Empty Closet, April 2010 Sec A

The Empty Closet

Section A

New York State’s Oldest LGBT Publication

number 433 a publication of the gay alliance of the genesee valley april 2010

NewsBriefs LOCAL & STATE NEWS

PFLAG workshop

Bishop Robinson to speak here April 29 The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire — the first “honestly gay” bishop in The Episcopal Church — will speak in Rochester on April 29, at 7 p.m. during an Evensong service at St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene Episcopal Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St. Bishop Prince Singh of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester will also participate. Afterwards, Bishop Robinson will speak further and answer questions from the congregation. Members of the public are invited to attend.

“It’s a great honor to have Bishop Robinson visit the Diocese of Rochester,” said the Rev. Michael W. Hopkins, rector of the parish hosting the event.

(Bishop continues page 3)

Rainbow SAGE hosted its seventh Intergenerational Panel on March 21 at the Gay Alliance Youth Center. More coverage on paage 18. Photo: Laura McSpadden

Rainbow SAGE panel: talking about self acceptance others were atheists. There were lesbian, gay, bisexual, MTF and FTM panelists. The result was a diverse range of perspectives that was both informative and engaging.

The panelists were Tara Callan, Peter Vaillancourt, Andrea Palumbo, Cheyenne Lynch, Michael Davey, Sean Soper, Dustin Hilton and Chan McKenzie. (See page A 18) “Having the panel in the Youth Center made it a very intimate setting,” said dd corcimiglia, the Intergeneration Chair for Rainbow SAGE. “We probably could have stayed there a few more hours just talking.

“We heard all of the speak-

By Laura McSpadden On March 21, Rainbow SAGE hosted the seventh annual Intergenerational Panel at the Gay Alliance’s Youth Center.

The theme for the evening’s panel was self-acceptance. As a result, all of the panelists shared their personal experiences about how they were able to discover, accept and embrace all aspects of who they are.

The panelists’ ages ranged from 16 to 65, allowing for a truly intergenerational experience. Their ages were not the only source of diversity either: some had grown up in rural settings, others in urban areas.

Some were devout Christians,

Jose Peralta defeats anti-gay Hiram Monserrate

photo: billijo wolf

By Susan Jordan Hiram Monserrate was expelled from the New York State Senate for his domestic violence conviction, but the rules do not prohibit him from running again for the seat. And,

Day of Silence honors lost voices

By Susan Jordan The Day of Silence 2010 rally will take place April 16, in the Apollo Room on the lower level at the Auditorium Center,

875 E. Main St., sponsored by the Gay Alliance Youth Group and GLSEN. Students and schools across the country participate in this annual national event, which typically draws several hundred (Day of Silence continues page 3)

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

Gold Eastman Kodak Company; Excellus, Mass Mutual Financial Group; Merrill Lynch; MetLife, Nixon Peabody, LLP Silver Ace Mailing Services; Bausch & Lomb Inc.; Cor ning Incorporated; Harter Secrest & Emory LLP; Heveron & Heveron CPAs; ITT Corporation; Monroe Plan for Medical Care; Sage Advisors of Sage Rutty; St. John Fisher College; Tim Tompkins Enterprises; Xerox Capital Services Bronze Canandaigua National Bank; Edgerton Florist; Empire State College; Galaxe Pride at Work; Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church; Third Presbyterian Church; Wegmans Food Markets; The Woolbright Group Pride Thomson Reuters

April 15 is Unfair Gay Tax Day Rally, “Unhappy Hour”

ers explain their conviction to be able to be who they are, some getting there with the love and acceptance of their families and friends, some through groups, some with anger,” corcimiglia continued. “Some prayed to just be the people others wanted them to be, and some are being true to themselves because they just know the others had it wrong. And so starts the journey to self-acceptance.”

One disturbing similarity throughout most of the panelists’ experiences, regardless of their age, was the presence of fear and internal conflict at some point in their life journey.

(Acceptance continues page 3)

in a last-ditch effort to win the March 16 special election, Monserrate made his anti-gay views the centerpiece of his campaign, according to Julia Rosen of the Courage Campaign and activist Cynthia Nixon.

At “a cynical anti-gay rally” organized by Monserrate, one of his supporters even went as so far (Peralta continues page 3)

On Tuesday, April 6, from 7 to 9 p.m., PFLAG will hold a workshop titled “The Sins of Scripture: A Look at the Negative Impact of the Bible,” at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 2000 Highland Ave., at the corner of South Winton (parking on street).

This workshop, including a powerpoint presentation, lecture and discussion, is drawn from Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong’s book The Sins of Scripture.

The event will examine how a certain reading of the Bible has influenced modern culture in negative ways, such as oppression of women and gays, racism and opposition to reproductive choice.

Reverend Jim Mulcahy of Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church is the invited speaker. For information: PFLAG@gayalliance. org; (585) 244-8640 x27.

Share memories The late Virginia West Davidson will be honored on April 10 at Downtown United Presbyterian Church, 121 N. Fitzhugh St., where she was an elder. Davidson was also co-founder of That All May Freely Serve, advocating for lgbt inclusion in the church.

The event will take place at 2 p.m. in Celebration Hall on the second floor; it is wheelchair accessible. Feminist scholars Johanna Bos and Sylvia Thorson Smith will reflect on Ginny’s work for women’s and gay rights, and U.P.S. (Unrepentant Practicing Singers) will perform. A reception will follow.

Ginny’s friend and “fellow conspirator” the Reverend Jane Adams Spahr will be present and will also preach the following day at the 11 a.m. service at DUPC. For more information, contact her at jane@spahr.com. ■

Vagina Monologues See Page B-1

By Susan Jordan Misery loves company and LGBT taxpayers have more reason to feel miserable than heterosexuals on April 15. Disgruntled queers have been invited to “Unhappy Hour” on Unfair Gay Tax Day 2010.

(Tax Day continues page 3)

Inside

Section A Newsfronts..................................4 Interview: Emily Jones.................6 Opinion: Finances..................... 14 Soulforce Journey................... 16 From Our Readers................... 17 Making The Scene................... 18 Section B Entertainment: Corsets..............1 Columnists..................................5 GAGV News: Gender................ 10 Groups...................................... 13 Calendar................................... 14 Classifieds................................ 14 Ongoing Calendar................... 15

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010

Perspectives From the Empty Closet Editor Susan Jordan

Social injustice rules...

Faux News hack Glenn Beck has received criticism for his attack on churches that use “social justice” as a “code word” (two words actually) for what Beck terms “socialism”. Or was that Nazism?

Or both? Whatever.

Not only are liberal Christians saying that Christians should stop watching him, but even the conservative Church of Latter Day Saints (Beck is a Mormon) disowned his remarks.

Not that the self-appointed “pundit” (who has no formal education past high school) will pay attention to anything liberals say.

Instead he may take his agenda to the next level. After exposure to Jon Stewart’s Beck take-offs, one can easily imagine it: “Join churches that promote Social Injustice (a code word for social injustice)! Put a few pennies in the charity box – the poor better be grateful! Bring back slave labor! You can’t beat it for low overhead and high CEO bonuses!

“Join churches that tell you to hate women, queers and people of color! If you have a priest who tells you to hate and discriminate, follow him! He is the only representative of Jesus Christ!

Anybody who tells you differently is a Nazi Socialist! Nazism and socialism are the same thing – liberalism! Only straight white men like me deserve to RULE THE WORLD!!!”

Actually, Nazism and Socialism are polar opposites. Here’s the basic economic lowdown: Socialism: the workers own the means of production.

Nazism/fascism: The rich own the means of production – and the workers’ butts.

Not a lot of similarity there.

But the two can be linked by conservative spin doctors because both have been represented by repressive dictatorships in countries that have rejected – or never knew – a tradition of parliamentary democracy.

Neither kind of dictatorship is acceptable. However, conservatives have supported fascist death-squad dictatorships all over the Third World – in countries where thousands of people, including union organizers, schoolteachers, nuns, and even democratically elected socialist presidents like Chile’s Allende, end up with bullets in their heads, or just vanish and are never seen again. “The Disappeared” they are called.

No problem there for conservatives. They backed mass killer Pinochet in Chile, for one example. It’s only socialist dictatorships (and democratically elected socialist governments) that scare Beck and his billionaire boss Rupert Murdoch -- and the Republican/Tea Bag Party.

The Baggers were out in force on March 19 at the Capitol, screaming “faggot!” and threats at Barney Frank, and racial slurs and threats at black lawmakers voting for healthcare reform.

Rightwingers went online to call for mass window-smashing – shades of Kristallnacht, when Hitler ordered Nazi stormtroopers to break windows of Jewish homes and businesses. It was the prelude to genocide.

Sure enough, the windows of Rep. Louise Slaughter’s office and Democratic Party HQ were shattered, and violent acts occured nationwide. Then there were the death threats to Slaughter’s children…

The Bagger extremists seem a lot closer to Nazism than President Obama is to socialism. ■

Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley The Empty Closet is published by the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley 875 E. Main Street, Suite 500 Rochester, New York 14605 © 2010, All rights reserved.

From the Executive Director Sue Cowell

Live United!

Spring has officially arrived!

The warmer weather brings longer days and the Kick Off for the Rochester United Way Annual Appeal. United Way has been a great partner with the Gay Alliance for many years. Under the leadership of Peter Carpino, the United Way has reached out to the LGBT community. The Gay Alliance receives a significant amount of funding through Donor Designated funds from the local annual appeal.

In addition to these funds, the United Way is currently providing technical and legal assistance to the Gay Alliance as we explore the options for bringing another non-profit under our umbrella. This assistance will result in significant cost savings to the Gay Alliance and our community partner as we move forward without out of pocket expenses. In return, our Outreach and Education staff has provided training to United Way staff. In addition, the United Way was and continues to be very supportive of the location of the Pride Parade and Festival that requires the closing of College Avenue.

I also want to thank Jennifer Leonard, President of the Community Foundation. The Foundation has provided multiyear support of our CampusOut Program. We have also received gifts from two of their donoradvised family funds. The Com-

HOME t ee w S H ome

Editor-in-Chief: Susan Jordan Staff Reporters: Ove Overmyer, Laura McSpadden Graphic Design: Jim Anderson

munity Foundation has provided support to establish a planned giving program for the Gay Alliance at the Foundation, which also manages our Community Center Future Fund. They have been a true partner.

Community support is so important to the work that the Gay Alliance does. Although we receive some funding from the New York State Health Department, our programs and community outreach would suffer without the additional funding from our community members.

Although our donor base has never been stronger, the needs has never been greater.

Without your support we would not have been able to educate more than 2,900 individuals in 2009. Here is just one example of the impact this work has.

“The best diversity training I have ever, EVER attended.

Thank you for everything you have given me today. Keep up the good work.” – A Faith Community training.

There are a variety of ways you can support the work of the Gay Alliance.

• Give to the United Way Campaign by designating the Gay Alliance. The administrative costs are minimal. The true cost to the Gay Alliance (#1135) to attain the level of donations would be significant.

• Go online to gayalliance. org and look for the “Support Our Work” link • Support our Spring Appeal.

I want to thank all of our funders, donors, Board of Directors and our staff for their generous support of the Gay Alliance.

I hope you will join us in support of our mission. ■ The 2010 United Way Designation Number that Benefits the Gay Alliance is

1135 Thank You

Never miss an issue!

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 gay-related 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. Online edition of EC available at www. gayalliance.org.

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ew York State’s oldest continuously published LGBT newspaper is only one of the many benefits of membership. Become a member today and soon the Empty Closet will be arriving in your mail.

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Membership levels:

❏ $25-99 Advocate ❏ $100-999 Champion ❏ $1,000-4,999 Triangle Club ❏ $5,000+ Stonewall enefits just begin with a subscription to the Empty Closet – mailed to home or work, plus privileges at each level. Phone us: 585 244-8640 or mail to the Gay Alliance, 875 E. Main Street, Suite 500 Rochester, New York 14605

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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.

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april 2010 • number 433 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet from page 0ne

(Acceptance from page 1) Many shared that they have experienced depression, suicidal tendencies, spiritual crises or addiction.

Following the panel, there was time and opportunity for the attendees to ask the panelists questions. The inquiry “What are your fears regarding and hopes for today’s queer youths?,” asked by community member Lee Bender, sparked an incredible conversation and exchange of ideas.

“My fears for the younger generation of LGBT youth are very similar to my fears for young African-Americans,” said panelist Chan McKenzie. “I fear the growing disconnection between lesbian and gay youth and the history of our community, the context and struggles that tell how we got to where we are today.”

“Many people came up to me and told me that they felt that this was the best Intergenerational Panel ever,” corcimiglia said. “I am sure we all learned so much from this session. I am once again grateful to live here in Rochester, and to be in a city that is willing to listen.” ■ (Day of Silence from page 1) lgbt youth and allies in the Rochester area. Over 250 students attended last year’s rally/dance, from over 40 schools in Monroe and surrounding counties.

Youth Program participants said, “Day of Silence is important because we can stand up and honor those who can’t, whether it is due to hate crimes, bullying, or being closeted.” “Day of Silence is a reminder that LGBTQ youth are not alone. There are other people out there who are going through the same thing and support us.”

Youth who take part in the observance keep silent during the day until 4 p.m., the moment of breaking the silence at the rally. The event will offer free, confidential HIV testing, depression screening and health/wellness/GSA info tables.

It will include youth reading their poems, and a performance by the Rochettes, the dancing ensemble of the Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus. The rally will be followed by a dance with DJ Chuck Argento. For more information contact jessc@gayalliance.org or call 244-8640 ext 13.

The Day of Silence is an opportunity to honor the memory of LGBT youth and adults whose voices have been silenced by hate violence and bigotry. Rightwing hate groups are actually trying to silence the observance honoring their victims.

Extremist Peter LaBarbera’s hate group “Americans For Truth” states, “A broad coalition of pro-family groups recommends that parents keep their children home on the deceptive, pro-homosexual ‘Day of Silence.’”

DoS seems to be working! ■

(Bishop from page 1) “Gene’s election and consecration as the Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 put The Episcopal Church on an unstoppable path toward welcome and affirmation of all people, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.”

Bishop Robinson has been interviewed by secular media icons such as Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow. He was a candidate for bishop in Rochester in 1999. His ordination has caused a rift in the Anglican communion worldwide, as homophobic churches display their bias. ■

EC ☞ Reader Survey online

(Peralta from page 1) as to say, “I have seen a generation of children sunk down by the gay community.”

After the special election, in which Monserrate lost to Peralta, the Empire State Pride Agenda released the following statement: “We congratulate José Peralta on his big victory tonight. He will be a Senator who stands up for the rights of all the people of the 13th Senate District in Queens. José has demonstrated time and time again that he is a tireless advocate for equality for LGBT New Yorkers and that he doesn’t duck-and-run when our bills come up for a vote. He will be a promise keeper and not a promise breaker like the person he is replacing.

“Now it’s time to go back to work in the State Senate. We have just over three months left in the legislative session and the Pride Agenda is ready to work with José Peralta, the Senate Leadership and every Democrat and Republican Senator who is ready to advance LGBT issues and make New York a better place to live.” ■

( Tax Day from page 1) The Tax Day events will take place on Thursday, April 15, beginning with a rally from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building, 100 State St. After the rally, from 5:30–8 p.m., dinner and drink specials will be offered at 140 Alex Bar and Grill (formerly Nasty D’s).

No one likes Tax Day, but for gay and lesbian couples it is especially obnoxious as it illuminates institutional discrimination aimed at their families, say event organizers. New York State, while recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside the state, still forces legally married same-sex spouses into a legal lie, as each must file as “single” on New York State tax forms. There are a myriad of tax inequities, including tax on same-sex spousal health insurance, inheritance taxes and the inability to file jointly, to mention just a few.

LGBT activists, spearheaded by Anne Tischer and Todd Plank from EqualityROC and Bess Watts, President of Pride at Work Rochester AFL-CIO, hope to expand community awareness of the tax inequity caused by anti-gay federal and state bias. They want to send a message that the time has come to end this injustice and are inviting the public to attend the April 15 “Unfair Gay Tax Day Rally & Unhappy Hour”.

Protestors will gather for a short rally in front of the Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building, 100 State Street, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., followed by a social get-together at 140 Alex Bar and Grill, at the corner of Alexander and Broadway.

Rally speakers will share what is being done legislatively and in the courts and then it will be time for a good stiff drink and dinner, or an alcohol-free dinner if that is preferred, with the opportunity to talk with other conerned citizens about the state and national situation.

Organizer Bess Watts said, “The federal government may not be willing to provide tax equity to same-sex couples but the new owners of 140 Alex are more than willing to provide drink and food specials, aptly named a Loophole, the Exemption and a Big Refund… they have my vote.”

“Come to the rally and then come for dinner and/or drinks,” Watts said.

“It looks like marriage equality is not happening overnight, so let’s pace ourselves!” ■

Take the Empty Closet online survey Let us know what you think! Make your opinions and needs known by completing the Empty Closet Reader Survey at www.gayalliance.org online this month!

NewsFronts LOCAL AND STATE

CRF at RIT: Sherry Wolf, nationally known LGBT activist and author of “Sexuality and Socialism” was keynote speaker, shown with local activist Ralph Bean at Civil Rights Front’s “Labor and LGBT Rights” workshop at RIT on Feb. 20.

See page 18 for another photo. Photo: Bess Watts

NYS Assembly passes GENDA again; Senate again urged to act On March 2, the New York State Assembly once again voted by an overwhelming bipartisan margin to amend the state’s human rights law to include antidiscrimination protections based upon gender identity and expression.

The bill (A.5710), known as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), bans discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment, credit and public accommodations.

It also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people. The Assembly has now passed the bill by large bipartisan margins for the past three years; Governor Paterson has also said he will sign GENDA into law should the Legislature send it to him.

“Transgender New Yorkers shouldn’t have to live in fear that they lack basic protections and could lose their job or be denied a lease on an apartment or service in a restaurant just because of who they are,” said Empire State Pride Agenda Interim Executive Director Joe Tarver.

“In passing this bill, the Assembly continues to demonstrate its leadership on civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers. We thank Assemblymember Richard Gottfried for his sponsorship and support of this bill, as well as the Assemblymembers who voted to pass it.

“The State Senate remains the only obstacle to passing GENDA. It is now time for the Senate to follow the Assembly’s lead and end discrimination against transgender New Yorkers once and for all by passing GENDA,” said Tarver.

“Transgender New Yorkers can’t — and shouldn’t have to — wait any longer.”

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund immediately began calling for New Yorkers to contact their senators and tell them to pass GENDA. Transgender people face severe discrimination in New York. A 2009 needs assessment of New York State’s LGBT community conducted for the Pride Agenda found that 20.7 percent of transgender New Yorkers have incomes of under $10,000 a year, and one-third are or have been homeless at one time; 28.4 percent have experienced a physical or sexual assault motivated by transphobic or homophobic violence that was serious enough to require medical care.

Twelve states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive laws banning discrimination based upon gender identity and expression, covering public and private sector employment as well as other areas of everyday life. Eight additional states including New York have executive orders covering public employees only.

According to a March 2008 Global Strategy poll, 78 percent of registered New York voters support passing a bill to protect transgender people. This support is strong across the state, including upstate (74 percent), New York City (79 percent) and the downstate suburbs (82 percent); and among Democrats (86 percent), Republicans (67 percent) and Independent voters (78 percent) alike.

Facts on Gender Identity and Expression Non-Discrimination Protections In the Public and Private Sectors* U.S. Jurisdictions with non-discrimination protections: • 12 States and the District of Columbia with comprehensive laws – Oregon (2008), Colorado (2007), Iowa (2007), Vermont (2007), New Jersey (2007), Washington (2006), Illinois (2005), Maine (2005), District of Columbia (2005), California (2003), New Mexico (2003), Rhode Island (2001), Minnesota (1993).

• 8 states with executive orders covering public employees – New York (2009), Delaware (2009), Michigan (2007), Kansas (2007), Ohio (2007), Maryland (2007), Indiana (2004), Pennsylvania (2003) • 108 U.S. cities and counties with laws, including nine New York localities – Westchester County (2009), Binghamton (2009), Albany (2004), Tompkins County (2004), Ithaca (2003), Buffalo (2002), New York City (2002), Rochester (2001), Suffolk County (2001) Fortune 500 Companies with nondiscrimination policies: • 200 companies, including 30 with headquarters in New York – Alcoa (NYC), American Express (NYC), Avon Products (NYC), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYC), Barnes & Noble (NYC), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYC), CBS Corp. (NYC), Citigroup (NYC), Colgate-Palmolive (NYC), Consolidated Edison (NYC), Corning (Corning), Eastman Kodak (Rochester), Estee Lauder (NYC), Goldman Sachs (NYC), IBM (Armonk), Interpublic Group (NYC), J.P. (GENDA continues page 7)

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010

NewsFronts national and international Choi arraigned for March 18 White House protest Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo were arrested March 18 for chaining themselves to the White House fence in protest of foot-dragging by the Obama administration and Congress regarding the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Choi was reacting to a statement by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) to The Advocate, that the Obama administration does not plan to push DADT repeal this year.

Choi had asked to speak at a Human Rights Campaign rally on repeal of DADT. He then stated, ““You’ve been told that the White House has a plan. But we learned this week that the president is still not fully committed. ... Following this rally, I will be leading [the protest] to the White House to say ‘enough talk.’ ...

I am still standing, I am still fighting, I am still speaking out, and I am still gay.”

On March 19, Choi and Pietrangelo pleaded not guilty to “failure to obey a lawful order”. They had been shackled and refused bail, but were unshackled and allowed to leave after arraignment.

For more information, see “Empty Closet News” at www.gayallliance.org.

A group of LGBT activists was arrested the same day at Speaker Pelosi’s office, where they were calling for passage of ENDA. GetEqual activist C.D. Kirven, one of four lesbians arrested, e-mailed pamshouseblend.com, “Our court date is April 6, 2010. There will be support rallies for Lt. Dan Choi all over the country the next few days. We are planning one for Dallas.”

On March 18 there was another brand of activism on the Hill, by two Iraq/ Afghanistan veterans and former clients of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, former Air Force Major Mike Almy and former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Jenny Kopfstein. They appeared before a Senate committee to explain the impact of DADT on their lives and how it has affected their units.

Former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Jenny Kopfstein told the committee that two captains testified at her DADT discharge hearing saying they were opposed to her being kicked out, one of them writing explicitly that the Lieutenant was not a detriment to unit cohesion, morale, or good order. Both Major Almy and Lieutenant Kopfstein provided senators with documentation showing that their superiors and subordinates thought highly of them professionally and personally.

“We are so proud of both Major Almy

and Lieutenant Kopfstein,” said Aubrey Sarvis, SLDN executive director. “Not only did they explain how the archaic ban is harming military preparedness, but they illustrated the generational divide on the issue by sitting next to General Sheehan. Their stories bring to life the new poll numbers out this week indicating 73 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say it is personally acceptable to them if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military.

“There is a clear division between top civilian and military leadership and some of the Joint Chiefs,” said Sarvis. “The latter group thinks we’re living in the 1990s arguing about whether open service is a good idea or not. We’ve moved on; they should too. The momentum is overwhelmingly on the side of repeal.”

The mention of General Sheehan above refers to March 18 hearing testimony: “Today, in response to questions from U.S. Senator Mark Udall, a military general and an opponent of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell acknowledged that although more than a dozen studies have been conducted over 20 years, there is no evidence to support the assertion that open service harms unit cohesion and good order and morale.”

Documentary: Pope covered up child abuse The Pope played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests, according to a documentary screened by the BBC March 25.

In 2001, while he was Cardinal Ratzinger, he issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church’s interests ahead of child safety. The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeated the allegations they would be excommunicated.

Five years ago Benedict sent out an updated version of the notorious 1962 Vatican document Crimen Sollicitationis -- Latin for The Crime of Solicitation -- which laid down the Vatican’s strict instructions on covering up sexual scandal. It was regarded as so secret that it came with instructions that bishops had to keep it locked in a safe at all times.

Cardinal Ratzinger reinforced the strict cover-up policy by introducing a

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new principle: that the Vatican must have what it calls Exclusive Competence. In other words, he commanded that all child abuse allegations should be dealt with directly by Rome.

Father Tom Doyle, a Vatican lawyer until he was sacked for criticizing the church’s handling of child abuse claims, says, “What you have here is an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by the clergy and to punish those who would call attention to these crimes by the churchmen.

“When abusive priests are discovered, the response has been not to investigate and prosecute but to move them from one place to another. So there’s total disregard for the victims and for the fact that you are going to have a whole new crop of victims in the next place. This is happening all over the world.”

Wedding bells ring out in Washington D.C. On March 3, marriage became legal for same sex couples in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court rejected a last minute attempt by rightwing opponents of LGBT civil rights to overturn the law. However, the D.C. Court of Appeals has said it plans to hear oral arguments on whether the initiative can go forward in May. The Campaign for All DC Families, which represents a diverse coalition of District of Columbia residents working to win and secure civil marriage equality, applauded as the district’s first gay and lesbian couples applied for a marriage license.

“Today, committed Washington D.C. gay and lesbian couples are able to take the first steps toward providing the lifelong promise to take care of and be responsible for each other,” Campaign for All DC Families President Aisha C. Mills said. “Our nation’s capital turned another page in her progressive history and continues to set an example for the rest of the country.”

At 8 a.m. on March 3, couples, along with friends and family members, lined up on the steps of the Superior Court Marriage Bureau located in H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse, and applied for their marriage licenses, allowed them to legally get married.

“Being able to finally marry the woman to whom I have been committed for more than 12 years, is a dream come true,” Angelisa Young said. She and her partner Sinjoyla Townsend were among the first couples to apply for a marriage license. “After all the years of waiting, Sinjoyla and I are finally able to begin our lives as a legally married couple,” she said.

“This law is an important step towards equal dignity, equal respect and equal rights for all residents of our nation’s capital,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Starting today, same-sex couples in D.C. will be able to enjoy all the rights and responsibilities that come with civil marriage. At the same time, the law also preserves the right of clergy and congre-

gations to adhere to their faith traditions.

Today represents a hard-fought victory for D.C. residents and a poignant reminder – here in the home of our federal government and most cherished national monuments – of the historic progress being made towards ensuring equality for all across the nation.”

Rev. Nathan Harris, pastor of Lincoln Congregational Temple, United Church of Christ, and member of D.C. Clergy United for Marriage Equality, praised the new law. “Today is a historic day in our community for social justice and inclusion in keeping with the proudest traditions of our religious heritage,” said Harris. “For too long it has been unjust to deny same-sex couples the opportunity to consecrate their relationships in the same way in which we allow oppositesex couples. Our coalition of nearly 200 D.C. clergy believes that marriage equality fulfills our commitment to God’s love and justice. Nevertheless, we respect our friends who hold different views and are pleased that today’s law embraces our nation’s strongest traditions of religious freedom.”

On Dec. 15, 2009, the D.C. Council overwhelmingly passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Act of 2009. The bill was signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty and transmitted to Congress for review. Marriage equality opponents attempted to stop the legislation from taking effect by proposing a referendum. However, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ruled in February – for the third time on the marriage issue – that the proposed ballot measure would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act and therefore was not a proper subject matter for the referendum process. A D.C. Superior Court judge recently denied opponents’ request for a preliminary injunction to stay the legislation, which followed two previous court rulings rejecting opponents’ efforts for a referendum or initiative on similar grounds. The D.C. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court denied opponents’ emergency appeals.

The law took effect at the conclusion of the mandatory 30-day Congressional review period. During this period, Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) introduced legislation that would have halted implementation of the new law. Both bills attracted only minimal support and did not move through their respective chambers. Opponents of marriage equality continue to pursue a ballot initiative defining marriage as “between a man and a woman” – and have appealed to the D.C. high court. The Court of Appeals has said it plans to hear oral arguments on whether the initiative can go forward in May 2010.

Under a law enacted last June, samesex couples living in D.C. but legally married elsewhere were recognized as married in D.C. and received the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage. Pursuant to the new law, same-sex couples may now enter into civil marriages in

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april 2010 • number 433 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet D.C. The law ensures that clergy and religious organizations are not required to provide services, accommodations, facilities or goods for the solemnization of a same-sex marriage.

The National Black Justice Coalition celebrated the enactment of the historic legislation and the fact that, although some members of Congress attempted to block the law, Congress chose to remain on the sidelines and not obstruct advancement of this District legislation.

“We salute the nation’s capital today for setting the tone of national reconciliation for our LGBT brothers and sisters seeking marriage equality,” said Sharon J. Lettman, Executive Director and CEO of the Nation Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). “It is monumental that in the capital city, with a Congress divided on so many pressing issues, equal access to the altar has been granted to LGBT residents.”

Marriage equality comes to Mexico City Lurleen wrote on March 4 on pamshouseblend.com, “Mexico City’s marriage equality law went into effect today.

Lesbian and gay couples who apply for marriage licenses today will be able to marry sometime in the next week to 10 days. Isn’t it incredible to contemplate that the three northern-most American national capitals now stand unequivocally for equality?”

In 2003 Ottawa, Canada became the first American national capital to recognize marriage equality when the Ontario courts ruled for the entire province. The rest of Canada followed suit in 2005.

On March 3, Washington D.C., national capital of the U.S., opened legal marriage to same sex couples. Box Turtle Bulletin reports, “(A)bout 140 million Americans -- about 46 percent of the nation’s population -- live where there is some form of official notice of same-sex couples.”

Now Mexico City, the 10 millionstrong national capital of Mexico, has become the latest and largest national capital city in the western hemisphere to honor this fundamental human right of their citizens.

Did Papal aide mess with the choir boys?

Police wiretaps are expected to result in charges against Angelo Balducci, 63, a Papal Gentleman, as Vatican lay attendants are called, and the former chairman of the Holy See’s Public Works Department, which is itself caught up in a corruption investigation.

According to police, Balducci regularly contacted Chinedu Ehiem Thomas, a Nigerian man who sings in St. Peter’s Cappella Giulia, to engage the sexual services of young male members of the choir, along with seminarians and undocumented immigrants of various ages seeking residency status.

The scandal now envelops Balducci, a well-known and powerful figure who is married with two children, and who is alleged to have taken remarkable risks in setting up sexual liaisons even in Chigi Palace, home of the Italian prime minister, or immediately after a private audience with a cardinal.

In 72 pages of transcribed wiretaps, Ehiem tells Balducci about one possible candidate: “Angelo... I’ll say no more.

Two meters (6-foot-7), 97 kilos (250 lbs.), 33 years old and completely active (top).”

-pamshouseblend.com

New DADT regulations will raise the bar, but won’t end discharges The Department of Defense has announced new “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” regulations. The new regulations released

by Defense Secretary Robert Gates will raise the bar for investigations and discharges under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

“These new regulations are a positive step toward repeal of the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law this year,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Congress must continue to move forward with legislative action to repeal the law this year while the Pentagon continues its work to determine how to best implement that repeal. Two branches of government can and should work concurrently toward repeal. There is no reason for Congress to wait for the details on implementation when Secretary Gates and the President have made it clear that this law should be repealed.”

The new regulations will raise the level of the commander authorized to initiate a discharge investigation, revise the threshold for credible information and thirdparty allegations, and protect disclosure to medical and psychological personnel and for other non-military purposes.

Military leaders, including Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, recognize that DADT is a failed law and support its repeal. Before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, Secretary Gates announced, “the question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it.” In addition at that hearing, Adm. Mullen testified that “allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.”

Rep. Murphy (D-PA), an Iraq War veteran and a former paratrooper in the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, is the lead sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1283), the House bill to repeal the DADT law. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is the lead sponsor of similar legislation in the Senate (S. 3065). More than 13,500 Americans have been discharged under the law – including more than 800 specialists with vital skills, like Arabic linguists. Meanwhile, heterosexuals with criminal records are allowed to enlist, and rape of female mili-

tary personnel is endemic and is still not seen as a major issue.

The Pentagon announced March 25 that it would make it harder to discharge lesbian and gay service members by issuing rules that only a General or Admiral can initiate firings, by adding a litmus test for the type of information that can start an investigation, and by limiting third party outings.

Following are comments by Palm Center’s senior scholars on the Pentagon announcement: Aaron Belkin, Director, and Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara: “The changes announced today are the first cracks in “don’t ask, don’t tell” since the policy was implemented seventeen years ago. While the operational impact of the Obama Rule may be limited, the political impact will be widely felt. These steps represent important forward movement. They send a signal to the military chain of command and the public that repeal is on the horizon, and that the military is prepared.”

Nathaniel Frank, Senior Research Fellow, and author of “Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America”: “Today the Pentagon took an important step to end “don’t ask, don’t tell” by making it harder to fire lesbian and gay troops. For over two hundred years, the U.S. military was hostile to homosexuality, but today the Pentagon sent a message that lesbians and gays can serve our country without harming the force. By making it more difficult to fire gay service members, the Pentagon has signaled that service members who are widely known to be gay should continue to serve.

“The full impact of the changes will depend on how they are actually enforced.

We know that past attempts to dress up a bad military policy have been like putting lipstick on a pig and have failed. Perception is reality, and if the higher bars to discharge are not actually used to reduce firings and create a sense of privacy for gay troops, these changes will be a charade.

“As Secretary Gates said today, the Pentagon could have raised the bar even higher, but chose not to. So while the administration is to be commended for taking this step, its work is far from over.

As the focus shifts to Congress, the President has a major role to play to end the ban outright. If the President builds on this step by fighting successfully for legislative repeal, he will ensure his place in civil rights history not only for his own story, but as a fierce advocate of equal treatment.”

Diane Mazur, Legal Co-Director, and Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law, former Captain, USAF: “When the military requires highlevel approval for personnel actions, it is indicating that it believes enforcement of the policy is harming military effectiveness. In chipping away at the effects of the law, the Pentagon is conceding that knowledge of openly gay colleagues is not a problem, which is the whole basis

of the policy. The changes announced today under the Obama Rule show repeal is inevitable.”

Irish church leader to resign after abuse scandal surfaces

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has said he will resign, amid allegations he witnessed teenage abuse victims take vows of silence over a pedophile, rather than go to police.

(Meanwhile the Pope has his own problems: see Newsfronts article page 4.)

Cardinal Sean Brady, the Primate of All Ireland, admitted that he attended meetings in 1975 when two teenage boys signed oaths of silence while testifying in a Church inquiry against Father Brendan Smyth.

That priest was later uncovered as the most notorious child abuser in the Irish Catholic Church, carrying out more than 90 sexual assaults against 40 youngsters in a 20-year period. Survivors’ groups say the revelations show the cardinal colluded in the cover up of Smyth’s crimes -- which, they say, allowed the cleric to continue offending -- and say he must quit immediately.

Dr. Brady claimed that society handled child abuse cases differently in the 1970s. “There was a culture of silence about this, a culture of secrecy, that’s the way society dealt with it,” he said.

Abuse campaigner Colm O’Gorman said Cardinal Brady “is now deeply personally implicated in the gross failures of the Catholic Church in the management of Smyth and his rampant sexual offending against children.”

Pa. Senate rejects marriage amendment The Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee on March 15 voted against legislation to amend the state constitution to ban same sex marriage. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania hailed the vote as a victory for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the commonwealth.

“The efforts to embed discrimination against LGBT people into our constitution have failed for a third time,” said Andy Hoover, legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, citing failed attempts to pass similar legislation in 2006 and 2008. “This committee today recognized that LGBT people are our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends, and our family members and that they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Senate Bill 707, introduced by Senator John Eichelberger of Blair County, was tabled by an 8-6, bipartisan vote of the committee. Although Senate rules allow the bill to be considered again at any time, Hoover noted that it is unlikely that the bill will be brought up before the end of the 2010 legislative session.

-pamshouseblend.com ■

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010

Interview

Left to right: Rebecca Tillet, NYC, Pete Webb, NYC, Eric Blomquist, NYC, Pamela PJ Johnson, NYC, Emily Jones, Rochester, at the HRC lobby day on Capitol Hill.

Emily Jones

By Susan Jordan Emily Jones, Gay Alliance board member and this year’s recipient of the Empire State Pride Agenda’s Community Service Award (to be given May 22 at the Spring Dinner), is active with the Human Rights Campaign. On March 4 she was part of a 300-member delegation of HRC lobbyists from around the country who went to Capitol Hill to advocate for major bills relating to LGBT rights.

“I found the whole experience exhilarating,” she said, “even all the walking around Capitol Hill. I was so impressed with the competence of the people in the NYS delegation, and all 300 lobbyists, and also with how well prepared each legislator’s office was for our people. It was amazing. I don’t usually come back and talk a lot about these things, but I’ve been telling everyone about this!”

HRC has identified key gay-related legislation for the 111th Congress, including the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, or DPBO (providing benefits for same sex domestic partners of federal civilian employees on the same basis as spousal benefits); the Early Treatment for HIV Act, or ETHA (providing states with the option to provide Medicaid coverage to low-income HIV positive Americans); the Employment Non-Discrimination Act or ENDA (prohibiting discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity); the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell) and the Respect for Marriage Act (repealing the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act; would restore the rights of all lawfully married couples including same sex couples).

Emily Jones was the only upstate member of the five-member NYS delegation.

She said, “We met with a lot of legislative aides who were engaging. Brian Indovina, aide to Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York’s Ninth District, was apologetic that they hadn’t accomplished what they had promised a year ago. Rep. Weiner, along with Rep. Nagle and 20 other House members, has a letter pending which would result in treating marriage in the same way as interstate commerce, so you would have reciprocity and we wouldn’t need to have all states pass laws in order to have our legal marriages recognized throughout the country.”

Some of the meetings with Republican lawmakers were less encouraging. Emily recounted her experience in upstate N.Y. Rep. Christopher Lee’s office. She said, “His aide Jeff Freeland was very good and really listened. He asked a lot of questions and took a lot of notes. Then Rep. Lee came in and was gracious. I started to talk to him about repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. He is against repeal and said ‘If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.’

“I said, ‘What do you mean it’s not broken? We’ve let 56 Arab linguists leave – if that isn’t compromising our military security, what is?’ He said he’d think about it. I then said that I had been director of research at Kodak, which has been on the cutting edge of ending discrimination against LGBT workers, and we’d like to keep capable employees in Rochester, so we’d like to see employee discrimination ended. He avoided dealing with that totally and just dismissed it, saying it’s ‘Albany’s fault’.”

Emily feels that Republicans have decided on their positions for political reasons and are not open to information that contradicts their party line.

She found it more rewarding to speak with Bridgette DeHart, senior legislative counsel for Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke of New York’s 11th district.

DeHart said that they are marking up the ENDA bill (which means it’s going to the floor) and that the jobs bill is passed, while the Health Care bill would be done

by Easter. Then they will get ENDA to the floor. As for DADT, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid “want it done and off the table”.

In relation to Tax Equity for Health Care Benefits for domestic partners, Emily said she was told by Sen. Charles Schumer’s aide Alex Levy that the senator will make sure tax equity is in the reconciliation bill in the final version. She said, “I talked to every person about tax equity. Although I have never needed to have a partner covered by my insurance, I feel this is extremely important.” She thinks it is scandalous that not only are same sex couples discriminated against as far as receiving insurance coverage, they are actually penalized financially, paying more income and payroll tax than similarly-situated heterosexual workers.

Emily said she was able to use statistics from Rochester’s MOCHA Center, such as that 50 percent of gay African Americans are infected with HIV, to talk to lawmakers about the Early Treatment for HIV Act. “I learned a lot from MOCHA and was very thankful for that,” she said.

She was encouraged to hear that the Military Readiness Engagement Act has “incredible momentum in both Houses”; the Pentagon review may slow down passage to the end of the year, but is not an impediment to passage.

In the end, Emily feels that lobbying efforts pay off in that legislators do get important facts from constituents – although some may be more open than others to hearing them. She said, “One woman (in the NY delegation) used to work for the federal treasury on fraud. She was able to tell House members and senators that her brother works at the EPA and had all the benefits for his family, while she didn’t. So she left the federal government because they don’t provide equal benefits for LGBT employees.” ■

april 2010 • number 433 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet local and state

(GENDA continued from page 3) Morgan Chase (NYC), Liz Claiborne (NYC), Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYC), MetLife (NYC), Morgan Stanley (NYC), New York Life Insurance (NYC), Omnicom Group (NYC), Pepsi Bottling Group (Somers), PepsiCo (Purchase), Pfizer (NYC), Starwood Hotels & Resorts (White Plains), TIAA-CREF Fund (NYC), Time Warner (NYC) and Viacom (NYC) *Information Sources – The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, Empire State Pride Agenda

Massa’s departure helps Republicans (or not...)

By Susan Jordan Kilian Maloy wrote on EDGE NY on March 4 that former Rep. Eric Massa’s pending resignation would bring to 16 the number of House of Representatives seats that Democrats are leaving; four have left since January. Massa resigned March 8.

Nineteen Republican House members will also be retiring, but whereas 11 of the seats being vacated by Democrats face stiff competition from Republican challengers, most of the seats currently occupied by retiring Republicans are viewed as likely to remain with that party. Vanishing Democrats, such as Massa, Evan Bayh, etc. are reducing the hard-won Democratic majority.

Massa (D-Corning, Steuben Co,) said at first that he would leave politics because of health issues. After an incident with his aide was publicized and he announced his upcoming resignation, he said that Democrats wanted to remove him due to his opposition to President Obama’s health care reform bill. However, it is not clear how Democrats would benefit if Massa’s seat is taken by a Republican. A special election will be held soon.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office denied that Massa had been removed due to his opposition to the Obama healthcare plan. The White House called Massa “crazy”.

Maloy wrote that The New York Times claimed in a March 3 article that Republican leaders had known about alleged sexual text messaging between Republican Sen. Mark Foley and a male Congressional page in his teens, but had kept it quiet. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, however, was quick to react to the allegations of harassment brought by Massa’s unidentified staffer.

But as Bloomberg News columnist Margaret Carlson wrote on March 13, “The Republican National Committee immediately sent out a release critical of Speaker Nancy Pelosi for treating the serious charges as a rumor.”

Massa “goes rogue” Massa said on his weekly radio broadcast on WKPQ-FM on March 7 that, at a wedding on New Year’s Eve, a staffer who Massa said had been drinking heavily suggested Massa should “chase after” a bridesmaid, and Massa said he replied, “What I ought to be doing its frakking you” – a “salty” remark which Massa said was repeated by another staffer to Hoyer.

Massa appeared on the Glenn Beck and Larry King shows on March 9 to deny that he had groped three male staffers, as reported by The Washington Post.

He said he had “wrestled” with male staff members at his 50th birthday party.

When King asked Massa if he is gay, he dodged the question by saying, “Why would you ask that in this day and age?” and telling King to “ask my wife”.

Margaret Carlson wrote, “(Massa) used gullible Republicans to go out in a blaze of infamy. Republicans wanted a Democrat to go rogue, and he went rogue big time… Massa was so incoherent on Beck he could have been a double agent planted by Democrats to show just how big a flyer Republicans will take to make Obama look bad.”

Beenie Man makes hate music; gays resist “All faggots must be killed!”

“Yes, that is what he sings,” says Kelly Clark, Director of the Community Safety Program at the Gay Alliance, referring to Jamaican Dance Hall artist Beenie Man, whose performance at Water Street Music Hall on March 13 stirred anger in the LGBT community.

The Gay Alliance on March 10 called for all Rochestarians who believe that these lyrics are indefensible to join a “virtual protest” on Facebook. The protest was a link from the Gay Alliance homepage at www.gayalliance.org.

Just six months after calling for the Rochester community to stand against such hate music, which glorifies mob violence and the murder of lesbians and gay men, Rochester’s LGBT community found itself once again defending the most basic of rights -- the right to live.

“In September it was Buju Banton, now it’s Beenie Man. They sing in Jamaican Patois and many fans of Dance Hall music can’t understand the lyrics,” said Clark. “We want to help educate them.” Clark recommends The Dance Hall Dossier composed

by Outrage! and Stop Murder Music, two activist groups in the United Kingdom. The Dossier gives backgrounds of the most popular Dance Hall artists and translations of the music, so consumers can know exactly what they are supporting.

Supporters of artists who produce murder music defend such lyrics on cultural grounds.

They say that LGBT people don’t understand Jamaican culture, where the sentiment and the lyrics come from. But LGBT activists will not be pulled into a culture war. “Showing respect for each other’s cultures and beliefs does not include encouraging the murder of one of the parties,” says Sue Cowell, Executive Director of the Gay Alliance.

Opponents of lyrics that encourage murder of LGBT people are also said to be trying to censor artistic creation. Activists, nation-

A7 wide and in the UK, ask whether white racist musicians calling for the murder of black people would be defended on similar grounds.

“Dr. King said, ‘Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.’ It is our hope that people will take time to learn what they are listening to and then make a conscious decision to do the right thing and call for these artists to remove those songs from their performances,” said Clark.

This is not a philosophical debate for the LGBT community. “This is real,” said Gay Alliance Anti-Violence Project Victim Advocate Kelly Baumgartner. “All people deserve to live. Jaysen Madison, 15 years old, of Baltimore, who was stabbed multiple times by a family ‘friend’ because he was effeminate, deserved to live. Jorge Lopez Mercado, 19 years old, of Cayey, Puerto Rico, who was killed and dismembered because of his gender expression, deserved to live. Teish Green, 22 years old, of Syracuse, NY, who was shot in the back and died in her mother’s arms because someone thought she was gay, deserved to live.”

It is still legal to discriminate against transgender people in New York State. Violence against and murder of a transgender person are not considered hate crimes in New York.

In 2009, the Anti-Violence Project at the Gay Alliance recorded 59 victims of antiLGBT violence, harassment and discrimination here in Western and Central New York.

“There are a number of ways for people to get active in the call for basic civil rights and protections,” says Cowell. “I encourage folks to visit the Empire State Pride Agenda website to keep up with the current political and legal fights LGBT New Yorkers are still waging and find ways to help make positive change.”

For an African American view of Jamaica’s underground gay Christians and their struggle to survive, go to www.gayalliance. org, “Empty Closet News,” for the Faith Matters column on Jamaica by Rev. Irene Monroe (under “Columnists”).

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010 A broad selection of wines from around the world

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Inquiring minds want to know...

InQueery Community Learning

Please contact us for ASL interpretation at least 14 days before class date: DeafAccess@gayalliance.org

Tuesday, 6 April, 7pm The Sins of Scripture: Examining the negative use of the Bible Friday, 9 April, 530-9pm SpeakOUT Training with Gay Alliance Saturday, 10 April, 830am-530pm SpeakOUT Training with Gay Alliance Thursday, 22 April, 7pm Screening: Licensed to Kill Saturday, 24 April, 4:30 pm Towards Trans-Inclusive Language Tuesday, 11 May, 7pm The Bible as a Weapon to Attack LGBT People: Misinterpretation and Misuse Thursday, 27 May, 7pm Memorial Art Gallery: A Focus on Gender

Fine Wines & Spirits at Corn Hill Landing

Gift Certificates Available 260 Exchange Street • Rochester • 232-5530 Mon-Sat: 10am-8pm • Sunday: 12-5pm Regular Friday wine tastings April through September Save the date:

May 22 for our grand opening We are three blocks from downtown.

One & one-half blocks south of the War Memorial.

Pride 2010 Welcome to Pride 2010 Corner!

This is where you can learn about the progress in planning for Pride 2010. We want you to know what is happening, and we want you to share this information with all those you love – let’s get our straight pals involved too!

Mark your Calendars!

Saturday, July 10: .....Gay Day at Seabreeze, 11am-4pm Sunday, July 11: ........Rainbow Flag Raising at City Hall Monday, July 12: .......Youth Pride Dance Friday, July 16: ..........Pride Kick-Off at the Strathallan Hotel Saturday, July 17: . ....Pride Parade & Festival, (same locations as last year) Sunday, July 18: ........Pride Picnic, Genesee Valley Park, 1-7pm

Pride in April:

The 2010 United Way Designation Number that Benefits the Gay Alliance is

1135 Thank You

Sunday, April 18, a fun and “fashionable” fund-raising event that you will not want to miss! Attendees at this event will learn the Pride 2010 theme, and the Talent providing the entertainment at the Festival.

Attend Pride 2010 meetings if you have ideas and/or want to get involved. April 20, May 18, June 22 in the Gay Alliance Youth Center, 6pm.

If you enjoyed last year’s Pride events, you, your friends and family will love to attend all the events this year!

Thank you for all those that came to our March into Pride ~ Monte Carlo Style Event at 140 Alexander Street and made it a huge success! See you at the RIT Inn & Conference Center on April 18 for the Fashion Show Fundraisers!

We hope to see you around town, PRIDE-fully, Pride 2010 Co-Chairs: Carrie Vernon and Michael J. Hardy

EC ☞ Reader Survey online

Take the Empty Closet online survey Let us know what you think! Make your opinions and needs known by completing the Empty Closet Reader Survey at www.gayalliance.org online this month!

april 2010 • number 433 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

History Corner April History Corner: remembering Dr. King

By Evelyn Bailey “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’”

-Martin Luther King, Jr, Aug. 28, 1963 On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and his wife were attending a show at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. when John Wilkes Booth shot him in the head.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1929 Born on at noon on Jan. 15.

1944 Graduated from Booker T. Washington High School. Admitted to Morehouse College at age 15.

1948 Graduates from Morehouse College. Ordained to the Baptist ministry, Feb. 25, at age 19.

1951 Enters Boston University for graduate studies.

1953 Marries Coretta Scott. Settles in Montgomery, Alabama.

1955 Received Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University. Joins bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested on Dec. 1.

1956 Dr. King’s house is bombed.

Supreme Court rules bus segregation is illegal, ensuring victory for the boycott.

1957 King forms the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 1958 The U.S. Congress passes the first Civil Rights Act since reconstruction.

King’s first book, Stride Toward Freedom, is published.

1959 Visited India to study Mohandas Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence.

1960 In Atlanta, King arrested at a sit-in waiting to be served at a restaurant.

Sentenced to four months. Released after intervention by John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.

1963 Good Friday, April 12, King arrested with Ralph Abernathy by Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Con-

nor for demonstrating without a permit.

April 13, the Birmingham campaign is launched. During 11 days in jail, MLK writes his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. May 10, the Birmingham agreement is announced. Stores, restaurants, and schools will be desegregated, hiring of blacks implemented, and charges dropped. Aug. 28 - March on Washington held. Largest civil rights demonstration in history with nearly 250,000 people. King makes his famous I Have a Dream speech.

1964 King is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10.

1965 President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law.

1968 King announces that the Poor People’s Campaign will culminate in a March on Washington demanding a $12 billion Economic Bill of Rights. April 4, Martin Luther King, Jr. is fatally shot.

1986 On November 2, a national holiday is proclaimed in King’s honor.

We have a dream: Equal Rights for all!

Shoulders to Stand On: Hate Violence

By Evelyn Bailey The month of April is Sexual Violence Awareness Month. For many of us this topic is not easy to consider.

Disappearing disappearing Disappearing Disappearing LGBT Records are Disappearing

Records are no longer accessible or available due to individuals dying, organizations, agencies, and groups relocating, and not having a repository to preserve records.

Help preserve Rochester’s GLBT history

The Gay Alliance in conjunction with the Documentary Heritage Program wants to be sure the record of work done by these groups and their impact on Rochester and the Genesee Valley region survive as a part of New York State’s rich cultural, political, social and economic history.

What is Needed

Organizational records: Financial, Minutes of Meetings, Formal and Informal Records - Written and Electronic, Public Relations Material, Posters, Informational Brochures, Event Advertising Flyers, Correspondence To and From, Photographs, Ephemera. Individual Collections: Gay Civil Rights, HIV AIDS, Religious Response to GLBT Community, Political Development at Local, State, and Federal level. Publications (other than the Empty Closet).

If you have any information you can share, to identify and locate these records, Contact GAGV or the Archival Consultant, Nicole Menarchem, at NicoleM@gayalliance.org or (585) 244-8640 x32

Perhaps more than any other self identifier, our sexuality defines who we are in our own eyes and in the eyes of others.

The perceptions, images, and understanding we have about our own sexual identity are integral to who we are.

Our right to be free, to be who we are, was finally recognized on April 29, 2009, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Matthew Shepherd Local Law Enforcement Hates Crimes Prevention Act. Accomplishing this first step had happened before. This time, however, would be different. In July 2009, the U.S. Senate would also pass the Local Law Enforcement Hates Crimes Prevention Act, and on Oct. 28, 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law.

Finally the LGBT community had a tool to protect them against any crime motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim, or violation of the State, local, or tribal hate crimes laws.

April is the month in which the Hate Crimes Act began its journey to becoming law. Shoulders To Stand On wants to remember some of the men and women who helped make this happen.

Matthew Shepard is perhaps the name most people think of in reference to hate crimes. Matthew was a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming in October 1998. He was attacked on the night of Oct. 6–7, and died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Oct. 12 from severe head injuries. During the trial, witnesses stated that Shepard was targeted because he was gay. Shepard’s murder brought national and international attention to the issue of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels.

James Byrd Jr. was an African-American who was murdered in Jasper, Texas,

A 13 on June 7, 1998. The murderers, Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and John William King, wrapped a heavy logging chain around his ankles, hooked the chain to a pickup truck, and then dragged Byrd about three miles along a macadam pavement as the truck swerved from side to side. Death came when Byrd’s body hit the edge of a culvert. The murderers unchained his torso and left it on the shoulder of the road in front of the town’s black cemetery. His lynchingby-dragging gave impetus to passage of a Texas hate crimes law, and, later, the federal hate crimes law, officially known as the October 22, 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Angie Zapata was brutally murdered in Greeley, Colorado in July 2008. Angie was a transgender woman and she was murdered because of anti-transgender bias. Lateisha Green was a trans woman who died from gunshot wounds in Syracuse in November 2008. And, like the murder of Angie Zapata, Lateisha’s murder was tried as a hate crime. Her killer’s conviction marked the first hate crime in NYS to be officially recognized and punished as such.

24-year-old Nathan Runkle, founder of Mercy for Animals, a nationally recognized activist group whose work helped pass Proposition 2 recently in California, was assaulted on Dec. 27, 2008 outside a gay nightclub in Dayton, Ohio.

Runkle’s attacker fled the scene. Runkle believes the assault was motivated by hatred toward gays and was intended to send a terrorist message to the local gay community.

These are just a few of the victims of hate crimes on whose shoulders we stand.

Gandhi once said, “No one is free while others are oppressed.”

Shoulders To Stand On hopes we will draw strength and courage from all the victims of hate crimes to continue our struggle to be free to be who we are. ■

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Opinion Planning a financial future: choosing an advisor

By William Costello, CLF, LUTCF, CLTC, Special Care Planner, General Agent In my last column, I wrote of the importance of having good trusted advisors as a result of the fact that gays and lesbians are legal strangers in the eyes of law.

A trusted advisor can include your accountant, your lawyer, your doctor and your financial advisor. Each has an important role to play in helping manage your life and achieve your goals. Having worked with hundreds of people from all walks of life, I am perpetually stunned by the lack of financial awareness from very successful people.

For heterosexual people, the law and certain civil rights afford specific legal protections. For gays and lesbians, single or partnered, this is not the case. Hence, it’s important that gays and lesbians know how to go about selecting a financial advisor. This very important decision should not be made lightly. It’s not who you know, it’s what the person you select knows.

Here are a few questions you may want to ask in interviewing a candidate for the important role of financial advisor.

1. How comfortable is the advisor with non-traditional relationships? In other words, does the advisor demonstrate and use terminology appropriately? Does he or she show empathy and understanding?

You should feel comfortable being able to speak candidly to your financial advisor without having to hold back. Your relationship must be open and honest.

2. What experience has the advisor had in structuring the financial affairs of gays and lesbians, single or coupled?

This is very important. You would not hire a surgeon to perform a procedure he’d never done before. You should not engage a financial advisor who has littleto-no experience or resources at his or her disposal.

3. What additional relationships can the advisor bring to the table that may be of value? For example, does the advisor have standing business relationships with competent attorneys, accountants or other “experts?” This is very important as no financial advisor is the be all and end all on all matters of importance.

Gay and lesbian clients, perhaps even more than their straight brothers and sisters, need trusted advisors in their lives that can help them secure and protect what matters most. Joan M. Burda, author of Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples, has this to say: “For a myriad of reasons, LG clients — individual and couples — must do more life and estate planning than heterosexual clients must do. Nothing in the law of most states protects the families that gay men and lesbians create.”

In closing, I am reminded of the sad story of a long-partnered gay couple where the senior partner died suddenly at the young age of 56. While coupled for more than 25 years, neither partner had ever discussed their financial future or done any planning.

As a result, there was no life insurance, there was no will to guide the disposition of assets that were perceived to be community property and there was no health care proxy in effect. Sadly, this failure to plan left the surviving partner with his household income cut in half and no inheritance. The deceased’s assets, which included hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent-generating real estate (their “retirement”), passed to his 90-year-old, semi-estranged mother who did not even attend the funeral. The emotional trauma and hardship was compounded by a fundamental failure to acknowledge and plan for the future — a situation that was

the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010 entirely preventable.

William D. Costello is General Agent for Financial Architects, a financial services and insurance firm affiliated with MassMutual Financial Group (Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company). MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliated companies and sales representatives.

The firm offers a range of insurance products and financial services for individuals and businesses. Headquartered in Rochester, NY, in the Clinton Square building, Financial Architects also maintains offices in Buffalo, NY, and Gowanda, NY. William D. Costello is a registered representative of and offers securities, investment advisory, and financial planning services through MML Investors Services, Inc. member SIPC (600 Clinton Square, Rochester, NY 14604, 585-262-5600).

The information provided herein is not written or intended as tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for purposes of avoiding any federal tax penalties. Entities or persons distributing this information are not authorized to give tax or legal advice. Individuals are encouraged to seek specific advice from their personal tax or legal counsel.

some of the lost benefits of Social Security.

Gifting the tax-free allowable amount each year from the higher income partner to the other partner can also be a strategy.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, since Federal law treats same sex couples as strangers, we are denied the 1,138 federal rights, benefits and protections available to different sex married couples. In NYS, if we die intestate, without a Will, the State law determines the blood relative who inherits our estate.

Nothing is provided to our life partner and her/his children or friends/family of choice. If the deceased is in a different-sex marriage, the surviving spouse automatically inherits the estate tax-free.

Because people think they have all the time in the world to “get their affairs in order”, they put it off, usually until it is too late. In the Out and Aging study, more than a quarter of those surveyed in their 40s did not start any advanced planning.

Failing to make informed life planning

decisions causes the medical and legal systems to take control of you.

It is hard to plan for your future when you have to focus on the negative possibilities that may impact on your authority over your life, your relationships and your property. I have my own philosophy on life planning, based on 27 years of hindsight from my professional experience in long term care. I want authority over my life until my life is over. And since I plan to live a very, very long stress-free life, I have my affairs in order.

I work as a life planner to empower LGBT adults through education on planning around punitive laws to minimize damages. Every LGBT adult, regardless of age, needs to start life planning to protect yourself, your relationships and your possessions. Professionals that can assist you include LGBT-savvy elder law or estate planning attorneys, certified financial planners, insurance brokers and certified public accountants. ■

My philosophy on LGBT life planning

By Mary Blanchett It is estimated about 15 million selfidentified lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults live in the United States today. New York State had almost 55,800 same sex couples in 2005. The LGBT community has to deal with unique complications and difficulties in navigating around public policies that discriminate against us.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) does not allow our relationships to be recognized, so we cannot enjoy the same legal and tax benefits different-sex married couples are provided. These include Social Security, inheritance laws, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Medicare, COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act), estate tax, and presumption of spousal authority in decision making.

Strategizing around discriminating laws which sustain inequalities is not simple. Our national LGBT advocacy organizations have been mobilizing citizens, lobbying elected officials, and educating the public to obtain our equal rights on marriage, taxation, inheritance, and partner benefits among other issues. Realizing the need for action, in 2009 the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) published a guide called Planning with Purpose: Legal Basics for LGBT Elders so that we can plan for ourselves and our families.

In an emergency, will your doctor know who you want to talk on your behalf? A first step is deciding whom to appoint as your Health Care Proxy. This is the person with the authority to make all medical decisions for us when we are unable to do so, either temporarily or permanently. In NYS, the spouse in a different-sex marriage is afforded that right unless a Health Care Proxy form states otherwise.

If the emergency persists, can someone access your funds to pay your bills? Designating a Power of Attorney over your accounts or adding a second authorized person to credit cards and utilities can provide the back up to protect continuing service and your credit score.

Recently the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force published Outing Age 2010 on public policy issues affecting LGBT elders. This update of their 2000 Outing Age finds many of the same issues persist today. Out and Aging: The MetLife Study of Gay and Lesbian Baby Boomers study found LGBT adults were worried about outliving their money, who would care for them, and discrimination from health care professionals. Many of us have the same concerns today.

In the New York Times article “The High Price of Being a Gay Couple,” the couple purchased extra life insurance on the partner with the higher income, to try to cover

Highland Contractors is a local business located off of Meigs Street that is big on quality, always returns phones calls, offers fair and competitive pricing, is fully insured and is a member of the Better Business Bureau. Please call us for your free estimate on the following: • New Roofs-Roof Repairs • • Siding • • Painting- Interior and Exterior • • Windows • • Furnace Installation • Check out our website: www.highlandcontractors.net 585.507.3658 phil@highlandcontractors.net

april 2010 • number 433 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010

Soulforce Rider Journey of a Soulforce Rider, Part Two: making change at houghton college

By Andrew Langton Though the Equality Ride started up several weeks back, it is still hard to believe that I’m doing this work. I wonder whether it’s really me that should be doing this and not somebody else, and then I remember the wonderful things that I helped to facilitate at Houghton College.

Even then, though, it’s difficult for me to believe what happened.

Houghton College is a small liberal arts college affiliated with the Wesleyan Church that forbids “homosexual behavior” as a part of its Community Covenant, a document that also forbids premarital sex, the drinking of alcohol, and until recently, social dancing. And you may be surprised that such a school exists within an hour and a half drive from Rochester.

This school is very much a part of our community, and it is even more so for me, as I was a student there for five semesters immediately out of high school.

While my departure from the school may

not have been due to discipline based on my sexual orientation, it was facilitated by the enormous silence that I faced as a queer student of the college. I knew then as I know now, that there were supportive and affirming people on this campus, but there was no way to know who exactly they were. For their silence on the issue of queer identities meant that there had to be the assumption that they were in agreement with the policies and the rhetoric of the fundamentalist wing of the Christian Church. And it is with this experience that I went to the planning of the Equality Ride’s visit.

On arriving in Houghton I had no idea what to expect. Our discussions with the College had been tenuous at best, with little give on their side as to what we were allowed to do on campus. One of my greatest reliefs, though, regarding the restriction of our movement and interaction with students, is that several students noticed how ridiculous it was.

A few commented to one of our Riders that we had come out of our cage in the Dining Hall where we had been cordoned off so that we could continue to talk with the hand-picked students, faculty, and staff over lunch. And that seemed to be

the story of the day. Students went out of their way to come talk with us and listen to us. Several hundred students must have shown up to the small boardroom that nobody had ever heard of before.

At the forum that the college sponsored, the main floor of the Chapel was heavily populated. There were many students who were affirming of our message, and then there were those who just wanted to learn more, even if they couldn’t agree with us that our queer identities are morally good gifts from the Creator.

At the end of the day, we as the Equality Riders know that Houghton College is not going to change its policies regarding sexual orientation or its ignorance surrounding gender identity, from just our one visit. This visit gave me hope that someday, however, it might. As I said, there was an enormous silence while I was at the school. But the silence has been shattered.

And somebody in the queer population has heard that. They have heard that voice of affirmation that we brought to them, and I know that many have shifted closer to being their authentic selves in the world. And, as we saw many straight allies come out and start to plan the formation of a Queer/Straight Alliance, I know that voice will continue to resonate in this community for years to come.

I have achieved something in my community. There will not be another, such as myself, who suffers in the silence -- and that is good. ■

Veterinary Hospital Andy Fleming, DVM Aida Aponte-Lann, DVM 1311 Marsh Road Pittsford, NY 14534 (585) 248-9590

april 2010 • number 433 • gay alliance of the genesee valley • the empty closet

From Our Readers In response to “Be proactive, not reactive” To the Editor: This is in response to Jeff Briggs’ sincere letter to the editor, in which he stated he apologized to Senator Joe Robach for the demonstrations directed at Senator Robach by members of the LGBT community after Joe’s “no” vote on marriage equality.

In a word, Mr. Briggs … DON’T. Don’t apologize for my actions, my spouse’s, my friends’ or any gay activists’ actions and don’t presume to speak for the people who for years, have put all their spare time, money and energy into the fight for LGBT civil rights.

Instead, read history and learn that it took 72 years for women to get the right to vote. Without that, any partial gains that women got, could be (and repeatedly were) taken away by litigation, legislation and political reversals. Similarly, marriage equality is the “brass ring” for LGBT civil rights.

In my activism I have learned that job #1 for any politician is to get re-elected.

Senator Robach is a masterful politician and he is very good at his job… getting re-elected. His district includes theocracyadvocating, homophobic Christian constituents in Greece and gay business owners in the South Wedge. So he is “anti-choice” and “anti-gay marriage” for the conservative churches and throws some money at gay events to hedge his bets with the progressives. This is known as “pandering” and it has nothing to do with taking a moral stand for LGBT rights. It is about getting re-elected.

Joe Robach is in fact a roadblock to full LGBT civil rights and needs to be replaced.

Perhaps you, Mr. Briggs, have the time and financial security to wait for “progress” on LGBT civil rights. My wife Bess and I don’t. I’m 58, have two chronic diseases and my blue-collar family turns pale every time one of our cars hiccups.

For some couples marriage equality is about survival. I know a middle-aged gay couple who had to file bankruptcy when one had a stroke and required nursing home placement. Another surviving spouse lost her home when she lost her partner of almost 30 years, as she could not access survivor’s pension and Social Security benefits. Marriage rights would have protected them.

Mr. Briggs, this movement, like every civil rights movement, will require that enormous political pressure be put on politicians to force them to do the right thing.

So please develop your relationship with Senator Robach. Urge him to stop pandering to gay voters by simply sending gay taxpayer money back into our community and get him to introduce real LGBT rights legislation.

Saying he will “support civil unions” is a red herring… Joe knows that legislatively equal marriage has passed the State Assembly three times and will not be rolled back and re-introduced as civil unions.

But put him to the test: Ask Senator Robach to write and introduce civil union legislation that awards all the same benefits to same-sex couples as marriage. I wish you luck. In the meantime, marriage equality activists in Rochester will keep sending him the message that he is out of time and we are out of patience.

Without apology, Anne Tischer EqualityROC and Civil Rights Front

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010

Making the Scene

INTERGENERATIONAL PANEL: Sean Soper, Americorps member, told the audience he was able to eventually come out to himself and his family. “The acceptance and support I have received from my family was beyond anything I had ever expected.” Photos: Laura McSpaddden

Tara Callan talked about the role of courage along the path towards self-discovery and self-acceptance; she also emphasized her gratitude for the many ways that the path was paved for her by the people in earlier generations.

Chan McKenzie came out to her mother on the day that the APA decided to remove homosexuality from the DSM. “I had a willingness to lose everything… except myself,” she said.

Ron Zacchi, Executive Director of Marriage Equality New York (MENY) at the MENY lobby day in Albany, Feb. 23. Zacchi came to Rochester March 24 to be part of “The Nearly Wed Game” (see May EC) and detail MENY-planned statewide actions for marriage equality in the coming year. EqualityROC will coordinate Rochester participation in the statewide actions. Photos: Bess Watts

WNY activists lobby in Albany; plan local actions

Michael Davey shared with the panel attendees his experiences of growing up in a rural environment, the taunting he endured since he was 12, and his development of selfacceptance.

Andrea Palumbo, a 65year-old transgender woman and native Rochesterian, told the audience, “It’s not about quitting doing the things that make me unique, it’s about being who I am in my mind and my heart.”

Dustin Hilton had a conservative Baptist upbringing that focused on a literal interpretation of the Bible. “My eventual reconciliation of my spirituality and my sexuality allowed my shame to drop away.”

By Todd Plank On Feb. 23, a busload of activists from Buffalo and Rochester traveled to Albany to lobby their elected officials for marriage equality. Kitty Lambert, a busy Buffalo activist who was the catalyst behind the formation of the grassroots organization OutSpoken for Equality, and Anne Tisch-

er, who recently launched Equality ROC, together recruited upwards of 40 WNY activists to make the trek to our state’s capital.

The statewide lobby effort, organized by Marriage Equality New York (MENY), was intended to keep the conversation with legislators about equal rights for same-sex couples going after the disappointing results of last December’s marriage vote in the NYS Senate. This is the first year that WNY has organized a contingent to participate in MENY’s annual winter lobby day.

Marriage Equality New York is stepping up its efforts to mobilize grassroots activists throughout the state. Executive Director Ron Zacchi made his first visit to Rochester on March 24. He spoke at a fun educational event, “The Nearly-Wed Game”, hosted by Equality ROC and several other local activist groups.

Four local same-sex couples faced off in a redo of the popular game show “The Newlywed Game.”

Community activist Anne Tischer related: “Although the format of the evening is designed to be fun, contestants and our ‘studio audience’ know all too well that discrimination is no game. We explored the ways same-sex couples try to protect their families without the full 1324 NY State and 1138 Feder-

al rights of civil marriage.”

Despite the fact that the next chance for a potential passing vote on marriage in the NYS Senate is unlikely to arrive until 2011, a variety of activities are being planned to build local support for same-sex marriage and keep the issue alive in public discourse.

On April 15, an “Unfair Gay Tax Day Unhappy Hour” is being planned.

There will also be a large mobilization event organized on May 22, which is National Harvey Milk Day. In September (Sunday, Sept. 26) Rochester and Buffalo will be participating for the first time in MENY’s signature event, the Rainbow National Wedding March.

To learn more about these and other future events, call 585-426-0862 or e-mail: EqualityROC@ gmail.com or rochester@ meny.us.

Todd Plank in Albany.

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THANK YOU, PAULA: On March 9, Monroe County Legislators Paul Haney and Harry Bronson of the Democratic Caucus presented Paula Silvestrone, the former head of AIDS Rochester, with a proclamation celebrating her 20 years of service to the community. The proclamation praised her “unflinching efforts” and “extraordinary leadership.” Photo: Carrie Maziarz

HER: Sistas Sayin’ Somethin’ presented a multi-media art show opening and performance event at the Flying Squirrel on March 20. Top: Dancers of Sword & Scarab. Above left: BlackSpear a.k.a. Maisha. Above right: Artist Francesca Lananne-Jeune. Below left: Poet Lori Hertelin. Photos: billijo wolf

Raised fists of Labor solidarity at the LGBT Activist Conference on Feb. 20 at RIT, organized by Civil Rights Front. Photo: Bess Watts

CLARA ENGEL sang at KC Tea and Noodles March 12. See B 3 for a review. Photo: Laura McSpadden

LGBT HEALTH MONTH: The Gay Alliance, MOCHA Center and Empire State Pride Agenda hosted a transgender healthcare panel at the GAGV Youth Center on March 18. L-R: Judith Bauman (MOCHA), Pam White, Patrick Pitoni, Lukas Pfaff, Bianca Castro, Mary Zicari (ESPA). Photo: billijo wolf

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the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 433 • april 2010