is not. Yet. SMUG reaches out to officials and the media, and Richard said, “They are shocked and amazed when they see that the gay people they are speaking with are educated, well-dressed, and have good manners -- because they have this image of gay people. When some officials met with me and Frank Mugisha, they said, ‘They are the first sane ones we have seen.’ There’s a lot of ignorance. When they meet you they are shocked – and they change their attitude. If we have dialogue and talk about our issues, they will change their ideas.” ■

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

Making the Scene

FAMILY TREE: Chris Wilson and Ed Brackenborough at the SAGE Intergenerational Panel at the GAGV Center, March 16. Photos: Jill Frier

Noah Wagner and Nick.

Jash Hood and Karen Monast.

Jasmine Rodriguez and Jeannie Gainsburg.

My Own Private Rochester: Brian O’Neill and James Hansen

By Susan Jordan Brian O’Neill is an artist and instructor in adult creative workshops at the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG). James Hansen is an associate professor at SUNY Brockport and a choreographer. They were the first same sex couple to marry in Rochester at City Hall in 2011.

Brian grew up in Westbury, L.I. and James in Clinton, Iowa. They now live with their dog Eleanor in the Park Ave. neighborhood. James said, “We really like the mix in the neighborhood; artists, professionals, young people. It’s fresh and alive.”

“A mix of gay and straight as well,” Brian added.

The couple spends a lot of time renovating their home. “Eight years!”

James said. Brian commented, “We’re never totally finished with renovating a 110-year-old house.”

Among Brian’s favorite Rochester places the MAG stands out. He said, “The renovations done at the gallery and muse-

James Hansen and Brian O’Neill at the Memorial Art Gallery. Photo: Susan Jordan

um are incredible, and the collection of artworks is very impressive.” He exhibits locally at the Oxford Gallery, at the corner of Park and Oxford.

Both love Highland Park. Also, James said, “My favorite thing to do is walk or ride my bike, especially up and down East Ave. I love the mansions and every time I look I see something different.”

The two enjoy eating at Rocco’s for a special evening out, but otherwise are often to be found at Jine’s.

James says, “Every Friday we’re at Jine’s. You always run into people you know. We also go to Good Luck Brian’s artwork “The Proposal” is 14x19 inches oil on masonite on Goodman St. and will be shown in a group show called “The Big Gamble” opennear Village Gate. ing April 6 in NYC at Rehs Contemporary Galleries on 57th St.

experience from beginning to end – and it was a two-year planning process. Such a rewarding experience – and a lot of hard work. There’s a lot of human quality for such a large organization. You can tell they really care about you and the people who work there are very dedicated.”

When asked what he likes most about the Rochester area, Brian says, “The Finger Lakes and the natural topography.

Also Toronto, where we go twice a year for long weekends.”

James said, “I think the general proximity to the outdoors, like Letchworth and Ithaca, and the lake. One of the things we recognize is that there’s so much potential here and there’s no lack of talent or vision. But I think there’s lack of political leadership – community people have great ideas but the politicians can’t move beyond being politicians.”

It’s the people of Rochester who really make the difference, both Brian and James believe. James said, “The community here is so much about your collection of friends, and it’s more about who you are than about where you gather. That’s probably the most unique thing about Rochester. I’ve lived in NYC and San Francisco and I’ve never seen anything like this. In other cities it’s not as tight-knit. People here are very welcoming.” ■

But our hangout is really our front porch.

In summer there are friends over every night.”

As for Rochester events, Brian and James agree that the Pride Picnic is their favorite. Brian said, “We have a group of friends who we go with every year to sit by the river with our cooler and blankets.

People always drop by and you see people you haven’t seen for a year.”

AIDS Care is their favorite Rochester organization. James said, “AIDS Care is inspiring and the merger of AIDS Rochester and Community Health Network was very forward-looking. Now they’re starting a community clinic.”

Brian said, “I did a benefit show at the Arts & Cultural Council last year for AIDS Care. It From the solo section of James Hansen’s dance “Lovely,” was such a pleasurable performed by Sandy Lacey.

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

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TRANS TALK: Drago Renteria spoke on trans issues at RIT in March. Photos: Khoury Humphrey. RIT hosts the NE LGBT college conference April 12-14.

LGBT seniors’ needs are focus of HCR panel

By Casey Sullivan As the LGBT population ages, there are many growing concerns about their treatment in home care facilities. When it comes to nursing homes, some members of the LGBT community are finding it necessary to go back into the closet, even after living a life of being out. HCR Home Care and the Gay Alliance are helping to create the first LGBT home care program.

The Academy of Medicine, HCR Home Care, Monroe County Medical Society, AIDS Care and the Gay Alliance hosted “The Clinician’s Role in Welcoming and Affirming Health Care for LGBT Seniors Across the Continuum” on March 14 at the Academy of Medicine, in the first of what they hope will be annual events. The panelists consisted of Dr. Donald Symer, Dr. William Valenti, Dr. Laureen Burke, and Dr. Lon Baratz.

A common theme mentioned by several of the panelists was the barriers to care for trans patients. Some of the issues they struggle with are having their preferred name used by staff, getting the appropriate treatment in a comfortable setting (e.g. gynological and prostate exams), and even being recognized as their correct gender by nursing homes. All nursing homes have a specific culture and the staff found at every level needs to be educated. Although the staff might not necessarily be comfortable with the people they’re working with, they need to be educated so they and their patients can be comfortable.

Louise Warner, Director of the HCR, said, “We had the great advantage of having the Gay Alliance do eight hours of training for a select group of our home care team. We have a lot of persons on our disciplinary team, some of whom are here, led by Mike Rosario-McCabe, but we realized that not everybody who’s a home care professional might be as empathetic or sensitized and so we put together a special team so that seniors could feel comfortable if they wanted to have health care. Because I think some of the doctors here will say now you have the aging population, even the HIV population will not die of HIV, they’ll die of cardiac arrest and maybe need a quadruple bypass or something. Hips or knees, everyone will want to come home.”

Mike Rosario-McCabe is heading the LGBT program. “We have put together a team, like Louise said, sparked out of a conversation that they had, to meet the needs of the LGBT community. Particularly seniors, we find, are not coming into home care because of different fears and anxieties, and so we have a full disciplinary team…. We have a social worker, speech therapist, case manager RN, physical therapist, occupational therapist; we also have three home health aides.”

Emily Jones is a board member of HCR Cares. She said, “I spoke with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and they’re working with SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) to work inside nursing home facilities, and HRC said there’s no home health care agency that has put together a LGBT program.

This is the first in the nation.” ■

RIT Color Run to benefit GAGV, Trevor Project RIT’s second annual 5K Color Run takes place on May 5. This year the proceeds will benefit the Trevor Project, helping LGBT youth at risk from bullying, and the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley.

The run is a fun event where participants start with a white t-shirt and at every onekilometer interval colored powder is thrown at them.

Over 400 people took part in the first race last year (above). It is open to students, friends, family, alumni and the Rochester community. ■

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local and state (Be Aware from page 6) them becomes Medicare eligible.”

She called her insurance company numerous times and was never given accurate or complete information. Essentially, LGB married couples “don’t exist” so there is no disclaimer saying that the usual rules don’t apply to them – except for a paragraph in AARP’s Medicare information pamphlet, this information was nowhere to be found. It’s as if same sex spouses don’t exist except when the Right wants to discriminate against them.

The facts: enrollment in Medicare Part B can take place without penalty when employer sponsored insurance terminates. Due to DOMA, though, a same sex spouse’s employer’s sponsored health insurance does NOT qualify as creditable coverage per Medicare and Social Security rules. This information is nowhere to be found in any Medicare or Social Security documents nor on their websites.

References to “spouse” do not include a disclaimer that the word refers only to an opposite-sex spouse. This omission is misleading when a gay person is legally married in their state of residence.

Because the rules are different for same sex couples, and the same sex spouse’s employer sponsored medical or prescription insurance is not creditable, due to DOMA, the retired same sex spouse is liable to pay a penalty if he or she does not enroll in Medicare when they turn 65.

The employer’s plan is considered the secondary insurer and government Medicare is the primary insurer, even if the individual is not enrolled in Plan B. Jean’s spouse’s insurance company did not explain any of this to her. “So that’s why I won our appeal,” she said.

“We had a hellacious Fall,” she said.

“We found ourselves in an untenable situation because, despite our due diligence,

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013 we were given no correct or reliable information about how we would be treated as a same sex couple.”

Their attorney advised her spouse to file an appeal with her insurance company, which was denied. Her spouse then filed an appeal with her employer’s ERISA appeals committee. They granted the appeal based on a precedent, and on the fact that the couple had received insufficient and inaccurate information. The insurance company was obliged to pay all of the claims they had previously denied.

Jean says, “Don’t let this happen to you. The bottom line is, if you are a legally married same sex couple and one spouse is employed, and the other retired, and both are covered by the employed spouse’s health insurance, when the retired spouse turns 65 he or she MUST enroll in Medicare Plan A, B and D.” If DOMA is overturned, LGB couples will be treated the same as heterosexual couples. If DOMA is affirmed (unlikely because it has been ruled unconstitutional by so many federal courts – but when it comes to the Roberts court, you never know), then the Gay Alliance will probably organize a workshop to help couples understand their second-class position and the implications of DOMA for them.

Jean said, “We thought I should talk about this, so no other members of the community would have to go through what we did. Forewarned is forearmed.

My goal is to make people aware that they need reliable information.”

UR plans events for LGBT Awareness Month The Susan B. Anthony Institute is spearheading the University’s 2013 LGBTQI Awareness Month in April.

The second annual Rainbow Lecture will take place on April 12, with Rev. Dr. Patrick Cheng of Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.

Rev. Dr. Cheng will give a talk titled

“Rainbow Theology: Bridging Race, Sexuality, and Spirit.” In addition, the Institute is again organizing the “Out In Reel” Film Series, as well as many more events.

Fairport United Methodist Church welcomes all In a recent historic congregational vote, Fairport United Methodist Church became the first United Methodist congregation in Monroe County to join the Reconciling Ministries Network: a growing movement of United Methodist individuals, congregations, campus ministries, and other groups working for the full participation of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, within the church.

“This is an extremely positive move for our community,” states Todd Anderson, chair of the Reconciling Ministries Group at the church. “And the fact that our vote was so overwhelmingly affirmative is a testimony to the Christian love and acceptance among our membership.”

The congregational vote passed with 86 percent in favor of becoming a “reconciling” congregation.

The process began for Fairport United Methodist Church (FUMC) two years ago, when a group of parishioners formed a Reconciling Ministries committee to explore, and then recommend how FUMC could become explicitly more open to the LGBT community, as well as to all people.

The committee held movie screenings, held multiple group study sessions regarding LGBT issues and the church, and set up informational tables at Sunday services. The committee examined history, and acknowledged that LGBT individuals have, for many years, been directly and indirectly marginalized in Christian churches, including the United Methodist Church. The committee’s conclusion was that this behavior is inconsistent with the

teaching of Jesus who calls Christians to confront prejudices and extend love to all.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect when we first visited, but I immediately found the congregation to be welcoming and friendly,” states Melissa McHenry, a regular attendee at the church. Melissa and her partner, Beth Bailey, had both of their daughters baptized at the church last fall.

“I am so thankful for the acceptance, especially the fact that it isn’t a big issue.

I love that my family can worship in the church and denomination of our choice.”

“With so many in the congregation in support of reaching out and being more explicit on who is accepted, I feel FUMC will be a welcome place for LGBT Christians to call home,” Todd Anderson adds.

2013 marks the official start of FUMC’s membership in the Reconciling Ministries Network. The first step taken has been to publish the following welcome statement in bulletins: “FUMC is a Reconciling Congregation where all persons of any age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnic origin, economic reality, family status, sexual orientation, diverse ability or social status are welcome without reservation to share in God’s love. “ Additionally, the following statement now appears on the FUMC website, www. fairportumc.org: “We affirm that through God’s redeeming love for all, we are one in Christ. We respect the inherent and valuable contributions each member makes to the Body of Christ. We celebrate our diversity and recognize the sacred worth and dignity of all persons of any age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnic origin, economic reality, family status, sexual orientation, diverse ability or social status. We believe that through Christ we are being reconciled to God and to one another. As we journey towards reconciliation, we proclaim this welcome to all God’s people, especially to those who have known the pain of exclusion and discrimination within the church, affirming that no one is excluded or condemned.

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet We invite all persons to journey with us as we discover the call of God on our lives through the ministries of Fairport United Methodist Church. To that end, Fairport United Methodist Church commits to the reconciliation of all persons as children of God and declares itself to be a Reconciling Congregation.”

Meningitis threatens gay men in NYC New York City’s continuing meningitis outbreak, which has now seen seven fatalities, has prompted the Department of Health to suggest vaccinations for all gay and bisexual men who hook up via social media or at bars, etc. Previously vaccinations had been suggested primarily for HIV+ men in some areas of Brooklyn.

The Health Department issued new recommendations last month for vaccinating against invasive meningococcal disease – commonly known as meningitis – after an increase in cases. Vaccinations are now advised for men, regardless of HIV status, who regularly have intimate contact with other men met through a website, digital application (“App”), or at a bar or party.

Four new cases of meningitis among men who have sex with men have been reported since the beginning of January, bringing the total to 17 cases since 2012. There have been 22 reported cases – including seven fatal cases – since 2010.

“Meningitis symptoms usually come on quickly, and the disease can be fatal if not treated right away,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley. “Vaccination is the best defense. I urge all men who meet these criteria – regardless of whether they identify as gay – to get vaccinated now and protect themselves from this disease before it is too late.”

Five members of the City Council and Speaker Christine Quinn on March 5 urged the constituents of their districts to take heed. ■

national and international (NewsFronts from page 5)

Politicians don’t lose after voting for gay rights, group says A new study from Freedom to Marry and Third Way destroys the talking points of NOM and other groups who continue to say that lawmakers who vote for equality lose their elections.

Freedom to Marry: Based on election results in the two states that passed freedom to marry laws in the 2011-2012 legislative cycle and whose members stood for reelection — New York and Washington — the analysis, “Pro-Marriage Legislators Win Elections,” finds that pro-marriage legislators who ran for reelection won 97 percent of the time. This is significantly higher than the national incumbent reelection average of 90 percent in 2012.

The data: Do voters punish legislators who support marriage for gay couples? A look at the data from the 2012 election shows that the answer is NO. 97 percent of those who voted for marriage and ran for reelection won, compared to only 90 percent of incumbent state legislators nationwide.

Of the five who lost, two were under investigation for corruption or misuse of taxpayer dollars, so only three of 146 lost without being under an ethics cloud (two percent).

At least 85 percent of the 13 Republican legislators who voted for marriage since the 2010 election did not lose their seats because of it.

Said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry: “Polls have shown that a growing majority of Americans support ending the exclusion of

same-sex couples from marriage – and now we know that Americans vote that way at the polls, too. Lawmakers who cast votes for the freedom to marry get voted back in – and on both side of the aisle. Elected officials can vote for the freedom to marry and be on the right side of history, secure that supporting the freedom to marry is not only the right vote to cast; it’s also the politically smart vote to take.”

Added Jon Cowan, President of Third Way: “The 2012 election illustrated that moderate Americans have largely completed their journey on this issue and now see a lawmaker’s support for marriage as a reason to vote for, not against, that candidate. This latest comprehensive study of the fate of state legislators who voted for marriage makes evident that pro-marriage legislators of both parties can win in districts that span the regional and ideological spectrum.”

Read more: http://www.towleroad. com/#ixzz2MlrXauX2

How will marriage equality fare in Roberts Supreme Court?

The Wall Street Journal’s Jess Bravin looked at Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the upcoming case on DOMA and Proposition 8 the Court will be considering at the end of the month: Chief Justice Roberts doubtless knows “that history is going in a certain direction,” even if he isn’t persuaded that the Constitution requires invalidation of laws denying recognition to gay marriages, said Richard Pildes, a law professor at New York University. If that leads him to side against Mr. Obama’s position, it could place the chief justice in “a tragic kind of position – knowing how a decision they believe is correct today is going to look bad 15 years down the road.”... ...Legal experts say that how the chief justice expresses his position on gay

13 marriage – whether he writes his own opinion or joins that of another justice – could be as significant as how he votes.

Should he vote to uphold either or both of the laws against gay marriage, his opinions will be parsed for indications of his attitude toward gay couples and whether he writes favorably of political trends that could expand gay marriage without court intervention.

Under that alternative, in 20 years he could say, “See, we said this is a matter for legislative resolution and not judicial resolution, and things turned out well,” said Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet. “To be able to do that, the opinion has to be very carefully written to make it clear that the court is taking no position on the merits of gay marriage.”

On a side note, the Chairman of the National Organization for Marriage John Eastman smeared Roberts last month for giving his adopted children the “second-best” option. Whether that smear has any effect on Roberts’ thinking about fairness and equality may never be known.

Hundreds of corporations and individuals have filed amici briefs in favor of DOMA.

O’Reilly backtracks on trashing of gay Colo. lawmaker Fox News host Bill O’Reilly backtracked in his attempt to link a gay Colorado lawmaker’s opposition to a measure affecting sexual predators who target children with that lawmaker’s sexuality after criticism from a Colorado newspaper editorial writer.

Over several weeks in March, O’Reilly used his national platform to attack openly gay Colorado lawmaker Rep. Mark Ferrandino (D-2) over his opposition to “Jessica’s Law,” a measure that would impose a 25-year sentence on (O’Reilly continues page 14)

14 (O’Reilly from page 13) those found guilty of sexually assaulting children.

In a March 10 editorial, The Denver Post’s Curtis Hubbard condemned O’Reilly for repeatedly citing Ferrandino’s sexual orientation in his attacks, writing: O’Reilly’s fear-mongering should offend all Coloradans. He was saying “gay,” but what he wanted his listeners to hear was “pervert-pedophile.”

Disagree? Then you try explaining what Ferrandino’s sexual orientation and stance on civil unions has to do with Jessica’s Law. During the March 11 edition of The O’Reilly Factor, O’Reilly responded to Hubbard’s criticism, insisting that he was merely attempting to provide “context” for his criticism: O’REILLY: We described the speaker as “openly gay” because Americans don’t know who he is and that description is used in almost every article ever written about him. And the reason we brought up civil unions is because Ferrandino objected to that vote being sabotaged

by Republicans a few years ago, then he turned around and used the same technique to table Jessica’s Law. [...]

The reason that I did that was to put into perspective who he is. People don’t know who this guy is, he’s not like Joe Biden. They don’t know this guy is. So I had to tell people, ‘look, this is what this guy’s interested in. This is what he promotes.’

O’Reilly’s explanation, that he was simply providing background information about Ferrandino for his audience, is a stretch.

In segment after segment, O’Reilly found it necessary to highlight Ferrandino’s sexuality and support for marriage equality while discussing his opposition to Jessica’s Law. O’Reilly even cited Ferrandino’s support for marriage equality as evidence that he was attempting to “impose a secular paradise” in Colorado -- implying that lax penalties for child molesters would also be part of Ferrandino’s “paradise.” Ferrandino’s sexual orientation was the only personal detail about the lawmaker that O’Reilly found relevant enough to share with his audience.

This type of attack is typical for O’Reilly. His record on promoting the myth that gay men are more likely to engage in pedophilia than heterosexual men is murky at best. If he’s intent on continuing his crusade against Ferrandino, O’Reilly will need to come up with a better excuse for dragging the lawmaker’s sexual orientation into the debate.

-Media Matters

NOM whines about losing GOP backers Chris Geidner on Buzzfeed points out the striking difference between the two CPAC panels on marriage equality at last month’s conservative confab.

Cleta Mitchell, a D.C. lawyer who successfully led the charge to keep the LGBT conservative group GOProud out of the Conservative Political Action Conference for the past two years, is finding out what it means to lose a hard-fought battle. Mitchell and the National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown looked down from a stage at the annual signature conservative conference whose social values they’d fought to defend, to find they’d lost their troops.

“We are treated as if we are bigots,” Brown complained to a largely empty room, assembled for a panel dedicated to discussing the “bullying” they and other conservatives say they face from the Obama administration.

An hour later, speaking to a packed room at another CPAC panel about increasing tolerance in the party, GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia basically agreed.

“We have tolerated something in our movement for far too long: anti-gay bigotry,” LaSalvia said. “Let me be clear, I

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013 do not believe that just because someone opposes same-sex marriage that that automatically makes them a homophobe.

But there are, however, a few. There are a few in our movement who just don’t like gay people. In 2013, that just isn’t OK in America anymore.”

While many of the most virulently anti-gay groups had a presence at CPAC, it should be noted that a large percentage of attendees were young people.

Poll tracks rise in support for marriage equality; 58% favor

By Gary Langer Support for gay marriage reached a new high in the March ABC News/ Washington Post poll, marking a dramatic change in public attitudes on the subject across the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed.

That number has grown sharply in ABC News/Washington Post polls, from a low of 32 percent in a 2004 survey of registered voters, advancing to a narrow majority for the first time only two years ago, and now up again to a significant majority for the first time.

Most Americans, moreover, say the U.S. Constitution should trump state laws on gay marriage, a question now before the U.S. Supreme Court. And – in another fundamental shift – just 24 percent now see homosexuality as a choice, down from 40 percent nearly 20 years ago. It’s a view that closely relates to opinions on the legality of same-sex marriage.

Intensity of sentiment about gay marriage also shows considerable change in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates. In 2004, strong opponents outnumbered strong supporters by a broad 34 percentage points.

Today strong supporters are ascendant, outnumbering strong opponents by 11 points.

CHANGE – Results of this survey extend evidence of a remarkable transformation in public attitudes. Views on basic social issues often move slowly, if at all. Support for gay marriage, though, has gone from 47 percent to today’s 58 percent in just the last three years – culminating a period of change first endorsed by some state courts, then by some political figures, notably with Hillary Clinton expressing support for samesex marriage on March 18, and Barack Obama doing the same last May, a position he went on to underscore in his second inaugural address in January.

Gay marriage today is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia, and civil unions are legal in eight more states (and were approved in March by the state Legislature in a ninth, Colorado). Thirty-one states ban gay marriage by constitutional amendment.

Sharp differences across groups remain, but there have been large advances across the board. In one striking gap, gay marriage is supported by a vast 81 percent of adults younger than 30, compared with just 44 percent of seniors.

But that’s up by more than 10 points in both groups just since March 2011, and by more than 20 points in both groups since 2004, the low point for gay marriage support in ABC/Post polls.

On the political front, 72 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents favor legalizing gay marriage, vs. far fewer Republicans, 34 percent. Still that’s up by 18 points among Republicans since 2004, as well as by 24 and 29 points among independents and Democrats, respectively.

Similarly, while just 33 percent of conservatives support gay marriage, that’s up by 23 points from nine years ago. Support encompasses more than seven in 10 liberals and moderates alike, with the greatest growth among moderates, 31 points higher now than in 2004.

(Poll continues page 16)

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16 ( Poll continued from page 14) Sentiment among religious groups shows the same kinds of trends. Among non-evangelical white Protestants, 70 percent in this poll support gay marriage, compared with fewer than half as many of those who describe themselves as evangelicals, 31 percent. But that’s up by a nearly identical 25 and 24 points among these groups, respectively, since 2004. Support for gay marriage also is up, by 19 points, among Catholics, to 59 percent.

CHOICE? – As noted, just 24 percent of Americans now see homosexuality as “something people choose to be,” down from 40 percent in an ABC/Post poll in 1994 and 33 percent (among likely voters) in 2004; the rest, 62 percent, instead say it’s “just the way they are,” up from just fewer than half in 1994.

It matters quite a lot: Among the declining number of people who see homosexuality as a choice, just 29 percent support gay marriage, with nearly seven in 10 opposed. Among those who reject this view, support for same-sex marriage soars to 73 percent.

Homosexuality as a choice: Fortyfive percent of evangelical white Protestants hold this view, among the most to say so in any group tested; among nonevangelical white Protestants, 13 percent agree, among the fewest. Those are down from 1994 by similar margins – 15 and 18 points, respectively.

CONSTITUTION – The Supreme Court scheduled hearings on gay marriage last month, including challenges to a vote in California barring gay marriage, and to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a woman and a man, denying married gay and lesbian couples federal benefits given to married heterosexual couples. This poll suggests that the high court is the right place for it: Americans by nearly 2-l, 64-33 percent, say the legality of gay marriage “should be decided for all states on the basis of the U.S. Constitution” rather than by each state making its own law on the issue.

That view, interestingly, is not much impacted by attitudes on the issue itself: Among supporters of gay marriage, 68 percent say the Constitution should rule; among opponents of gay marriage, 62 percent say the same.

Preference for a Constitution-based determination encompasses two-thirds or more of Democrats and independents, liberals and moderates alike; it’s lower, but still a majority, among conservatives (56 percent) and Republicans (54 percent).

METHODOLOGY – This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone March 7-10, 2013, among a random national sample of 1,001 adults, including landline and cell-phoneonly respondents. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points, including design effect. Partisan divisions are 33-2535 percent, Democrats-Republicans-independents.

The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013 New York, N.Y., with sampling, data collection and tabulation by Abt-SRBI of New York, N.Y.

Police brutalize gay man at Sydney Mardi Gras A press photographer caught what appears to be a troubling incident of police brutality on March 2 on camera, as a reveler at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was manhandled and assaulted by police in front of a crowd of onlookers.

Writes the cameraman: “I was a press photographer for the parade, walking along the backstreets shortly after it had concluded between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., we heard a man screaming for repeatedly for help.

“Walking over we saw him being restrained by two police officers with another four in close proximity; he was repeatedly asking them ‘what have I done wrong?,’ to which they would not respond, all they would say was ‘you are under arrest’. He was calling for people walking past to help him and with a large crowd of people began to surround the event. He was struggling and resisting but not aggressively.

“The officers told him to stop resisting to which he would reply, ‘why are you doing this I haven’t done anything.’ The officer “FAIRFIELD LAC 266” then grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed his head into the stone pavement, as he tried to get up he was then punched multiple times in the head, leaving blood all over the pavement. The crowd of people overlooking screaming at the officer to stop.

“After seeing that I began filming.

What I found most shocking about this event is that the other officers seem to be aware that the amount of force they are using was completely unmerited and excessive. So they hastily try to force me to stop filming.

“As a press photographer I knew I was completely within my rights to film police officers in a public space, doing nothing wrong and breaking no laws, so I refused. You will notice I ask multiple times why I am not allowed to film and what laws am I breaking and receive no response.

“There were at least six officers in the immediate vicinity, the victim was only small and could have easily been restrained by the officers without injury.

Instead they chose to force him into submission by repeatedly punching him and throwing him into the pavement.”

UPDATE: Reports on the incident from the Sydney Morning Herald: “I’ll be calling for an investigation,” said the state MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich. “From what we can see it does appear to be heavy handed and extremely concerning.”

And the Australian site Same Same, which reports on another incident involving excessive force: Bryn Hutchinson, who until last

month was co-convener for Community Action Against Homophobia – the group that organises and holds large regular marriage equality rallies in central Sydney – has told Same Same that about 11.25pm on Saturday he was unexpectedly set upon by up to five police officers from Parramatta Local Command as he crossed the Oxford Street near the intersection of Crown Street.

Hutchinson, 32, was with his partner, his sister and her friend when they decided to leave a Taylor Square hotel just after 11pm. Hutchinson, who is soon to commence studies for his PhD at the University of Sydney in the field of Bioethics, says he was not drunk or disorderly, or offensive or rude in any way, when the incident occurred... Hutchinson, who stands at 169cm and weighs only 65 kgs, said after a brief conversation with the police officer during which he said he was simply crossing the road he decided to continue to the other side.

“I can’t remember if he said anything more, but basically it was a verbal interchange and there was no physical contact. Then I was grabbed from behind by several police officers and then thrown onto the ground on my back. Then another police officer was leaning over me and threatening to charge me. I don’t know what he wanted to charge me with.

I just kept saying I wanted to simply cross the road.”

Read more: http://www.towleroad. com/#ixzz2MfwESl5D

like those the school board passed can create administrative burdens, prevent access to support groups for minority students, and discourage participation in extracurricular activities. We will continue to stand with Bayli and ensure that she and her friends are able to establish their GSA, and we will continue to work to ensure that club policies aren’t used to favor some students’ clubs and discriminate against others.”

Bayli Silberstein, age 14 of Leesburg, Fla., said, “I’m just really thankful for everyone who stood up for me, the GSA, and the work we’re doing. We’re going to work hard now to get the club started before the end of the school year so we can start to fix the bullying problem right away.”

More information about the ACLU’s work to support the effort to start a GSA at Carver Middle School is available here: http://aclufl.org/2013/02/15/ aclu-petitions-lake-county-school-boardto-stop-gay-straight-alliance-ban/ The petition put together by the ACLU is available here: https://www. aclu.org/secure/stand-with-bayli

Fla. school won’t ban all clubs to avoid GSA On March 12, the Lake County School Board voted 3-2 against a proposed policy that would have banned all non-academic clubs, instead opting for a rule that would require students to obtain parental permission for club membership.

Over 55,000 people had signed a petition urging the school board not to go forward with the proposed ban on all clubs, which the school board had considered passing in response to the effort of Leesburg 8th-grader Bayli Silberstein to establish a gay-straight alliance (GSA) club at Carver Middle School.

The ACLU also rented a plane that flew a banner reading “Stand with Bayli, not bullies” outside the school board meeting.

Daniel Tilley, ACLU of Florida LGBT Policy Strategist, said, “We are glad that a majority of the school board members listened to the voices of the parents and students of Lake County and realized that banning all non-academic clubs to stop students from having a gaystraight alliance was the wrong way to respond to Bayli and her friends’ effort to fight bullying at their school.

“We’re extremely grateful for everyone who turned out to speak, as well as the tens of thousands across the country who signed Bayli’s petition. Because of the people who stood with Bayli, she’ll be able to keep fighting against bullying.

“GSAs exist in thousands of schools and in every state in the country; these groups combat the epidemic of bullying and harassment of students who are or are perceived to be LGBT. We hope that today’s decision means that the GSA will be able to form, meet, and be treated the same as any other club as students work to eradicate bullying from the halls of Carver Middle School.

“However, we have seen in other places that parental-consent requirements

Tyler Clementi’s parents call NOM comments shameful, cruel The parents of Tyler Clementi want NOM to apologize after their repulsive spokesperson Jennifer Roback Morse referenced their son in a speech to Catholic students at Iowa State.

Morse said, “Sometimes you hear about these things and, you know, you don’t hear the whole story in the media.

That kid Tyler Clementi who killed himself — who threw himself off the George Washington Bridge — do you know this story? Okay, then I’m not going to tell it.

I mean, there was a much older man in the picture. In other words, there’s usually more to the story, right? And so I think friendship is what you have to offer.

There are a lot of situations where people are doing something sexual that’s probably not the best thing for them.”

Clementi’s parents wrote to NOM: “To exploit our late son’s name to advance an anti-equality agenda is offensive and wrong. By doing so, National Organization for Marriage proves that not only is there no low they will not sink to, to advance their cruel agenda — but that neither they nor Ms. Morse have any grip on reality. The very idea that Tyler’s tragedy happened because of too much support — instead of not enough — is ludicrous.

Shame on them.”

JoeMyGod.com comments, “Roback Morse, you may recall, has testified against LGBT rights before numerous state legislatures. Don’t hold your breath for an apology.” ■

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

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Shoulders to Stand On

The Pre-Stonewall era

By Evelyn Bailey Last month we looked at some of the roots of liberation and equality in Rochester, New York. This month we will look at the pre-Stonewall era and the beginnings of the gay liberation movement with excerpts from Jeff Lehigh’s Empty Closet article of February, 1990.

Prior to World War II, same-sex behavior was criminalized by laws in all states, most of which had existed without modifications since the colonial or Victorian eras. Homosexuals didn’t really have much of an agenda or a liberation movement in those days. Their prime concern was to keep a very low profile -- in order to stay alive, and avoid assaults by gay bashers.

Their second main concern was trying to hold onto a job in a homophobic world where continued employment and accommodation usually required them to remain deeply in the closet. There was a near consensus among mental health professionals, human sexuality researchers, theologians and others that homosexuality was a mental disorder which materialized as chosen, abnormal, deviant, and unnatural sexual behavior.

Jeff states that this view was challenged by Alfred Kinsey in 1948 when he wrote Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and in 1953 when he wrote Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, also known as the Kinsey Reports, as well as the Kinsey scale.

Alfred Kinsey found that four percent of the adult men he interviewed identified themselves as exclusively homosexual, another 13 percent were more than incidentally homosexual for at least three years after the age of 16, and 37 percent had had a homosexual experience in their

adult lives. The fact that gay people were so numerous surprised nearly everyone and offered hope to millions of closeted gays. Kinsey’s work has profoundly influenced social and cultural values in the United States, as well as internationally.

In 1990, Horace Lethbridge (1926– 2008) was secretary of the Gay Alliance and counselor at the Wellesley Counseling Center. Horace had this to say about the Kinsey Report: “In the 40 years since then, we have a much more accepting climate for gays, and now have more college kids who are willing to identify their leanings and come out of the closet.”

The Kinsey Report gave much hope to rural and small town homosexuals, who, like some teenagers of today, felt isolated and as if they were the only ones who had such feelings. But the Kinsey Report was a small victory for homosexuals; it gave them knowledge, but that was all.

According to Jeff, during the McCarthy era, which started in 1950, rightwing Senator Joseph McCarthy helped usher in the House Un-American Activities Committee. “Homosexuals were deemed to be a security risk and unstable personalities, and were systematically investigated and fired from their jobs.” (Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community, page 43.)

Those in the military who were found to be homosexual, or even suspected of being homosexual, received an undesirable discharge from the Armed Forces.

During this time, undesirable discharge meant only one thing, that the person being discharged was accused of being gay. One of the laws of this time, which may or may not have been taken off the books yet, is described by Joan Giuffre: “The laws were, three or more homosexuals in one place constituted an illegal gathering. What they took as proof of a homosexual gathering then, was to catch three people dancing illegally…

Now it’s legal to dance in a gay bar; it was not then.”

But even with McCarthyism and such repressive laws, Rochester had gay bars like Patsy’s, which was one of Rochester’s first gay bars; it closed around 1959. The other early bars were Dick’s 43 and the Blue Chip. There were a string of other bars in the city that opened and closed quite rapidly. The early gay bars did seem to have staying power until after the Stonewall riot in New York City on June 28, 1969. That day the police raided the Stonewall as they had before, but in the early morning of June 28, the police met opposition from the bar’s patrons, who threw glasses, bottles, bricks, change from their pockets. Several of the patrons and a few employees were arrested.

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Other riots took place for several days after the raid on the Stonewall. When asked how he felt upon hearing about the Stonewall riots, Horace Lethbridge replied, “…. Excited, very excited and glowing with the recognition that at last we were standing up, saying that you can’t do that to us.” When asked about the fight for rights, he replied. “I think, whether you are heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual, there will always be those who fight for rights, and others who sit back and applaud or say, ‘l can’t do that, thank heaven they are.’ And it is maybe even more so for the gay community than for the non-gay.”

After the Stonewall riots, the Gay Liberation Front was formed in July 1969. In Rochester, the Gay Liberation Front had three area organizations in Geneseo (formed sometime in I971), in Brockport and at the University of Rochester; the latter became the Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley in 1973. The Stonewall riot did have a powerful positive effect on the LGBT community; it gave the community the desire for the rights that we not only need but deserve.

Shoulders to Stand On is proud to present excerpts from Jeff Lehigh’s article and the comments of Horace Lethbridge and others who worked tirelessly, publicly and privately, to create a safe, inclusive environment where all of us can live as openly gay men and women without fear of reprisal.

History Corner The monthly newsletter of the University of Rochester Gay Liberation Front, April 1973 HAPPENINGS SUN 1 APRIL! “ONLY FOOLIN.” A Gay Coffeehouse night. Art, talent, eats and rap. Bring Friends straight and gay. U of R Chapel, middle level, 8:30 pm. (Note time change) SUN 8 APRIL: Business meeting 7:30-8 pm, coffee break, and “GET INVOLVED.” Choose your subcommittee and meet with office staff, political legal action, communication, program, finance, library, speaker’s bureau commit-

tees. New member Interest Group meets.

SUN 15 APRIL: For the women: SAPPHO’S SYRCYLE! For the men: “GAY MEN’S HEALTH PROBLEMS.” Info on hepatitis, VD, and special health problems of gay males, 8 p.m. Preceded by coffee hour and business meeting open to all at 7:30- Todd Union Music Lounge, River Campus.

SAT 21 APRIL: GAY DANCE, Danforth Dining Hall, (see map, page 1) , 9-1.

Live Band, tentatively. For details, phone 275-6181 week of 15 April.

SUN 22 APRIL: “WHAT’S UP IN ITHACA” Guests from Cornell share projects, aims and activities of the Ithaca gay group. 8:00, Todd Union Music Lounge. Preceded by business meeting at 7:30, open to all.

SUN 29 APRIL: “BI-SEXUALITY: FACT OR FICTION?” 8:00. Preceded by coffee hour and business meeting at 7:30, Todd Union Music Lounge.

Other active student groups at the time: GROW (Gay Revolution of Women), Brockport University Gay Freedom League, Cornell Gay Liberation, Geneseo Gay Freedom Coalition, Gays For Human Liberation at Oswego. ■

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

Columnists

Photos: eric bellmanN

The opinions of columnists, editorial writers and other contributing writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the collective attitude of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley or The Empty Closet.

Growing Up The Garden of Earthly Delights

By Eric Bellmann One of the unexpected bonus pleasures of visiting my mother in southern New Mexico, and there were few, was driving around in the poorer neighborhoods and seeing how folks decorated their yards. Decorate might not be the most accurate term.

There is one quite famous house that has a “hedge” of pristine white urinals filled to overflowing with bright red plastic roses. Another house has every imaginable ceramic critter: leopards, giant frogs, you name it, scattered across the sunfried front yard. I think this penchant for bright, colorful decoration is an antidote to the relentless parching sun.

One house on the outskirts of town is covered completely in hub caps. A grizzled man, presumably the occupant, sits in a spindly chair in the driveway and when I pull over to take a picture he is more than eager to chat. People in desolate regions have evolved peculiar habits to please themselves. I’ve learned over time taking pictures leads to fascinating conversations with all sorts of oddballs.

I am an oddball. Oh, you may choose another word if you like but eccentricity is my inherent nature. So I decided to decorate outside my house. (The insides have passed the point of saturation.) A refugee from Xmas, I tied several small ornaments to a backyard tree when they failed to sell in a clear-out-the-attic garage sale. They charm me in the dull gray winter, then disappear within foliage come summertime.

I have several small sexy plastic action figures, all muscular men of course, attached to the metal link fence that runs along two sides of my corner lot. There is a stretch of wood fence on which I have placed other figurines. And then the adventure unfolds.

Sitting in a backyard chair, I once heard a small voice, a child talking with his father about a Mickey Mouse toy perched atop the fence. Several days later it was gone. In its place was a nifty red toy sports car. Unwittingly I’d created a kind of toy lending library. The car disappeared, another doll took its place. I live

near a much admired public elementary school, so the neighborhood is favored by young families. And dog walkers. It didn’t take long to realize that my yard held charm for passersby. It’s a mercy those folks don’t know what goes on inside the house, behind the occasionally pulled drapes, but that is none of their business and another story entirely.

At the Avon flea market I found two terrific prehistoric monsters, wildly colorful. I had to bang the hell out of nails into their claws to attach them to the wooden fence. They looked fabulous. I liked the idea of objects moving beyond small toys towards larger ones. Alas, first one disappeared, then half a year later the other one was gone as well. This could not be the work of tiny tots.

As it happens, over the years my neighborhood has evolved into about fifty percent owner occupied and fifty percent transient. I am cursed to live opposite a row of rental units which from time to time are inhabited by dreaded college students. Jerks who drink. I have no doubt who the vandals are. Once I had a knockout Hawaiian hula dancer who one morning I discovered had been decapitated. Again, no child could be so vicious.

I posted a large hopefully shaming notice on the fence and glared at the guys across the street swilling beers each evening.

I think the sweetest contribution was a soft, plush bunny that appeared wedged among some vines that weave into the metal link fence around the front yard.

Sadly this winter I’ve noticed it is gone.

I am the queen of twisty ties, the kind of plastic gizmo gardeners use to stabilize stalky plants. It would have taken some muscle to yank poor bunny free. Maybe I’ll find it when the snow is finally gone.

When spring returns I’ll go into the basement and get the skull I plop into the front yard, a trophy found at Arlene’s Costume Shop. It’s made of a perishable foam so I can’t leave it out all seasons. Besides I like to change decor, a gay attribute, don’t you think? And the cold indoor season is coming to a close, so time to think Spring.

To my delight a week or so ago I caught, out of the corner of my eye, a new figurine. A nifty five-inch tall seated gorilla. It’s really cool. Who could have been so thoughtful? About six months ago I had a falling out with a long time friend who just worked my nerves one time too many. I have begun to not feel good about this. Maybe he has regrets as well. Could it be a peace offering? I’d like to think so.

Time will tell.

Email: elbcad@rit.edu

Faith Matters Haiti’s LGBTQ-accepting Vodou societies

By Rev. Irene Monroe As I celebrated Black History Month in February I recognized one of my indigenous West African ancestral religions that’s not homophobic — even if some of the practitioners are.

To the disbelief of many — it’s Vodou.

Haitian Vodou is an ancestral folk religion whose tenets have always been queerfriendly, accepting people of all sexual orientations and gender expressions.

It’s just one of the religions brought to the New World by the African Diaspora, but there is no religion that frightens and fascinates the world over as much as Vodou.

Misconstrued by racist images of zombies rising from graves, jungle drums, cannibalism and orgiastic ceremonies ritualizing malevolent powers of black magic, and by today’s popular culture images courtesy of Hollywood’s and New Orleans’ tourism industry, Vodou is a persecuted and misunderstood religion.

The Catholic Church demonized Vodou during slavery, but so did Haiti’s political ruling elite who feared its revolutionary potential.

As a monotheistic religion, Vodou believes in one God, and that individual behavior is guided by spirits called “loas” or “lwas.” The spirits derive from the belief traditions of the African people of the former kingdom of Dahomey, now Togo and Benin.

These spirits are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) as well as gender-fluid, from being androgynous to dual-gendered. For instance, Damballah-AidoWedo, subject of a poem by the late Audre Lorde, is the bisexual Rainbow Serpent Damballah and also the female spirit Aido Wedo, symbol of all that is noble, good and eternal.

Gay males in Haitian Vodou embrace the divine protection of Erzulie Freda, the feminine spirit of love and sexuality. Gay males are allowed to imitate and worship her. Lesbians are under the patronage of Erzulie Dantor, a fierce protector of women and children experiencing domestic violence. Erzulie Dantor is bisexual and prefers the company of women.

Labalèn (The Whale) is a gynandrous or intersexual spirit. And LaSirèn (The Mermaid), who is the Vodou analogue of Yemayá, a maternal ocean spirit, is a revered transgender.

But let’s not be fooled. Openly gay Haitian men in Haiti are ostracized. For example, the 2002 documentary “ Des Hommes et Dieux (Of Men and Gods)” by anthropologist Anne Lescot exposed the daily struggles of Haitian transwomen. Blondine in the film said, “When people insult me because I wear a dress I am not ashamed of how I am. Masisis (gay males) can’t walk down the street in a wig and dress.”

But when Blondine is at a Vodou service she feels free.

Gay men are also ostracized anywhere the Haitian Diaspora resides, included the queer-friendly state of Massachusetts.

In 2008, a 22-year-old Haitian gay male committed suicide because of his sexual orientation.

Ironically, homosexuality has been legal in Haiti since 1986. But few protections and provisions come with it.

For example, same-sex marriage and civil unions are not recognized. It’s unclear whether LGBTQ couples can adopt children or have custody of their own children. LGBTQ Haitians don’t openly serve in the military. They don’t have an antihate crime bill that specifically addresses discrimination and harassment LGBTQ Haitians face on the basis due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Minimally, LGBTQ Haitians are pro-

tected under its Constitution, as stated in Article 35-2 that prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on “sex, beliefs, opinions and marital status.” And the United Nation’s International Bill of Human Rights mainly protects LGBTQ Haitians. With no queer enclaves in Portau-Prince and other big cities throughout Haiti, many LGBTQ Haitians are left puzzled by what it means that homosexuality is legal in their country.

How are Haiti’s LGBTQ communities being helped since the world community descended on Haiti with relief aid in response to the January 2010 earthquake? As one of Haiti’s most marginal groups the question arises in response to how some American LGBTQ in New Orleans were treated during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in 2005. Will many of these same conservative faithbased relief agencies that remain in Haiti transfer their homophobic attitudes onto Haiti’s LGBTQ citizens?

However, as in all repressively homophobic cultures, LGBTQ people have always found ways to express and to live out their true authentic lives. In Haiti, how openly queer you are depends not only on your class, profession and skin complexion, but also your religious affiliation.

In a country that is predominantly Roman Catholic, homosexuality is condemned. But among Haiti’s LGBTQ middle and professional classes, they find ways to socialize out of the public “gaydar” and with impunity.

For example, Petionville, an upscale suburb of Port-au-Prince of mostly American and European whites and multiracial Haitians, is where many LGBTQ people will informally gather for dinner parties, at restaurants and beaches. The wellknown four-star tourist hotel, the Hotel Montana in the hills of Petionville, that was recently destroyed by the quake, was one of the hot spots. And these queers hold positions as government officials, business people, NGO and UN aid workers.

Poorer classes of LGBTQ Haitians, like Blondine, do have at least two ways to openly express and celebrate who they are -- in Vodou and in Rara festivals.

Rara Festival, a yearly festival that begins following Carnival, belongs to the peasant and urban poor of Haiti. The Rara bands come out of Vodou societies that have LGBTQ congregations where gay men are permitted to cross-dress with impunity.

In both Rara Festivals and Vodou societies, LGBTQ Haitians are free to be authentically who they are.

A Few Bricks Short Popcorn with Everything!

By David Hull Last year, after 20 years of teaching together, my old buddy Shirley retired. Now she and her husband spend their days antiquing, going to the movies and spoiling their grandkids.

Meanwhile, I’m still teaching. It’s not that I don’t have plenty of other friends at school, but sometimes with Shirley not around, I feel a bit like a fag without his hag.

Recently, Shirley and I went out to lunch and besides discussing antiquing and movie reviews, we did a little reminiscing.

“Spring is here,” said Shirley. “This is the first year that you and I won’t be working together at the school festival.”

“Ugh,” I replied. “Don’t remind me.”

Every spring, our school has a fundraiser, which they call “Family Fun Festival.” It’s held on the school playground and there are games and prizes and music and food. Every year since the festival began; Shirley and I had worked together

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet running the face painting booth. We were very profitable too. Our booth always raised the most money, so due to our success, we were always assigned the same annual task.

Except for that one year.

One year the school administration decided to put a single teacher in charge of the festival. Of course, they chose Betty. Betty has never been my favorite co-worker, but we always manage to behave professionally towards each other.

But, Betty was a control freak and a bit of a bully when the opportunity arose, so when she took over command of the festival that year, she immediately decided that she herself would run the most profitable booth – face painting.

“But I love face painting,” Shirley said to me. “I get to sit all day. I can’t sit if I’m in charge of the ring toss or the ticket booth.”

However, the ring toss and the ticket booth were not to be our destiny.

“You’ll be running the refreshment stand,” Betty informed us.

“That’s not a good idea,” I replied.

“We have no experience in food service.”

“Yeah,” added Shirley. “And you can’t sit at the refreshment stand.”

“I’m sorry,” said Betty, but you could tell from the way she said it that she wasn’t really sorry. “It’s already been decided.

Besides, you don’t need any experience.

All you’ll be doing is selling cans of soda pop, bags of chips and making popcorn.

Another booth will be selling the hot dogs and hamburgers.”

“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head.

“Oh, please. The job is so simple,” replied Betty as she walked away. “Even you two can handle it.”

“Something tells me she doesn’t mean that as a compliment,” grumbled Shirley.

On the day of the Family Fun Festival, Shirley and I reported to the refreshment stand at 9:45 a.m. as instructed. The cans of soda pop were on ice, the bags of chips hung neatly on a rack and the popcorn machine stood facing us – silent and empty.

“Do you know how to use that popcorn machine?” asked Shirley.

“No,” I said. “But from what I understand no experience is necessary.” I pulled the two glass doors of the machine open.

Inside was some sort of heating element and a big metal kettle. “I guess we just put in the corn and press the start button.”

Shirley opened the container of popcorn kernels that was on the counter.

“How much do we put in?”

“The whole thing, I guess,” I said.

“We’re going to be here all day. We’re going to sell a lot of popcorn.” With a loud rattle, I dumped the kernels into the metal kettle and pushed the button to turn the machine on. Immediately, the machine began to hum and a bright light came on inside, so I closed the doors tightly.

“Well,” said Shirley. “I guess we really didn’t need any experience.”

At the point we both looked across the playground at Betty stationed at the face painting booth. There she was in all her glory, smiling proudly as customers began arriving from the parking lot area.

“Look at her,” said Shirley. “Just sitting there on that chair.”

The popcorn machine behind us was popping and popping and popping as we sold a couple of cans of soda pop and a bag of chips. Folks mingled around the games and chatted with friends all the while that popcorn machine was popping and popping and popping. It smelled wonderful and people began lining up to sample some of our product.

“Good thing,” I whispered to Shirley.

“That popper is making a lot of popcorn.”

Quickly the glass walls of the machine began to fill with freshly popped corn.

And the machine kept popping and popping and popping.

After serving a dozen or so bags of popcorn, we began to realize that we might have a problem. The machine just kept getting fuller and fuller. I turned it off, but since it was already hot, the

machine kept right on popping.

“I think I put in too many kernels,” I said.

“Well,” replied Shirley, rolling her eyes. “I think you’ve solved that mystery Nancy Drew.”

I reached in to fill another bag, but the popcorn began overflowing and I couldn’t shut the doors. Shirley helped me as our feet were quickly covered in a hot, buttery avalanche.

“What are we going to do?” I said.

“This thing is out of control!”

Without another word, Shirley marched to the other side of the refreshment stand and picked up the microphone for the PA system. She cleared her throat; then calmly announced to the festival goers: “For the next 20 minutes everything at the refreshment stand comes with a free large popcorn.”

One mother with three kids bought three bags of chips. Each bag of chips came with a free large popcorn. The kids were very excited.

A man asked if we served coffee. No, but he got a free large popcorn just for asking!

Another man ordered a small popcorn for his young daughter. He got a free large popcorn with that order.

“What am I going to do with all this popcorn,” asked the man.

“Oh, I know just how you feel,” Shirley told him.

We had folks lining up just to buy a can of soda pop so they could get a free bag of popcorn.

Eventually we did sell all our popcorn, but it took us most of the afternoon.

At the staff meeting a week later, Betty gave us the financial report on the festival.

Apparently, that year we had a new top money maker – the refreshment booth.

It seems that both parents and children alike were so happy with the free popcorn promotion that everyone made more food purchases than they ever had before in any other year. Face painting was the second top money earner.

Strangely, the next year at Family Fun Festival, Shirley and I were put back in the face painting booth.

Shirley promised me this year she would stop by the festival and instead of working with me, she’d get her cheek painted by me.

So, I guess the old saying is true; the best revenge is a life well lived … with free popcorn. However, I might be paraphrasing a bit.

Contact David at davidhull59@aol.com

Cleaning My Closet Letting go

By Meredith Elizabeth Reiniger Every kitchen shelf is clean. And re-organized. Every night before I retire to my bed chamber, I open each cupboard door to review the beauti-

ful order.

I worked hard. For days I washed or tossed 79 spice jars. Because manufacturers refuse to label a Use By date, I was forced to unscrew lids of anise to turmeric. No scent? Chucked it. Leaves brown instead of their original green? Gone.

Shockingly, still in my cupboard, the bottle of Chinese Five Spice… which had been my mother’s… who died twenty-two years ago. And so did the Five Spice.

Yesterday I moved on to the closets.

Hauling out my long forgotten clothes.

Garments that did not improve with age.

All five closets sorted and straightened in an hour. I do not open those closets to review their orderliness. I know without looking that my half is tidy, that the other half, her half, is empty. Clearly it was not the proverbial spring urge that drove me into furious cleaning. It was distress.

For a month or ten, I have experienced, first hand, the anguish old people on the brink of change must face. Change by choice like relocating to a warmer cli-

mate. Or moving back to the place of birth. Adaptive change when altered physical abilities require a different residence.

Unexpected change like the loss of a partner to death or divorce.

Changes that unearth problems of packed closets. And basements. And attics. Garages, double and triple. And dear heavens, a garden shed. This particular old womyn actually has another basement and a second garage with a loft.

What exactly is a good day to go into those dark places and discard?

It is disconcerting to realize that my things, in their 48th or 69th year of existence, are neither lovely nor lovable. Disappointing that my sculptured buffet the size of a VW would not complement the leather couches and glass shelves in my young friends’ two-bedroom apartment.

Not that they asked.

Slightly off my rocker, I even considered offering the dark table that seats 16 guests to a young womyn who lives in a college dorm and dines out of Chinese to-go cartons. I mean, with a little stripper… the chemical, not the dancing kind… and lots of elbow grease those pieces could gleam. Perhaps, maybe, it is possible that my scratched and dented furniture, although shiny, would still be ugly, outdated, and under-appreciated.

Still, it breaks my heart to see such relics sitting woefully by the street, waiting for curb gleaners to deliver them unto Recycle Heaven.

I am not the only one left holding Yesterdays. After talking to other elders with enormous collections of Life-Pieces, I began to comprehend that the generation gap is wide. The Youthfuls live in a world of Disposable. Today’s home furnishings are boxed puzzles, some assembly required. And so inexpensive that whim, not emotional attachment, dictates what stays, what goes. Not so for the Agefuls.

I do struggle to stop being possessed by possessions. But. But what about imbedded memories? My dressers were made with tongue in groove, corners dove-tailed, hand-rubbed with linseed oil, friction singeing the loving hands creating gleaming Home-Mades. My house is crammed with sentimental things… oh, grandpa rocked in that; ah, mommy perched in that sweet chair to appreciate birds at her feeders; gee, I can almost taste the homemade pies that drew us to this dear table.

The stories rooted in those hand-medowns have comforted me. But they are stories about people no one else remembers or even met. I think the young cannot burden themselves with bits and chunks of other people’s lives. Youngerthan-I people face a longer future. They live in a time when Hurry and Next spin them into rapid changes. Separates them from long ago people, places, and storyfilled things.

I realize that I need help. Not only with the pick it up and haul it out tasks.

I need a person who has no heart strings attached to my belongings. A generous person who will volunteer her time to take trunk loads to goodwill businesses that pass along used merchandise. A kind person who will guide me through the letting go.

Especially I want Kindness to help me part with my written history. I am not the only elderly senior struggling with paper overload and paper unload. A childless lesbian, I have no assumed inheritor of ancestral fragments. Like the bedraggled day books written by my paternal grandmother and father. The Civil War papers discharging Marcellus Card due to chronic diarrhea. The detailed will of Great Grandmother Ida Card Horning.

For decades I have felt obligated to shelter those chapters of quiet lives. It saddens me that no relatives are at all interested in adopting leftovers of our family history.

It is time to ditch the paper trail. Time to let go of the many index cards with handwritten recipes connecting me to my wimmin elders who loved me. Time to give up all the photo albums assembled by my foremothers. My collection of chatty letters sent and received that were once

23 a project for my old age. Was I going to reread them? Use them for column fodder?

And all the love letters, mushy cards, and original poetry saved so that, in my declining years, I could cradle affection in my wrinkly old arms? Today, sadly, I understand that when a heart stops loving no amount of evidence collected in cardboard boxes can heal my pain.

Indeed, I know that all those remnants of days gone by are unwieldy, disintegrating space users. However, someone else’s hands will have to drop them into a dumpster that will accept them without hesitation or judgment or regret.

Maybe it is the metaphor that troubles me. Outdated and not useful. My things and me. Happy damn 69th birthday to me.

My mother forgot to stamp me with a best-if-used-by date.

MeredithReiniger@gmail.com

Inspiritual O is for Opinions

By Rev. Dr. Sharon Jacobson I am always grateful to my readers who offer me inspiration as I work my way through this A to Z blogging challenge.

My friend Jerry suggested I blog about opinions because everyone has one. His reason reminded me of what my wife Zoe says about opinions, which is actually a line from the 1988 movie The Dead Pool. “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one and everyone thinks everyone else’s stinks.”

The dictionary defines opinion as “a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty” and “a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.” [1] Opinions are not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. They are simply what one personally believes.

Some people change their opinion on something over time. However, sometimes opinions become so ingrained in our psyche that they are no longer an opinion, but a belief. If enough people hold the same opinion, it can evolve into a belief system.

In our conversations with others, and even with ourselves, we are expressing our opinion about the Infinite, about others, and about ourselves. Even what I am writing here is just my opinion. It does not mean anyone else has to agree with it or that anyone has to believe it. There may even be those who think my opinion on opinions stinks, and that is OK because that is their opinion.

My opinion is mine, is based on what I believe to be true at any point in time in my life, and is about me and my journey.

Another person’s opinion is about them and where they are in their journey. It has nothing to do with me unless I allow it to or believe it to be true. It just is what it is, two opinions.

For example, in my personal journal the other day I wrote about beginning my journey into a life of being complaint free and what that meant for me. One of my readers had another opinion and said “sometimes complaining is necessary.”

Her opinion is right for her and my opinion is right for me. It just is what it is.

I happen to agree with my friend Jerry’s opinion that every one has an opinion. What I have come to realize recently is that sometimes I offer my opinion when it is not being asked for and this was an example of me not being impeccable with my word.

How many times do we offer our opinion when it is not asked for? What is the intent behind doing so? Sometimes it seems as if what people really need is for us to be present with our love. Sometimes our silent presence is exactly what they need. Sometimes we can ruin a powerful moment by our need to open our mouths and express our opinion.

(Columnists continue on page 24)

24 (Columnists continued from page 23) At least that is my opinion, for now, and I am sticking to it.

[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/ browse/opinion

What’s Bothering Brandon?

A Gay Majestic Plural

By Brandon W. Brooks As an Anglophile, I am constantly reading British news and in particular, news concerning royalty. I would like to think that my family’s ancestry could be traced back to the peerage, possibly an Earldom, but I doubt very much that the trail would lead to such a lofty position. I would probably find my great-great-great grandfather in a tavern (or worse) before I found him in a drawing room or parlor.

Besides vicariously living my life as if I were the heir apparent to a noble title, I try to remind myself that the rules of succession were most obviously not made with same-sex couples in mind. Biologically speaking, my child would have to posses the DNA of both the spouse to which I am married, and myself. In a same-sex relationship, this is currently a logistical impossibility.

Because of this, and since I am gay and open about it (damn right), I would probably be thought of as endangering the continuation of the title as I would not be able to produce a biological heir with my spouse. If I did have a female friend (let’s call her Beatrice) willing to donate an egg, or better yet a female friend who would agree to surrogacy, this still would not resolve the issue of an heir as I would certainly not be married to her, making this child illegitimate. If a cross-sex (the sexes aren’t “opposite”) third-party were indeed allowed to assist in the conception of an heir, would this third-party be given a title or position amongst the reigning pair? Furthermore, what would be the position or title of the spouse who is not giving over their sexcells to conceive an heir? Which spouse’s sex-cells would be chosen for the heir in the first place?

I ask myself this question for two reasons. The first of which is my obsession with the British hierarchy of nobility and

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013 all things British really (as noted above), while the second of which is my lingering desire to marry His Royal Highness Prince Henry/Harry.

In a different world where same-sex couples are allowed to wed (with all of its privileges and burdens) and I was groomed to marry Prince Harry, which one of us would donate our sex-cells to conceive an heir? I would immediately think that the donor of the sex-cells in the spousal pair would certainly be the person who comes directly from royalty (Prince Harry), leaving the other spouse (myself) with no biological ties to the child.

Moving on, who would be “selected” to provide the Royal Ovum, and what would this person’s future role be?

Technically, this third-party ovum donor would be the heir’s biological mother, but would she be given some sort of role in raising the child? Would she be recognized and observed as a member of The Royal Family? Most importantly, would I be a member of The Royal Family if the heir is not biologically related to me, despite being married to the child’s father?

So many questions, not enough letters patent.

I suppose what truly led me to ponder this bio-socio dilemma (besides my Anglophilic obsession with Prince Harry), was the Perth Agreement of 2011, or its more UK-specific counterpart, the Succession to the Crown Bill of 2012-2013.

Among the more highlighted changes this bill proposes (the most highlighted being that the first born of a monarch will be the heir apparent to the crown, regardless of the child’s gender), is one propositioned to account for the chance that future heirs to the throne (or monarchs for that matter) may be gay, lesbian or transgendered.

British Labor Party MP Paul Flynn has sought to accommodate for this very real possibility, by submitting an amendment that would allow the same-sex spouse of a monarch to be recognized as consort to the monarch. Furthermore, this amendment would allow the children of the same-sex spousal pair (born either of artificial insemination or surrogacy) to be recognized as heirs to the throne, providing that the same-sex pair is legally married or in a civil partnership (whatever).

At the current moment, children born to a monarch through artificial insemination or surrogacy are not legally rec-

ognized as heirs, regardless of whether or not the monarch is committed to a samesex marriage. It seems Flynn’s amendment would solve these confusing, and sometimes convoluted rules of succession in regard to LGBT monarchs and heirs.

If only things could be made so idyllic, so simply.

This amendment was most obviously not picked up along with the other, more accepted and celebrated proposed changes. An heir or monarch can marry a Catholic, do this without consent from the sovereign (provided that they are not one of the first six heirs in line to the throne already), and have their first child recognized as heiress, or heir, of all. But to be gay, transgendered or lesbian? Alas, a resounding “no” still echoes through the halls of Buckingham Palace, Balmoral and Kensington Palace.

I must admit, the thought of seeing two royal coronations within my own lifetime is quite exciting, be they gay,

lesbian, transgendered or just the runof-the-mill straight royal wedding. I will say, however, that if Billy and Kate have an LGBT child, I do hope that this might prompt some royal reconsideration. The world has simply fallen in love with the royal pair (I begrudgingly count myself among the globally heart-sick) and I hope that opponents and defenders of marriage equality alike might find consolation (and reason) in the event of a cute LGBT prince, or princess, coming into this world.

Royals are theoretically apolitical, but the sway of a public in love with the royal infant may help our case longitudinally. I trust in the future hearing our cries, but only if we work to make our cries heard, and loudly.

Most importantly, don’t forget to curtsy.

Questions, comments or critique?

Please feel free to e-mail the author at brandonbrooks@mail.adelphi.edu ■

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

Community Find the friends, fun, and common interests you’re looking for through the various groups listed here.

Dignity-Integrity D-I Rochester meets weekly at 5 p.m. at St. Luke’s and St. Simon’s Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St., corner of Broad St. We have the following services and activities for the month of April 2013.

First Sunday: Episcopal Mass/Healing Service, with music.

Second Sunday: Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Word, with music.

Third Sunday: Quiet Episcopal Mass in the Chapel.

Fourth Sunday: Evening Prayer, followed by a Potluck Supper.

Our potluck theme for April is Breakfast for Dinner or “Brinner”. Sounds like fun to me! Hopefully we’ll have lots of yummy breakfast foods to feast on that night. Consider sharing your favorite dish. No time to cook? Just ask a friend or two and join us for food and conversation!

You can call the Hotline at 585-2345092 or check our website for updates on services and activities.

join us on any traditional band instrument, at any skill level. Rehearsals start on Monday nights in early June. We also have room for banner carriers, twirlers, and flags.

The Flower City Pride Band is part of the international Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA). Through LGBA, Rochester LGBT musicians have performed around the world, most notably at both inaugural parades for President Obama. We have a short pep band/ marching season here in Rochester, and there is a world of opportunity through LGBA. Any musician supportive of the LGBT community is welcome to join. To find out more, visit our web site at www.flowercitypride.com or call Judy at 415-9563.

EMPIRE BEARS Spring. Bears and bees. Honey and maple syrup. Pancakes and waffles. Yum yum. Last month the bears ate pancakes with fresh syrup, saw some great movies, watched the RGMC sing, enjoyed “The Book of Mormon,” cooked, ate, played cards, and planned for summer.

Camping season is coming. Do you have reservations yet? Jones Pond and Hillside are booking. Oneida and The Point as well.

Summer is short. Up here in the north, we need to make the most of our short summer season. Gay camping is a great way to have fun, meet new friends, enjoy the outdoors, daytime sun and nighttime dancing. At Jones Pond, you don’t even need to bring food. The café is open all weekend. They have cabins to rent, even a house. Your weekend can be as rough or as urban as you like. The other campgrounds have similar amenities. Check them out this summer.

Every Wednesday evening at 6, the Bears meet at the Wintonaire for supper. Becky serves up meals, a joke, and attitude. Second Saturdays we’re at the GAGV Community Center at 6:30 having a potluck; anyone can come. Pop and paper provided. Cards and games afterwards. We’d love to meet you. Woof!

Flower City Pride Band As spring rolls around, the Flower City Pride Band gears up for another season of marching with pride! We perform at a number of community events each year, but the annual Pride Parade in Rochester is definitely the most fun!

Did you play an instrument in high school or college? If so, why not get that instrument out of the closet and join us for marching band? You are welcome to

MCC Pride Alliance The Pride Alliance at Monroe Community College is hosting an event, the “Love is Louder” Campaign, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 18 at the Atrium on the Brighton Campus of Monroe Community College.

Please come by on April 18 and tell us what love is louder than, to you.

And don’t forget the Day of Silence is April 19 at Tilt.

Rochester Rams M.C. Join us for Uniform Bar Night on Saturday, April 20. Nothing commands respect like a man in uniform, unless you’re on your knees, looking up as he is stripping one off.

Come on down and find the Sir you would like to salute all night long.

Remember this is barnight; leather, denim and boots never go out of style. All of our regular barnight features, like boot shine, coat check, and wall-to-wall hot men, will be available at this full-service event.

Our Can-Am 2013 is coming in May. This is a new Cam-Am format, so be sure to make a date for bar night (May 18) to meet the great brothers of the Ottawa Knights from Ontario Canada, as we celebrate Victoria Day weekend with old fashioned brotherhood at the Bachelor Forum.

The Rochester Rams M.C. is Rochester New York’s foremost gay motorcycle and leather club as well as being one of the oldest clubs of its type in the country. Our home bar is the Bachelor Forum, 670 University Ave., where we hold Bar Nights on the third Saturday of each month. We hold general meetings (open to the public) the Wednesday before each Bar Night at 7:30 p.m. at the Forum. For more info, visit our website: www.rochesterrams.com.

Rochester Trans Group GENDA, GENDA, GENDA! On Saturday, Feb. 23, we had the benefit of both Courtney Michie and Anne Tischer talking about GENDA (Gender

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Gay Alliance Youth Parent Boosters Cordially Invite You...

Wine Tasting on Saturday April 20 6:00 to 8:00 PM Wine Sense 749 Park Ave Come enjoy wines for spring A free raffle ticket with every $5 donation for A Wine Basket - Value $100 Proceeds to benefit the Big Gay Prom Expression Non-Discrimination Act).

Courtney is the Rochester organizer for the Empire State Pride Agenda, a political advocacy group that is working hard to get us our rights, and Anne Tischer is a famous activist who, with her partner Bess Watts, was instrumental and vital in getting marriage equality finally passed in New York.

We discussed the various concerns about getting GENDA passed this year, particularly in the New York Senate (which is where this bill gets hung up year after year after year after…!)

We also talked about going to Albany on Tuesday, April 30 for Equality & Justice Day, when we have the opportunity to talk to our legislators about our issues and that it’s past (way past) time to pass GENDA! To get us ready, Anne and Courtney had us do a mock legislative visit with Anne playing the part of Senator X (who will remain nameless!) She did an excellent job of recreating how this Senator would be in an actual visit and gave us some quite valuable insight (and some good laughs) on how to get our point across in a reasonable way, without being distracted or turning the Senator off with our request to pass the bill.

So this is not the time to be invisible; invisible people don’t get their rights! Log onto www.prideagenda.org/ejday and sign up to go to Albany. Even if you don’t want to say anything during the legislative visit, that’s fine -- your presence alone will help bolster and give weight to our request that they pass GENDA this year!

Our next meeting is on Saturday, April 27 at 3-5:30 p.m. We’ll have an open session to talk about whatever questions or concerns you might have. Come on, it’s almost Spring! Come out and find out you are not alone!

We meet in the Gay Alliance’s Community Center, located in the Auditorium Theatre, 875 E Main St., on the last Saturday of each month between 3-5:30 p.m.

Parking is available in the back of the theatre off of Prince St and College Ave. Note: if there is a guard at the booth, just say you’re here for the Gay Alliance and

they have instructions to let you in without paying the parking fee.

Our website is: www.rnytg.org or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ RochesterTransGroup.

ROMANS Romans (Rochester Male Naturists)’s April meeting and dinner will be on the 20th at 7 p.m. in the Rochester area.

The club will also be participating in nude swim and volleyball nights on Saturday, April 6. The venue for these has a large pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room, and exercise machines for participants to use This is our last winter swim till the fall.

Our membership has steadily increased over the last few months. Now is a great time to join Romans with the warm summer months almost here.

If this something you have always thought about trying you can check out the group’s website: www.wnyromans. com or telephone 585-281-4964. The Romans group has been hosting nude social events since 1991 and is open to all gay men age 21 and over.

Social T-Dance 140 Alex is graciously opening their upstairs dance floor for another Social Dance T-dance on Sunday afternoon, April 14, 4:30-7 p.m.

‘Tea Dance” just means the event takes place in the afternoon, during Tea Time. “Social Dancing” means couples touch and hold each other.

Join us for dancing to the music of Swing, Two-stepping and Country Waltz with maybe a Polka thrown in. Introductory lessons will be available at 4:30 p.m., with dancing from 5-7 p.m. No Cover.

Bring your sweetie, bring a friend or just come by yourself, because in gay social dancing we dance with many different people during the evening.

For more information, contact Thom at thomaso510@mac.com, especially if you are interested in learning some dance basic steps. ■

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

The Avenue Pub 37 Year Landmark in the Gay Community

The Avenue Pub 522 Monroe Avenue 585-244-4960

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

Arts & Entertainment

The Rainbow Theater Festival opens April 6 and runs through May 5.

Rainbow Theatre Festival stages three plays

By Susan Jordan Bread & Water Theatre will present three plays in this year’s Rainbow Theatre Festival, including 8 by Dustin Lance Black, depicting the Prop 8 trial, which resulted in defeat for California same sex couples wishing to marry.

The Supreme Court heard many of these arguments again last month as it began consideration of the overturn of this bill. The Court is expected to announce its decision in June, which makes this production very topical.

8 will be staged on April 6 and 8 at 8 p.m., and April 7 at 2 p.m., at 243 Rosedale St., off Monroe Ave., longtime home of Bread & Water.

The Fat Boy, by Tony Ayers, is a madcap comedy about a lonely gay boy looking for love. It runs April 12, 13, 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. and April 14 and 21 at 2 p.m.

Finally, No Word In Guyanese for Me,

by Hanna Jokhoe, a one-woman show, explores the struggle of a young woman who is Muslim, an immigrant, and a lesbian. It runs April 26 and 27 and May 3 and 4 at 8 p.m., and April 28 and May 5 at 2 p.m.

Bread & Water Theatre was founded in 2000, Artistic Director J.R. Teeter told The Empty Closet. He said, “The Rainbow Theatre Festival has existed for the last 13 years. It was founded by Nazareth College students, and Bread & Water Theatre picked it up. We were looking for new voices, new theatre productions. RTF was one of the new voices. We mostly choose plays written in the last 10 years or so. It’s very hard to put on a show that other people have done in the past. If it’s new and interesting, we want to do it.”

Teeter commented, “They did a reading of No Word in Guyanese For Me last year at JCC, during the National Holocaust Museum exhibit. The playwright actually contacted me. She had won some awards for the play and asked if we would be interested in doing it. It’s the kind of play that wouldn’t be picked up by Geva, for instance. The themes, like Muslim identity and sexuality, are ones we haven’t touched.

“The Fat Boy is by Tony Ayers. He is originally from China and was raised in Australia. One major thing about him is that most of his other work is in documentary films about his life. His parents died after the family moved to Australia, and he and his sister were both adopted. Whatever happened to him in his life, he was always the outsider, The Other – Chinese in Australia, adopted, gay. The main character in the play doesn’t fit in. It’s a comedy but there’s this touch of being the outsider in society that we really grabbed ahold of.

It’s a madcap comedy in the style of Benny Hill, and is brand new, written in 2012.”

As for 8, Teeter said, “We’re hitting it at just the right time. With this show we can demonstrate how powerful political art can

be. It’s in the news now and by the time the play is over, we may have a better idea of whether marriage will become legal in California. That will lead to another 40 or 49 cases all over the country. They’re also setting it up to be like The Vagina Monologues. There are college productions going on all over the country and it’s really bringing awareness of the issue.

“There will be talkbacks after each performance. The cast and crew will take part and we are trying to bring some other people in – hopefully different people at each talkback – a lawyer, a married couple, etc.” ■

Walker Jones is The Wizard in “Wicked”

By Susan Jordan Walker Jones will play “The Wizard” in the Rochester engagement of Wicked at the Auditorium Theatre, April 3-21. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, 800.745.3000 and the Box Office. Prices begin at $37.50.

Walker Jones has appeared in the NYC production of Scapin with Stanley Tucci (CSC), and in Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Daniel Sullivan, and The Merchant of Venice and Henry VI (NYSF).

In regional theatre, Walker has appeared in ACT (Dramalogue Award), Portland Stage, Yale Rep, NJ Shakespeare Theatre and Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre of D.C. Original cast album (with Stephanie J. Block): Broadway by the Year 1925 at NYC’s famed Town Hall.

As a musician, Walker Jones has been featured on over 20 albums. He was also in the film The Imposters. His training took place at Boston University and Yale School of Drama. www.walkerjones. us.com.

Recently Walker spoke with The Empty Closet about Wicked and many other things.

Wicked has been on Broadway and touring for years. Walker Jones commented on this particular production, “This is a really fabulous production of a theatrical phenomenon. If you’ve never seen Wicked before, you must finally jump in!

It is such a rich piece of theatre in so many ways. Intriguing plot, stunning direction and design, eloquent writing, exquisite music by Stephen Schwartz…. The cast for this production is truly ‘awesome’.

And I don’t use that word lightly here!

“Every member of this cast is so talented -- they are ALL giving astonishing performances. I’ve seen a few productions of Wicked now, and I finally ‘get it’ why people love it so much, and why they keep coming back. It is a brilliant piece of writing -- and each company of actors has its own unique approach and chemistry.”

It is challenging to play a character that people have been familiar with since

the 1930s. Walker commented, “Wizard absolutely believes that he is on a mission ‘for the good of all.’ I think he may also harbor a (not so secret) desire to be perceived as someone who has made a major contribution to his world. How he is viewed by others has been a big issue for him for his entire life. In Wicked, the Wizard of Oz is a larger than life political figure in the public’s mind... and in his own, too.

“Challenges that I’m experiencing, as I’m in the beginning phase of creating my own interpretation of the Wizard? Well, how to really make him my own, in service to this story -- while also recognizing that the original version of the Wizard, created by Frank Morgan in the 1939 film, is deeply imprinted into my psyche... my DNA even!

“When I was young, I lived for the annual presentation of the film on TV (even though it scared the stuffing out of me!) By the time I was in high school, I’d practically memorized the film. (I’d recorded it using my dad’s reel to reel tape recorder.) So it’s challenging (and very rewarding) to take that imprint -- recognize that it’s there -- and also let my own version emerge, according to the needs of this play.”

When asked when and how he decided on a career in the theatre, Walker says, “Ha! I remember the exact moment (in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia) when I decided that I wanted to make ‘theatre my life’! I was 12 years old. I was starring in a local production of ‘Pinocchio’ (as the puppet himself). It was a very big deal for me, because I was the only child actor in a company of adults -- and they loved what I was doing and who I was as a kid.

It was a musical, it was adventurous, and it was very interactive, as we performed it for large audiences of children.

“I got to play with the audience in really fun ways -- talking to them, teasing them, asking them what to do next. (‘Should I give the fox the money that Geppetto has given me for my school expenses?’ And the kids would shout ‘NOOOO!!!!’)

“It was huge fun. It was especially great to feel such a dynamic connection to the audience. (And, truth be told, it also felt great to be the center of attention, I admit it!) So one morning, as my mom was driving me to do a performance at one of the schools across town, I announced to her that I wanted to become an actor for my entire life.... There was a bit of silence for a moment, and then she said. ‘Well... there are a lot of funny people in that business...’! I could tell she wasn’t at all keen on the idea.

“She was very supportive to me in many ways during her lifetime, but at that moment, I could sense her fear and concern for me -- not just about the career part, but also about the lifestyle. To me, it felt like she was afraid that I’d be drawn into a life that included... ‘funny people’...

Translation: gay people. (Horrors!) And when she said that, I felt myself shut down a bit. It was one step along the way in my

27

Walker Jones

own journey towards self acceptance as a gay person -- even at the age of 12.”

Is Walker Jones a musician first and foremost, or an actor? Both are equally important to him. He says, “They are both avenues of self expression for me. I’ve trained more, I guess, as an actor. But I’ve had the good fortune to do both -- in lots of different ways. Theatre-wise, I’ve studied and performed Shakespeare, Chekov and Ibsen – as well as contemporary writers. And that is so satisfying, because it is such a rich adventure….

“For me, music is another wonderful way to explore and express who I am. I like to play music that is a synthesis of western and classical Indian music (raga based).

Kirtan (devotional music which originated in India) is a huge part of my life.

I also love to study and perform musical theatre and pop and jazz -- and all kinds of stuff. My dad was a trumpet player, so I grew up listening to great musicians like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Dorsey and Bunny Berrigan. I received a great music education just by listening to what was in my dad’s record collection.

“As a musician, I’ve done a bit of composing and recording. There’s a children’s book on CD that I wrote and performed music for, as well as narration. It’s called Tangerine: Life as a Bird, and I like it very much.

“And there’s one more way that music is very important to me. Some years ago, I began to develop a musical event for senior citizens. It’s a kind of music therapy. It puts them in touch with songs that they know -- and music that is ultimately nourishing and healing to their bodies, minds, hearts and souls.”

The actors who have inspired Walker the most include Derek Jacobi, Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks.

“Those are the names that come up off the top of my head for today,” he said.

“Really, so many. The list goes on and on.

“Musically and theatrically -- Judy and Barbra were there from the get go.

And then came Ella and Sarah Vaughn.

And then there’s Sting and Joni and Take ( Walker Jones continues page 28)

This month at Equal=Grounds Gallery: Joe Kerwin The Gallery @Equal=Grounds is pleased to present “Abstract Confessions,” artwork by Joe Kerwin.

Joe Kerwin is a man obsessed with making art. He thinks about it all the time. He doodles on the ends of papers, considers the possibilities of materials and how to use them, and looks forward to the time he is free to create.

Joe’s work, part graffiti and part painting, pushes boundaries, allowing him to create a visual symphony of color and texture.

The opening reception for “Abstract Confessions” is Friday, April 5, 7 – 9 p.m. at the Gallery @ Equal=Grounds, 750 South Avenue, Rochester 14620.

For more information, please contact Beth Bloom, Gallery Director, gallery@ equalgrounds.com, 561/676-1985. ■

28 (Walker Jones from page 27) 6, and, and... Adam Guettel and Billy Porter (a friend of mine who just opened on Broadway in Kinky Boots) and Donna Murphy and more and more.

“Thank you. It’s great to reflect about who really inspires me. The present Wicked cast is actually hugely inspiring to me!”

If Walker could choose his ideal role, it would be Hamlet. “I think just about anyone (man or woman) could jump into that character and go for the ride of his or her life. It’s also a role that I was reluctant to ever study or speak, because somehow I thought that I didn’t deserve to explore it. I wasn’t ‘leading man’ enough -- or tall enough -- or handsome enough. (And now, I’m not young enough!) But who cares? I think anyone should explore that role, if they want to.”

Walker commented, “I read your mission statement. (‘The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley is dedicated to cultivating a healthy, inclusive environment where individuals of all sexual orientations and gender expressions are safe, thriving, and enjoy full civil rights.’)

“I like Mission Statements. They have a way of focusing the energy. I think everyone wants to feel connected to a sense of purpose and mission in their work and in their lives. I know I do.... For me, our production of Wicked definitely feels connected to mission and purpose and it is very inspiring for me to see how it affects people in ways that are deeply nourishing, healing, and uplifting. Come and see for yourself!”

World’s largest gay club to open in Las Vegas Krave Massive, billing itself as the world’s largest gay club, opens in downtown Las Vegas on June 15, its owners announced in March.

The 80,000 square foot venue will occupy a large chunk of the currently moribund Neonopolis retail center on Fremont Street. Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman championed Krave Massive, seeing it as a lynchpin of downtown Las Vegas’s revitalization.

The new club will feature five themed dance rooms, video walls, “high output CO2 blasts,” three separate bars, a martini lounge, a VIP room, a gay comedy club, a performing arts theater, a retail store, a multi-purpose room, a dance lounge for lesbians, and Guest House theaters, “the country’s only LGBT movie theater,” which will feature gay-themed movies from Guest House films.

The owner of Krave Massive is Phantom Entertainment, which also owns Neonopolis’s Drink & Drag Lounge, GayLV Magazine, Boys Social Lounge, and the original Krave nightclub, now housed at the Rio Hotel and Casino. Phantom Entertainment, headed by gay businessman Kelly Murphy, also announced a partnership with Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project company for a minority stake in Phantom.

The company is also partnering with Caesars Entertainment, allowing Krave Massive club-goers to book “The Massive Package” at Caesars Palace or Flamingo Las Vegas. The “package” allows clubgoers hotel rooms, health club passes, free

Krave Massive.

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013 admission to Krave Massive, and shuttle service to and from the Caesars properties to the club.

“Krave has become a ‘must attend’ attraction for members of the LGBT community, both for locals and those visiting Las Vegas,” Richard Brower, director of LGBT marketing for Caesars Entertainment, said in a release. “Our commitment to our LGBT employees, guests, and neighbors is strong, including being the only casino company with a 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index for six years running.

We are delighted to partner with Krave to continue to bring exemplary LGBT entertainment experiences to Las Vegas.”

- The Advocate

SUNY Geneseo presents a dance celebration The SUNY Geneseo Department of Theatre and Dance presents the Geneseo Dance Ensemble in “Dancing Past to Present: Celebrating 45 Years.”

The performances will be April 18, 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. and April 21 at 2 p.m. in the Alice Austin Theatre, William A. Brodie Hall, State University of New York College at Geneseo. Tickets are $10, available at Student Association Ticket Office; http://bbo.geneseo.edu; (585) 245-5873.

The performances will feature alumni artists and current student artists performing in works by alumni, faculty, and guest artists. The reunion performance highlights Lobby Dances at 7:15 p.m.; Pre-Concert Dialogue with Alumni Artists at 7:30 p.m.; Slide History of 45 Years of Dance at 7:45 p.m.; and Post-Performance Dialogue with Alumni Artists.

The concert is artistically directed and produced by Professor of Dance Jonette Lancos.

The concert features solo performances by alumni artists Melanie Aceto ‘95, Dr. Mark Broomfield ‘94, Victoria Baeder Helmke ‘97, Alex MacDonald ‘08, and Joseph Roicki ‘02. Kylee Pike Fassler ‘04 restaged Falling on Five (Trip Beat) for current student artists, a work she created as an undergraduate in 2003, set to Dave Brubeck’s Take Five.

Guest artist in residence Jon Lehrer, artistic director of the Buffalo-based company LehrerDance, choreographed Murmur, based on the theory of quantum entanglement. Rochester-area professor Shahin Monshipour collaborated with Professor Lancos to create Persian Dances, also performed for Persian New Year festival at the Memorial Art Gallery on March 24.

Alumni artists join current student artists in choreographer Bill Evans’ lively tap piece Yes, Indeed! restaged by Kaitlin Keller ‘13. Evans, currently a Visiting Professor of Dance at SUNY Brockport, is a world-renowned dancer, choreographer, teacher, writer, lecturer, adjudicator, and consultant of movement theory.

Riddims, a work by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Mark Broomfield, PhD, MFA, explores the combination of West African movement vocabulary with Jamaican dancehall culture of roots reggae. Professor Lancos restages Pas de Quatre, a Romantic ballet from 1845 recreated

by Sir Anton Dolin in 1945 and her opti-

SUNY Geneseo presents “Dancing Past to Present.”

mistic Energy Fusion, originally created in 2008 to celebrate 40 Years of Dance.

In this concert, alumni spanning the years 1976 through 2012 appear in the work to commemorate 45 Years of Dance.

Dancing Past to Present: Celebrating 45 Years is directed by Professor Jonette Lancos with Dr. Mark Broomfield and student directors, Emily Andrews, Katy Gerber, Jennifer Levy and Felicia Vanacore. Rachel Prell is stage manager of the show, with student lighting designers Josh Karp, Kelsey Bendlin, and Rachel Prell, who are mentored by Associate Professor of Theatre, Johnnie Ferrell. Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Crystal Ferrell is coordinating and designing costumes.

Support for Dancing Past to Present is provided by generous donors to the Dance Studies Program through The Geneseo Foundation.

Beach reading: the hot new pulp genre is kickass “supe” heroines

By Susan Jordan It has become impossible to browse library or bookstore shelves without coming across multiple examples of the latest 21st century pulp genre: the “supe” (for supernatural) heroine. There are dozens of titles and they just keep coming. If you are looking for light reading for the beach this summer, these books can be fun.

The heroines may be witches, vampires, werewolves, half-fae, half-demons, half-sirens or you name it. They hang out, cast spells, have sex and/or engage in mortal combat with witches, wizards, vampires, werewolves, elementals, demons, maenads, dryads, ghosts, elves, fae, dragons, zombies, bonewalkers, pixies, mer-people, gargoyles, goblins, and the historic non-vampire undead (like pirate Jean Lafitte).

The genre is divided into the really kick-ass, out-there supe heroines, who usually wear black leather, and the more demure, femme-y Tea Shoppe witches, who have usually just discovered their occult powers and are trying to come to terms with them. The former tend to be bi or lesbian, or at least have LGBT sidekicks, while the latter are invariably heterosexual and have few or no gay buddies.

The kick-ass supe heroines are skilled in martial arts, and are warriors, psychic investigators, or bodyguards; one is even a semi-retired assassin. However, they all have high moral standards, defend the innocent, and do not take lives easily, unlike their evil opponents.

The Tea Shoppe witches usually stick to baking benevolently-magical cookies, selling sometimes-haunted vintage clothing, granting wishes and solving the latest supernatural murder mystery to come their way, much to the irritation of the police.

These stories tend to keep to a certain formula: the Tea Shoppe witches usually have two rival boyfriends, some of whom Just Don’t Understand, and all have cute animal familiars, such as a half-goblin halfgargoyle who changes into a pot bellied pig when non-magical folk are around.

Some kick-ass heroines also have cute critters, such as baby or teenage gargoyles.

Also like the femme-y witches, the kickass heroines are usually coming to terms with their unsuspected and remarkable super-powers. However, they are more likely to be using them to save the world (or the Human and Other Worlds) from crazed demons, evil gods or wizard cabals seeking Global Domination.

Standouts among the supe heroine novels are the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris (the last of which will be published May 7), the Other World series

by Yasmine Galenorn (one of the three D’Artigo sisters, her heroines, is a bi halffae vampire married to a lesbian werepanther) and the Hollows books by Kim Harrison. The latter feature Rachel Morgan, witch turned day-walking demon and supe investigator, who is business partners with her lesbian living vampire ex, Ivy, and Sykes, a six-inch-tall pixy with attitude.

Pulp though they are, most of these books are entertaining and the best are actually funny. It is interesting that the fastest-growing pulp genre of the new millennium creates a cosmos where women and queers wield powerful magic. What do our fantasies say about us?

Annotated reading list: kick-ass supes Adams, Cat. The Blood Singer novels. (“The Isis Collar,” “The Eldritch Conspiracy” etc.) Heroine: Celia Graves, half-siren princess and living, non-bloodsucking vampire. Tom Doherty Associates.

Armstrong, Kelley. Otherworld novels. (“13” is the final book). Heroine: Savannah Levine, demon/witch. Penguin/ Plume, Harper & Row/Voyager, Bantam.

Arthur, Keri. The Dark Angels novels (“Darkness Unbound” etc.) Heroine: Risa Jones, half werewolf, half Aedh. Bantom; Random House/Dell.

Banks, L. A. The Vampire Huntress Legends series (“The Awakening” etc.)

Heroine: Damali Richards, vampire huntress. St. Martins Paperback.

Barant, D.D. The Bloodhound Files series. (”Undead to the World” etc.) Heroine: Jace Valchek, occult investigator.

Briggs, Patricia. Alpha & Omega novels (“Fair Game” etc.) Heroine: Anna Latham, werewolf. Ace Books.

Carey, Jacqueline. “Dark Elements”.

Heroine: Daisy Johansen, half-demon Agent of Hel (the Norse goddess of the underworld.) New American Library.

Estep, Jennifer. The Spider series (“Widow’s Web” etc.) Heroine: Gin Blanco, witch, BBQ joint owner and semiretired assassin The Spider. Simon & Schuster.

Galenorn, Yasmine. The Other World novels (“Shadow Rising,” “Haunted Moon,” etc.) Heroines: The D’Artigo Sisters (Camille, witch/priestess of the Moon Mother, feline shapeshifter/Death Maiden Delilah and vampire Menolly – all half-fae). Penguin/Berkley.

Harkness, Deborah. “Shadow of Night,” “A Discovery of Witches”. Heroine: Diana Bishop Clairmont, time-travelling witch. Penguin/Viking.

Harris, Charlaine. The Sookie Stackhouse novels (“Deadlocked” etc.) Heroine: Sookie Stackhouse, part-fae telepathic barmaid in small Louisiana town. (Note: if you have only seen the cable TV series

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet “True Blood,” the novels are really different!) Ace Books.

Harrison, Kim. The Hollows novels (“Ever After,” etc.). Heroine: Rachel Morgan, witch turned day-walking demon.

Harper Collins.

Johnson, Suzanne. “Royal Street” and “River Road.” Heroine: Drusilla (DJ) Jaco, Sentinel wizard of New Orleans.

(Note: “Royal Street” is a nice evocation of olden NOLA, but the author’s take on the Vodun loa is sadly ignorant and racist.) Tom Doherty Assoc.

Kenyon, Sherilyn and Dianna Love.

The Belador novels (“The Curse” etc.)

Heroine: Evalle Kincaid, Belador Alterant. Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books.

Lima, Maria. The Blood Line novels (“Blood Sacrifice,” etc.) Heroine: Keira Kelly, sup clan heiress. Simon & Schuster/ Pocket Books.

Painter, Kristen. House of Comarre novels (“Blood Rights,” Bad Blood,” etc.)

Heroine: Chrysabelle LaPointe, commarre. Orbit.

Priest, Cheri. “Bloodshot,” Hellbend” etc. Heroine: Raylene Pendle, vampireand professional thief. Random House/ Spectra Tea Shoppe witches Adams, Ellery. Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries (“Peach Pies and Alibis” etc.)

Heroine: Ella Mae LeFae, magical baker.

Penguin/Berkley.

Blackwell, Juliet. The Witchcraft Mystery novels (“In A Witch’s Wardrobe,” “Cast Off Coven,” etc.) Heroine: Lily Ivory, witch. Penguin/Obsidian.

Blake, Heather. The Wishcraft Mystery novels (“It Takes A Witch”). Heroine: Darcy Merriweather, wish-crafter witch in Salem, Mass. Penguin/Obsidian.

Cates, Bailey. The Magical Bakery novels (“Bewitched, Bothered and Biscotti,” etc.) Heroine: Katie Lightfoot, catalyst witch. Penguin/New American Library.

Jerome, Celia. The Willow Tate novels (“Sand Witches in the Hamptons”).

Heroine: Willow Tate, visualizer witch.

Daw Books. ■

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Travel Providence Pride

By Merle Exit Rhode Island has yet to recognize same sex marriages and you won’t find a “gayborhood” in Providence. What you will find is Gay Pride, where gays and lesbians are free to be themselves.

Arriving in Providence I checked into the (Damron listed) Hotel Providence, located in the downtown area at 139 Mathewson Street. Artsy hotel… bookwise. My room was called the Herman Melville Suite. Very friendly looking lobby and staff as well as really comfy room.

I cannot resist going to a zoo. I just love animals and wish that I could pet each one. Off to the Roger Williams Park Zoo. The zoo is located in a 40-acre park and houses over 100 species of rare and fascinating animals. They had some unusual species such as the Audad, Green Aracari, African Wild Dog, Chilean Flamingos, wombats and wallabies. Take advantage of the educational programs while you’re there. The best part for me was when I was able to pet a baby wallaby…not a “public” opportunity.

When it comes to art, the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design (referred to as “Ris-D”) is the place to go and in the downtown area. I viewed a gallery with your typical old flavor paintings as well as sculptures and designs by students and alumni, both the conservative and the unusual.

Each restaurant that I chose had a specialty. Local 121, (Damron listed) located at 121 Washington Street, in the downtown area, was all about seasonal, regional, organic, sustainable cuisine and building relationships with local farmers.

I enjoy dining at restaurants that promote

A cuddly wallaby at Providence zoo.

“farm to table”.

Providence is well-known for food and as the location of the Culinary Arts Institute. They do not have a restaurant, so visitors will have to settle for the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson and Wales University outside of the downtown area.

There is a huge emphasis on the Diner and instruments used for cooking as well as two areas just for kids. Diners are one of the major exhibits.

So now I’m in Federal Hill, the Italian section of Providence and having lunch at Mediterraneo Caffe at 134 Atwell Avenue, the main strip. I checked out a huge Italian market called Venda Ravioli. Authentic Italian imported foods, café area, and a quick lesson on reading labels. Did you know that Nutella imported from Italy does not contain palm oil nor come in a plastic jar?

There’s nothing like the smell of baking, especially at the nearly 100-yearold Scialo Brothers Bakery. The pastries, made the old fashioned way and passed on to generations, tasted more like the ones I have had when I was in Naples, Italy. I sampled Sfogliatella, a cannoli, and a slice of cassata cake, which has a combo of cannoli cream inside and almond paste as the topping.

Blaze was my final food stop. It is a lesbian-owned and operated restaurant with an eclectic cuisine. Chris Edmonds, general manager/owner, is in the front of the house while Phyllis Arfa, chef/owner, heads the kitchen. The restaurant, located at 776 Hope Street in the East End of Providence, appears to be an “in” place to all.

For further information on Providence, go to www.GoProvidence. ■

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Gay alliance news for april 2013

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

Michael Lill. Photo: Susan Jordan

Volunteer of the Month: Michael Lill Congratulations to Michael Lill for being chosen as the Gay Alliance Volunteer-of-the-Month.

Most days Michael can be found supporting local clients with their accounting needs through his successful business, The Christopher Group. But every Wednesday, since September 2012, Michael steps into a whole other world which is much less ordered and quiet, at the Gay Alliance Youth Program In addition to his general volunteer duties in the Center, Michael is cofacilitator of our Out Loud, Out Proud Youth Leadership Program (together with Heather Fields). With incredible patience, support and guidance, Michael has helped to build this wonderful program. We couldn’t be more thrilled with Michael’s ability to role model leadership and commitment to our youth!

As if Michael wasn’t doing enough already, at the start of 2013, Michael stepped in to fill the role of Rochester Pride Co-Chair, together with Steve Santacroce. Through weekly Pride meetings, Pride sub-committee meetings and individual research, Michael has donated countless hours to ensure that Rochester Pride 2013 rocks!

A huge thank you goes out to Michael from the Gay Alliance staff and board for your commitment, time and hard work!

Youth pancake breakfast raises over $600

By Susan Jordan The Youth Group’s fundraising pancake breakfast on March 17 raised $608, which will be donated to the Ali Forney shelter for homeless LGBT youth in Manhattan, which was devastated by Hurricane Sandy in October.

Intergenerational Program Director Kelly Clark said, “We had a full house and raised $608. We’d like to thank the community for helping us reach our goal!”

She said that the event was organized entirely by youth and was a learning experience for them. “They learned a lot – how to make SMART goals. That stands for Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timebound goals. When you evaluate, you have to know what you’re asking in order to succeed. They learned how to set price points, like how much do we ask for tickets and is that realistic for the product received.

“The youth had to think through all the pieces, like do we use lower-cost, more easily prepared bacon instead of sausage.

We also served scrambled eggs and pancake toppings like strawberries, syrup, cinnamon apples, bananas, etc. Ten or 12 youth were involved in the two-month planning process, and six youth did the cooking and serving on the 17th. In short, they learned how to plan and execute an event. A number of people asked us to do this again!”

Kelly added, “The youth were completely exhausted by the time they were done! I told them that was part of the point – just putting a donation jar in Equal=Grounds would have been easy, but they wouldn’t have learned anything.

I thought it was important for them to feel a little pain! They didn’t eat either until the end of the day. Then there was clean-up! But some of the guys from the MOCHA Center came over to help with that.”

The Ali Forney Center will use the money to help create a 24-hour drop in center. The pre-Sandy Center closed for the night, but now that they are building a new center, they want one that will stay open all night and not turn youth away, Kelly said.

Coming up for the Youth Group in April: the Day of Silence (see page 1) and the college tours to University of Rochester, Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua and Genesee Community College in Batavia.

In May, Prom prep will be the big activity; the Prom takes place on June 1. “The theme is Alice in Wonderland,” Kelly said, “and we would love to have some creative members of the community help us with the decorations. Anyone who has arts and crafts or theatre set design skills should shoot me an email at kellyc@ gayalliance.org. For instance, we would like to have large and small props to go with the theme of Alice growing larger or shrinking when she eats the mushroom!”

A wine-tasting at Wine Sense, 749 Park Ave. on April 20, 8-6 p.m. will benefit the Prom.

JUST US GUYS: Howard Green and Rich Schroedel of Just Us Guys (formerly Atlantic 5-0), the men’s group which has now closed, present a donation of $300 for The Empty Closet to Gay Alliance Business Manager Joanne Giuffrida. Thanks to the group for sharing so generously! Photo: Susan Jordan

4 of the Genesee Valley

Empowering pride for 40 years

Ride For Pride 4: We Put The Ride In Pride!

By Jeanne Gainsburg Ride For Pride, the Gay Alliance bike ride fundraiser, came to life one evening in 2010 when two friends were hanging out and griping about wanting to get in shape and make their efforts count for something.

A bike ride fundraiser was agreed upon, and the organization they chose to support was the Gay Alliance. Of the 18 bikers who took part in the first Ride For Pride, 17 of them were straight, cisgender allies.

Ride For Pride 2013 will take place on Saturday, June 15 and will feature a 50-mile loop road ride. Forty riders will bike and bring in a minimum of $100 in donations per rider. All of the money donated goes to the Gay Alliance (minus a small percentage that Firstgiving charges to process your credit card, which they give you the option of covering). Last year our 32 riders brought in $12,000 for the Gay Alliance!

If you would like to support one of our dedicated riders, please go to our website at http://www.gayalliance.org/events/rideforpride.html and click on the rider’s name. You will be redirected to their secure donation page at FirstGiving, then follow the simple instructions.

If you would rather not donate online, you can send the name of the rider you would like to support along with a check made out to the Gay Alliance to: Gay Alliance, 875 East Main St., Suite 500, Rochester, NY 14605.

Your support at any level is appreciated by so many.

Thank you to Roger Levy of Freewheelers Bicycle Shop for sponsoring Ride For Pride for the third year in a row! Freewheelers is devoted to alternative transportation. All buyers of new bikes receive free tune-ups for LIFE! This is one of the last one-person bike shops. Please take time to visit Freewheelers Bike Shop on Mt. Hope Ave. and thank Roger for his continued support!

Also thank you to Amiel’s Original Submarines for donating lunch for all of our riders and support crew for the second year in a row! Please consider Amiel’s in Henrietta or Victor when you are in the mood for a delicious submarine sandwich.

Gay Alliance Trainings, Tablings and Speaking Engagements for March 2013 3/1......... Transgender Issues in Healthcare at the University of Rochester Transgender Healthcare Conference 3/6......... Health and Wellness Fair in Rush Henrietta 3/9......... SafeZone Training at the Rochester Kink Society 3/11........ LGBT Issues in Healthcare at AIDS Center Clinic at URMC 3/12........ LGBT Issues in Social Work at the Greater Rochester Collaborative MSW Program 3/16....... Intergenerational Panel at the Gay Alliance 3/19....... LGBT Youth Issues at the NY State Recreation & Parks Society Annual Conference & Business Expo 3/19....... Advanced SafeZone Training at Nazareth College 3/20....... LGBT Issues in Counseling at the Mental Health Coalition 3/22....... SpeakOUT Training at the Gay Alliance 3/23....... SpeakOUT Training at the Gay Alliance 3/26....... Health and Wellness Fair at Nazareth College 3/27....... LGBT 101 at Project Search 3/27....... Transgender Issues For Professionals at Leadership Genesee Comments of the month “I am just so grateful that these men and women came to speak to us. I have learned so much.”

“Transpeople are just normal people, born a gender they do not identify with, which I never realized. I thought the presentation was perfect.”

“GREAT! Wish more could be exposed to this.”

“I knew very little and I learned so much.”

The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley: is a non-profit agency, dedicated to cultivating a healthy, inclusive environment where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are safe, thriving and enjoying equal rights. We are a coalition of individuals and groups working to empower LGBT people, to affirm their identities, and to create an atmosphere where the diversity of our community can thrive both collectively and separately.

We educate and advocate for civil rights for all and for the eradication of homophobia. 875 East Main Street, Rochester, New York 14605 Phone: (585) 244-8640 Fax: (585) 244-8246 Web: www.gayalliance.org E-mail: Info@gayalliance.org Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm Board Co-Presidents: Emily Jones, Bruce Gorman Education and Outreach Director: Scott Fearing Business Manager: Joanne Giuffrida Director of Intergenerational Programs: Kelly Clark Outreach: Jeanne Gainsburg The Empty Closet: Editor: Susan Jordan Graphic Designer: Jim Anderson E-mail: susanj@gayalliance.org Phone: (585) 244-9030 Fax: (585) 244-8246 Advertising: (585) 244-9030

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

Gay alliance news for april 2013

D SAGE GAR

on

PAGE

The Gay Alliance On-Line Resource Directory (GARD)

The online community tool providing local, statewide and national resources, 24/7 at: www.GayAlliance.org

Anne Tischer shuffles and deals at Rainbow SAGE Game Day in March.

Lollipop Farm Pet Therapy Visit

The Gay Alliance Library & Archives has internet access available during library hours: Tuesday 1-3pm and Wednesday: 6-8pm.

The computers are part of our David Bohnett Cyber Center.

Youth Gay Alliance Youth Program The Gay Alliance Youth program empowers today’s teens to meet today’s challenges! It provides a safe space to explore their identity, make friends, build community, gain life skills, become a leader and have fun!

Wed./Thurs.: 3:30-7:30pm Fridays: 7-9pm Coming Out/Being Out Support Group Thursdays 6:30-7:30pm (13-18 yrs old) Gender Identity Support Group Thursdays 6:30-7:30pm (13-18 yrs old) Gay Alliance Community Center Auditorium Theater Bldg, 875 E. Main Street, 1st Floor Rochester, New York 14605 Phone: 585 244-8640 Check out our weekly programs descriptions and special events: www.gayalliance.org/events/youth

On Tuesday, April 23 at 1 p.m., Lollipop Farm will be bringing in registered therapy animals to The Center. The Pet Assisted Therapy (PAT) Program of Lollipop Farm has been serving members of our community in a unique and meaningful way for over 20 years. Their volunteers and their therapy animals provide comfort, motivation, inspiration, compassion, affection, and joy to people of all ages and backgrounds. During the visit attendees will have the opportunity to hold, pet, brush, walk or just enjoy quiet companionship with the animals.

Calling All Rainbow SAGE Leaders

When planning activities for The Center, there is no better way to get input on what you all want to see in terms of programming than directly from you! In April, we will have a time and date for everyone interested to meet and discuss programming including what speakers you may want to have present, activities you would like to engage in and so on.

As requested there will be an agenda each meeting to ensure the topic is clear and followed. There will be more in regards to this in the weeks ahead so stay tuned.

Our Winter Consolidation is Almost Over!

After our consolidation for the winter months, Monday programming for seniors in the Gay Alli-

ance Community Center will start up again in May. Of course we will continue to offer affordable lunches and free programming on Tuesdays.

Our additional Monday hours come just in time for spring adventures, the day trips we’ve been talking about and maybe even an overnight trip! So be sure to check out the May EC for Tuesday and Monday programming.

Are You Looking for Work?

Some of our SAGE sister affiliates around the country offer job readiness training for members who are looking for work. Members may have been laid off or may have even retired and gotten bored! Programs range from resume updating and computer skills training to interview practice and job placement.

We’d like to gauge the need for job search support here in Rochester. If you or someone you know is over 50 years old and would like support in looking for work, please send a short note to SAGE@gayalliance.org and let us know what kind of support you need. Be sure to use JOB SEARCH in the subject line!

Yoga Anyone?

We have approached Thomas Somerville, who is certified as a Senior Yoga Instructor (able to teach older adults), to come to the Center beginning in May to offer a weekly yoga class. The class would be about 35 minutes long, with moves that can be done from the floor as well as in a chair. There may be a small fee of no more than $3 each week.

Rainbow SAGE at The Center

April Calendar

The Center is open for adults 50+ Tuesdays 11:30am-3pm.

Hot lunch $3. Internet access, billiards. Library open 1-3pm.

April 2: Scrabble /Open Games, 1pm April 9: Open Arms hosts Candy Making, 1pm April 16: Movie: Fried Green Tomatoes, 1pm (Hours extended to 3:30pm) April 23: Lollipop Farm: Pet Therapy Visit 1pm April 30: Rainbow SAGE Appreciation Day 1pm

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Decisions on day and time have not yet been finalized. Be sure to look for more information in the May EC and at The Center!

Rainbow Euchre Club is back!

By Ginny Dekin Attention, Rainbow SAGE euchre players! On Sunday, April 7 euchre will resume at 3 p.m.

The place is the same: SWPC building, corner of Mt. Hope and Hamilton St. Tell your friends all are welcome. Bring snacks and nonalcoholic drinks if you wish.

Barb Bonin is our new chairperson. Contact her at bbbogeybear@aol.com if you plan to attend.

(Knowing how many people will attend makes setting up easier.)

Don’t know how to play euchre?

We’ll teach you! Free lessons!

So put on your card-playing hat and have some fun socializing, and meet new friends! See you Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m.

Open Arms has a Sweet Tooth This Month

Open Arms MCC will be joining us in The Center April 9 for some candy making fun! We will gather for lunch at noon, then directly following we will learn how to make some simple and delicious CANDY! Some options will be Butterfinger truffles, Oreo truffles and peppermint bark. This is sure to be a fun time you will not want to miss! See you there, in The Center!

Luck of the Irish

Céad mile fáilte! As translated in English this means a hundred thousand welcomes and we mean just that for the Irish Dancers who will be performing in The Center April 2 at 1:30 p.m.

In between dances there will be a presenter who will speak on the traditions of Irish Dance, as well as go over the different steps as the dancers demonstrate. The program will run about an hour and will follow lunch, so invite your fellow lasses and lads and let’s get into the Irish spirit. Hope to see you there, slainté! ■

April Puzzle Some words can be used as both nouns and adjectives. In this teaser, you will be given a definition. That definition can be replaced by a single word that is used twice, once as an adjective, the other as a noun. For example: “a 12-inch podiatrist specialty” is a “foot foot”. Given the following four definitions, what are the corresponding doublets?

A A A A

current gift secure bank vault short formal statement fragile supply ship

Name: Drop off in Center by 4/30/13 to enter for your chance to WIN!

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

Resources Check our monthly and ongoing calendar as well as the community section for more groups and events. For further information, call the Gay Alliance at 244-8640 or visit: www.gayalliance.org. And send us your information.

BISEXUALITY resources

AMBI Los Angeles; American Institute of Bisexuality (Journal of Bisexuality); Bay Area Bisexual Network; Bi Café; Bi Definition: Milwaukee; BiNet USA; Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP); Biversity Boston; Boston Bisexual Women’s Network; ComBIne - Columbus, Ohio; Dallas/ Fort Worth Bi Net; Fenway Health’s Bi Health Program; Los Angeles Bi Task Force; New York Area Bisexual Network; Robyn Ochs’s site; Seattle Bisexual Women’s Network; The Bi Writers Association; The Bisexual Resource Center (email brc@biresource.net)

CULTURAL

Rochester Women’s Community Chorus 234-4441. (See Ongoing calendar).

Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus www.thergmc.org

deaf services

Advocacy for Abused Deaf Victims Mailing address: c/o ASADV, P.O. Box 20023, Rochester, NY 14602. 24-Hour Hotline: ASADVhope@gmail.com; VP: 866-936-8976; TTY/ FAX : 585-232-2854.

Lilac Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf (LRAD) Meets second Saturdays, 6-9pm. For location, information: rcoaster@rochester.rr.com Spectrum LGBTIQ & Straight Alliance RIT/NTID student group. <SpectrumComment@groups.facebook.com

Elders

Gay Alliance Rainbow Sage Senior Center Tues 11am-3pm, 875 E. Main St. first floor, 244-8640; kellyc@ gayalliance.org

family

CNY Fertility Center Integrative Fertility Care. Support meetings, webinars, workshops. Information: cbriel@cnyfertility.com; www.cnyhealingarts.com Rochester Gay Moms’ Group Support group for lesbian mommies and wannabe mommies in Rochester and surrounding areas. Subscribe: RochesterGayMoms-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Lesbian & Gay Family Building Project Headquartered in Binghamton and with a presence throughout Upstate NY, the Project is dedicated to helping LGBTQ people achieve their goals of building and sustaining healthy families. Claudia Stallman, Project Director, 124 Front St., Binghamton, NY 13905; 607-7244308; e-mail: LesGayFamBldg@aol.com. Web: www.PrideAndJoyFamilies.org.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) PFLAG’s threefold mission: supporting parents and family members in coming out process; educating the community; advocating on behalf of LGBT family members. Regular meetings: Third Sunday of the month, Open Arms MCC, 740 Marshall Rd. 14624. 1-3pm. PFLAG@ gagv.us; 585-244-8640 x27.

Adoptive Parent Support Group Monthly potluck lunches. For information, location, call Shari, 350-2529.

Angel Food Ministry Box of fresh/frozen food for $30 in advance.

Menu changes monthly. For information and distribution sites, call 585 861-4815.

HIV/AIDS Free testing for HIV exposure is available from New York State Department of Health: call Rochester Area Regional Hotline at (585) 423-8081, or 1 800 962-5063 for pay phones or calls outside Rochester. Deaf or hearing impaired people should call (585) 4238120 (TDD.) New Rapid HIV Testing now available in 30-40 minutes! Statewide information can be obtained by calling 1 800 541-AIDS. Other organizations which provide AIDS-related services are as follows:

AIDS Care AIDS Care is the leading provider of HIV/AIDS services in Rochester and the Finger Lakes.

On-site services include HIV testing and limited STD screenings, Primary and HIV Specialty Medical Care, Pharmacy, and many more. AIDS Care satellite offices in Geneva and Bath. AIDS Care is also a leader in providing services and education to members of the LGBT community.

Contact Information: Website: www.acRochester.org. Main Office: 259 Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY 14607; Main Phone: 585-545-7200, Health Services After Hours: 585-258-3363; Case Management After Hours (Lifeline): 585275-5151; Fax: 585-244-6456. Finger Lakes Office: 605 W. Washington St., Geneva, NY 14456, 315-781-6303. Southern Tier Office: 122 Liberty St. Box 624, Bath, NY 14810 607776-9166. The Health Outreach Project: 416 Central Ave., Rochester, NY 14605; 585-4545556.

Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley Referrals to physicians and service agencies.

(585) 244-8640; www.gayalliance.org.

Victory Alliance University of Rochester Medical Center. One of several research sites worldwide that comprise the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Rochester site conducts research vaccine studies sponsored

by National Institutes of Health (NIH). 585-7562329; www.vaccineunit.org.

Threshold At The Community Place, 145 Parsells Ave., third floor, 585-454-7530. Provides confidential HIV, STD testing and General Health Care, ages 12-25. Sliding fee scale, no one denied, most insurances accepted. Mon., Wed., Fri. 9am-5pm; Tues., Thurs., 9am-7pm; Sat. 10am-2pm. www.ThresholdCenter.org Center for Health and Behavioral Training of Monroe County 853 Main St., Rochester 14611. Collaboration of Monroe County Health Department and U.R. Provides year-round training in prevention and management of STDs, HIV, TB and related issues, such as domestic violence and case management. (585)753-5382 v/tty.

Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/ Syracuse Region 114 University Ave., Rochester, NY 14605; Tollfree Helpline: 1 866 600-6886. Offers confidential HIV testing and information. When you make your appointment, be sure to ask about our sliding scale fees. No one is turned away for lack of ability to pay.

Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS A collection of agencies providing a multiplicity of resources and services to the upstate New York community. Their offices are located through the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, which also provides medical literature and newspaper clippings, as well as demographic and statistical data for use in developing health care services. (585) 461-3520.

MOCHA Center of Rochester Our mission is to improve health and wellness in communities of color through intervention and service, with emphasis on LGBTQ programming. Youth drop-in center, HIV testing, peer education, support groups, computer lab, referral services and more. 107 Liberty Pole Way (corner of Pleasant). (585) 420-1400.

Monroe County Health Department at 855 W. Main St., offers testing and counseling for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. (585) 753-5481.

Strong Memorial Hospital provides a complete range of HIV medical care, including access to experimental treatment protocols, and HIV testing. Also provides individual and group psychotherapy. Training of health care professionals also available. Infectious Disease Clinic, (585) 275-0526. Department of Psychiatry, (585) 275-3379. AIDS Training Project, (585) 275-5693.

Planned Parenthood of Rochester and Genesee Valley Offers testing and information (585) 546 2595.

Rural HIV testing Anonymous and confidential, in Allegany, Livingston, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne or Yates Counties, call 1 800 9625063.

Action Front Center (Action for a Better Community.) Provides HIV prevention education and case management services. Training and technical assistance to service providers. Resource library open to public. All services free and confidential. Multicultural and bilingual staff. 33 Chestnut St., second floor. Hours 8:30-5pm, Monday-Friday.

262-4330; fax 262-4572. Free anonymous HIV testing on walk-in basis, Tuesdays, Wednesdays 1-4pm, provided through NYSDOH. Thursdays 1-4pm at Aenon Baptist Church, 175 Genesee St. Anthony L. Jordan Health Center, Prevention and Primary Care.

Provides Medical Case Management, Mental Health, Primary Care, HIV Counseling and Testing (using rapid testing) Hepatitis C rapid testing and services, Educational Presentations, and access to other Jordan Services. Prevention and Primary Care is a walk-in program; no appointment necessary. Office Hours are Monday thru Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call (585) 423-2872; fax (585) 423-2876. Website www.jordanhealth.org. For more information, call the Program Manager Charlie Lytle,(585) 423-2872.

CDC National STD and AIDS Hotline 1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) 24 hours a day. TTY service: 1-888-232-6348. E-mail address: cdcinfo@cdc.gov.

Fair Housing Enforcement Project of Monroe County 585-325-2500; 1-800-669-9777. Deals with housing discrimination on basis of race, orientation, HIV status, etc.

Public Interest Law Office of Rochester 80 St. Paul St., Suite 701. Free legal services to HIV positive persons, families. Spanish bilingual advocates available. All civil cases except divorce; no criminal cases. Ask to speak to someone in PILOR. 454-4060.

Evergreen Health Services, Buffalo Primary care, HIV and family care, HIV testing and counseling. (716) 847-0328 Westside Health Services Brown Square Health Center, 175 Lyell Ave. (254-6480); Woodward health Center, 480 Genesee St. (436-3040). HIV/AIDS services, support, more.

McCree McCuller Wellness Center at Unity Health’s Connection Clinic (585) 368-3200, 89 Genesee St., Bishop Kearney Bldg., 3rd floor. Full range of services, regardless of ability to pay. Caring, confidential and convenient.

Catholic Charities AIDS Services A multicultural and bi-lingual staff providing services to a diversity of people infected and affected with HIV. Coordinates HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS) short term emergency assistance with rent/mortgage/utility payments and limited subsidized housing. 1945 E. Ridge Rd., Suite 24, Rochester NY 14622. (585) 339-9800.

Huther Doyle 360 East Ave., Rochester 14604. Offers drug, alcohol prevention, education, treatment. Risk Reduction Plus Team offers services to HIV positive and those at risk through substance use. Programs include outreach, transitional case management, free cconfidential testing (OraQuick Rapid Testing). NYS Dep’t. of Health offers free on-site confidential and anonymous testing. (585)325-5100, M-F 8am-9pm, www. hutherdoyle.com.

Geneva Community Health 601 W. Washington St., Geneva. Provides HIV testing, HIV specialty and primary care for residents of Ontario and surrounding counties.

Mon.-Thurs. 9am-5pm; Fridays 9am-noon.

315-781-8448.

lgbt health

For a list of LGBT-friendly and competent health and human service providers in the Rochester and Finger Lakes area, visit the resource directory page(s) at www.everybodysgood.com.

Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley See www.gayalliance.org Resource Directory under “Health” for Gay Alliance referrals to physicians and service agencies.

TRANSGENDER

Rochester Trans Group Social/educational group for gender variant people and friends. Last Saturday, 3-5pm, GAGV Youth Center, first floor, 875 E. Main St. 244-8640. www.rnytg.org Gay Alliance Youth Gender Identity Thursdays, 6:30-7:30pm, Gay Alliance Community Center, 875 E. Main St. first floor.

Ages 13-18. 244-8640; kellyc@gayalliance.org

Genesee Valley Gender Variants Thurs. 7-9pm, Equal Grounds, 750 South Ave. GVGenderVariants@yahoogroups.com Transgender online: Transenough.com; www.endtransdiscrimination.org; genderfork.com; www.transgendercare.com; International Foundation for Gender Education Gender Education and Advocacy http://www.gender.org/; FTM Information Network http://www.ftminfo.net/; Transgender at Work http://www.tgender.net; PFLAG Transgender Network http://community.pflag.org/ page.aspx?pid=380; TransActive http://www. transactiveonline.org; The Transitional Male http://www.thetransitionalmale.com/; National Center for Transgender Equality http://transequality.org/; New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy http://www.nyagra.com/; Transgender Aging Network http://forge-forward.org/aging/; Transgender Law Center http://transgenderlawcenter.org; Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund http://transgenderlegal.org/; The Self Made Men http:// theselfmademen.webs.com/ (please send us your favorite sites/groups) Guys Night Out Social group for transmen. Third Saturdays, 1pm, Equal Grounds, 750 South Ave. tguysnightout@gmail.com

Women’s health

Highland Hospital Breast Imaging Center 500 Red Creek Drive, Rochester 14623; 585487-3300. Specializing in breast health, diagnostic breast imaging and treatment and mammography outreach and education.

Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester 840 University Ave.; 585-473-8177; www. bccr.org; email: info@bccr.org. Breast Cancer Coalition provides support services that include programs designed to help those coping with a recent breast cancer diagnosis and those coping with an advanced breast cancer diagnosis, such as the Advanced Breast Cancer Support Group to support women living with metastatic breast cancer. Information about breast cancer, lending library, a monthly educational program.

All BCCR programs, support services free.

Monroe County Women’s Health Partnership 111 Westfall Rd., Rochester NY 14692; (585) 274-6978. Comprehensive breast cancer screening services for uninsured and underinsured women.

Elizabeth Wende Breast Clinic 170 Sawgrass Drive. 442-8432. Dr. Wende Logan-Young and an all-woman staff provide mammograms.

Self Help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer (SHARE) 1-866-53SHARE or 1-866-537-4273.

Alternatives for Battered Women 232-7353; TTY 232-1741. Shelter (women only), counseling. Lesbians, gay men welcome.

GAGV Anti Violence Referrals 585-244-8640 ext 19. For women and men.

Victim Resource Center of Wayne County Newark N.Y. Hotline 800-456-1172; office (315)331-1171; fax (315)331-1189.

Mary Magdalene House Women’s outreach center for HIV positive women and women at risk. 291 Lyell Ave. Open Mon-Fri. 6:30-9:30pm 458-5728.

Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/ Syracuse Region 114 University Ave., Rochester, NY 14605; Tollfree Helpline: 1-866-600-6886. Planned Parenthood has led the way in providing high quality, affordable reproductive health care since 1916. All services are confidential. Accept most insurances; including Medicaid. You may qualify for low- to no-cost family planning services. When you make your appointment, ask about our sliding scale fees. No one turned away for lack of ability to pay.

Women’s Resource Center YWCA, 175 N. Clinton Ave. 546-7740.

Do Good Work Make Good Money The Gay Alliance is seeking a reliable, energetic selfstarter to sell Empty Closet advertising for a generous commission. For more information, phone Susan Jordan at 244-9030 or e-mail: susanj@gayalliance.org

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

33

Ongoing Calendar Monday

L.O.R.A. – Late Bloomers Group Meets Weekly on Mondays 7pm – 9:30pm.

Coming out group for women of all ages and backgrounds. Meets weekly on Mondays at 7pm at private location!.Group Facilitators: Cathie Timian & Wanda Martinez. For more information and meeting location contact Cathie at ctimian@l-o-r-a-.com or call 585.313.3037 For more information on L.O.R.A. (Lesbians of Rochester & Allies) visit: www.l-o-r-a.com

Born That Way Formerly 3rd Presbyterian LGBT Support Group.

First, 3rd Mondays, 7:30-9:30pm, 34 Meigs St. Carol, 482-3832 or Kaara, 654-7516.

Lilac Squares Gay Square Dance Group, Mondays, 7pm, 140 Alex Bar. To reserve space: 467-6456; bdaniels@frontiernet.net.

Free syphilis testing AIDS Care, 259 Monroe Ave., 5-8pm. 4422220.

Rochester Historical Bowling Society 7:15pm, Mondays. Clover Lanes, 2750 Monroe Ave. (Group is full.)

HIV Positive Men’s Support group Every Monday, 5pm, AIDS Care Center for Positive Living, 259 Monroe Ave. Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Mondays, 6pm, George Eastman House parking lot. www.rochesterfrontrunners.org.

Steps Beyond Stems Crack Support Group, Mondays, 7-8pm, 289 Monroe Ave. Equality Rochester 2nd Mondays, 7-8:30 pm, Equal=Grounds.

426-0862; annetischer1@gmail.com

Tuesday

L.O.R.A. – Knitters Group Everyone Welcome! 3rd Tuesday of the Month.

7pm – 10pm. FREE. Equal Grounds Coffee House, 750 South Ave. Contact Person: Cathie: 585.313.3037; Email: ctimian@l-o-r-a. com; Website: www.l-o-r-a.com

Gay Alliance Library & Archives, David Bohnett Cyber Center Every Tuesday. 1-3pm; First floor, 875 E. Main St. 244-8640.

Charlie’s Group 2nd Tuesdays. Monthly peer-facilitated support group for married men who have sex with men.

Confidential, free. For time, place: email: charlie@gayalliance.org.

Rainbow SAGE Senior Center, 11am-3pm, Gay Alliance Center, 875 E. Main St., 1st floor.

MOCHA Youth Drop-In Tues.-Fri., 1-9pm, MOCHA Center, 107 Liberty Pole Way, 420-1400; 244-8640 MOCHA Hepatitis Clinic Free Hepatitis A & B vaccinations, third Tuesdays, 5:30-7pm, 107 Liberty Pole Way, 4201400 Women’s Community Chorus Rehearsals each Tuesday, 6:30-9pm, Downtown United Pres. Church, 121 N. Fitzhugh Street. 234-4441, www.therwcc.org Free HIV Testing 9am-7pm. AIDS Care, 259 Monroe Ave.

Wednesday L.O.R.A. – Poker, Cards & Gaymes!

3rd Wednesday of the Month, 7pm – Open Arms MCC – 740 Marshall Rd. Rochester.

Everyone is welcome! Bring a friend and your own snacks/munchies. Coffee, Tea & Hot Chocolate provided. For more information, contact Cathie at ctimian@l-o-r-a.com or call 585.313.3037 - For more information on L.O.R.A. (Lesbians of Rochester & Allies) visit: www.l-o-r-a.com

U.R. Pride Network 7:30pm, Gamble Room in Rush Rhees Library. urpride@gmail.com

Rainbow SAGE Ruby Slippers Wednesdays, 5:45 pm, Callan-Harris Physical Therapy, 1328 Universty Ave. Identity Group The Identity Group is for LGBT identified indi-

viduals who have a developmental disability diagnosis. The group meets Wednesdays 3-4 pm at ARC Health Services (2060 BrightonHenrietta Townline Rd. 14623). The goal of the group is to provide a safe space to discuss identity issues, share personal experiences and increase self-esteem. The group is facilitated

by Delaina Fico. LMSW. For more information, please contact Delaina Fico at dfico@arcmonroe.org or 585-271-0661 ext. 1552.

Gay Alliance Board of Directors Meets Third Wednesdays, 6pm, 875 E. Main St. 244-8640 New Freedom New Happiness AA Gay meeting, 7pm, Unitarian Church, 220 Winton Rd. Men and women. Open.

Support Group for Parents who have lost Children First, 3rd Wednesdays, 11am-12:30pm, Third Presbyterian Church, 4 Meigs St. Genesee Region Home Care. Free. 325-1880 COAP Come Out and Play. Wednesday game nights.

8-11 pm. Equal=Grounds, 750 South Ave. 7pm, paulkaseman@gmail.com.

Rochester Rams General Meeting 2nd Wednesdays, 7:30pm, Bachelor Forum, 670 University Ave. www.rochesterrams.com Brothers Keeper Support group for men over 30. Third Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30pm, MOCHA Center, 107 Liberty Pole Way. 420-1400 HIV+ Mixed Men’s Group Wednesdays, 11:30 am-12:30 pm.

AIDS Care, 259 Monroe Ave. Gay Alliance Youth Wednesdays, 3:30-7pm, Gay Alliance Youth Center, 875 E. Main St. Prince St. entrance, first floor. 244-8640 x 13.

Frontrunners/Frontwalkers 6pm, Eastman House parking lot. www.rochesterfrontrunners.org.

Gay Alliance Library & Archives, David Bohnett Cyber Center Every Wednesday. 6-8pm. First floor, 875 E. Main St. 244-8640.

Empire Bears Every Wednesday. 6pm dinner at The Wintonaire. www.empirebears.com

Thursday

Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns 6:30pm, first Thursday. Ralph, 271-7649 Queer Radical Reading Group First and third Thursdays, 7pm, Equal=Grounds, 750 South Ave. Pride at Work First Thursdays, 5:30pm. 167 Flanders St. off Thurston Rd. 426-0862.

GLOB&L (Gays & Lesbians of Bausch & Lomb).

Meets every third Thursday in Area 67 conference room at the Optic Center. Voice mail: 338-8977 Gay Alliance Youth Thursdays, 3:30-7pm, Gay Alliance Youth Center, 875 E. Main St. Prince St. entrance, first floor. 244-8640 x 13.

Coming Out Being Out Youth Support Group 6:30-7:30pm; ages 13-18 Gay Alliance Youth Center, 875 E. Main St. Prince St. entrance, first floor. 244-8640 x 13.

Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus Downtown United Presbyterian Church, 121 N. Fitzhugh St. 6:30-9pm, 423-0650 Free confidential walk-in HIV testing Every Thursday night, 5-8pm, AIDS Care, 259 Monroe Ave. 442-2220 Gay Alliance Youth Gender Identity Thursdays, 6:30-7pm, Ages 13-18, Gay Alliance Youth Center, 875 E. Main St., 1st floor (Prince St. entrance). 244-8640 ext 13.

Out & Equal Second Thursdays Social/business networking, 5:30-7:30pm.

Changing venues. E-mail: fingerlakes@outandequal.org Genesee Valley Gender Variants 7-9pm, Equal=Grounds, 750 South Ave. GV GenderVariants@yahoogroups.com

FRIDAY

L.O.R.A. – Foodies Group Potluck 2nd Friday of the Month, 6:30pm – Open Arms MCC – 740 Marshall Rd. Rochester.

Bring a friend and a dish to pass! Coffee, Tea & Hot Chocolate provided! For more information, contact Cathie at ctimian@l-o-r-a.com or call 585.313.3037 For more information on L.O.R.A. (Lesbians of Rochester & Allies) visit: www.l-o-r-a.com

Gay Men's AA meeting Fridays, 7:30-8:30pm, Closed meeting.

Emmanuel Baptist Church, 815 Park Ave. GLBTQI Motorcycle Group Second Fridays, 5:30pm, Various locations.

RochesterGLBTIQbikers@yahoo.com; 4676456; bmdaniels@frontiernet.net.

SATURDAY

Rochester Rams Bar Night Third Saturdays, 8pm-2am, Bachelor Forum, 670 University Ave. 271-6930

Rochester Trans Group Social/educational group for gender-variant people, friends. Last Saturdays, 3-5 pm, GAGV Youth Center, first floor, 875 E. Main St. Frontrunners/Frontwalkers 9am, George Eastman House parking lot.www. rochesterfrontrunners.org.

Empire Bears Potluck 2nd Saturdays, Youth Center, 875 E. Main, 1st floor, Prince St. entrance. 6:30pm greet; 7pm dinner. Bring dish to pass. www.empirebears.org.

Cross Dresser Support Group First Saturdays, 6-9pm, call for location: 251-2132; RCDNET@hotmail.com Guys Night Out GNO, social group for transmen, now meets on the second Saturday of the month, @ 1pm @ Equal Grounds, 750 South Ave. Saturday Night Special Gay AA 7pm, Unitarian Church, 220 Winton Rd., S. Men and women. Open meeting.

Lilac Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf (LRAD) 2nd Saturdays, 6-9pm. rcoaster@rochester.rr.com Sophia’s Supper Club First and third Saturdays. http://www.inspiritual.biz/online-spiritual-evolution-gro/

Sunday

L.O.R.A. GLBT Sunday Brunch 1st Sunday of the Month: 11:30am – Jines Restaurant - 658 Park Ave, Rochester. 3rd Sunday of the Month. 11:30am – Golden Ponds Restaurant – 500 Long Pond Rd. Rochester. Breakfast Brunch Buffet. For more information, contact Cathie at ctimian@l-o-r-a.com or call 585.313.3037 For more information on L.O.R.A. (Lesbians of Rochester & Allies) visit: www.l-o-r-a.com

Parents Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) 3rd Sundays, 1-3pm. Open Arms MCC, 740 Marshall Rd. 244-8640 x 27; pflag@gayalliance.org.

Gay Alliance Library & Archives Sunday hours ended.

Rochester General Assembly Sundays, Flying Squirrel Community Center, 285 Clarissa St. Unity Fellowship Church Sundays, 1:30 pm, Lutheran Church of Peace, 125 Caroline St., 14620. 520-6188.

Dignity-Integrity 1st Sunday: 5pm Episcopal Eucharist with music; 2nd Sunday: 5pm Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Word with music; 3rd Sunday: 5pm Episcopal Eucharist (quiet); 4th Sunday: 5pm Prayers to start the week, followed by potluck supper.

Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church 740 Marshall Rd., Chili, 10:30am, 271-8478 Gay Men’s Alcoholics Anonymous St. Luke’s/St. Simon Cyrene Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St. 8:30pm, 232-6720, Weekly.

Closed meeting Men’s Cooking Group Third or fourth Sundays, 355-7664.

Civil Rights Front Every Tuesday, 5pm, Equal=Grounds, 750 South Ave. http://www.civilrightsfront.wordpress.com

Rochester AA/NA Meetings Every week there are four regularly scheduled GLBTI AA and two NA meetings in Rochester.

Tuesdays

Narcotics Anonymous 6-7:30pm. AIDS and Recovery 1124 Culver Road (Covenant United Methodist Church) This is an NA meeting that is open to all addicts who have a desire to stop using. Although it is not specifically a gay-oriented meeting, it is welcoming to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as to anyone who is affected by HIV and AIDS.

Wednesdays

New Freedom/New Happiness Group 7pm. First Unitarian Church, 220 S. Winton Rd. Bus riders: Take the last #18 University bus to 12 Corners. Use the stop just past the top of the hill at Hillside Ave. and before Highland Ave. Or take the #1 Park Ave. to the corner of East and Winton, then walk five minutes south (uphill) on Winton. This is an open discussion meeting. All issues – as they relate to our alcoholism/addiction and recovery – are fair game.

Fridays Gay Men’s 7:30pm. Immanuel Baptist Church, 815 Park Ave. • Closed meeting, restricted to alcoholics and addicts • Men’s meeting • Handicapped accessible This is a round-robin discussion meeting. If you are shy about meeting people or speaking up in a group, you will find this meeting particularly warm and inviting because everyone gets their turn to speak (or pass). As a result, this meeting often runs long, so plan on more than the usual hour.

Saturdays Saturday Night Special 7pm. First Unitarian Church, 220 S. Winton Rd. Bus riders: The #18 University Ave. bus does not go by the church on weekend evenings.

Take the #1 Park Ave. bus to the corner of East and Winton, then walk five minutes south (uphill) on Winton.

• Open meeting, all are welcome, “straight friendly” • Mixed men and women • Handicapped accessible, take elevator to basement Meeting begins with a speaker, followed by open discussion.

Sundays Step in the Right Direction 7:30-9pm. 1275 Spencerport Road (Trinity Alliance Church) This is an NA meeting that is open to all addicts who have a desire to stop using. Although it is not specifically a gay-oriented meeting, it is welcoming to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Each week features a reading from NA literature, followed by discussion.

Rochester Gay Men 8pm. St. Luke/St. Simon’s Episcopal Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh Street. Bus riders use the Fitzhugh Street stop on Main Street at the County Office Building and walk south one block.

• Closed meeting, restricted to alcoholics and addicts • Men’s meeting • NOT handicapped accessible Meeting begins with a speaker, followed by open discussion.

34

April MONDAY 1

LGBT Vampire/Were/Supe support group. Supes only; no live snacks. Midnight, GAGV Community Center. Info at looflirpa.org.

TUESDAY 2

Irish dancers at Rainbow SAGE, 1:30 pm, GAGV Center, 875 E. Main St. See SAGE calendar p. 31 for more SAGE events.

FRIDAY 5

Opening of Joe Kerwin “Abstract Impressions,” Gallery @ Equal=Grounds, 750 South Ave., 7-9 pm.

SATURDAY 6

Rainbow Theatre Festival opens with “8” by Dustin Lance Black, 8 pm at 243 Rosedale St. off Monroe. Presented

by Bread & Water Theatre. (See page 27 for full information).

YWCA Stand Against Racism.

Flash mob. Ages 12 and up. Rehearsal 11 am-1:30 pm, 2009 Dewey Ave.

SUNDAY 7

Dignity Integrity. Episcopal Mass/ Healing Service, with music. 5 pm, St. Luke’s and St. Simon’s Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St.

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013 Transgender Talk, video. MCC Open Arms Church, 740 Marshall Rd. off Chili Ave. 10:30 am service; talk noon1 pm.

Rainbow SAGE euchre. SWPC building, corner of Mt. Hope and Hamilton St. 3 pm. RSVP bbbogeybear@aol. com.

Astrodance. Choreography by Thomas Warfield. 11:15 am and 12:45 pm, Rochester Museum and Science Center.

T-Dance at 140 Alex. Dance to the music of Swing and Country-Western.

Lessons 4:30 pm, dancing 5-7 pm.

Out & Equal Second Thursday Networking. Co-sponsored by UR Pride Alliance, URMC Spectrum. 5:30-7:30 pm, Meliora Restaurant, 4th floor, Frederick Douglass Building, UR.

THURSDAY 18

THURSDAY 11

Empty Closet deadline for May. 244-9030’ susanj@gayalliance.org.

FRIDAY 12

Pride Alliance at Monroe Community College hosts “Love is Louder” Campaign, 11 am-1 pm, Atrium on the Brighton Campus of Monroe Community College.

U.R. LGBT Awareness Month.

Rainbow Lecture with Rev. Dr. Patrick Cheng of Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.: “Rainbow Theology: Bridging Race, Sexuality, and Spirit.”

“Out In Reel” Film Series, much more.

Sponsored by Susan B. Anthony Institute.

“The Fat Boy” opening night at Rainbow Theatre Festival, presented by Bread & Water Theatre. 8 pm, 423 Rosedale St. off Monroe.

NE LGBT college conference RIT through April 14. Many featured speakers. 475-6355.

SUNDAY 14

Dignity Integrity. Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Word, with music. 5 pm, St. Luke’s and St. Simon’s Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St.

Classifieds Classified ads are $5 for the first 30 words; each additional 10 words is another $1. We do not bill for classifieds, so please send or bring ad and payment to: The Empty Closet, 875 E. Main Street, Suite 500, Rochester, New York 14605.

Paying by check: checks must be made out to Gay Alliance. The deadline is the 15th of the month, for the following month’s issue. We cannot accept ads over the phone. Pay when you place your ad. We will accept only ads accompanied by name and phone number. Neither will be published, but we must be able to confirm placement.

The Empty Closet is not responsible for financial loss or physical injury that may result from any contact with an advertiser. Advertisers must use their own box number, voice mail, e-mail or personal address/phone number.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Children’s Ministry thriving at Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church for toddlers to ‘tweens. Join us for vibrant, inclusive, progressive worship on Sundays at 10:30am. 740 Marshall Road off Chili Avenue. info@openarmsmcc. org (585) 271-8478

SERVICES

Man to Man Rubdown. Relax with this experienced, fit, healthy. middle-aged, non-smoking GWM. Central location.

Private home. Incalls/outcalls. Reasonable rates. cell#585-773-2410 or home#585235-6688 or email:magichands@rochester.rr.com Wedding Space and clergy services available. Celebrate your special day at Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church 740 Marshall Rd. off Chili Ave. info@openarmsmcc.org (585) 271-8478 Free recycling/hauling of motor vehicles, kitchen/laundry appliances, furnaces, water heaters, lawn equipment, snow blowers, metal fencing, pipes, PC towers or anything made of metal. Call Recycle Queen: 585-305-9602.]

MONDAY 15

Hate to paint or clean gutters? I have tall ladders! Dale’s Pleasure Painting and Gutter Cleaning has very reasonable rates for painting year-round and gutter cleaning in the spring or fall. 585-576-5042.

Email dale.furlong@yahoo.com.

Martin Ippolito master electrician.

Electrical work, telephone jacks, cable TV, burglar alarm systems, paddle fans.

585-266-6337.

FOR RENT

North Greece area room for rent.

Rent the room, share the house. $650/ month includes utilities, satellite and Internet. Pet considered, non-smokers preferred. Available May 1. Contact owner at 585-752-9486.

SEEKING RENTAL

Rochester city or suburbs. Pet-friendly apartment wanted. Responsible male, 50, with older dog, looking for affordable one-bedroom or large studio for May 1 move-in. Call 585-733-3517.

FOR SALE

Light up your life. Four Malibu path or garden lights, only $50 ($70 at Home Depot!) Perfect condition, never used.

586-4321.

FRIDAY 19

Day of Silence. 4 pm, Tilt, 444 Central Ave. Youth break the Silence! Organized by GLSEN. LGBT youth, allies 13-21.

SATURDAY 20

Wine tasting to benefit GAGV Youth Big Gay Prom. 6-8 pm, Wine Sense, 749 Park Ave. Raffle ticket for $100 wine basket with every $5 donation.

Rochester Rams Uniform Bar Night. 9 pm, Bachelor Forum, 670 University Ave. ROMANS meeting, dinner, 7 pm, Rochester area. Info: www.wnyromans. com or telephone 585-281-4964.

SUNDAY 21

Dignity Integrity. Quiet Episcopal Mass in the Chapel. 5 pm, St. Luke’s and St. Simon’s Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St.

FRIDAY 26

“No Word In Guyanese For Me” opening, Rainbow Theatre Festival. 243 Rosedale St., off Monroe. 8 pm. Presented

by Bread & Water Theatre.

SATURDAY 27

Rochester Trans Group. Monthly meeting, Gay Alliance Community Center, Auditorium Theatre, 875 E Main St., 3-5:30 p.m.

Erotic Night #2. Spring Fever. Multi media arts, presented by Diane Conway. 8 pm, Equal=Grounds, 750 South Ave.

SUNDAY 28

Dignity Integrity. Evening Prayer, followed by a Potluck Supper. 5 pm, St. Luke’s and St. Simon’s Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St.

TUESDAY 30

Beltain, Walpurgisnacht, May Eve. Ancient Celtic Fire Feast of sexuality and the return of spring. Sacred tree: willow.

Justice & Equality Day, Albany. Lobby for GENDA, all gay rights issues. Rally, workshops, etc. Sponsored

by Empire State Pride Agenda. www. prideagenda.org, 212-627-0305; 518-4723330. ■

april 2013 • number 466 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

The Empty Closet is published by the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley 875 E. Main Street, Suite 500 Rochester, New York 14605 © 2013, All rights reserved.

Bed & Breakfast

Editor-in-Chief: Susan Jordan Staff Reporter: Ove Overmyer Graphic Design: Jim Anderson Advertising policy: The Empty Closet does not print advertisements that contain nude drawings or photographs, nor does it print advertising that states that the person pictured in the ad is for sale, or that you will “get” that particular person if you patronize the establishment advertised. Advertisements that are explicitly racist, sexist, ageist, ableist or homophobic will be refused; advertisements from organizations that are sexist, racist, ageist, ableist or anti-gay will also be refused. All political advertisements must contain information about who placed them and a method of contact.

Additionally, The Empty Closet does not print negative or “attack” advertisements, whether they relate to a product or politics and no matter in whose interest the ad is being produced. A negative advertisement is defined as one that focuses upon a rival product, or in the political area, a rival election candidate or party, in order to point out supposed flaws and to persuade the public not to buy it (or vote for him or her). The Empty Closet maintains, within legal boundaries, neutrality regarding products, political candidates and parties. However, “attack” ads that fail to provide undisputable evidence that the information in the ad is true do not further in any way the objectives and policies of the Gay Alliance or The Empty Closet, including the primary tenet that The Empty Closet’s purpose is to inform the Rochester gay community and to provide an impartial forum for ideas.

Submissions: For publication, submit news items, ads, photos, letters, stories, poetry, ads, photographs or art by mail or in person to The Empty Closet office by the 15th of the month.

Design services for non-camera ready ads are available for a fee. (www.emptycloset@gagv.us) Publication Information: The Empty Closet is published 11 times a year (December and January combined) by The Empty Closet Press for the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, Inc. Approximately 5000 copies of each issue are distributed during the first week of the month, some by mail in a plain sealed envelope. The publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles is not an indication of the sexual or affectional orientation of that person or the members of that organization. For further information, please write to The Empty Closet, 875 E. Main St., Rochester NY. 14605, call (585) 244-9030 or e-mail emptycloset@gagv.us.

The Empty Closet is the official publication of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, Inc., as stated in the bylaws of that organization. Its purpose is to inform the Rochester gay community about local and national gayrelated news and events; to provide a forum for ideas and creative work from the local gay community; to help promote leadership within the community, and to be a part of a national network of lesbian and gay publications that exchange ideas and seek to educate.

Part of our purpose is to maintain a middle position with respect to the entire community. We must be careful to present all viewpoints in a way that takes into consideration the views of all – women, men, people of color, young and old, and those from various walks of life.

The opinions of columnists, editorial writers and other contributing writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the collective attitude of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley or The Empty Closet. The Empty Closet shall not be liable for any loss or expense that results from the publication (whether correctly or incorrectly) or omission of an ad. In the event of non-payment, your account may be assigned to a collection agency or an attorney, and will be liable for the charges paid by us to such collection agency or attorney.

Letters to the editor: The opinions of columnists, editorial writers and other contributing writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the collective attitude of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley or The Empty Closet. We will print letters at the editor’s discretion and on a space available basis. Only one letter by the same writer in a six-month period is allowed.

We will not print personal attacks on individuals, nor will we be a forum for ongoing disputes between individuals. We reserve the right to edit for space and clarity. We will print anonymous letters if the name and phone number are provided to the Editor; confidentiality will be respected.

Submissions are due by the 15th of the month at: The Empty Closet, 875 E. Main Street, Suite 500, Rochester, NY 14605; e-mail: emptycloset@gagv.us. The online edition of EC is available at www.gayalliance.org.

PFLAG meets the 3rd Sunday of each month Meetings are at Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church, 740 Marshall Road, Rochester, NY 14624 from 1 to 3pm. Questions? Call: 585-244-8640 and leave a message, or e-mail: pflag@gayalliance.org - Join us!

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 466 • april 2013

Companies are known by the company they keep The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and ally communities wish to thank over 300 companies that have joined the U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs to advance marriage equality.

1 Source Consulting Solutions • A.L. Nella & Company LLP • A|X Armani Exchange • Abercrombie & Fitch • ABT Associates • Addis Creson • Adobe Systems • Advanced Micro Devices • Aetna • Aggregate Supply • Air Products and Chemicals • Akamai Technologies • Alaska Air Group • Alcoa • Alere • Amazon.com • American Benefits Council • American International Group • Ameristar Casinos • Apple • AppNexus • ARC Design • Artify • Avanade • Axcel Law Partners LLP • Bain & Company • Baker & McKenzie LLP • Bank of New York Mellon • Bankers Trust Co. • Barnes & Noble • Becton Dickinson and Company • Big Duck Studio • Bigelow Villa LLC • Biogen Idec • BlackRock • Blu Homes • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts • Boehringer Ingelheim USA • Borrego Solar Systems • Boston Community Capital • Boston Foundation • Boston Medical Center • Boston Scientific • Brand Query LLC • Bridgespan Group • Bright Horizons Children’s Centers LLC • Bristol-Myers Squibb • Broadcom • Brown Shoe Company • Burns & Levinson LLP • Cablevision Systems • Caesars Entertainment • Calvert Investments • Car Toys • CBS • Central Physical Therapy and Fitness • Chang Consulting • Choate Hall & Stewart LLP • Chubb • Cisco Systems • Citigroup • City Catering Company • City Lights Sign Co • City Lites Neon • Civitas Public Affairs Group • Clean Yield Asset Management • Clorox • Coinstar • Commune Hotels and Resorts • Communispace • Conlin Properties • Connecticut Alliance for Business Opportunities • Constellation Energy Group • Corcoran Group • Coupons.com • Crazy Misfits Pet Services • Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC • Crowley Maritime • Cummins • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute • David Kosar Insurance Agency • Davis Brown Koehn Shors & Roberts P.C. • Depository Trust & Clearing • DesignWorlds for Learning • Deutsche Bank • Diageo North America • Distinguished Gay Men • DLK Law Group P.C. • DML Insurance Services • Dropbox • Dry Creek Vineyard • DRY Soda Co. • Eastern Bank • eBay • Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP • Eldercare Consulting • Electronic Arts • EMC • EnduringHydro LLC • Ernst & Young LLP • Estee Lauder Companies • Exelon • Facebook • Farella Braun + Martel LLP • Fenwick & West LLP • Firefly Creative Co. • FitCorp Healthcare Centers • Flanery CPA • Forward Motion Group LLC • Full Court Press Communications • Gammelgården LLC • Gardenworks • Geolo Capital • Gilt Groupe Holdings • Go Factory LLC • Golden Gate Restaurant Association • Goldman Sachs Group • Google • Goulston & Storrs P.C. • Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce • Greater San Diego Business Association • Greater Seattle Business Association • Greensulate • Grippo & Elden LLC • Grossman Marketing Group • Group Health Cooperative • Groupon • Hackman Capital • Hafner Vineyard • Harrell Remodeling • Heartland Payment Systems • Heath-Newton LLP • Hewlett-Packard • Holdredge Wines • Homeward Pet Adoption Center • Horizon Air Industries • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP • Hyatt Hotels Corp. • ID Financial LLC • Inspirato LLC • Integrated Archive Systems • Integrity Law Group • Intel • Intuit • INUS Group LLC • iStar Financial • iStrategyLabs • Jackson Hole Group LLC • James D. Wood DDS Family Dental Care • Jazz Pharmaceuticals • Jennifer Brown Consulting • JetBlue Airways • Jim Henson Company • Johnson & Johnson • Jo-Lynn Otto Photography • Jonathan L. Bowman Attorney at Law PS • JTracz Designs LLC • Kazan McClain Satterley Lyons Greenwood & Oberman PLC • Keker & Van Nest LLP • Kemp Goldberg Partners • Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC • Kinzer Real Estate • Kollmar Sheet MetalWorks • Kotzan Chiropractic • Lafayette & Kumagai LLP • Laparoscopic Institute for Gynecologic Oncology • Larson Marketing & Communications LLC • Law Office of Lisa E. Schuchman • Law Office of Susan K. Fuller PLLC • Law Offices of Cynthia F. Buhr PLLC • Levi Strauss & Co. • Liberty Mutual Group • Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP • LinkedIn Corp • Littler Mendelson P.C. • Living Social • Long Beach Community Business Network • Loring Wolcott &Coolidge Trust LLC • M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Marriott International • Mars Incorporated • Marsh & McLennan Companies • Massachusetts Association of Health Plans • Massachusetts Envelope Company • Massachusetts Financial Services Company • Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance • Massachusetts Teachers Association • Mattson • McGraw-Hill Companies • McKinstry Co. • Mesirow Financial Holdings • Microsoft • Mind Your Beeswax d/b/a Bee Cause • Mona Smith PLLC • Moody’s • Morgan Stanley • Mosaic Financial Partners • MultiPlan • National Fire Protection Association • National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce • National Grid USA • Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co • NBTY • NCR • Neumann Capital Management LLC • New Balance Athletic Shoe • New England Cryogenic Center • New York Life Insurance Company • NewZoom • NIKE • Nixon Peabody LLP • Oberman PLC • Office Depot • Ogilvy Group • Olivia Companies LLC • Onyx Pharmaceuticals • Oracle America • Orbitz Worldwide • Out & Equal Workplace Advocates • Panasonic of North America • Partners HealthCare System • Paul’s Draperies • Peabody & Arnold LLP • Pfizer • Pierson Labs • Planet Fitness • Portland Area Business Association • Pre Lobel Tye LLP • Precision Door Service • Printing Works • Prior Construction • Pro-Tec Data • ProTrials Research • Prudential Financial • Public Interest Law Group PLLC • Puma Spring Vineyards • Qualcomm • Rainbow Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley • Ray Holley Communications • Recreational Equipment • Regroup • REI • Replacements Ltd • Reproductive Science Center of NewEngland • Resource Systems Group • Rising Tide Brewing Company • RLL Consulting & Advocacy LLC • Rocket Science Associates • Ropes & Gray LLP • Rural Communications Service • Russell & Olson LLP • Salera Consulting • salesforce.com • San Francisco Chamber of Commerce • Seabold International Services LLC • Seattle Hospitality Group LLC • Seattle Lesbian LLC • Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce • Sempra Energy • Seyfarth Shaw LLP • Shawmut Design and Construction • Shearman & Sterling LLP • Silicon Valley Progressive Faith Community • Sing Out Louise! Productions • Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP • Skellenger Bender P.S. • Skyworks Solutions • Smith & Quinn LLC • Solutions Wealth Management LLC • SōW Juice • Spectra Law PS • Starbucks • Start Out • State Street • Stone Way Eateries LLC • Stonyfield Farm • Stuffed Cakes LLC • Sun Life Financial (U.S.) Services Company • Support.com • Sweet • Taber Food Services • The County of King Washington • The County of Santa Clara California • The Law Office of Susan K. Fuller PLLC • Thomson Reuters • Tiffany & Co. • Time Warner Cable • Total Awareness Accounting Services • Total Home Improvement • Transparent Language • Trillium Asset Management Corp. • Twitter • U.S. Balloon Co. • UBS • Ultimate Software Group • Unigo LLC • United States Conference of Mayors • United Therapeutics • Valdez Noor Todd & Doyle LLP • VCB Consulting & Accounting Services • Velsch Unlimited LLC • Venable LLP • Verity Credit Union • Verizon Communications • Viacom • VitalSource Staffing LLC • Vulcan • W/S Development Associates LLC • Walt Disney Company • Wasserman Media Group • Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP • Windows Management Experts • Witeck Communications • Xerox • Zipcar • Zoom Systems • Zynga Red: Employers doing business in the Rochester region

Thank you!

This thank you sponsored by: Out & Equal NY Finger Lakes • ImageOut • Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley • AIDS Care • Pride At Work