1558 December 3, 2014

December 03, 2014

Issue 1558

World AIDS Day observed all around the planet

Coach in Steubenville case faces charge in attack on Scottsdale’s Ferguson protest OBSERVER STAFF SCOTTSDALE -- Two men were charged last weekend in an attack on about 50 people who were protesting the recent events in Ferguson, Mo. One of the two reportedly is still on probation for his role in a highly publicized 2012 rape case in Steubenville, Ohio.

The protest in Old Town Scottsdale was aimed at a St. Louis County grand jury’s failure to indict a white police officer in connection with the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown.

Dennis Gilman, wellknown in the Phoenix area for videotaping news events, taped two men emerging from the Wasted Grain bar to hassle the protesters.

Inside Prince Harry reveals his biggest secret

At the time, of course, no one realized that one of the men was Matthew Belardine, the former volunteer football coach at Steubenville High who served a 10-day jail sentence after being convicted of lying to authorities in connection with the rape of a passed-out 16-year-old girl.

“I am grateful to be a part of an all-inclusive community in Tucson that hopes to create an AIDS free generation and to support people living with HIV/AIDS.” --Wendell Hicks, executive director of SAAF

See Fireside Chat on page 3

Belardine reportedly allowed underage drinking in his home by the victim and several members of Steubenville’s somewhat legendary football team.

Belardine was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The other man, Scott Busic, also from Steubenville, was charged with misdemeanor assault. Both were booked into Scottsdale City Jail.

Continued on page 13

“After all, none of the progress we’ve made against AIDS could have been achieved by a single government or foundation or corporation working alone.”

--Barack Obama, U.S. president A red balloon ribbon floats on the corner of E. Congress St. and N. Toole Ave. in Tucson over the weekend commemorating World AIDS Day.

Judges toss marriage bans in two Confederate states

TUCSON – Local men’s chorus Reveille is primed to pump out the holiday glee live onstage for your listening pleasure. “Tis the 20th Season,” the group’s holiday celebration will jingle all the way at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St., 8 p.m. Dec. 6 and 3 p.m. Dec. 7.

How do we stop the HIV epidemic in the South?

Page 6

Center for Arizona Policy = bigots R us Page 7

Super-size that penis while you’re at it, please!

Page 5

Obama’s order sets off intestinal ruptures among the Tea Baggers Page 4

Barber-McSally recount won’t add 133 contested votes Page 13

Gay holiday in store from Reveille Men’s Chorus OBSERVER STAFF

Page 13

OBSERVER STAFF Federal judges struck down same-sex marriage bans last week in two states from the Old Confederacy -- Mississippi and Arkansas -- which could bring to 37 the number of states allowing gay and lesbian weddings and extend same-sex marriage in the Deep South.

In Mississippi, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves stayed his ruling for 14 days, but added that county clerks were not to issue marriage licenses until the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals or U.S. Supreme Court rules on appeals from other states in that circuit, even if it takes more than two weeks.

For the last six years, curly haired and bright-eyed tenor Jai Smith has been harmonizing with the chorus. Smith, who was originally recruited to the group by Ajia Simone shared that they have been rehearsing the music for this show since

August. Even in 100-degree weather they were learning songs about snow.

Aside from triple-digit temps, Smith shared that the performers had extra fun learning to wear heels for one of the numbers.

“Despite the stereotype, there are lots of gay men who do not know how to walk in heels, let alone dance in them,” said Smith.

“After several failed attempts to look good in heels, a group of us decided to have a bad heel walk-off. It was quite possibly one of the Continued on page 11

America’s current fad: ‘colorblind’ racism. Stop it "Think I FINALLY get what you've been saying all along. That cop just shot him down for doing nothing more than compiling (sic) with his commands. No offense to black people, but I SURE AM GLAD I'M NOT BLACK IN THIS COUNTRY! Re-evaluating my opinions of the last fifty years."

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood immediately said the state would appeal to the 5th Circuit.

In Arkansas, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker also stayed her ruling pending a challenge to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court. A spokesman for the Arkansas state attorney general said a decision on whether to appeal would be made “after Thanksgiving.”

Continued on page 3

See White House commemorates World AIDS Day on page 16

-- A reader named David, in an email to Leonard Pitts Jr. at the Miami Herald

Guest column on page 10

Pitts had written about South Carolina state trooper Sean Groubert shooting an unarmed black man, Levar Jones, and saying Jones attacked him when Groubert's dash camera showed Jones only trying to comply with the officer's orders.

Page 2

Bryan Fischer says states should defy courts on marriage Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association said last week that his group has “mutated into a gargantuan beast -- “ Oh, wait! That’s what actually DID happen! What Fischer SAID happened is that the federal courts have mutated into a gargantuan beast, “looming over liberty, freedom and the Constitution itself, and imposing its own benighted and twisted version of morality on the entire country with no legal, statutory, constitutional or moral authority.”

Good God -- can’t anyone protect him from his own gas-spouting?

He eventually got around to saying that when it comes to same-sex marriage, states should tell the courts to blow it out their asses.

“Governors do not take an oath of allegiance to the Supreme Court,” Fischer farted with vehemence. “They take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution. It’s time they started acting like it.”

Imodium! Someone bring this man Imodium!

Finnish Parliament narrowly approves same-sex marriage HELSINKI -- The Finnish Parliament voted 105 to 92 last week to approve a citizen initiative on legalizing same-sex marriage.

Finland had been the only country in the Nordic region without marriage equality. It is now the 12th European state with approval.

Same-sex couples in Finland had been able to enter into registered partnerships since 2002.

The measure gives such couples equal rights to adopt children and share a surname.

Creed’s lead singer apparently having public meltdown Scott Stapp of the band Creed certainly had one of the most-heard voices of the 1990s. The band’s version of “With Arms Wide Open” followed us hourly for months, but if it hadn’t been so common, Stapp’s voice might have been called “haunting” or “distinctive” instead of simply “inescapable.”

Now he’s posted a video singing that he’s homeless and penniless, but TMZ reported that sheriff’s officers spoke with Stapp and his wife at their Palm Beach County, Fla., home during a “wellness check” and said things looked fine to them.

Even while Creed was selling 40 million albums (the ninth biggest-selling band of the ‘90s, and as recently as 2003, Creed had the biggest-selling album of the year), Stapp’s wellpublicized troubles were the result of romances with alcohol and drugs, but his public face was an obsession with a particular brand of religion.

OBSERVER There were times after that when he seemed in control, but it didn’t last.

In the new video, Stapp, 41, rambles on about his money -- at one point, he says royalties were never paid; at another point, the IRS froze all his money because of a “clerical error”; also at one point he said someone changed his passwords and transferred all the money out of his accounts. He also seems (in the video) to be on the run from the CIA or the DEA or someone, although the deputies found him at home.

His second wife’s divorce petition reportedly says he disappeared for weeks starting in early October, was ingesting amphetamines and steroids, was getting bizarre messages from God, and was just generally in no shape to be around his family.

Hunky instructor offers a workout as nature intended

BARNSLEY, England -- The legendary British reserve is obviously showing a crack here and there these days.

Personal trainer Colin Dobson, 42, regularly puts a group of about 30 men and women through their paces -- with everybody going at it in the buff.

Dobson says his pupils include a general practitioner, a lawyer and a retired policeman. His youngest client is 18 and the oldest a couple in their 70s.

There are obvious advantages to exercising all starkers.

“You can see the muscle group you’re working on in the mirror,” Dobson said, along with experiencing greater freedom of movement.

“I don’t ask ladies to run naked on a machine, and chaps don’t do it, either.

It’s not a good idea for obvious reasons,” he added.

His workouts (at least the ones where clothing sits on the bench) are mainly mat work and stretching, pilates and yoga. Sessions in this South Yorkshire city attract naturists and others who “just fancy having a go,” Dobson said.

No member of the Observer staff was willing to be photographed for this story -- we’ve all had enough trouble with dangling participles before.

Macklemore joins 2,000 in Seattle’s Ferguson protest SEATTLE -- Gay-friendly rapper and spoken-word artist Macklemore was among 2,000 people in Seattle protesting the lack of a criminal indictment in Ferguson, Mo., last week.

He was dressed to blend in (hoodie up, etc.), but in his hometown it was inevitable that the media quickly discovered he was in the crowd and began broadcasting footage showing him in the “hands up, don’t shoot” posture that had characterized earlier protests in Ferguson.

In response to interview questions, he repeatedly said simply, “I’m just here for Michael Brown.”

WEEKLY

He was still with the protesters when they reached 12th Avenue and Pine, but there were no immediate reports on whether he was with the crowd when it became involved in a clash with police.

New pill guaranteed to make farts smell like yummy chocolate GESVRES, France -- Decades from now, mankind may look back on Christian Poincheval as the Einstein of the fart field.

Poincheval, 65, has introduced a pill he promises will give farts the aroma of chocolate. He added this plant-based compound (available online at pilupet. com for about $12.50 per 60 capsules) to his line of pills that give farts the aroma of roses or violets.

Also -- no doubt of particular interest to certain dog owners -- he has a fartreducing powder for pets.

He said necessity was the mother of invention after a particularly heavy restaurant meal in 2006.

“Our farts were so smelly after the copious meal, we nearly suffocated,” he told London’s Telegraph. “The people at the table next to us were not happy.”

Actually, his pills are not so much something new as a revival of something old. The fennel, seaweed, plant resins, bilberry, cacao zest and vegetable coal he uses have a history of use to reduce bloating and flatulence.

His research grew out of the fact that when he was vegetarian, his flatulence was less offensive, but when he started eating meat again, something smelled rotten.

The holiday season is a happy one for Poincheval because it brings an . . . um . . . explosion in sales.

Sarah Palin to run against McCain in GOP primary?

SCOTTSDALE -- It’s no secret that one of the Tea Party’s top targets is U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, because he has (in the past) supported immigration reform.

And now, no less than The New York Times has reported that “two prominent conservative activists,” who didn’t want their names published for obvious reasons, confirmed to the paper that Tea Party leaders plan to ask Sarah Palin if she’s willing to challenge McCain in a GOP primary.

Palin now reportedly spends most of her time at her Scottsdale home.

The delicious irony there, of course, is that McCain may learn the hard way that if you bed down with a snake, it’s likely to bite you.

If McCain hadn’t plucked Palin out of obscurity to be his vice presidential running mate, the world might have missed out on some good laughs, but the country also would have had one less plague to worry about.

Blogger TBogg had a great time with the news that the longtime McCainPalin contretemps might end up being formalized in a primary fight.

December 03, 2014 “It is awfully early to recruit Palin for 2016 now since she’ll probably quit the campaign before Valentine’s Day next February,” TBogg wrote, referring to Palin’s refusal to finish out her term as Alaska governor.

He also couldn’t resist a dig at the hard-drinking, hard-brawling Palin family: “Without John McCain’s Hail Mary pass, America would have been deprived of their Kmart Kardashians.”

Ouchie!

Inaugural Bisbee Winter Pridefest set for January BISBEE – With many activities scheduled at various locations around the historic mining town, Bisbee’s Winter Pridefest will usher in a new year Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, 2015.

Voted as having the best year-round climate in the Grand Canyon State, winter is a great time of year time to be in Bisbee. The inaugural Pridefest immediately follows the well-known annual Rainbow RV event in Quartzsite.

This celebration has the blessing of the Bisbee Pride Committee and the gay owned and gay friendly businesses Continued on next page

1830 E Broadway Blvd #124-215 Tucson, AZ 85719 www.observerweekly.com info@observerweekly.com Voice Mail 520-812-0909 Editor-In-Chief Bob Ellis Executive Editor Nicholas K. M. Pafford Senior Editor Greg Miller Assistant Editor Christine Beall Assistant Editor Christopher L. Pankratz Phoenix Area Distribution T-Media Promotion Send Classifieds, Inquiry Letters, etc to: info@observerweekly.com Publication of names or photos of any person or organization in the Observer Weekly is not to be construed as indication of the sexual orientation of such person, organization or advertisers or any employees thereof.

Opinions expressed by contributors, advertisers or in PSA’s are not necessarily those of the Observer, its staff or advertisers. The Observer assumes responsibility for its own editorial policy only. © 2014 by Observer Publications Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted or archived in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Observer Publications Inc.

December 03, 2014 Continued from previous page in the city.

Check out the event website, bisbeewinterpridefest.com to view the activities taking place during the event.

‘Imitation Game’ makes secondhighest per-screen profit in U.S. release Despite only having a limited release in the U.S., Alan Turing biopic “The Imitation Game” made the second highest per-screen profit of 2014.

The film, about the life of gay code breaker and computer genius Turing, was released in four cinemas in New York and Los Angeles over the weekend.

It made on average $120,500 per screen, coming second only to “The Grand Budapest Hotel” for 2014.

The film’s writer earlier this month revealed he was repeatedly advised not to make the film.

SAAF and Ben’s Bells team up to say thank you to supporters TUCSON -- This year the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation has teamed up with local non-profit organization Ben’s Bells to offer a special gift to its supporters.

The first 25 people who make a gift of $250 or more before the end of the year will receive a limited edition Red Ribbon ornament from Ben’s Bells.

“This is a small token of our appreciation for your support and will be a wonderful reminder of your commitment in the fight against HIV and AIDS throughout the year,” said Wendell Hicks, executive director of SAAF. Ben’s Bells are hung randomly around the community for people to find and take home as a reminder to practice intentional kindness.

“The mission of Ben’s Bells is to inspire, educate, and motivate people to realize the impact of intentional kindness, and to empower individuals

OBSERVER to act according to that awareness, thereby strengthening ourselves, our relationships and our communities,” said Jeannette Maré, founder and executive director of Ben’s Bells Project.

Donate to SAAF at saaf.org. Check out bensbells.org to learn how you can get involved with Ben’s Bells.

Wingspan’s annual dinner celebrates legalized love

WEEKLY

Page 3

Commentary

Finding queer through Leslie Feinberg’s ‘Stone Butch Blues’

TUCSON -- The 26th Anniversary Wingspan Dinner is scheduled for Feb. 15.

After being postponed from its September date, this year’s dinner has been rescheduled for 2015 and everyone is invited to help celebrate love being legal.

This year’s event will feature Wingspan’s Annual Community Awards (honorees to be announced), a keynote address (the speaker will be announced in December), a silent auction and a comedy performance.

The dinner will be held at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Dr. beginning with registration at 5:30 p.m. and ending at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 before Jan. 15, and $145 Jan. 16 and thereafter.

Visit saaf.org/ways-to-support/ wingspan-dinner/ to buy tickets.

Judges toss marriage bans in two Confederate states Continued from page 1 Still, same-sex couples in the two states celebrated.

“We’re thrilled. . . . Mississippi was not last. Mississippi was not last.

Imagine that. And Arkansas the same day,” said Charlene Smith-Smathers, 63, who has been with her wife, Dee, 73, for 28 years.

“It’s moving a great deal faster than I ever had dreamed it might. It’s changing and it’s only a matter of time now,” Smith-Smathers added.

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage at present.

Memoirist Daisy Hernández, in tribute to the late author and activist Leslie Feinberg, recalls the words and places that Feinberg’s classic novel evokes for her.

By Daisy Hernández THE ADVOCATE

bought sofas like that. I sat on the sofa in the conference room.

Sometimes with a book, you don’t hold onto passages or plot lines but rather places. And not even the places where you read the book or the places in the book, but other places. Places that somehow feel more true to the book than anything else.

I was in my early 20s. It was the late ‘90s. I was working at NYU Press. The conference room had a sofa and also a piece of furniture made of dark wood. It was the bookcases, maybe, or a table or a side table or all three.

For example, if someone asks me: What do you remember about first reading “Stone Butch Blues?” I am not able to answer with absolute honesty. I will want to say, “The conference room, I remember the conference room,” but then the other person will think I read Leslie Feinberg’s groundbreaking 1993 novel in a conference room, and that’s not what I mean. So I don’t say it, but the conference room is the first place that comes to mind when I think about “Stone Butch Blues.”

There was a sofa. The cushions were soft, the color mauve or cinnamon or some other word I hadn’t known could be applied to pillows until I met people after college who worked in offices and

I hadn’t grown up with any furniture made of real wood, and I sat on the sofa that day and I felt the difference, how there was a weight in that room, a kind of permanence I knew had to do with money and whiteness and being normal.

My family and I had lived in the same corner of Jersey for more than 20 years, but our kitchen cabinets and my desk, with their particleboard constructions, filled our home like our lives did — they were easy to throw away.

The conference room had a low ceiling. It was around six in the evening.

There was the wood and the mauve sofa cushions and me holding hands with him. We were trying to decide where to eat and where to go after that because Continued on page 4

Page 4

Finding queer through Leslie Feinberg’s ‘Stone Butch Blues’

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

December 03, 2014

Obama’s order sets off intestinal ruptures among the Tea Baggers

Continued from page 3 I was 21 but he wasn’t. And he didn’t have a driver’s license that matched the two precious letters: He. And I sat in that conference room and felt I was inside the pages of “Stone Butch Blues” because Leslie Feinberg had written about life the way it felt.

Because I was reading the book, I knew I couldn’t tell my beloved that he had heart-shaped lips. It would bruise him. And I understood that I was being selfish, wanting him to be soft and hard at the same time the way Leslie had written. And I understood too that because “Stone Butch Blues” existed as a book on a secret shelf in my room at my parents’ house, I was not alone with this and I did not have to be normal.

Not really.

It was also about the wood furniture in that conference room.

I had grown up with parents and aunties who worked in factories, whose bodies tightened and curled and collapsed into kitchen chairs at the end of shifts.

Before “Stone Butch Blues,” I didn’t know factories existed in literature. Not in the voices of the people who actually worked in them. Leslie wrote about arms trembling with exhaustion and time clocks that did not only measure minutes and seconds but friendships and love, too.

And it was in “Stone Butch Blues” that I first read about union work and queer folks. Before the conference room, before the wood furniture, before college, I had been in a union at the chain supermarket where I worked during high school. We went on strike at one point, and I spent the better part of an afternoon pleading on a megaphone with customers to boycott the store.

I did that until a customer marched up to me, baring his teeth and threatening to punch me in the face if I didn’t stop. Reading “Stone Butch Blues,” I learned I was not the only queer kid who’d been in a union and wanted to write. Leslie’s novel stitched my life to a larger cuento.

Leslie went on to write “Trangsender Warriors: Making History From Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman,” “Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue,” and “Drag King Dreams.” She/zie continued organizing against inhumanity in all its forms and she/zie continued making life and home with the writer Minnie Bruce Pratt (yes, another literary heroine of mine). I’ll always remember Leslie, though, for “Stone Butch Blues” and giving me and so many readers places to remember.

PFLAG hosts holiday potluck for Senior Pride TUCSON -- PFLAG will host a holiday potluck for Senior Pride on Dec. 13, at 4 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall at Rincon Congregational United Church of Christ at 122 N. Craycroft Rd. Contact Mick to RSVP and let him know what you might bring at pflagtuc@pflagtucson.org or 520-3603795.

By R.D. Smith GUEST COLUMNIST P r e s i d e n t Obama’s executive order allowing some of the undocumented immigrants to temporarily stay in the U.S. legally exploded the Tea-pot for at least two reasons: A) Obama did something, when he was not supposed to actually try to do anything, because Kenyaghazigate; and B) What he did allows a bunch of those “eeeewww!” unbleached people to act as if they’re just as human as the rest of us.

The Tea Party movement, which started out wanting a reduced federal government, reduced federal deficit, and less power for the Wall Street wing of the GOP, had just about turned into a oneissue clique against immigration, so by picking that issue on which to finally do SOMETHING, Obama single-handedly revived the Tea Party’s sagging chupacabra chorus.

And it’s worth every second of it.

Had fantasy of Obama yelling at GOP like Rorschach: “I’m not locked in here with you -- you’re locked in here with me!”

In a way, he just did —Billmon (@billmon1) November 21, 2014

While only 57 percent of Americans tell pollsters they support a path to citizenship across the board for the undocumented who’ve lived here for years, that support jumps to 74 percent if the program includes making them pay fees and back taxes and a bunch of other things most of them will be unlikely to afford -ever.

I read about Obama’s order, it doesn’t even provide citizenship -- any of that would be years down the road, after the hernias have scarred over, and probably after people have forgotten that an executive order was supposed to end civilization as we knew it.

The heavy restrictions on immigrants actually becoming citizens are OK, at least with the small group of the undocumented that I hang out with. With most of them, citizenship is a small concern if at all at this point -- if they can just raise the kids they have here and live for now without being stressed about deportation, they aren’t freaking out about the possibility of someday returning to the lands of their birth.

Polls since the president acted say 50 percent feel like he got it about right, 26 percent say he went too far, and 22 percent say not far enough -- but even though half of us say his split was about right, somewhat less than that agree with him actually doing it!

That’s what the moon-howlers refuse to acknowledge: For the group Obama is trying to help right now, they have children here, and they want to raise their families the best they can, just as Ted Cruz wants (though I shudder to think about him influencing children).

Despite thousands of wingnut intestinal ruptures over it, from what

And all the whining the Tea Baggers can do won’t change the fact

that for most of us, our ancestors came here in exactly the way today’s undocumented did: They got off a ship or crossed a land border, without a “please” or “by your leave” from anybody.

Until the 1920s, the U.S. didn’t have an immigration restriction -- and when we got it, it barred only prostitutes and Chinese people.

(Other Asian groups were then added.)

I’m surprised I haven’t heard people screaming in the streets that “my ancestors came here legally -- these moochers need to go through the process!” But if your ancestors were neither prostitutes nor Chinese and they came here before the 1940s, there was no process for them to follow.

For Pete’s sake, shut your whining pie-hole.

December 03, 2014

OBSERVER

India: Delhi’s first Pride since homosexuality was re-criminalized

WEEKLY

Page 5

Super-size that penis while you’re at it, please!

OBSERVER STAFF WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- If ever a story was guaranteed to set records in the sophomoric wisecrack category, it was one last month from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Researchers, so the story calmly announced, are making progress on growing human penises in a laboratory.

New Delhi held its seventh ever Pride march on Sunday.

By Naith Payton PINK NEWS The first Delhi Pride march has taken place since India re-criminalized homosexuality last year.

Defiant protesters took to the streets In Delhi’s seventh ever Queer Pride on Sunday, chanting “freedom” and “I’m gay, that’s OK.” Last December, India’s Supreme Court devastated the local LGBT community when it re-instated Section 377 of the penal code -- reinstating the country’s ban on homosexuality.

Under the penal code, those found to be engaging in “sexual acts against the order of nature” face up to 10 years in prison.

One of the organizers, Mohnish Kabir Malhotr told Reuters, “We are making a statement that we exist. We are not a minuscule minority. Deal with it.”

Others called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce legislation to repeal the ban.

Activist Rudrani Chettri said, “Modi is a very wise person. I don’t know whether he’ll support or not support, but he’s not going to do anything which is going to harm any Indian citizen’s right.”

However, Modi has taken little action to repeal the law since taking office in May -- and some are losing faith that he will act to revoke the ban.

Activists said the ruling made them feel like second-class citizens, and had increased anti-gay discrimination. It was hoped the pride march would help fight this prejudice.

Organizers said beforehand, “The Delhi Queer Pride is a parade for diversity, acceptance, solidarity and resistance.

“We invite members and allies of the queer communities to march together to inspire, educate, support and promote an open, free and equal society, and work towards a future without discrimination and prejudice.

“Join us as we celebrate our identities and stand up against oppression and violence.”

Tony Phillips, writing at The Blog, said he took the news pretty calmly: “My wife had to deal with me bouncing around like Tigger for a whole afternoon -- ‘The wonderful thing about peckers is peckers are wonderful things’ -- and she observed, cynically enough, ‘Do you mean to tell me they have the technology to grow regenerative organs and the first thing they do is grow a dick?’ ... Obviously what the world needs is more penises.”

According to Phillips, his wife wondered why they wouldn’t start with a heart, lung or liver.

This probably demonstrates one of the basic differences between men and women.

But seriously, the researchers didn’t start with penises -- they started with vaginas. Many years ago, in fact.

During the period from 2005 to 2008, they implanted vaginas in four teenage girls and now say all four are “working normally.”

According to a Wake Forest University website, “The girls in the study were born with Mayer-RokitanskyKüster-Hauser syndrome, a rare genetic condition in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent.”

The same treatment could potentially help with vaginal cancer or injuries, according to the researchers.

(More information: www.wakeforest. edu) Then in 2009, the Wake Forest scientists succeeded in growing an artificial penis that functioned for a rabbit, and the juvenile jokes were on -- but the research is in earnest, nonetheless.

The lab-grown manparts are expected to “one day grace the groins of men who have congenital problems, complications from cancer, or traumatic injuries,” according to the website livescience.com.

“Soldiers injured during combat could be among those who benefit, and the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine is providing money for the study,” livescience added.

Phillips had other suggestions for the scientists, “like maybe they could splice in some anglerfish genes to make it glow in the dark. Even cooler would be a king cobra so a guy could sit crosslegged on the sidewalk and charm his own snake.”

REALLY sophomoric, Tony ...

But Phillips was on a roll: “The only step left is to grow such tissue into a fullscale penis and sew it onto a dude with a broken dinger, but it’s probably a bit more technical than I’m making it sound.

Whatever. The point is, well heck -- LAB GROWN PENISES! ...

“Hearts, lungs and livers can wait.

After all, there’s no sense keeping people alive if their privates aren’t worth living for.”

Page 6

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

December 03, 2014

How do we stop the HIV epidemic in the South?

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall HIV PLUS MAGAZINE It’s the first day of the 18th Annual United States Conference on AIDS in San Diego, and it’s standing room only at the enormously popular panel discussion “Black Gay Men: Where Are We Now? Where Do We Need to Be?” The panelists have just wrapped their recommendations when the woman stands and delivers her pronouncement and encapsulates what I will hear all week. Among HIV activists, health care workers, and people living with HIV or AIDS, there’s a pervasive sense of exhaustion that colors nearly every conversation about the epidemic of HIV in the South, a region that, sadly, boasts the country’s highest number of HIV cases — and of deaths from complications of AIDS. As Ebola — a disease that, as of going to press, had been verified as the cause of one death in this country — dominates newscasts around the country, few mainstream media outlets even bother covering HIV or AIDS anymore. But it still claims the lives of more than 15,500 Americans each year.

“We are racing against time — and AIDS — to avoid becoming a people that once was,” said HIV-positive activist, journalist, and artist Keith Green, a former associate editor of Positively Aware. “Whether positive or negative, black gay men live with HIV each day of our lives.”

Why are Americans fixated on an epidemic that is half a world away rather than on the epidemic ravaging southern states on our own shores? Is it because the disproportionate number of Americans dying of HIV-related conditions are AfricanAmerican?

That’s what southern activists and providers want to know. The sense of being ignored or invisible punctuates their conversations. “We can’t get people to notice or cover what’s happening in the South,” adds the woman who has our rapt attention, and whose name I didn’t catch. Even an article in a special South-focused issue of HIV specialist says of the virus in the area “Call 911!

There is an emergency and no one has answered our call.”

Sure, things are better than the early days of the epidemic, and recent medical and pharmaceutical breakthroughs have dramatically increased the longevity of

Horación y Celebración “La Virgen de Guadalupe” Mercado San Agustin ~ 100 S. Avenida del Convento Saturday, December 13, 2014 1-5 PM Mariachi Music ~ Aztec & Folklorico Dancers ~ Food 2 PM ~Altar Blessing, Grupo Cualique, Mariachi Presentation Musicians, Singers, and Dancers are encouraged and welcome to perform.

In1945 Pope Pius XII declared Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the Empress of all the Americas. During December we hold an event to honor and celebrate the Patron Saint of all the Americas.

Original painting by Frank Ybarra, www.ybarraart.com.

Center for Hispanic Performing Arts Foundation presents Tucson Pozole Fest™ Come enjoy variations of traditional Mexican Pozole by Seis Kitchen ~ Dolce Pastello & Agustin Kitchen Supporters Mercado San Agustin~CHISPA Foundation~ AZ Bilingual Estudio Piel, Blu-Wine & Cheese, La Estrella Bakery For Information Contact godduran63@msn.com or call (520) 730-8721 Net proceeds will benefit CHISPA Foundation

those who can access treatment. But those same breakthroughs may have lulled many into the mistaken impression that HIV is no longer a threat.

People are still dying of AIDS complications, especially in the South.

“Blacks/African Americans continue to experience the most severe burden of HIV,” says the Centers for Disease Control. Although they represent only 12 percent of the population, black Americans account for nearly half of all deaths from AIDS complications annually.

The same can be said for many African-American women and men living in these nine southern states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.

Residents of these states are particularly vulnerable: Although they make up only 22 percent of the total U.S. population, they represent nearly 32 percent of new HIV diagnoses.

So why are blacks in the South bearing the brunt of the current HIV epidemic? The reasons are varied.

The hostilities and inequalities currently shackling African-Americans trace their ancestry to the days before the Civil War. We may be long past the time when the southern economy was built on the backs of slaves, but those Continued on page 12

December 03, 2014

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

Page 7

Center for Arizona Policy = bigots R us • It opposes anti-bullying laws of any kind -- presumably religious freedom assures the right to bully gay kids.

OBSERVER STAFF Many Arizonans weren’t familiar with the Center for Arizona Policy until this year when the Legislature passed the center’s bill to wipe out any progress made on LGBT rights and Gov. Jan Brewer was forced to veto it in the midst of a nationwide uproar.

And what does the center spend its money promoting?

• It’s a major backer of laws allowing businesses to refuse to serve, hire, rent to, or breathe the same air as LGBTs.

That was SB 1062, which authorized discrimination based on religion -- in other words, anyone who wanted to ignore any legal protections for LGBT citizens would be free to do so merely by mouthing the words “it’s against my religion.”

• It supports funneling more taxpayer money away from public schools to private schools and homeschooling.

It supports (and helps think up new) restrictions on abortion, as with the state’s Women’s Health Act. Part of that law is still under a court stay, but as one blogger commented about it: “The only connection I can find in it to women’s health is the likelihood of giving women headaches!”

But the center was working on behalf of prejudice long before that. Arizona’s 2008 constitutional amendment was a pet project of the center’s executive director, Cathi Herrod, who also was a power behind SB 1062.

And the center was unbelievably successful while avoiding the public spotlight.

A Huffington Post report from February (about the time of the SB 1062 shitstorm) stated that 123 measures promoted by the center had been signed into law.

Twenty-nine others had been passed by Arizona’s Neanderthal legislators but vetoed by various governors.

You can bet none of them were LGBT-friendly.

The center’s mission statement sounds innocent enough -- it “promotes and defends the foundational values of life, marriage and family” -- but it strictly “promotes and defends” the modern wingnut version of those values, without even a nod to the previous centuries when gays and lesbians were widely tolerated if not legally protected.

And you can expect even worse to come: Herrod was a major policy adviser on the campaign of Gov.-elect Doug Ducey. Plans are already afoot for a new version of 1062 and we do not jest about the approaching apocalypse.

Ducey and Herrod are so close that the Blog for Arizona (the nation’s top political blog according to The Washington Post) has referred to Ducey as “Cathi’s Clown” and to Herrod herself as the “Dr. Evil” of religious extremism and bigotry.

The Ducey-Her-Rod administration -- oh wait, that’s a strap-on commercial we’ve been working on! Pull out!

Seriously, when the state’s samesex marriage ban got tossed on the ash heap, Herrod became a drama queen: “Today, we grieve,” she wrote on one of the center’s blog sites. “We

grieve for the children who now have no chance of growing up with a mom and a dad. We mourn the loss of a culture and its moral foundation. We mourn a culture that continues to turn its back on God and His principles. But we do not despair. We do not throw in the towel.

We do not give up.”

She forgot to include the part about the kids who would have no parents at all if not for LGBT parents.

Other notable facts about the Center for Arizona Policy: • Its biggest single source of funding, according to a story at Salon, is the National Christian Charitable Foundation -- yes, the outfit that in turn is heavily funded by groups affiliated with Hobby Lobby.

• It is adamantly opposed to Planned Parenthood (well, natch), the Affordable Care Act, the right for terminally ill patients to end their lives, and comprehensive sex education.

“CAP’s Cathi Herrod acts like she owns the place, meaning, of course, the Arizona Legislature, where her anti-LGBT initiative, Senate Bill 1062, backfired big-time, with a statewide and nationwide backlash that forced Gov. Jan Brewer’s hand and resulted in a veto. Herrod was rightly demonized, but we’ve got some bad news for ya: She ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

-- Phoenix New Times in its Best of Phoenix issue, naming Herrod the best example of religious extremism for 2014

While Herrod’s antics may be embarrassing to residents of the 21st century, she’s still being paid -- and well -- to make a fool of herself, and with her boy in the governor’s office, it’s fair to say we’ll see anti-gay proposals to top anything that’s been tried nationally so far.

As New Times said about her, “True believers are always the hardest to fight.

And true believer lobbyists with law degrees and six-figure salaries, even more so.”

The next four years might be the time to rent that hut in Cuando Cubango and get the hell outta Dodge.

Page 8

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

December 03, 2014

December 03, 2014

OBSERVER WEEKLY

Page 9

Page 10

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

December 03, 2014

America’s current fad: ‘colorblind’ racism. Stop it

By R.D. Smith GUEST COLUMNIST

their brain decided it was there, anyway, because that’s just how society is.

When the subject of race comes up and someone tells me “I don’t see color,” I immediately know I’m probably talking to a racist.

When I’ve written before that racism in this society is so pervasive that most of us don’t notice it, I was not guilty of oversimplifying the case (which I often am, since a column is only a few words scratching the surface).

Oh, maybe not an intentional one, and maybe even in their deepest consciousness they don’t believe they’re a racist, but let’s face it -- if you look at someone, you do in fact see whether they’re so white they’re pink, or whether they’re brown, black or stripes.

To deny it indicates dissemblance somewhere in the process. The key is whether it causes you to make all kinds of assumptions about the worth of the person inside that skin before you have any evidence on which to make those assumptions.

That brings us to a study involving a photo of two white men fighting and a photo of a black man and a white man fighting.

The results ain’t pretty.

After looking at the photos, people were asked which one of the two white men in the photo was wielding a knife, and most of them answered correctly.

When they were asked about the other photo, and whether the white man was wielding the knife or was it the black man, most people said it was the black man even though the photo left no room for doubt: The white man was the armed one.

The thing that really brings it home is that even most of the black people in the experiment said the black man in the photo was the assailant -- their eyes couldn’t possibly have seen that, but

Racism is so deeply ingrained in SOCIETY, not just white people or just black people, that unless you consciously start noticing, you can be as ignorant as a group of U.S. Supreme Court justices who ruled that racism in the U.S. simply went away.

John Blake, writing for CNN recently, included the knife-fight experiment and concluded: “Science has bad news, though, for anyone who claims to not see race: They’re deluding themselves ... “ Deluding ourselves is, of course, common enough and can be harmless enough.

But if you’ve taken a few minutes to scan some of the comments posted since Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for killing an unarmed teenager who happened to be walking in the street at the wrong time and you did not experience a wave of nausea and the nastiest stench that ever quivered your nostrils, then you are part of the problem, boys and girls, and you need to begin working on yourself.

Blake also mentioned a book called “Racism Without Racists” by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva.

“The main problem nowadays is not the folks with the hoods, but the folks dressed in suits,” Bonilla-Silva is quoted as saying.

“The more we assume that the problem of racism is limited to the Klan, the birthers, the Tea Party or to the Republican Party, the less we understand that racial domination is a collective process and we are all in this game.”

I’m not any expert on racism -- or on very many other things.

I’m just somebody who grew up on a farm 20 miles down a dirt road in a part of Texas most of you don’t even want pass through. But I grew up in a family and a community that prepared me for a one-of-a-kind life enhanced by people from just about every religious group on earth, every ethnic group, every income and educational level, every political persuasion, people with criminal records that would shock you ...

Well, let’s just say I got around some when I left that farm.

I learned that there are dirtbags in every one of those groups.

I also learned that there are people in every one of those groups whose generosity and selflessness will shock you speechless when you least expect it and make you feel unworthy to share the same air with them.

For once, I’d like to say something about black people that I do feel I know from experience.

I marched in a couple of demonstrations way back when, but I never actually lived among black people until I was 50 years old. As a newspaper reporter (back when we actually had those!), you could expect to be kept at arm’s length by the community -- I guess people were afraid some of their skeletons might end up in the paper.

That was not the case with the black community where I lived. Once they decided I was not just another condescending white person, I have never experienced such warmth from people I barely knew.

Maybe 200 years of being held down developed some sixth sense that allowed them to know when they met someone who valued them. Maybe it was 200 years of being forced to depend on each other and be dependable in return. I don’t know; as I said, I’m no expert on any of this.

But I can tell you from experience, Mr. and Mrs. Lilywhite, that black people in this country have a sense of community that would make the rest of us better people if we’d copy it.

Experiencing it is life-changing.

I know that when one of the black preachers in that community told me with tears in his eyes that I was a “blessing from Jesus,” the reaction that I couldn’t even verbalize right then was that the blessing had been 100 percent in the other direction -- I could not identify anything special I had done for any of them.

Because of the unconventional life I lived, but especially because of that black community that welcomed me, let’s understand right now that if you’re one of those people who automatically thinks less of someone because of their skin tone or their religion or because they’re gay or too poor to keep a roof over their head, I want this to be clearly stated without any quibbling or excuses: You are not my friend.

And you need to go fix yourself -now.

OW

December 03, 2014

Fireside Chat

OBSERVER WEEKLY

I am grateful to be a part of a community that hopes to create an AIDS free generation

By Wendell Hicks Executive Director SAAF Last week, I talked about upcoming World AIDS Day events and how important it is to be visible, to celebrate, and share with our community. This week, I can tell you that we did just that. I had the pleasure of attending not one, but two events that SAAF proudly supported for World AIDS Day on Monday.

The Loft Cinema partnered with SAAF to screen “Broken Heart Land,” a documentary about how HIV and suicide affect a family. The movie follows a conservative family in rural Oklahoma, experiencing grief around the loss of their gay son and brother and the often challenging life he led. The audience later interacted with the director of the film, Jeremy Stulberg, via skype and had the opportunity to share in his experience making the film. He chose to screen the film in Arizona as it is one of a few states that do not permit the use of the word “gay” in schools and still struggle with LBGT discrimination in the workplace.

While listening to the director, I was shocked to learn that the filmmakers were six months into shooting before they learned that Zack, the boy who committed suicide, was HIV positive.

While his orientation was something he struggled with, his HIV status was the secret he kept, causing him to seek his medication on the street. The film took me back to a not so distant past, when some people I knew in rural Texas felt they had no way out of the shame they felt and committed suicide. While we have certainly come a long way, it isn’t possible to celebrate where we are without acknowledging what we

have gone through to get here, and I am grateful to share in this with my community.

Another community event for World AIDS Day was held at Hotel Congress on Sunday evening. It was so great to see people of all ages celebrating and learning about our resources to support people with HIV. We proudly displayed some of our local AIDS memorial quilt panels and asked people to create red ribbons with well wishes to decorate the tree in the lobby of Hotel Congress for the month of December.

People read information about the history of HIV on our timelines as they waited to know their status through our rapid HIV testing. SAAF and COPE Community Services tested dozens of people that evening! The collaboration between SAAF/Wingspan, COPE Community Services, National Community Health Partners, Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network, El Rio Community Health Center, PowerSource Tucson, Positively Beautiful, and AIDS Ribbon Tucson made me proud to feel connected with others who share my passion and commitment to our community. Children and young adults got their faces painted, danced, and took pictures with Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat in addition to taking pictures in our Life Plus Project photo booth and de-stigmatizing HIV. Tucson is such a great city to live in for people who are looking to find their place in a community. You look all around and you see people with which you can celebrate and share. I am grateful to be a part of an all-inclusive community in Tucson that hopes to create an AIDS free generation and to support people living with HIV/AIDS.

Page 11

Gay holiday in store from Reveille Men’s Chorus Continued from page 1 funniest things I have ever seen or been a part of.

“Being performers, especially community volunteers, we often have to take some time out and have fun with what we are doing, so that we can come back and put 110 percent into the performance for our audience. It’s the little giggles that get us through the season so that we can put on one heck of a show!”

On the unique space Reveille occupies in the local community, Smith said, “Reveille Men’s Chorus provides a space for families and individuals of all backgrounds and identities to celebrate unconditional love and support. Reveille is more than just a gay men’s chorus, it has become its own support network and often feels like a second family.

Whenever I am having a rough time, seeing members of Reveille always cheers me up. In a way, that is reflected back to the community and folks really can see how much we care for one another and our mission of creating fantastic music and kicking off the holidays.”

This is the 20 th season of Reveille Men’s Chorus performances

which started in 1995. Reveille has an impressive passport including performances at four Gay And Lesbian Association of Choruses National Conferences in San Jose, Montreal, Miami, and Denver, as well as international travel to Mexico and Brazil to raise money for local GLBT organizations. In May Reveille went to Mexico to participate in “Voices Without Borders,” sharing the stage with the Puerto Vallarta Gay Men’s Chorus, Mexico’s first gay men’s chorus, whose founders were reportedly inspired to start the group after Reveille’s initial visit to Puerto Vallarta in 2007.

Aside from attaining musical excellence, the group’s ambitious mission is to promote human rights, diversity and a world free of AIDS. Smith also encouraged anyone, shower singers or karaoke divas, to consider joining the choir. Membership ranges from professionals to the performers who have never read music before.

General admission to the holiday show costs $25 and senior/student tickets are $20. Group ticket sales are available for groups of 10 or more.

Call Reveille at 520-304-1758 for more details!

Send your photos, cartoons, and music reviews to us at: info@observerweekly.com

OW

Page 12

As Clark Saw It

WEEKLY

December 03, 2014

Continued fromn page 6 dark days have a long legacy, reaching through time to create sociopolitical and economic inequities and explain why African-Americans are suspicious of participating in clinical trials. (Google “Tuskegee syphilis experiment” if you think this suspicion is historically baseless.)

“Criminalization is a major issue for gay black men in the South because it lies at the intersection of forces that affect this demographic,” she says, including the disproportionate number of black men being incarcerated and the health disparities African-Americans face when it comes to HIV.

OBSERVER

By Gary Clark

How do we stop the HIV epidemic in the South?

Socioeconomic conditions prevent many HIV-positive Southerners, particularly if they are African-American, from seeing positive health outcomes.

Zoe’s World

By Zoe

According to the census, since 2000 the poverty rate in the south has increased. It rose from an already devastating 21 million people, or 22 percent of the population living in poverty to 34 million. Meanwhile, illiteracy rates hover between 15 and 20 percent in Southern states. When patients can’t understand their medication or treatment instructions, they are less likely to follow them as prescribed.

Poverty and illiteracy also contribute to another vicious cycle: the number of African-American men incarcerated in American prisons. If current incarceration trends continue, one in every three black males born today can expect to go to prison at some point in their life, compared with one in every six Latino males, and one in every 17 white males, according to a recent report by the Sentencing Project.

HIV criminalization also disproportionately affects those in the South, says Rashida Richardson of the Center for HIV Law and Policy.

The lack of access to medical care is one of the biggest hindrances to positive health outcomes for those in the South.

Although the HIV epidemic continues to ravage populations in the South, politicians in eight out of nine states that make up the Deep South have refused to expand Medicaid or take advantage of federal funding available as part of the Affordable Care Act. “All of our advancements mean nothing if we can’t engage people in care,” notes Leo Moore, MD, an internal medicine resident at the Yale University School of Medicine speaking at the U.S. Conference on AIDS. Poverty and a lack of health insurance play a big role in preventing HIV-positive individuals from accessing care. But so does stigma.

In fact, activists say stigma has an enormous impact on why HIV has had such a devastating impact on the American South. Stigma — and the Bible Belt.

Both “institutional and communitylevel stigma has impeded the development of potentially effective, culturally tailored HIV testing and prevention interventions,” says a report from the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors and the National Coalition of STD Directors.

Although the religious persecution in Bible Belt states is disproportionately wielded against gay and bisexual men and women and transgender or gendervariant people, those who are HIVpositive are certainly close behind.

So will the South rise to the challenge? Perhaps a more important question is whether the rest of the country will. HIV does not exist in a vacuum, and the solution to rising rates and lack of treatment in any region depends in part on the others. If those of us outside the South ignore the problem and pretend all is well, we may live long and prosper ourselves, but we will have blood on our hands.

Send your photos, cartoons, and music reviews to us at: info@observerweekly.com

December 03, 2014

Barber-McSally recount won’t add 133 contested votes TUCSON -- A judge has ruled that the recount in the congressional race between Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Barber and GOP challenger Martha McSally will proceed without the 133 disputed votes that the Barber campaign went to court to get included.

U.S. District Judge Cindy Jorgenson, a George W. Bush appointee, denied a restraining order that would have prevented immediate certification of the election results.

The Barber campaign alleged that since some voters who turned in provisional ballots at the wrong places said they were told by election workers that it was OK to do so, and other voters were not directed to the correct polling place as election workers are required to do, then at least some of the ballots should be counted.

Jorgenson cited case law that “In general, garden variety election irregularities do not violate the Due Process Clause, even if they control the outcome of the vote or election.”

McSally’s 161-vote lead over Barber was close enough to trigger an automatic recount under Arizona law.

OBSERVER WEEKLY The prince agreed to share a secret about himself for the #FeelNoShame campaign, started by charity Sentebale in the UK, which aims to encourage people to talk about health concerns more openly.

Despite speculation the royal who is fourth in line to the British throne was coming out as gay, his secret turned out to be a case of stage fright.

The prince said, “My secret is, believe it or not, I get incredibly nervous before public speaking no matter how big the crowd or the audience and despite the fact that I laugh and joke all the time I get incredibly nervous, if not anxious actually, before going into rooms full of people when I’m wearing a suit.

“Now that I’ve confessed that, I’ll probably be even more worried that people are looking at me.”

“Myself and many others will be sharing secrets of our own throughout the day, and we are asking everyone else to do the same,” he added.

Prince Harry said earlier that World AIDS Day should be remembered as “a day in which no-one should feel any shame about their secrets.”

advocating the killing of all gays and getting himself Tasered for acting like a moron at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.

Now he’s working on a Jew-bashing film titled “Marching to Zion.”

Jew-bashing films are a dime a dozen among the wingnut fringe, of course, but Anderson’s stands out because (according to the Anti-Defamation League) he tricked four Phoenix-area rabbis into being interviewed under false pretenses and using the footage in his garbage -- er, his project.

Among Anderson’s more famous utterances is the classic “If hating homosexuals makes our church a hate group, then that’s what we are.”

He’s also said the only way to stop homosexuals from raping children to turn them gay is to kill the homosexuals.

Page 13 Coach in Steubenville case faces charge in attack on Scottsdale’s Ferguson protest Continued from page 1 One of the protesters, Martel Stevenson, was charged with criminal damage for allegedly throwing a rock through a window at Trailside Galleries and damaging a sculpture inside the gallery.

The Scottsdale protest was one of up to 200 around the nation so far, some drawing as many as 2,000 people, in the wake of Officer Darren Wilson not being charged in Brown’s death.

That’s Anderson’s story of Christianity and he’s sticking to it.

Protesters have been quoted as saying they aren’t just upset about the Brown killing, but also their perception that police are almost never charged in such shootings and that the shootings mainly target African-American youth.

We wonder if the lady doth protest too much.

OW

The campaign raises money in the UK by asking followers to tweet their secrets with the hashtag “FeelNoShame” and encourages them to donate via a text message to a specific number.

Prince Harry reveals his biggest secret

Anti-gay preacher may be turning his hate toward Jews

LONDON -- Prince Harry has opened up about a personal secret for World AIDS Day.

TEMPE -- The Rev. Steven Anderson is already famous for several things: praying for President Obama’s death,

Remember to send in your wedding announcements and photos to info@observerweekly.com so we can print them here for all the world to see.

Donations accepted.

To volunteer, call Mark Rosenbaum For support services, call a Link Specialist For more information, events, or to donate, visit www.tihan.org

OBSERVER WEEKLY

Page 14

Monday BRODIES TAVERN - Service Industry Night 7 p.m.- 2 a.m. $2.50 House Well, Long Islands, Margaritas on Tap, $3 16 oz. BudBud Light-Mic Ultra Cans, Fireball Shots.

IBT’s 11a.m.-2a.m. Taking Back Mondays hosted by Diva featuring *3-4-1 Well Vodkas (Regular, Grape & Cherry) 9 - Close. Karaoke Inside or Lounge on the Patio 9 p.m.

VENTURE-N Open Noon-2am. Free Music.

Free WiFi 2 for 1 Original Everything Happy Hour 5-6 pm.

Friday BRODIES TAVERN - Get the Party Started Friday 7 p.m. - 2 a.m. $3 Malibu Rum Black-House Long Islands-Pucker Vodka, Margaritas on tap-XX Pints IBT’s - 11a.m.-2a.m., Flawless Fridays featuring “Absolutely Flawless” Drag Show hosted by China Collins @ 9 p.m. DJ Import Inside after the show, Million$DJ on the Patio 9pm. GoGo Boys @11p.m.

LOOKS - 6 p.m. to Close, Karaoke 8-12, $3.50 Absolute Lemon Drops, $5 Jamesons VENTURE-N - Open Noon-2am. Free Music. Free WiFi 2 for 1 Original Everything Happy Hour 5-6 pm.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

BRODIES TAVERN - Two Buck Tuesday 7 p.m. - 2 a.m. $ 2 House Well, Fire Eater Shots, $2 Margaritas on Tap, $2 Long Islands IBT’s - 11a.m.-2a.m.; Taco Tuesdays. $1 Tacos. Drink Specials 9-Close: Mix-n-Match Mexican Beer Special, Tequila Specials (Patron $6, Milagro $4.50, Hornitos $4, Cuervo $3.50), Million$DJ Inside 9 p.m.

VENTURE-N - Open Noon-2am. Free Music. Free WiFi 2 for 1 Original Everything Happy Hour 5-6 pm.

BRODIES TAVERN - Whiskey Wednesday 7-2 a.m. $3.25 Jack-Jim Beam-JamesonFireball-Makers Mark-Johnny Walker Red IBT’s - 11a.m.-2a.m., “Viva La Diva” Drag Show Hosted by Diva at 9. “Whiskey Breath” Drink Special Every Wednesday 9-Close. $2 Well, $3 Call, $4 Select Top Shelf Whiskey and Scotch Blend Whiskies. Million$DJ Inside after the drag show.

VENTURE-N - Open Noon-2am. Free Music.

Free WiFi 22 for 1 Original Everything Happy Hour 5-6 pm.Dave’s $3.50 Margaritas and Long Island Iced Teas

BRODIES TAVERN - Customer Appreciation 7-2 a.m. Two-for-One Well-Domestic Bottles, Margaritas on Tap House Kasiz Shots IBT’s - 11a.m.-2a.m. Therapy every Thursday. All Day *2-4-1 Drink Specials (excludes top shelf, wine & draft). Million$DJ Inside at 9 p.m., DJ Sid the Kid on the Patio 9 p.m. GoGo Boys @11 p.m.

LOOKS - 6 p.m. to Close, Happy Hour 6-8, $3 Southern Comforts, $5 Long Islands VENTURE-N - Open Noon-2am. Free Music.

Free WiFi 22 for 1 Original Everything Happy Hour 5-6 pm. 4.00 Titos/ Absolut, Cosmos/Martis from Dan G

Saturday BRODIES TAVERN - Back Pocket Sabado Latino 7 p.m. - 2 a.m. $3 Magaritas on tap-Corona Bottles, $3.25 Latin Beers-XX Micheladas, $1 Tequila Shots-Corona Ritas IBT’s - 11a.m.-2a.m., Karaoke on the Patio 5 - 8 p.m., “Saturday Night Starlettes” drag show Hosted by Janee Starr 9pm, Million$DJ on the Patio 9 p.m., DJ Import Inside after the drag show.

LOOKS - 6 p.m. to Close, $3 Flaming Shots From Hell, $5 Bombay Saphires VENTURE-N - Open Noon-2am. Free Music. Free WiFi

Monday 12-3 p.m.

4-5:30 p.m.

4:30-6:30 p.m.

6:30-7:30 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

7-10 p.m.

7-8:30 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

6 p.m.

sources

Mah Jongg Mondays Himmel Park Library.

Ages 50+, 1035 N. Treat.

In Our Own Voices, Women’s therapy group for survivors of sexual trauma, SACSA, 1600 N. Country Club, 520.327.1171 Cancer Support Group for LGBT People, Arizona Cancer Center at UMC-North, Rm 1127, 3838 N. Campbell Ave. 520.694.0347 Regardless of… NA LGBT Meeting, Trinity Presbyterian Church, 400 E. University Blvd.

SAGA General for trans forlks and allies 1st Monday SAGA Desert Girlz for trans Femanine folks 2nd Monday Reveille Men’s Chorus Open Rehearsal, Rincon Congregational Church, 122 N. Craycroft Tucson Women’s Chorus rehearsal.Call for details: 520.743.0991 Desert Girlz meeting at Wingspan PFLAG en Español Meets the 1st Monday of each month at Fortin de las Flores: 243 W. 33rd St.

4 p.m.

LGBTQA Support Group.

LGBTQ Affairs Office, UA Student Union level four.

SAGA Desert Boyz for trans masculine folks 3rd Tuesdays

7-9 p.m.

Wednesday 3-8 p.m.

SAAF’s MSHAPE Lounge offers mens health resources

12-1 p.m.

Pink Triangle AA Meeting, 439 N. Sixth Ave. Everyday.

Gender Spectrum support Group. UA Campus Health Service Building Room C312. $5 TMC Hospice LGBTQ Grief Support Group. 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, Peppi’s House Chapel, 2715 N. Wyatt Drive.

RSVP at: 520-324-2438.

Wednesday Night Christian Bible Study, Cornerstone Fellowship Social Hall, 2902 N. Geronimo Ave. Weekly Bears Coffee at Crave, 4530 E. Broadway Blvd.

3-4:30 p.m.

4:30-6 p.m.

6:30-7:30 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

BRODIES TAVERN - Funday 7 p.m. - 2 p.m. $2.50 House Well, $3 House Long Islands, Tap Magaritas, $1 House Kasiz Shots, $1.75 Domestic Pints IBT’s - 11a.m.-2a.m., Karaoke 4-8:30 p.m.

“Cheap Ass Sunday’s” 9-Close feat. 2-4-1 Drinks and Bottle Beer (exclude top shelf, wine & draft), Karaoke Inside 9pm; DJ Sid the Kid on the patio 9 p.m.

VENTURE-N - Open Noon-2am. Free Music. Free WiFi

Two Spirit support group.

African American Student Affairs MLK Center, 1322 E. 1st Street.

6 p.m.

Write Now! a writer’s group open to all at Revolutionary Grounds 606 N. 4th 6:30-7:30 p.m. Regardless of… NA LGBT Meeting, Trinity Presbyterian Church, 400 E. University Blvd.

7 p.m.

Weekly Meditation Classes in Central Tucson, cost: $10, Kadam Meditation Center Arizona 1701 E. Miles St. 7-9 p.m.

SAGA Desert Partnerz for cis-gendered 4th Thursday 7-10 p.m.

Triangle Tribe, Men’s Support Group. Call 520-398-6826

3-8 p.m.

SAAF’s MSHAPE Lounge offers mens health resources

4-5:30 p.m.

Support Group for Transgender Survivors of Sexual Trauma, SACSA, 1600 N. Country Club Queer People of Color &

5:30-6:30 p.m.

Ajia Simone, Owner 426 E. Ninth St. 520.624.8400

10-11.30 a.m.

10-12 p.m.

2-5 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

Friday 4 p.m.

5:30-6:30 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

Wingspan’s Eon Youth Program New Youth Orientation Fridays at 4p.m.

Youth Center Open M-F Oasis LGBT Social Group. Email oasis.wingspan@gmail.com Bingo at MCC Every Friday call John 975-3166.

2nd Saturdays

Bears of the Old Pueblo Potluch 2nd Saturdays 520.444.2275 Transparents For parents of trans kids. RSVP SAGA to attend.

Sunday 9-11 a.m.

Co-ed Softball, all abilities welcome. Oury Park, 600 W.St. Mary’s

Advice For Life & Prayers for World Peace. Bud dha’s teachings, Kadampa Meditation Cen ter Arizona 1701 E. Miles St. LGBT Buddhist Medita tion Group meets every Sunday at The Three Jewels, 314 E. 6th St. in Tucson. Meditation sessions with readings, recordings, and discussion. Welcoming to all.For info call Jim at 520-884-4218.

Mamasitas! Men’s Sports club at Menlo Park The New Men’s Massage Group. Sept 21 at 4 pm. Call Marc at 881-4582 to sign up. Or email bleu55@gmail. com in advance. It’s a great place to meet men.

Safe, non-sexual but very sensual and a little erotic.

Donation.

3-5p.m.

Men’s Social Network “H” Club open to entire LGBTQ community. This is a fun discussion, learning and participation group meeting for discussions on major words beginning with the letter “H.” Doesn’t meet the 1st Sunday of the month.

5:30 p.m.

Puertas Abiertas Latin/ Hispanic LBGTQ/Ally support group meeting at Wingspan 430 E 7th St – every 3rd Sunday of the month at 5:30pm.

Saturday

Thursday

SAAF’s MSHAPE Lounge offers mens health re-

Sunday

2:30-4:30p.m.

Tuesday 3-8 p.m.

December 03, 2014

December 03, 2014

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

Page 15

Classifieds

Personals

For Sale

For Rent

For Rent

Friendship & Socializing

Personalized Greeting Cards

Roommate wanted

Unique Studio Apartment

Post-internet artist/intellectual seeks lunch buddy who likes art, lit., history and politics. Zero interest in pop culture. Write to Box 85571, Tucson, AZ 85754.

1549

Made to your specification Birthday, Anniversary or Anything you desire Robert Grummons 520-309-0306 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Large collection of artwork to choose from 1558

Wanted FYI

STORAGE SHED WANTED

Popular blog

Instantly increase your back yard size by offloading that storage shed to the Observer.

Call 520-812-0909.

Not getting enough biting, satirical political analysis? Check out my popular blog at dailykos.com/ wolfbane in az!

Looking for one mature person working or retired to share a two bedroom one bath house -- 800 sqft. $350/month plus 1/2 utilities.

Call JR @ 520-461-6698 1550

Certified Wildlife Sanctuary

N. Soldier Trail near Catalina Highway.

Fully furnished large picture windows, mountain views, and labyrinth. Perfect for writers, artists and birders. $595 monthly w/ lease Call Donna 520-760-1331 1557

Classifieds rate: $30 for up to 30 words for 30 days.

Contact Observer Weekly at: 520-812-0909 or 1830 E. Broadway Blvd, #124-215 Tucson, AZ 85719 or www.info@observerweekly.com

1XXX

1549

If you can read this Tux is a beautiful two year old gent, who loves feather toys, treats and cuddles!

He is a people-kitty, and doesn’t like other cats very much. As long as he can get up high, and boss them around, he’s ok with dogs (he really is bossy, but don’t tell him we told you that!) He’s a darling boy, who needs a good home full of love and cuddles. If you’re looking for a snappy dresser full of life, come by and meet this gorgeous baby.

TUX

Thank our advertisers

Got a message for Arizona’s LGBTQ community?

Advertise in the Observer!

Contact us at: info@observerweekly.com

December 03, 2014 OBSERVER WEEKLY White House commemorates World AIDS Day with webcast Page 16

communities that are still being hit hardest, including gay and bisexual men, African Americans and Latinos. . . . And we’re going to keep pursuing scientific breakthroughs.”

The president took the opportunity to announce a new initiative.

OBSERVER STAFF Every year on Dec. 1, the world commemorates World AIDS Day and re-commits to addressing HIV/AIDS, a disease that affects approximately 35 million people worldwide.

The White House honored this worldwide observance on Monday with an event focusing on this year’s federal theme, “Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-Free Generation.”

The event was webcast at www. whitehouse.gov/live.

The event was preceded by President Obama addressing a “pretty distinguished crowd.”

In the president’s addressed he acknowledged the early days of the AIDS epidemic and the devastation that it inflicted. “[T]hose of you who lived through it remember all too well the fear and the stigma, and how hard people with HIV had to fight to be seen, or heard, or to be treated with basic compassion. And you remember how little we knew about

A red ribbon was hung from the North Portico of the White House, to mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. how to prevent AIDS, or how to treat it,” he said.

identity or socio-economic status,” said the president.

Obama pointed to the differences in how the epidemic is handled today and reminded listeners of his commitment as president to make the U.S. a leader in the eradication of the disease.

Obama spoke of the White House’s continued support for the Ryan White CARE Act to help underserved communities and how he issued an executive order creating the HIV Care Continuum Initiative to boost federal efforts to prevent and treat HIV.

“I’ve told you that in this fight, you’ll have a partner in me. And I said that if the United States wanted to be the global leader in combating this disease, then we needed to act like it -- by doing our part and by leading the world to do more together. And that’s what we’ve done, in partnership with so many of you. We created the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy, rooted in a simple vision that every person should get access to life-extending care, regardless of age or gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender

Despite the progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Obama acknowledged that there is still much to be done.

“So we’re making progress,” he said. “But we’re all here today because we know how much work remains to be done. Here in the U.S., we need to keep focusing on investments to

“I’m pleased to announce a new initiative at the National Institutes of Health to advance research into an HIV cure. We’re going to redirect $100 million into this project to develop a new generation of therapies. Because the U.S. should be at the forefront of new discoveries into how to put HIV into long-term remission without requiring lifelong therapies -- or, better yet, eliminate it completely.

He addressed the need for the country to remain active in the fight against worldwide saying, “After all, none of the progress we’ve made against AIDS could have been achieved by a single government or foundation or corporation working alone.”

He ended his address saying that the world he wants for his daughters is the world that all of us want for our families: [A world where] “we reach the day that we know is possible, when all men and women can protect themselves from infection; a day when all people with HIV have access to the treatments that extend their lives; the day when there are no babies being born with HIV or AIDS, and when we achieve, at long last, what was once hard to imagine -and that’s an AIDS-free generation.”