2010-07-01 outlook columbus

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outlook july 2010 • vol 15 issue 2

inside: snapshot pride Middle west spirits Cleve Ricksecker Downtown sustainability Columbus Landmarks the 70/71 split Level Celebrates 1 year freeta lay Pin up agenda interview John Waters trippin’ out to philly & Local celebrity Dallas

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july 2010

Wine Wednesdays: the affordable way to make hump day a hump day...

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Urbania, Pride and a Good Light Show

ated by only raining enough to cool off the parade before it started. outlook’s tents, we are happy to report, survived.

Hello everyone. Welcome to the July edition of outlook, our Urban Living issue. Inside we explore downtown as a neighborhood, the 71/70 split, the C3 rail project and preserving our architectural history. We recruited famed Realtors Dooley & Co to talk about the market, Cleve Ricksecker from Capital Crossroads to talk about the neighborhood, Doreen Uhas Sauer from Columbus Landmarks to speak on preservation and our editor Jon Dunn sat down with ODOT deputy director Scott Varner about how the split and the commuter rail will affect the area.

Interesting stuff.

We had a great time at Pride - it really was about family. I was blessed this year to have my parents, closest friends and staff on our outlook media family float. At the booth, friends and family pitched in to peddle our wears, and props to my mom who was a rock star at giving away our magazine by saying “my son makes this, take one!” We can’t thank everyone enough who helped us at pride and showed us support! Special thanks to Chad’s husband Jim for cooking our Bat ‘n’ Rouge feast and our interns for busting their asses. We are, like many of you, tired. Thank God July is slow.

In this issue we also celebrate the one-year anniversary of Level Dining Lounge (Happy Anniversary Boys!) and the opening of Middle West Spirits Micro Distillery (Happy Birthday Boys!).

It’s amazing for any business to open, let alone survive, in what has been some of the worst economic times of the century. It’s especially gratifying, at least for us, that they are queer-owned businesses. Our community proves time and time again that we are the vanguards for this city. Congrats to all the entrepreneurs out there making it happen.

Speaking of July, let us not forget it is another time to celebrate ‘the gay’ and to remind our fellow citizens on the straight side that while they are enjoying their hamburgers, fireworks and personal freedoms, we do not yet have all ours. Holding Gay Pride around the time of the original riots makes sense while we are still fighting for our freedoms. But I think Cinci has it right. As soon as we get full equality, I think Independence Day should be the new Gay Pride. We do love a good light show.

Happy Boom!

Chris Hayes Co Publisher

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you are here

20

oh dem gays

39

not that kind of girl

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bookmarks

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snapshot

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complete the circuit

43

feature : downtown market

59

deep inside hollywood

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snapshot

24

gayatri

44 open kimono

61

interview: john waters

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hey!

26 truth wins out

46 feature : cmh landmarks 62 fashion forward

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q-munity: local

28

earthopolis

48

feature : 71 split

64

food drama!

Masculinity by Intense - 2oz

12

q-munity: national

30

insight out

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feature : c3 railroad

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trippin’ out

Intrigue the senses, decidedly masculine. Introducing a new male-to-male pheromone fragrance.

Because a man should smell like a man.

14

business affairs

32

transpicuous

52

music is the answer

69

savage love

17

small pond: midwest spirits

36

pin-up calendar

54

creative class

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local celebrity

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small pond: level

38

about town

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23 frames per second

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astro forecast

As I write this, the last hours of Comfest are big-beer-community-festivalin’ to a close, the Pier Dance in NYC is underway and a text wishing me a “Happy End of Pride Month!” from my fellow Rainbow Challenge cast member Kelly signals the end of a very full and successful Pride season (sans Cincinnati of course, who will be celebrating on July 4th). Columbus Pride broke record attendance numbers again with an estimated 195k people celebrating ‘the gay’ and Mother Nature cooper-

outlook: giveaway

Visit www.outlookcolumbus.com to enter for a chance to win.

outlook columbus is published and distributed by Outlook Media, Inc. the first day of each month throughout Ohio. outlook columbus is a free publication provided solely for the use of our readers. Any person who willfully or knowingly obtains or exerts unauthorized control over more than 5 copies of any issue outlook columbus with the intent to prevent other individuals from reading it shall be considered guilty of the crime of theft. Violators will be prosecuted.

The views expressed in outlook columbus are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or personal, business, or professional practices of Outlook Media, Inc. or its staff, ownership, or management.

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outlook columbus does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.

Outlook Media, Inc. does not investigate or accept responsibility for claims made in any advertisement. Outlook Media, Inc. assumes no responsibility for claims arising in connection with products and services advertised herein, nor for the content of, or reply to, any advertisement. All material is copyrighted ©2010 by Outlook Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cologne Tip: When purchasing spray the fragrance on your skin then taste it - if it tastes sweet then buy it! If it tastes bitter then don’t do it!

july 2010

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A near miss...

OUTLOOK LAUNCH PARTY JUNE 2, 2010

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LEGACY FUND HONORS MAY 25, 2010

LEGACY FUND HONORS MAY 25, 2010

LEGACY FUND HONORS MAY 25, 2010

Working hard to fight lesbian hair stereotypes.

The night’s honoree Lynn Greer with Rep Celeste, right before the big kiss...

Pimp ‘n’ AIDS: AIDS Walk: Sat, July 24

OUTLOOK LAUNCH PARTY JUNE 2, 2010

OUTLOOK LAUNCH PARTY JUNE 2, 2010

OUTLOOK LAUNCH PARTY JUNE 2, 2010

What dimension are they in?

Tara relaxing her briefs.

Can I get you anything?

Rhetorical?

You can cut that sexual tension with a knife!

NETWORK COLUMBUS JUNE 9, 2010

NETWORK COLUMBUS JUNE 9, 2010

NETWORK COLUMBUS JUNE 9, 2010

NETWORK COLUMBUS JUNE 9, 2010

Out with our elected officials...

and more officials...

Rocking the seersucker and bow tie combo!

NOMO Dunn is so jealous.

Persistence of events, Celeste is everywhere this month.

HRC GALLA DINNER JUNE 12, 2010

HRC GALLA DINNER JUNE 12, 2010

HRC GALLA DINNER JUNE 12, 2010

HRC GALLA DINNER JUNE 12, 2010

If you think one of those t wo cocktails Kevin is holding is for Tina, you’re wrong.

Did she just out Tom Cruise?

Is Tiffany a lesbian now?

Is that Previn?

Are bow ties making a comeback?

She’s just happy here.

Later she’s drunk.

july 2010

See more event photos on our facebook fan page: outlook: columbus (with a colon). We’re converting our friends page to a fan page so switch over already!

outlookcolumbus.com

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Weren’t these girls pitching at Bat N Rouge?

july 2010

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y

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Salsa - you can eat it, you can dance to it. How can you lose?

outlookcolumbus.com

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PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

You didn’t call each other first?

outlook mom finding the one spot of shade

Pride’s youngest participant, Jameson.

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

Quick! I ran outta beads!

outlook uncles and a convenient plug for Susan

You better outlook party train woo woo Chad Frye!

Can you pick the Pride Virgin?

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

Now they’re throwing beads at us!

outlook cover girl Amoret

A show off, a mohawk and Char!

Putting up the pole for Pride!

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

Standing room only at outlook.

I think we go this way, or that way, either way let’s go for equality and cocktails!

outlook’s own Burt Reynolds

Ohio Academy signals that the end is nigh, or something...

...and then the clouds parted and the Parade began!

PRIDE WEEKEND JUNE 18-20, 2010

outlookcolumbus.com

See more pride photos on our facebook fan page: outlook: columbus (with a colon). We’re converting our friends page to a fan page so switch over already!

july 2010

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Wet halfnaked Irishmen! Count Hayes in!

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hey!

Don’t Forget the Judges

Board of Elections Consolidates Voting Precincts

To the Editor,

Open Letter to the Public:

All too often the GLBT community focuses its attention on the “shiny object” political races - city council, statehouse and federal candidates. But unless you are a municipal employee, then - lets face it - you will not be affected because a member of our community wins a race for city council.

The Franklin County Board of Elections has voted to consolidate some of the county’s 864 elections precincts, a move that will save tax dollars without changing voting locations.

Conversely, judges at the Franklin County courthouse decide issues of vital importance to members of the GLBT community on a daily basis. Your article - “Destroying Gay Families - Doing it to Ourselves” truly brings this point home. This piece provided concrete examples of not only the impact of Ohio’s Issue 1, anti-GLBT constitutional amendment, but also how judges apply the law in courtrooms right here in Franklin County. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of who we elect to sit on the bench.

Only seven years ago, it was possible in many parts of this country for the police to arrest a couple for being gay in the privacy of their own bedroom. Six years ago, Massachusetts gave its gay citizens the right to marry. A small minority of states have followed suit. These advances did not occur as the result of any act of generosity granted by a city council, statehouse or U.S. Congress. They resulted from cases brought in courtrooms across the country. Franklin County is no different.

In November, let us not forget that in addition to electing a Governor and Senator, we will also vote to elect our Judges. Take the time to learn who they are. Recognize those who have been endorsed by outlook and the other GLBT friendly organizations. It is only by doing our homework that we will bring our community closer than ever to realizing this country’s true promise of liberty and equality for all.

Thomas Tootle Columbus, OH

The approved changes will be made at voting locations with more than one precinct and reduce 123 precincts to 61. The switch will save the county an estimated $198,250 through 2010, money that would have been used to hire and train poll workers.

“Absentee ballots accounted for more than 45 percent of the votes cast in the May primary and more than 55 percent in the presidential election,” said board Director William J. Anthony, Jr. “We don’t need as many precincts open on the day of the election because nearly half of our voters are casting ballots weeks earlier by mail or in person at our office.”

“Our touch screen voting machines allow us to put the ballot styles for all voters in a location, regardless of precinct, onto the same voting machine so there is no longer a need for ultra small precincts with uniquely assigned voting machines based upon voting districts,” added Deputy Director Matt Damschroder. “The election precinct, as it has traditionally been understood, is going the way of the dinosaur because of absentee voting and the efficiency of newer technologies.”

The board split on a second proposal to eliminate 59 of 188 other precincts. Republicans advocated for the plan based on the estimated savings of an additional $236,000 through 2012. Democrats support the proposed boundary amendments but objected to making the change at this time because it would involve moving some voters to new polling locations before the general election in November. The second proposal will be submitted in early July to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for a tie-breaking vote.

Both consolidation plans are posted for public review at http://vote.franklincountyohio.gov.

Sincerely, Franklin County Board of Elections

OWNERS AND PUBLISHERS Michael Daniels & Christopher Hayes HEADQUARTERS Outlook Media, Inc. 815 N High St, Bsmt Ste ii Columbus, OH 43215 614.268.8525 phone 614.261.8200 fax www.outlookmedia.com SUBSCRIPTIONS & DISTRIBUTION Call 614.268.8525

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BUSINESS DIRECTOR Michael Daniels: mdaniels@outlookmedia.com

ADVERTISING DEADLINES Reservations by the 15th of each month.

Art in by the 20th.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Phillecia Cochran pcochran@outlookmdia.com

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT REPS Chad Frye cfrye@outlookmedia.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & ART DIRECTOR Christopher Hayes hayes@outlookmedia.com

Mary Malone mmalone@outlookmedia.com

MANAGING EDITOR Jon Dunn jdunn@outlookmedia.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Collin Burton, Wayne Besen, Regina Sewell, Gregg Shapiro, Romeo San Vicente, Jack Fertig, Simon Sheppard, Dan Savage, Ryan Harris, Mette Bach, Mickey Weems, Adam Lippe, Michael Daniels, Chris Hayes, Jon Dunn, Tara McKenzie Al-

NATIONAL ADVERTISING Rivendell Media - 212.242.6863

lison, J Eric Peters, Radical Mommy, Chad Paul Frye, Matthew Arnold, Richard Labonte, Rich Cordivari, William Ashley, Bruce Dooley, Chris Zuelke and Misty Linn, Jorge Treviano, Doreen Uhas Sauer CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Robert Trautman, Dominic Presutto, Gardner Dunn, Linda Cox, Robbie Daniels, Oleg Kozlov (Cover Image)

In the last election there were 6,480,000 Ohio voters, and absentee ballots accounted for up to 1/3 of those voters.

INTERNS Dominic Presutto, Kate Chin, Mackenzie Worrall, Mona Hauenstein, Gardner Dunn CYBERSPACE http://www.outlookcolumbus.com http://www.outlookmedia.com http://www.networkcolumbus.com http://twitter.com/outlookcolumbus facebook @ outlook: columbus

july 2010

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Senior Director Announced for Short North Business Association The Short North Business Association (SNBA) recently announced that Diesha Condon was appointed as the new Senior Director.

Condon is not new to the Short North Business Association, however: Condon served the SNBA last summer as their Membership Director. As a result, she has formed relationships with association members, sponsors, and the community. The SNBA is confident that her enthusiasm and commitment are going to raise the bar for the organization.

Maria Galloway, the SNBA Board President, stated, “Diesha is totally committed to the success of our members. She brings passion, enthusiasm, and creativity to the district. She is extremely smart and hard-working - and we can’t wait to get started working with her!”

Condon has not only served the SNBA before, but also has extensive experience in business-to-business and business-to-consumer sales and marketing. Condon has taken on leadership roles and sales opportunities with companies such as Paycor Payroll Services, Columbus Symphony, and A.D. Farrow Co. She has also been the Marketing Manager for Action COACH Business Coaching, helping her create better business tactics.

Condon stated, “It is a privilege and honor to work with the SNBA team, Arts District businesses and the Board of Directors. We have important work to do, and I know with the combined leadership, experience, and enthusiasm of our members and supporters we’ll get the job done.”

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TransOhio and the Columbus Bar Association Team Up at the 3rd Annual Transgender and Ally Symposium TransOhio, the only statewide Transgender advocacy and community organization, is teaming up with the LGBT Committee of the Columbus Bar Association for this year’s Transgender and Ally Symposium.

The conference has expanded from one day to three days full of workshops, seminars and social events. Teaming with the LGBT Committee of the Columbus Bar Association, TransOhio is planning to include a day which is specifically set aside for medical, social service, and legal providers.

In teaming with the LGBT Committee, TransOhio will be offering Continuing Legal Education credits (CLE’s). “The LGBT Committee of the Columbus Bar Association is proud to sponsor continuing legal education opportunities at the 3rd Annual TransOhio Transgender and Ally Symposium. Our co-chair, Travis Jackson, and two members of the committee, Tara McKenzie Allison and Mellissia Fuhrmann, will be presenting on issues of health care, employment and crime victims’ rights,” says Shannon Zee Cross, CLE Program Coordinator for the Columbus Bar Association.

Registration for the 3rd Annual Symposium is now open and it will be held August 13 - 15. The symposium will take place on the campus of The Ohio State University, and will feature more than 70 workshops and seminars from both local and nationally recognized presenters. Subjects include health and safety, sexuality, legal issues, family, spirituality, education, culture and the arts. Some of the informational workshops include:

Utilizing Existing Federal Law to Protect Your Gender Variant/Transgender Youth in School Kim Pearson leads this workshop on re-appropriating school district rules to benefit your gender variant child. The rules may be daunting, but they can be utilized. Using scenarios commonly experienced by gender variant youth, this workshop will point parents in the right direction to use federal laws to advocate their children and provide a safe learning environment.

Whate, the first ordained minister in the San Diego trans community and Roberta Zenker, the only out trans person ever elected to office in Montana.

Riot Acts: Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance, a film screening Madesn Minax’s new film is a transfabulous rockumentary representing the whole lives of transgender and gender variant musicians, through a first-hand perspective of the intersections between gender performance and stage performance, culminating with the notions that identities and bodies are undeniably political, and the trans experience isn’t always one of tragedy, but one of creativity and joy. Please visit the website for detailed info: http://www.actorslashmodel.com/film.htm

Registration is still open for the symposium, though the public is encouraged to register quickly because there is limited seating.

The symposium’s keynote speaker will be author and theatre artist S. Bear Bergman. Her book Butch is a Noun was published in 2006 and the forthcoming The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Bear travels the country, lecturing on gender and sexuality, and acts as counselor for educational institutions on providing for transgender students.

Theater works include Clearly Marked and Youth Acting Out, which have been heralded by The Advocate and The Ontarion, which describes it as “Pitch-perfect, hilarious, beautifully written...very, very smart.” The workshop led by Bear celebrates the Trans identity and everything about trans bodies.

Other presenters include Melissa Alexander, a former employment and labor law practitioner; New Leaf Columbus; Dr. Jeffrey Spiegel, Chief of the Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Boston Medical Center; Malcom

Provider’s Day, where CEU’s and CLE’s will be offered, will be held at The Longaberger Alumni House on The Ohio State University’s main campus. The general symposium will be hosted at the Multicultural Center at the Ohio Union.

Strickland Wins Bereavement Leave for Same Sex Couples The Joint Committee on Agency Rules Review (JCARR) sided with Governor Strickland’s proposal to expand bereavement leave. Under the new policy, non-union workers now have the opportunity to take sick or bereavement leave when their domestic partner – same sex or opposite sex – have health related problems.

Some objections were raised, suggesting that it violated the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but the JCARR endorsed the new policy in spite of the nay-sayers. The decision is a small step forward after Governor Taft signed the Defense of Marriage Act in 2004. Opponents of the revised bereavement leave policy regard anything replicating marriage as a violation of DOMA. Since his election, Strickland has fought for LGBT rights. In 2007, he issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in state employment. He has also provided tax benefits for same sex partners purchasing health insurance, appointed openly gay officials and judges, rejected funding for abstinence-only programs in favor of comprehensive education and supported anti-discrimination legislation.

Governor Strickland has been a tireless supporter of the GLBT community in Ohio. He needs your support now.

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Fertilize your career - become an entrepreneur. outlook’s having a summit on that topic. See page 51.

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GLAAD Calls for Action on Clear Channel The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) released a call to action over Clear Channel’s rejection of Pride billboards.

Clear Channel Outdoor is the world’s largest outdoor advertising firm and it reaches millions of consumers every day. Clear Channel has rejected two ads for Gay Pride in the Tampa Bay, Florida market. The ads were submitted by the organizers for the St. Pete Pride.

One of the rejected ads features a gay couple with their arms around each other and a caption that reads, “My family is FUN.” The other rejected ad shows a lesbian couple looking into each other’s eyes with a caption that reads, “My family is FREE.” Both were submitted to advertise the St. Pete Pride, which was to occur on June 26.

Clear Channel declined to run those two ads, but did, however, to other Pride-related ads, submitted by the same organizers. One of the accepted ads shows a drag queen with the caption, “My family is FIERCE.” The other ad shows two gay men with their son with a caption that reads, “My family is FABULOUS & FEARLESS.” St. Pete Pride Executive Director Chris Rudisill said, “The images that were not selected (by Clear Channel) do not contain anything that is sexual, immoral, illegal or otherwise offensive in nature. I’m almost certain that you have had billboards in the market that display men and women in both friendly and romantic ways. I can’t seem to understand where these images would be any different, except for the fact that they portray two men and two women, respectively.”

Clear Channel Outdoor has declined to explain its decision saying, “As a matter of policy we don’t discuss creative decisions about signage.”

The issue has prompted St. Pete Pride to cancel its contracts with Clear Channel Outdoor.

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Many Hospitals to Add LGBTInclusive Non-Discrimination Policies The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has recently released a new analysis of healthcare equality.

The HRC found that a large majority of hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the United States don’t have fully inclusive policies toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The HRC does say, however, that dramatic changes will soon be under way.

One of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health providers, Kaiser Permanente, recently updated its Patients’ Bill of Rights. The Patients’ Bill of Rights is now meant to fully protect LGBT patients and their families from discrimination.

These changes went into effect in June and apply to Kaiser Permanente’s network of 36 hospitals.

This achievement makes Kaiser Permanente the first large health network to have a fully inclusive non-discrimination policy for LGBT people and their families.

They are also the first health network to achieve the status of “Top Performer” in the HRC Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI).

Respect for All Training in NYC Helps Teachers Support LGBT Students A report released by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) showed that 9 in 10 educators tried something different in the classroom after an NYC Department of Education’s Respect for All training initiative. The program addressed what educators can do in situations of name-calling, bullying, and harassment of students based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression. The goal was to create safer school environments for LGBT youth.

Six weeks after the training, GLSEN survey participants remarked that they had a greater knowledge of appropriate terms, access to LGBT resources, communication and engagement with

students and staff to create a safer environment, commitment to intervention in anti-LGBT remarks and frequency of intervention. After six months, the GLSEN survey participants had relaxed on how frequently they intervened when a defamatory remark was made, suggesting that more than a single training session is necessary for sustained long-term results. GLSEN suggests providing additional support and further skillbuilding for educators.

“We are grateful to the New York City Department of Education for investing in one of the most extensive educator training programs in the country,” GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said.

“This report also shows, however, that additional efforts to develop skills may be necessary to sustain higher staff intervention levels and give educators tools to feel more comfortable addressing anti-LGBT bias and behavior in the classroom.”

Qualitative feedback on Respect for All, gathered

by GLSEN, lauded the program’s importance.

Some participants responded that it was the best training they’ve ever had, but even more insisted the training should be mandatory for educators everywhere.

“We are extremely encouraged by the findings,” Byard said. “Our report indicates that an indepth training program specifically focused on ensuring LGBT student safety can successfully prepare school staff for their role in maintaining a welcoming and safe environment for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.”

ACLU Challenges FDA to Base Blood Donor Policy on Science The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) submitted comments to the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability urging the committee to reassess the Food and Drug Administration’s policy (FDA) on blood donation by gay and bisexual men. Introduced in 1985, the current policy bans from donating blood any man who has had sex with another man even one time since 1977. In its comments, the ACLU recommended that the committee base its policy on

factual evidence, rather than sexual orientation.

“The FDA should be basing its policy on facts and not stereotypes,” said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.

“If gay and bisexual donors can be screened for donation without causing risk to our nation’s blood supply, they should be. The FDA’s policy wrongly implies the mere fact of sexual activity with another man poses a risk of HIV transmission. The advisory committee must review its policy and follow science in this issue. To do otherwise would be discriminatory and unconstitutional.”

The only groups of people flat-out banned from giving blood are intravenous drug users, people who have had sex for money, people who have tested positive for HIV and gay or bisexual men.

Though this policy excludes all gay and bisexual men regardless of their individual sexual histories or HIV risk, other individuals who are also at increased risk for HIV, including people who have heterosexual sex with someone who they know to be HIV positive or people who have had sex with a commercial sex worker, are prevented from donating blood for only a year. Government policy regulating the blood donation field must not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation by adopting differing standards for conduct that poses similar risks, based solely on the identity of those engaging in such conduct. In other words, gay and bisexual men cannot constitutionally be singled out for differential treatment solely because of their sexual relationships.

“Eligibility for donating blood should be based on scientific evidence, not stigmatizing and outdated stereotypes,” said James Esseks, Director of the ACLU LGBT & AIDS Project. “We know that many straight people have HIV. If the existing screening methods are sufficient to protect the blood supply from straight people with HIV, then the government needs a really good reason for having a different rule for gay and bisexual men.

It’s not clear that it does.”

To read the ACLU’s comments, go to: www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/aclu-comments-submitted-department-health-and-human-services-fda-blood-ban

The local American Red Cross Blood Services needs donors of all blood types. Donors can call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or go to www.BloodSavesLives.org

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Roses are red, his eyes are blue. Brian makes up the best flowers for you.

july 2010

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Uncertain Times Make Workplace Safety a Higher Priority

by Rich Cordivari The attempted car bombing in Times Square has penetrated the nation’s consciousness, awakening fear and uncertainty as people go about their daily lives. While police, Federal and State governments are working hard to keep us safe, it’s paramount that each and every one of us – whether we are in the heart of Cap City or in a rural area – be aware that if we “see something, say something.” Everyone needs to be vigilant, take notice of their surroundings, and report suspicious items or activities to local authorities immediately. In the case of the alleged Times Square terrorism attempt, it was the vigilance of a quick thinking street vendor, who witnessed smoke coming from an SUV and alerted police that likely helped save hundreds of lives.

While one’s instinct may be to run and hide when faced with the potential of unseen dangers, the reality is that thousands of New Yorkers arrived at their Times Square offices ready for business on the first work day following the aborted car bombing. People cannot live in fear and our best defense is to take action when something does not look right and to be prepared for the unexpected.

The day-to-day demands of running a business often put disaster management off of many business owners’ radar. Meeting payroll, generating new business, and keeping employees engaged are their primary focus.

However, whether it’s preparing for acts of terror or extreme weather, disaster management can’t be ignored.

As the Vice President of Learning and Development at America’s largest physical security services company and a former police officer, I offer the following tips to help companies prepare for emergencies: Disaster Planning Matters - Many businesses are under-prepared should a disaster strike them directly or indirectly. A disaster will likely cut off a businesses’ support and supply lines, making it difficult for them to continue with their business while recovery takes place.

Proactive companies conduct vulnerability surveys, verifying safe shelters and identifying alternative operation centers. Security technology, including streaming video, remote alarm monitoring and off-site security personnel can provide vigilant protection from a safe distance.

Conduct Threat Assessments - When determining what security program would be most effective, it is important to first engage in a comprehensive threat assessment. This assessment provides an evaluation of the location based on the crime rate in the community, the potential of violent behavior among employees and visitors and the attractiveness of the facility for potential criminal activity. Is the company conducting criminal background checks and reference checks on contractors? Is there an established procedure for tracking office keys and access cards for staff members? Are all vendors and visitors being adequately screened and is their identity being verified? There are many questions to ask and important information to gather as part of a comprehensive assessment. Upon completion of a threat assessment, it can be determined what processes, procedures and equipment are needed to protect employees, visitors and building assets. The challenge is to achieve effective security while preserving a friendly and welcoming facility.

See Something, Say Something - Ensure that your employees are observant and vigilant on the job and even

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on their way to work. Awareness programs can reinforce good observation skills on the part of your employees and help them better identify what is and is not out of place in their environment. If there is a stray tote bag tucked under the bus or subway seat, report it to the local police. If a stranger walks into the office without having been identified by your front desk security personnel, ensure that he or she is reported immediately to the appropriate person. Vehicles abandoned in the right of way should be reported to local authorities immediately. These situations can be completely innocent, but they could also be very dangerous and are worth a call to the local police.

Emergency Planning is Key – An organization is prepared if it ensures emergency procedures are in place for all types of emergencies. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security promotes business emergency preparedness through their Ready campaign, which is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies. Companies interested in more information about business preparedness can visit www.ready.gov or call 1.800.BE.READY. Materials, including sample business continuity plans, are available to help Americans be prepared.

Get Up and Go Gear – It’s not a bad idea for employees to have emergency “grab-and-go” gear at the office.

Portable knapsacks can be stocked with an extra set of eyeglasses and house keys, cash, a copy of your emergency plan, Metrocard or other mass transportation cards, a spare credit card, prescription medications, whistle, a pair of comfortable shoes or sneakers, portable radio, flashlight and a standard first aid kit.

The kit should include three-days of food and water rations such as bottled water, protein bars and dried food.

Emergency respiratory smoke-hoods are designed to assist in the safe exit from contaminated environments.

Stash extra batteries for your cell phone, radio and flashlight into your knapsack for use during power failures. Kits containing money, credit cards or any personal identifying information should be stored in a secure location. Of course, the level of complexity for these types of kits is dependent on the perceived level of potential for an emergency.

Communicate and Go - In the eye and immediate aftermath of an actual terrorist attack or natural disaster, outbound communications will be severely restricted.

Make sure employees have a copy of the emergency plan that includes evacuation instructions, meeting places, important phone numbers and notification protocols. If you are unable to connect with business associates due to down phone lines, it’s important to follow your plan and get to your agreed upon off-site location.

While our workplaces are often protected by devoted police and security officers and efficient alarm systems, each individual must also take an active role in maintaining a safe work environment. Staying consciously aware of your surroundings and recognizing any potential hazards at work will significantly reduce risks. Additionally, as businesses make reminding employees of the need to vigilant and prepared a priority, the result is a more concerted effort to keep our country safe.

Rich Cordivari is Vice President of Learning & Development for AlliedBarton Security Services, www.alliedbarton.com, the industry’s premier provider of highly trained security personnel. Cordivari has over three decades of experience in law enforcement, security, training and development. He can be reached at rich.cordivari@alliedbarton.com.

Bureau of Labor Services states in 2000, 48 percent of all non-fatal injuries from occupational assaults and violent acts occurred in health care and social services trades. outlookcolumbus.com

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Pitch. Catch. Just play. Safely.

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Network Columbus is the City’s second-largest free networking group. Join us - we guarantee you’ll profit.

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Finding Middle Ground to Make Great Vodka Ryan Lang & Brady Konya - Middle West Spirits

by Jon Dunn photo by Dominic Presutto At the top of the Short North district, just off of High Street, sits an unassuming white brick building trimmed in black. A small metal sign over the door spells out that you have arrived at Middle West Spirits, Columbus’ first micro-distillery. Opening the door, you are greeted by the huge Kothe pot-column distilling system, looming like something out of Willy Wonka’s factory.

Towers of stainless steel and polished copper rise to the rafters, bristling with gauges and glass portholes trimmed in brass. Every surface of the vessel is impeccably clean and polished, set across a background of white tile. An industrial work of art, it is another artisan touch for the distillers, who liken their space more to a gallery than distillery. With the German-crafted fantasy of pipes and portholes as a backdrop, the proprietors come forward to talk about the next step in the evolution of OYO Vodka. Their grand opening is July 1st.

Middle West Spirits is the result of a friendship and professional collaboration between Ryan Lang and Brady Konya. A modern day odd couple, Brady is gay while Ryan is straight and married. Both came to Columbus “because of their significant others,” explains Brady. “I came from Seattle and Ryan hails from Charlotte, NC.” The relocations proved to be serendipitous, as the two men befriended and began to head along the same path. They found their shared ground in the disparate experience each of them had. “Ryan and I could not be more different, but we found an amazing middle ground,” explains Brady. “It’s a great combination of our backgrounds and personalities.

Ryan’s background is in engineering and sales, and I was in advertising and product development for a large firm in the Northwest. So these backgrounds were obviously useful in starting our own business.”

Ryan’s background also includes his heritage as a fourth-generation distiller. “My family has outlookcolumbus.com

produced spirits for years in Pennsylvania, so I have a heritage of bootlegging,” he says, laughing. “Family members have actually spent time in jail because of it! We even kept some of the old stills,” he adds. Brady joins his laughter “That gives Ryan his street cred(ibility)!”

Watching them work together and how they handle the shop reveals a partnership in total balance. Both gravitate toward their natural talents in the production process. They are in touch at each step, guiding every detail as the spirit flows from raw materials to an elegantly wax sealed and stamped bottle. It is all handled with an artist’s complete devotion to their crafting of a masterpiece.

Although new to Columbus, the micro-distillery concept has been common in Europe for years and began to take root on the East and West coasts of the US in the nineties. “We saw that micro-distillers were beginning to boom, so we did tons of research, got some studies of the marketplace, took all that data and then made a gut decision,” says Brady.

“There’s been a revival in vodkas lately, and there’s a complexity to the spirit, a character, that is lacking in most of what’s being offered today,” Ryan explains. By definition, vodka is supposed to be odorless, colorless and tasteless, and it’s frequently used as a transparent spirit in mixed drinks. Many casual drinkers seek it out solely for that purpose. “What’s commonly known as vodka is definitely not what we are trying to do here,” says Ryan. Middle West Spirits seeks to change that perception with their initial offering, OYO (pronounced Oh-Why-Oh) vodka. (OYO was the term used by the Iroquois Indians to describe the region, loosely translated it means “Sweet River.”)

OYO occupies its own place among the upscale vodka offerings. Ryan sets a couple of whiskey glasses out, and then pours small samples of well-known vodkas for us to peruse. A common

trait among almost all of them is an almost medicinal quality to the smell and taste. After letting the OYO breathe for a moment, an aroma fills the glass, reminiscent of cherry and grain, with no alcohol odor. The spirit is full bodied and can be savored with no hint of a burn, then finishes slowly and neatly. Perfect for sipping or on the rocks, it can also star as a flavor component of a mixed cocktail designed around its unique character.

Why choose vodka as the first spirit to offer?

Vodka occupies a majority of the spirits marketplace, the distilling process is relatively fast and vodka does not have to be aged, so it can be sold immediately. And the market is able now to provide a platform for small boutique distillers to sell their product at a profit. When the big distillers began offering ultra-premium stock, an acceptable price point was established for consumers to spend on a handcrafted artisan product such as OYO. At $34 per 750ml bottle, it can occupy shelf space alongside the big distillers’ upscale offerings, but retain the local boutique cache.

The duo found that Columbus was a more than hospitable market for a new boutique style of liquor. “Columbus is special, a young city with a progressive attitude towards new local products,” Brady says. “There is a sense of loyalty to local businesses and it is a resilient market.”

Looking at the successful operation and presence of popular local establishments reinforced their decision to work locally.

An artisan ethic provides the moral center for Middle West Spirits. Concerned more about the craftsmanship than the commerce, Brady and Ryan take as much pride in the details of making the vodka as they do in the finished product. This devotion to the highest quality translates to the use of local products whenever possible. As part of the ‘slow food’ philosophy, the use of local raw materials provides the ability to monitor the quality to a superior degree.

“There is a movement to use local ingredients

OYO means ‘sweet river’ in Iroquois. It also means sweet vodka in outlook.

and spirits in crafting new drinks, and we embrace that because it’s part of our whole local use philosophy,” Brady says, “Almost everything is from Ohio, or the Midwest or as close as we can get to here.”

Beginning a local distillery required months of legal maneuvering and dealing with the myriad of regulations and requirements of the Ohio Division of Liquor Control to obtain the required permits. “Until recently we wouldn’t have been able to even sell our own product here at the distillery, but they finally passed legislation last year that allows that. We were able to secure the only permit for Franklin County,” Brady says with relief.

To take advantage of the opportunity, MWS has set up a front room “gallery,” featuring local artists, some branded clothing and OYO. “People will be able to take a tour, have some samples and buy a couple of bottles on the way out.

We’ll also host exhibits and mixology classes in here,” Brady continues. The art gallery feel wraps around the entire operation, with the clean lines of the distilling process highlighted by a palette of rustic craftsman furniture, stainless steel tanks and a sparse office area.

A breeze wanders through from the open door in front, mixing with the aroma of the distilling process and giving Brady a cool moment to reflect on the journey so far. “We are so glad we’ve been surrounded by a great group of urban innovators, people who believed in us and the community. This business is a vessel for us to be part of the community and to help set an example for other businesses,” Brady says, and then pauses for a moment. “Setting a good example is part of the importance of being visible.”

Middle West Spirits is located at 1230 Courtland Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201-2829 614.2992460. Visit them at www.middlewestspirits.com. Middle West Spirits opens July 1.

M-F 9a-5a and by appointment. july 2010

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small pond

Level’s Leading Men

by William Ashley photo by Gardner Dunn Think about you where you were exactly one year ago. Maybe you had a different job, a different partner, or maybe you were facing a stressful time of transition. Whatever the situation, there is a strong chance that three men of Level Dining Lounge had you beat. One year ago, Uwe Scharfy (Chief Financial Officer), Brent Clevidence (Chief Executive Officer), and Andre Previn Wyatt (Vice-President of Operations) were on pins and needles as they debuted Level to the Columbus community.

We all remember the secretive nature of the lengthy opening process, the behindthe-scenes feud with Union Café, and the excitement of having another GLBT-friendly establishment in the Short North. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Level’s opening, I asked the restaurant’s executives to answer a few questions about the ups and downs of their freshman year in the Short North. Happy anniversary, boys!

William Ashley: So, one year has gone by since Level debuted in the Short North.

Tell me about your opening night: What were your expectations, and were they met?

Level Owners: We know Level was a secret for a while, but opening night at Level was fantastic. It was great to receive such a positive reception from the community. A lot of work went into getting Level off the starting blocks and into the position to

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open as the premier restaurant, bar, and lounge you see today. It was a remarkable feeling, seeing everyone enjoy what we had worked so hard on, and it was great to see our vision materialize. When we opened Level, we expected to be a successful new GLBT-owned business that would bring diversity to the Short North. Our expectations have been exceeded. We have been very pleased with the reception in the community, and that we have the opportunity to add to the diverse and vibrant energy emanating from the Short North.

WA: What’s changed since that first night? Is there a different aura around the restaurant now that the brand-new and unknown factor has dimmed?

LO: Of course, a lot of what we put in place the first night has stayed the same over the past year, but every day we see opportunities to improve. We are always looking for new ways to exceed our guest’s expectations. Thanks to our loyal guests and awesome staff, we have not needed to make any major changes, and we have been able to continue to reinforce the values that have made Level successful since the beginning. The aura has not changed substantially. It is great that we are no longer “unknown” within the community, but Level is still fairly new. We often have new events and specials to keep it feeling fresh and energized.

WA: Some of the buzz surrounding Level’s opening last year was the rumored behind-the-scenes scuffle with Union Café.

Would you like to clear the air as to what was going on? Also, has anything been resolved or changed in this arena throughout the first year?

LO: We would like to put the past behind us. Level is another great addition to the community. It never has been and never will be Level’s intent to subtract from any Short North business. We simply want to add to what is already here and create even more energy in the community. Additionally, everyone is welcome to come to Level regardless of his or her affiliation. As business owners, we have to look into the future and what lies ahead and not about what has happened in the past. We believe that we should work together, and that is especially important in the GLBT community. At Level, our approach is to have a positive relationship and to work together with all GLBT businesses.

WA: Enough with the past - let’s focus on the future! What do you see in Level’s future, both near and distant? Any plans to expand operations or build onto the restaurant?

LO: As a business owners and investors, we are always looking for opportunities to expand existing businesses and creating new businesses. This includes opportunities within the Short North, where we believe there is still great potential for more business. Level is a great concept that could and will expand into other cities as well. Most importantly, we believe that you have to grow smart and that smart, wellplanned growth is better than fast growth.

Mohawks must still be all the rage in the Fatherland!

It would be risky and foolish to over-leverage your business or to expand your business on debt. When it is advantageous, we will expand operations.

WA: What about the future of the Short North and the “gayborhood?” Everything seems to change so fast around here, so what do you see happening to our beloved home base?

LO: The Short North is a very strong “gayborhood” with a strong base. The neighborhood has a lot of history and has changed drastically over the years. We are very happy that the neighborhood has made so much progress and we believe that this progress will continue into the future. Currently, the GLBT businesses are spread out fairly evenly amongst the Short North, Downtown and German Village, and we believe that the Short North and Downtown will continue to grow. If the GLBT businesses were more concentrated we could have more of a destination like Chicago’s Boystown or L.A.’s West Hollywood. It will also allow for more synergy amongst the GLBT businesses and help foster more cooperation. We believe that it is highly important that the GLBT community and businesses should work together to maintain and grow a healthy community.

Level Dining Lounge is located at 700 N High St 614.754.7111. Food served 11a - 11p daily, bar service 11a - 2:30a daily. For more info: http://www.levelcolumbus.com.

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Car wraps rule! If you don’t believe us, check out the outlookmobile.

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EVEN

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CauCus for Your Life!

ohio’s LGBT CauCus Needs Your Help to Maintain Equality Momentum

by Colin Burton photo by Gardner Dunn Pride month gave the Ohio Democratic Party LGBT Caucus and our candidates an incredible stage to present ourselves to LGBT and allied Ohioans. With tens of thousands of LGBT and allied supporters lining the streets for Columbus Pride, our statewide Democratic ticket was greeted with cheers, handshakes and high fives from excited activists and energized voters. The community is beginning to feel a resurgence of the excitement we built during the 2008 Presidential election. This excitement was equally apparent as we engaged voters and built our volunteer base at our Pride booths in Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati and Youngstown, which held its first pride parade and second pride festival this year! Many people were thrilled to see such an active LGBT Caucus at the state level, listening to their concerns, their advice and their support. In total, we were able to turn our efforts into a volunteer force of over 1,000 Ohioans!

In mid-June, I traveled to Washington, D.C. to make a presentation on the Ohio Democratic Party’s LGBT outreach program at the Day of Pride Briefing, held by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Senior staff from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Stonewall Democrats, the Human Rights Campaign and various state LGBT organizations joined me there. Ohio’s own U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, along with U.S. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, spoke passionately about their

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support of our community. DNC Chairman Tim Kaine and DNC Treasurer Andy Tobias outlined the investment the DNC continues to make in supporting LGBT equality. I was honored to be asked by the DNC to deliver a presentation about the Ohio Democratic Party’s LGBT Caucus. Ohio was the only state Democratic Party represented on stage and the presentation gained the attention of the DNC, the state and national organizations mentioned above and other state Parties around the country. We’re taking our message of equality and inclusion and we’re making things happen here in Ohio and at the national level!

And that was just the beginning.

Now we’ve moved into July and are shifting gears to focus on our voter contact efforts. We know that engaging volunteers to speak to their neighbors, colleagues and classmates is what wins elections. Truthfully, when these efforts are combined with excellent candidates, full Democratic Party support and consistent, intelligent messaging, we win elections. Our efforts so far are turning the wheels of success for our entire statewide ticket.

To support these incredible candidates, the Ohio Democratic Party has built a field structure unlike any in state history - and unlike any in the country. We have more than 40 field organizers scattered across the state and hundreds of Neighborhood Team Leaders and thousands of volunteers; everyone is ready to implement our statewide field strategy. Getting

involved is easy: visit www.ohiodems.org/volunteer and sign up. Through our partnership with Organizing for America (OFA), we are always looking for talented, passionate individuals who are willing to give their time to fight for Ohio’s future.

“Why should I get involved?” you ask. For the LGBT community in Ohio, this year’s election couldn’t be more important. In 2008 and 2009, we made major gains in all levels of government by electing LGBT and pro-equality candidates who are already doing amazing work for the citizens of Ohio.

Governor Ted Strickland has been our community’s champion for decades. Among his many LGBT-supportive efforts as Governor, he issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity in state employment. He has also provided tax benefits for the purchase of health insurance for same-sex partners, appointed Ohio’s first openly gay cabinet director and appointed Ohio’s first openly gay judges. To protect Ohio’s future, he appointed openly gay Ohioans to multiple state universities’ Board of Trustees, which provides strong leadership to institutions that are responsible for cultivating safe, pro-LGBT environments for Ohio’s next generation of leaders.

Lee Fisher, our Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, supports full marriage equality and believes government has no business preventing Americans from entering into committed

relationships and denying them basic rights, such as hospital visitation. He also supports the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of sexual orientation. Lee has been a longtime advocate for AIDS/HIV awareness and education. As a member of the U.S. Senate, he would oppose any attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution to discriminate against or deny rights to any group of people.

These candidates are the top of our ticket and are Ohio’s LGBT community’s champions, and our support will ensure they cross the finish line first in November.

We have four short months, so there’s a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. Early voting starts September 28 and continues through November 1 (the day before Election Day). This means we need our volunteers to be knocking on doors, making phone calls and placing literature on voter’s front doors as early as possible. Keep your eye on our Facebook (facebook.com/ohioLGBTdems) and Twitter (@ohioLGBTdems) accounts as we ramp up our volunteer opportunities around the state.

We will be organizing LGBT-specific phone banks, canvasses and lit drops. We will be holding LGBT-focused meet-the-candidate events and fundraisers, and we’ll even try some new media-related events such as Tweet-ups.

Remember: visit www.ohiodems.org/volunteer or e-mail me at lgbt@ohiodems.org to get involved. Together, we are going to own the summer and have a blast doing it.

If you are not registered to vote or a volunteer, you need to get involved! Your life is political, whether you like it or not!

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Better than smearing SPF40 on your Brian Reaume original. Michael would like to smear SPF40 directly on Brian Reaume.

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We love cute pics of dogs, can you tell?

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by Mickey Weems Billy Joe Gregg, Jr. is in a world of shit.

A video released by Mercy For Animals (MFA) shows Gregg hurting helpless cattle, including calves, at Conklin Dairy Farms in Plain City, Ohio. Gregg (and other men) have been caught on tape beating the animals, kicking them, hitting them in the head with a metal object that looks like a small crowbar, and stabbing at them with a pitchfork (www.mercyforanimals.org/ohdairy/).

Just under 4 minutes, the video was made from over 20 hours of undercover footage. Gregg is not the only person on tape, but as of June 3, he is the only one who has been arrested.

He was arraigned in court and released on $100,000 bond. In Ohio, his actions do not constitute a felony, but are considered criminal offenses.

A more severe punishment for Gregg and Conklin Farms has been issued from the court of public opinion. The Conklin family has received death threats, even a call for people to gather at Conklin Farms on Memorial Day to tear the facilities down, an event that was cancelled by the presence of some 200 police officers.

It’s not everyday that livestock farmers and animal rights groups agree on anything, but they all condemn Billy Gregg. Some of those who support the farmers industry say the video is a setup, and they accuse Gregg of being a paid stooge of MFA. Those who are passionately against animal farming see him as the typical sadistic cowhand. The Internet is filled with invectives against him, including the following: Piece of ****...I would LOVE to use a pitchfork on the SOB. Throw the book at him and lock him up forever!!!

Next, it will be a child...he’s cold and heartless.

This evil sack of shit needs punishing severely for his disgusting acts which he clearly enjoys.

Esos tipos deberían estar muertos.

Burn in hell Billy Gregg Jr. My first thought when I saw the video was, “If he’ll do this to helpless farm animals, what would he do to a fellow human being?” But then I learned something else about the man. He had actually saved a Gay person from being attacked by a couple of guys who were verbally abusive and on the outlookcolumbus.com

verge of Gay-bashing. Despite threats against him for getting involved, Billy would not back down.

here is what I learned, off the record.

Nobody wanted to be identified in print.

I told a free-range cattle rancher in the Southwest about the video, and about the good side I had seen of Gregg. The rancher (who wants to remain anonymous) had not yet seen the video. We talked about how farmers treat their animals. He said that raising cattle involves inflicting pain on them, as in the practice of “polling” or removing their horns. The act causes the animal to bleed profusely, and it is obvious that the animal is hurting. But polling is necessary, he said, to keep the animals from hurting each other and hurting people. It is done swiftly, and medication is applied to stop the bleeding. He also added that it hurt him to do it, and that ranchers consider their cattle like their children. (I pointed out to him that the big difference is, of course, we do not eat our children.)

Gregg has been nicknamed “Cowboy” for his tendency to wear cowboy boots and hat. He is a Straight man and a veteran. He talks a lot, and some people suspect that he may be psychologically disabled, perhaps as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder.

cruelty of any kind is unacceptable, and this includes eating meat or raising animals for food. They encourage people to become vegans, and the video of Conklin Farms is the first thing on their website. When I contacted them, I was directed to their founder and president, Nathan Runkle.

I forced myself to watch the video over and over so I could get the full effect of what he had done. Gregg appears to vent a lot of anger on the animals, but also seems to think that they do not feel pain easily, thus what he does is necessary to get their attention. He talks a lot, which matches what others had told me about him. And he acts like what he is doing is normal.

I prepared myself for a possibly confrontational interview, but I was already softened up by descriptions of the staff online. My gaydar went off almost immediately. Nathan confirmed my suspicions, telling me that the organization marches in Pride parades, and that many of his staff are LGBTQ. The sympathy that Gay members of MFA have for animals comes from having been targets of human cruelty.

Nathan, in fact, had been savagely beaten in 2008 for being Gay.

I also watched a video of Billy Gregg in court, telling the judge that he needed to get out of jail because he was ap-

I explained to Nathan that I wanted to defend Billy Gregg. I think what Billy did was wrong, and that he should be

the defender’s favor.

I asked Bruce if those who are mentally disabled should be held to the same level of responsibility as those who are not. We both agreed that, if there is a culture of animal abuse at a farm, a person might lose sight of ethical behavior. “Billy is not anomalous,” said Bruce, “these places beat the humanity out of a man. Every time we go undercover on one of these factory farms or in one of these slaughterhouses, we encounter workers who have had their humanity destroyed by their hideous jobs.” As with Nathan, all of Bruce’s comments are reprinted at the end of this article.

Common Ground After speaking with Nathan and Bruce, I am filled with admiration for both men and their dedication to a cause in which they believe. I agree with them completely that factory farming is (or

Mercy for a Man Who Beat Cows I sent him the link for the video. This was his reply: I could only stand to watch the first minute of the video. The man who did that deserves the upper limit of whatever the law allows. It’s one thing to do the things necessary to raise and sell cattle - It’s quite another to do the things this idiot is doing... The Cattlemen’s Association of Ohio should condemn in the strongest terms what this guy did.

God says in Genesis 1:26 that He gave man dominion over the cattle - It doesn’t say that we should beat them up for no reason whatsoever.

Most ranchers like their cattle as tame as possible, so that they won’t charge them and hurt them when they get out of their pickup or off of their horse.

When a rancher feeds his cattle, he usually drops feed off of the back of the pickup, and he calls the cows to come in from the pasture with a yell that they know. If the cows are scared to death of him, they will never come to his call. Beating them up with a crowbar is sick, sick, sick.

But before we pass judgment, let’s learn a bit more about the man in the video.

Cowboy I did some further investigation and

plying to become a police officer, and that he had animals at home that needed his care. The media had a field day with his statements. But not one of the commentators or any one I had read on the blogosphere reported what I saw: he simply did not know that what he was doing to those animals was wrong.

Mercy For Animals I am not an expert in raising cattle, nor am I well versed in animal rights, so I contacted pro-cattle farmer and proanimal rights organizations. The two sides don’t appear to get along very well.

I called the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association. They categorically denounced Billy’s actions, and referred me to the Ohio Dairy Producers Association (ODPA), who say the same thing on their website, www.ohiodairyproducers.org. But I did not have the chance ask them about inflicting pain in raising livestock. ODPA did not return my request for an interview. I figured they had received so much negative press; they were probably not in the mood.

Conklin Farms didn’t even answer the phone. Animal rights activists, however, were more forthcoming. Especially MFA. Mercy For Animals, the group that sent in the undercover person, is open about their agenda. For them, animal

penalized, but that public condemnation of him is far too severe. And I told Nathan why. Although we did not see eye to eye on everything, Nathan agreed that demonizing Billy was not the solution. “Mercy For Animals strongly opposes cruelty and violence to both people and animals,” Nathan said, “including Billy Joe Gregg.” MFA also told those who wanted to tear down Conklin Farms on Memorial Day to back off. Nathan’s full statement is given at the end of this article.

PETA The other organization that took the time to speak with me was People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Bruce Friedrich, Vice President of Policy for PETA, could not understand why I wanted to defend Billy Gregg. “The fact that someone does something good doesn’t exonerate them from the horrible things they’ve done,” he told me. “It’s a sad day when someone in the gay community defends such a horrid animal abuser because of one anti-homophobic action.”

He also said it was frustrating to see me defend Gregg on the basis of a single issue, an interesting statement coming from somebody who works with PETA. My response was that, if I knew that somebody had defended a helpless person (such as a child), regardless of the helpless person’s orientation, I would count that deed in

People keep about 1,300,000,000 beef cattle worldwide (this excludes dairy cattle). Let’s eat!

should be) criminal, slaughter should be done as humanely as possible, and that certain practices such as cutting off cattle’s tails should be eliminated if not necessary for the safety of the animal. I am envious of Nathan and Bruce’s ability to see the issue in clear-cut terms, and I applaud their fierce compassion.

For me, however, other issues of animal rights are not so clear-cut. I eat meat, I have friends who hunt, and there are people close to me who raise animals for food. I was also initiated in Brazil into a House of Candomblé, an African religion that practices animal sacrifice. In my initiation, the fresh blood of animals sanctified me, and allowed my soul to be linked with the Gods that lay dormant within me.

I realize that cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, etc. are animals that, in nature, are prey. I need only open my mouth and look at my teeth - they reflect my genetic heritage as an omnivore. Our ancestors hunted other animals long before they planted crops. In addition, I recognize that farm animals have a huge advantage over other animal species when it comes to avoiding extinction precisely because they are farm animals produced as food.

And I will continue to call for a lighter punishment for Billy Gregg simply because he put his own life at risk for one of my people. july 2010

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Outnumbered: Math, Religion and You

by J Eric Peters Stonewall Columbus’ staff and volunteers hustled and bustled getting ready for Pride weekend when I strolled into the Center on High on Wednesday, June 16 to see what sort of volunteer stuff I could get into. In between trips toting stuff from storage to truck, I learned from a Stonewall staffer that nobody had organized a Pride Day service to start off that blessed day. I don’t know why; it’s not like Columbus has any shortage of elected and/or salaried leaders who could have done what it took me less than three days to accomplish (yeah, I’m still a little peeved, but at least I didn’t have to deal with the bitter disappointment of watching Pride go without something that adds substantial value).

Some of the folks lining up Saturday morning for the Pride parade joined the small and upbeat service offered near the North Plaza Fountain Area on Front Street near the Ohio Supreme Court.

Just over 30 people stopped to enjoy some part of the service. A miniature representation of the spectrum of faiths and traditions supporting equality for GBLT people took part in the service.

The altar held three Christian communion cups, a Bible and a Pagan pentagram. No wall held any crucifix, but Saoirse from the Pagan group A Gathering of Paths brought with her a large flag featuring a thoughtful design.

Byron Yaple, Bill Ahers, Bryen and the Rev. Marj Creech led the small assembly in music. Readings and prayers came from Saoirse; Rev. Creech from the Church of the Wildwood MCC; the Rev. Cathi Ferrari, a minister from the Unitarian Universalist Association; the Rev. Margaret Hawk from New Creation Metropolitan Community Church; Ms. Diana Hook, owner of the independent Pagan/New Age bookstore, Pearls of Wisdom; Carla Pomeroy; and the Rev. Janine Wilson from First Congregational United Church of Christ.

Rev. Ferrari shared a Buddhist reading, Hook a Sufi (Muslim) poem, and Rev. Creech gave the traditional Jewish Shema Israel (which opens

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“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one”). He also conveyed greetings and blessings from Temple Beth Shalom. While Rev. Hawk officiated over Communion, Ms. Hook separately offered an alternative.

After the services, I personally walked from the Broad and High intersection to Buttles and High looking for anti-gay protesters, Astonished to find only one group, hiked all the way back to doublecheck. Assuming that everyone standing between the anti-gay Christo-Fascist at one end of their group and the Bible thumper at the other near the Gay and High intersection was part of their “klan,” their crowd numbered only 27 people.

More than 40 individuals wore t-shirts emblazoned with “King Avenue United Methodist Church” and marched with the group led by a sign reading “Inclusive United Methodists.” Other parade participants bore signs indicating association with Broad Street, Hilltonia, Maynard Avenue, New Horizons, North Broadway and Parkview United Methodist churches.

Still others showed their affinity for Delaware Gay Straight Christian Alliance, First Baptist Church Granville, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, Grow Yoga, Indianola Presbyterian Church, Karl Road Christian Church, Master’s Commission New Covenant Church, North Church (UCC), North Unitarian Universalist Congregation, SGI-USA Buddhists, St. Paul United Church of Christ and Temple Beth Shalom.

And so our faithful friends’ organizations outnumbered the individual adults in the pathetic little band of Bible-thumping anti-gay bigots, which included several unfortunate children (who hopefully will find adults in their lives to help them survive their obviously abusive parents).

The Pride festival had booths from several relevant organizations including Narcotics Anonymous, Advent United Church of Christ, Central Ohio Unitarian-Universalist Congregations, Master’s Commission New Covenant Church, SGI-USA

Buddhists, and St. Paul UCC. The Buddhists, Unitarians and Christians from Advent and St. Paul talked about what had brought them there.

The Buddhists had about a dozen people in the parade, according to Monica Cunningham, Area Leader for the Women’s Division, who was staffing their festival booth. They have been in every parade since about 1999 and represent Soka Gakkai, the Nichiren approach to Buddhism.

Channale Crockett, working with Cunningham, said she hoped the Buddhists’ presence at Pride might communicate for the greater good that “working to make myself a better person” will help make a better world. Cunningham spoke about a broader purpose of world peace with the hope that each person in the local district becoming a happier person would make world peace possible “one person at a time.”

The Central Ohio Unitarian Universalist Congregations is a fairly new organization, which represents the Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, North Unitarian Universalist Church and Unitarian Universalist Congregation East.

Bob Rice was staffing their booth and stated that the new organization had been behind some recent advertising spots on NPR supporting Pride.

The parade reportedly included about 80-100 Unitarians, many wearing t-shirts promoting Standing on the Side of Love (www.StandingOnTheSideOfLove.org), an organization formed in response to “the 2008 shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, which was targeted because they were welcoming to LGBT people and have a liberal stance on many issues” (according to the website).

Rice expressed his understanding of his church’s beliefs as providing “a framework that I am responsible for my theological and spiritual path and my path is accepted without qualification and others accept him,” which he described as “very powerful theology.”

St. Paul’s licensed but not yet ordained pastor,

Alan Hicks, and several church members seemed to find quite a bit of enjoyment in being at the park for Pride. Hicks indicated this was their first year to participate in Pride as a congregation.

Hicks said that his faith inspired his choice to support Pride in that “I think the life of Christ that we follow shows that He went beyond the boundaries and limitations of the temple to those considered outcasts of His time and welcomed folks to the life of God.” Advent’s Whosoever Ministry, founded in 2008, also had a festival presence. Dr. Judy Alston (Minister of Administration and Operations) and her partner, Dr. Cynthia Tyson and other Advent members staffed their booth. Dr. Alston said a conversation between her and her partner gave rise to Advent’s participation in Pride this year, the church’s first time.

Dr. Alston also talked about how rare it was for a church such as Advent “in the black church tradition” to support GLBT equality and about how the black church has “perpetuated homophobia.”

We also discussed the problem of racism in the local GLBT community. She noted that Advent UCC is the only open and affirming black church in Columbus. She also described the influence she has taken from the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, a movement among black churches and individual Christians, and her thinking that “God is love and love is for everyone” and that at Advent “we really believe in Jesus the Christ and in embracing everyone.”

When Dr. Alston said, “I write and do GLBT research from a black lesbian perspective, looking at intersections of race, sex and sexuality” and added some detail about her work, I couldn’t help but think of what an interesting speaker she would be for local organizations and what benefits she could bring to the boards of local GLBT non-profits.

Eric Davies is a contributing writer to outlook: columbus. For more information on the churches and organizations mentioned in the is article, check the outlook: columbus website - www.outlookcolumbus.com.

Futility - noun - pointlessness, uselessness, vanity, ineffectiveness, inefficacy; failure, barrenness, impotence, hollowness, emptiness, forlornness, hopelessness.

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Freon - give us more freon. Summer in Columbus is brutal!

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The Tipping Point on LGBT Equality Has Arrived

by Wayne Besen A couple of weeks ago I wrote, "The war over gay rights in America and other modern nations has been largely won.

Too many people have come out of the closet and will never go back in for the clock to be turned back."

rights for LGBT people are comfortable with the idea of gay sex. The good news is they don't have to be. While speaking across the nation I have found an easy way of diffusing this issue. I ask the crowd to look at people they assume are heterosexual in the audience. Then, I ask if they would want to see all of the people they stared at having sexual intercourse.

This trend towards acceptance has only accelerated since my column and may have reached a tipping point. New York Times columnist Charles Blow wrote about a new Gallup Poll that found, for the first time, the percentage of Americans who perceive "gay and lesbian relations" as morally acceptable has crossed the 50 percent mark.

Also, for the first time, the percentage of men who hold that view is greater than the percentage of women who do.

The answer is inevitably and resoundingly, "No". Then, I simply make the point that there are many people, heterosexual and homosexual, they would not want to witness in bed. And, they never have to unless they elect to do so - making any objections in terms of the "ick" factor moot. As simple as this sounds, it works and audiences "get it."

Blow attributes these advancements to LGBT people coming out and the realization that it is primarily weirdoes and socially stunted hypocrites who are obsessed or threatened by homosexuality.

Adding momentum to the LGBT struggle for equality is a cute McDonald's television commercial in France that dealt with a teenager who had not yet told his father he was gay. The message of the campaign is, "come as you are, just leave a little fatter." Okay, I added the last part.

"Virulent homophobes are increasingly being exposed for engaging in homosexuality," wrote Blow. "Many heterosexual men see this, and they don't want to be associated with it. It's like being anti-gay is becoming the old gay.

Not cool."

Blow is correct. Normal, healthy, functional heterosexuals do not become paranoid or fixated on homosexuals. It is primarily people with sexual hang-ups, extreme religious indoctrination or deep, dark secrets that are preoccupied and consumed by the sexual orientation of others.

Of course, this does not mean that all supporters of civil

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While such an ad is not likely to air in the United States anytime soon, it does not have to in order to have a positive impact. Thanks to the Internet and talk shows, millions of people will see the ad and associate the message with their beloved Golden Arches.

Speaking of the impact of social media, in Newsweek, Joshua Alston made the case that websites such as Facebook are accelerating the demise of the closet. He wrote about the, "painstaking labor that goes into being secretly gay in the age of information sharing." His advice to a friend who was outed by a seemingly innocuous If McDonalds can take a positive stance, why can’t everyone else?

tweet: "if you want to be in the closet, you can't be on Facebook and Twitter."

Crucial to the sudden surge of success is the falling of ugly stereotypes, such as the old canard that LGBT people are a threat to children. This week, the research journal, Pediatrics, published a study by Nanette Gartrell, a professor of psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco and Henry Bos, a behavioral scientist at University of Amsterdam. The article discussed a landmark study that measured the long-term affects on children who were raised by lesbian parents.

"We simply expected to find no difference in psychological adjustment between adolescents reared in lesbian families and the normative sample of age-matched controls," says Gartrell. "I was surprised to find that on some measures we found higher levels of [psychological] competency and lower levels of behavioral problems. It wasn't something I anticipated."

Finally, The Human Rights Campaign reports that Kaiser Permanente updated its Patients' Bill of Rights to fully protect LGBT patients and their families from discrimination. These changes make Kaiser Permanente the first large health network to have a fully inclusive non-discrimination policy for LGBT people.

Sure, full legal equality may take two decades and the battle against bigotry will last forever. But, there is no denying that the LGBT movement is on the move like never before. The homophobes are finally the minority and appearing more secluded and deluded by the day. It's not time to crack open a bottle of champagne, but feel free to treat your self to a cold beer and appreciate the progress. outlookcolumbus.com

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Superman is hot. Boys in Superman underwear are even hotter.

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Are Acrylic Paints More EcoFriendly Than Painting In Oils?

Of course, there are no easy answers. There are environmental and health issues with both oil and acrylic art paint. The big downside of oil paints is the paint thinner required to clean them up. While some of the pigments in oil paint might be toxic or poisonous depending on color reds, yellows, some blues and many whites are produced using potentially toxic heavy metals the paint itself is typically made of food-grade linseed oil, which could hardly be more harmless to the environment (where it came from, after all). But oil paint is notoriously hard to clean up; getting those brushes, palettes and work areas clean requires the use of paint thinners, such as turpentine or mineral spirits, that are not only potentially toxic if used improperly but give off noxious odors and are highly flammable.

As for acrylic paints, they are water-based so clean up is a breeze: Just wash it down the drain with some warm water, no paint thinner required. But acrylic paint is a petroleum-derived polymer, i.e. plastic. While cleaning it up might be easier than cleaning up oil paints, do we really want to be rinsing plastic down our drains?

How good could this be for surrounding ecosystems? The other negative, of course, is that just buying them contributes to our reliance on petroleum.

So what’s a green painter to do? One option is to go for so-called water mixable oil paints that, according to manufacturers like Grumbacher, appear and behave in the same manner as traditional oil paints in every aspect except when it comes to clean-up - like acrylics, they thin and clean up with water instead of noxious chemicals. Water mixable oils are ideal for those sensitive to chemical fumes. Art supply chain Utrecht sells a wide variety of water mixable oil paints online and at its retail locations across the U.S.

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The best way to get rid of old paint is to eat it. I did as a kid and I am just fine, OK?

If you must use traditional oil paints - many professional artists just prefer them for their thickness, color brilliance and other qualities - you can go with a brand that pays attention to the environmental impact of its products and operations. Oregon-based Gamblin Artists Colors Company uses only high-quality raw materials in its paints, avoiding preservatives that degrade the quality and release chemicals. Gamsol, the company’s paint thinner, uses mineral spirits that evaporate much more slowly than turpentine, which has a reputation for irritating breathing passages and inducing nausea. Every spring the company cleans its machinery, and instead of throwing the filter dust out, it recycles it and gives away tubes of the resulting gray paint free to artists through retail locations, and hosts a contest for art created with the unique color.

Another way to go would be truly all-natural.

Berkeley, California-based GLOB crafts its paints from food-grade botanical extracts, so it’s even safe for kids aged three and older. Colored by real fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices, GLOB paints are all-natural, non-toxic, and free of chemicals, parabens, petroleum and synthetic preservatives. The palette is limited to just six colors, but creative artists should be able to mix to their heart’s content. The paints can be mail ordered, and they come in a dry powdered format, which saves weight, money and energy when shipped - users add water and start painting.

For more info: Grumbacher, www.grumbacherart.com; Utrecht, www.utrechtart.com; Gamblin Artists Colors Company, www.gamblincolors.com; GLOB, www.globiton.com. earthtalk@emagazine.com.

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LOW (od

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Noka uses a mannequin as a coatrack, and she got it at FC Store Fixtures. She then spray painted it glitter gold and bedazzled it. *sigh*

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Fairy Tale Romance: The Ballad of Megan and Michelle

by Regina Sewell The stars were aligned when Megan and Michelle walked into love’s trajectory in October 2005. Theirs is a classic Provincetown Romance: go to Women's Week, notice each other on multiple occasions, find themselves falling for each other at the Lesbian Prom. Two years later, they pack Megan's life into a U-Haul, drive to their now shared home and begin the process of negotiating their lives together.

In classic “girl meets girl” romances, this - the U-Haul event - is a running joke in the lesbian community: "What does a lesbian bring to the 2nd date? Answer: A U-Haul." This is the equivalent of “and they lived happily ever after.” As a symbol of commitment, it is more concrete (and more challenging to break) than the non-legally binding vows spoken in dresses and tuxes (or patchouli and Birkenstocks or…). The U-Haul event involves a cadre of witnesses with a vested interest in the couple’s domestic bliss (sofa beds, books, and dishes are heavy… I’m just sayin’…).

But this “girl meets girl” fairy tale has a new twist. Megan and Michelle live in Massachusetts where the laws are civilized and gay and lesbian unions are recognized by law. They

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didn’t have to settle for the U-Haul as a concrete symbol of love gone right. On Memorial Day weekend this year, roughly four and a half years after they met, Megan and Michelle got married in front of a loving and supportive group of family and friends. Escorted down the aisle by their respective parents, they said their vows, exchanged rings and became married life partners.

All things considered, the weirdest thing about this fairy tale is how ideal it is. Two people fall in love, make it through the honeymoon stage with love still intact, keep a connection alive through what could have become yet another long distance relationship disaster, come to a mutual decision of lifetime devotion, procure a judge (Megan's Dad!) and declare their promises of love and commitment in front of their community of family and friends, laugh through the requisite embarrassing stories at the reception and feed each other cake.

There was no evidence of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

There were no signs of resignation, disappointment or discomfort on the part of family members. It was clearly evident that they were there in full support of the happy couple, no strings attached. Even the staff at the hotel where wedding guests stayed acted as if the Megan

and Michelle wedding party was a normal event. Instead, when asked about the event, family members beamed and said things like “I’m so happy she found someone who makes her so happy” and shared funny stories of the respective bride’s childhood.

I know, weddings are supposed to be ideal. But they usually aren’t. Not for us. Not in the 45 states that don’t allow same-sex marriage. The very notion of Adam and Steve saying, “I do” sent conservatives flocking to the polls to enact state-level Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMA) and constitutional amendments banning our unions. Even in our community, the concept of marriage has been dicey. There was a time when the more radical edge of our community denounced the institution of marriage, pushing instead for a sexual revolution – for a life of tricks and treats and a whole different kind of balls and chains. Unfortunately, Kris Kristofferson nailed a cosmic truth when he penned the line; “freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose."* Free love doesn’t change our diapers when we get sick and/or old, get us the insurance benefits and tax breaks that our heterosexual counterparts take for granted, or guarantee that our lovers can accompany us into the emergency room or visit us in intensive care.

Q: What does a lesbian bring to the first date? A: A U-Haul! You heard it here first, folks.

When I was 10 years old, I saw a story about same-sex marriage in California on the cover of a major news magazine. At the time, I didn’t really understand what it meant. I knew nothing about homosexuality and had no clue about my own sexual orientation. All I knew was that if same-sex couples could get married, I could marry my best friend. It was a rude awakening when I came out in my twenties and realized that not only could I not marry my best friend, I couldn’t marry my lover. This is still true in 45 states, but in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. we can get married. And if it can happen in five states, someday, it will be possible in the rest of the nation. All we have to do is love, show our love and convince the people in power that love is okay. *I know. I know. Janis Joplin made the line famous, but Kris Kristofferson wrote it.

Regina Sewell is a mental health counselor. To ask a question, propose a column topic, read about her approach to counseling, or check out her books and other writing, go to: www.ReginaSewell.com. Her most recent publication, “Sliding Away” can be found in Knowing Pains: Women on Love, Sex and Work in Our 40s, edited by Molly Rosen.

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Boy meets boy, boy loses boy, boy gets boy back again. ETC.

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Does Size Matter?

by Tara McKenzie Allison, ESQ. When it comes to “coming out,” how does the size of the town in which you live affect your decision? Does size matter?

My girlfriend, Stephanie, grew up in the small town of Winchester, Kentucky – population around 17,000. All of her close and extended family and all of her friends live in (and around) Winchester. She completed all of her school in that town. Her closest aunt was a math teacher at the local middle school, and her family was well known throughout the community. Stephanie played girls’ basketball throughout school and, alongside her father, even coached teams in the local community league. “It’s the kind of town where everyone knows everyone,” said Stephanie. Most know Stephanie.

When she decided to “come out” about two years ago, it was – as it is for most people – a very big decision. “I put the decision off for years, because I didn’t want to shame my family,” she said. After her aunt passed away a few years ago, Stephanie slowly began to associate with a few select friends who were also gay. “I can probably count only five or six people – that I know of – that are gay, in that entire town, and that is something that they all want to be kept secret.” Stephanie began to spend more time interacting with the larger GLBT community, in nearby Lexington. She spent her weekends at a well-known

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“alternative” bar in downtown Lexington and increased the number of her gay and lesbian friends. Over the next couple years, she slowly built the courage to finally face her family with the truth about herself. Within a matter of hours, word of her revelation reached the ears of everyone in her family and all of her friends. “Within a day, everyone in that town who knows me knew that I am a lesbian.”

Stephanie believes her decision to “come out,” while living in the small town of Winchester, was more difficult than it would have been, had she been living in a larger city like Columbus. “In a small town, like Winchester, it seemed that the community’s opinion of me as a lesbian, reflected negatively upon my entire family. That’s a lot of pressure.” Smaller towns tend to be more conservative than larger cities, and few have the laws and ordinances that provide protections against discrimination based upon sexual orientation. “I worried that I wouldn’t be able to continue coaching kids’ basketball, and that I wouldn’t be able to find a job as a teacher,” says Stephanie. Additionally, because GLBT population in Winchester is small (and mostly “closeted”), there were very few opportunities for Stephanie to associate with other lesbians. “It’s important to be able to associate with other people who can understand and relate to what you’re experiencing. That support just isn’t there, in a small town.”

About a year and a half ago, Stephanie and I moved from Kentucky to Columbus. With a population of approximately So size DOES matter! Dammit!

1.7 million in the greater Columbus metropolitan area, it’s about a hundred times larger than Winchester. With one of the largest GLBT populations in the country, Columbus has plenty of support groups and social networks available to help those “just coming out” to feel welcome and accepted. As well, the city has countless bars and clubs that are predominately “gay.” These provide avenues of social interaction in a relatively safe and accepting environment.

There is a certain safety in the anonymity that can be found in a large city. For someone who is struggling with their sexuality, it’s possible to interact with and befriend others to whom you can relate, and yet, disappear back into your life without fear of being “outed,” before you’re ready to take that huge step. That environment gives people time to build their self-confidence and self-acceptance – an important part of the “coming out” experience.

My own experience – “coming out” as transgender – is similar to Stephanie’s. As a transgender attorney, with dozens of cities and towns under my belt, I can honestly say that none of those prior “homes” could have held a candle to living in Columbus. This city is – by far – one of the most welcoming and accepting places for any member of the GLBT community to call “home.”

So, in the end, does size matter? Absolutely. “Coming out” in a large city, is a much easier process than in a small town. outlookcolumbus.com

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Every 32 hours is unacceptable. Know your status - and have an honest conversation before you hook up.

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Hey Son, It’s OK To Be Gay!

by Radical Mommy I was so thrilled to hear that Ricky Martin finally came out of the closet. I want my 4-year-old son to know that it’s totally okay if he’s gay. In fact, deep down, I might secretly want him to be.

I don’t claim to know what it’s like growing up knowing that you’re gay and having to hide such a big part of yourself from the world. But I do know that the gay men and women I know who were accepted and embraced by parents and friends when they came out say they are much happier, and are much more secure now because of it.

Having a gay child has never, ever been an issue for me, and when I met my husband, I was thrilled to discover that it was a nonissue for him as well. Of course, like all parents, we want the best for our child, and I would never want my son to suffer because of who he is and how idiots might see him if he’s gay. But gay people do not chose to be gay - they ARE gay.

Some of my friends say they knew they were gay from a very young age (as early as 4). Well, if that’s my son, then that’s great with me - I only hope he feels comfortable enough to tell us when he is young, so he doesn’t have to feel shame or fear (at least in his own home).

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Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying I want him to be gay (well... maybe a little; after all, then I could have TWO sons when he meets someone), but I’m not saying that I want him to be straight, either. What I want is for my son to be who he is, not who society or bigots (or even my husband and I) tell him he should be. In an effort to let our son know that we love him exactly how he is, whenever my husband and I talk to him about his future, and how one day he’ll fall in love with someone, we ALWAYS make it a point to say, “You may meet a girl OR boy who you fall in love with.”

I am proud of the way we are raising our son. If he isn’t gay, so be it - but hopefully he will take with him all the love, affection, acceptance and tolerance that his parents have for ALL of humanity and spread it wherever he goes.

I hope our attitudes will teach him that it’s not OK to judge people, make fun of people or ostracize people just because you don’t like or agree with something about them. I hope our attitudes will teach him that it’s OK to stand up for other people, even people who are different from you. I hope our attitudes will teach him that love and respect are the ONLY things worthy of filling his heart and head with.

spoke to parenting expert “Gay Uncle” Brett Berk. Here’s what he had to say: “Sounds to me like your current pro-gay practices are pretty spot-on. Normalizing homosexuality for young kids through casual exposure to gay friends, by providing awareness of the idea that there’s a range of human sexuality, by suggesting options beyond hetero-normativism is the best way for them to think of being gay as ... normal (which obviously it is).

“My only concern would be not to overdo it on the whole ‘falling in love’ thing. I find that parents often tend to focus in on this stuff too much from an early age, and it just feels like a silly form of pressure to put on kids’ nascent social relationships. When a 5-year-old (regardless of gender) tells me that they just broke up with their boyfriend or girlfriend, I think that someone in their life has done them a huge disservice. Oh, and being gay, like being straight, isn’t only about love. It’s also about genetics, and animal magnetism, and attraction, and fun and sex. But you certainly don’t need to tell your kid about all that.”

For more of what moms are talking about: http://www.momlogic.com.

I wanted to know more about what my husband and I can do to raise a child who is comfortable with who he is and accepting of people who aren’t the same as him, so I

You mean Ricky Martin is GAY? Well, that’s OK.

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SATURDAY, JULY 10 bushistory.org: Everyone’s faHAVE A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIST vorite malt shop / poodle skirt phenomenon. Arnett Howard SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE Historic Theatre Tours @ The leads this trip down memory lane about Columbus musiOhio Theater, 39 E State St, cians and the city’s rock ’n 614.469.0939, www.capa.com: As part of the roll scene. Call to make reservations. 6:30p; free. summer movie series, CAPA will offer guided tours of the historic Ohio Theater, featur- UHN TISS UHN TISS ing a close-up look at “Mighty Sweatin’ @ Axis, 775 N High Morton” – the original organ. St, 614.291.4008, 4:30p; free. www.columbusnightlife.com: A night of debauchery and indulgence? That’s my favorite kind of night! 10p; cover.

SUNDAY, JULY 11 I HOPE THE MOVIE GLITTER IS INVOLVED

FRIDAY, JULY 16 BUST OUT THE WHIPS AND PADDLES Fetish Show @ OutLand on Liberty, 95 Liberty St, 614.744.0100: An exotic night out for most of us and another day in the life for the rest.

Makes you wonder what ‘an exotic night out’ would be for them. 9p; cover.

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from gym class being your dance partner is also gay.

Every Monday @ 8:30p; $15.

TUESDAY, JULY 6 ARE YOU A CHAMP IN THE ANATOMY CATEGORY? Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level Dining Lounge, 700 N High St, 614.754.1342, www.levelcolumbus.com: $3 Smirnoff all flavors, $2.50 Domestic Bottles – Starting at 10p – 614 Night - 2 Rotating DJ’s, drinks up to 50% off; Fun starts at 8p.

Samantha Goes to the Movies @ Wall Street Nightclub, 144 N Wall St, 614.464.2800, www.wallstreetnightclub.com: Catch the ever-so-lovely Samantha Rollins going to the movies!

Also starring Kari Kerning, and others. Doors @ 8p, Show @ 9p; Tables - $40.

SATURDAY, JULY 17 A DIVA IS THE FEMALE VERSION OF A HUSTLER Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis, 775 N High St, 614.291.4008, www.columbusnightlife.com: The name says it all. Symphony Alexander-Love and this year’s glamorous girls take the stage. 7p; cover.

TUESDAY, JULY 20 NOTHING SAYS ‘CLASSY’ LIKE PEASANT FOOD Cheap Date Night @ Slammers, 202 E Long St, 614.221.8880, www.slammersbar.net: $4 domestic beers and 11” - pardon me, want to think about those 11 inches for a moment - onetopping pizza for $12. Starts at 8p; no cover.

MONDAY, JULY 19 THE BEST WAY INTO A BOY’S PANTS Pizza, Pints & Karaoke Monday @ Union Bar+Food, 782 N High St, 614.421.CAFE (2233), www.columbusnightlife.com: Test your chops at U. $10 pizza and $2 beers all day. Karaoke starts at 10p; no cover.

SUNDAY, JULY 18 FROM DIVA TO GODDESS Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis, 775 N High St, 614.291.4008, www.columbusnightlife.com: More loving from Symphony and the gang.

Who will be the reigning goddess of Ohio (until 2011)? 8p; cover.

MONDAY, JULY 12 I WANT A MAN WITH A SHORT SKIRT/LONG JACKET CAKE @ The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, 405 Neil Ave, 614.461.LIVE (5483), www.promowestlive.com: The band’s name isn’t just in caps because we love them.

7p; $35.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 14 GOT A LITTLE TOO EXCITED WHEN I MISREAD THIS AS “BOY MEETS WORLD” Boy Meets Boy @ Studio One of Riffe Center, 77 S High St, 614.460.7211, www.capa.com: CAPA and Evolution Theatre co-present “Boy Meets Boy.” The title says it all. Runs Wed - Sat. July 14-24; 8p; Adults - $25, Students/Seniors - $20.

IT’S WHO YOU KNOW Network Columbus @ Level, 700 N High St, www.networkcolumbus.com: Join the members of Network Columbus, central Ohio’s progressive GLBT networking group, for a networking event and speakers concerning niche marketing. No RSVP necessary - just come enjoy the fellowship, networking, speakers, and free appetizers! 6p-8p; free.

THURSDAY, JULY 15 WITHOUT THE SEX AND DRUGS, WHAT ARE WE LEFT WITH? Rock ’N Roll Columbus @ Columbus Historical Society, 51 Jefferson Ave., 614.224.0822, www.colum-

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21 TUESDAY, JULY 27 FINALLY, AN AIR-CONDITIONED SUM- PLEASE DON’T FEED THE CONTESTMER CONCERT ANTS Victor Manuelle @ The American Idol Live! @ NaPalace Theatre, 34 W Broad tionwide Arena, corner of NaSt, 614.469.9850, tionwide and Neil, www.capa.com: The perfect 614.246.2000, www.Nationdate if you want to show off wideArena.com: The Top 10 your enthusiasm for the arts. contestants of Season 9 stop Bonus points: he’s Puerto in for one night only. 7:30p; Rican. Don’t forget to meet at $40.50-70.50. a coffee shop before the concert. 8p; $22.50-$52.50 ($5 WEDNESDAY, JULY 28 students).

FINALLY, A WITCH-HUNT EVERYBODY CAN ENJOY THURSDAY, JULY 22 Wicked @ The Ohio Theater, SINGER AND/OR SONGWRITER 39 E State St, 614.469.0939, Donna Magavero @ Cavan www.capa.com: See the story Irish Pub, 1409 S. High St, of how Elfaba became the www.cavanirishpub.com: For Wicked Witch of the West for all you acoustic-y types. At the first time (or maybe the least the show isn’t beneath a second, or the third…). Intree on a college campus. 9p; dulge your wicked side cover. through August 29, evenings and matinees; Show @ 8p; FRIDAY, JULY 23 tickets starting at $39.50.

ALL THAT JAZZ JazZoo @ The Columbus Zoo THURSDAY, JULY 29 & Aquarium, 9990 Riverside BUTTER FACE Dr, 614.645.3550, Ohio State Fair @ Ohio Expo www.columbuszoo.org: The Center, 717 E. 17th Ave., Columbus Jazz Orchestra www.ohiostatefair.com: Buttakes center stage at the ter: the official lubricant of Columbus Zoo! Enjoy the Amish America. Get a taste theme “Sinatra & the Big (and how!) by visiting the Bands.” Other performances butter cow. Through August 8. on July 16, Aug 6 & 13; Adults $10 ($8 youth and senior, kids - $27 (advance), $30 (day of), under five get in free).

Students - $15 (w/ ID), Parking - $5 per car.

FRIDAY, JULY 30 I JUST LOVE LEATHUH. SATURDAY, JULY 24 2010 Ohio Valley Regional BRUSH UP YOUR MADONNA Leather Contest @ Axis, 775 Night of 100 Drag Queens @ N High St, 614.291.4008, Axis, 775 N High St, www.ohioleatheralliance.com: 614.291.4008, columbusThe ultimate of ultimate nightlife.com: More queens in leather competitions. Open to one place then you’ll ever see contestants from Ohio, West again. And odds are they all Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvadream of being on RuPaul’s nia, Michigan, and Kentucky.

Drag Race next season. 8p; Titles that will be up for grabs $10 (with costume), $15 include: Mr and Ms Leather(without). pride, Leatherpride Boy, Leather Bear & Cub, SUNDAY, JULY 25 Master/Slave, and Bootblack.

I’VE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO HER Show starts @ 10p; cover.

FACE (AMONG OTHER BODY PARTS) My Fair Lady (1964) @ The SATURDAY, JULY 31 Ohio Theater, 39 E State St, DIRTY BOYS 614.469.0939, 25th Anniversary Mud Volleywww.capa.com: The final ball @ Beulah Park, showing in the summer movie www.epilepsy-ohio.org: Get series. Does that mean sum- dirty (in public) to benefit the mer’s almost over? Wear your Epilepsy Foundation of Centurtleneck sweaters and get tral Ohio. Enjoy a day of mud, ahead of the curve. 2p; $4 volleyball, dirt, fun and grime. ($3.50 seniors).

Get messy @ 9a; $10 per contestant (8 people per team), MONDAY, JULY 26 $5 parking, $5 Spectator fee.a MEET YOUR MONTHLY QUOTA Dollar Days @ Flex, 1567 E Livingston Ave, 614.252.0730, www.flexbaths.com: $1 lockers from noon till midnight.

• • • • • • • • • • • about town • • • • • • • • • • • THURSDAY, JULY 1 PREPARE TO LAUNCH Outlook July Launch Party @ Moziak, 51 Vine Street, 614.469.1000, www.mozaiklounge.com: Come celebrate the launch of outlook’s Urban Living edition and kick off 4th of July weekend right! Join Outlook Media & Dimensional Entertainment for a fun happy hour featuring Belvedere cocktail specials, fashions by Brigade and complimentary appetizers by Mozaik. 7p-9p, free!

DANCE DANCE Moral Tales @ Havana, 862 N High St, 614.421.9697, www.columbusnightlife.com: From the producers of Sweatin’. Even though the name makes it sound like the exact opposite. 10p; cover.

GET YOUR SUGAR WHILE YOU CAN WEDNESDAY, JULY 7 Closing Weekend @ Sugar HARD ROCK? HALLELUJAH! Bar, 525 N Park St, Rock N Roll Sideshow @ Cirwww.sugar-bar.net: Say your cus, 1227 N. High St, goodbyes. It’s the final week- 614.421.2998: Take a break end for Sugar Bar. Doors will from the gay night scene. Go be closing for good after Sat to a dark bar with loud music July 3rd. 9p; cover. and $3 C.B.C. pints. Okay, I guess that isn’t different at FRIDAY, JULY 2 all. 9p; cover.

A BIG BANG FOR THE SIZE QUEENS Red, White, and BOOM! @ THURSDAY, JULY 8 Vets Memorial and surround- DO THE CHACHA! ing area, www.redwhiteandSalsa with the Clippers @ boom.org: See entertainment Huntington Park, 330 Huntall day at the Genoa Park ington Park Lane, Stage, Long Street BOOM! 614.462.5250, www.clippersStage, and Taste of BOOM! baseball.com: JC EntertainStage. The explosions start at ment presents K-Da Uno. So 10p; free. after you’ve had one too many beers and stadium dogs, you SATURDAY, JULY 3 can act like you know how to YOUR FAVORITE GAYSIAN SINCE salsa! Tickets available at ONGINA clippersbaseball.com. 5p; $8JuJubee @ Union Bar+Food, 25.

782 N High St, 614.421.CAFE (2233), FRIDAY, JULY 9 columbusnightlife.com: Prac- SO WHEN YOU PASS OUT ON THE tice hyperventilating now, the PAVEMENT…KNOW YOU’RE SUPfabulous JuJubee of RuPaul’s PORTING LOCAL WINERIES Drag Race is in town. Just try 9th Annual North Market to keep it together around her. Food & Ohio Wine Festival @ The glam begins @ 11p, North Market, 59 Spruce St, cover.

614.463.9664, www.northmarket.com: Celebrate local SUNDAY, JULY 4 cuisine and VINO! Get a taste MY, OH, MY, WHAT A WONDERFUL from the best with wines from DAY! 18 of Ohio’s finest wineries.

27th Annual Doo Dah Parade Enjoy live music on two & Party @ High St & Buttles stages, and even better — Ave in the Short North, it’s FREE! July 9 - 11; Fri 7p www.doodahparade.com: Cel- 10p (Preview party - $20 ebrate liberty! Lunacy! Politi- ticket includes commemoracians wearing funny hats! tive wine glass, 10 tasting And it’s even fun for all ages. tickets, and a $5 North Market 11a – 7p, Parade step-off @ gift certificate); Sat 10a - 7p; 1p; free.

Sun 1p - 6p; Sat & Sun are free.

MONDAY, JULY 5 LIKE THE NO-PANTS DANCE, BUT WITH PANTS Same Sex Group Dance Class @ Emerald City Ballroom, 6755 Dublin Center Drive, 614.203.2550: Learn ballroom, country western and salsa! The only difference

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 8:00 PM Sunday Night Players @ Wall St 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

25

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis

18

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 8:00 PM Samantha Goes to the Movies @ Wall Street 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

11

and 2 more…

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … JuJubee @ Axis … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn 1:00 PM Doo Dah Parade 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level

Independence Day

Cincinnati Pride

10:00 AM CommFest @ Goodale Park 11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 8:00 PM Sunday Night Players @ Wall St 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

4

27 Akron Pride "A Day in the Sun" - Lock 3

Sunday

Special Events

Networking

Bars/Clubs Weekly Events

US Holidays

Pride Holiday Events

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12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

26

12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

19

12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

Restaurant Week - Cbus

12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

5

8:00 AM New Event 12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

Monday

Independence Day (observed)

July 2010

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9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

27

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

20

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

13

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

6

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

Tuesday

30

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM Wicked @ Ohio Theater 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

28

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

21

and 3 more…

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 6:00 PM Network Columbus @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score 8:00 PM Boy Meets Boy @ Ri"e Center 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix

14

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

7

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 8:00 PM Michael Buble 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

Wednesday

4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

… Sweatin @ Axis 4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

9:00 AM BNI Group One-to-Ones @ Panera Bread (Bethel) 4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

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4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 10:00 PM 2010 Ohio Valley Regional Leather Contest @ Axis 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

30

4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

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4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

16

4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

Ohio Wine Festival @ North Market

4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 6:00 PM Red, White & BOOM! 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

Friday

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… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

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… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 8:00 PM Night of 100 Drag Queens @ Axis 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

24

… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis

17

… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab

10

… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 11:00 PM JuJubee @ Axis 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

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photography by robert trautman

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If Freeta Lay can do it, we can ALL do it!

36-37(inside)_Calendar 6/25/10 10:09 AM Page 1

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 8:00 PM Sunday Night Players @ Wall St 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

25

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis

18

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 8:00 PM Samantha Goes to the Movies @ Wall Street 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

11

and 2 more…

11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U … JuJubee @ Axis … The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn 1:00 PM Doo Dah Parade 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level

Independence Day

Cincinnati Pride

10:00 AM CommFest @ Goodale Park 11:00 AM Brunch & Showtunes @ U 6:00 PM Stippers @ Trafix 8:00 PM Sunday Night Players @ Wall St 9:30 PM Strippers @ Score 9:30 PM Strippers @ Exile 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Level 10:30 PM Strippers @ Havana 11:00 PM Strippers @ Tradewinds II

4

27 Akron Pride "A Day in the Sun" - Lock 3

Sunday

Special Events

Networking

Bars/Clubs Weekly Events

US Holidays

Pride Holiday Events

28

12

12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

26

12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

19

12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

Restaurant Week - Cbus

12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

5

8:00 AM New Event 12:00 PM Dollar Days @ Flex 1:00 PM Happy Hour @ Tremont 4:00 PM $2 Bitchy Mondays @ Club D 5:00 PM Happy Hour @ Blazers 8:00 PM Karaoke Monday @ U 8:00 PM Martini Monday @ Havana 9:00 PM Service Industy Night @ Level 10:00 PM Trivia & Comedy @ Trafix 10:00 PM Karaoke @ AWOL

Monday

Independence Day (observed)

July 2010

29

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

27

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

20

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

13

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

6

9:00 AM SRJNG Tuesday Tune Up @ Espresso Yourself Cafe … Service Industy Night @ Level 8:00 PM Cheap Date Night @ Slam! mers 8:00 PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level 10:00 PM Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score

Tuesday

30

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM Wicked @ Ohio Theater 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

28

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

21

and 3 more…

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 6:00 PM Network Columbus @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score 8:00 PM Boy Meets Boy @ Ri"e Center 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix

14

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

7

… Drag Queen Karaoke @ Score 12:00 PM CMC Lunch Forums @ Ath! letic Club of Columbus 4:00 PM Biker Bear HH @ Tradewinds II 4:00 PM Whiskey Wednesdays @ Level 7:00 PM Fiesta Night @ U 7:00 PM Trivia & Family Feud @ Score Bar 8:00 PM 3D Weds @ Trafix 8:00 PM Futuristic Karaoke @ Exile 8:00 PM Michael Buble 10:00 PM 80s Video Dance @ Wall St

Wednesday

4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

… Sweatin @ Axis 4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

9:00 AM BNI Group One-to-Ones @ Panera Bread (Bethel) 4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

4:00 PM Leather & Fetish @ Flex 4:00 PM $3 3 Olives Night @ Level 8:00 PM Thursday Thrust @ Tradewinds II 8:00 PM CW & HipHop @ Wall St 8:00 PM Long Island @ U 8:00 PM Disco Night @ Martini Park 10:00 PM Karaoke @ Score Bar

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4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 10:00 PM 2010 Ohio Valley Regional Leather Contest @ Axis 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

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4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

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4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

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4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

Ohio Wine Festival @ North Market

4:00 PM Equality Happy Hour @ U 6:00 PM Red, White & BOOM! 9:00 PM Live Bands @ Havana 10:00 PM DJ Pat Finn @ Trafix 10:00 PM College Nite @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab

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… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

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… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 8:00 PM Night of 100 Drag Queens @ Axis 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

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… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis

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… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab

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… The Best in Female Illusion @ Inn Rehab 10:00 PM Lesbian Dance Night @ Wall St 10:00 PM Dance Your Ass O" @ Axis 11:00 PM JuJubee @ Axis 11:00 PM The Best in Female Illusion 2 @ Inn Rehab 11:00 PM DJ T Cruz @ Trafix

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If Freeta Lay can do it, we can ALL do it!

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SATURDAY, JULY 10 bushistory.org: Everyone’s faHAVE A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIST vorite malt shop / poodle skirt phenomenon. Arnett Howard SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE Historic Theatre Tours @ The leads this trip down memory lane about Columbus musiOhio Theater, 39 E State St, cians and the city’s rock ’n 614.469.0939, www.capa.com: As part of the roll scene. Call to make reservations. 6:30p; free. summer movie series, CAPA will offer guided tours of the historic Ohio Theater, featur- UHN TISS UHN TISS ing a close-up look at “Mighty Sweatin’ @ Axis, 775 N High Morton” – the original organ. St, 614.291.4008, 4:30p; free. www.columbusnightlife.com: A night of debauchery and indulgence? That’s my favorite kind of night! 10p; cover.

SUNDAY, JULY 11 I HOPE THE MOVIE GLITTER IS INVOLVED

FRIDAY, JULY 16 BUST OUT THE WHIPS AND PADDLES Fetish Show @ OutLand on Liberty, 95 Liberty St, 614.744.0100: An exotic night out for most of us and another day in the life for the rest.

Makes you wonder what ‘an exotic night out’ would be for them. 9p; cover.

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from gym class being your dance partner is also gay.

Every Monday @ 8:30p; $15.

TUESDAY, JULY 6 ARE YOU A CHAMP IN THE ANATOMY CATEGORY? Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Level Dining Lounge, 700 N High St, 614.754.1342, www.levelcolumbus.com: $3 Smirnoff all flavors, $2.50 Domestic Bottles – Starting at 10p – 614 Night - 2 Rotating DJ’s, drinks up to 50% off; Fun starts at 8p.

Samantha Goes to the Movies @ Wall Street Nightclub, 144 N Wall St, 614.464.2800, www.wallstreetnightclub.com: Catch the ever-so-lovely Samantha Rollins going to the movies!

Also starring Kari Kerning, and others. Doors @ 8p, Show @ 9p; Tables - $40.

SATURDAY, JULY 17 A DIVA IS THE FEMALE VERSION OF A HUSTLER Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis, 775 N High St, 614.291.4008, www.columbusnightlife.com: The name says it all. Symphony Alexander-Love and this year’s glamorous girls take the stage. 7p; cover.

TUESDAY, JULY 20 NOTHING SAYS ‘CLASSY’ LIKE PEASANT FOOD Cheap Date Night @ Slammers, 202 E Long St, 614.221.8880, www.slammersbar.net: $4 domestic beers and 11” - pardon me, want to think about those 11 inches for a moment - onetopping pizza for $12. Starts at 8p; no cover.

MONDAY, JULY 19 THE BEST WAY INTO A BOY’S PANTS Pizza, Pints & Karaoke Monday @ Union Bar+Food, 782 N High St, 614.421.CAFE (2233), www.columbusnightlife.com: Test your chops at U. $10 pizza and $2 beers all day. Karaoke starts at 10p; no cover.

SUNDAY, JULY 18 FROM DIVA TO GODDESS Miss Gay Ohio America @ Axis, 775 N High St, 614.291.4008, www.columbusnightlife.com: More loving from Symphony and the gang.

Who will be the reigning goddess of Ohio (until 2011)? 8p; cover.

MONDAY, JULY 12 I WANT A MAN WITH A SHORT SKIRT/LONG JACKET CAKE @ The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, 405 Neil Ave, 614.461.LIVE (5483), www.promowestlive.com: The band’s name isn’t just in caps because we love them.

7p; $35.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 14 GOT A LITTLE TOO EXCITED WHEN I MISREAD THIS AS “BOY MEETS WORLD” Boy Meets Boy @ Studio One of Riffe Center, 77 S High St, 614.460.7211, www.capa.com: CAPA and Evolution Theatre co-present “Boy Meets Boy.” The title says it all. Runs Wed - Sat. July 14-24; 8p; Adults - $25, Students/Seniors - $20.

IT’S WHO YOU KNOW Network Columbus @ Level, 700 N High St, www.networkcolumbus.com: Join the members of Network Columbus, central Ohio’s progressive GLBT networking group, for a networking event and speakers concerning niche marketing. No RSVP necessary - just come enjoy the fellowship, networking, speakers, and free appetizers! 6p-8p; free.

THURSDAY, JULY 15 WITHOUT THE SEX AND DRUGS, WHAT ARE WE LEFT WITH? Rock ’N Roll Columbus @ Columbus Historical Society, 51 Jefferson Ave., 614.224.0822, www.colum-

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21 TUESDAY, JULY 27 FINALLY, AN AIR-CONDITIONED SUM- PLEASE DON’T FEED THE CONTESTMER CONCERT ANTS Victor Manuelle @ The American Idol Live! @ NaPalace Theatre, 34 W Broad tionwide Arena, corner of NaSt, 614.469.9850, tionwide and Neil, www.capa.com: The perfect 614.246.2000, www.Nationdate if you want to show off wideArena.com: The Top 10 your enthusiasm for the arts. contestants of Season 9 stop Bonus points: he’s Puerto in for one night only. 7:30p; Rican. Don’t forget to meet at $40.50-70.50. a coffee shop before the concert. 8p; $22.50-$52.50 ($5 WEDNESDAY, JULY 28 students).

FINALLY, A WITCH-HUNT EVERYBODY CAN ENJOY THURSDAY, JULY 22 Wicked @ The Ohio Theater, SINGER AND/OR SONGWRITER 39 E State St, 614.469.0939, Donna Magavero @ Cavan www.capa.com: See the story Irish Pub, 1409 S. High St, of how Elfaba became the www.cavanirishpub.com: For Wicked Witch of the West for all you acoustic-y types. At the first time (or maybe the least the show isn’t beneath a second, or the third…). Intree on a college campus. 9p; dulge your wicked side cover. through August 29, evenings and matinees; Show @ 8p; FRIDAY, JULY 23 tickets starting at $39.50.

ALL THAT JAZZ JazZoo @ The Columbus Zoo THURSDAY, JULY 29 & Aquarium, 9990 Riverside BUTTER FACE Dr, 614.645.3550, Ohio State Fair @ Ohio Expo www.columbuszoo.org: The Center, 717 E. 17th Ave., Columbus Jazz Orchestra www.ohiostatefair.com: Buttakes center stage at the ter: the official lubricant of Columbus Zoo! Enjoy the Amish America. Get a taste theme “Sinatra & the Big (and how!) by visiting the Bands.” Other performances butter cow. Through August 8. on July 16, Aug 6 & 13; Adults $10 ($8 youth and senior, kids - $27 (advance), $30 (day of), under five get in free).

Students - $15 (w/ ID), Parking - $5 per car.

FRIDAY, JULY 30 I JUST LOVE LEATHUH. SATURDAY, JULY 24 2010 Ohio Valley Regional BRUSH UP YOUR MADONNA Leather Contest @ Axis, 775 Night of 100 Drag Queens @ N High St, 614.291.4008, Axis, 775 N High St, www.ohioleatheralliance.com: 614.291.4008, columbusThe ultimate of ultimate nightlife.com: More queens in leather competitions. Open to one place then you’ll ever see contestants from Ohio, West again. And odds are they all Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvadream of being on RuPaul’s nia, Michigan, and Kentucky.

Drag Race next season. 8p; Titles that will be up for grabs $10 (with costume), $15 include: Mr and Ms Leather(without). pride, Leatherpride Boy, Leather Bear & Cub, SUNDAY, JULY 25 Master/Slave, and Bootblack.

I’VE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO HER Show starts @ 10p; cover.

FACE (AMONG OTHER BODY PARTS) My Fair Lady (1964) @ The SATURDAY, JULY 31 Ohio Theater, 39 E State St, DIRTY BOYS 614.469.0939, 25th Anniversary Mud Volleywww.capa.com: The final ball @ Beulah Park, showing in the summer movie www.epilepsy-ohio.org: Get series. Does that mean sum- dirty (in public) to benefit the mer’s almost over? Wear your Epilepsy Foundation of Centurtleneck sweaters and get tral Ohio. Enjoy a day of mud, ahead of the curve. 2p; $4 volleyball, dirt, fun and grime. ($3.50 seniors).

Get messy @ 9a; $10 per contestant (8 people per team), MONDAY, JULY 26 $5 parking, $5 Spectator fee.a MEET YOUR MONTHLY QUOTA Dollar Days @ Flex, 1567 E Livingston Ave, 614.252.0730, www.flexbaths.com: $1 lockers from noon till midnight.

• • • • • • • • • • • about town • • • • • • • • • • • THURSDAY, JULY 1 PREPARE TO LAUNCH Outlook July Launch Party @ Moziak, 51 Vine Street, 614.469.1000, www.mozaiklounge.com: Come celebrate the launch of outlook’s Urban Living edition and kick off 4th of July weekend right! Join Outlook Media & Dimensional Entertainment for a fun happy hour featuring Belvedere cocktail specials, fashions by Brigade and complimentary appetizers by Mozaik. 7p-9p, free!

DANCE DANCE Moral Tales @ Havana, 862 N High St, 614.421.9697, www.columbusnightlife.com: From the producers of Sweatin’. Even though the name makes it sound like the exact opposite. 10p; cover.

GET YOUR SUGAR WHILE YOU CAN WEDNESDAY, JULY 7 Closing Weekend @ Sugar HARD ROCK? HALLELUJAH! Bar, 525 N Park St, Rock N Roll Sideshow @ Cirwww.sugar-bar.net: Say your cus, 1227 N. High St, goodbyes. It’s the final week- 614.421.2998: Take a break end for Sugar Bar. Doors will from the gay night scene. Go be closing for good after Sat to a dark bar with loud music July 3rd. 9p; cover. and $3 C.B.C. pints. Okay, I guess that isn’t different at FRIDAY, JULY 2 all. 9p; cover.

A BIG BANG FOR THE SIZE QUEENS Red, White, and BOOM! @ THURSDAY, JULY 8 Vets Memorial and surround- DO THE CHACHA! ing area, www.redwhiteandSalsa with the Clippers @ boom.org: See entertainment Huntington Park, 330 Huntall day at the Genoa Park ington Park Lane, Stage, Long Street BOOM! 614.462.5250, www.clippersStage, and Taste of BOOM! baseball.com: JC EntertainStage. The explosions start at ment presents K-Da Uno. So 10p; free. after you’ve had one too many beers and stadium dogs, you SATURDAY, JULY 3 can act like you know how to YOUR FAVORITE GAYSIAN SINCE salsa! Tickets available at ONGINA clippersbaseball.com. 5p; $8JuJubee @ Union Bar+Food, 25.

782 N High St, 614.421.CAFE (2233), FRIDAY, JULY 9 columbusnightlife.com: Prac- SO WHEN YOU PASS OUT ON THE tice hyperventilating now, the PAVEMENT…KNOW YOU’RE SUPfabulous JuJubee of RuPaul’s PORTING LOCAL WINERIES Drag Race is in town. Just try 9th Annual North Market to keep it together around her. Food & Ohio Wine Festival @ The glam begins @ 11p, North Market, 59 Spruce St, cover.

614.463.9664, www.northmarket.com: Celebrate local SUNDAY, JULY 4 cuisine and VINO! Get a taste MY, OH, MY, WHAT A WONDERFUL from the best with wines from DAY! 18 of Ohio’s finest wineries.

27th Annual Doo Dah Parade Enjoy live music on two & Party @ High St & Buttles stages, and even better — Ave in the Short North, it’s FREE! July 9 - 11; Fri 7p www.doodahparade.com: Cel- 10p (Preview party - $20 ebrate liberty! Lunacy! Politi- ticket includes commemoracians wearing funny hats! tive wine glass, 10 tasting And it’s even fun for all ages. tickets, and a $5 North Market 11a – 7p, Parade step-off @ gift certificate); Sat 10a - 7p; 1p; free.

Sun 1p - 6p; Sat & Sun are free.

MONDAY, JULY 5 LIKE THE NO-PANTS DANCE, BUT WITH PANTS Same Sex Group Dance Class @ Emerald City Ballroom, 6755 Dublin Center Drive, 614.203.2550: Learn ballroom, country western and salsa! The only difference

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Growing Young

by Mette Bach I smell the same way I did when I was twelve, thanks to The Body Shop’s decision to put their late-Eighties scent, Dewberry, back on the market. I was walking by the store and something caught my eye (or nose) so I wandered in which I hadn’t done since my twenties. Once inside, I was in fruity overload but I saddled up to my old classic with festive fervor. Moments later, I found myself at the counter with a spread to handle every level of personal hygiene. I had cash in my wallet and was finally able to live out the kind of shopping spree I could only dream of back when I really needed a good skin care routine.

It was a triumphant moment to say the least. I had a bag of stuff and felt like I’d reached a milestone. And in a way I had.

My teen-aged self had imagined a life much like the one I’m living – where I could splurge on things that mattered: soap and lotion. (It should be noted that by adulthood, most people want to splurge on more than soaps and lotions but to this day, that is my major weakness and indulgence.)

My current day self went home delighted.

Even ecstatic.

My thirteen year-old self spent sacred bath time daydreaming up a better situation than the one I was in at the time (having no boyfriend, no social status and nothing exciting going on). My fourteen-year old self imagined growing up and finding men (somewhere, anywhere) who valued me and saw me for who I was, not like the brutes in the cafeteria and the smoke pit behind the school.

It’s funny what fantasies we have. Heading into mid-life, I’ve passed through that phase in which I deluded myself with visions of things that didn’t work for me. I managed to avoid getting married but not for lack of trying. Years went by with cohabitation – with partners across the gender spectrum – and me grasping for the dreams I thought I wanted.

Only recently did I realize that I was pretty insightful in those Dewberry days. I used to fantasize about a great apartment and about doing work that made sense to me. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be but I knew I wanted a career and I wanted to take it very seriously. I wanted to have friends and I wanted to feel happy but there was outlookcolumbus.com

no white picket fence, no baby stroller or 50th anniversary I’d-do-it-all-over-again diamond. Instead, I saw a stylish shower stall with a hand-held showerhead (amazing how detailed I was) and an endless supply of Dewberry scented products.

Next to my little bachelor apartment, my friends live out their own bachelor existences in their respective apartments.

Sometimes we share dinner or movies and sometimes we just hang out. Whether romantically involved or not, we have something crucial in common – we really love living alone. This binds us. Regardless of our mantras: my downstairs neighbor says he’s not looking for love, just sex. My other neighbor says he’s so far removed from what a healthy relationship is that he just doesn’t bother any more.

Instead, we have our toys. We have the stuff that connects us in meaningful ways to our pasts: superhero comics, Star Wars figurines, wrestling figures and Dewberry soap. Recently, my neighbor went onto eBay and bought himself a blast from his past – one he had coveted but couldn’t afford as a youngster. It’s a plastic doll complete with camper van and accessories. It takes up a significant percentage of his total square footage but he doesn’t care.

He’s turning it into an art project. He asked if I thought it was immature of him to spend a good deal of his disposable income on toys…literally.

At other times in my life, I might have said yes. I know I could call up countless people and they would tell me that indeed, it is immature. It’s okay to feel nostalgia but not okay to indulge it.

Sometimes I wonder about the sacrifices we make in order to ‘grow up’. I wonder what it means to be mature. When I try to answer that question, I can’t help but stumble on some pretty status quo assumptions about how life should be lived.

And the more I think about it, the more proud I am that my friends and I are busy trying to make contact with the people we were before puberty, before life got complicated.

Mette Bach is glad to be writing NTKOG again. Comments, fan mail and date requests to missmettebach@yahoo.ca.

The difference between men and boys is the size of their toys. Looking down, I am still a boy.

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URBAN LIVING IN COLUMBUS OHIO

by Bruce Dooley, Chris Zuelke and Misty Linn photos by Gardner Dunn

retail location. Providing the basic necessities for residents, such as retail, grocery and professional services creates a more inviting environment for potential buyers.

So, you want to live downtown? There are many different types of places to choose from lofts, townhomes, condos, single family homes, big, small, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue? If you’re thinking about downtown living, you may also be considering The Short North. There are great things happening in either area, and over the next few years, the changes that are occurring downtown will make it an even more desirable place to call home.

Historically, we have lacked the infrastructure in Columbus downtown area to support downtown living. When Columbus had a major mall, City Center, located downtown, we had very few residents living in the immediate area. And now that there are new condo developments on nearly every corner in the Downtown, the mall is gone. Having no large grocery store within walking distance of most of the condo buildings downtown has also been a sore spot with residents. However, with this transition to downtown living, small businesses and restaurants have been springing up here and there and have especially taken hold along Gay Street.

Downtown living can give residents the freedom to walk to work or their favorite restaurant, club or entertainment venues, especially in the Short North. The Short North is a vibrant neighborhood just north of Downtown Columbus, north of Interstate 670 on High Street. The Short North is actually a combination of neighborhoods, including Victorian Village, Italian Village, Harrison West and Dennison Place. All of these are in different stages of renovation with varying housing stock and prices, with homes and condos being available.

There are restaurants, bars and shopping all within a reasonable walking distance from nearly anywhere in the Short North neighborhood. The active Short North Business Association has played a major role in increasing exposure to the area with ongoing events such as Gallery Hop, Art el Fresco and Highball Halloween. Often, these events include all parts of the neighborhood and create more pedestrian traffic for the businesses on and around High Street on a regular basis. These events have helped increase the appeal of the Short North as a destination for residents and visitors alike.

New communities offer different price points, amenities, features, design, and sometimes tax abatements. Harrison Park in Harrison West offers a more suburban type neighborhood with a pool, fitness center, party/meeting house and a mixture of homes and condos. In a few months, people will start moving into The Jackson on High located at the north end of the Short North. We’ve seen more development on that end with York on High, the new micro distillery Middle West Spirits and Krogers will soon break ground for a new upscale

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The Downtown Resident’s Association of Columbus (DRAC) was created in 2003. It promotes downtown as the perfect place to live, work and play. As an organization, it continues to grow and offer networking, fundraising, and community service activities. It is also an advocate on behalf of downtown residents. It’s an important part of any neighborhood to have an organization to belong to that can give them a collective “voice.” Knowing what the Downtown residents want is important so that these needs can be filled.

A new trend downtown has been turning the one-way streets back to two-way traffic and this has made a huge difference in access and mobility for these communities. Look at the success of the Gay Street corridor, which features a tastefully developed mix of residential and commercial properties. Several successful restaurants and retail shops have begun to anchor the Gay Street area, creating more diverse local establishments for residents to walk to conveniently.

In the Downtown, Neighborhood Launch is a vast development of condominiums in different shapes and sizes with seven parks and a tree-lined boulevard, and The Annex at River South is a new development with condos and apartments lining the riverside. The riverfront continues to become even more beautiful with each new addition. And the Discovery District, one of Columbus’ oldest neighborhoods, has held it’s own over the years for those who want

the Jackson development is now online

outlookcolumbus.com

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outlookcolumbus.com

TJ loves puppies. He’ll be great at licensing them - and all the rest of the Auditor’s duties. Turn the Auditor’s seat Blue by voting Brown.

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WHAT? No beads in the ShoNo? Joyce and Roxy, we’ll miss you more than we can ever say. Thank you for being there for us!

outlookcolumbus.com

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continued from page 40 single family homes in the heart of downtown.

It’s close to our National Award Winning main library and the beautiful topiary park.

As all of the neighborhoods develop, parking and traffic can be an issue. Downtown has ample “parking” lots, but many can be costly or come with restrictions on the length or times of the stay. In the Short North, parking is at a premium but there are plans to develop more public parking in the works. Traffic can be tedious at different times of the day, but it is manageable. The Interstate 70/71 split project will also have a large impact on the way traffic moves through the Downtown corridor, creating safer access to the highways and improving the areas surrounding the split.

Parks are springing up everywhere. We continue to see new restaurants and business open and flourish all along the High Street Corridor.

Over the past year, the City Center Mall was torn down to make way for a wonderful city park, Columbus Commons. The Columbus Commons development takes 1.2 million square feet of dead urban space and turns it into 9 live acres of inviting green space with trees, flowers, grass and walking paths. Bicentennial Park is also undergoing a dramatic change and continues to host festivals along the riverfront that bring people in from all over the state.

In the current economy, financing condos has become one of the biggest obstacles for many projects. The low down payments of yesteryear are becoming hard to find but there are some lenders willing and able to do them if both buyer and property qualifies. There are more financing options when purchasing a single family home in the Short North or Downtown and currently homes are running from one hundred thousand to over a million dollars at the high end of the scale. The market has seen prices go up (and down) over the years, but when we first started selling properties in the downtown area, the prices were much, much lower. The market seems to be stabilizing and the offerings are better than ever.

area, the prices for condominiums can range from the low 100s all the way up to over two million dollars, while single-family homes can vary from the 200s all the way up to offerings in the million-dollar plus range.

In the Short North, the market is fairly comparable. Condominiums are selling from 100s to the million-dollars, while homes are occupying the same price ranges, from 100s to over one million.

As in any down market, it takes time to turn around. It took a while for values to get where they were and it will take time to get them back. That being said, if anyone is thinking of buying, now is a fantastic time. Prices are extremely competitive and interest rates remain very low. These are the lowest rates since we’ve seen since 1953! If someone is now upset with themselves because they missed out on the Tax Credit - they are going to do even better because of the drop in interest rates. When the tax credit ended April 30th, the 30 year fixed rate was approximately 5.125%, the current rate is @4.50%. Rates are fluctuating each day in this range so timing can be very important in how much one can save.

Here are a few examples of the savings available with these lower rates: On a $100,000 loan this is a savings of over $13,600.00 On a $200,000 loan this is a savings of over $27,200.00 On a $300,000 loan this is a savings of over $40,800.00 And on a $400,000 loan this is a savings of over $54,400.00-That sure beats an $8000.00 tax credit!

All of the downtown neighborhoods have different features and qualities that appeal to many.

It is not only a neighborhood you are buying into but a lifestyle as well.

Bruce Dooley is a CRS Broker and owner of Dooley and Co. Realtors. Chris Zuelke, LPA and Misty Linn, ABR are agents with Dooely & Co. Dooley & Co. have been in business since 1985 and have been sales leaders and ranked in top 25 by Business First magazine.

For example, there are some general pricing guidelines for the two areas. In the Downtown

outlookcolumbus.com

Can you imagine Mary Poppins floating around with one of these massive umbrellas?

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Downtown – Myth and Legend Executive Director of the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District (SID) Cleve Ricksecker Mythbusts Our Urban Center

by Michael Daniels Downtown Columbus has a varied reputation – part good, part bad, part myth and part urban legend. To get a clearer picture of the real Downtown, we talked with the go-to guy, Cleve Ricksecker. Cleve is the Executive Director of the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District (SID), and has been championing Downtown as both a neighborhood and a destination. Here’s his take.

Michael Daniels: Downtown - and specifically the Capital Crossroads SID - is geographically the largest neighborhood in Columbus, but often not even thought of as a neighborhood.

Why do you think that is?

Cleve Ricksecker: Capital Crossroads SID is an association of commercial and residential property owners set up to manage the public realm in the core, 360 acres of Downtown. It is bounded by the Hyatt Regency, Scioto River, I-70 and Fifth Street. The area constitutes the original Downtown prior to the construction of the inner belt highway system and includes virtually all of Downtown’s office towers. Because office workers comprise 99% of the population of this area, most people have a hard time conceiving of the area as a neighborhood.

MD: There’s something of a chicken-and-egg argument for building up Downtown. Some prospective residents are skittish due to a lack of amenities such as convenience stores, while potential shop owners say they aren’t con-

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vinced about opening until there is a larger resident density. How do you address those concerns? Is Downtown self-sustainable? Is it a neighborhood that has some businesses in it, or is it a business district that happens to contain some housing units?

CR: Downtown can and will draw many more residents even without retail services. In any metropolitan area, between 1% and 2% of the population wants to be a Downtown residential pioneer. For metro Columbus, a pioneer population of 1% is 17,000 people! The current Downtown population is 5,600.

Downtown will see a resurgence of retail stores in the next five years. It has huge, unmet demand for retail services among its residents, 100,000 employees, 34,000 college students, 750,000 annual hotel room bookings, 65,000 residents in adjacent neighborhoods, and visitors to sporting and entertainment venues. These overlapping consumer markets will have an exponential impact on retail growth as retail pioneers open stores. After all, hotel guests, residents and office workers all need panty hose, flowers, pharmaceuticals, umbrellas, groceries, haircuts and many other services.

MD: Is Downtown affordable? There’s something of a perception that you can’t buy or rent there for less than $1200/month, while adjacent neighborhoods have much more inexpensive housing options. Is Downtown only for the affluent?

CR: Despite the cost of land in Downtown, mar-

ket-rate condos are available for as little as $100,000 and rental units are available for as little as $300. Downtowncolumbus.com lists many, but not all, of these options. Residential pioneers looking for a bargain neighborhood, however, will not find it Downtown, but in urban gems such as the Hilltop, King-Lincoln, Olde Towne East and Merion Village. Affordable neighborhoods come with some risk. There is no risk Downtown.

MD: How does the demolition of the old City Center and the creation of Columbus Commons impact Downtown as a neighborhood?

CR: The demise and demolition of Columbus City Center has left Downtown with a retail void that will take a number of years to fill. No major developer is interested in creating a retail center in Downtown, so chain retail stores will not return to in the foreseeable future.

What replaces City Center will be much more sustainable, like the incremental development in the Short North. New retail stores will be opened by independent operators, one store at a time.

Columbus Commons does two things for Downtown. It creates value for property that surrounds it, and it allows for incremental and sustainable development of three acres on its site whenever demand for new construction ripens.

MD: What is the Columbus High Five (www.columbushighfive.com), and how does it impact Downtown?

CR: The Columbus High Five is a collaboration of five neighborhoods along five miles of High Street

Always let the other guy open his kimono first.

from German Village to the University District. It includes Downtown, the Arena District and the Short North. Within this area is a remarkable concentration of entertainment venues, restaurants, retail stores, and other attractions within walking, bus or taxi distance. The core of Downtown lacks vibrancy as a stand-alone area, but it sits in the middle of a larger area that rivals virtually any urban center in the United States. Seen in that context, Downtown becomes a more desirable place to lease or purchase property.

MD: What’s the worst urban legend or stereotype about Downtown?

CR: Crime is the worst urban legend about Downtown. People assume that Downtown is unsafe, but in fact it is one of the safest places in Columbus, along with the northwest side of the City.

MD: What’s the best-kept secret about Downtown?

CR: The best-kept secret about Downtown is the Statehouse. The rotunda is the most beautiful room in the City and a great place to meditate and reduce stress. The Statehouse is completely open to the public. One can walk through any door during the day without passing security.

MD: Do you own a real kimono? Silk or satin?

CR: I do not own a kimono, but my 16-year old daughter went to China and brought me a silk robe that looks like a kimono. I am told my legs look pretty good when I wear it.

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http://bashhh.blogspot.com/2010/02/tim-urban-shirtless-american-idol-top.html

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Remembrance of Things Lost and Found…

Of Gloves & Union Station

by Doreen Uhas Sauer photo by Gardner Dunn Have you ever found a missing winter glove under the car seat in the heat of July? Perhaps you are like me. Intellectually I realize one glove is silly to keep. Emotionally, I am still attached to it. I know its mate died a tragic death when it fell out into the slushy parking space last January, but I still can’t bear to throw it out. Perhaps my favorite brown wool Romeo glove will somehow make it back to reunite with his lonely Juliet.

Occasionally, I feel like this about buildings flashes of memory with a dash of personification.

Driving south on Summit Street into downtown, I pass the Convention Center and am reminded what the architectural critic of the Wall Street Journal said about it the week it opened - to him, the back of the convention center evoked the remembrance of the train sheds which once stood there but now they looked like colliding pastelcolored NECCO wafers. I think this is a lovely image, but it makes me wonder if meanwhile, the front of old Union Station scampered off to be by itself in a park near the Arena, like the Thurber unicorn statue on Jefferson Boulevard which once disappeared but, seemingly, later returned by its own volition.

I don’t expect the remaining arch of Union Station to come back to High Street anymore than I expect my gloves to have a conjugal reunion, but it does make me consider what keeping and preserving, changing and evolving and historic preservation means in a forward and growing city like Columbus.

To find a pithy quote to define “historic preservation” is to be doomed to wander among entries like “highbrow,” “hitchhikers,” “Paris” or “presidents” in books on wit, satire, wisdom, and famous quotations.

Why is it that one can find good quotations about parking spaces (the area that disappears while you are making a U-turn); perfect persons (bachelors’ wives and old maids’ children); and even, for heaven’s sake, mayonnaise (one of the sauces which serve the French in place of a state religion) – but no wise summary of historic preservation?

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There are great quotations about “history” - lies agreed upon, gossip well told, that which informs what bad government is, the propaganda of the victorious, that which never happened written by a man who wasn’t there, but no quotations about “preservation” or even “preserving” - unless, of course, one is preserving strawberry jam. The word “memory” might suffice in place of preservation if it was not so rooted in loss or love.

Songwriter Holt Maxwell wrote in a 1935 song “A cigarette that bears lipsticks’ traces, an airline ticket to romantic places; and still my heart has wings. These foolish things remind me of you.”

But traces, whole buildings, or isolated arches are not, by contrast, “foolish things,” a collection of epitaphs, or the places where the bodies are buried - they are place makers for the stories of a city.

The first Union Station, built in 1851, was a wood barn meant to bring shelter to passengers who entered the city on one of three railroads, but it proved to be wholly inadequate by the end of the Civil War. The second Union Station, built in 1875, was a brick structure for passenger shelter, ticket and railroad offices, and the 40+ daily passenger trains. Inadequate in less than 20 years for road, streetcar, and railroad cars, a third Union Station and a road viaduct over the tracks were built by 1897. The renowned Chicago architectural firm of Daniel H. Burnham & Company, whose fame was assured by the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair, satisfied Columbusites who suffered from Burnham-envy after Cleveland boosted a Burnham-designed Society for Savings Bank.

In 1973, even this terra-cotta Beaux Arts station and concourse could not outlast its wooden and brick cousins, but unlike the last little pig in the story of The Three Little Pigs, its house did come down. In 1973 the City of Columbus paid Penn Central almost $6 million dollars for the station and land with plans to build the Ohio Center.

Hopes to incorporate the High Street façade where encouraged when the entrance to the station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

However, on October 22, 1976, on a weekend, waiting till after dark to avoid protest, the firm building the Ohio Center began demolition of our

treasured Union Station. The city awoke in horror to find only one remaining arch and a few columns standing. A restraining order banned further demolition and 120 days were granted to find a solution to fund, move, and save the remaining arch. Since the demolition was illegal, the federal government denied the city’s request for $6.2 million to be used for new construction.

The fact that the structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places made no difference in the demolition. Being listed as structure that has significance to our past does not prevent private owners from tearing it down.

Though there had been architectural losses before - the notable Alfred Kelley Mansion on East Broad Street - nothing galvanized the citizenry like the loss of Union Station. From many occupations and interests, private citizens came forward. Columbus Landmarks Foundation was born from the 1976 loss of Union Station.

The remaining arch did not scamper off though it was moved stone-by-stone to Marconi Blvd. and Hickory Street in Arch Park by 1979. The Arch moved once again twenty years later to the Arena District’s Dimon McPherson Park, and the I-670 cap, which replaced the yards and shop areas, is reminiscent of the viaduct arcade.

Columbus Landmarks Foundation (CLF) was founded on two principles - historic preservation and new design, balanced against each other. In this way, the ethos, dynamics, partnerships, collaborations and personal energies of thousands of people that brought CLF into being, also gave birth to celebrated and recognized historic districts, vibrant older neighborhoods, preserved and renovated Columbus historic schools, celebrations of urban downtown living and new design across the city. It also brought to life efforts as varied as working with others to bring back a historic log cabin in Franklinton, to helping market a 1940s mid-century modern home on the far East Side. Twenty plus architectural walking tours, historic architectural tavern tours, a scheduled documentary film and ecclesiastical histories through stained glass are only part of how CLF continues to fulfill its mission.

Historic preservation, to borrow a little of writer H.G. Wells, is in essence, “a history of ideas.”

Doreen Uhas Sauer is Board President of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation. Visit www.columbuslandmarks.org to see what ideas are becoming summer activities.

One of outlook’s major landmarks is the Hill of Jon

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If it weren’t for Impero, the outlook staff would be dysfunctional. Er, I mean, non-fuctional.

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ODOT Seeks to Heal “Scars” Left Behind

by Jon Dunn It’s finally happening, the 70/71 split. Columbus drivers are more than familiar with the area; the two major Interstates intersect and combine together creating the southern border of Downtown. Travelers must quickly navigate both freeways within a short space in order to continue along either one of them. Downtown exit ramps and on ramps are placed close together and some of them have limited accessibility to the other roads. This asphalt maze of lanes and exits creates large traffic jams during peak travel hours. Trying to maneuver the gauntlet creates a “weaving” of traffic across the freeways and is the major contributor to congestion and traffic accidents in the area.

After years of planning, debates and maneuvering, the proposed Interstate 70/71 Corridor Renovation is set to put shovels to dirt in 2011 for phase one of a six-phase, 10+-year project.

On the face of the project is the resolution of the multi-interstate access and the enormous traffic congestion issues. Yet the project has a much wider scope and impact on the Downtown than just traffic and accessibility: it seeks to heal the downtown neighborhoods affected by the Interstates.

Scott Varner, Deputy Director and lead spokesperson for ODOT, sat down to talk with outlook:columbus about the project, and ODOT’s new mission to “heal scars” left by the interstates in the Columbus neighborhoods.

“The 70/71 corridor carries 175,000 vehicles per day. With an accident rate 10 times the state average for similar sections of interstate,

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contributing to 1200 crashes every year on average,” explains Scott. “That makes it one of the most crash prone sections of interstate in Ohio.” When ODOT sought to redesign the interchange, the focus was on safety, not just on improving traffic flow. The primary solution was to change the access points to eliminate having to weave across lanes to get to Downtown exits or continue along a specific Interstate.

Creating a smoother flow means closing some exits and creating Downtown access at the east and south ends of the corridor. “Access is not being limited or decreased,” Scott offers, “the access will be different.” The new freeway will no longer have exit ramps at 3rd, 4th, 18th, Front and Broad streets or Livingston Avenue. The “different access” is provided by exits located at the edges of Downtown on Fulton and Mound streets, Lester Drive and Parsons Avenue. Adding more lanes, traffic lights and new speed limits converts these one-way streets into the conduits to other Downtown streets while providing direct access to the Interstates.

“The existing Interstate system was designed and laid out through the city without regard or sensitivity to the impact the freeways would cause local neighborhoods,” Scott explains. “It simply tore through towns, often dividing the neighborhoods or cutting them off from the Downtown area.” Though traffic bridges were installed over the freeways, they didn’t offer a sense of connectivity. “It separated the neighborhoods from each other and the downtown, creating a ‘border,’ if you will.”

These “borders’’ all but eliminated casual foot traffic on the streets crossing the Interstate, sending cars speeding across the bridge and out of the neighborhood. The King/Lincoln District, which was effectively cut in half by Interstate 71 when the freeway opened in the 1970s, is a prime example. Over the several decades following, the neighborhood began to dissolve, becoming indistinct areas on either side of the freeway. Recently, the area has begun a transformation to regain its former prestige, but I-71 continues to be a border between the east and west sides of the community.

A proposed “cap,” like the one on High Street over I-670, would help to remove the border created by the interstate. “The I-670 cap was designed to eradicate the border between Downtown and the Short North, seamlessly connecting them and the Front and Park streets areas together,” says Scott. “I-670 is still there, but its not limiting the access to the area anymore.” The I-670 cap has proven successful in encouraging unimpeded foot traffic within the three distinct areas, creating a neighborhood in between them. Businesses have been successful on the cap and the area continues to attract new merchants. ODOT is confident that other such caps can have the same effect in the I-70/71 corridor.

The Long Street bridge will be ‘cap capable,’ as will all the bridges in the corridor redevelopment. Long Street is currently being planned as a “green cap,” with a park-like atmosphere instead of shops. Traffic moves over the bridge while foot traffic can move safely in the well lit and thoughtfully designed green areas. Walls

blocking noise from the freeway feature murals and provide a sense of enclosure and continuity to either neighborhood. While the King/Lincoln neighborhood is in the midst of a recovery, by providing a more pedestrian friendly method of access, the neighborhood can continue to revitalize and regain its sense of community.

Returning the access between the neighborhoods is an investment in the future of the communities and the Downtown area, while providing relief to the over crowded freeway system. Any attempt to attract more residential and commercial activity requires a substantial investment in the infrastructure of the area so that people can feel a sense of stability. Having streets that can host and encourage foot traffic, parking and public transport leads to investments from the small business community and possibly larger merchants as well.

Scott explains that under Governor Strickland, ODOT has a new purpose. “We’ve changed our focus to looking at all modes of transport and how the transportation investment is connected to the communities and urban centers.

Part of this is targeting the urban cores to make them safe and improve the quality of life in those areas.”

“Knowing in the past that we created these “scars,” if you will, in the neighborhoods, we wanted to help heal some of them by reconnecting Downtown to these areas again,” Scott says.

For more on the I-70/71 split project and other ODOT projects, visit www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/7071study

The I-70/71 Split could take nearly 10 years to finish! The Johnsons double banana split takes only 4 minutes for Jon to finish.

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COMMUNITY RESOURCES SPONSORED BY MALCOLM RIGGLE & CMR INC.

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Malcolm has supported these organizations for 15 years without fail. Next time you see him out, buy him a drink and say Thanks.

july 2010

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Choo-Chooo! 3C Passenger Rail Is Coming to Town

by Jon Dunn photo by Gardner Dunn The sounds of trains are a familiar melody to the people of Columbus. Tracks crisscross the entire county and dart in and out of the neighborhoods, carrying everything imaginable across the state and the country, save for one important commodity: Commuters.

Public commuter rail service ended in Columbus over 40 years ago, after the Union Station was closed. The station sat where the Columbus Convention Center now resides and the only remaining artifice of the once grand station is the archway, which is poised several blocks away in a park. A victim of the epidemic of failing rail service from the 1970s, Columbus became a city without a way in or out for rail commuters.

But as the price of oil continues to rise and people seek alternative modes of transportation, there has been increased interest in passenger rail service. Though there is only limited commuter rail in Ohio, recent studies found that ridership was up over 10% in the past year for passenger routes in Cleveland and Cincinnati, even with those services being limited in the amount of trains and less than convenient schedules. Many of the trains leave or arrive at uncommon times, such as well before or after a common rush hour, but people continue to use the services despite these inconsistencies.

And Ohio was the recipient of $400 million of federal stimulus funding for the project. With the release of $25 million to study, plan and begin the project, the time for commuter rail in

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Columbus is now. The funding is not without controversy, as many feel that the money could be spent making other infrastructure improvements, such as highways or bridges. While many projects are underway to improve the transportation systems already in place, ODOT feels there is room for commuter-based railroads.

The proposed system would cover a route length of approximately 250 miles, linking Columbus to Springfield, Dayton, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Additional stops are planned for Riverside, near Dayton and Sharonville by Cincinnati. Cleveland will have two stations, initially: the one Downtown and one at the Southwest side of the city. In Columbus, the passenger rail station will be located near where Union Station was, at the back of the Convention Center. The tracks are still in place and passenger platform will be built to accommodate the initial run of the rail line. According to ODOT, commuter rail service in Columbus could begin as early as 2012. But how is that possible?

With the failure of train service in the 1970s and 1980s, many thousands of miles of track were taken up across the country. Huge railroad lines that specialized in commuter traffic were consolidated and then discontinued an array of services all across the country. The decline of railroads began as more and more commuters switched to automobiles and airplanes for long distance travel, and for short commutes, the expense of keeping the lines running became less profitable. A major issue in restarting commuter rail service would be the immense investment required for the actual railroad itself - the laying of track and the

required overpasses, crossings and bridges.

But though commuter service dwindled, the continuing use of Ohio as a major rail hub gave the Three C project a much-needed head start.

“Most of the project will use tracks and infrastructure already in place, because of the existing freight lines in Ohio,” says Scott Varner, Deputy Director of ODOT. “Part of the challenge is to align the freight and passenger scheduling so that the trains can share the tracks.”

Ohio is a major freight hub because of its proximity to the rest of the country, which means plenty of tracks to work with in the future. Scott stresses that the passenger lines won’t have an adverse effect on the freight rail business and that the more than 225 businesses that currently supply or contract with the railroad industry in Ohio, also stand to benefit. “The US Department of Commerce data shows that the project will create approximately 8,000 indirect and spin off jobs in Ohio,” said Scott. “The initial phase will result in at least 225 immediate construction jobs over a two-year period, based on estimates of improvements required to begin the service.”

The Columbus Chamber of Commerce recently completed a study that determined the top category of public improvements wanted by young adults and college students were alternate transportation choices. In cities with public rail and transportation systems, a large part of the ridership was young adults. The 3C line will be easily accessed by over 220,00 students who are within 10 miles of the service.

This high concentration of colleges and universities is an important component in the success of the service. In Columbus, OSU

Our two oh-so-straight interns Dom and Gardner are now fans of railroading each other!

students via public and private transportation sources would easily access the station along the High Street corridor.

“Business travelers and tourists can also use the rail line to move around the state without a car,” Scott adds. “There are more than enough attractions in each of the stops along the line to keep people busy for days at a time.” And by having a train station, local businesses can take advantage of the increased commuter traffic passing through the neighborhood.

Scott says that local commuter transport, such as COTA, would coordinate services to provide access to the station. Both private and public transportation can benefit from the commuters.

But is it faster than taking a car? The rail line is capable of reaching speeds of up to 79 miles per hour along the corridor, meaning fast travel times between the stops. Since using rail service places no demands on the rider, their time can be used productively while aboard the train. “Train time is saved time,“ Scott insists. “You can type, text, Tweet, read or just catch some sleep!”

“I think that commuter rail service has the greatest ability to transform how we think of transportation,” Scott offers. “It generates jobs, it’s a magnet for young people and we already have so much of the infrastructure in place. It’s a convenient, fast and safe method of transportation.”

Now is the time for Columbus and the rest of the riders waiting along the 3C line to climb aboard.

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We’re presenting central Ohio’s FIRST business summit for GLBT and allied businesses. And we’ll have cookies.

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Killian is VIP

by Jorge Treviano

Killian Wells is shaking up airwaves with a catchy new single and music video that shines the spotlight on today’s celebrity obsessed culture, “V.I.P.”.

“My biggest career goal is for Perez Hilton to draw a penis on my face because that’s when I’ll know I’ve made it,” joked the singer at the announcement of “V.I.P.” in New York. Killian’s crass attitude and outlandish clothing have already caught the attention of bloggers, but it’s his “electro-pop with an urban edge” tunes that are raising eyebrows today.

“I wanted to create a fun party song that depicted today’s celeb lifestyle,” continued Wells.

“I’m thrilled life is starting to imitate art in my career.”

According to Wells, being V.I.P. is a state of mind.

“You can be broke and still be a very important person if you carry yourself with confidence. In Manhattan, it’s cool to be a struggling artist. “ Growing up, Killian knew early on that he didn’t fit in a small-town lifestyle. “It was tough being the freak, wearing Diesel in an area where cow dung on jeans is always in style.”

At 14, against his parent’s wishes, he dropped out of high school. Killian didn’t want to be a part of “a system designed to condition followers”. He turned to what he refers to as a lifelearning program; first making frequent trips to

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Manhattan to study music and eventually moving there. Creating music has always offered solace to Wells, who has suffered from panic attacks since he was a boy.

“Manhattan may not be my hometown but it’s where I grew up because the city allowed me to find myself.”

By 15, Killian Wells was working with pop producers from around the country. He was even approached by a well-known manager who offered him a gig fronting a reincarnation of The New Kids on the Block in Germany. The group hadn’t even been formed but a record deal with a major label and a reality show was already in place. Killian passed on the opportunity when he learned he wouldn’t be allowed creative input.

Though a proud party-boy, Killian Wells is not afraid of hard work. He insists on having a hand in everything that touches his music career, including designing his clothing and art directing his photo shoots. He is adamant that a pop artist’s job doesn’t stop with the music.

“I may not always take myself seriously but when it comes to my career, I am no joke,” he confirms. “Ultimately, I strive for one thing - to move people with my music.”

“Even if it’s only for three and a half minutes at a time.”

Visit KillianWells.com for more.

Killian is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and its meaning is "small, fierce"

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White shirts, pink shirts, black shirts, vneck shirts, crew neck shirts. Just subscribe and get a shirt already. All the cool kids have one.

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BearCity: Phat or Just Fat?

by Adam Lippe As gay films hit the mainstream in the early 90s, a valid topic for a movie would be a 90minute coming-out-story which would always include acceptance by peers and parents by the conclusion of the film. Getting past these hurdles is important for any minority group, once the shock of their existence is gone, then it’s time to move on to more generic issues that show that as people, gays, blacks, Asians, etc., have lives that are just as boring and mundane as everyone else.

Douglas Langway’s BearCity, a flimsy sex comedy set in NY about fat hairy gays and the manorexic hairless queens who love them, is caught somewhere between the acceptance and mundane phase. While there’s the understanding that the subculture of Bears exist, there’s still the taboo of being attracted to them for the young and skinny, who must maintain their front of stereotypical shallowness.

When the main character of BearCity, Tyler

(played by the very boyish Joe Conti, looking like a less shrimpy version of Eric from Entourage), declares his love for a much older bearded man, it’s a shock to his mincing former roommate, and the material dealing with Tyler being indoctrinated into the Bear bars is the least interesting the film has to offer. With its voyeuristic gawking of faintly explicit sexual acts in a dark club setting, BearCity has more in common with William Friedkin’s Cruising (made in 1980) than an upbeat modern film should.

However, BearCity is more effective when it deals with how the heavyset are viewed by “normal” society; the subplot where the obese Michael believes he has to have surgery to reduce his weight so he won’t be judged during job interviews, and how the idea of the surgery alienates his svelte lover Carlos, is certainly unique, especially as it embraces the non-Hollywood notion that fat can be more attractive than thin.

The rest of the film plays it safe, belonging to the sassy and bitchy gays genre that it emu-

lates (specifically Sex and the City), so we get lines like “love at first grope,” “there’s a bear in my shirt,” and “Walt Witless.” When director Langway and co-writer Lawrence Ferber put their mind to it, they manage to amusingly unnerve us with a turn of phrase or image, such as when Tyler, an aspiring actor, hopes that his movie career includes “hopefully a sex scene with Kevin James,” or when Carlos vigorously tongues Michael’s flabby, hairy bellybutton as an effective method of foreplay.

slowly, like a TV show anticipating commercial breaks. And when Langway doesn’t know how to show two characters that seem to have very little in common get along, he throws in a campy dress-up montage. That sort of narrative shortcut should be beneath BearCity (which is already overlong at nearly 100 minutes), but maybe Langway felt that the best way to ingratiate himself to a wider audience would be to give them something they’ve seen thousands of times before.

This is the level that BearCity should have been at throughout, but unfortunately it’s predictable, not particularly sophisticated (especially the sentimental music and the “up-with-people” message), and paced very

If you’d like to read more of Adam’s reviews or podcasts you can find them on Rotten Tomatoes or on his website RegrettableSincerity.com. BearCity will be playing QFest as a Centerpiece screening on July 9th and 10th in Philadelphia.

I get it

by Matthew Arnold (The names in this story have been changed to protect the innocent) Martha walks into the sanctuary, realizing this is the first time she’s been in a church in the three years since her divorce.

She walks towards the ushers and chuckles to herself as she notices how hard she’s been clenching her ticket. She gives the ticket to an usher, takes her program and walks towards the pews. She elects to sit in the back row. Although part of her doesn’t like being so far away from the action, she can still see well and feels more comfortable being in a seat where she can escape easily.

Eventually the lights dim and the gentlemen in the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus begin parading into the room.

My goodness, there are a lot of them.

They begin with an uplifting holiday piece that jolts her from her own thoughts a bit.

Wow, these guys are really good!

As the music continues, Martha begins to settle in and, despite her trepidation, she finds herself enjoying the music. She allows herself to relax a little bit. Soon it becomes time for intermission. She slowly rises from her pew and makes her way

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over to the refreshments area. She grabs a cookie, smiles at a few other patrons, and busies herself by perusing her program. She finds her seat again and waits for the performance to resume. As the chorus files in for the second half of the show, she realizes that these sharply dressed men don’t look any different from any other men. She’s not sure what she was expecting, but she somehow finds herself surprised by the normalcy they portray.

The second half of the program is slightly more upbeat and offers some fun secular music. She even finds herself giggling at some of the campy themes woven into the show. All too quickly the concert is over, and Martha finds herself relieved that she made it through, but a little sad that it’s all over.

As she stands to pull her coat over her shoulders, she can’t ignore the stinging sensation of tears in her eyes. When Jim left town and left her for another man after 30 years of marriage, she couldn’t even comprehend the fact that her marriage was ending, much less the fact that it was ending because her husband is gay. Yet here she is, invited by one of the singers and finally showing up for a concert after many requests, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Walking out of the church and towards the car she still feels grief about her loss. But for the first time since Jim left her, she feels a burden lifted from her shoulders and she feels like she can understand her ex-husband.

I get it.

Matthew Arnold is the Executive Director of the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus and can be reached at matthew@cgmc.com or www.cgmc.com.

According to the Discovery Channel, Twinkies swim upstream to spawn and then die every spring. What a bummer, man.

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Walk for wellness. Walk against AIDS. Take a stand.

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Lights, Cameras, Queer Action

by Richard Labonte

My Queer War, by James Lord.

Featured Excerpt

Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris, by Terrance Dean, James Earl Hardy, and Stanley Bennett Clay.

As Congress and the military dawdle over the inevitability of repealing the ill-reasoned edict “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” art historian Lord’s posthumous wartime memoir arrives at an opportune time.

His cheeky recounting of WWII service as a practicing homosexual - and he was good at it, once he eased out of the closet - makes clear that queers were everywhere in the military back when. Early encounters were cautious, including an ambiguously romantic interlude with an aesthetic (and apparently well-hung) lad named Hanno before Lord was posted to Europe after basic training. Of sexual encounters, there are plenty, recalled with jaunty reverence for the thrill of action in “the incautious dark.” Sex aside, Lord also laid the groundwork for his artistic and intellectual future by, once in France, seeking out the likes of Pablo Picasso and Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. And, always, there is the reality that this is as much a memoir of wartime as it is a queer memoir: particularly harrowing are passages in which Lord, who landed in military intelligence, tells of Americans torturing prisoners of war.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 344 pages, $27.

“Are you gay?” “Funny thing,” I said. “That lady I mentioned, she said I was a gay blade. She meant somebody without a care in the world, I guess.” “Come on” - he cut in brusquely - “that’s not what I’m talking about. I spotted you from the beginning. Takes one to know one. So fess up. I’m not the police. Wouldn’t come on to you if I wasn’t gay myself. Relax.” He put his hand on my shoulder while I was numbed by surprise, and moved his fingertips gently to the nape of my neck, tickling my hair till I shivered and my legs were like danger in deep water. “You like to make love to boys, don’t you?” he said.... - from My Queer War, by James Lord

Fans of the many steamy novels about sometimes semi-closeted and sometimes sexually celebratory same-gender-loving black men by the late E. Lynn Harris will savor this tribute anthology. The collection’s three sexy novellas certainly pay homage to Harris’ ballsy storytelling - and, truly a tribute, Harris appears as a character in each of them, albeit in passing. That said, these tales aren’t mere mimicry: each is written in a signature style by three expressively queer black literary voices. In Dean’s The Intern, a workaholic falls hard for a basketball player (very Harris!) working as a summer intern – only to find the lad’s dad is the man he lost his heart and hard-on to a generation earlier. In Bennett’s House of John, race and class mix with lust and romance when a brokenhearted photographer encounters a local on a Dominican Republic sex retreat. In Is It Still Jood to Ya?, Hardy revisits Raheim Rivers and Mitchell Crawford, first introduced in the 1994 novel B-Boy Blues. Each story is prefaced by a personal remembrance of Harris the writer - and the friend. Dafina/Kensington Books, 352 pages, $15 paper.

Father Knows Best by Lynda Sandoval.

Bold Strokes launches its new young adult imprint, Soliloquy, with this zippy sequel to Sandoval’s 2004 novel about three carefree teen girls, Who’s Your Daddy? In that novel, the desperately dateless girls’ fathers scared off potential boys - one was chief of police, one was the school’s dean of discipline, and one was a famous musician. The action queers up here - and two of the girls have found beaus - when the three befriend a former snooty high school archenemy after they learn that, pregnant, she’s been abandoned by her circle of shallow, fair-weather companions. The outcast finds refuge where one of the trio works, a spirituality shop owned by two supportive lesbians who have long wanted to adopt a child. In classic YA style, Sandoval works potent messages into her plot: gay is good, marriage ought to be for everyone and eschewing sex can be cool. Sound advice - and Sandoval delivers it without a scintilla of preachiness in this snappy, cheerfully snarky novel about girl power and powerful friendships.

Soliloquy/Bold Strokes Books, 238 pages, $13.95 paper.

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50 Years of Queer Cinema: 500 of the Best GLBTQ Films Ever Made, by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince.

In the Internet age, where every movie - queer or otherwise - is blogged about somewhere, a hefty print compendium of film facts and pointed opinion might seem anachronistic. But flipping through well-reasoned pages of commentary is so satisfying. Add to that physical thrill the charm of analysis that is sometimes sassy and always smart, and this filtered survey of short reviews is a must for queer-film fans. In part one, Porter and Prince provide a succinct “A to Z romp” through 500 films, with quick plot summaries and on-point critical assessments, each film summed up with a pithy headline: Yossi & Jagger is “Macho Israeli Soldiers Make Love, not War.” The films surveyed in part two are quirkier fare, 160 “less publicized” efforts, including - no lie - Karl Rove, I Love You, in which gay actor Dan Butler falls for “George W. Bush’s Turd Blossom.” Essays on Derek Jarman, Tennessee Williams, Andy Warhol, Jack Wrangler, Joe Gage and others - and on how The Front Runner never got made - round out this indispensable survey of gay-interest cinema. Blood Moon Productions, 522 pages, $25.95 paper.

Footnotes Two veteran writers have assumed new roles in the queer literary world - starting LGBT-interest presses. Jameson Currier launched Chelsea Station Editions earlier this year with his novel, The Wolf at the Door; is actively reading other submissions; and plans to publish a second of his own books later this year - The Man That Got Away, an “illustrated confessional” about a college student in 1970s Atlanta “who becomes the unlikely pupil of a coterie of drag queens.”

And writer and journalist Victoria Brownworth, an acquisitions editor for young adult books for a mainstream publisher for five years, has established Tiny Satchel Press, for YA books “committed to exploring issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation” for a ‘tween and teen audience ages 8 through 18. The debut title is The Secrets of Loon Lake by mystery writer J.D. Shaw, followed this year

by Greg Herren’s supernatural thriller Sorceress; Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse’s Immortal Souls, featuring two high school girls and an infamous lesbian vampire from centuries past; and Brownworth’s own Everyday Monsters, a novel about incest, child abuse, and alcoholism.

In 2011, Tiny Satchel plans to debut a series of YA novels from writers of color, including Fiona Zedde, Lisa Nelson and Lowell Boston.

For info: chelseastationeditions.com and tinysatchelpress.com.

Richard Labonte has been reading, editing, selling, and writing about queer literature since the mid-‘70s. He can be reached in care of this publication or at BookMarks@qsyndicate.com.

We heard all of the old war stories but now we will really know what went on in that foxhole.

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Because family smiles come in all shapes and sizes.

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When this guy takes off his stickies, he might want to visit Brigade for his new wardrobe. We hope he takes his time.

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by Romeo San Vicente

ited run that would last through New Year’s. Early buzz has Avenue Q’s Christian Anderson pegged to play Buddy, but nothing definite has yet been announced. Here’s hoping it’s good for goodness sake.

Zooey and Rashida are Idiot’s Lovers When it comes to announcements about movies currently in production, you had Romeo at “Paul Rudd.” Ah, but the dreamy and hilarious Rudd is just one of the tasty ingredients in a new comedy called My Idiot Brother from director Jesse Peretz. (The onetime member of The Lemonheads previously directed Rudd in the indie movie The Château.) Rudd plays the titular moronic sibling whose sunny disposition and unchecked honesty wreaks havoc in the lives of his three sisters, played by the very funny Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Banks and Zooey Deschanel. Add Rashida Jones (the Parks and Recreation actress played Rudd’s fiancée in I Love You, Man) as Deschanel’s lesbian lover and Adam Scott (Party Down) as Banks’ neighbor, and My Idiot Brother boasts one of the strongest comic casts to come along in a while. The idiocy will commence sometime in 2011.

Everybody Loves John Logan Sure, right now you may be thinking, “Who’s John Logan?” But that’s because you aren’t watching the credits. Logan is the Tony Award-winning gay playwright and screenwriter whose RED just took home the Tony for Best Play and who also penned The Aviator, Any Given Sunday, Gladiator and Sweeney Todd. And he’s got - ahem - a few more projects up his sleeve. Like, currently eight.

But the most immediately forthcoming are Rango, an animated feature starring the voice talents of Johnny Depp, Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin, Bill Nighy and Isla Fisher; and the Ralph Fiennes-directed Shakespeare adaptation Coriolanus, starring Fiennes, Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave. And because he’s apparently still not busy enough, now he’s teaming up with The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow on an HBO pilot called The Miraculous Year, about a New York family, that will feature a cast of Broadway veterans like Eddie Redmayne, Hope Davis, Frank Langella, Norbert Leo Butz and Patti LuPone. Somebody give this guy permission to take a Ferris Bueller day.

Elf Travels Through the Candy Cane Forest to Broadway Probably the most delightful - not to mention quotable - Christmas movie of the past decade would have to be Elf, which gave Will Ferrell one of his most adorably awkward and naïve characters, Buddy the Christmas Elf. So with movies-turned-stage-musicals (and holiday extravaganzas) being one of the hottest tickets on the theatrical scene, it’s perhaps no surprise that Elf is the latest big-screen hit that’s being groomed for a new life on the Great (Snowy) White Way. Written by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, the team behind the charming hit The Drowsy Chaperone - with music and lyrics by the creators of Broadway’s The Wedding Singer - Elf is set to hit the boards this November for a limoutlookcolumbus.com

Oprah Makes Carson Kressley’s showlessness All Better There was a moment, post-Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, when it looked like Lifetime wanted to be in the Carson Kressley business. He was due to have his own talk show, sort of like Graham Norton with a different accent. And then, like so many things in the world of entertainment, it just didn’t happen. And that’s a shame, because Kressley is good at bossing people around and giving them makeovers they didn’t ask for. But Oprah knows his talents and is said to be currently developing shows on her new Oprah Winfrey Network for both Kressley and lesbian chef Cat Cora. True to form, both shows are said to be designed to play to the strengths of their respective hosts, with Kressley dispensing advice on style and living well and Cora dropping in on families to help them cook a little better. Add these two to the forthcoming Nate Berkus show on OWN and there’s the beginning of a gay self-improvement power mafia primed to step in and take over basic cable. It also probably means no more tater tots for the unwitting recipients of either shows’ good intentions.

Will Heather Matarazzo Go Helter Skelter?

It’s been more than 40 years since members of the Charles Manson “family” committed the horrifying Tate/LaBianca murders, but it’s a story that continues to captivate the public imagination.

John Waters’ latest book, Role Models, describes his decades-old friendship with penitent and rehabilitated Manson-ite Leslie Van Houten - and now casting buzz suggests that lesbian actress Heather Matarazzo (Saved!, Welcome to the Dollhouse) will join the cast of Manson Girls, a new drama about the troubled young female hippies who were entranced by this psychopath, from writer-director Susana Lo, a TV vet making her feature debut.

There’s also talk that Q’orianka Kilcher, who memorably played Pocahontas in Terence Malick’s underappreciated The New World, will join the cast as well. Manson Girls could creepy-crawl its way into theaters in 2011 if these young actresses decide to put X’s on their foreheads sooner rather than later. And it’s always a pleasure to see Matarazzo working, so here’s hoping it happens.

Crawford Gets Caught in Misunderstanding Chace Crawford - that rare celebrity who can make even a mug shot look flattering, even when Gawker and other sites endlessly speculate about his sexuality - is keeping his burgeoning bigscreen career going during his hiatus from TV hit Gossip Girl. In addition to appearing in this summer’s Twelve, from gay director Joel Schumacher, Crawford has signed onto Peace, Love and Mis-

understanding, a ’60s-set dramedy from director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Breaker Morant). Catherine Keener stars as a conservative lawyer who, after her divorce, takes her teenage children to visit her hippie grandmother (Jane Fonda) at Woodstock; what’s supposed to be a peaceful retreat just winds up reminding Keener’s character why she left home in the first place. TV hunk Crawford will play an anti-war townie who hooks up with Keener’s politically active daughter. Shooting starts in July - time for the actor to grow out his hair and/or be fit with appropriately groovy extensions - and the film is set to open in 2011.

Mapa and Plotnick Make HSM Sequel More Fabulous For all their squeaky clean Disney Channel-ness, the High School Musical franchise has always been fervently gay-adjacent. (They tried hooking up Lucas Grabeel’s Ryan with that songwriter girl, but you know that character is going to start dating boys the second he gets to college.) For Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, they’ve gone full-tilt homo, hiring very funny and very gay actors Alec Mapa and Jack Plotnick for the supporting cast. This time, Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) dreams of making it big on Broadway, only to find that her little dog is more cast-able than she is. As an added bonus for queer viewers, there’s also the presence of Degrassi: The Next Generation’s Lauren Collins; if her character here is anything like that show’s Paige, expect Collins and Tisdale to enact a big-time Battle of the Blondes. This Disney Channel original is set to air next year; start stocking up on pink fuzzy pillows for your sofa.

Business is Booming for Sean Hayes Things were looking tough for Sean Hayes for a minute there - his coming-out interview in The Advocate came off as cranky and too-late, and then that Newsweek piece suggested he was too gay to be convincing as the hetero leading man of the Broadway revival Promises, Promises. It looked for a second like he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. But the one-time Will & Grace star is having the last laugh: He scored a Tony nod for the show, reviews for his gig as host of the Tony Awards were glowing, and his production company scored a hit with the sitcom Hot in Cleveland, which premiered to high ratings on TV Land. Hayes will be keeping his TV mogul hat firmly in place, with NBC Universal signing a two-year deal with Hazy Mills (his company with Todd Milliner) to develop new shows for network and cable. (You’ll recall Hayes showing off his sitcom-creating acumen on Bravo’s Situation: Comedy.) So yes, naysayers, this guy’s officially a little more than “Just Jack.”

The last time Romeo San Vicente found himself in a hazy mill the morning after he stumbled into that gay lumberjack bar. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.

Tell me, Jack, where are Will and Grace now that you need them? Where are they now?

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If eating at Whole Foods has this effect, we’re switching grocers, like, yesterday!

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“Role Model ” Citizen: an interview with John Waters

by Gregg Shapiro For more than 40 years, John Waters has been one of the most original voices in contemporary pop culture. His films, including Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living, Polyester, Hairspray and Pecker, brought the underground and independent creative spirit to mainstream audiences. Waters is also the author of several books, including his latest, Role Models (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010). In Role Models, Waters pays homage to the people, some famous, some not, who helped to make him who he is today.

Gregg Shapiro: In the chapter “Little Richard, Happy At Last,” you write about doing a difficult celebrity interview. Since you’ve done your share of interviewing, for the book, for example, how would you say that affects the way that you approach interviews when you are the subject?

John Waters: To be honest, I read the press constantly. I’m not sure Little Richard reads the press that he isn’t in. I don’t know that. I am a journalist in a way. Some of these articles were journalistic.

One of them, with Little Richard, was written for Playboy. In my other book, Crackpot, from a long time ago, they were all journalistic pieces that were collected. I would say that since I read the press - I get a hundred and some magazines a month, although that’s dwindling, I’m afraid - and I read about six or seven newspapers every morning, I participate in the press, so therefore when I give it, I try to make it good for the journalists. I try to vary what I say, even though it’s hard when you do 30 interviews and they’re about one subject - they’re going to ask the same questions. But I don’t hate the press and I think that’s maybe why I don’t have a horrible time doing it.

GS: Well, we appreciate the love you’re giving us.

JW: [laughs] GS: I know that Role Models is a literary self-portrait, but after reading the section on gay and straight boyfriends in the “Outsider Porn” chapter and accidentally killing someone in the “Leslie” chapter, I wondered if you were surprised during the course of writing the book about what you found yourself to be revealing.

JW: Well…you’re right. I think you have to reveal something in a memoir. I don’t name my boyfriends’ names, they’re not famous people. I know one or two of them might not like being in the

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book. I do have a private life and I also talk about in the book that when I see celebrities revealing every personal thing to a journalist, I always think they don’t have friends. And they don’t! [Laughs] That’s why they have to tell a journalist. The same principle applies to telemarketing. The reason some people go for it is that some people’s phones never ever ring except for that call and they’re lonely. I do have friends that I confide in. But at the same time, when I’m talking about something as serious as the Leslie Van Houten chapter - there are no jokes in that chapter - is that basically that is something that I never revealed for a long, long time. It just seems that when you’re reflecting on somebody else’s horror that they’re trying to get it over, it was the closest I had to that horrible experience. I didn’t tell it with any humor, certainly. And the stuff about the boyfriends is true. I don’t necessarily fit in all gay culture either. My friends are straight, gay. I love young people because they don’t care anymore so much. It’s not isolated or ghettoized. I usually like the gay people that don’t fit in gay culture either, that go to hipster bars, so it’s easier shopping, really. It might be a straight bar, and there might be three gay people there, but they’d be the three gay people I’d like if I was in an all-gay bar [laughs].

GS: I’m glad that you mentioned that, because I laughed out loud on numerous appropriate occasions in the book, but never more so than when you wrote about the joke you and Gus Van Sant make about the press calling you “openly gay.”

JW: They always say that, “openly gay.” Once I was on the cover of The Advocate, “Openly gay director, John Waters.” But they never asked me! So my joke now with my staff when someone says “openly gay” is “how dare they presume I’m gay!” I’m just kidding, of course. I’ve always said I was gay. But “openly gay,” Gus and I always say, “What does that mean?” I guess it means that we’ve said we’re gay and it’s no big deal. But to me, “openly gay” somehow sounds like you’re running into parties screaming, “got any Judy Garland records?”

[Laughs] Like the worst cliché of what it could be. I love Judy Garland; I don’t think that’s a bad cliché.

I’m a fan of Judy Garland’s, even more so now. It’s a term that’s taken the place of flamboyant, which used to mean gay when they couldn’t say it in a mean way.

GS: In addition to writing your own books, it’s

clear from reading Role Models that you are a voracious reader, citing other people’s books in chapters such as “Bookworm,” “Cult Leader,” “Outsider Porn” and “Leslie.” With the publishing industry in flux, how would you say that is affecting you?

JW: I never stop to think that my readers might not know who somebody is. Look it up! I don’t talk down. I recently did my spoken-word act This Filthy World at Michael Moore’s Comedy Festival and Jeff Garlin said to me, “I love that you crack a Jean Rhys joke. Not many people know who Jean Rhys is.” Well, look it up! I don’t talk down. I assume my audience is intelligent. But at the same time, if you don’t know who somebody is or if I read it, I would look it up. It’s easy to look things up now. [Laughs] You don’t have to go to the library anymore. You hit one word and it comes up on your computer.

GS: People who have their smart phones with them could probably look it up in the middle of your show.

JW: They could! In fact, they do! At the same time, I think my book is a beach read because it comes out in June. As long as the water is polluted in your area [laughs].

GS: What would you do if Oprah invited you on her show to talk about your book?

JW: I’d go in a minute. I know Oprah because she used to be in Baltimore. Every time I see Oprah she does a Baltimore accent for me. Which is very seldom, maybe I’ve seen her three times, if that. And it’s always in the middle of a media event, the Vanity Fair party or something like that. I don’t have her home address, certainly. But I’d do it in a minute. I think my message is hopeful. I have The Secret [laughs] to being a happy neurotic. I don’t know if Oprah admits that you can be a happy neurotic, but I have my Secret, too [laughs].

GS: Thank you for sharing that secret.

JW: [Laughs] GS: At the very beginning of the book, in the “Johnny and Me” chapter, you pose an interesting question idolizing “our imagined opposites, yearning to become the role models for others we knew we could never be for ourselves.” How do you respond to people who tell you that you are their role model?

JW: They do a lot now, these days, and I’m very flattered. I joke that I’m a “filth elder.” I played the

John Waters has also appeared on many television shows, including Homicide: Life on the Street.

Coachella Festival recently and I really felt like a “filth elder.” It was packed with 20-year-old kids.

That is the ultimate compliment that I can have.

I’ve been doing this for almost 50 years, I started in ’64. These kids weren’t even alive when I made my later movies! So it’s really flattering to me that something I’m saying is appealing to them. I still am interested in what’s going on. I never think, “It was more fun when I made Pink Flamingos.” It was different. I don’t look backwards. I try to find out what is the next thing a kid is doing to get on people’s nerves, which has always interested me.

GS: Speaking of things coming around again, in the “Baltimore Heroes” chapter, you wrote about Burlesque queen Lady Zorro. What do you think of the current burlesque revival?

JW: It’s good and I love it, but they don’t have butch lesbian ones that are strippers. That come out nude and snarl, “What the fuck you lookin’ at?” I think they should. Just come out and say, “Yeah, what do you think you’re lookin’ at, you pig?” I’m still friends with Zorro’s daughter and she liked the book. And Playboy is printing that chapter, which I find so hilarious in a way, Zorro is finally in Playboy! [laughs].

GS: Having written a few of your own books, have you ever felt strongly enough about another author’s book to adapt it for film?

JW: Not that I’d want to adapt for film. But I write to authors when I read their books all the time and tell them how much I like it. I still write fan letters all the time. I just read Justin Spring’s Secret Historian (about Samuel Steward) and let me say that that’s my new favorite book. And this guy really knew how to top from the bottom [laughs]. It’s really good! Sometimes when I’m on a publicity tour, I do someone else’s publicity [laughs]. I really liked that book and I also liked Lionel Shriver’s new novel called So Much For That, which is the best feel bad book ever, with a feel good ending.

GS: Have you started work on your next film project?

JW: No. I’m trying to get this one Fruitcake made.

Right now, to be honest, in America I don’t know anyone who can get an independent five million dollar film made. Independent film is the worst it’s ever been since I started and it’s probably the best for Hollywood big budget movies since I started.

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fashion fwd Turning Fashion Weak into City Chic

by Ryan Harris Why is it impossible to go anywhere without seeing a fashion victim with absolutely no clue? What makes people feel good about their bad choices? How can a person walk out of the house looking like a bad 80’s flashback scene from the Sex and the City movie? Well it’s simple…they are the unfortunate Fashion Weak.

Spring and summer 2010 are pulling out some amazing looks that are at affordable price points, and most of all, readily available.

From the Internet to television, newspaper columns or magazine articles, a department store stylist to personal stylists and fashion consultants, great fashion advice is everywhere. Hell, there is even an App for that! My point? There is no excuse for the choices made by the Fashion Weak.

When going through your wardrobe selecting your attire for the day, you must ask yourself certain questions. “Where am I going?” “Is this age appropriate?” “Is it flattering or frumpy?” Allow me to break it down a bit more.

“Where am I going?” is the first question you should always ask yourself when you are selecting your daily wear. Are you going to work?

Chances are your employer has a dress code.

Now if you are required to wear a uniform, you have nothing to worry about, of course unless you are allergic to poly-blend. If you are able to avoid the uniform, chances are you have open range to express yourself and your sense of fashion. Making sure you meet the dress requirements first, and then making it fashionable second is the right order. You may need to wear a suit, but it doesn’t have to be ill fitting, un-flattering, or decades old. And if you work in a more relaxed atmosphere, you can still be comfortable and chic…just please leave those chunky heels in the time vault.

Are you going to the theater, a charitable function, or just a nice dinner out with friends?

Keep it classy and a little flashy. Embellishments are totally in right now, and finding some classy bling is just as easy as finding a McDonalds in this city.

Are you staying home, spending the day with the kids or running errands? Contrary to the beliefs of the Fashion Weak, comfortable does not mean sloppy! Showing up to pick up the kids in your flip-flops, oversized t-shirt and high-water pants isn’t okay. Grab a nice pair of denim or classic pair of shorts, match it with a lightweight cotton t-shirt, and accessorize. Ladies can throw on some nice sandals or ballet flats, guys can grab canvas sneakers or boat shoes, and you are comfortable enough to run around the city all day, but

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What happened to weak being chic? That torpedoes my whole summer ensemble.

classy enough not to embarrass yourself or your friends and family.

“Is this age appropriate?” is the most annoying mistake made by the Fashion Weak. However, determining the answer to this question is critical to being fashion forward. Guys, when you graduate from college, you not only are embarking on a new life, but a new sense of fashion as well. So as you enter your 30’s if you can look down and see the name of the store where you bought your shirt on your shirt…. well, trust me, you may think it makes you look younger, but in reality you just look silly. And ladies, there is a difference between feminine ruffles, and girly frills. Attempting to dress “cool and hip” can back fire like Heidi Montag’s plastic surgery, so if your outfit looks like something your daughter would wear, chances are you are your fashion is weak.

“Is it flattering or frumpy?” is very easy to determine. Because designs vary in fit and style, clothes may be flowy or oversized, providing you with a garment that is fashionable without looking frumpy. It was made to be oversized therefore the structure of the garment will flatter your body because that was the intent of the designer. The real question is how should this fit? Wearing a suit that is too big, or a shirt that is intended to be fitted but isn’t because you bought a larger size for comfort… is definitely blowing the frumpy whistle.

Now before the Fashion Police hear the whistle and come running, just remember that if the item is a structured piece, it should fit like a glove, not too tight, not too big, just right, as if it was made just for you. And if it is intended to be oversized, does it still flatter your figure?

If it doesn’t, well, that’s frumpy. Keep this in mind and you can avoid this mistake all together.

Now, I am not an expert on hair so I will leave that up to my friends over at Charles Penzone, but I’m sure they would agree with my next statement… if you have the same hair style today as you did in the 90’s, trust me…. it’s time to schedule an appointment. Your hairstyle is an equal piece of the fashion puzzle and dated hairstyles are totally Fashion Weak.

So listen up my darling fashionistas. We live in a city with fabulous boutiques, stylish salons, and amazing fashion consultants and stylists all ready and willing to make you look your best. Now I know that you would never fall victim yourself, so let’s all do what we can to help the unfortunate Fashion Weak and turn them all into City Chic… and we all will benefit!

Make Everyday a Runway!

Ryan Harris is Fashion Consultant/Stylist for Wardrobe Therapy LLC. Contact him at rharris@wardrobetherapyllc.com or more info at www.wardrobetherapyllc.com.

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The lovechild of Tyra and Oprah, born from the womb of a dragqueen. Gotta love her.

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Food is dramatic - Life is delicious.

Episode 9 : Does A Bear Carb-Load in the Italian Woods?

by Ursa Major photo by Gardner Dunn

Cyle’s back hair was making itself known.

on a regular basis? Creatine! Bears!

Fuck yea!”

Ah, the halcyon days of twinkdom; the dancing until dawn, the booze, the boys, the almost religious commitment to overdrawing ones checking account with bar charges. It all seemed like a dream - a dream one hopes to forget, and has little trouble forgetting given the chemicals one puts in ones body. I did miss the friends, though. Or so I thought.

We sat for a moment in silence perusing the menu, until the waiter arrived and began taking our order.

I was confused, and a little concerned. What had happened to my twink friends? Why were they all so massive and hairy? And why was Stephen occasionally shouting the names of fitness supplements and chemicals, along with the word “bear”?

It was late afternoon and I was using my ped-egg, and doing my preevening Soduku when the phone rang, and something in the air changed. Hesitantly, I picked up the receiver.

“Hey. It’s your favorite bear! Cyle Cling! We’re going to Marcella’s in an hour to carb-load before the gym, and you’d better come, gurrrl. “ When I picked up the phone receiver, I didn’t realize the ultimate receiver would be on the other end, so to speak.

“Cyle, I haven’t talked to you in ages!

I’ll be there!” I hung up the phone, and quickly dressed and made my way to Cameron Mitchell’s hip and delicious Italian venture, Marcella’s.

When I arrived the hostess quickly took me to the back of the restaurant, where my friends were seated. Or at least they looked like my friends sort of. They all seemed to be much bigger and hairier than I remember.

Ignoring the elephant (or bear) in the room, I walked around the table kissing each of them, and then I took my seat.

There was Juan, the Dominican extraordinaire who was good with a pen knife and a color guard rifle; Cyle, one cursed by beauty, a master bottom, and lover of fashion and Double Mint gum; and Cyle’s new boyfriend, Stephen, who hailed from Minneapolis, and seemed to be a delight. They were all wearing tank tops, and

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I chose the Apple Salad, Cyle ordered the Beef Tenderloin, Juan had the Pepperoni Pizza, and Stephen asked for the Penne Alla Arrabiata. We also ordered for the table a massive order of calamari, a caprese and a bottle of Chianto Classico to share. The waiter disappeared, and returned moments later with our wine, caprese, and calamari. The calamari was crisp and salty, with a delightful dipping sauce. Juan ate almost the entire thing, while Cyle and Stephen made short work of the caprese. The mozzarella was creamy and huge - just like Cyle in the early 2000’s, and the tomatoes were bright and had been plump before cutting. The wine was full-bodied and smooth, and had definitely been a good choice.

“God, all this facial hair is itchy, but it sure makes my face look hot. And in the winter, it keeps me warm,” said Cyle as he scratched his beard loudly and continued to shove mozzarella in his face. “Other than Winter Party, what should we do during winter?” Cyle stopped scratching and perused the menu.

“Dumb Cyle,” said Juan dismissively as he munched on calamari “bears hibernate in the winter.”

Cyle blanched, and Steven quipped; “Yea Cyle, it means we’ll have to spend the entire winter in bed. Except when we’re eating supplements and going to the gym. Bears! NO Explode!

Spawn! Myogenix! Fuck yea!”

“With each other?” asked Cyle, obviously confused and perhaps a little frightened.

Stephen frowned. “No silly. God, what kind of relationship would we be in if we started sleeping with each other

The salad arrived, thankfully interrupting our conversation. The delicious mixed greens, Granny Smith apples, red grapes, walnuts, and Gorgonzola combined perfectly, and the sherry vinaigrette added a sweet and slightly tart flavor to this fantastic foragers delight.

Everyone else’s food looked delicious too. Stephen’s Arrabiata was fragrant, and would have been perfect if he hadn’t poured two large scoops of whey protein on top if it before he began eating. As he ate, he mumbled the word “bear.”

“Alright, so here’s the deal. We are going to need for you to become a bear if you want to remain friends.

You’re going to need to grow some hair, do some lifting, and start eating whey protein and chemicals religiously,” said Juan as he grabbed a handful of tenderloin and pushed it into his mouth quite deliberately.

“God this is good. The garlic butter is divine, and the sea salt potatoes they’re just like Mama bear used to make! Anyway, You need to be a bear.”

“But I’m a girl. And whey protein sounds gross,” I said despondently, eating my salad.

“Kourtney Baster, don’t talk back to me,” grrrred Juan, as he used his massive claw-like hand to grab a piece of pepperoni pizza violently. He ate the entire thing in one bite and then remarked “wow, that’s a spicy pepperoni! Anyway, become a bear!”

“Yea, Kourtney, it’s fun. You can eat chemicals! And we’ll use hot stones to rub your breasts out. Girl-bear!

Fuck yea!” said Stephen, Arrabiata falling out of his mouth as he ate.

where in the back, someone vomited.

Stephen merely stood, dabbed his mouth with his napkin effeminately, and then threw it on the table in disgust.

The waiter passed by, and Cyle’s man-claw shot out, and grabbed the man by the throat.

“We may have put up with this when we were twinks,” said Juan as I tried to take the broken wine bottle from his hand. He continued “but now that we’re massive and self-indentified bears…We’re not gonna take it. No, we ain’t gonna take it. We’re not gonna take it anymore! Virginia, hit it!”

“Do you guys have any honey?” asked Cyle, a piece of stray meat hanging from his beard.

The waiter, frightened and confused nodded, and spoke sheepishly. “I’m sure we could find some, sir. It’s usually served with one of our cheeses, but…”

“Bears eat honey, duh,” Cyle growled.

“Bring me some honey. And some raw meats.”

Just then, the lights in the room dimmed, and from somewhere in the front, a follow-spot appeared. Suddenly, as if by magic, Virginia West and the West Family dancers appeared, and began to perform a huge musical dance number. The crowd went wild.

“Ok, we have a full selection of cured meats such as Bresaola, Sopressata, Prosciutto, Capicola…”

Embarrassed, I motioned to the manager.

“Quit confusing bear and bring me meat!”

“Can I have my check, please? Just mine.”

Having seen Cyle grab the waiter by the throat, the manager and several rough-looking kitchen staff appeared almost immediately.

“Certainly ma’am.” The manager hesitated for a moment, and then spoke again. “Ma’am, I wouldn’t normally do this but…” He placed is fingers on my face, and yanked hard.

I winced in pain, and then looked at what he’d been pulling.

“Sirs and Madame, I’m afraid that your appearance and behavior have left some of the other guests feeling slightly uncomfortable. Please put Phillip down, and we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

“This is because we’re bears, isn’t it?” asked Juan furiously. He took his massive bear claw, grabbed the bottle of Gabiano Chianti, and broke it loudly on the table. He took the jagged edge and waived it threateningly at the manager.

“Bears don’t have to take this shit!

We’re out of here!” said Cyle, putting the waiter down and ripping his tank top off, his chest bush suddenly exposed to the entire restaurant. Some-

Bears love to go through drive thrus, order in, take out and dine in. They like to pick up tables. They don’t like to pick up the check.

It was a long, black hair that had been sticking out of my chin.

I looked to Cyle, who was now dancing violently in a sea of Flaggots that had appeared from kitchen. Eyes wild, he winked and mouthed the word “Bear.”

Marcella’s Ristorante • Pizzeria • Wine Bar is located at 615 N High St. They are open SunThu 4p-10p &Fri-Sat 4p-12a. For more info: 614.223.2100, http://shortnorth.marcellasristorante.com.

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I prefer improvisation because you don't have to learn any lines. - Jennifer Coolidge

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trippin’ out

Feelin’ the Philadelphia Freedom

by Chad Frye I’ve sort of always known I was an East Coast kind of guy. The east coast just feels like home, and frankly it makes sense when I think about my time spent there. Growing up, I spent two months out of every summer at my Grandparents home outside of Washington DC; the first time I ever went to New York, my family ended up accidentally driving through a gay pride parade; and Boston - they say in Boston even beans do it. I don’t know about the beans, but the moment I stepped off the plane in Boston there was just something magical about the funny accents, the slightly purpled-glass in the windows of the charming homes on Beacon Hill, and the only slightly pubescent game of grab-ass in the crab grass I played with a young gentleman somewhere near Salem - my first experience of the sort. So these east coast cities have played host to my childhood, my first gay pride, and what was effectively the opening of a veritable sexual Pandora’s box. That sounds a little femme. Pandoro’s box? Better.

I digress.

With this affinity for all cities east coast-y, it’s been harder and harder to choose a city I might call home someday, should I ever leave good old C-Bus. It would seem that DC has my heart, Boston my head, and New York my liver. All of that changed when I spent a weekend in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, to attend Malcolm Lazin’s 2010 Equality Forum, which seeks to bring together members of media, government and private industry to discuss GLBT issues and solutions.

Sometimes strangely overlooked, Philadelphia is a city that tries to be nothing save itself, and it accomplishes that with a panache rarely seen. It’s a beautiful, vibrant, unique metropolis that should never be forgotten when looking to experience the character of the east coast, and the rich history of our country. Also, and I’ll just put this out there because it’s extremely topical, it’s ridiculously gay. In fact, while the name Philadelphia contains no “s,” I’m going to lobby for a name change, just so a lisp can be inserted somewhere to make the character of the city known in it’s moniker.

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Given that I was attending a conference on GLBTQI (or whatever we’re calling ourselves these days) issues, a good portion of my time was spent in what is termed “The Gayborhood,” a large but very walk-able part of the central city. Here there seemed to be fantastic gay bars, world-class restaurants and an historical marker at every intersection. The Gayborhood is sort of polyglot, with nothing really holding it together in terms of appearance, save for the ubiquitous city-placed rainbow street signs that serve as a proud reminder of what this neighborhood is and means. I was positioned in the middle of all of the gay action during my stay at The Independent Hotel (www.independenthotel.com).

This boutique hotel boasts twenty-eight rooms, and offers the kind of service one would expect from a small hotel with a huge and attentive staff. They were more than equipped to deal with a gay clientele, and were able to offer fantastic suggestions as to where I might spend my evening sampling Philadelphia’s famous GLBT nightlife. I was all over the city during the evenings, but my favorite night life hot-spots were the famous dance bar Woody’s (www.woodysbar.com), the afterhours nightclub Voyeur (www.voyeurnightclub.com), and the somewhat more low-key Tavern on Camac (www.tavernoncamac.com), where one can still hear a torch singer sing show tunes and standards in the early evening, and then experience a raucous crowd at night.

Philadelphia has a long and comfortable history with the GLBT community. No one is able to really put their finger on why, but for some reason members of city government long ago realized that the gays (I call them that for convenience) were a huge part of the city’s success, and to ignore them and marginalize them was to ignore a rich resource. Gays are the fuel that fire the city’s thriving arts scene, which includes world-class museums, theatres and a rather low key but incredible music scene (Patti LaBelle is a Philly native). I had the opportunity to see the famous choreographer Brian Sanders at the Merriam Theatre (www.merriam-theater.com), where after a tribute show to the famous artist by his students, Sanders performed a special piece for Equality Forum participants. To say it was innovative is an understatement - it’s not often one sees two-liter soda bottles strapped to the feet of ballet dancers. If you’re looking for something less loud, however, don’t miss the Franklin Institutes

Cleopatra exhibit running July-Jan (cleopatra.visitphilly.com), which very rarely travels from it’s home at the British Museum.

As it was explained to me by Equality Forum attendees, the city itself doesn’t do anything important without consulting the GLBT community leaders, most especially the charismatic, persistent and lovably quirky publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News (www.epgn.com), Mark Segal. Segal was quick to point out to me during a discussion about Constitution Hall, that the very first GLBT protest in the country occurred here in 1965, predating the vaunted Stonewall riots of 1969. “Stonewall got more air time because it occurred in New York, and it was definitely important,” said Segal, “but Philadelphia was first. In Philadelphia we know the value of personal freedom. And when we forget, I’m happy to remind anyone who will listen.” After speaking with Segal for some time, I believe him.

While dining at one of Iron Chef Jose Garces’s restaurants (www.garcestradingcompany.com), Thom Cardwell, organizer and founder of Philadelphia’s QFest (www.qfest.com) related to me a fascinating story. Apparently, as Thom told it, famous actor and comedian W.C. Fields was from Philly, but had an insane aversion to the city and its inhabitants. The story goes that when W.C. was on his deathbed, he made a call to his accountant and posed the question “Do I have enough money to buy every child in Philadelphia a bicycle?” The accountant, confused, answered in the affirmative, and once this was done, it’s said that W.C. retorted “Good. Screw the kids.”

Well as much as I love my W.C. Fields, I fear I may have to disagree with my little chickadee. During my brief stay I met fantastic people, ate world-class food, saw amazing artistic performance and pieces, and left with a sense that the city of brotherly love may be the best kept secret on the east coast. I hate to disappoint Boston, D.C., and New York, but I fear I may have found a city that takes the best qualities of each of them, and wraps it all into a very gay, very pretty, very welcoming package.

For more information, visit www.visitphilly.com/gay-friendly-philadelphia.

“Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia freedom. From the day that I was born I’ve waved the flag.” - Bernie Taupin

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Sweet suites for you and your sweetie.

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Yes, that’s reallyMichael in the ad. No, he’s not prison trade. Unless you want him to be.

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by Dan Savage I am a married white guy in my 50s. My wife and I do some role-playing where I am “Ted,” her real-life father. In her script, I yell at my “bad daughter” (my wife) over some infraction and send her to her room. Later on, I sneak in and tell her that she could “make Daddy very happy” if we were to do some “secret, special things” together. I usually end up fingering her still-virginal butt while “forcing” her to suck my dick. Then I roll her over and rape the hell out of her.

I’m being GGG, and she absolutely gets off on it. We’ve done this scene a few times, with increasing frequency, following her script every time. I do have some concerns, Dan: (1) It’s creepy, and (2) I’m worried that this might all be “based on a true story.”

What to do? Keep a good thing going or confront her about her father? I’m going to feel like an idiot if it’s all just a harmless fantasy.

Concerned “Father”

healthy enough emotionally and sexually to safely explore these deeply creepy fantasies - because now she’s in complete control, because now she’s with someone she loves and trusts - and that she isn’t traumatized by reenacting these deeply creepy scenes from her childhood. Shouldn’t she have just as much a right to enjoy and explore her sexuality as any other person, CF, regardless of the forces that shaped it?

I’d say the answer to that question is yes.

All that said, CF, you have a right to ask pointed questions - particularly if “Ted” is still alive and you have to sit next to him at Thanksgiving - and she has a responsibility to come through with detailed, honest answers. You’re not some casual up-for-anything stranger your wife recruited online. You’re her husband, and you have a right to know just what sort of land mines you’re stomping on or around, even if your wife considers them defused and harmless. Because there are huge potential consequences for you - emotional and sexual - if your wife is being traumatized by the role-play games she’s asked you to participate in.

What if it is based on a true story?

Let’s suppose your wife was raped by her actual father and - after years of processing the abuse and the trauma - she emerged happy and healthy and stable, but… saddled with an all-consuming, high-creep-quotient incest-role-play fetish. Your wife isn’t alone: A small handful of rape victims develop fantasies about rape role-play scenarios, an even smaller number of Holocaust survivors developed Nazi role-play fantasies.

Sometimes our erotic imaginations are as inexplicable as they are powerful.

Now let’s suppose that your wife is

And, finally, here’s hoping it’s all just a fantasy and that your wife wasn’t raped by her father, CF, although that isn’t going to make her fantasies any less creepy or Thanksgiving dinner with Ted any less awkward.

I’m a 23-year-old, single gay man. One of my siblings (with whom I was close) passed away about a month ago. I want to start dating again, but I’m not sure how to tell if I am or when I will be ready. I don’t want to be unloading my issues on potential first dates (that’s why I’m starting to see a therapist), but during the getting-to-know-you small talk, siblings always seem to come up.

How do I handle this without seeming unmoved by my sibling’s death and without scaring off the other guy?

Trying To Move Forward While you don’t want to burden a potential new boyfriend (PNB) with the full weight of your grief, TTMF, the only PNBs you’ll scare off by mentioning your grief are PNBs with empty lube bottles where their hearts should be - that is, PNBs with no potential, PNBs you should be anxious to be rid of.

So when the sibling talk comes up, TTMF, mention your recently deceased sibling, accept your PNB’s condolences, and then change the subject. What that communicates about you, PNB-wise, is this: You’ve been touched by grief recently, but you’re not paralyzed by it, and you’re ready to date.

And I’m so sorry for your loss, TTMF. Please help me. I can no longer stand the thought of having sex with my fiancé. He’s a great guy - very kind and good. The problem is the sounds he makes during sex. Little whiny girl sounds. Like, not even woman sounds which, being attracted to men, would be a big enough problem for me. No, he makes noises like a tiny little baby kitten girl. It has gotten really bad. I avoid sex (we usually don’t even sleep in the same bed, although we live together).

When we do have sex, I spend the first half dreading the moment the girlie sighs start and the second half trying to ignore them. So, basically, I’m checked out for both halves - which he notices and obviously doesn’t like.

I know this sounds trivial, and it wasn’t such a big problem for the first year of our relationship. But it has grown from

small annoyance to giant grating huge turnoff. I don’t know how to tell him to stop. I have brought it up before, but it sounds so stupid, and then he gets selfconscious and I feel bad. I can’t marry him under these circumstances, though.

What do I do?

Ears Plugged Your great and good fiancé deserves the truth. And come on, EP, what do you think is going to make him feel worse: you leveling with him about the damage his tiny little baby kitten girl sounds (TLBKGS) are doing - to his sex life, to his relationship or you calling off the marriage because you just can’t fuck him anymore?

Here’s what you need to do: Tell the fiancé again, calmly but firmly, that the TLBKGS are a huge turnoff. It’ll hurt to hear, for sure, but he’ll hurt worse if you let the TLBKGS destroy your marriage before it starts. Then the next time you’re fucking him and he starts to make TLBKGS, stop everything. Don’t pull away from him physically, don’t push him off you, don’t scowl or grimace or roll your eyes. Just stop whatever it is you’re doing and say in a flat, nonsexy, nonaccusatory tone, “That sound you’re making is a huge turnoff. It kills sex for me.” Wait for an appropriate response - “Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll stop” - and then immediately pick up where you left off.

Repeat as necessary until the TLBKGS are an unpleasant memory. I’ve seen this approach work - call it the “full stop” - on biters, screamers, scratchers, and gratuitous-mid-fuck-ass-spankers. It’ll work on tiny little baby kitten girl sounds, too.

HEY READERS: Do you have the new iPhone? Get the Savage Love iPhone app, available now on the iTunes store! And you can always find the Savage Lovecast (my weekly podcast) at thestranger.com/savage. mail@savagelove.net. photo: MK Graphics / WB

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Page 69 is an obvious attempt at childish, immature sexual humor, no matter which end you’re on. Or under.

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by Jack Fertig

s a l l da

by Chris Hayes If you looked up softball in the dictionary, you’d see this month’s local celebrity as the example. Dallas Aldridge is softball incarnate, which is good news for the city.

Born in Portsmouth, Dallas high schooled in Washington Court House, and then made his way to Wright State University where I first met him (Go Raiders!). Our dorms were next to each other, we worked at the same mall, we both left WSU and graduated elsewhere, and we both left the state to pursue other things... he just came back home a lot quicker than I did. D-money graduated from the Police Academy and was a Police Officer for 5 years while living in Dayton. He then switched to a security company, where he was promoted and moved to Kansas City, MO, and 7 months. Later the same position was open in Columbus and he decided to move back home.

Currently, he resides as the Regional Manager for IPC International Corporation. They provide security services for shopping centers and other retail/entertainment areas.

That’s why you get that safe warm feeling when you walk into the mall, it’s just like getting a hug from the big guy himself.

Most of you probably know Aldridge as a softballer; he really can’t get enough of the game. Currently he plays for two teams (Hey gluttony!) the Trafik Grizzlies and Extreme Score. Extreme Score is a close group of friends that have fun playing together on and off the field. The Trafik Grizzlies sound a little more focused, shall I say, as they qualified for the World Series, which by the way, did you hear, we’re hosting it this year?

And that brings us to the professional side of Dallas’s softball world - I told you he couldn’t get enough. He was the Secretary of the softball league for a year, then was the Commissioner for almost two. Now he is the Co-Director of the 2010 NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series, or as they like to call it, Columbus 2010. He also has, for the past 4 years, helped plan Bat-N-Rouge with Sam Schisler.

Sammy is the guy out front with the event, and Dallas is the guy in the back making sure we have our permits, dumpsters, bathrooms, etc, and walking around with the cops.

Dallas plans to use his newfound celeb status to get more attention for the World Series this year. So ok we’ll give him some: Hey Dallas, what does the World Series need now more than anything? “Our event will bring around 5000 people to the city for an entire week. We have some great sponsors that have stepped up to the plate, but we can always use more. We also have our Home Run Club, which is a donation an individual can make to help support the event. Amounts range from $100 - $1000. We already have 47 members and are just nearing 2/3 of our goal. We also need volunteers! We have over 1100 2-hour

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shifts to fill between August 13th – 22nd. We estimate that we will need around 400 people to fill all of our volunteer needs. In our first week of registration we had over 130 sign up to help. You can find out more at www.gaysoftballworldseries.com, we have links for Sponsors, the Home Run Club, and Volunteering.” Sign up already, people!

When not working, playing ball or organizing a multi-million dollar event, this 37-year-old likes to spend time with his partner of just over 10 years, Brad ‘so hot’ Zaborowski and their two dogs, Penny and Layla, whether that’s traveling or spending time in their home in Victorian Village.

Dallas says the best thing about Cbus is that “we really have a great welcoming community. At times I have considered moving out of the area, then I really look at the community and really don’t think I could find this in many other places.” When you see Aldridge out, show him that great Cow Town hospitality by buying him a Coors Light, which coincidentally is one of the sponsors of the World Series.

Titled “Stand Tall. Play Ball.” the 34th Annual Gay Softball World Series will be staged August 16 - 21, at Lou Berliner Park on the City’s south side. For more info: www.gaysoftballworldseries.com.

“It’s good to talk, Aquarius!”

With outer planets hanging out near the cusps, Mercury entering Leo and Venus into Virgo kick off a lot of issues. Being cute, outspoken and constructively critical (let’s hope!) will have broad ramifications. Modesty, compassion and forethought are always good to check before speaking.

of your recent learning. Instead, ask thoughtful questions of a real expert. Don’t be shy!

An outré creative approach could spark new directions and insights for both of you.

CAPRICORN (December 21 – January 19): Sex seems to be shifting from practice to theory.

That’s OK, especially if you consider deeply what it’s all about.

Old messages on the topic take CANCER (June 21- July 22): Even sudden relevance. Tapes to if changing jobs seems risky erase? Valuable but forgotten these days, consider taking the lessons? You could be surchance. Staying where you are prised. could be worse. Any current dissatisfaction with your job in- AQUARIUS (January 20 – Februvites self-sabotage. Seek adary 18): Your sex life should be vice from a friend experienced picking up pretty well. What in the work you want to do. does your partner say about that? A discussion on the topic LEO (July 23 – August 22): How- is at least in order. People do ever you identify with your change and grow. Even if everywords, some separation is thing is hunky-dory, it’s good to good. Your partner can help talk. open you up to powerful new ideas. Look past long-held no- PISCES (February 19 – March tions to your most basic values; 19): Being playful is important, it’s better to take in those fresh but for now focus more on the notions. actual work and responsibility of your relationship, real or hyVIRGO (August 23 – September pothetical. When you feel un22): Step out of the social whirl certain and use your partner for a bit. Focus on taking care for grounding that may be unof yourself inside and out. A fair to him or her. new look should honor your age, not hide it. Knowing your ARIES (March 20 – April 19): limits can help you zero in on Playful banter can help stimuyour strengths. late a better work environment, but not too playful lest your inLIBRA (September 23 – October tentions are misunderstood.

22): Conflicted about social op- Spontaneous provocation has portunities? You may be better its place, but strategic consultoff in quiet retreat with fewer, ing with colleagues will probabetter friends. Favor the more bly prove more effective. productive and creative ones.

Save time and energy for your TAURUS (April 20 – May 20): partner, even if you don’t have Your new playful streak could one – yet. come off as critical and bitchy.

Sometimes a Bette Davis imSCORPIO (October 23 – Nopression just can’t make it vember 21): Balancing friendly right. One should never let go of conversations with the boss, the Golden Rule – but’cha are, and maintaining friendships Blanche! Well, you easily with colleagues, and could get could. Be extra mindful and you a huge promotion. Never considerate! forget where you came from and that going up the ladder GEMINI (May 21- June 20): You helps you to pull others up have a lot to say and it feels after. very important to you. Your family and boss may disagree.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – Look for a new perspective and December 20): Showing off tweak your message a bit. Lisnewfound wisdom could quickly ten to friends with radical, chalforce you to admit to the limits lenging suggestions.

Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer since 1977 teaches at the International Academy of Astrology www.astrocollege.com. He can be reached for personal or business consultations at www.starjack.com

Dallas ran for 13 seasons from 1978-1991 and was listed was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." Yee-Haw!

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Atchley can wrap almost anything. Chris is having them make him an outlook body suit. Prepare for outlook man!

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