1562, dec 31, 2014

December 31, 2014

Historic Phoenix bar’s Ted DeGrazia murals facing a bulldozer

Issue 1562

You got another year -make sure it sparkles!

Detail of a Ted DeGrazia mural hidden behind a wall installed at GreenHaus in Roosevelt Row.

Photo: Lynn Trimble

PHOENIX -- The Ted DeGrazia murals in a longtime Phoenix drag bar may be destroyed in 2015 in the name

Inside Supremes might take up marriage equality on Jan. 9 Page 3 ‘It’s a Wonderful . . .’ piece of communist propaganda?

Page 5

Ferguson protests lead to lesbian marriage proposal Page 8

Bar Pix Page 8 & 9

Man gets 30 years in death of Florida trans entertainer Page 3

Happy New Year from your GLBT Chamber of Commerce Page 10

of redevelopment, but a petition to save them is circulating.

Reportedly in exchange for free drinks, the colorful Tucson greeting-card artist painted an extensive wall mural that appears to depict the history of alcoholic beverages, plus a smaller mural depicting a ballerina in a martini glass.

DeGrazia’s creations reportedly have been reproduced on 100 million objects, leading Arizona Highways to assert that he’s “the most reproduced artist in the history of the world.”

While his work gets poopoohed by the “serious” art community, the mass distribution was part of his plan.

His goal was to bring art within the price range of everyday people.

The 307 Lounge closed several years ago and the building currently is home to the GreenHaus, a gallery and working studio well-known in Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row art district.

The larger mural has been protected by a wall since the building became a working studio. The smaller one is painted on drywall that apparently could be moved to a new location, but the big mural is drywall-on-brick and probably can’t be moved.

The building’s lesbian owners, Cole and Dayne Reed, are planning a move to Oregon to get away from Arizona’s stricter rules on same-sex couples adopting. Dayne Reed is pregnant with the couple’s first child.

When the couple took Continued on page 4

Health-care providers have to recognize samesex spouses soon

Arizona GOP puts Koch brothers in the saddle

OBSERVER STAFF Health-care providers accepting Medicare and Medicaid in states that do not recognize same-sex marriages should soon be recognizing same-sex spouses for purposes such as participating in the patient’s care and helping to make decisions if the patient is incapacitated.

For example, if a couple was legally married in California, health-care providers in Texas would need to treat the samesex couple the same way as an opposite-sex couple.

Since nearly all providers accept Medicare/Medicaid, the change will be significant in many states.

The measure is included in new rules proposed Dec. 12 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Hospitals, nursing facilities, hospices, ambulatory surgical centers and community mental health centers would be covered by the new provision.

Facilities that don’t comply could be cited and eventually kicked out of the Medicare/ Medicaid system, which essentially would put most of them out of business.

Because of the procedure federal agencies must follow in making new rules, the provision may not be fully effective until mid-2015.

By R.D. Smith GUEST COLUMNIST Arizona’s political junkies are wondering just how intimate the state’s GOP voters want to get with the controversial wingnut Koch brothers.

We can hope the next four years will prove too cozy, but I’m not making any bets on it.

We’re dealing with a crowd that voted for Ducey in spite of his family’s wellpublicized Mafia connection -- after all, that’s just “family values” considering that even his grandmother was once convicted of racketeering back in the old country . . . Toledo, Ohio.

When I started checking for Koch lapdogs in the incoming administration, I stopped at two -- they’re both in such influential positions that I simply didn’t want to find out about any more.

But for people who voted for a guy with such family connections, the fact that his choice for chief economic adviser has been a Koch stooge every day of his professional life probably won’t cut much ice.

Until the cuts start riddling the safety net.

If someone in your family depends on that safety net, you might feel less pain if you just bent over and grabbed Continued on page 4

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ACLU opposes Va. board’s act on school restrooms GLOUCESTER, Va. -- The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint against a new policy adopted by the Gloucester County School Board requiring that school restroom use be limited to those of the biological sex assigned at birth.

The policy was in reaction to trans boy Gavin Grimm, 15, who had been using the boys’ restroom since October.

The complaint was filed with both the U.S. Justice and Education departments.

Since the policy was adopted, Gavin has been using a separate bathroom intended for the school nurse -- and getting called a freak.

The school board claims the policy was adopted to protect the privacy of trans students.

Brangelina backs offspring’s quest for gender ID Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie support their oldest biological child, named Shiloh and assigned female at birth, appearing at high-profile public functions in boyish clothes and evershorter haircuts.

Now 8 years old, Shiloh informed the family at the age of 3 that they wanted to be called John, and so the family does.

The Academy Award-winning Jolie first spoke publicly of John’s preference in a 2010 interview with Vanity Fair.

Whether or not John Jolie-Pitt grows up to identify along the gendernonconforming or LGBT spectrum, supportive parents can’t be a negative.

Florida county pretends court affected one couple PENSACOLA, Fla. -- If you’ve been thinking it’s lunacy for Kansas officials to pretend that a judge’s decision on same-sex marriage only applies to the counties in which the court cases originated and not other counties, get a grip on yourself.

The Florida county at the center of that state’s marriage equality battle has asked a judge to clarify whether his

OBSERVER ruling applies to only one couple or to everybody in the county!

In Kansas, GOP state officials not only claim that the judge’s decision didn’t include all counties, but is pretending that the decision only involved the state health department -- so all other departments have been ordered to defy the court.

It all appears to be part of a strategy stated more than a year ago by one of our Tea Party friends: They know they’ve lost on same-sex marriage, so now the strategy is to force the spending of as much money on the issue as possible so progressives can’t spend their money elsewhere.

What’s amazing is that voters in states that claim to want less government spending don’t mind when their elected officials give them a real hosing for a losing cause.

Duggars say gays only helping their anti-gay campaign HANNIBAL, Mo. -- Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, the anti-gay reality-TV baby-makers, say the campaign to get their show canceled is actually helping their fight against same-sex marriage and LGBT rights of any kind.

The Change.org petition against the Learning Channel’s “19 Kids and Counting” has 183,000 signatures and has gained national attention.

Jim Bob Duggar said at a Hannibal-La Grange University Booster Banquet last month that the campaign doesn’t even concern him.

“All it has done is give us more exposure,” he said. “We’ve gained 50,000 Facebook fans. … God is expanding our borders through the national media.”

“We love everybody, no matter what background or what their beliefs are, but of course not everybody is tolerant toward us as we are to them,” he said at a news conference.

The Missouri Baptist Convention publication, The Pathway, said the university hired extra security to protect the Duggars against “homosexual activists” during their campus appearance. There were no reports of any opposition at the annual fundraiser.

WEEKLY

December 31, 2014

French wingnut sues mag over photo of same-sex ‘intimacy’

the availability of civil divorce,” Richard O’Leary, chairman of the pro-LGBT Christian group Changing Attitude Ireland, told the newspaper.

PARIS -- A far-right politician is suing a magazine for outing him by publishing photographs of him “being intimate” with another man.

Jerry Buttimer, an openly gay member of Parliament, expressed confidence that the referendum will pass but acknowledged that proponents have some hard work ahead of them.

Florian Philippot is the deputy leader of Front National, which has been accused of fomenting homophobic violence.

The most recent Irish Times poll found that 71 percent of Irish voters favor marriage equality, though this year’s polls have shown approval as high as 86 percent.

The Front’s leader, Marine Le Pen, used the occasion to demand censorship of the press. Politicians from across the spectrum have criticized the magazine.

Judge dumps Arpaio lawsuit against immigration move

The magazine, Closer, is notorious for its invasive exposes, including topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge and breaking the story about French President Francois Hollande’s mistress.

Ireland will vote on marriage equality in May DUBLIN -- The Guardian newspaper reported earlier this month that Ireland’s long-awaited voter referendum on marriage equality has been scheduled for May. The announcement came from Irish Labor Party leader Joan Burton, the deputy prime minister or “Tanaiste” in Irish Gaelic.

“The fact that this referendum is now to take place is a mark of the progress that has taken place in this country in recent years and decades, and indicates the extent to which attitudes to lesbian and gay people have changed,” Burton said in announcing the vote.

Ireland is still 85 percent Roman Catholic, and Catholic bishops recently stated again their opposition to marriage equality. Opposition isn’t universal in Irish religion, however.

“Although Catholic bishops have expressed opposition, Christians can still use their freedom of conscience to vote yes to civil marriage equality, like they did 20 years ago in favor of

The couple stirred opposition recently by campaigning against an LGBT rights ordinance that voters repealed in a Fayetteville, Ark., special election on Dec. 9.

PHOENIX -- Well, that didn’t take long.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio had filed a lawsuit against President Obama’s executive order on immigration, and a federal judge already kicked Arpaio’s wrinkled flabby ass to the curb.

Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the lawsuit is over politics, so the issue is up to the legislative and executive branches of government, not the courts.

Continued on next page

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December 31, 2014 Continued from previous page White House spokesman Eric Schultz commented: “The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that federal officials can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws, and the actions announced by the president are consistent with those taken by administrations of both parties for the last half century.”

Meanwhile, Sheriff Joe continues to be a birther.

The Observer’s question about that is: If these morons truly believe Obama was born in Kenya instead of Hawaii, even though his parents got newspapers to report he was born in Hawaii and his birth certificate is on file there, what’s with all these taxpayer-paid trips to Hawaii for “research”?

Oh wait ... a taxpayer-paid trip to Hawaii ... where do we sign up to look into this extremely serious issue?

Supremes might take up marriage equality on Jan. 9 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Supreme Court justices will have their first conference of the new year on Jan. 9 and could take up the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding samesex marriage bans in four states.

A separate case from Louisiana also is under consideration.

The justices are not required to announce any formal decision after the conference, though the meeting usually leads to an announcement of which cases will be accepted.

After a unanimous series of rulings against state bans on marriage, the 6th Circuit upheld bans in Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.

Pat Robertson: Gays will die out by not reproducing Ignoring the past several million years, the Rev. Pat Robertson told us this month on his TV show that gays eventually will become extinct because “they don’t reproduce.”

So it’s a puzzlement why the Christian right is still spending millions to fight same-sex marriage, since it’s only a temporary phenomenon anyway.

OBSERVER Robertson made the comment on The 700 Club in response to a viewer who was upset because her denomination won’t allow heterosexual dating.

“You know, those who are homosexual will die out because they don’t reproduce,” the oracle pronounced. “ ... Same thing with that church, it’s doomed; it’s going to die out because it’s the most nonsensical thing I’ve heard in a long time.”

He couldn’t claim that enforcing celibacy on the membership is a new thing, however. Anyone who has any beautiful old Shaker furniture surely knows how it got produced.

U.S. to cut aid to Gambia over kill-the-gays law BANJUL, Gambia -- The Obama administration has announced sanctions against Gambia after news reports that three people have been arrested on suspicion of the “crime” of homosexuality.

WEEKLY and doesn’t reflect the president’s recent actions on immigration and Cuba.

For the first time in seven years, however, the polls showed a majority -- 51 percent -- approve of the direction the economy is moving.

Example: How much have you heard since the election about Obama bringing Ebola to the U.S. to kill white people? Yeah. Odd. Ebola fell off the radar as soon as Republicans won control of Congress.

But reports that she arranged the Dec. 7 raid by promising to broadcast it on Egyptian national television has brought international howls of rage from fellow journalists and human-rights activists.

Funny how that works, isn’t it?

At least 12 men attack LGBT event, leaving 35 injured HARARE, Zimbabwe -- A holiday event sponsored by an LGBT advocacy group was attacked by at least a dozen men, leaving 35 people injured, the All Africa news group reported.

Agence de Presse Africaine reported last week a continuing “crackdown on suspected homosexuals in the greater Banjul metropolis, especially in the Tourism Development Area.”

Chesterfield Samba, director of the sponsoring group, was quoted as saying the attackers "were in three vehicles when they arrived, and one of them produced a pistol and threatened our security team that was manning the gate. ... Upon entering, they started beating people using logs, iron bars, empty beer bottles and clenched fists."

HONOLULU -- A new CNN/ORC poll released last week shows President Obama’s approval rating jumped 10 percentage points among some groups from October to November, giving him his highest overall approval in 20 months.

His approval rating improved among women, independents and millennials, while dropping even lower among men, Republicans and Americans between 35 and 49 years old.

The poll was conducted in November

The latest information comes from the English-language edition of the 139-year-old newspaper al-Ahram.

Iraqi has claimed she reported on the raid to expose sex trafficking and the spread of HIV.

The event was hosted by Gays and Lesbians Zimbabwe, and was reported by local media as a "gay party." It was held at a private venue in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital.

Poll: Obama rating hits highest level in 20 months

clear whether any of the 26 men were involved in sex as Iraqi claimed in her broadcast.

That might have something to do with the media no longer pushing so much negativity to influence the midterm congressional elections.

It was not clear how much of Gambia’s African Growth and Opportunities Act aid would be cut as a result of its suspension from the fund, but the cuts are to take effect Jan. 15.

Jean Freedberg, deputy director of Human Rights Campaign Global, praised the Obama administration for announcing the step.

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Zimbabwe is among 32 African countries where people can face jail simply for being homosexual.

Swiss film festival cans journalist over staging Cairo raid BERN, Switzerland -- Organizers of a Swiss film festival, Shnit, reportedly have “terminated the contract” of TV reporter Mona Iraqi over her alleged staging of the recent police raid on a Cairo bathhouse.

The bathhouse reportedly had operated for more than 100 years, and it’s never been publicly made

Al-Ahram quoted a post on her Facebook page saying her broadcast “was able to break up a place for perversion between men and to catch them flagrantly in the act. . . . My God, the result is beautiful.”

Pretty sick stuff, considering that the only evidence reported so far is that the men were wearing towels in a public bathhouse, as is commonly done the world over.

Considering Egypt’s anti-gay bent, many of the men spent their initial court appearance covering their faces, weeping, and begging the court not to ruin their families.

The “trial” is scheduled to resume Jan. 4.

Man gets 30 years in death of Florida trans entertainer ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the April 2013 shooting death of a trans entertainer near Orlando.

The body of Ashley Sinclair, 30, was found in a wooded area.

Convicted of murder, Kentz Louis will spend all 30 years in prison because he was a prison-releasee at the time of the murder.

Axavier Darnell Strick, entertainment director for Parliament House in Orlando, remembered Sinclair as an entertainer and a key member of the Parliament House community.

“She was somebody who was important; she was somebody who was valued,” he told Louis via The Orlando Sentinel. “. . . You took someone away from this community, and it mattered.”

December 31, 2014 OBSERVER WEEKLY Women arrested for driving Arizona GOP puts Koch sent to terrorism court brothers in the saddle

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AL-AHSA, Saudi Arabia -- Two women detained for nearly a month for defying Saudi Arabia’s ban on women driving have been ordered to stand trial in a special terrorism court, activists report.

The action is based more on comments they posted on social media rather than for the driving per se, the reports said.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where it’s against the law for women to drive. Actually, the law avoids saying it’s illegal for women to drive, but they cannot obtain a Saudi driver’s license and are supposed to ride in the back seat.

Loujain al-Hathloul, 25, was arrested Dec. 1 when she tried to drive

into Saudi Arabia near al-Ahsa from the neighboring United Arab Emirates, according to Agence France-Presse.

Continued from pgae 1 your ankles before Ducey even gets inaugurated.

Maysa al-Amouid, 33, a Saudi journalist based in the emirates, was arrested when she drove to the border to assist Hathloul, the agency reported.

I say this because his choice for chief economic adviser is a guy named Stephen Moore.

Attorneys for the women say they intend to appeal the transfer to terrorism court. Such a transfer would move the cases to Riyadh, the nation’s capital.

Hala al-Dosari, a Saudi activist and writer, told the BBC’s Newshour program that transferring the cases to terrorism court was a continuation of government efforts to intimidate citizens into giving up the recent campaign to win women the right to drive.

Historic Phoenix bar’s Ted DeGrazia murals facing a bulldozer Continued from page 1 over the building, they paid to have the murals cleaned and protected.

The petition, posted Dec. 19 on Change.org, states that in a city becoming known for its downtown murals, it makes no sense to destroy arguably the oldest murals in downtown Phoenix.

Robert Diehl, one of the petition organizers, told Phoenix New Times that he believes the petition has enough signatures to influence the developer, Baron Properties of Denver.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has credited the Roosevelt Row art scene as one of the reason’s for the city’s downtown revival.

Moore is “well-known” because he’s been a well-paid lapdog for many years -- during which he has opposed just about anything that favors everyday people, but he’s demonstrated neither a grasp of real-life economics nor a willingness to stick closely enough to the facts for even political purposes.

His most recent public meltdown involved a piece he wrote for the Kansas City Star earlier this year. Supposedly it was a rebuttal to Paul Krugman of The New York Times, but the Star must have run it without checking for accuracy. People pointed out so many “substantive factual errors” that the Star declared it would not be running any more Moore ravings.

Also adding to the feces pile is Moore’s assertion on Bill Maher’s HBO show in 2011 that as a result of the Reagan tax cuts, “the lowest income people had the biggest gains” during the 1980s -- a statement that Politifact.com rated a big fat whopper.

Perhaps more famous is his demise after co-founding the Koch-influenced Club for Growth and serving as its president from 1999 to 2004.

Co-founder or not, Moore was forced out by the club’s board after he ramrodded attack ads aimed at Republican senators George Voinovich of Ohio and Olympia Snowe of Maine -- ads so extreme and idiotic even Karl Rove couldn’t stomach them.

Rove was famously quoted calling Moore’s ads “stupid” and “counterproductive” -- high praise indeed from Karl “Stupid and Counterproductive” Rove.

The highlight of Moore’s “public service” heading the Club for Growth

was leading the fight against adding prescription coverage to Medicare -which you would think should get him tarred and feathered in a state full of retirees, not appointed to a top post funded by the taxpayers.

He also served for 10 years at the Cato Institute, for which the Koch brothers provided the start-up cash in 1976.

Even Moore’s “education” was Koch-affiliated: He holds a master’s degree from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Without even trying, I ran across references to the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation showering George Mason with $5.45 million in 2012 and a whopping $7.48 million in 2010.

Anyone know of a reason not to assume there were similar donations in other years?

Anyone know of a reason not to assume that the “gifts” came with instructions about what the universities could teach -- a lesson learned by a Florida university within this past year.

Going forward, remember that Arizona’s big budget deficit is in part caused by Ducey’s successful campaign against our former 1 percent sales tax.

Then remember that his chief economic adviser has a lifetime opposition to the social safety net.

Then remember what it was like to live in a civilized state.

Oh -- and that other Koch lapdog who’ll have a high position in the Ducey administration?

That would be Diane Douglas, our incoming superintendent of public instruction, whose only qualification for the job seems to have been speaking at a couple of Koch-sponsored symposiums.

Yep . . . I’d say we can expect Arizona politics to continue capturing worldwide headlines for the next four years.

And not in a good way.

Mistletoe is a beautiful two-year-old boy who came to us in Dec. 2012. He is loving, cuddly and loves to play with toys, especially ones with catnip. Because he does have FeLV, he should be an only kitty, or homed with other FeLV kitties, to protect his fragile immune system.

Don’t let that scare you off, though—he’s healthy, happy and has so much love and affection to give his forever family!

Mistletoe

December 31, 2014

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

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‘It’s a Wonderful . . . ’ piece of communist propaganda?

OBSERVER STAFF

According to the media archival website Aphelis, the atmosphere in the hearing room was so far into the fruitcake that when a screenwriter (John Charles Moffitt) actually testified that he thought the film was NOT communist propaganda, he set off such a hubbub that the chairman had to restore order before the hearing could proceed.

If you’re the type of person who sits through a series of corny movies every yuletide season, you probably think Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” is a beloved piece of Americana.

That’s the 2014 viewpoint, ClaraBelle, and you know what they say about hindsight.

Who in the world developed the socalled “analytical tools” that the FBI used in this lunacy?

When the movie came out, the FBI and the House Un-American Affairs Committee blackened its reputation as allegedly communist propaganda.

The developer we hear the most about these days would be Ayn Rand -- yes, the same sea hag extolled as a hero by last fall’s Republican vice presidential candidate and alleged economic boy wunderkind, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

That’s because -- and only because -- the banker, Mr. Potter, is (gasp) shown in an unflattering light.

But maybe you’d better hold the haha’s, Hortense.

You may be thinking those poor, benighted people of decades ago had nothing better to do than imagine that a derogatory portrait of a banker had to be communist-inspired.

But fast-forward to 2014.

At least half of the Americans who voted last month must have voted for congressional candidates who basically agree with the old House Un-American Affairs Committee; the people who got elected are already salivating about

the new ways they can pay homage to banksters.

In the case of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” as a 1947 FBI memo quoted by Michael Winship at BillMoyers.com explained: The wingnuts thought the movie had to be communist propaganda because some of the screenwriters who worked on it had associated with people that somebody had decided were communists.

Two lesbians sue Pepperdine U, alleging harassment MALIBU, Calif. -- Two former Pepperdine University basketball players have filed a lawsuit against the school and their former coach, alleging harassment and discrimination based on their lesbian identity and relationship.

Both women have left the school.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Haley Videckis and Layana White claim their coach, Ryan Weisenberg, disapproved of their relationship and wanted them off the team.

The lawsuit claims university employees demanded that they describe their relationship in detail, including requests for gynecological records.

Allegations include violating Title IX of the U.S. Civil Rights Act, which bans sex discrimination in schools receiving federal funding.

Pepperdine issued a statement to the Times saying, “It is important to note that allegations are not facts.”

OW

And the alleged communists who had been “observed eating luncheon daily” with these particular screenwriters?

Well, they also happened to be other screenwriters, but it would never occur to witch-hunters that screenwriters might simply associate with other screenwriters -- there had to be a political plot in there somewhere.

And she will also, according to statements from many of our esteemed congresscritters, be the same sea hag whose spirit will preside over Congress for the next two years.

Get ready. It’ll be a wonderful life -if you’re a Wall Street bankster.

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OBSERVER

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December 31, 2014

December 31, 2014

OBSERVER

WEEKLY

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Happy New Year!!!

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OBSERVER

Ferguson protests lead to marriage proposal

WEEKLY

December 31, 2014

Salvation Army still a wrecking crew for LGBTs OBSERVER STAFF Two years ago an Australian Salvation Army chief said sexually active gay people should be put to death, but a spokesperson for the group says it’s been “misunderstood” on LGBT issues.

An “internal document” leaked recently states that the membership policy hasn’t changed: Members can be gay as long as they’re celibate and don’t have anything to do with same-sex weddings.

The document acquired by Queerty and publicized said violators would be “terminated.”

Alexis Templeton and Brittany Ferrell

FERGUSON, Mo. -- Two women from Ferguson -- who had never met before the protests began in August -- now have one of Missouri’s first same-sex marriage licenses and are planning a big one.

Alexis Templeton, 20, and Brittany Ferrell, 25, met in August at demonstrations that erupted after black teenager Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in a jaywalking incident that got out of hand.

Both women are students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Ferrell recalled their meeting in an interview with The St. Louis American.

“She had on a UMSL shirt [the university they attend]. I was like, ‘Oh, hey.’ I embraced her just because she was there. You hug people and you welcome them, especially in a time like that,” she said.

Templeton’s sister, Bre, related how Templeton told her about the romance.

“She was like, ‘Dude, I got a crush.’ I was like, ‘OK, that’s cool.’ And she was like, ‘No, I got a crush on a girl.’ “ At St. Louis City Hall to pick up the license, Templeton spoke in front of a crowd of well-wishers: “One hundred and thirty days ago, I fell in love with somebody and her 6-year-old mini me. I didn’t expect you to want to be with me … other than fight on the front lines with me. You have every single piece of my heart.”

The crowd chanted “Black love matters.”

The couple could have married right away, but the license is good for 30 days and they want to plan an affair with “a lot of food, drinks, happiness,” Templeton said.

Ajia Simone, Owner 426 E. Ninth St. 520.624.8400

Salvation Army spokesperson Jennifer Byrd recently said celibacy has always been required of unmarried members, whether gay or straight, because sex is only allowed within marriage and the group only recognizes marriage between one man and one woman.

The organization recently had

pushed back against accusations that it is homophobic and transphobic, referring to such claims as a “myth.”

Byrd said the group is merely “misunderstood” when it comes to LGBT issues, and for the past 12 to 18 months has been making an effort to make sure local affiliates serve the public without regard to orientation or gender issues.

This past March, a homeless trans woman was allegedly left on the streets in Dallas after the local Salvation Army refused her housing.

December 31, 2014

Topless woman kidnaps Jesus in Vatican protest

OBSERVER WEEKLY

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Cornwall B&B owners: ‘Ignorance’ drives marriage equality movement She neglected to mention that the facts, studies and surveys to which she referred are contradicted by the majority of facts, studies and surveys known to earthlings.

OBSERVER STAFF In an apparent attempt to upstage the antics of Observer staff members, a topless woman tried to steal a statue of Jesus from the Vatican on Christmas Day.

“People are not being taught that God set the whole thing up in the first place, and that he delights in it,” added Hazel-muley -- er -- mary.

OK, so we HAVE pulled off capers that came close.

God apparently had no hand in “setting up” LGBT persons.

Inna Shevchenko, head of the feminist activist group Femen, had the words “God Is Woman” painted on her chest when she tried to run away with Jesus.

The protest occurred quite some time after Pope Francis gave his Christmas address from St. Peter’s Basilica, but there were still thousands of people in the square.

A guard caught Shevchenko before she could leave the premises and wrapped her nakedness in a robe.

Femen had staged topless protests at the Vatican before, but Jesus had never been involved.

Get a load of the pursed mouth on this vindictive old she-buffalo, Hazelmary Bull.

OBSERVER STAFF PENZANCE, England -- According to Pink News, conservative Christian bed-and-breakfast owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull claim that “ignorance” is driving the erosion of support for traditional marriage.

The claim was made in a video for the Christian Institute celebrating the Bulls’ 50th wedding anniversary.

Back in 2008, the Bulls turned away civil partners Martin Hall and Steven Preddy because of their Chymorvah Hotel policy against allowing unmarried couples to share a room.

201

The Chymorvah, on the seacoast near Penzance, is in a longtime prime tourist area of Cornwall.

As a result of their action, the couple became involved in a lengthy legal battle, but the United Kingdom Supreme Court rejected their appeal last year.

“I do believe the facts, the studies and the surveys that have been done, and they all say, they all put a positive spin on traditional marriage, that especially children do far better in every area of their lives if they have at home a mum and a dad,” Hazelmary Bull pontificated on the video.

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As Clark Saw It

OBSERVER

By Gary Clark

WEEKLY

Happy New Year from your GLBT Chamber of Commerce: Start 2015 by being out and proud in our community

By Marylee Pangman, V.P. GLBT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Since you are reading the Observer, I think it might be safe to assume that you are supportive of the GLBT community in some shape or form.

As a business owner, do you make a conscious effort in positioning yourself within the community?

Zoe’s World

By Zoe

December 31, 2014

Here are five reasons to purposely reach out to the gay and lesbian community marketing: 1. The gay and lesbian community is a very large target group spending billions of dollars every year.

2. A large majority of the GLBT community have on average, a higher level of income and higher disposable income levels versus mainstream consumers.

3. The GLBT community welcomes being marketed to as long as it is appropriate marketing.

4.

The GLBT community is extremely loyal to their chosen brands.

5. The GLBT community tend to be trend setters, looking for the “what’s next” in new products.

Each of these items suggests to the business owner who is connected well within the GLBT community that you should work to align yourself, your brand, your products with this community in mind, specifically.

Here are three areas to first examine to insure that the GLBT community will want to pay attention to you.

1. Make sure your internal policies and practices demonstrate equality with employees, vendors and market.

We have seen major international brands receive outrage from the GLBT community. Don’t fall into a routine of saying, I am just a little guy in the marketplace. What do my policies matter?

We have seen how fast word travels in our own community and you want to make sure that everything being said about your business is positive.

2. Get honestly involved. It is one thing to place an ad in a GLBT nonprofit program but you also need to show up.

We cannot do it all but you can choose the organizations and events you most believe in and become an important part of that group. Then, make sure you are talking about the positive effects that the organization has on the community.

Wave their flag and they will wave yours.

3. Make sure your marketing messages are appropriate and inclusive.

Don’t make assumptions that you know what others will think. Ask members of the GLBT community to review your marketing messages or engage marketing and social media experts who specialize in our community.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in positioning yourself successfully in the GLBT community. To learn more, join the Tucson GLBT Chamber of Commerce and get involved.

December 31, 2014

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.

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

OBSERVER WEEKLY

Page 11

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 2 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.

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

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

Sunday 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

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Large collection of artwork to choose from 1558

Wanted Sublet Or temporary residence for a month or two. Retired male looking for reasonably priced privacy. Text Jim at 774-573-1491 (hard of hearing) or e-mail me at jimtrabulsi@yahoo.com

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

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

Page 12

OBSERVER

CNN’s Don Lemon tops annual list of journalism goofs

Acting police chief says ‘small tweaks’ likely in Phoenix

Can coming out of the closet cause a news anchor’s mind to produce a yearlong series of brain-poots?

PHOENIX -- The former Phoenix police chief, Daniel Garcia, was fired very publicly earlier this month and his successor says “small tweaks” in the city’s police department are likely.

CNN’s out anchor Don Lemon leads the Columbia Journalism Review’s annual list of wish-I-hadn’t-said-that onair oopsies for 2014.

Lemon’s case is somewhat unusual in that it doesn’t involve a single blooper, but rather a whole yuletide wish list: ♥ Reporting on the scene from protests in Ferguson, Mo., the only thing Lemon could think to comment on was “obviously” there was a smell of marijuana in the air. ♥ In a segment about spanking children, Lemon compared it to training dogs. ♥ Interviewing one of Bill Cosby’s rape accusers, the big question on Lemon’s mind was why she didn’t bite during oral sex. ♥ In the story about Bowe Bergdahl’s activities in Afghanistan, Lemon waxed philosophic about interpreting that story in light of what we “learned” watching Homeland. ♥ In covering the unexplained disappearance of a Malaysian Airlines flight, Lemon wondered if the plane disappeared into a black hole.

There may be a logic in that last one. Black holes are only found in outer space, and possibly that’s where Lemon’s mind has been this year.

Officially, Garcia was fired for disobeying orders from the city manager.

His administration had been in chaos for some time, with headlines detailing his feud with his police unions.

Interim Chief Joe Yahner, who also served as interim chief before Garcia was hired less than three years ago, specifically mentioned possible changes in the organizational structure -- one of the sore spots Garcia had created with changes he made.

“Will there be some changes?”

Yahner said at a press conference.

“Yeah, there probably will, but I don’t know what they are just yet.”

WEEKLY

December 31, 2014