01.28.09 Outlook Weekly - Drag 101

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02 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY OWNERS AND PUBLISHERS Michael Daniels & Chris Hayes EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / ART DIRECTOR Chris Hayes hayes@outlookmedia.com

SNAPSHOT

WALL STREET BECAME A DREAMWORLD FOR THE XANADU DANCE PARTY. REVELERS AND HEDONISTS MADE IT A BASH TO REMEMBER, AND OUTLOOK'S MICHAEL DANIELS SWEARS HE DANCED WITH KUBLA KHAN. PHOTOS BY ROBBIE DANIELS.

ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR / PHOTOS Robert Trautman traut@outlookmedia.com MANAGING EDITOR Adam Leddy aleddy@outlookmedia.com COVER IMAGE: ROBERT TRAUTMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jennifer Vanasco, Regina Sewell, Adam Lippee, Gregg Shapiro, Mick Weems, Romeo San Vicente, Jack Fertig, Simon Sheppard, Dan Savage, Sarah Mills Bacha, June Bugg, Maria Garrison, Paige Passion, Dee Ranged, Alexis Stevens, Penny Tration, Nina West, and Virginia West

SPANDEX PANTS ARE BACK BITCH!

AMERICAN APPAREL REPRESENTS!

CHECK OUT MY GAMS!

CUDDLE WITH THE ROLLER GIRLS

XANADU WILL KICK YOUR ASS!

HOWIE IT’S NOT POLITE TO STARE!

BUSINESS & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Michael Daniels mdaniels@outlookmedia.com NATIONAL ADVERTISING Rivendell Media - 212.242.6863 ADVERTISING DEADLINE Each Wednesday 8 days prior to publication.

Call us at 614.268.8525.

STONEWALL BROUGHT A LITTLE PRIDE MAGIC TO THE DEPTHS OF WINTER, TRANSFORMING BOMA INTO A FEAST FOR THE SUMMER-STARVED. ERIC HIMAN, SAVING JANE, AND OTHERS ROCKED THE HOUSE. CAN'T WAIT FOR THE BIG SHOW IN JUNE! PHOTOS BY ROBBIE DANIELS.

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76 TROMBONES LED THE BIG PARADE...

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I SEE ROOM FOR MORE TATS

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HEY, HEY, WE’RE THE MONKEES

I WEAR MY SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT

SING TO ME, BABY

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009 VOLUME 13 NUMBER 30

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

PONTIFICATING?

SNAPSHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 ABOUT TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 COMMUNITY CORNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 COMMENTARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 OUT BUSINESS NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 INSIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 EARTH TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 FEATURE: DRAG 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-18 DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 DVDIVA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 SEXTALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 SAVAGE LOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 SPOTLIGHT: SEXY BACK / DJ TIM . . . . . . . . .26 THE LAST WORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 SCOPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 NEXT WEEK: NETWORKING

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 03

ABOUT TOWN THURSDAY, JANUARY 29 GET HOUSE-SMART How to Buy a Home in 2009 @ The Center on High, 1160 N High St, www.stonewallcolumbus.org: Cindy Dunigan and Deb Woodard, Realtors with Real Living HER, and Carolyn Frey, owner of Mortgage Lending Solutions, will offer information on how to buy a home in today’s market. Call 614.361.8400 to reserve your spot. 7p-9p; free.

by Adam Leddy

TIGHTS! Ballet Hispanico @ The Capitol Theatre, Riffe Center, 77 S High St, 614.431.3600, www.ticketmaster.com: A perfect introduction to a wide array of Latino dance and culture. 8p; $19.50-$34.

WHO’S ON THE TRAPEZE Under the Big Top @ Score Bar, 145 N 5th St, 614.849.0099, scorebarcolumbus.com: It’s Miss Gay Metropolitan America 2009 - a pre-lim to Miss Gay Ohio America. Read this issue for tips on how to win! 9:30p; $5-$7, Tables $30-$50.

LIKE A HIP MENSA MEETING GenWex Trivia Night @ The Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N High St, 614.292.3535,www.wexarts.org: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 Test your smarts and bring a CD for the mixtape ARE YOU THE CENTER OR THE QB? exchange. RSVP thru the website. 6p-9p; free.

Super Bowl Sunday @ U, 782 N High St, WHAT WILL OUR CITY BE WHEN THE CRISIS HAS PASSED? 614.421.2233, www.columbusnightlife.com: You MORPC Meeting @ Scioto Meeting Room, 111 don’t have to be as butch as Adam Leddy to enjoy Liberty St, RSVP to 614.371.8232 or rsvp@colum- Super Bowl Sunday. Which is good, because you’re buscoalition.com: An important discussion on the not. 3p; free. future of recreation services and facilities and Columbus. 6:30p-8p; free.

SUPER FREAK Virginia West’s Freakshow @ Axis, 775 N High SEXY NEVER LEFT ME, BABY St, 614.291.4008, www.columbusnightlife.com: Bringin’ Sexy Back @ Shadowbox Cabaret, Eas- See the feature on pages 14-18 for details! ton Towne Center, 614.416.7625, shadowboxMAD ‘ABOOT’ HOCKEY, EH? cabaret.com: Shadowbox redefines sex appeal with outrageous original comedy sketches and Ohio Mayhem vs. Gallo’s Tap Room @ Chiller raucous rock ‘n’ roll dedicated to America’s faNorth, 8144 Highfield Dr, Lewis Center, vorite pastime. Thru March 21. Thur 7:30p, Fri-Sat 740.549.0009, www.gayhockeyohio.com: See the 7:30p & 10:30p; $20-$30. gay hockey team in action. 9:40p; free.

I LOVE FULL FRONTAL. AND FULL REAR. Sketch You Can Believe In @ MadLab Theatre, 105 N Grant Ave, 614.221.5418, www.madlab.net: This year, Full Frontal Nudity takes a break from our usual Valentine’s Day show to bring you the answers to all those questions you wished you could ask the president. No spin. No mercy. Thru Feb 14. 8p; $6-$10.

HE THOUGHT GLOBALLY, ACTED LOCALLY Tent of Hope: A Tribute to Bill Barndt @ Noor Islamic Cultural Center, 5001 Wilcox Rd, Dublin, RSVP to 614.882.0043 or tofusue52@aol.com: Honor the late advocate for peace and justice.

1:30p-7p; free.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 GINGER’S HOT BOX Ginger’s Birthday Mystery Box @ East Village, 630 N High St, 614.228.3546, www.columbusnightlife.com: Drag, burlesque, puppet theater, bellydancers, original hip-hop, performance art, an art show, prizes, and surprises, all to benefit BRAVO. 9p; $5.

AN ENTRANCING VOICE Antony and the Johnsons @ The Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N High St, 614.292.3535, www.wexarts.org: Lou Reed called Antony an angel.

Hear material from the new release, The Crying Light, and admit to yourself that Antony looks like something out of The Crying Game. 8p; $35.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 THAT’S SO METRO FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 Columbus Metropolitan Club Lunch Forum @ THIS ONE’S FOR ALL THE MARBLES The Athletic Club of Columbus, 136 E Broad St, Miss Havana @ Havana, 862 N High St, 614.464.3220, www.columbusmetroclub.org: 614.421.9697, www.columbusnightlife.com: Host- “Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander’s ess Nina West and reigning champ Freesia Balls War in Iraq.” 12p-1:15p; $17-$35. welcome this year’s hopefuls. 9p; no cover.

BRING YOUR BRAINS AND PIPES FEELIN’ JAZZY? Trivia & Karaoke @ Score Bar, 145 N 5th St, Debe Wenig @ Club Diversity, 863 S High St, 614.849.0099, scorebarcolumbus.com: Anything 614.244.4050, www.clubdiversity.com: Debe (the Goes Trivia with Sam and fabulous prizes at 7p, love child of Bette Midler and Bonnie Raitt) jazzes followed by karaoke with KJ Mark and a chance to it up with pals Norwin and Pat Landis. 8:30p; $3. win a trip to Ft Myers, FL. 7p; no cover.

SASHES AND CROWNS GALORE Miss COMIC @ Axis, 775 N High St, 614.291.4008, columbusnightlife.com: Maria Garrison hosts would-be COMIC queens. Featuring Samantha Rolins and the Divine Miss Muffin. 8p; $5.

TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED, AND IN GRANDVIEW Couchfire Open House @ Junctionview Studios, 889 Williams Ave, www.thecouchfire.org: Meet the Couchfire Collective and see their latest artwork.

7p-11p; free.

BEHIND THE BOOZE MISTology: The Science Behind the Cocktail @ COSI, 333 W Broad St, RSVP to 1.800.268.7266 or Phyllis_kelly@b-f.com: Find out how specific gravity, surface area and pH levels play a role in creating the perfect cocktail. The next time you’re as drunk as a mule, you’ll have something to talk about! 6p-8p; $15.

PRAISE-WORTHY The Word Church Choir @ The Ohio Statehouse, High & Broad, 614.466.3774: Kick off Black History Month with some uplifting tunes. 12; free.

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

04 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

LETTERS Bush Is Not One of the Worst Presidents To the Editor: Editorials across the country insist that George W. Bush is one of the worst presidents in our nation’s history, though scholars know that every president since Washington has been demonized by the public and called the “worst.”

One can beg to differ regarding the Bush legacy and how he led us through very difficult times. The most challenging fact about the Bush legacy is that President Obama will not abandon many of his predecessor’s policies.

After Sept 11, Bush’s military commitment liberated 50+ million people in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Obama Administration is not at all likely to walk away from this involvement. Nor will Obama curtail Bush’s successful surveillance programs that have kept us safe all these years.

While Bush never found the weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein needs to be the one blamed for stupidly misleading the world into thinking he had such weapons. He fooled not only our intelligence agencies but those of every major European nation. Nonetheless, the US, Iraq and Afghanistan grew to become allies in the democratic, capitalist movement across the globe.

Furthermore, Bush greatly strengthened US relations with our strong democratic allies like South Korea, Australia, and Japan, and he did so without disturbing our standing with China.

Bush gave more money to Africa to fight AIDS and promote formal education and economic development than any other US president. These policies in the international arena will certainly not be abandoned by the Obama team.

There are also domestic achievements in Bush’s legacy.

His prescription drug benefit for senior citizens is wildly popular and helps to improve healthcare for the uninsured and the under-insured. Obama will not reverse this highly successful reform to our Medicare system.

No Child Left Behind is also a successful ini-

tiative that improved the test scores of minority students and is well-funded, despite what critics say.

Bush cut taxes twice. As a result, the economy expanded for nearly five years after September 11’s devastating effect on the domestic scene, bringing in more annual revenues to the federal government and at a pace more rapid than during the Clinton years.

Additionally, Bush did not sign the Kyoto Treaty because it would have imposed repressive environmental standards on the United States while giving India and China, two enormous polluters, a pass. Had Bush signed this treaty, the American economy would have slowed much sooner, and unemployment would have soared.

As for the Supreme Court, Bush accomplished something Presidents Nixon, Reagan and George H. W. Bush did not. He created a conservative majority that will probably last for at least a few decades.

Finally, Bush is the first president to appoint blacks and Hispanics to top-tier cabinet positions such as Secretary of State and Attorney General.

How does Bush rank as a president? We won’t know until he’s judged from the perspective of two or three decades. Hindsight forced a sharp upgrading of the presidencies of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. Given George Bush’s achievements, the passage of time may have the same positive effect for him.

Matthew Tsien South Florida

Presidential Bitch Slap To the Editor: On this latest Inauguration Day, among the huddled and chilled mass reception, our newly anointed leader delivered a speech that simply needed to be heard and, more importantly, absorbed fully by his adoring constituency. Given the tenor of speeches past, the anticipation of a spirited, celestial address was enveloped deeply into the minds of most. Moreover, it was looked

upon as his time for pointing toward the outfield fence and confidently belting that body of work not unlike a Ruth round-tripper.

Especially in our social realm, what met our collective ears was the antithesis of campaignmode Obama.

With pointed words and purposeful tone, he set forth a foundation of self awareness in not merely tackling issues of the day, but in seizing upon a nationally invigorated vibe and applying that mood to our inner neighbor, co-worker, spouse, and self. Our nation’s leader has made known in previous talks and speeches our need for and the importance of all things diverse, and the subsequent values found therein. His speech on this day emphasized that unifying edict in drawing the naked connection of an omni-cultural and religious citizenry and having the wherewithal to view differences as assets.

Equally evident was President Obama’s unabashed manner in a sweeping overdue call for responsibility on levels of greed, national pride, and a newfound pursuit of self-actualization. He conveyed his belief that having wondrous technological and industrial capabilities devoid of a “watchful eye” only drives our country’s train from the tracks. Unchecked financial and otherwise personal ambitions derail the true spirit of progressive growth.

Within a similar frame, sans cheerleader rhetoric, he invoked the endured hardships of prior generations in serving a call to arms for the continued molding of our nation and its complexities. His words of remaining “faithful to the ideals of our forbearers” tie nicely in with the proclamation that “it must be with this generation of Americans.” In short, Obama unapologetically yet gracefully delivers an eight-years-late bitch slap in chiding us over our aggregate whining, bickering with one another, and propensity for being socially distracted.

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” Go figure. Unity over conflict.

Let’s get busy….

Kelli Medaglia Columbus

The Reader Poll

Last week we asked:

Do you attend drag pageants?

No, never: 50% Sometimes, if the mood hits me: 30.77% Yes, regularly: 19.23% NEXT WEEK’S QUESTION:

Which networking events do you attend regularly?

Log on to: www.outlookweekly.net to take this week’s poll.

Got something to say? We want to hear from you!

Email us at editor@outlookmedia.com or logon to www.outlookweekly.net.

69%

SOURCE: GALLUP the highest for a president -- after an election -- at the start of their tenure since Kennedy.

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

CATEGORY

JAN 20 ’09

JAN 26 ’09

DIFFERENCE

AMERICAN DEAD

4,226

4,232

6

AMERICAN WOUNDED

30,934

30,984

50

IRAQI CIVILIAN DEAD

98,605

98,730

125

NATIONAL DEBT

$10,605,968,804,933 $10,631,474,866,187 $25,506,062

DAYS IN OFFICE

1

6

5

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 05

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

06 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

COMMUNITY CORNER

YOUR RALLY HERE

St a te w id e R a l l y f o r E q ual it y J an ua ry 3 1

President Obama promised equality for GLBT people, and we need to make sure he knows that we will hold him to that promise. Let’s join forces to make our voices heard collectively heard at the Ohio Statehouse at 1:30p on January 31. Contact jointheimpactcolumbus@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering or you want more information about the upcoming rally.

J o b O pp o rt un it ie s at E qual it y Ohi o

Equality Ohio is hiring a full-time community organizer and contracting a faith organizer. Additionally, the organization is seeking interns. To learn more about the available positions, visit www.equalityohio.org.

Also, current and future Equality Ohio donors are encouraged to avail themselves of gift-matching programs offered by their employers. Your gift to the Equality Ohio Education Fund may be matched in part or in full. Check with your employer’s human resources department or your community giving division to find out more. EO will be happy to assist you in completing any required matching gifts paperwork for contributions to the Education Fund that may be eligible. Email Peter at peter@equalityohio.org for more info.

R ac o n t eu r T he at re Co m p an y S ee k s S ta ge M an ag er

Raconteur is seeking a stage manager for their production of the 2006 Helford Prize-winning play Isaac, I Am by Mary Steelsmith. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays February 26 - March 14 at Madlab’s theatre (105 N Grant Ave). Anyone interested in the position should email their resume to info@raconteurtheatre.com or call Jill at 614.313.9922 for more information. A small stipend is offered.

C o l u m bu s G ay Me n’ s Ch o ru s P re se n ts : Vo x O b se ss ed

The Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus (CGMC) continues its 19th season with its fourth annual Vox concert, Obsessed. All are invited to join Vox - a small ensemble of the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus - for fun and eerie performances on Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day. “Vox is a dynamic ensemble within the chorus that represents our organization all over Central Ohio. We’re excited to showcase this group within its own concert setting. The audience will love the intimacy of the theater and performances,” said Matthew Arnold, executive director of the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus.

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

Vox will perform its own concert for the fourth year in a row, and for the second year at the Van Fleet Theatre at the Columbus Performing Arts Center. The venue, seating only 200 audience members, will provide a unique setting for this production.

“The Vox concert is always relaxed and fun. You can tell that the guys are having a great time singing, and they always sound wonderful, too!” says Phil Martin, former CGMC member and Vox concert audience member.

Audience members will enjoy a wide collection of fun and slightly creepy songs, such as “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” “Every Breath You Take,” “From This Moment On,” and “All By Myself,” among others. Join Vox as they share a wacky and heartfelt evening dedicated to the many aspects of love.

Obsessed: Friday, Feb 13 and Saturday, Feb 14, at 8p.

Tickets $20 at www.cgmc.com, 614.228.CGMC (2462).

St i l l T im e t o G et Y o ur T icke ts for Ope n You r H eA R T fo r K id s - F e b r ua ry 7

February’s Gallery Hop is your chance to support a great organization. Directions for Youth and Families is hosting Open Your HeART for Kids, a photo exhibit and fundraiser to benefit the youth served by DFYF’s programs. Guests can purchase photos, including the work of DFYF youth.

Open Your HeART for Kids starts at 6p. Tickets are $50/person and $75/couple. Valet parking will be provided. For tickets, contact Adam Leddy at aleddy@outlookmedia.com or Karim Ali at kali@porterwright.com.

PB J C o nne c t io n s R ec e ive s Co l u mb u s Fo u ndation Gr an t for Le ar ni ng Pr o g ra m t o Se r ve GLBT Y out h

PBJ Connections Inc, a nonprofit that offers equine-assisted learning and therapy for children and teens, has received a $4,920 grant from the Columbus Foundation’s Legacy Fund for a program that serves gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) youths.

“Our UNITE program will bring together GLBT youth and their allies to explore their individual identities, experiences, hopes, and fears while learning how they are connected to each other and the communities in which they live,” said Executive Director Glenda Childress. “PBJ Connections is honored to be selected by The Legacy Fund to meet the needs of this underserved population in central Ohio.”

The six-week series of non-riding equine-assisted sessions will be held at PBJ Connection’s facility in Pataskala. Transportation assistance

is available for those who need it.

“Equine-assisted therapy, while still relatively unknown to the public, has a long history of success at helping youths who are at risk of falling through society’s safety nets,” said Childress. “At PBJ Connections, we use horses to teach participants to communicate better, express themselves in positive ways and develop problem-solving skills while boosting their self-esteem.

Founded in October 2006, PBJ Connections is a 501(c)3 organization that provides equine-assisted learning and therapy to area at-risk youth and their families. For more information about PBJ Connections, call Holly Jedlicka, program director, 614.395.1395. Or visit the Web site www.pbjconnections.org.

Sh ar ed Di ffe r en c es E x am in e s L G BT St ud e nt s o f Co l o r E xpe ri e nc e s in S chool

LGBT students of color face unique and diverse challenges regarding victimization at school, according to Shared Differences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students of Color in Our Nation’s Schools, a report released

by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

The report documents the experiences of over 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) middle and high school students of color who were African American or black, Latino/a, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American, and multiracial, using 2007 data collected as part of GLSEN’s biennial survey of LGBT students, the National School Climate Survey, along with results from in-depth individual and group interviews.

“While research on the experiences of LGBT students has increased in recent years, few studies have examined the specific victimization of students who identify as people of color and LGBT,” said GLSEN Executive Director Dr. Eliza Byard. “Our schools are diverse environments, and it is important to understand how our students experiences differ based on personal characteristics such as race and ethnicity. This report provides alarming evidence that we must act now to ensure sure that America’s LGBT students of color are safe in school.”

The report also provides descriptions of the experiences of LGBT students of color in their own words.

“You could very well on any day hear someone yelling across the hall, ‘fag,’ etc,” said a 10thgrade Latino male student in the report. “I’ve heard it before…. It’s hurtful because it’s just not something that you say. And it’s just generally hurtful. And I know that I’ll just be walking in a hallway, and someone will just say under their breath with a group of friends, ‘fag’ … and hearing things like that in my school - it kind of brings

me down almost. It kind of negates any hope that I have for our school to be a better place.”

Key Findings: • Across all groups, sexual orientation and gender expression were the most common reasons LGBT students of color reported feeling unsafe in school. More than four out of five students, within each racial/ethnic group, reported verbal harassment in school because of sexual orientation and about two-thirds because of gender expression. At least a third of each group reported physical violence in school because of sexual orientation.

• More than half of African American/black, Latino/a, Asian/Pacific Islander, and multiracial students also reported verbal harassment in school based on their race or ethnicity.

• About a quarter of African American/black and Asian/Pacific Islander students had missed class or days of school in the past month because they felt unsafe. Latino/a, Native American, and multiracial students were even more likely to be absent for for safety reasons - about a third or more skipped class at least once or missed at least one day of school in the past month for safety reasons.

• Native American students experienced particularly high levels of victimization because of their religion, with more than half reporting the highest levels of verbal harassment (54%), and a quarter experiencing physical violence (26%).

• Less than half of students of color who had been harassed or assaulted in school in the past year said that they ever reported the incident to school staff. Furthermore, for those students who did report incidents to school staff, less than half believed that staff’s resulting response was effective.

• Native American (57%) and multiracial (50%) students were more likely than other students of color in our survey to report incidents to a family member.

• Performance at school also suffered when students experienced high levels of victimization.

Students’ overall GPA dropped when they reported high severities of harassment based on sexual orientation and/or race/ethnicity. Students experiencing high severities of harassment also reported missing school more often.

• The report also looks at differing experiences based on the racial/ethnic make-up of students’ schools. For all groups, LGBT students of color who were minorities in their school were much more likely to feel unsafe and experience harassment because of their race or ethnicity than those who were in the racial/ethnic majority.

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established nationally in 1995, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. For more information on GLSEN’s educational resources, public policy agenda, student organizing programs, research, public education or development initiatives, visit www.glsen.org.

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 07

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08 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 09

COMMENTARY

by Mickey Weems

From Marching Soldier to Dancing Queen The performance of America that is the inauguration celebration tells us who’s in and who’s out. Until today, I wasn’t sure how much Gays were part of Obama’s plan for the nation.

But now, I am positive he wants us in.

Three Reasons No reference to our people was made in the actual inauguration ceremony. But I didn’t mind for 3 reasons.

Reason #1: Obama mentioned Hindus and non-believers when he spoke of Americans.

Sure, Gays were left out, but so were Sikhs, Confucianists, Santeria-Lukumi, Buddhists, Wiccans, Jains, Native American spiritualities, Baha’is and hundreds of other denominations, ethnicities and groups.

LGBTQ folks are not a religious denomination. But we are a folk who have remained outside the borders of national identity, just as many religions and spiritualities have. It’s okay if we aren’t recognized every time the president speaks, just as long as he makes it a point to include a marginalized group. If anybody understands what it is like to be shunned, we do. In addition, there is not a religious denomination or non-believers organization that does not include some rainbow hues.

Reason #2: On Sunday, openly Gay Episcopalian bishop Gene Robinson gave the opening prayer to the whole shebang, and

explicitly mentioned Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (the DC Gay Men’s Chorus also performed at that same event).

Robinson’s addition to the festivities was no doubt a last-minute effort to calm our people down when we expressed our ire over the choice of Gay-basher Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation. As often occurs with last minute additions to programs, there was a glitch. Robinson’s prayer was not included in the HBO broadcast of Sunday’s celebration.

Also, there was no mention by anyone at the Sunday event, Straight or Gay, of Bayard Rustin, the openly-Gay African American civil rights activist who organized the original 1963 March on Washington and made possible Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but was forbidden to attend because higher-ups feared his reputation for faggotry would taint the occasion. In 2009, history repeated itself. Once again Bayard was left out, even though there were plenty of references to MLK (whose 80th anniversary was the next day) and the beautiful speech Martin gave. Only some historicallyastute LGBTQ blogs remembered Bayard.

Nevertheless, Obama stepped up when he spoke at that same celebration on Sunday.

He mentioned Gays in the same breath as Straights and other Americans, just as he has done so often and so consistently. Because he was forthright in our inclusion, I doubt seriously that Obama was personally

responsible for the HBO erasure of Robinson.

Besides, it gave a chance for Christianity Today, an unexpected ally in at least this one instance, to graciously provide a video recording of Robinson’s invocation for all to see. More and more, “Christian” is becoming less and less synonymous with “homophobe.”

For his part, Rick Warren managed not to say anything stupid when his turn came.

Reason #3: Led by a big rainbow flag, the Lesbian and Gay Band Association looked really good when they passed before the president. For the first time in inaugural history, an openly LGBTQ organization was included in the parade. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama both waved to them as they passed, as did the vice president and his wife. Our people strutted, I tell you! Cameras and cheers focused especially on one proud queen who, along with the entire group, displayed just as much pride and sass as the fine marching bands of Grambling and Howard.

A short distance behind the LBGA was the Londonderry High School marching band from New Hampshire. They played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” when they got the spotlight mere moments after our people had passed.

Each band chose the song to be performed in front of the president with meticulous care, so these Friends of Dorothy (allies or otherwise) meant to do what they did.

Maybe it was a nod to Gene Robinson, who is from New Hampshire. Or just maybe the Londonderry High School is totally awesome.

Let’s Dance!

Marching in formation is the oldest dance craze in history, possibly the first one ever to sweep around the globe. It started out as a tool of war, a means to unite men into a powerful force of destruction.

But these days, it is a different kind of dance. Marching still has strong military roots, as was seen when each of the armed forces passed proudly before the review stand.

But it wasn’t only military personnel and police units that marched that night. High schools, colleges, Native Hawaiians, firefighters, mariachi musicians, Native Americans, Chinese dragons, a samba school, azaleas from Alabama, Native Alaskans, even horses danced before the president and first lady, some in formation, some individually, some in wheelchairs, all representing America in its splendor.

And for the first time, we danced with them.

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10 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 11

OUT BUSINESS NEWS Keith Louderback of Members First Credit Union’s to Host Real Estate Town Hall Feb 21 With Outlook Weekly and Network Columbus “Today’s real estate market is confusing and a lot of people are looking for an outlet to simply ask questions and understand what is really happening,” says Louderback. “That’s why we’re hosting a real estate town hall meeting to answer the community’s need for factual information about the ‘housing crisis.’”

Join us on Saturday, February 21, at 1p at the University Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, 3110 Olentangy River Road.

Keith will be among a panel of other real estate industry experts including Larry Schottenstein from Revealty. Topics covered will include: • What is really going on with the housing market, and what are the impacts to me buying and/or selling?

• Can I still get a loan? What will that take?

• How do I sell for top-dollar in a buyer’s market?

• What are the opportunities with the foreclosure market?

• What are the tax benefits to home ownership vs. renting?

“This meeting is the perfect setting for people to get all of the information they need on the housing market, from trusted sources,” says Louderback. “I cordially invite all friends of Outlook Weekly and Network Columbus to attend this free event.”

To register for the event or to receive more information, call 888.293.6355 or email keith.louderback@gmail.com.

Health Insurers to Report Significant Medical Provider Network Changes, Policyholder Communications to Department To ensure that policyholders are properly informed and treated fairly when a health care provider leaves an insurance company’s network, health insurers will now report significant changes to their medical provider networks to the Ohio Department of Insurance. They will also share with the department how they will communicate with their policyholders when such instances occur, Director Mary Jo Hudson said.

The department has issued a bulletin (2009-01) that directs certain health insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to report significant changes to their medical provider networks to the department within 15 days prior to contacting policyholders about the expiration of a contract with a hospital or major physician group. The bulletin does not apply to HMOs that cover recipients of assistance under the Medicaid program and specialty or supplemental health care services-only providers.

“The bulletin is a step to assure that insurers proactively inform their policyholders when provider networks change so they can make timely adjustments regarding who they see for medical care and where they go for treatment,” Director Hudson said.

The insurance entities are to provide the department with the process and procedures by which policyholders and any affected participating

providers will be notified of any impending contract termination and resulting change in the health plan provider network. In addition, policyholders are to be provided information about their options and rights and a list of company contacts for information and assistance, which is also to be given to any affected participating providers.

Anyone with questions about the bulletin should call the departments consumer hotline at 1.800.686.1526 and visit the bulletins section at www.ohioinsurance.gov to review the document.

Better Business Bureau Offers Advice on Getting Fit, Finding Love With 2009 in full swing, many people are looking to make the most of their New Year’s resolutions.

Better Business Bureau reminds anyone looking to make changes in 2009 to be cautious and educated consumers by doing their homework at bbb.org. For those who pledge to start exercising more or who are looking for love, BBB offers these helpful tips: Joining a gym?: • Determine your fitness goals. What are your fitness goals (build endurance, increase strength, become a better tennis player?) and how will you accomplish them (swimming, weight-training, yoga?). If you have a serious health condition, consult with a medical professional when setting your fitness goals.

• Consider your budget. What monthly amount can you comfortably devote to physical fitness?

• Shop around. Ask friends and coworkers to recommend facilities and pick three that appear to align with your fitness goals and budget.

• Check out the facilities. Visit each club on a day and time that you plan to use it to see how crowded it is. Is it conveniently located? Do you like the equipment, classes, amenities (child care, personal trainers) and hours of operation?

• Are you comfortable with the atmosphere and clientele? Note the cleanliness and condition of the equipment, work-out area and locker room, as well as staff member availability.

• Talk to members. Are they satisfied? Have they experienced any problems?

• Interview staff. Are staff members friendly and helpful? Ask about their qualifications, certification and education.

• Review the contract. Walk away from clubs that pressure you to sign on the spot. In fact, take a sample contract home to read it thoroughly. Does it list all services and facilities and the hours of operation? Is everything that the salesperson promised in the contract? What is included in the monthly fee and what’s extra? What’s the total cost and payment schedule, including enrollment fees and finance charges?

• Membership details. How long is the membership term? Can you go month-to-month? Some facilities give customers several days to reconsider after signing the contract; if so, get it in writing.

• Cancellation policy. What are your cancellation rights if you move away, are injured, or the club closes? Will the unused portion of your membership be refunded? Those details should be in the contract • Finally, find out if the club meets state bonding and licensing requirements. And, always check with the BBB for a report on the facility before making a purchasing decision.

Looking for love online?

• Don’t fall in love with the advertising. Beware of claims such as, an exclusive network of people, for sincere daters only, and beautiful singles just like you. Recently, BBB’s national advertising division provided a decision in a case between rival online services, requiring one to stop advertising that its methods were based on “the latest science of attraction.”

• Do your homework. Checkout the company with BBB (bbb.org) to make sure it has a history of satisfying customers and resolving complaints.

• Don’t give in to high-pressure sales tactics.

Sales associates may tell people that a low price is only good for that day and ask them to sign a contract immediately. People should take the contract home, read it carefully and make sure they understand what they are signing up and paying for.

• Know how to break up. Consumers should not assume that they will stop being billed once the contract runs out. Many online dating sites automatically renew memberships and there are steps that must be taken, such as calling the company, to keep from being billed again.

Feb 6 Workshop Will Teach Attendees to Generate Sales Leads on the Internet If you feel intimidated by the Internet you are not alone. Seventy-three percent of small business owners say they are so intimidated by search marketing that they would rather do their taxes than create a search-marketing plan, according to a recent survey by Microsoft Advertising.

Small businesses are investing heavily in their websites to build online presence, but 59% with websites don’t currently use paid search marketing, and of those, 90% have never attempted it, the research found.

Small business owners who use paid search marketing are very satisfied, with 72% reporting an increase in sales inquiries and 68% saying they consider their paid search marketing efforts successful, Microsoft said.

Whether you outsource Internet marketing or decide to dive in and do it yourself, this workshop will give you an overview of the opportunity and what options you have. The understanding you get will enable you to launch your Internet marketing on the fast track and start seeing results quickly.

The workshop will cover: • Why and how you should be using the Internet as a small business owner.

• Why print Yellow Pages are dying - in fact all mediums except the Internet are static or dying.

• Tips and strategies to dramatically improve your web site ranking on the search engines.

• Pay Per Click (PPC) - why PPC is one of the most leveraged tools that you can use.

• How to set up a Google PPC account the “right way” - to get more customers.

• How to do keyword research - why this is so important for both PPC and also for your website.

• Examples of both good and bad ads - and how very small changes can make a huge difference.

• Testing and measuring every aspect of your Internet promotional efforts.

• Setting up analytics on your web site so that you don’t have to guess at how well your site is.

The workshop will be presented by certified Ac-

tionCOACH Clive Clifford and Internet entrepreneur Darren Clifford. In addition to being an experienced business coach, Clive is an IT expert who has been involved in Internet marketing for over 8 years. Darren is an Internet and computer specialist who owns LocalInternetLeads.com. This is your chance to learn from all their experiences, their mistakes and successes, to get your own campaigns on track quickly and save yourself a ton of time and money.

The workshop will be held on Friday, Feb 6, from 8:30a-12:30p at the ActionCOACH Business Education Center, 716 Mt Airyshire Blvd. Cost is $249 for ActionCOACH clients and $349 for the public. Call 614.602.5202.

NGLCC Is Going to Seattle in May to Be ‘Out for Business’ The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce International Business & Leadership Conference: Out for Business will call Seattle home this May 28-30.

The sixth annual event brings together LGBT business owners, corporate leaders, state and local LGBT chambers, experts, and entrepreneurs for three days of roundtables, symposia, focus groups and keynote speakers to address opportunities for the LGBT business community - because now more than ever it important to address these issues of crucial importance to the LGBT community’s businesses and families.

“We are thrilled to bring this important conference to Seattle, which has a vital LGBT business community and a thriving LGBT chamber in the Greater Seattle Business Association. I know attendees will not only gain insight from their experiences at Out for Business, but they will be thoroughly entertained by Seattle’s engaging community and nightlife,” said Justin Nelson, co-founder and president of the NGLCC. Along with extensive networking opportunities, attendees will hear from experts on topics including LGBT supplier diversity, media training for LGBT business owners, and many more. In addition to previous year’s tracks, which addressed business and chamber development as well as corporate best practices, this year’s conference will feature a track of sessions focused on opportunities within the healthcare industry.

“Out for Business always brings together an amazing line-up of experts to enrich the experience of each attendee,” said Chance Mitchell, NGLCC’s CEO and co-founder. “Attendees will walk away from this conference with an arsenal of information they can use to help grow their businesses, their local business organizations, and their professional connections.”

Out for Business also includes the Marketplace Expo, featuring dozens of top corporations, LGBT companies and organizations. LGBT business owners will have the opportunity to not only meet faceto-face with their peers for intensive business networking, but will also meet with procurement leaders from major corporations throughout the event.

The NGLCC is currently accepting request for proposals for speakers and panel leaders at Out for Business. Go to the NGLCC’s conference Web page at http://www.nglcc.org/seattle2009 to learn more about the conference or becoming a speaker.

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

12 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

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OUTLOOK WEEKLY •

INSIGHTOUT

13

EARTH TALK

by Regina Sewell

Deep Change “People change and forget to tell each other.”

Lillian Hellman As I write this, I’m in Texas visiting my parents. I grew up here, so the dry landscape spotted with cactus and mesquite trees feels comfortable and familiar. The accents that I hear in stores and restaurants sound natural.

And, after surviving the near-zero temperatures we saw in December, the 70-plus degrees outside feels heavenly. My parents have been regaling me with stories from the past. Wrapped in the familiarity of my childhood, I can feel myself sliding back into the person I was and a past I walked away from.

The stories keep the person that I was frozen in time because the person in those stories never changed. As my parents continue with these stories, I hear an underlying message: this is who you are, not that person who moved north, not that person who changed. You should be this person in our stories, the person we remember. As I feel myself sinking back into the past, it’s as if I’m a teenager again. Part of me wants to take the path of least resistance and revert back to the person I was. Another part of me wants to scream, “Look at me. I’ve changed! I’m not that person anymore.”

I’m struggling with an all too familiar feeling: anxiety. Deep down inside, I am questioning whether or not my parents really love me.

And if they don’t love me, perhaps I’m unlovable. This is an old tape and it sends me spinning stories about who they were. Like many parents of my generation, my parents weren’t thrilled about having a daughter who was “different” and put a lot of energy into making me “straight.” Fearing rejection, I did my best to comply. I hated myself for not being “normal.”

As long as I’m holding on to this old story, there’s nothing they can say to erase my sense of doubt because I find myself thinking, “They accepted that person in those stories because she was pretending to be who they wanted her to be. They didn’t really love her. Ergo, they re-

Franklin County Commissioners Commit to Energy-Efficient Buildings ally don’t love me.”

OK, so this isn’t fun. Perhaps if I take a step back, take a breath and shift perspective. From this distance, it occurs to me that I’m not really seeing them either. I’m remembering who they were and responding as if that’s who they are now. But they’ve changed too. Gone is the distaste I used to hear when I mentioned my exgirlfriend. Now, they’re adamant that I let the woman I’m dating now know that not only is she welcome, but that they’d like her to visit.

It occurs to me that they must have loved me a lot to change their attitudes and behaviors.

This is an eye-opening thought. Perhaps the trouble isn’t my parents’ stories from the past.

Perhaps the trouble lies in my interpretation of what they mean. What if, instead of trying to freeze the person I was in time, my parents’ stories are an attempt to freeze the connection they felt with me in time, to freeze me in as a member of the clan. Who knows if that’s true.

But this story feels a lot better than the other one.

Lillian Hellman got it wrong. The problem isn’t that people change and forget to tell each other. The problem is that people don’t listen to or see others when they try to tell or show them that they’ve changed. This hurts because we all have a need to be seen for who we really are, especially by the people who are closest to us.

The pain we feel about not being seen is more than simple vanity. When we don’t feel seen or heard, it’s hard for us to feel fully accepted.

Feeling accepted, it seems, is a necessary part of feeling unconditionally loved.

But there’s more. Another part of feeling accepted is letting yourself feel acceptance.

Sometimes this means you have to change the stories you tell yourself.

Regina Sewell is a mental health counselor with a private practice in Worthington, OH. 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 .

Franklin County Commissioners are matching their pocketbook to their policies, committing over $25.5 million in contracts to perform energy efficient upgrades and retrofits to the county’s downtown buildings.

This commitment will result in savings averaging over $2.4 million per year over a twenty-year period. Included is the largest solar application in local government in the state.

Ameresco will train county employees in energy conservation measures along with lighting retrofits and installing solar panels on the roof at the 80 E Fulton Street building. Johnson Controls will install a decentralized cooling system tying the county’s downtown campus together, saving energy and increasing operational efficiency. In addition, a ‘green roof’ will be installed on the Courthouse Annex located at 410 S High Street.

Board President Paula Brooks said, “This project is far-reaching in terms of solar energy independence, fiscal sustainability, and common sense. That we can achieve all of these policy goals testifies to Franklin County’s position as a national leader in these tough economics times.”

The projects further the principles of Resolution 683-06, which solidified the board of commissioners’ commitment to the mutually compatible goals of environmental protection and economic growth and the commit-

ment to promote sustainable principles in policy decisions. The positive environmental impact resulting from these projects is as important as financial savings. The work performed under these contracts will result in the equivalent of removing 2,800 vehicles from Franklin County roads.

“Franklin County will be leading by example, providing a model for the rest of the community, the state and the nation,” said Commissioner Marilyn Brown. “Conserving our resources for future generations is not only the right thing to do, it makes good business sense. I am very happy with the positive steps we are taking to really run with the idea of ‘going green’ while also saving money long term. I cannot wait to see solar panels on one of our buildings.”

“This is a long-term investment that will begin paying for itself almost as soon as the work begins. This is a very exciting project,” said Commissioner John O’Grady. “This board has been and will continue to be at the front of the pack in terms of going green, being fiscally sound and ever-conscious of our impact on the planet. We hope to blaze the trail for other government entities and businesses to follow.”

Work is expected to commence immediately, with a project completion date set for late spring 2010. The solar panels will be in place by the fall of 2009.

Residents of Columbus and Franklin County continue to recycle in record numbers at the 200 SWACO Recycling Drop-Off locations. Collections for 2008, show 12,944 tons (or 2,588,800 pounds) delivered to the Drop-Off centers. That is a 21% increase over the 10,755 tons collected in 2007 at the SWACO locations. Numbers for 2009 are tracking approximately 10% ahead of 2008.

SWACO Executive Director Ron Mills applauds residents. “Obviously the importance of recycling is reaching people. During the holidays it was very evident that people were recycling in larger

numbers. Our crews added extra collections to keep pace with the larger volumes of material.”

On average, SWACO collects 35 to 40 tons of recyclables daily (364 days a year) with 3 trucks/crews on the road. Currently SWACO is reevaluating its routing system to see if increased efficiencies can be indentified that will better serve the public.

One way residents can help SWACO is to make sure they break down their boxes before putting them in the dumpsters. This allows for more toom for other people’s recycling waste.

More on SWACO at www.swaco.org.

SWACO Scores Another Recycling Record

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

14 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

FEATURE STORY

Drag 101: Primping, Pomp&Pageantry

by June Bugg photo: wexarts.org

There is a drag queen on a microphone every night of the week somewhere in the city of Columbus. I would bet this is true in almost every metropolitan area across this great country. Who was it that decided drag queens should be the proverbial gatekeepers of strip shows and karaoke acts, holidays and bingo nights? Is there an epidemic of drag-lust of which I am unaware; and if so, shouldn’t I be rich on one-dollar tips and sleeping with someone?

To a lesser observer, the world of drag or female illusion (please, I don’t want to piss-off the queens born before 1959) is cloaked in a mystique of quasi-celebrity. The glamour of beaded gowns, the over-the-top caricature of fun and the audacity, by right, to do and say things an otherwise non-drag queen could never get away with doing or saying. To a man who has spent countless hours squeezing into pantyhose and clowning his face in makeup one inch thick, that allure quickly dissipates and mysteries are revealed. For certain, drag continues to be glamorous (somewhat) and fun and bawdy but it can only remain that way if my drag brothers and I do not take ourselves too seriously, and if we remember what it means to be boys who would be queens.

First, drag queens are showmen. It is all theatre and we are the hams. Center stage. Wearing fishnets. I did not clip-clop around on the kitchen linoleum wearing my mother’s clogs and housecoat in 1979 because it was genetically predetermined; I did it because I liked the attention, the laughter, the applause. (Trust me, there was applause.) Drag queens crave attention and we allay our craving by performing on stage or hosting a public event or stealing a private moment alone with someone attending a show who, quite frankly, may like drag queens a little too much (you know who you are). Like all show-people,

drag queens grasp at the opportunity to assume a different persona, a separate identity for an hour or a day. I can be taller than my normal self, jack my hair up to the heavens and tease straight boys relentlessly, all in the name of my largerthan-life character.

If that isn’t wacky-fun enough, even my character gets to play characters! I’ve been a stripper, a hooker, a bride, a mother and even one of the three kings (of orient-are). The lip-syncing and dancing, the costumes and makeup, the witty banter and crass gestures are all the ways we know how to practice our craft. There is not a drag queen on earth who doesn’t feel good when all eyes are on her, or who isn’t just a little bit pleased when a crowd parts as he walks through a club, or strangers ask him to pose for pictures.

The desire to get attention and be a small part of show business is laid out when many of my brothers in drag line up for their chance to vie for, of all things, a pageant crown. Beauty queens many of us are not, but we don’t let that stop us from a dip in the pudding for proof. Each year hundreds of queens participate in one of four major drag competitions: Miss Gay America, Miss Gay US of A, National Entertainer of the Year (EOY) and Miss Continental. To confuse matters and because drag queens cannot, by nature, over-adorn themselves, there are even specific subsets of these pageants like “at large” or “plus” for fat and/or tall queens and “classic” or “elite” for more mature queens. By the way, there are many more pageants run by individual bars, regional and national promoters; I couldn’t attempt to make mention of them all. Queens can start competing at the local or regional level and work their way up through state and finally national events in search of a title. Right off the bat let me say that I have the utmost respect for any

drag queen who has honed his craft and is willing to submit herself to the scrutiny of these pageant systems, each of which has its own set of values and particulars.

It is easy to compare Miss Gay America and Miss Gay US of A to their straight counterparts.

The Gay America system honors tradition, pomp and circumstance, and, like its non-gay alternative, is the true “scholarship program” among the bunch. Without diving into detail about where each pageant system stands on drug use and silicone placement and character, I’d have to liken Miss Gay America to a 1950s all-girl dormitory guarded by sexless women. A place where everyone is well-coifed but no one is permitted to be too pretty, talk too loudly or step out of line. As if getting caught saying “gee whiz” or smoking in the ladies room would bring a curse on a girl’s very well bred house.

Miss Gay US of A stands as the Donald Trumped-up version of the aforementioned America system. A slightly more relaxed, sexy and energized pageant that hasn’t planted its seeds so firmly in tradition and value. It’s what may have happened to that all-girl dormitory after the sexual revolution. Without some of the restraint, drag queen contestants are free to breathe a little personality into their bid for Miss Gay US of A. With almost no restraint, queens competing for the title of National Entertainer of the Year are free to inject individuality, sub-context and just about anything else (within reason) into their prepared package. A true showman’s pageant, EOY prides itself on being perhaps the most diverse celebration and display of what drag is all about.

As its title clearly indicates, entertainment is the name of the game and can be a joy to watch or a travesty to witness. EOY is without apology my favorite of the pageants; however, giving already continued on page 17

Virginia West Miss Gay USofA I’m Virginia West, the skinny young girl who has been doing female impersonation in Columbus for eleven years. I grew up in the theatre, so for me drag was nothing really new. I’ve always loved to get onstage and make a fool out of myself and make people laugh.

Mary Ann Brandt and Alexis Fontaine were my first mentors and the ones to give me my “sea legs” to do my own show. Since then, I was adopted by my “drag mother” Maria Garrison and formed a family of my own.

My pageant career started with winning Miss Gay Ohio America in 2001, and came full circle when I won Miss Gay Ohio USofA in 2004. I love pageants because the thrill of competing sticks with you long after a winner is crowned.

Top 10 Things to Know About Miss Gay USofA 10. You are allowed to have body alterations at this pageant, so don’t be surprised if you are the

only guy without boobs!

9. Competing on the local level is a whole different ballgame then when you compete nationally.

8. Make sure you have a fun group of people to drive with. It’s a long drive to San Antonio and listening to marching band music may send one over the edge a bit.

7. Make sure to prepare for every possible scenario for when you arrive. For instance, know how to calm back-up dancers down when your dresser launches a Slurpee at his face.

6. Always take a good stage manager who knows how to make you at ease. My stage manager Jason has been with me for 11 years and is my rock.

Sorry gals, he’s not for hire!

5. Hire the best dresser for backstage. I take Maria everywhere. Not only does she know what she is doing, but its real fun to watch her in action!

4. Remember, Miss Gay USofA has some of the most beautiful contestants of any of the systems.

Try to blend in. Learn what to do from the best there, and learn what not to do from the worst.

3. Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t be there. Follow your dreams. Prove them wrong and make the top 12!

2. Make sure to have all your finances in place before leaving. It is very hard to treat 19 dancers to “Jack in the Box” if you don’t have money!

1. The most important: It is 10% what you do onstage and 90% what you do offstage. Don’t show your ass. Be humble. No one likes a know-it-all or someone who thinks they are better than everyone else. Remember … the judges are ALWAYS watching.

P.S. Make sure to check out my 21st mainstage show at Axis this Sunday, Feb. 1, and next Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 7 and 8. Virginia’s Freakshow is sure to please with a cast of some of the best around. Come out and support Virginia, Nina West, Maria Garrison, Samantha Rollins, Alexis Stevens, Natasaha West, Candi Panties, Vee Love, Sherry Dribblelipz, Paige Passion, and Sandy von Lipshitz as they explore the inner workings of a freakshow! The show is emceed by Columbus’s own June Bugg with doors at 7p and show beginning at 8p all 3 nights! Tables are selling fast so hurry and make your reservations by calling 614.421.2233 or visiting columbusnightlife.com.

Hope to see you all there!

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FEATURE STORY continued from page 14

Nina West

Paige Passion

Penny Tration

National Entertainer of the Year

Miss Gay Ohio America

Miss Ohio Gay Pride

Nina West is the current National Entertainer of the Year, FI. She proudly calls Columbus home, having lived here and been proudly immersed in the community for over eight years. Over the next few months, Nina will be spreading the Columbus love across the nation as she travels from state to state in her capacity as Entertainer of the Year.

Nina has helped raise over $100,000 for local and national charities. She is most proud of her work for the Columbus AIDS Task Force and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Nina’s next show, CHARACTER ASSASSINATION - A COMEDY!, will debut on March 28 and 29. You can email Nina at nina@superdragqueen.com.

Paige Passion is a native of Grove City.

She was crowned Miss Gay Ohio America 2003 on her second attempt at the title and represented Ohio at the National Miss Gay America pageant. Paige has remained very active in the Miss Gay Ohio America Pageantry system.

Paige has held the titles of not only Miss Gay Ohio America 2003, but also Miss Gay Wall Street 2001-present, Miss Gay Canton America 2002, Miss Gay Columbus America 2003, Miss Columbus Gay Pride 2004, Miss Ohio Gay Pride 2007, Miss North Star Queen of Queens 2007 and Miss All-American Queens of Queens 2007.

Paige is known for her impersonations of celebrities like Dolly Parton, Liza Minnelli, and Wynonna Judd. She is one of two female impersonators to have received the BRAVO Community Service Award.

Paige resides in Grove City with her partner of ten years, their two horses and three dogs. A child of deaf parents, Paige in her male life works as an American Sign Language interpreter.

Picture it: Cincinnati. The Dock Complex.

Spring, 1992…

A gay in his veritable youth was fortunate enough to be present for a performance by Ms. Hurricane Summers. He, in his infinite wisdom and complete lack of couth, decided to barge into the dressing room and introduce himself to the defrocked star … The scars have taken 15 years to heal.

October 2001: The famed Halloween Parade Costume Contest pushed this drag queen into the spotlight, where she shined like a new penny. Penny Tration burst onto the NYC drag scene and never looked back.

March 2003: Penny came back to her roots in Cincinnati and has worked extensively to raise money for HIV/AIDS charities and breast Cancer Awareness. About a year later she was accepted at The Dock Complex and offered a position on cast.

February 2006: Penny enjoyed local (and somewhat fickle) celebrity by becoming the show director and nightly hostess at Adonis the Nightclub.

October 2007: Adonis was named one of the “Top 50 Gay Bars in the World” by Out, with Penny’s weekly show featured prominently.

November 2008: Penny was crowned Miss Ohio Gay Pride 2009.

Nina’s Tips for EOY (Or Any Pageant) 11. It’s all about opening presentation! ;) 10. Remain true to yourself and the artist that you have cultivated and created. Being yourself goes a lot further than being a replica of someone else.

9. Soak in the talent from all around the country. Take the chance to learn from some of the best.

8. For any system, surround yourself with friends who can be honest with you at all times. You, as a contestant, are going to need support, love, and care. No matter the outcome, remember who was there to help you in your dream.

7. Don’t go in to “get practice,” or “see what it’s like.” If you are competing, you should want to win. And should you win…

6. Stay humble and be yourself. And should you lose…

5. Be a humble loser. No one likes sour grapes - at the pageant, or even months later.

4. Do go in to win.

3. Do talk to people around you who have experience in pageantry. Why make mistakes that others made before you? But, be willing to make and learn from your own.

2. Do study the system inside and out. Doing your homework can pay off. Trust me. ;) 1. Don’t be afraid to stretch your limits, think outside the box, and go for the ultimate in creativity.

Of course, I have many more tips, and if you are interested in competing for EOY, drop me an email! Hell, drop me one if you just wanna chat!

Top 10 Dos and Don’ts for MGOA 10. Don’t choose jewelry that is too heavy.

There’s nothing worse than watching a queen lose an earring or bracelet on stage.

9. Do make checklists to plan from top to bottom.

8. Don’t take anything for granted. Winning a title because you deserved it is much better than arguing at the end of a pageant because you felt that you were “owed” it or it was your “time.”

7. Do have a Plan B. A backup gown may be needed.

6. Don’t underestimate any of your competitors.

5. Do mental preparation for the questions judges will ask.

4. Don’t allow anyone to tell you that you can’t do it or “you’re not America.” If you want it bad enough, it will happen.

3. Use all resources that you can, such as former/current titleholders and pageant promoters, to ensure your success.

2. Do rehearse, even if you’ll be the only one onstage.

1. Do not try to do something that is completely out of the scope of your abilities. Do what is in your heart and what you feel is your best strength to showcase to the judges.

Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Miss Ohio Gay Pride 10. Don’t wear panty hose that cut you off in the middle and create an unfortunate “meat skirt” above your genitals.

9. Choose hair that looks like hair, not like a Brillo-pad stuck to the top of your head.

8. Don’t even think about fingernails that look like painted Fritos.

7. Don’t be offended if someone throws change at you - in this economy every Penny adds up!

6. Don’t wear shoes that are open-toed, creating the look of a gargoyle hanging on the side of a building.

5. Do think about the village of Vietnamese boat-people who helped make the silk brocade dress you just crammed into a cheap suitcase.

4. Do smile at every camera - you don’t wanna end up like our dear Diana!

3. Don’t forget that cherry vodka goes well with lemon-lime soda and not so well with Fruity Pebbles.

2. Do poop before applying a corset - the alternative is disastrous!

1. Do remember that we all need a little Penny Tration in our lives!

prodigious performers free range can be a recipe for extraordinary embarrassment, dancebeltless penguins and a ridiculous dragon notwithstanding.

A contest of true beauty and poise, Miss Continental makes its mark by celebrating contestants’ seamless transformation from man to woman. Maybe the “Miss Hawaiian Tropic” of the lot (swimsuit category included), talent takes a backseat to looks, form and figure.

Queens must assert full attitude and style to claim top prize amongst competitors well versed in the art of female illusion. Drag insiders may consider Miss Continental the crème de la crème of pageants; others, I imagine, contend that it’s at once both pretty to look at and insipid.

The showman’s adage that “it’s an honor just to be here” truly has merit as a testament to any drag queen who can work his way to the top of the pageant food chain. Winning at the state or local level, being chosen as part of a national top ten or twelve and trying again every year to make it further each time should be celebrated as points of pride and accomplishment. An overwhelming majority of past contestants in pageants I have attended or judged come prepared through years of experience, hard work and dedication. I have also witnessed some drag queens who do little more than throw money at the competition and, in the end, lose to a competitor who dazzled less and yet somehow outshined the others. If these pageants stand as the drag world’s Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Awards, then performers need do nothing but submit their best work for the judges’ and audiences’ consideration. In that same tradition, pageants, from the local to national level, ought to remain true contests where the best of the best compete against each other and no one is afraid to lose, but are honored just to be there amongst their peers. Being a drag queen, after all, requires not only a commitment to our own show and craft, but also a commitment to our fellow performers’ skill as well.

As I compare - rightfully - the work of drag to legitimate show business, I cannot fail to mention that drag queens, second, are business men. Show business, nonetheless, is business and there comes a time when drag moves out of the realm of show-art (let’s face it: Will Smith and Kate Winslet aren’t in it for the fame alone, either). It is fun to go on and on about style and attention-seeking, but drag queens work hard at being entertainers and seek monetary reward as well. Time, money and effort all go into what the audience ultimately sees on stage and each performer brings his unique personality as part of a live show. Performances are created to indulge audiences and offer a respite from their ordinary lives. Ultimately, for less than it would cost a couple to see a movie (including popcorn and candy) drag shows offer live, one-of-a kind (sometimes decadently bad, other times awfully good) experiences worth the price of admission and the audience’s gratefully accepted tips.

Like waiting tables at a casual restaurant, each night in drag can be hit or miss. At the end of every show I may be able to pay my rent or pay my bar tab. No barometer exists to gauge how an audience will react and subsequently reward what’s happening on stage. Trust me, if I JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

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FEATURE STORY continued from pg 17 had the body I would become a stripper for less overhead and better tips. Really, how much can a thong cost? Although drag is a side-job for many, including me, there are a handful of queens that have made drag their life’s work and for them I have the utmost respect. None of us are in this business because the money is great. Like all independent artists we believe in our work and hope there is an audience of buyers that like it and believe in us too.

Tips and crowns and showmanship aside, being a drag queen brings membership to, quite possibly, the most risible, staunch and misunderstood fraternity in existence. Built partly on legend and lore, there is an immediate sense of kinship that comes with being a drag queen. My favorite thing about doing a show is the three hours or so I get to spend backstage prior to curtain-up. (If you know anything about chaos theory, I could maybe describe what happens behind-the-scenes.) There, a bond is shared by a group of men working together to achieve a common goal. It is really “anything can happen” time. Two queens may be passing insults back and forth while another is helping a third duct tape his waistline. The word “girl” peppers every conversation, if you can even hear it over the ranting and raving of someone who showed up late, ran out of nail glue and whose entire life will never be the same because of it.

We can put each other down and seconds later pick each other up. Every person equally loves and hates every other person in an attempt to be, well, family. The goings-on, some almost unbelievable, act like a system of checks and balances to keep everyone sharp and mindful of everyone else. There are established, wise members of our drag fraternity, as well as fledgling “pledges” and every one in between. As part, there are always queens within that can be called upon to help in times of need, comfort in times of sadness or celebrate in times of achievement. Everyone must pay his dues, everyone gets hazed and everyone is better because we are all part of a community. In turn, the drag community is stronger because of the contribution of each unique member.

At the end of the evening, un-tucked and unadorned, we are just drag queens. Each of us incomparable and (this may be a newsflash to some of my drag brothers) all of us tantamount, none of us better than the other. If drag queens amaze or appall you, if we give you something to look at and make you smile, if we entertain you just a little, then we’re doing our job. If the audience shows up and applauds, if they love us or hate us, if they throw tips and come back for more, then they’re doing their job. We love entertaining (and love being adored even more!).

If you’ve never experienced drag in this city or any other, why haven’t you? Promise me you’ll come out from behind your copy of Pricilla Queen of the Desert to see a show or attend a pageant. There is a drag queen on a microphone every night of the week, somewhere in the city of Columbus. I’m not sure why, but there we are.

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

Alexis Stevens

Dee Ranged

Maria Garrison

The Miss Ohio USofA @ Large Pageant

National Entertainer of the Year

Miss Ohio Gay Pride

I’m Alexis Stevens, the current Miss Ohio USofA @ Large. I’m also the First Alternate to Miss Indiana USofA @ Large (Tajma Hall).

I’ve been to National USofA @ Large two years in a row and had wonderful experiences both times. The people are great, getting to compete in that arena pushes you to be a better performer in your own town, and the connections you make with other girlz will last a lifetime.

When I started doing pageants in 2007 I really didn’t know what I was doing. While I had advice and tips from people, there was no one showing me the ropes until my drag mother and good friend Vee Love stepped in and helped me get ready for Miss Gay Ohio America. After that pageant I decided to get ready for Miss Ohio USofA @ Large. Being a bigger girl, it seemed like a good idea, and with formers like Brionna Brooks, Danyel Vasquez, and Monica St. James, I figured how could I go wrong? I won the pageant and started my love affair with Miss USofA @ Large which, as I mentioned, continues to this day!

I have been entertaining for about ten years. I started competing in the Entertainer of the Year pageant system in 2003. After EOY 2004 I landed a cast job at the Parliament House in Orlando. I spent two years with the Foot Light Players and then decided it was time to see the country I have never experienced.

I traveled the country, performing in a different city every weekend. In 2007, my fifth year of competing at EOY, I finally won! I never would have thought moving back to Ohio was an option until I talked Nina West into competing for EOY and she talked me into moving to Columbus. I moved back in June, and in July I had the honor of crowning Nina National Entertainer of the Year.

Since then I relax at home with my dogs and friends, and perform around the city. I have many more plans and intend to bring in more acts from all over the country to expose this city to what a wonderful art form drag is!

Hello everyone, my name is Maria Garrison I have been active in the Columbus gay community for about 15 years now. I got my start at Wall Street Night Club from Sonja Ross in 1995. I have done many wonderful things for the Columbus gay community over the years - some things I am very proud of and some things I am not so proud of. One of the things that I am most proud of is all the wonderful friends I have made over the years. I cherish my friends very dearly and wouldn’t trade them for the world.

My travels have taken me all over the United States. I started doing pageants in 1994 when I was crowned Miss Strap On Your Pumps. That was my first time stepping on stage in a dress, and after that I have never looked back. It has been such an amazing journey for me. If I could go back and change some things I would, but for the most part I have no regrets. So this is my Top 10 Tips for anyone looking into doing pageants:

Top 10 Things I Wish I’d Known for Miss USofA @ Large

10. This one is for everyone: Do try it! It is a lot of fun, and a lot of work.

9. For the audience: do not disrespect a queen!

8. Do everything your way. Be original! A copycat really doesn’t achieve much.

7. Pay close attention. Watch the queens who have paved the way.

6. Learn how to do your own makeup and put together your own performances.

5. Do not forget your lashes and your nails!

4. For the club owners: Do not underpay your girls.

3. Mingle with your audience! A humble queen who hangs out and mingles tends to make some more coins.

2. Do not ever stop experimenting. There is always something new for costuming, makeup or anything creating the illusion.

1. Do HAVE FUN! It’s a great job to have and drag queens are some of the coolest and most fun people to be around. You never know what will happen next.

Top 10 Drag Dos and Don’ts Top 10 Drag Dos and Don’ts

10. How far a drive it is to San Antonio (23plus hours)!

9. In my first year, I wish I’d known how everything was run. I was stressed the entire weekend!

8. What type of gown was appropriate for evening gown, and how important it is to ensure you go with a trend.

7. In my first year, I wish I’d known you can bring back up dancers. I did this year!

6. Also in my first year, I wish I had known gas was going to skyrocket and leave me with $4 when we got back.

5. That it is smart to ask girls who’ve gone before me for advice with the interview.

4. That you should email and call the current representative to get advice and tips.

3. To bring everyone from Ohio with me. That would’ve rocked!

2. That it would all go by so fast.

1. I wish I had taken more pictures!

Good luck, and don’t be afraid to ask anything. All of the older queens would like nothing more than for the new generation to do it correctly!

10. If there are only two girls in the pageant, make sure you leave with a crown.

9. Make sure you’re doing the same things as your dancers and never let them outshine you!

8. Make sure your dresser can get you ready while juggling three midgets on his head.

7. Develop a close relationship with duct tape!

6. Make sure you take “Can I borrow?” and “Can I Use?” out of your vocabulary.

5. Once you think everything is done and good, make it better!

4. Make sure you win enough money in the pageant to buy back your friends, cuz by the end of the pageant you won’t have any!

3. Always use the Hellin Bedd beauty scale: if you look like her you’re not; if you don’t you’re doing fine.

2. Make sure you let the judges know that you know where they live and what they drive. If that doesn’t work use money, cuz every bitch has a price! (Just kidding!)

1. Make sure you have enough benefits to make Jerry Lewis...upset!

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JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

20 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD

by Romeo San Vicente © scope features

ELLEN PAGE PLAYS REAL-LIFE LESBIAN The who is/isn’t rumor cloud has recently hovered over adorable, Oscar-nominated Juno star Ellen Page. (She even added to it on a Saturday Night Live sketch in which she stated her desire to “hug another woman with my legs in friendship.”) On the flip side of funny, Page just signed on to play Stacie Andree, the partner of lesbian police lieutenant Laurel Hester, who was involved in a yearslong battle that changed the face of domestic-partner rights. After being diagnosed with cancer, Hester’s attempts to will her pension benefits to Andree were denied because the women weren’t legally married. Eventually, after a lengthy court battle, Hester won, although she lost her life to cancer weeks after the decision. The film will be directed by Cynthia Wade, who won an Oscar for Freeheld, a documentary about Hester and Andree; no word yet on when shooting will start on a film some are already calling “the lesbian Philadelphia.”

LEO, METCALF GO BEHIND BARS FOR L WORD SPINOFF

ROSIE AND LINDSAY SMILE FOR TEENAGE PAPARAZZI

Alice Pieszecki goes to prison! That’s apparently the premise of The Farm, the upcoming spinoff of The L Word featuring Leisha Hailey reprising her rebellious bisexual character. (Did it become a crime to wear cute little Marc Jacobs tops? Is that what she’s in for?) And Hailey won’t be the only hardtimer turning up the caged heat: Melissa Leo, who got rave reviews for the 2008 indie Frozen River, is slated to play a “correctional officer” (i.e., butch prison guard), while Roseanne‘s Laurie Metcalf will portray the warden of California’s Humboldt State Farm and Prison for Women. And who’ll be the first lucky lady to snag femme Alice as her prison wife?

Anyone’s guess, but look for cool indie actress Yolonda Ross - no stranger to the crossbar hotel after her role as a lesbian inmate in Cheryl Dunye’s Stranger Inside - to pop up in a supporting role when The Farm premieres on Showtime later this year or in early 2010.

A common complaint among celebrities today is how they can’t walk down the street without being hounded by those persistent shutterbugs known as the paparazzi. What does the popularity of candid photos of the famous say about our society? That’s what Adrian Grenier hopes to explore in his upcoming documentary, Teenage Paparazzi. He’s certainly lined up an interesting array of interviewees - the film will feature insights from many of Grenier’s fellow victims of the “paps,” including his Entourage co-star Kevin Connolly, celebrity lesbians Rosie O’Donnell and Lindsay Lohan, and the oftphotographed Paris Hilton, Alec Baldwin, Eva Longoria Parker, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mario Lopez.

Also providing insight will be comedian Lewis Black and intellectual semiotician Noam Chomsky.

Hopefully, this will be more entertaining to watch than a million flashbulbs going off in your face when Teenage Paparazzi surfaces later in 2009.

OXYGEN INHALES HOGS & HEIFERS If you’re doing a reality show about sexy women who can dance on bars, breathe fire, and intimidate men, you’ve got to figure that a few of the players are going to be lesbians (or at least very naughty straight girls out to shock their moms).

Which is why the announcement of Hogs & Heifers on the Oxygen network lineup sounds like such fun.

If you saw the delightfully silly Coyote Ugly, you know the general premise behind New York’s worldfamous Hogs & Heifers bar - hot chicks behaving outrageously and partying heartier than any man in the joint. The new show will follow the day-today life of H&H owner Michelle Dell and her saucy, foul-mouthed bartenders, and it promises to be all kinds of over-the-top. And isn’t that (along with staged conflicts) what reality TV is all about? Hogs & Heifers buys the first round on Oxygen later this year.

Romeo San Vicente is no stranger to dancing on bars. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.

ARTS CATCO Presents Magical Romantic Comedy Almost, Maine Just in Time for Valentine’s Day

by Sarah Mills Bacha In Almost, Maine, winters last through most of the spring, snowfall is heavy - approximately 110 inches annually - and the Northern Lights perform an annual spectacle. On one particularly bleak winter night, as the temperature hovers in the single digits and the atoms create their magic in the cold northern sky, down below on the ground, the atmosphere is electric.

“It’s the perfect magical romantic comedy to warm up your winter,” said Geoffrey Nelson, CATCO founder and artistic director, who will direct the nine different stories about love in Almost, Maine, written by John Cariani. The show will be performed at the Studio Two Theatre, Verne Riffe Center, 77 S High St, Feb 4-22.

“John’s show is this beautiful look at what happens on a cold winter night in Maine when everyone we meet in the play finds their relationship with love changes,” said co-producer Jack Thomas in an interview at the show’s opening in 2006 on the Barry Z Show. “Some people will find love. Some people will lose love. Some people will learn that what they knew about love JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

is not at all the right thing. It’s about seeing love clearly for the first time.”

An ensemble cast of four actors will play the different roles in the nine love stories. They are Malcolm Callan, Kevin McClatchy, Christina Ritter, and Michelle Schroeder.

There are two previews for Almost, Maine: Feb 4 at 11a & Feb 5 at 7:30p. Tickets are $11.50 for the Feb 4 matinee and $32.50 (main level) and $20.50 (balcony) for the Feb 5 performance. Tickets for two other $11 @ 11 matinees Feb 11 & 18 are $11.50. Tickets for regularly scheduled performances are $40 for the main level and $25 for the balcony.

Tickets can be purchased at the box office at 41 E State St, by calling 614.469.0939, or by calling or visiting any Central Ohio Ticketmaster location. Visit www.catco.org for more show details.

Sarah Mills Bacha is marketing consultant for CATCO is a member organization of the Columbus Arts Marketing Association. For more information, visit www.camaonline.org..

Antony and the Johnsons to Play Southern Theatre Antony and the Johnsons bring their haunting songs of obsessive love and longing to the Southern Theatre on Wednesday, February 4 at 8p in a concert presented by the Wexner Center. Singer and songwriter Antony Hegarty’s melancholy lyrics are exquisitely framed by the chamber-rock music of the supremely talented band, and lent extra power by his own otherworldly androgynous aura.

Downtown’s intimate Southern Theatre will be an ideal venue to showcase their exquisitely wrought songs.

When Antony and the Johnsons first appeared in the Wexner Center’s Performance Space in 2002, their underground reputation had yet to penetrate widely in Columbus. Since then, the British-born, New York-based Hegarty has won Britain’s Mercury Prize and other accolades, and his avid fans are everywhere (local fans are encouraged to secure tickets early). This concert is booked in conjunction with the release of Antony and the Johnson’s highly anticipated new album, The Crying Light, released on January 20.

Antony’s concert is also presented as a related

event to our popular exhibition Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms (on view through February 15). Antony has a deep affinity with the superstars and drag queens that strutted their stuff at Warhol’s famed Factory: a photo of transvestite Warhol superstar Candy Darling is featured on the cover of one of his earliest albums, and his cover of the Velvets’ “Candy Says” is a concert highlight. Antony’s own image and music show direct traces of Warhol’s enduring legacy.

GenWex, the Wexner Center’s young patron group, will be hosting a “warm-up” event before the show from 6:30p-8p at Thurber’s Bar, located in the Westin Hotel adjacent to the Southern Theatre.

The Wexner Center presents Antony and the Johnsons in concert Wednesday, February 4 at 8p at the Southern Theatre, 21 E Main St. Tickets are $35 for all audiences. For tickets, call 614.292.3535, or visit wexarts.org or ticketmaster.com.

The Wexner Center for the Arts is a member organization of the Columbus Arts Marketing Association. For more information, visit www.camaonline.org.

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JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

22 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

DVDIVA

FILM

by Gregg Shapiro

by Adam Lippe

Brides(head) and Grooms of their lives take unexpected turns, forcing them to come to life-altering conclusions.

A beautiful, if lengthy, period piece about the traps of religion and family, Brideshead definitely deserved to be revisited, and viewers should make a point of doing so. DVD bonus features include deleted scenes, filmmakers’ audio commentary, and the featurette “The World of Brideshead.”

Brideshead Revisited (Miramax)

Taken In By a Predictable Story Since Luc Besson stopped directing, he has become a veritable production factory. He has established his array of mediocre and indistinguishable French directors as minions to his every whim of entirely disposable and forgettable action nonsense. Their formulas are simple: minimal dialogue that can be easily uttered in English by the multinational cast. Acting skill is unimportant; athletic ability is. The more Eurotrashy you look, the further up the henchman food chain you go.

If the story features Americans or other nonswarthy whites, find an excuse to get them to France, no matter how extraneous it may seem.

Despite almost always taking place in Paris, and even if the main character is a cop, the least amount of police presence and competence is required. This also limits the required extras on external sets and gets Besson under budget. Make no mistake that every one of these projects has all of his personal stamps, and that’s not limited to the obvious fetish for young, tall, skinny girls who look like boys.

Most of these movies aren’t even worth the effort to turn off your brain. There’s a low-rent cynical sameness about them, not helped by the scaled back formulas on display. The Taxi series (1-4) is one of the most egregious examples.

When there isn’t a car chase on screen, we are given the lamest possible slapstick and mugging for the camera. In fact, intentional humor is where Besson tends to go wrong - witness The Fifth Element, Transporter 3, Wasabi, and many others. Transporter 2 is a wonderful exception, because all of the absurd sequences and CGI incompetence add to the feeling of flying in a logicfree zone. Transporter 2’s insanity seemed like a combination of Besson’s indifference to tying up the story and the director (who has since moved onto the unfortunately safe The Incredible Hulk) trying to create a highlight reel to show off to the studios by ensuring that each scene was more outrageous than the last, coherency and competence be damned.

The ingenuity that slips through Besson’s forJAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

mula was evident in Pierre Morel’s District 13, which threw together high flying acrobatics disguised as fights and a lot of depressingly unimaginative attempts at Orwellian dystopia. It was unfortunate that the glum histrionics took over the second half of the movie.

Morel’s follow-up for Besson is Taken, a heavily contrived action vehicle for Liam Neeson, in Bourne mode but with the backstory and lumbering body type of Seagal. The terrific TV trailer featuring the scene where Neeson threatens his daughter’s kidnappers on the phone establishes the premise quickly, but also means you can pretty much tune out the first thirty minutes. This includes Famke Janssen, wasted as the harpy exwife. (Besson constantly casts name female actresses just so they can play the most thankless role possible, and quiver and cower in the background.) Once Neeson gets to Paris to track down his daughter, the fights and violence are broken up in five-minute intervals. It can’t be coincidental that much of the movie feels like a video game.

That’s not to say the movie doesn’t work. The fights are quick and snappy, the broken bones and shootings well done (likely toned down for the PG-13 US version, Taken, like many Besson projects, was released in Europe many months ago), there’s no humor intrusion, and Neeson makes a believable older and determined action hero who doesn’t waste time showing off. Not to mention the conclusion, which pits Neeson against a guy who looks like Jabba the Hutt.

While Taken can and should be mocked for being a half-baked and thrown together version of David Mamet’s superb Spartan (the best kidnap and rescue espionage movie ever made), even throwing in a faintly developed white slavery to scary brown people sub-plot, it is a quick and painless kinetic exercise, guaranteed to be over in 90 minutes or less.

Taken opens in the US on January 30.

Adam Lippe is a regular contributor to Outlook Weekly. You can read more of Adam’s reviews at RegrettableSincerity.com

Originally presented as a PBS miniseries starring Jeremy Irons in the 1980s, director Julian Jarrold’s big-screen adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel survives the transition. Charles (Matthew Goode), a painter of jungle studies, comes face to face with his past when he encounters cruise ship passenger Julia (Hayley Atwell), the sister of former Oxford classmate Sebastian (Ben Whishaw). Ten years earlier, before the beginning of World War II, middle class Charles leaves home for Oxford, where cousin Jasper (Richard Teverson) shows him around.

It’s during the campus tour that Charles first encounters Sebastian, prompting a warning about “sodomites” from Jasper.

After puking on the floor of Charles’s ground-floor room, Sebastian sends flowers and invites Charles to lunch. It’s clear that Sebastian is smitten with Charles, who feels slightly overwhelmed by Sebastian’s circles of friends. Of course, that’s nothing compared to what will happen to him when Sebastian takes him home to the family castle Brideshead.

Charles’s second visit, in which copious amounts of alcohol is consumed, is homoerotically charged, complete with a kiss on the mouth from Sebastian and a naked swim in the fountain. Self-professed atheist Charles is also under scrutiny from the family, including staunchly Catholic mother Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson), brother Bridley (Ed Stoppard) and sisters Julia and Cordelia (Felicity Jones). After being grilled by Lady Marchmain, Charles is invited to summer at Brideshead.

But Lord Marchmain (Michel Gambon), who lives with his mistress Cara (Greta Scacchi), in Venice, has already extended an invitation to Sebastian and Julia, and so Charles joins them in Italy.

Before they go, Lady Marchmain entrusts Charles with the responsibility of keeping an eye on Sebastian, whose alcoholism is of concern to her. A love triangle develops between Charles, Sebastian and Julia. Cara, however, picks up on Sebastian’s feelings for Charles, making reference to “romantic English friendships,” while also recognizing that it is a phase for Charles, although that is not the case for Sebastian. After Sebastian witnesses Charles kissing Julia, their relationship changes and all

Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom (Logo/Paramount) It didn’t take long for the Noah’s Arc crew to make the leap from the small screen to the big one. In Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom, the guys trade warm and sunny California for a brisk winter weekend on Martha’s Vineyard.

Screenwriter Noah (out actor Darryl Stephens) is marrying hot Wade (Jensen Atwood) after their relationship rebounded. Along for the ride is bossy Alex (Rodney Chester), who has taken on the role of wedding planner. Tricky Ricky (Christian Vincent) and his new, young conquest Brandon (Gary LeRoi Gray), who happens to be a student of professor Chance (Douglas Spearman), round out the wedding party.

Naturally, there’s about to be more drama than you can shake a (broom)stick at. The insatiable Ricky pursues anything that moves and winds up in jail for public indecency. Closeted rapper Baby Gat (Jason Steed), with a fancy for Noah, crashes the pre-party, encouraged by Noah’s boss Brandy (Jennia Fredrique), but is temporarily sent packing when his potential outing becomes a threat. If all that wasn’t enough, married couple Chance and Eddie (Jonathan Julian) are having serious marital woes. Leave it to outsider Brandon, whose uncomfortable coming out to his mother is swept aside, to see things the others don’t, most importantly that Ricky is in love with Noah.

NA: JTB follows a predictable path, right down to the happy ending. In fact, the most pleasant surprise of the movie was the legendary Phoebe Snow as the wedding singer.

There’s over an hour’s worth of DVD special features, including deleted scenes, a “wedding video,” director diaries, and much more.

OUTLOOK WEEKLY •

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CLASSIFIEDS HELP WANTED UNEMPLOYED? UNDEREMPLOYED? Do you routinely scan the classifieds?

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HOUSING/FOR RENT MERION VILLAGE AREA 2/3 Bedroom house for rent. 467 Hinman Ave. Wide tree-lined block. Privacy fenced yard. Huge 2-car block garage with opener. Cathedral ceilings in upstairs bedrooms. Marble bathroom, AC, new furnace, double-paned windows, large kitchen w/all appliances, dishwasher, washer/dryer. Great starter

house. $500/month. Josh Martin.

614.657.2366 or 614.446.0106.

MERION VILLAGE AREA Cute 1-Bedroom apartment. 638 E Jenkins. 1 BR apartment with everything!

Clean, new paint, ceiling fans, AC, washer/dryer unit, dishwasher, appliances. $350/month. Josh Martin.

614.657.2366 or 614.446.0106.

OLDE TOWNE EAST 1096 & 1104 Bryden Rd, 1 BR apartments available, new kitchen, wd flrs, vaulted ceiling, $450/mo. More OTE rentals available. Call Beacon Property Mgmt. at 614.228.6700.

REAL ESTATE CAPE COD Two-bedroom Cape Cod with updates galore. Priced at $89,500. One mile from Westgate Park with friendly neighbors.

Call Cindy Dunigan at 614.361.8400.

MLS ID 2843973

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

24 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

SEX TALK

by Simon Sheppard

SPEAKING OF

Anal Taboos

Few sexual activities prompt more extremes of delight and disgust than good old anal action. So potent is the prohibition against posterior penetration that “sodomy” supposedly got God miffed enough to trash entire cities.

It’s not just Bible-toters, though, who find backdoor sex offensive. Hosts of unchurched homophobes fall back on buttsex as the basis of their bias, and there are gay guys, too, who shun fundament fun. Anal sex can even be literally unmentionable, having been euphemized in archaic legal codes as “the crime against nature.” (And beware: though it’s no longer a civil crime in much of the world, in less-enlightened societies, a rear-end romp can still be punished by prison or even execution.)

One version of the anti-anal argument is based on a mechanistic, biology-is-destiny viewpoint. “The asshole is made for excretion,” the contention goes, “so it should only be used for taking a dump.” That sort of reasoning can get tricky, though. As one anal aficionado says, “If the anus is an exit-only aperture, then why is it such a great erogenous zone? Might not it have been designed with more than one use in mind?”

Still, the rectum’s role as an excretory organ brings up a second objection: it’s dirty down there. Sometimes, anti-anal objections come down to mere aesthetics, gripes like “it’s smelly” or “it’s icky.” But proper douching can keep an ass neat and tidy ... and anyway, not everyone’s quite so fastidious. As another anal sex fan says, “For me, part of the appeal of fucking is its funkiness. If things get a wee bit messy, I don’t mind.”

Then there’s the gender-based notion that Real Men should be the fuckers, not the fuckees; many an anti-gay insult relates to the rump. One observer of sexual mores points out, “A straight guy who rants about ‘fudgepackers’ may really be insecure about opening up his own body. But hey, lots of hets love to ram their girlfriends up the rear.”

“And,” our observer of mores continues, “it’s not just straight homophobes who conflate ‘gay’ and ‘takes it up the ass.’ There are also queer guys who think of anal penetration as the ultimate in homosex, like it’s a prerequisite to being genuinely gay.” But there’s no queer commandment to break the booty taboo, and “thou shalt” can get nearly as oppressive as “thou shalt not.” Don’t want to eat ass? Then don’t.

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

Plenty of homos have happily gone through life without any anal action. You can, too.

Paradoxically, the taboo against anal sex may lend it extra appeal; if an act is forbidden, it can seem even hotter. Some sexual adventurers play with that seductive sense of the forbidden to spice things up, whether it’s a matter of using naughty words like “manpussy,” or getting into something edgier, and perhaps messier.

On the other, more dangerous hand, overcoming reluctance - especially with the help of drink or drugs - can lead to throwing caution to the wind, never a great idea. Our observer of sexual mores points out, “Not all taboos are irrational. Unprotected fucking may seem hot and let’s face it, few of us really love condoms but barebacking is not just daring, it’s dumb.

I’ve got to guiltily confess, though, that I do get aroused by the sight of a dripping hole in a barebacking video.”

Inconveniently but undeniably, anal sex whether penile penetration, eating ass, or even finger-fucking - does pose serious health risks.

Unsheathed screwing is not just the most efficient sexual route of HIV transmission. Lots of other nasties, from syphilis to venereal warts, can be easily transmitted through anal contact, too. If you’re playing with the posterior, it’s important to use rubbers, be inoculated against hepatitis, get periodic checkups ... and keep things in perspective. As our buttsex fan points out, “You can have a lot of health problems with your feet, too, and let’s face it, fucking is more fun than walking.”

No doubt about it: the ancient practice of anal sex can violate some strong proscriptions, whether it’s the animal instinct to cover our scat, or a religious imperative to behave or else.

Still, upbringing and/or faith not withstanding, many queer guys happily negotiate the posterior path from reluctance to rectal fun. “It all goes back to overly strict toilet training,” says one self-described voracious bottom, half jokingly.

“Thanks to my mother, I thought the ass was no-no territory. I have, though, grown up and changed my mind. I’m just glad there are some things about me that Mom doesn’t know.”

Simon Sheppard is the editor of Leathermen and Homosex: Sixty Years of Gay Erotica, and the author of Sex Parties 101, Kinkorama, and In Deep: Erotic Stories, and can be reached at SexTalk@qsyndicate.com. Visit Simon at www.simonsheppard.com.

OUTLOOK WEEKLY •

25

SAVAGE LOVE

by Dan Savage

I love the wife I married two years ago, but she absolutely can’t come unless she uses a vibrator on herself. She’s asked me to let her use it during sex or for me to use it on her, but I’ve refused. It’s bad enough knowing I can’t compete with that thing without having to look at it.

Let’s Insert My Prick Yeah, yeah, LIMP, you can’t compete. Like a lot of other men, you’ve fallen in love with a woman who needs intense, focused stimulation in order to come, the kind of sensation that hands, fingers, tongues, and cocks just can’t provide - a woman who requires a vibrator. Now let’s take a little time to grieve, shall we?

Time’s up.

Now stop being such a douchebag about this, LIMP, and go ask the wife to show you just how to hold the vibrator and just where to apply pressure so that you - YOU! - can start giving her orgasms during sex. See the vibrator as a tool, moron, not a threat. If you love your wife and want her to stay married to you, LIMP, get on the proverbial stick. Because if being with you means going without orgasms during sex for the rest of her life all because she was foolish enough to marry an insecure bag of slop who refuses to do what needs to be done to get her off - then your wife just might decide to be with someone else.

And now an important message for all straight guys everywhere: Some women need vibrators to get off. Why? Well, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most of a woman’s clitoral tissues are inside her body; the exposed part of her clitoris is just the tip, comparable to the head of your penis. Now imagine if the shaft of your penis was buried inside your body, guys. You might need the help of a vibrator to get off then, too; you might need a tool that could stimulate your

shaft through layers of skin and muscle and fat. We’ve been over and over this since the early 1990s, fellas, and there’s no excuse anymore for freaking out about your wife/girlfriend/mom needing a vibrator, okay?

But any ladies feeling smug about guys feeling insecure about your sex toys might want to check out RealTouch, a new sex toy for men. A self-lubricating, self-heating sex toy with gears and belts and bells and whistles, the RealTouch simulates - somehow or other - the sensations of twats, asses, and mouths, according to its manufacturers. It can be plugged into a computer and synced up with porn clips so that it speeds up, slows down, grips, whatever, in time with the speeding up, slowing down, gripping, and whatever that you’re watching on the screen.

While I doubt a RealTouch is going to “make all of your fantasies come true” (unless you’ve always fantasized about getting your dick caught in a coked-up Dust Buster), it looks like we’re one step closer to those sexbots we’ve heard so much about. We’re certainly closer to sex toys for men that women are going to feel like they have a hard time competing with. (I know, ladies, yes. But the internet isn’t technically a sex toy.)

Now, I haven’t placed my cock in a RealTouch, so I’m not vouching for it. I’m also not remotely interested in trying out a first-generation RealTouch, because I don’t want the thing going all Westworld on me with my cock jammed inside it. (Readers under the age of 35 might want to ask someone over 35 to explain the Westworld reference.) So please don’t send me one, manufacturers.

But anyone out there who has tried one and lived to tell the tale, I’d like to hear from you at mail@savagelove.net.

I’m 19 years old and gay and a virgin.

Now I’ve met a guy I kind of like. He’s hot, great body. He wanted to fuck me, to be my first, the night we met, but I’m not sure I

want to have anal sex. He insisted that we didn’t need to use a condom, since I’m a virgin and he’s “clean,” and got kind of upset when I tried to say no. I’m going to see him again, and I don’t think I’ll be able to make the same excuse again. (I told him I wasn’t feeling “empty” enough to do it that night.) What do I say to get him to use condoms? I don’t want to drive him off, because he’s really hot. But I don’t want to be unsafe or get HIV or even have anal sex right now.

Just Out Newbie We’ve covered this issue before, too, JON but, gee, the last time I answered a letter from a gay kid in your situation was, um, when you were 12. But the advice I gave Bright Kid, Big City back then still applies now, so here it goes: Look, JON, any faggot who wants to fuck you in the ass without a condom is the LAST PERSON ON EARTH you should be having sex with - anal or otherwise, condoms or no condoms. Guys who pressure you into having sex without condoms are having or have had unsafe sex with other people, which means that they’re either infected already or will be shortly. If you don’t want to get infected, your best course of action when a guy pressures you into having sex without condoms - or any kind of sex you’re not comfortable with - is to pull up your pants and leave.

And since you’re not particularly interested in anal sex right now, JON, I’d urge you to tell the guys you do go home with that you’re just not up for getting fucked. An aversion to anal sex when you’re young and just out and easily manipulated is something you should hold on to, JON, even cultivate. Skipping anal sex during your great-big-slut, just-coming-out, making-your-mistakes phase will greatly reduce your risk of contracting HIV and a host of other STIs. Then one day, with luck, you’ll

meet a nice, decent guy, also hot, who wants to take things slow - a guy who isn’t a manipulative, selfish, barebacking piece of shit.

And when you meet that guy, JON, you can explore anal with someone who cares about you enough to take it slow and wear condoms.

Anal sex, despite the impression created

by HIV “prevention” materials you may have encountered, should not be a first-date activity. Reserve your asshole for guys you’re serious about, JON, and for guys who are serious about you. The hot motherfucker you’re seeing right now isn’t worthy. Walk away.

Rick Warren is really fat, so maybe “saddlebacking” could be a new name for the act we chub chasers call belly fucking, which is a stupid name. Basically, saddlebacking would be straddling your fat mate and then humping his belly until you come all over his face and chest.

Love Guys’ Big Tummies Sorry, LGBT, but the nominating process is closed. Volunteers are counting the votes and recounting the votes and double-checking the votes - it’s fucking Minnesota around here. Right now, two definitions are neck and neck: It looks like “saddlebacking” is either going to be “gay anal sex with a condom (the opposite of barebacking)” or “a term for the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities.” Results next week!

Download the Savage Lovecast (my weekly podcast) every Tuesday at thestranger.com/savage. mail@savagelove.net

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

26 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

ABOUT TOWN

Shadowbox Brings Sexy Back

by Noka Davers I don’t know about bringing it back, but Shadowbox has always been sexy. When Bringin’ Sexy Back opened with Dee-lite’s “Groove is in the Heart,” it was all I could do to keep myself from dancing in the aisle. The ever-gorgeous Nikki Fagin and ultra-hot baldie David Whitehouse rocked it out, sending my heart into a flutter. Unfortunately, the following skit didn’t have me amused. Although equipped with excellent, spot-on comedic timing, “It’s Not Me, It’s You” really didn’t do it for me. Though we have all had the breakup where we are not to blame for the rocky relationship, the writing for this one didn’t hit the notes that it usually does.

The rest of the show is an outright riot. Julie Klein and Whitehouse reprise their roles as Howard and Diane, the awkward parents who desperately try to be cool by creating their own “game night.” Son Cedric (Jimmy Mak) comes home early from a movie date only to hear the “games” being played in his parents’ bedroom, while trying to get his own game on with his

date Cassie (Amy Lay) on the living room couch. Other skits in the first act include “EDork,” where the nerdiest of nerds can find cyberspace love where no man (or woman) has gone before, and “Politics with Gary and Galinda,” rife with delicious innuendo.

“Marital Kombat” is the highlight of Act Two. Kaleigh Lockhart and Whitehouse are opponents in a game where everything you want to say to your spouse is the secret weapon.

Other strong skits include “Phone-ification” with Busty Wiggles (Klein) and “Viewing Bobby Brown.” Both are exceedingly funny and original.

Though the comedy of Bringin’ Sexy Back is great, the music is even better. Mary Randal’s use of Aerosmith’s “Rag Doll” made me feel nice and slutty. Make me your bitch boy, Mary!

JT Walker III rocks out with The Doors’ “Backdoor Man.” I’m a huge Doors fan, and Walker definitely does them justice. Klein’s work, always terrific, is strong throughout the show, but her best number is Journey’s “Any Way You

Want It.” The rendition is scorching.

Now a bit of bad news - for my husband, anyway. We were informed of Shadowbox’s loss of Adam Fauth. Fauth has been reported (by my husband) to have the most kissable lips in Columbus. He will surely be missed as he basks in the Florida sun. The good news for Jerrod Wigton is that he now has the most kissable lips in the city; the bad news for Jerrod is that Michael insists on constant quality control to ensure that kissable lips are being properly maintained.

Though lips are great, the rockinest body belongs to Andy Ankron, one of the bass players for Bill Who! And who doesn’t like a guy with rhythm. Great hands. Long, lean muscles.

What, I’m sure, are very … very kissable lips.

Okay, whew. Time for a cold shower!

Bringin’ Sexy Back runs every Thursday - Saturday through March 21. Thursday shows are at 7:30p (doors open at 6:15p). Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30p (doors at 6:15p) and 10:30p (doors open at 10p). Tickets are $30 , $20 for students and seniors. For reservations contact the Shadowbox box office at 614.416.7625 or visit the website at www.shadowboxcabret.com.

Wall Street Honors Longtime TGIF DJ

by Adam Leddy TGIF at Wall Street is an honored local tradition. Also known as First Friday, the monthly party has launched memorable weekends and epic romances since today’s Ohio State seniors were zygotes.

This month, TGIF bids a temporary farewell to a man who has helped make the party what it is today.

The faces and styles of dress one sees at TGIF have changed over the years, but since 1987, DJ Tim Reynolds has been a constant. He’s held down the early shift

at First Friday from the beginning, and his spinning has been a draw for over twenty years. As Tim prepares to step away for a bit, his fans and friends have a chance to say thank you on Friday, February 6. Tim will spin from 8p-10p, and afterward guests will have a chance to show him some love for his many years of service.

Doors are at 8p, so come sign Tim’s thank you card and, of course, shake your ass and start the weekend off right.

TGIF Friday, Feb 6. Doors at 8p; no cover from 8p-9p. $5 cover after 9p.

COLUMBUS NEXT MEETING: FEB 11, 6P-8P; LOCATION: ARENA GRAND THEATRE (175 NATIONWIDE BLVD); OUT WITH OUR COMMUNITIES OF FAITH • WWW.NETWORKCOLUMBUS.COM

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009

OUTLOOK WEEKLY •

fin

27

THE LAST WORD

by Jennifer Vanasco

The Speech (Not) Heard Around the World Unless you were in Washington, DC, last Sunday, you probably didn’t see it. You didn’t see Rev. Gene Robinson’s beautiful invocation.

Despite all the controversy over the choice of Rev. Rick Warren to lead the opening prayer during the inaugural ceremony, despite the lastminute addition of Robinson in order to appease the fierce (and righteous) anger of gays and lesbians, you didn’t see Robinson’s prayer.

Because HBO didn’t show it.

HBO is a gay-friendly network, but they’re choice not to show Rev. Robinson means that we were once again rendered invisible.

That’s too bad, because Rev. Robinson’s prayer was worth hearing.

“Oh God of our many understandings,” he said, “we pray that you will bless us with tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS. “Bless us with anger: at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

“Bless us with discomfort: at the easy, simplistic ‘answers’ we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future. . . .

“Bless us with patience, and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be ‘fixed’ anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah. . . .

“Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

“Bless us with compassion and generosity remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

“And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

“Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people. . . .

“Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.”

Obama hadn’t yet entered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when Robinson gave his prayer. Perhaps he was somewhere in a ready room getting a last brush of makeup powder, or going over notes for his own quick speech.

But whatever he was doing, I hope he heard Robinson’s words. And I hope he heard the plea behind them: that many of us gays and lesbians supported Obama because we believed he would be a president for all the people. We need him to be a president for all the people - a president for us.

Because although there is much we can do as activists, there are some barriers that can only be crossed with the help of leadership from the top.

Lincoln freed (some of) the slaves. Johnson gave us the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which abolished the discriminatory Jim Crow laws (and helped ensure the rights of women, as well).

We need Obama to be the president who will help secure our full civil rights.

It is easy for gays and lesbians to be some-

what invisible. We don’t have an obvious attribute - say, purple skin - to set us apart from the general population. That’s why, although the DC Gay Men’s Chorus sang at that Lincoln Memorial celebration, no one knew - unless you were savvy enough to guess, thanks to the AIDS ribbons they wore.

It is easy to be cut out of national discourse as easy as not showing the prayer by one of our own on HBO. But the president is never invisible. And he can help make sure that our issues are the nation’s priority.

That’s why, even though I’m not a fan of inclusivity-by-laundry-list, it matters that Obama included gays and lesbians in his Lincoln Memorial speech as important threads in the nation’s quilt of diversity.

Americans may not have heard Robinson’s speech - but they heard Barack Obama’s. And that’s why his support matters.

Jennifer Vanasco is an award-winning syndicated columnist. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/JenniferVanasco.

Email her at Jennifer.vanasco@gmail.com.

HOROSCOPES

by Jack Fertig

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): The best cure for worry and paranoia is to go do some community service. There are plenty of people out there worse off and crazier than you … well, at least worse off.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Document any conversation with your boss or dealings with other authorities. Arguments and confusion are too likely to arise.

Whatever ideals and philosophies you have about power and hierarchy, write them down for study. Don’t yet put them into practice!

LEO (July 23 - August 22): Recent effortsgone-awry to improve teamwork can start getting corrected. Take your time! For now, an intuitive approach works better than logic. A little encouragement at your workouts can help motivate you, but trust your instincts and don’t push too hard!

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): Confusion at home or with family will take a while to clear up. Don’t try to make too much sense of it right now. Logic will fall into place later. Sympathetic gestures, cards, poems, or pictures can help build bridges to understanding.

PISCES (February 19 - March 19): Sharing deep personal secrets very selectively can help build close friendships, but more is likely to get out than you intend. That might not be a bad thing, either. Your intuition is especially keen now; trust those “crazy” hunches.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): New sexual adventures will come when you least expect them, exposing you to new sensations and perceptions. They can also expose you to exotic diseases, so be careful! Philosophical probings can also satisfy your need for novel stimulation.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): Beware of accidents and sporting injuries, especially to your shins. Though you generally prefer logical communication, test and develop your intuition for teamwork.

With some effort, you can learn to make those hunches pay off.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 - December 20): Recent financial setbacks are going to leave you a little confused a few days longer. Trying to make ordered sense of it right now will only backfire. Talk it over with a friend, and try to understand the problems more intuitively.

ARIES (March 20 - April 19): Friends who quote you mean well, but will likely make mistakes that you’ll have to clear up.

Your ability (or failure) to do so tactfully will be much noticed. Just stick to the facts, and keep your sense of humor.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Start clearing up recent misunderstandings with your partner. There will be a little confusion if you insist on being logical. Sensitive, intuitive, and sexual levels of communication will serve you much better right now.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): The best way to clear up long-simmering problems at home is with a game night.

Whether it’s Monopoly, pinochle, or strip Twister, loosening up and having fun will help clear the air.

CAPRICORN (December 21 - January 19): New ideas about what to do with your money are best ignored. Save those impulses and hunches for about a week, and review them then. Thoughtful contributions to charity will feed your financial karma and your spirit.

Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer since 1977, is a founding member of the Association for Astrological Networking. He can be reached for consultations at 415.864.8302, www.starjack.com, and by e-mail at QScopes@qsyndicate.com.

JAN 28 - FEB 03 2009