Utah’s Gay and Lesbian Biweekly Newspaper Volume 2 ■ Issue 23 November 10–22
Anti-Gay Shirts Sold at Provo High “God Made Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve”
Salt Lake Begins Benefits Sign-up ‘We wanted to go forward and be ready if this works out’
Center to Host Gay/Straight Alliance Summit A how-to on creating a student club of your own
Idaho’s ‘Crimes Against Nature’ Law Principal acquitted of molestation charges Ruby: Marine Corps and Drag Nuns Don’t Mix Mamma Mia! Gay Agenda
WORLD AND NATIONAL
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TV GLOBO
SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
Supreme Court Nominee Alito’s 1971 Gay Support Raises Hope Washington—The nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush drew immediate fire from advocates for women’s reproductive rights, but it has been more difficult to find clear evidence of his views on gay rights and HIV/ AIDS issues. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, on which Alito has served for the past 15 years, has confronted few gay-related cases, and those that it did hear did not involve Alito. A majority opinU.S. Supreme Court nominee ion written by Alito Samuel Alito on a 2001 case, however, was quickly identified by gay rights advocates as cause for concern. In Saxe v. State College Area School District, David Saxe, a member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education who had two children in the State College public schools, alleged that his children—Christians who considered homosexuality a sin and sought to say so without fear of being disciplined—would be unconstitutionally stifled by a newly-adopted anti-harassment policy that included sexual orientation. Alito agreed. The Boston Globe, however, reported that
as a senior at Princeton University, Alito chaired a task force that recommended decriminalizing sodomy and saying discrimination against gays in hiring “should be forbidden.” “This is a hopeful sign that may provide insight into his philosophy,” said Joe Solmonese, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign. “There were very few people standing up for gay Americans 34 years ago and most who did have evolved even more since.” Solmonese continued, “We will continue to learn more between now and the hearings. It’s crucial that we find out more about his views on the right to privacy and other constitutional issues.” President Bush nominated Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. The far right reacted praising the nomination. According to the Globe, “The report, issued in 1971 by Alito and 16 other Princeton students, stemmed from a class assignment to study the ‘boundaries of privacy in American society’ and to recommend ways to protect individual rights.” Alito wrote in the report’s forward, “We sense a great threat to privacy in modern America. We all believe that privacy is too often sacrificed to other values; we all believe that the threat to privacy is steadily and rapidly mounting; we all believe that action must be taken on many fronts now to preserve privacy.”
Brazil Gay Kiss Snubbed
was frustrated that it wasn’t shown. The actors also were [frustrated]. After all, they had staged it with much enthusiasm,” she said. Perez said the management of Globo TV had cut the scene. “I do not want to be made responsible for this. When Marquinhos [Marcos Schechtman] and I decided that we would have the scene, the broadcaster said it would assume [responsibility]. It is an injustice to say that I didn’t want to show the kiss.” But Globo TV had denied having cut the scene, saying it had broadcast all the episodes it had received, the Diario de Sao Paulo reported. Globo TV says there never was one with a gay kiss. Perez said she was surprised by how well the homosexual relationship between the two men, Junior and Zeca, had been received by the public. “Even heterosexual men, who tend to be more conservative, wanted the kiss. Everyone wanted it. I was very happy about it because it showed that things were changing in Brazil,” she said. Brazilian media reported that Gloria Perez’s web page was bombarded with messages, mostly expressing disappointment. “What happened to the kiss? They lied to the viewers,” one read.
São Paulo, Brazil—Brazil came to a virtual standstill Nov. 4 to find out the answer to the question that had obsessed the country: Would the soap opera America deliver the country’s first televised homosexual kiss? Fans across the nation eagerly waited to see whether Junior, the son of a powerful ranch owner would go so far as to kiss Zeca, one of the hired hands. In the end, it Actors Bruno Gagliasso, left, and Erom Cordeiro who play the parts did not. of Junior and Zeca respectively. But in the wake of a TV program that reportedly drew a larger audience than the last World Cup final, no one is willing to take the blame for disappointing viewers. “Marcos Schechtman [the director] and I made the scene—it was recorded,” America screenwriter Gloria Perez told Globo newspaper. “We fought for it and I cannot deny that I
HRC Launches Transgender Campaign Washington—The Human Rights Campaign launched the first-ever advertising and landmark education campaign on transgender issues with an ad in the Nov. 3 issue of Roll Call, the leading publication for congressional news, and a new handbook designed to educate Americans about transgender equality. Produced in partnership with the National Center for Transgender Equality, the ad is first in a series focusing on the stories of hard-working Americans who have been discriminated against in the workplace because of who they are. “The more Americans know and understand each other, the more united we are as a nation,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Our new education campaign underscores that employees, many of whom provide vital national security positions, are being denied the opportunity to do their jobs purely because of who they are. Most Americans want a federal law to end discrimination, but no law exists. We’re working on Capitol Hill and across the country to build support for that law—a law we unequivocally support.” “These moving ads put this issue in front of Congress in a big way,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “Coupled with the education that many of us have been doing for years, these ads will go a long way toward building the support we need to pass a transgender-inclusive non-
discrimination law. This isn’t the beginning and it won’t be the end, but it’s a big chapter toward getting this done.” HRC’s new publication Transgender Americans: A Handbook for Understanding will be distributed to every member of Congress this week. The handbook addresses many of the challenges facing transgender Americans without legal protections, including employment discrimination, health care issues, identity document obstacles and school issues, and was produced in collaboration with supporting partners NCTE and the Transgender Law & Policy Institute. “I’m so proud to be a part of this campaign,” said Diane Schroer, a 25-year Army Special Forces officer who was offered but then denied a counter-terrorism job when she told her future employers she was transgender. Schroer’s story is featured in the Nov. 3 Roll Call ad. “I had the same skills in counter-terrorism the day they denied me the job that I did the day they offered it. When it comes to keeping Americans safe, discrimination can’t be a part of the equation.” A new area of HRC’s website features the ads, the handbook and more information. Another Roll Call ad will run Nov. 10. NCTE today also released a new publication entitled “Make Your Voice Heard: A Transgender Guide to Educating Congress.” This publication is available for free download at HRC’s website, hrc.org.
Principal Acquitted of ‘Crimes Against Nature,’ Molestation Charges having the accuser make a “slime call” to Jensen, lying that he had a semen sample on one of his shirts. “In a tape with (the alleged victim), isn’t it true you said ‘we can use any trickery or deceit or anything we want, we can lie about having videotapes, DNA or all that kind of stuff?’” Peterson asked in cross examination. “You lied to Jensen when (the accuser) phoned him saying he had a sample of semen on his shirt. “It was a trick, you didn’t have any. You heard him lie to Jensen on that ‘slime call,’ and Jensen never incriminated himself, did he? None of your trickery and deceit worked, did it?” “No, it didn’t,” Coon responded. Jensen offered to submit to a DNA test. “But you had nothing to compare it to,” Peterson said. Coon agreed. Idaho’s “infamous crimes against nature” statute had been repealed in 1971 when the state legislature passed a modernization of their criminal code. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Church caused a panic with some lawmakers, who immediately called an emergency session of the legislature that repealed the entire modernized criminal code in toto. The statute designates sodomy a felony requiring a minimum five-year prison sentence and stipulates that “any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime against nature.” Legal experts believe that all sodomy laws were declared unconstitutional after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that sodomy laws violate the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. —MA
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 3
Sandpoint, Idaho—A Bonner County, Idaho jury cleared the principal of ALACCA Christian Academy of allegations he molested a former student. Sigard Allen Jensen had been accused of engaging in lewd acts with a minor and committing “infamous crimes against nature,” Idaho’s sodomy law that remains on the books though legal experts believe it to be unconstitutional under Lawrence v. Texas. The charges were serious enough that, if convicted, Jensen could have spent the rest of his life in prison. Jensen, 60, was accused of molesting a teen from 1999 to 2002, when the boy was between the ages of 13 and 17. The alleged abuse happened when Jensen was a principal and the teen was a student at Southside Christian School and allegedly continued after the school closed and both transferred to ALACCA Christian Academy in Sandpoint. Jensen had denied the allegations since the day they emerged. Defense co-counsels Clark Peterson and Gary Amendola brought a multitude of witnesses to testify and argued that Jensen was arrested without an investigation. “Sig Jensen was arrested and you will hear that this is a case of arrest and then investigation,” Peterson said in an opening statement, but then abruptly paused. “Actually,” he continued, “the facts will show something worse: This is a case of arrest and then no investigation.” Defense hammered on Sandpoint Police Detective Corey Coon, who admitted he never visited the school where the alleged assaults took place nor interviewed students or faculty. Coon further admitted
Larabee Looks to Pride 2006 Center executive director wants to build on the successes and fix the problems of Utah Pride 2005 by JoSelle Vanderhooft joselle@slmetro.com
LOCAL AND REGIONAL
Salt Lake Domestic Partner Benefits Sign Up Begins, Awaits Court Ruling by JoSelle Vanderhooft joselle@slmetro.com
This month Salt Lake City employees with domestic partners may start signing up for the city’s health benefits programs, despite an impending court case questioning the legality of such benefits. The city’s Human Resources Department issued an e-mail to employees on Nov. 1 telling them they had 30 days to enroll their domestic partners and children for “medical, dental, life, [accidental death and disability], and long term care coverage” benefits. Currently, the enrollment is contingent pending a Third District Court judge’s ruling on whether or not a state law banning gay marriage will prevent the benefits from being issued. The city’s insurance provider, Public Employees Health Program (PEHP) brought the case to court Sept. 27, six days after Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson’s executive order granting employees’ domestic partners—gay and straight—access to health care benefits.
Department employees said they wanted to be prepared for a ruling in favor of the benefits, and will hold but not process the forms “until the Third District Court rules that such benefits can be provided by the city.” “We wanted to go forward and be ready to go if this works out,” said Brenda Hancock, director of Human Resources. The e-mail also informed employees that domestic partners can currently sign up for a list of other benefits. The City’s contracts with Hyatt Legal, Comprehensive Psychological Services and MetLife Group Home & Auto have been amended to let domestic partners buy into legal and psychological services, as well as discounted home and auto insurance. Based on estimates from other cities with similar domestic partner benefits programs, Hancock said the city anticipates that about 30, or 1% of its employees will turn in forms. “We don’t anticipate a lot of people signing up,” she said.
Poinsettias Benefit People With AIDS Coalition of Utah
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SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
Order your Christmas flowers from the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah for their annual poinsettia fundraiser. Plants are $10 per plant or $75 for eight. Each plant averages five blooms, is between 15 and 19 inches tall and 15 inches wide in a red satin-covered six-inch pot. The plants are shipped directly from the growers on your choice of one of seven days between Nov. 23 and Dec. 16. Volunteers are also needed to help distribute the flowers. To order, volunteer or for more details, call 484-2205 or go to pwacu.org
It’s only been five months since Pride 2005 closed its gates and packed up its booths, tents, sound stages and beer wagons, but GLBT Community Center Executive Director Valerie Larabee’s already got next summer on her mind. “I always dream big,” she laughs as she ticks off some of her plans for next year’s event. Along with wanting to create some events for “older community members” and adding activities to complement the booths, dancing and beer drinking, Center Executive Director she’s also interested in Valerie Larabee getting more people to join the Pride Run. “It’s something that we feel like is an event that is undersold and really could be maximized,” she says. “We had the best participation this year that we’ve ever had, yet there were still probably only a hundred runners. I know in the gay community alone that we have so many runners, and with our friends and allies added on, it would be a nice thing to get that event up to speed.” And then, of course, there’s the grand marshal. “I have a hope to bring in somebody wonderful to be the grand marshal, a nationally known person.” When discussing Salt Lake Pride, Larabee’s ambitions can be summed up in four words: “I always dream big.” But in order for her dreams for Pride 2006 to be both big and manageable, Larabee knows she has to examine the strengths and the shortcomings of this year’s event, which drew almost 15,000 people—the first accurate count the Festival has ever been able to make, according to Larabee. The Center was able to determine these numbers by relying on one of the most controversial element’s of this year’s festivities—the five dollar admission ticket. “We were a little on edge because it was the first year that we charged an admission,” she says. “We didn’t know how the logistics of all that were going to work and we didn’t know if it was going to impact our attendance. In years past there was never any definitive number of how many people had attended. There were always these gestures of well, ‘yes it was the most successful pride ever! We must have had 40,000!’ ‘Oh no we had 50,000 easy!’ Well now we know. In all of my years of going to pride—I’ve been here since ’97—it was the most people I’ve ever seen on the grounds.” Though Pride’s organizers were apprehensive about how the ticket price might impact turn out, Larabee says she only received “one or two phone calls or emails” complaining about the fee, which lead her to think that most in the community were alright with the charge. “I think that it’s important for people to know that Pride can’t be a money loser for the Center, it just can’t be,” she said.
Though this year’s festival “didn’t set any records” as far as the amount of money made, it still ended well in the black, netting the center about $13,000 with a gross revenue of $183,000. Of this last amount, two-thirds went to Pride’s community partners like sWerve, the Bear Alliance, Utah AIDS Foundation and the First Unitarian Church—organizations whose contributions of time and resources are crucial to Pride’s yearly operations. “There’s a contract we have with them [our partners] where they get paid based on a formula, and a large part of the formula depends on how many volunteer hours their organization has during the event,” Larabee explains. “So it’s a win-win for the community. The better we are at making money with the event the more the whole community benefits from it.” Still, Larabee says Pride 2005 hit some snags that need to be worked out for next year—namely bottlenecks created by crowds leaving the parade route to enter the festival grounds and the amount of time people spent waiting in lines, particularly at the beer garden. And of course, there’s the coordination of the Pride Festival’s more than 300 volunteers. This year, Larabee hopes to further improve communications and “lines of reporting” among them. She hopes to do this by adding a Pride Coordinator to the Center’s staff for a few months this coming year. The coordinator, Jere Keys, will eventually have office hours at the Center itself. “That was something we didn’t have last year and that made things very difficult to manage, so I’m really happy about that,” says Larabee. Though Larabee and all of the Center’s employees have several months’ work cut out for them on the long road to Pride 2006, she says the annual festival is worth the hard work. “The fact that we have such a wonderfully big pride event here in this Red State is something to be really proud of,” she says. “As a matter of fact I’ve heard so many people say they’ve gone to pride in other cities and they don’t get the feeling that they get from our Pride. I don’t know if it’s the beautiful buildings with the trees and all the grandeur of the library, but I think it’s probably some of that. But I think our community is very close knit also, so that makes it fun.”
Not Your Father’s ROTC If you can toss a triple, do a butterfly silk or want to learn how, you are being sought to help form the Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps (ROTC) of Salt Lake City. The group will perform during the annual Pride parade and other local and statewide events and as a social organization involved in the twirling/pageantry forum with rifles and flags. Their performance will consist of a precision, militarystyle warm-up routine and traditional routines to dance or disco music. If interested, contact Logan Brueck or Kay Christensen at rotcslc@yahoo.com
Writer to Start Utah Chapter of National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association by Kim Burgess kim@slmetro.com
Conventions and karaoke. Those are just two of the activities you might find at Utah’s new chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Though chapter organizer and Salt Lake Metro writer JoSelle Vanderhooft would not commit to having karaoke at the chapter meetings, she held out the possibility. “I would say maybe even karaoke,” she said when discussing socializing options. It is clear that Vanderhooft wants Utah’s NLGJA chapter to provide plenty of networking opportunities. She intends to hold monthly meetings at The Center and eventually bring in guest speakers and possibly host a convention tentatively titled “Out in the Desert.” This kind of engagement with other journalists would increase Utah’s visibility as a progressive city with a strong queer community, Vanderhooft said. “We’re an isolated mountain state. A lot of people haven’t been here. They only know about Utah when a national story hits like child brides. They don’t see the better stories. We’re a more diverse city than we’re credited for. It’s not as provincial as people think.” A Utah chapter of NLGJA would also be able to protest biased coverage of queer issues, such as KSL Channel 5’s May 11 story titled “The Secret Side of the Playground,” which implied that queer men are a threat to children in park bathrooms. The NLGJA’s Rapid Response Task force provides a means to address this type of reporting.
According to the NLGJA website, “since its inception, the Rapid Response Task Force has not only informed countless newsrooms about appropriate terminology and the appearance of bias, but has also used these contacts to spread awareness about issues facing the LGBT community.” Other NLGJA programs include scholarships, mentoring, student outreach, a journalism award and national convention. The organization was founded in 1990 and has 1,300 members in 24 chapters across the country. NLGJA Membership fees are $20 for students, $35 for journalists who work in queer media, $55 for journalists in other types of media and $55 for non-media individuals who support NLGJA’s goals. Currently, Vanderhooft is NLGJA’s only member in Utah. In the past year, she joined the Las Vegas chapter, choosing it over Colorado because the drive is faster. She hopes to inspire at least eight others to join, the minimum number needed to start a chapter. Once a chapter is officially formed, elections will be held for president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Vanderhooft is a natural for an officer spot. After graduating from the University of Utah in 2004 with degrees in English and theater, she became one of the Salt Lake Metro’s first writers. She also contributes to Q Vegas, The Salt Lake Tribune, Green Man, and Pedestal Magazine. For more information on NLGJA, contact JoSelle Vanderhooft at joselle@slmetro.com or visit nlgja.org.
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NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 5
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Gay Straight Alliance Fall Summit to be Held at The Center By Darren Tucker darren@slmetro.com
LOCAL
Southern Utah Plans Eleventh AIDS Walk One Mile ‘Fun-Walk’ to raise funds for HIV/AIDS Task Force St. George, Utah—The HIV/AIDS Task Force of Washington County is holding the eleventh annual AIDS Awareness Walk Saturday, Nov. 12. The walk will start at the Coyote Gulch Art Village parking lot in Kayenta. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m., hot beverages and a muffin will be provided by Xetava Gardens. At 8:40 a.m. there will be brief announcements from walk organizers. Walkers will start at 9:00 a.m. and wind their way through a one-mile route through the neighborhood. Free HIV testing will be offered at 10 a.m. This testing will be done using the new rapid testing method approved by the Utah Department of Health. Test results can be read in about twenty minutes. The one mile fun-walk will go through the beautiful residential area in Kayenta and back to the parking lot where there will be fruit and water from local supporters and the display of the Southern Utah AIDS Quilt. The registration fee for walkers is $5. The first 50 walkers to register at the event will receive a 2005 AIDS Awareness Walk T-shirt
and a coupon for the hot drink and muffin at Xetava Gardens. Walkers are encouraged to ask friends, family members and co-workers to walk with them or to support their walk with a donation to the HIV/AIDS Task Force of Washington County. The Task Force is also seeking volunteers to help at the walk and donations from local businesses for participant prize drawings. For more information on walk participation, volunteer opportunities or donations, call Ruthann Adams at the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, 435-986-2589. The Task Force is a group dedicated to educating the community about HIV and how to prevent it. They say HIV infections are rising steadily in Washington County, especially in young people ages 15 to 24, and those who engage in high-risk sexual practices and/or drug related behavior. Over 40 percent of the new HIV infections in Utah are drug related. Washington County has the second highest infection rate of counties in Utah.
Thirteen Utah high schools have them. Students at most others want them. But with administrators, teachers, parents and even the press breathing down their necks, starting a Gay-Straight Alliance can seem like an impossible task. That’s the idea behind the “GSA Fall Summit,” scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Utah. “If you’ve ever wanted one, this is the place to be,” said Stan Burnett, Director of Youth Programs at the center. “If you already have one and you want to share your own issues, ideas and stories, this is the place to be as well.” Burnett said the summit has two objectives. The first one is to bring everyone together to get to know each other and offer support. “The second one is to deal with real-life issues and questions, like ‘what kind of activities can we do every week?’ and ‘how do we deal with administrators?’” Burnett said. The summit is planned from 11:00 until 3:00, with a movie to follow. The first part of the day will be devoted to getting to know each other and defining issues the group wants to take on. Then attendees will divide into groups to brainstorm ideas and solutions to the common problems they all face. Then another group session will hopefully lead to some
concrete ideas for making these unique school clubs better. Burnett said the idea for a GSA Summit not a new one. But he feels continued support of the clubs is important, especially since the organizers and officers of each club often graduate every year. “I try to keep touch with all the clubs,” he said. “But it really depends on who’s in charge, how long they have been there and how involved they want to be.” Burnett said he has an e-mail list and keeps in touch with many students—both members of clubs and non-members—on a regular basis. He said that’s how he has publicized events in the past, and it’s how he plans to draw students to this summit. He said students have to do all the work to set up a GSA themselves. That includes dealing with administrations, getting advisors and making sure their club follows whatever guidelines the school and district have enacted. But he said once a student approaches him for help he does everything he can to help make their GSA a success. “With the events at Provo High being so widely in the news, there’s a lot of interest right now,” he said. “We hope we’ll have 35 or 40 students at the summit who are interested in GSAs at their schools.” Students who want to attend the summit can contact Mark Burnett at the center at (801) 539-8800, ext. 14 or with e-mail at stan@glbtccu.org.
Queer College Fair at The Center by Kim Burgess
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SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
kim@slmetro.com
In an effort to help queer youth achieve their career goals, the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Utah hosted a college fair Oct. 29. The University of Utah, Weber State University, Salt Lake Community College and Westminster College recruiters each offered a short presentation about their school’s atmosphere, majors and resources for queer students. Financial aid and scholarships information was also presented from UtahMentor.org. The idea for the fair came about through discussions between Center youth director Stan Burnett, University of Utah LGBT Resource Center program coordinator Charles Milne, and Univ. of Utah admissions counselor and diversity programs coordinator Kellie Foreman. Plans are in the works to hold a second, larger fair in April, which will also include Utah State University, Utah Valley State College and Job Corps. That fair will also broaden to target anyone interested in college and career information, including adults who have been out of school for years. The Center is considering holding two college fairs annually. Already the October fair appears to have made a difference. “One of the students said he sounded like he was at a Come to Jesus meeting,” Foreman said. “I thought, wow. That means this is the right time for him. That means that his mind was open to receive this information.”
Burnett felt that an important part of the fair was creating a comfortable atmosphere for queer kids. “The students know that no question around GLBT issues will go unanswered,” he said. “It’s a good thing for queer youth to spend time in an environment that is accepting and to see that there are adults who want to help them succeed.” In addition, the college recruiters were able to make connections with queer youth. Many college recruiters are planning on becoming high school counselors, Foreman said, and the fair provided a means to begin a dialog with queer youth. Foreman feels that this dialog could help queer teens receive more support in high school. “In the schools, it’s very difficult for students who are being harassed as queer to take it to their counselors and get the help they need.They can’t address sexual orientation.” As an out lesbian, Foreman is doing her part to increase the visibility of queers in higher education. She often wears Pride jewelry during recruitment trips to high schools; and at a recent visit to a Utah Valley high school, a girl approached her and asked about the jewelry, saying she wanted some. “It makes a difference,” Foreman said. “Since I’ve been at the school [University of Utah], I’ve had a lot of people say that there is a lesbian in this office who can help you. That’s happened a lot.” To receive information on college planning, call the University of Utah recruitment office at 581-8761 or 1-800-685-8856.
Provo High Student Sells Anti-Gay T-Shirts on Campus
Stonewall Demos Appoint New Vice Chair, Board
Provo—A Provo High School student sold “about a hundred” t-shirts reading “God Made Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve,” according to one Gay/Straight Alliance club member. The student also claims that the club’s advisor, teacher Mary Theodosis, has received threats because of her role. Provo High principal Sam Ray told Salt Lake Metro that “kids on both sides of the issue Pro-gay message: “God Made are exercising their Adam and Steve, Too.” first amendment rights” by doing such things as wearing t-shirts. He said, however, that he feels all students at the school are safe. “Kids feel safe here,” Ray said. “I’ve talked to those in the group and they say they’re fine. I hope they would tell me if that weren’t truly the case.” In response to the shirts, Salt Lake Metro and lesbian-owned The Purple Rhino offered shirts with a counter message: “God Made Adam and Steve, Too.” The Provo Board of Education met Tuesday, Nov. 8 to discuss new policies governing student clubs. The meeting happened after Salt Lake Metro went to press.—MA
Utah Stonewall Democrats has elected Adam Bass to replace Chris Johnson as vice chair of the organization. Johnson resigned from the position last month after being appointed to the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission. Bass, who has remained active in the organization and is a former member of the Riverton City Council, had run for the seat at the Utah State Democratic Convention in May, but lost to Johnson in a contentious caucus. The organization also filled two other vacancies in its Nov. 6 monthly meeting. Katie Holland, director of new business at a public relations firm and wife of Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland, and JoNell Evans, human resource director and coordinator of training for TURN Community Services, were elected to one- and two-year terms, respectively. “I am very excited about the future of Utah Stonewall Democrats with our current board. The diverse perspective and experiences of our board, the diversity of our ages, family situations, economic standing, gender, sexual orientation, and life experiences will allow us to approach the progress of LGBT equality and Democratic principles with vision and understanding. We’ve got a great team assembled, and are hard at work fighting for progress and equality,” said Chairman Mike Picardi. —MA
Salt Lake Named an Emerging Hub for Creative Talent by Michael Aaron michael@slmetro.com
GAY AND LESBIAN ATLAS’ GAY INDEX FOR FASTCOMPANY MAGAZINE’S ‘FAST CITIES’ (NATIONAL AVERAGE 100) CITY
STATE
Portland Sacramento Salt Lake City San Diego Madison Phoenix Tucson Raleigh San Antonio Colorado Springs
Ore. Calif. Utah Calif. Wisc. Ariz. Ariz. NC Tex. Colo.
GAY INDEX GAY MEN LESBIANS
239 196 193 186 183 159 131 106 100 78
209 192 216 226 133 178 118 120 91 63
270 200 169 144 233 140 144 92 109 93
SOURCE: THE GAY AND LESBIAN ATLAS, GARY GATES
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 7
FastCompany Magazine included Salt Lake City in their recently-released list of ten “Fast Cities,” emerging hubs for creative talent. The magazine teamed with Carnegie Mellon University and Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class and his new book, The Flight of the Creative Class, to compile the list. Florida asserts that the creative class, composed of professionals like doctors, artists and entrepreneurs, is the “crucial wellspring of economic growth.” Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson often touts Florida’s writings when speaking of gay and lesbian rights and the need for diversity in the city. Anderson held diversity as “necessary for a healthy, sustainable community” in a June 16 speech to the Downtown Merchants Association and quoted from Florida’s book, “Every aspect and every manifestation of creativity— technological, cultural and economic—is interlinked and inseparable.” Anderson quoted Florida’s book again at the Equality Utah dinner in September, noting that cities that “enjoy the greatest economic sustainability are those that are welcoming and hospitable to all people—people of all faiths, all races, different sexual orientations and all economic situations.” Salt Lake City’s listing, however, came with a caveat: “Florida’s ‘Gay Index,’ which measures an area’s gay population as an indicator of its tolerance—and therefore the talent it attracts—ranks SLC second lowest
of our 10 cities.” This comment is at odds with research done by Urban Institute demographer Gary Gates and researcher Jason Ost using 2000 census data which put Salt Lake City in the top six percent of cities where gay and lesbian couples were likely to live. Gates used 2000 census data that, for the first time, gave same-sex couples the ability to define their living relationship as an “unmarried couple.” According to Gates’ book, The Gay and Lesbian Atlas, Salt Lake City has a gay index of 193, 93 percent higher than the national average. Of gay men, Salt Lake had a rating of 216, 116 percent higher than the national average. Of the cities listed in the FastCompany article, Salt Lake would rank third highest. Colorado Springs, home of the radical right group Focus on the Family, ranked lowest with a Gay Index of 78, 22 percent lower than the national average.
From the Editor Choose Something Like a Star
Executive Editor Michael Aaron Arts Editor Eric J. Tierney Proofreader Nicholas Rupp
by Michael Aaron
Contributing Kim Burgess Writers Vanessa Chang Jason Clark Benjamin Cohen Matthew Gerber Tony Hobday Beau Jarvis Laurie Mecham Ruby Ridge Eric Rofes David Samsel Joel Shoemaker Brendan Shumway Eric J. Tierney Darren Tucker JoSelle Vanderhooft Ben Williams
michael@slmetro.com
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SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
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352 S. Denver Street, Suite 350 Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 323-9500 Fax: (801) 323-9986 President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer:
Michael Aaron Steven Peterson Steve Whittaker Larry Tanner
Our View New Strategies for a Hate Crime Law The news coming out from a consortium of groups seeking to advance another hate crime bill in the Utah legislature early next year is that a new bill will be drafted that doesn’t include “The List.” “The List” is widely recognized as why past bills haven’t been able to get the stamp of approval from the legislature to replace our 13-year-old unenforceable law. “The List” is the delineation of what groups are most commonly targeted in hate crimes: “race, color, disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age and gender.” Perhaps most importantly, “The Words” are the greatest stumbling block. “The Words” “sexual orientation” appear nowhere in the Utah Code or Constitution. Passing a hate crime law with “The Words” would forever codify gay and lesbian people as a protected class. Over Gayle’s dead body. To their credit, even though some people from groups in “The List” have advocated for the removal of “The Words” in order to get a bill passed, it has never yet been done. We think that those with the eye on the real prize—equal rights for everyone—recognize that if anyone in this country is not free then none of us are free. But now, this year’s perennial bill has a new slant. One which, at first blush, sounds quite like what we currently have; quite like what the Georgia Supreme Court held as unconstitutionally vague in its own version. While we reserve judgment on the bill since it has yet to be drafted, we do feel the
need to respond to the political balloon that has been launched. Should this bill be a rewrite of our existing law that will be as unenforceable as it is today, then don’t waste our time and energy. We must learn from the failings of Utah’s and Georgia’s laws. We must write legislation that gives prosecutors a tool that can be used against those who single out their victims because they are black, or Jewish, or gay, or Mormon, because all blacks and Jews and gays and Mormons are attacked when that happens. We must also learn from the failings of nine previous attempts to pass hate crime bills through this legislature. The old way doesn’t work. Find a new one. Sending out last-minute pleas to fill the chambers during debates doesn’t work. Calling and sending emails to legislators who don’t represent you doesn’t work. In fact, these tactics only further polarize the issue. The loss of Salt Lake County Councilman Mark Crockett’s vote on domestic partner benefits should be a learning experience for us. After receiving an email from an out-ofstater thanking him for extending benefits to gay couples and “bringing us one step closer to equal marriage rights,” he was spooked to the other side. A pivotal swing vote lost to a well-intended but bad strategy. We live in a different world than we did 13 years ago. We must learn how to succeed in this new world or lose everything we have gained.
It is no wonder that Frostiana is considered one of the greatest choral pieces ever written. Like all good poetry, it touches you in personal ways and, like all good choral songs; it wrenches emotion from the deepest part of your soul. I sing with the Salt Lake Men’s Choir, whose fall concert this year was Frostiana—the poetry of “America’s Poet” Robert Frost set to choral music by “America’s Choral Composer” Randall Thompson. The seven songs are masterful with their word painting and movement from light to very dark, from anguish and desperation to a resolved hope. And we sounded fabulous, sharing the stage with the Utah State University Women’s Choir. I was never very good at finding the underlying meanings of poems. AP English was, therefore, the bane of my senior year in high school. I just couldn’t read a poem about a necklace around a mariner’s neck and understand it to be a representation of Christ on the cross. Just give it to me straight out, dammit. But, the final sentence of “Choose Something Like a Star,” the final song, rings so true to me and gives such hope that each time we sang it, my eyes brimmed and the last few words were often difficult to utter. I would call it an updated version, similar in emotion and meaning, of the song “We Shall Overcome,” sung at nearly every civil rights march and protest. We know that, eventually, we will win. We must—we are on the right side. It’s just going to take some time to get everyone to recognize that. When I entered gay political activism in the eighties, it may have been easier to believe the words of “We Shall Overcome,” because we knew we would. “Not in my lifetime, but maybe the next generation,” we would say. Fast forward to today, when our rights were thrust into the spotlight like no time before; when images of gay men and lesbians around the country getting married flashed across the television sets in every American’s living room. And the radical right responded with more vigor and venom. So when at times the mob is swayed To carry praise or blame too far, We may choose something like a star To stay our minds on and be staid. Americans today are responding to the rhetoric of the radical right, making it look like we are losing ground in our struggle for equal civil rights. Americans are also quick to slap the “unpatriotic” label to those who question the war in Iraq. The radical right succeeded at thwarting the appointment of someone who could very well have been a moderate voice on the Supreme Court. The mob is swayed. But the goals of social justice and peace have never moved. We must continue to look to them ... to stay our minds and be staid.
Letters
Salt Lake Metro welcomes letters from our readers. Please email letters@slmetro.com or fax 801-323-9986. We reserve the right to edit for length, suitability and libel.
A Ten Year Assessment
Editor, Inveracity, bad taste, humorlessness and retractability aside, are your readers being told that I tolerate or welcome “random, unrelated and tragic crimes” [“Guest Editorial: Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned at Salt Lake Metro,” Salt Lake Metro, Oct. 27] because I’m thought to comment about them?!? Your ex-editor should brace himself, then. There’s a world outside his Yonkers where people speak out about events that they abhor and suggest ways to make things better. If I suggest after a crime how we might avoid others like it by defending ourselves, it’s nothing other than good advice and science about how we shouldn’t let our “conscience ... make cowards of us all.” When I ranked second on his personal list of 10 otherwise-pessimistic vagaries, I wondered how life in Utah could be if he and our so-called leaders were equally and identifiably vigilant about speaking out for the protection of ALL our constitutional rights as I seem to him to be about the one he would ignore: the Second Amendment. So, make me obsolete; speak louder, dance faster, shake more hands, act up more often and beat me to the punch, but until someone else here defends more than the vogue constitutional rights, I suspect I’ll be busy doing, once again, what hasn’t yet been considered acceptably polite behavior. After almost 26 years of doing so, I’ve become familiar with the loud minority of negative short-term opinions about my work. That’s okay. Out firearm advocates will likely soon be considered as nonchalantly as my work in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s was to help empower out children, out Mormons, out Boy Scouts, out teenagers, out Utahns, out students, out voters, out marchers, out protesters, out public speakers, out commentators, out lobbyists, out partnered couples, out writers, out filmmakers, out Democrats, out campaign workers, out candidates, out contributors, out public officials, out lawmakers, out hate-crime fighters, out employees, out wine lovers and out people with disabilities once did. Imagine it: There were those who complained every inch of the way with those accomplishments, too. Your ex-editor is just and only the most recent of many, many cranks who considered me more a target than an arrow, and eventually—reluctantly—admitted to me that they were wrong, that I was right and that I knew what the hell I was doing all along. But, like a broken record, it gets extremely old and unoriginal to hear from those with more enthusiasm than experience, or those unlikely to last three activist years let alone almost three activist decades. Wanna complain about something meaningful? Check out how our out history was irretrievably decimated a few years ago when most of our multigenerational gay archives— including the complete, original seven-year internal documentation of Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats—were thrown in the trash by one or more community-center staffers because it was taking up too much space. That’s something to care about. I do.
Ten years ago, the LDS Church issued a document known as the Proclamation on the Family. In the most recent general conference, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve gave us a painful reminder that the Proclamation continues to be used not to build up families, but to attack and condemn families that do not conform to the model currently embraced by the LDS Church. Specifically, Elder Ballard condemned the “sabotaging” of families and lamented, “In the name of ‘tolerance,’ the definition of family has been expanded beyond recognition to the point that ‘family’ can be any individuals of any gender who live together with or without commitment or children or attention to consequence.” Furthermore, by comparing the Proclamation on the Family to Moroni’s “Title of Liberty,” Elder Ballard suggested that the LDS Church is waging war against gay and lesbian families all over the world. Ten years ago, the LDS Church didn’t need a proclamation to protect the family. The teachings of Church leaders had already established the central role of the family in society and in God’s plan. However, LDS leaders did need a proclamation to justify the aggressive political campaign they were carrying out against same-sex families. The Proclamation on the Family also provided the foundation for some of the most offensive statements Church leaders have ever made against gays and lesbians. For example, during a Christmas 2003 devotional, President Hinckley reminded his audience that “the family is under attack” and added that “Sodom and Gomorrah, and the sinful practices observed therein, became examples of that which was evil and abominable in the sight of God.” In March 2004, Deseret Book President Sheri L. Dew publicly condemned a part-LDS gay family for marrying and adopting two twin infants; Dew also suggested a comparison between those who do nothing to oppose same-sex marriages and those who did nothing to oppose the rise of Hitler. Today Mormon families across the world are torn between the ideal of showing unconditional love to their gay children and the Church’s campaign against gay families and marriage equality. This campaign has produced pain, divided scores of families and increased the number of suicides among gay and lesbian Mormons. We find it tragically ironic that a Church that is ostensibly committed to protecting the family is also so aggressively engaged in attacking and condemning scores of gay and lesbian families who are faithful to each other and love their children. As gay and lesbian Mormons, we too grew up in LDS homes where we learned about the importance of the family. We do not wish to destroy anyone’s family. But we wish that LDS leaders would stop using the Proclamation on the Family to attempt to destroy ours.
David Nelson
Olin Thomas, Alyson Bolles, James Morris, and Hugo Salinas
Salt Lake City
Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons
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Make Me Obsolete
This Week In Lambda History NOVEMBER 1978 Open Door printed the classified ad “BYU Underground. Persons interested in meeting or Gays going to BYU.” The ad was written by Brigham Young University security forces to entrap gay students. 1956 Salt Lake City Police Chief W. Cleon Skousen held a preview of two motion pictures concerning child molestation by homosexuals. 1976 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints General Handbook of Instructions dropped “homosexual acts” and added “homosexuality” to its list of sins for which a person could be excommunicated from the church. 1995 Renee Rinnaldi, former member of Queer Nation, was hired as the first full time executive director of the Utah Stonewall Center. 1996 Cottonwood High School students applied to form a Gay/Straight Alliance club.
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1976 Sun Tavern owner Joe Redburn lost to Genevieve Atwood in a Utah House of Representatives race. 1989 David Sharpton, executive director of People With AIDS Coalition of Utah, spoke to 125 people attending an AIDS awareness seminar at St. Benedict’s Hospital in Ogden. 1990 Kevin Warren and Angela Nutt, co presidents of LGSU at Univ. of Utah, received anonymous threats of violence because of their attempt to get an antidiscrimination clause added to student bill of rights.
3 NOVEMBER 1975 Ken Storer is appointed director of Gay Community Service Center by board of trustees. 1976 Gay Student Union was placed on University of Utah’s Register by Committee on Student Affairs as an official university club. 1977 Theater 138 performs EQUUS with its male nudity intact, for three weeks. 1978 Tony Adams, a black gay Socialist, is stabbed to death in his Avenues home. His murder remains unsolved and was considered by Socialist Workers Party to have been an assassination. 1986 Univ. of Utah Lesbian and Gay Student Union elected Richard R. Hefner as president. Curtis Jensen and Daniel Humphrey were elected co-vice presidents. 1987 Salt Lake Chapter of Affirmation voted to disband after ten years and was replaced by a secular organization called Unconditional Support for Gays and Lesbians. Its first officers were Ben Williams, Randy Olsen and Ken Francis.
4 NOVEMBER 1996 Jackie Biskupski wins election at Utah’s first openly gay legislator. 1997 Kelli Peterson was awarded a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award from Playboy Foundation for her work with establishing the Gay/Straight Student Alliance at East High.
SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
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7 NOVEMBER 1976 “Women Aware!” was formed for purpose of organizing lesbians, women in transition, and feminists. 1981 Hattie Raddon opened Puss & Boots as a women’s bar at 996 S. Redwood Road. 1986 Rick Cochran stepped down as director of AIDS Project Utah due to health reasons and over a rift in the gay community over AIDS Awareness Week. APU Board of Trustees appointed Ben Barr as successor. 1988 Univ. of Utah’s Lesbian and Gay Student Union elected Joe Dewey and Garth Chamberlain as co Presidents. 1991 On the day NBA superstar Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV positive, 267 Utahns had already died of the disease. 1992 The Salt Lake Tribune featured an article on LDS women at risk from AIDS by their bisexual husbands.
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1988 :Chuck Thomas replaced David Malmstrom as director of Wasatch Affirmation. 1990 Bob Waldrop, former pastor of Salt Lake Metropolitan Community Church, was defeated as an openly gay candidate for State Senate District 1.
1977 LDS President Spencer Kimball said that Anita Bryant was “doing a great service” by leading an anti-gay rights movement. 1995 People With AIDS Coalition of Utah’s Awards Banquet was held. Peter Christie and Sheneka accepted Red Ribbon Award on behalf of Royal Court of Golden Spike Empire.
6 NOVEMBER 1977 An “Underground Gay Conscious” meeting of mostly LDS gay men was formed for those who “dare not be conspicuously gay as they might like.” 1983 Becky Moss joined KRCL’s Concerning Gays program as “Mickey” Moss, prompting change of the title of the show to Concerning Gays and Lesbians. 1985 Blue Mouse Theater premiered historic documentary film “Before Stonewall.” 1986 David Nelson encouraged the Salt Lake City Council to adopt a Human Rights Bill protecting rights of minority group members including gays.
1956 Asst. Police Chief L.R. Greeson said, “Many people seem to think there is no problem of the sex deviate in Salt Lake City. Frankly, I have run into more of a problem here than in any or city I have worked in.” 1977 Legendary female impersonator, Charles Pierce, performed at the Sun Tavern. 1987 Curtis Jensen took 15 delegates from the Desert and Mountain States Conference committee on a tour of Temple Square and signed visitor book as “Dissident Homosexuals.” They were asked to leave.
9 NOVEMBER 1978 BYU administrators tried to find anonymous author of the pro-gay Payne Papers (published in Prologue) to bring a lawsuit against him. 1997 24 percent of BYU students polled said they would avoid befriending a fellow student who was gay.
10 NOVEMBER 1962 Youth Protection Committee of Salt Lake City and County asked Utah’s legislature to tighten the state’s lewdness and obscenity statutes. 1985 Granite School Board of Education considered a district wide policy for students and employees with AIDS after the deaths of two children that been attributed to AIDS. 1988 The LDS Church donated an old ward house to the Red Cross on condition that they do not allow it to house the AIDS Coalition or Salt Lake AIDS Foundation. 1990 Liza Smart was named as one of 1990 Women of Courageous Action by Utah NOW for promoting diversity of culture, and working to end patriarchy. 1992 Salt Lake gay leaders, led by Michael Aaron, demanded that Mayor Deedee Corradini dismiss her new police chief Reuben Ortega or guarantee in writing that he will protect civil rights of homosexuals.
11 NOVEMBER 1975 A Consciousness Raising Group for women was held by Babs De Lay to discuss problems faced by gay people living in Utah. 1981 A man was stabbed behind the Sun Tavern. 1990 A Utah Chapter of Queer Nation is founded by Melanie Bailey, Curtis Jensen and Rocky O’Donavan.
12 NOVEMBER 1979 A gay coffeehouse is attempted by Lesbian and Gay Student Union at the Univ. of Utah to provide a spot light for gay entertainers.
13 NOVEMBER 1965 BYU President Ernest Wilkinson stated “BYU does not intend to admit to our campus any homosexuals. We do not want …to be contaminated with your presence. “ 1990 Jerry Campbell was murdered at his home at 819 E. 800 South. Former Chair of GLCCU, Jim Hunsaker was the dispatcher who took the call on his murder. 1998 Wasatch Mountain Bears hosted Bear Invasion ’98 Weekend.
14 NOVEMBER 1978 The Values Institute was created at BYU in response to the “Payne Papers” with one of its goals being to support academic and scientific research that would vindicate LDS Church’s anti-homosexual position. 1991 The LDS First Presidency sent out a letter entitled “Standards of Morality and Fidelity” which claimed, “A correct understanding of divinely-appointed roles of men and women will fortify all against sinful practices such as ‘homosexual and lesbian behavior.’” 1996 Utah NOW’s 1996 Women of Courageous Action Awards were presented to Camille Lee and the East High Gay/Straight Alliance.
15 NOVEMBER 1980 The Salt Lake Chapter of Affirmation hosted the Affirmation National Conference weekend in Utah.
1986 The Salt Lake Tribune printed a lengthy article on gay persecution at BYU saying, “In spite of slight improvements, persecution of homosexuals continued to haunt many gay students attending BYU.” 1992 Royal Court of Golden Spike Empire Emperor XVII Jeff Freedman established the Barony of Northern Utah by proclamation. He named Channel 9½ as Baron 1 and Connie Lingus as Baroness 1. 1994 The Weber State University Director of Student Advisement was sentenced to 1 to 15 years for a sexually-motivated kidnapping of a non-gay Ogden man. His sentence was eight years longer than one received by a non-gay man who killed a gay man in Park City. 1998 The sixth annual Barony Ball “Sapphire Illusions and Magic” was held in Ogden by the Barony of Northern Utah. Connie Lingus was crowned Baroness VI.
Ruby Ridge Living have found it on sale! But wait, Pumpkins, the whole situation gets weirder than cowboy poetry. The Health Summit people had set up information exchange tables for brochures and postby Ruby Ridge ers that were packed with STD, meth, safe ruby@slmetro.com sex, and all sorts of other gay-specific info. Cherubs, pull up a Problem was, the tables were placed exactly chair and grab some midpoint between the military ball and the bonbons; I’ve got restrooms, so they couldn’t be avoided. The some dirt to dish. muffy’s were AGHAST! Although, to be fair, Remember the National Gay Men’s Health is anyone ever truly prepared for a brochure Summit held at the Hilton a few weeks on how to wash your sex toys? I know I back? Well, yes, it was lovely, my mind was cringed … but I digress. expanded, lives were changed, yada, yada, Part of me was laughing at the absurdity yada. But let me tell you the strangest thing of the situation, but another part of me that happened on Saturday night that was was more introspective. A few weeks ago just bizarro. By a freak accident of appallin my church bulletin, a former military ing scheduling, the Sisters of Perpetual officer who was stationed in Utah until his Indulgence (you know, those rabble-rousretirement, wrote to our congregation. He ing drag nuns from San Francisco) were finally came out of the closet and told us holding a workshop right that he had settled down down the hall from the with a wonderful partner. University of Utah Marine He explained that until Corps Reserves Ball. Oh I haven’t seen such he retired and moved my God, kittens, it was out of state, he was too a hysterical oil and priceless. I haven’t seen afraid of losing his job, water mix-up with such a hysterical oil and his career (and trust me it the potential for water mix-up with the was a long, distinguished potential for violence violence since the one) and his retirement since the PETA booth was benefits by coming out PETA booth was accidentally placed next and living life above the accidentally placed to the Gay Rodeo Associaradar. Petals, my heart tion booth at Utah Pride. I next to the Gay just aches thinking that almost peed myself I was there are thousands of Rodeo Association laughing so hard. and women like him booth at Utah Pride. men The baby jarheads living isolated closjust looked so adorable eted lives in the military. in their uniforms. They Imagine the pressure, reminded me of those living in constant fear of slipping up just cute Anne Geddes calendars with the once and accidentally revealing your true chubby-cheeked babies in pea pods and self and losing everything that you have flowerpots and animal costumes. Anyway, ever worked for. Then add the stress of the guys were so desperately trying to be all being in combat and it’s amazing gay men butch and grown up, but it was their dates and women still choose to serve at all. But that had me mesmerized like a deer in honorably serve they do in every branch headlights. Most of the girls were wearing of the armed services. The sad irony is that modest gowns (OK, there were a few really the Marine Corp Reserves strutting around hootchie dresses, but I think that’s because the Hilton telling fag jokes are probably there was some serious water retention godestined to become officers with the lives ing on that caused some collateral boobie of hundreds of soldiers and countless civilmooshing—either that or Jenny Craig has ians in their immature hands. Yikes—that’s officially been declared missing in acalmost as scary as a bearded nun with a sex tion), but the problem was none of these toy that smells like dishwashing liquid! girls could walk in heels on carpet. What a Ruby Ridge is one of the more opinionated bunch of amateurs! If only they knew that across the hall there were at least 30 experi- members of the Utah Cyber Sluts, a camp drag group of performers who raise funds and supenced men that could teach them to walk, port local charities. Her opinions are her own turn, pivot and dip in those heels like a pro. and fluctuate wildly due to irritability and At least 25 of those men could have shown watching a certain local Republican politician them where to find a stunning clutch purse complain about other peoples’ ethics while he to go with their outfit, and 15 of them could owns a check cashing business.
Semper Fey
AberRant Job Hunt by Laurie Mecham, laurie@slmetro.com
I am still looking for a job, so every Sunday I go through the classifieds in The Oregonian. I am told that such a strategy is one of the ways to find a job—correction, to get hired for a job, which is actually the end goal. Well, early and wealthy retirement is the real end goal, unless your personal goal is 60 or 70 virgins in heaven, but you know what I mean. In the local paper, jobs are listed two ways. First, there is a long catalogue of jobs, “Employment, General,” where job announcements are arranged in alphabetical order. Then, there are sections for job categories, such as “Computer, High Technology,” which makes it easy for the job seeker to skip pages at a time. God, I love knowing exactly what my qualifications are not! “Finance and Insurance,” I ignore you! I do this just as particularly as you would ignore me, were I so foolish as to apply for a job in one of your fields. I turn my nose up at “Health Care, Social Services,” for I know that although these are worthy professions, they are only available to MDs and related highly-paid professionals, as well as to RNs, MSWs, and other such poorly-paid-buthighly-skilled professionals. I always pause, hopefully, at “Hospitality, Food, Entertainment,” because of that childhood fantasy of becoming the next Lily Tomlin. In practice, however, I end up skipping this section because the only entertainers wanted must be uninhibited, young, firm, female, and limber. I am only two of these. The one you might not have guessed is “uninhibited,” or, come to think of it, “female,” and yes, I would like you to shut up now. I always begin my search in “Employment, General.” It goes something like this. Activism—first, may I say, “Only in Oregon,” followed by “crap pay.” Airline—I’m past all flight-attendant delusions, thanks. Apartment Manager—HA HA HA HA. Appliance, Assembly, Automotive—no, no, and no. Bartending, Biotech, Brickmason—not qualified, don’t want to be. Buyer—hmmm, I’d be good at that. I’m good at buying things. But check the job description, because there are often hidden messages in the details: “…material analysis and forecasts…emphasis on cost effective solutions meeting deadlines...” See what I mean? It was a trick! Thank God I caught on, and by the way, thanks for raining on that parade. Moving on: Cabinet Maker, Carpenter, Carpet Layer, Cashier, Child Care, Construction, Corrections, Customer Service—jeez, each of these is a dream come true. I simply can’t decide; will check back if nothing else materializes. Next!
Delivery, Driver—these are actually two that I like. When I moved to Salt Lake, back when you were undergoing fetal development and so was I, sort of, my first job was as a secretary in the parts department of an automobile dealership. After only a day or two on the job and not many more in the town, I was given a special job. The shuttle driver for the service department was absent, and they needed a driver to take four customers to their destinations. When I was given this assignment, I protested to the service manager that I didn’t know my way around town. He assured me that the customers could tell me how to get wherever I needed to go, so off I went, driving the Volkswagen Intermountain shuttle van. It might have been an odd day, but my passengers requested drop-offs at these locations: the airport, the University of Utah, West Valley and Snowbird. I told them that I didn’t know my way around, so they decided among themselves the best order for our route and guided me along. Salt Lake was even bigger and more bewildering than I had realized. It took a hell of a long time to get to the airport. The University was confusing and so was West Valley. I was glad the customers could give me directions. The guy who wanted to go to Snowbird was in no hurry, so he volunteered to be last. It was an incredibly beautiful autumn day. The sun was shining through the brilliantly colored leaves and the canyon air was brisk and life affirming. And of course, on the way down the canyon and all the way back to the dealership, I was able to play the incredibly cool music that one can only find on groovy radio stations in a big, scary city like Salt Lake. We had nothing like this in Idaho Falls, and it was a wonderful time. I was eighteen years old and thin, living on my own in a hip new town long before the days of drug testing. This was an excellent job, truly a brilliant gig, and one that I could happily do for years. When I got back to the VW dealership late that afternoon, the service manager was in such a rage he was close to eating his own head. I’d been gone too long; I shouldn’t have gone to such remote places, blah blah blah. But I knew that I had warned him of my limitations. I had done exactly what he instructed, and it had been a damn fine day. Wow, I’m always so surprised when I have rich, clear memories like that. Most of them are fuzzy and fleeting, if not absent altogether. I apologize for the digression. I will report further on my job hunt, but at a future time. Right now, I’ve just landed in a hip new town, and according to the classifieds, someone needs an experienced shuttle driver.
The only entertainers wanted must be uninhibited, young, firm, female, and limber. I am only two of these.
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 11
Laurie Mecham used to Be Somebody back in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
PHOTO BY GREG RAGLAND
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But some of your family came and saw you in Hedwig and loved it!
by Joel Shoemaker, joel@slmetro.com Photo by Greg Ragland, greg@gregragland.com
METRO: Jerry Rapier at Plan B said that they would only re-stage Hedwig if they got everyone involved the first time around to say yes to being involved again, and that once they started making the calls, it took just 45 minutes for everyone to agree. Why were you so excited? SWENSON: You spend a lot of time after a show evaluating the performance. In the last two years, I’ve had a lot of time to think about the way that it went. And I’ve also had a lot of time to grow as an actor. I wanted another chance to tackle it again with more of a full toolbox. The first time
METRO: People really connected with your portrayal of Hedwig the first time. What was the hardest part developing that character? SWENSON: Being so young. I was 25 the first time I did it and Hedwig is nowhere near that age. I was really concerned that I hadn’t lived enough life to bring what I needed to the stage. But in the intervening
METRO: The show has such an overarching theme of accepting yourself no matter who you are or what you are. What do you hope people take away from the show? SWENSON: My message that I get from the show is that Hedwig spends all this time and energy trying to find her other half, but at the end of that journey she discov-
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” plays Nov. 17-27 at the Black Box Theatre in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 38 W. Broadway. Tickets are $25 through ArtTix at 355-ARTS. For a list of all shows, go to planbtheatrecompany. org
years, I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and in many ways we’re very similar. We’re both old souls because a lot of bad things happened to us at young ages. And to get past that you have to mature at a faster rate. Also, Hedwig has always remained sort of adolescent in the way she interacts with other people. So this time around I’m not worried about the age issue. In fact, I think its better to have someone who’s a little younger play her, because she’s such a baby in a lot of ways. METRO: Is it hard to get into the character? What’s it like the last hour before you go on stage? SWENSON: It’s not pleasant because the place where Hedwig starts the show is full of bitterness and frustration and she’s diving into this performance in order to get away from those feelings that are eating her up like cancer. So what I have to tap into before the show is all that stuff underneath. I have no problem going out there and be excited because the music is so incredible and the production is so good. But making sure it’s honest isn’t really pleasant because of what I have to draw on to get there. METRO: From what I understand, your family is very conservative and there was some concern about them seeing you in Hedwig the first time you performed it.
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 13
Based loosely on Aristophane’s speech in Plato’s symposium where the Greek god Zeus bisected the original sexes of boy/boy, girl/girl and boy/girl leaving them to search their lives for their other half, Hedwig and The Angry Inch tells of an “internationally ignored song stylist” searching for her other half. Having been semi-dismembered after a botched sex-change operation (leaving her with an “angry inch”) that was supposed to be her ticket to marriage with an American GI and her ticket to freedom from East Berlin, Hedwig falls for a young man who steals her music and becomes famous. Now she follows his concert tour around performing her own show in meager venues adjacent to his large arenas, using her music as a cathartic release of her pain and her search for herself and love. Got all that? If not, Plan B Theatre Company will help you. Opening Nov. 17 at the Rose Wagner Theatre, Plan B will re-launch its successful production from April 2003, complete with the same cast as before. Director and producer Jerry Rapier says that even though they had many, many people who tried out for the demanding role of Hedwig for the first production, it was clear after Aaron Swenson’s audition that no one else would do Hedwig justice. An actor with considerable local theater credits including Salt Lake Acting Company and Desert Star Playhouse, Swenson, 27, tells Salt Lake Metro how playing the role has touched his own life and what life lessons he hopes the audience takes away from the show.
around I was so concerned about getting the music right that I feel like there were aspects of the performance missed because I was so concerned about getting the music right. This time I feel like that is under my belt and I can concentrate on the character.
JOEL SHOEMAKER
Aaron Swenson Brings the Bitch Back
SWENSON: …I was most worried about my mom, because the content of the show is so scandalous. But my mom, I thought she was going to shit her pants. She was on her feet, screaming and clapping! The coolest thing was between shows we had photo call and my mom came backstage in the dressing room. We were talking about the performance and in the most casual way she just starting helping me get back into my costume. There’s this great picture of her talking to me over my shoulder and I’m looking straight into the camera with this bemused look on my face while my mom is helping me back into my bustier.
ers she’s complete. Hedwig puts on all these layers of armor—this affected stage persona, slabs and slabs of makeup and this aggressive personality that she throws out like porcupine quills to keep people away from her. They are her way of making her way through the world, but that stuff is so self-defeating. Even though so much had been taken away from her, that doesn’t mean she’s not a whole person. That’s the lesson that I hope everyone reaches. It’s especially true for a lot of people here in Utah. People go seeking outside of themselves for something that is going to make them whole. But I hope people start realizing you don’t need to do that to find what’s always been inside of you. You have to get to the point where you realize it’s not something else that’s going to solve your problems.
ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET. See Nov. 11
THE GAY AGENDA by Eric Tierney eric@slmero.com
11FRIDAY Despite the fact that it’s. faintly misogynistic and almost laughably obsolete in its politics, Barefoot in the Park sure is a hoot and a holler to watch. The jokes about the joys and strains of newfound connubial bliss are funny, sure, but watching a man verbally browbeat his new wife into submission really isn’t. Some things, I guess, haven’t changed since Shakespeare’s. day: when Petruchio tells Kate that the moon is the sun, she damn well agrees with him. Who’s. Neil Simon to quibble? Tonight and Sat. at 7pm, matinee Sat. at 2pm, Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway. Tickets $15 at 355-2787 or arttix.org
The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is one of the nation’s. most innovative dance companies, creating contemporary ballets that consistently delight and amaze audiences around the country. The company— made up of eleven of the best dancers the ballet world has to offer—will bring a program of astounding beauty and invention to Salt Lake tonight. Tonight and Sat. at 7:30pm, Sat. at 2pm, Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South. Tickets at 355-2787 or arttix.org
12SATURDAY If I had my own personal Jesus, I’d promise never to swear or kill anybody as long as he let Depeche Mode keep making records and touring. Well, continue making good records, anyway. Anyway, these guys are still at it after 19 albums and over 20 years, and tonight they’ll be doing “Everything Counts” and the sublime “Blasphemous Rumors” here in the City by the Pestilent Sea™. Nineteen albums and their still selling out huge arenas? Take that, Men at Work!
President Kennedy, is better than Oliver Stone on his best day.
(students two for one) at 355-2787 or at arttix.org.
2pm today, Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 7pm, matinee Saturday at 2pm through Nov 20, Babcock Theatre, lower level of Pioneer Memorial Theatre on the University of Utah campus. Tickets $12, $6 for University students, at 581-7100.
15TUESDAY
8pm, E. Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City. Tickets $25–46 at 467-TIXX or smithstix.com
Recently returned from his sojourn as a crazy person in Africa (verifiable by the fact that he walked away from one of the funniest television shows ever produced), Dave Chapelle has chosen…to play Salt Lake City. I’m not judging him, people, but let’s. face it, this guy is friggin’ nuts. Bitch.
Mamma Mia!—where every homo in the city will be for the next two weeks. For further convincing, see story, page 17.
8pm, Huntsman Center, 450 S. 1950 East, University of Utah. Tickets $41.50–49.50 at 467-TIXX or smithstix.com
13SUNDAY
7:30pm Tonight through Thur., 8pm Fri. and Sat., Sunday at 7pm, Monday Nov. 21 and Tuesday Nov. 22 at 7:30pm. Matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2pm, Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South. Tickets $30–70 at 355-2787 or at arttix.org
18FRIDAY
By now, you’re sick of hearing my claims that Stephen Sondheim is the only human being in the last 50 years to create musical theatre that is truly art and not just tuneful schlock. If you still don’t believe me, check out the Babcock Theatre’s. production of Assassins—a musical which journeys through the hearts and minds of nine presidential killers or would-be killers. While the notion may sound faintly ridiculous, the show will prove otherwise: the penultimate scene, in which John Wilkes Booth convinces Lee Harvey Oswald that he should shoot
For those of who you who prefer their theatre less….schmaltzy, I offer Salt Lake Acting Company’s. latest, Man from Nebraska. This Pulitzer-prize finalist was originally produced by Chicago’s. storied Steppenwolf Theatre. It tells the story of a simple Midwestern man and his profound crisis of faith. No singing or guys in wet-suits, but there’s. more to theatre than deafening renditions of seventies pop hits. No, really, I promise. I have a degree in this stuff, trust me. Tonight at 7:30pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm and 7pm through December 11, Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North. Tickets $18—33.50 at 363SLAC or saltlakeactingcompany.org
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SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
17THURSDAY As the ubiquitous ads in the print media and all over downtown have declared unto you, the bitch is back. And we here at the Metro couldn’t be happier—not only will Aaron Swenson and Jeanette Puhich be reprising their award-winning 2003 performances in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but enterprising theatre producer/savior of lushes Jerry Rapier has arranged to sell BEER in the LOBBY of the THEATRE. Alas, this truly is a miracle. Tonight through Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 7pm, Tuesday and Wednesday at 8pm, Friday and Saturday Nov. 25 and 26 at 8pm, Sunday the 27 at 7pm. Matinees Sat. and Sun. at 3pm, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 139 W. Broadway. Tickets $25
Everything you ever wanted to know about modern dance but were disinclined to ask: why read dusty dance tomes or review grainy old films when Repertory Dance Theatre can do it all right in front of you? Time Capsule, the company’s. latest concert, will take you on a whirlwind tour of one hundred years of modern dance history. Become an instant expert without having to listen to any dreary lectures: where was RDT when I was taking Trig? 8pm tonight, Nov. 25, and Nov. 26, preconcert lectures at 7:30pm, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway. Tickets $25, $15 for students and seniors at 355-2787 or www.arttix.org
On the other end of the spectrum, we have Wasatch Dance Collective’s. Raw Material II, a showcase of brand new work from local musicians, filmmakers, and dancers. The artists will debut bitesize portions of new pieces in an evening designed to whet audience’s. appetites for the fully realized projects. Tonight and Sat. at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm, Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway. Tickets at 355-2787 or arttix.org
Or if you can’t hang with the Dance, why not stroll over to the Art Access Gallery? The Annual Holiday Exhibition will bow tonight, featuring jewelry, oil paintings, glass vases and bowls, block prints, glass stars and ornaments….have a cup of cheer at the opening reception and do your shopping for the artsy types in your life. Opening reception 6–9pm, regular gallery hours Monday through Friday 10am
to 5pm, special holiday hours Saturdays 10am to 3pm through December 20, Art Access Gallery, 339 West Pierpont Avenue in ArtSpace. Admission is free, information at 328-0703.
19SATURDAY Paradigm Dance Project, a fully professional dance company, has collaborated with students from SLCC to create an evening of thought-provoking dance. God help me, I’m bound and determined that you bunch of philistines are going to see a dance concert this weekend. Try it ... I promise you’ll like it. 7:30pm tonight, SLCC Grand Theatre, 1575 S. State Street. Tickets $5–8, half price with donation of two non-perishable food items at 957-3322.
The Royal Court brings you the game show we’ve all been waiting for... How Gay is That?! Contestants vie to represent their respective bars for a final game show that will happen in spring to designate the gayest bar in Utah. Hosted by Lucky Charms and Patrick and judged by a panel of celebrity judges (at tonight’s. show our esteemed editor and publisher Michael Aaron will help judge), this half hour show is well worth getting to the bar early. 9pm sharp, MoDiggity’s., a private club for members, 3424 S. State Street. rcgse.org
For the sports enthusiast, join the Pride Community Softball League at a Utah Grizzlies game. Keep in touch with the league over the winter months when it’s. too cold to play with balls. 7pm, The E.-Center, 3200 Decker Lake Dr. Tickets $8 through Daniel Montoya at 6314698 or by emailing KAOS168@yahoo.com
23WEDNESDAY There’s. a place on Ocean Avenue where I threw up after hearing Yellowcard’s. insouciant hit single for the 47,850th time. Oh, who am I kidding? They’re hot and they write catchy tunes. Come to the show tonight to check them out…if you don’t enjoy the music, you’ll have fun watching all the awkward adolescents making their first tenuous steps into the world of love. Little bastards. 7pm, Lo-Fi Café, 166 S. West Temple. Tickets $20 at 355-2787 or arttix.org
Salt Lake Film Society’s. Broadway Center Theatre, 111 E. 300 South. Showtimes at 321-0310.
Just a reminder that today, once again, the Center holds free HIV testing. 6–8pm, GLBT Community Center of Utah, 355 N. 300 West. 539-8800.
University of Utah Brings Gutsy by Eric Tierney eric@slmetro.com
When it came time for me to pick a college, one of the many things that attracted me to the theatre program at the U was the department’s gutsy programming. During my four years in the Actor Training Program, I worked on my share of Chekhov and Shakespeare, but I was also cast in plays by obscure and brilliant writers like Timberlake Wertenbaker and Janusz Glowacki. The department’s latest two offerings fall directly in line with this tradition of sophisticated and challenging titles: Sondheim’s Assassins and a new play by alumnus Troy Deutsch called Pussycat. Written by playwright John Weidman and composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, Assassins is a musical with an unlikely topic: the show explores the mosaic of repression, madness and misery that motivated America’s presidential assassins, both successful (John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald) and frustrated (Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, John Hinckley.) Although the piece is a musical, a song-and-dance show it is not. The various characters bridge space and time, initially meeting one another at a carnival shooting gallery, then telling their various stories through American folk music idioms, rock, and more traditional “theatre music.” Things come to a head in an arresting scene near the play’s end, when all of the characters manifest in the Texas School Book Depository to collectively convince Lee Harvey Oswald that he should kill President Kennedy. Heavy subject matter, to be sure, but Weidman’s well-crafted book has moments of surprising brevity and humor, as when overwhelmed housewife Sarah Jane Moore and Manson Family member “Squeaky” Fromme, both of whom attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford, bond over a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. The show also contains unsettling and haunting passages, such as the strangely optimistic Charles J. Guiteau, convicted of killing President Garfield, happily cake-walking up and down the steps of the scaffold on his way to be hanged, or the eerie, obsessive love song Fromme sings to Charles Manson, joined by John Hinckley mooning over his beloved Jodie Foster. To say that the piece is sympathetic to murderers would be overstating things, but the play offers insight into their madness. As director Sarah Shippobotham puts it, the play explores “the ways in which disempowered people try to find a voice. It delves into why people come to feel that violence is the only option.” Musicals are something of a rarity at the U, which has produced only four in the last ten years, but Assassins is an excellent choice: Sondheim recreated the American musical as a legitimate art form, and Assassins is as visceral, insightful, theatrical and thrilling as Brecht or Mamet. Equally challenging is the new Lab Theatre/Studio 115 staging of recent department graduate Troy Deutsch’s new play,
The cast of Babcock Theatre’s Assassin
Pussycat. Deutsch wrote his early drafts of the play while in his senior year in the department’s Actor Training Program. Last season, Salt Lake theatre company Tooth and Nail gave the play a staged reading. When Deutsch graduated and moved to New York, he took the script with him, and now has interest from several off-Broadway producers. His alma mater, however, will have the honor of giving the play its first fully-realized production. Pussycat is set in the late nineties at the death of the rave scene, amongst the beautifully adorned party kids, addled by Ecstasy and electonica, who filled empty warehouses and alleys, searching for love and connection. The play tells the story of Stephen, a teenager who escapes from suburbia and finds himself tangled in the glitter and dirt of the rave scene. Unable to discern what in this new world is real and what is illusion, Stephen embarks on a different kind of trip, looking for authenticity, identity, and truth. The production is directed by venerated professor Sandra Shotwell. Shotwell, who teaches voice, speech and acting in the program, is drawn to texts with rich and demanding language—her usual purview as a director is Shakespeare, the Greeks, and playwrights like O’Neill and Brian Friel—and after hearing Pussycat at the Tooth and Nail reading, she recognized something special and asked Deutsch if she could direct the piece. In press materials for the show, the dialogue is described
as harsh and poetic, and Deutsch himself describes the language as both “raw” and “heightened.” “It’s a mixture of how people do speak on the street with how people wish they could speak on the street.” Deutsch’s script, which is both intimate and highly theatrical, burns with vigor, vitality, and intensity. These qualities put him in good company: Pussycat, with its sincere and insatiable desire for truth, recalls another play written by a young man trying to come to terms with life as his generation experienced it: Lanford Wilson and his Balm in Gilead. Let’s hope that Deutsch continues in Wilson’s footsteps and takes his place at the vanguard of his generation’s dramatic voice. Let’s also hope that the University of Utah Department of Theatre will continue to challenge, support, and foster that voice.
ASSASSINS November 9–13 and 17–20 Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 7pm. Matinee on Saturday Nov. 19 at 2pm. Babcock Theatre, lower level of the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre. Tickets $12, $6 for students at 581-7100.
PUSSYCAT November 17–29 Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 4:30pm and 7:30pm, Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2pm. The Lab Theatre/Studio 115, Performing Arts Building, just west of the Bookstore on campus at the University of Utah. Tickets $7, $5 for students at 581-7100.
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 15
If you see only one film before the end of the year, make it…..Good Night, and Good Luck. No, make it Rent. No, make it Harry Potter. No, make it The Squid and the Whale, a poignant new comedy starring Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney that has garnered universally rave reviews. It’s. high time we started giving the Salt Lake Film Society a little love in these pages, kids—see this movie and you’ll be as grateful as I am that we have them to bring quality moving’ pictures behind the Zion Curtain.
EarPiece
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SALT LAKE METRO ■ NOVEMBER 10, 2005
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NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 17
It is a truth universally recognized that gay men love two things: ABBA and musical theatre. For these men, Mamma Mia! is the stuff that musical dreams are made of: a lavishly produced, full scale musical based on—you’ve got it—the songs of seventies and eighties Swedish supergroup ABBA. Musical theatre fans of all stripes, gay or straight, are in for a treat when the show’s national tour pulls in to Salt Lake Nov. 15 for a two-week run. Since its premiere in Toronto in 2000, Mamma Mia! has become the most ubiquitous musical in the world, matching Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera as an international phenomenon, playing to more than twenty million delighted patrons around the globe. The show currently has productions in London, New York, Las Vegas, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Holland and Spain. What makes for success on such a grand scale? The answer is simple: twenty-two of ABBA’s best loved songs performed by a first rate ensemble cast. While the innate theatricality of ABBA’s music makes for explosive musical numbers, high art it ain’t. Mamma Mia!’s paper thin plot tells the story of young Sophie and her eccentric mother, Donna. Unbeknownst to Donna, who was once the lead singer of a rock trio and apparently got around a bit in her youth, Sophie has invited three of her mother’s old flames—any one of whom might be her long-lost father—to her upcoming wedding to the hunky Sky. Rather inconveniently, all three men show up, and comic hijinks ensue. If the plot sounds a bit arch and contrived, rest assured that it is. But the story is not the show’s focus: Sophie and Donna’s foibles are really just a set up for the songs, which are performed to dazzling effect. If sophistication and drama are what you’re looking for, you’re better off seeking out some Sondheim—Mamma Mia! is designed with only one thing in mind: to get the audience on its feet, singing and dancing in the aisles. You already know most of the score by heart: Dancing Queen. Money, Money, Money. Take a Chance on Me. Voulez-Vous. But Mamma Mia! presents them as you’ve never heard them before, with eye-pop-
ping costumes (including a very revealing number featuring an ensemble of hot guys in wet suits), athletic choreography, and incredible voices. When asked, cast members say that it’s the music that’s given the show its large and devoted gay following. Generations of gay men have been listening to ABBA, after all, and gay men comprise an enormous faction of musical theatre audiences around the country. Original Broadway cast member Chris Pinzo, talking to Next Magazine, said that the music “is what we listen to. It’s out party music, our workout
Electronica
eric@slmetro.com
Variety
by Eric Tierney
KRCL 90.9 FM PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE
African
You Will Sing Along with Mamma Mia!
have been announced. Original musicals are rapidly losing market share as producers embrace lower-risk productions based on rock acts, which have built-in audiences and wider general appeal. But regardless of who wrote the music, any theatrical production’s primary responsibility is to entertain, and no one can say that Mamma Mia! fails at that task. The original booking in Toronto was expected to play for 26 weeks—it closed last June just shy of its fifth anniversary, having played more than 2,000 performances. The show has been seen in such far-flung locations as Seoul and Johannesburg. Seems like as long as the Dancing Queen continues to make her nightly appearance, musical theatre fans all over the world, gay and straight, will line up to sing along.
Variety
JOAN MARCUS
Lauren Mufson and company of the Mamma Mia tour.
music—it’s part of our lives.” The show’s gay appeal doesn’t end at the footlights, either. National Tour cast members Robert Hancock and Tony Clements are also partners. For their first anniversary several years ago, they attended a performance of the show in Milwaukee and fell in love with it. On a dare, Clements auditioned and joined the cast. Later that year, Hancock followed, and the two have been traveling with the show ever since. The production is also something of a rarity in that it was created by a trio of women. Directing powerhouses Susan Schulman (Little Women, The Secret Garden) and Susan Stroman (The Producers, Contact) aside, commercial musical theatre is still mostly a man’s game. Mamma Mia!, on the other hand, was written by playwright Catherine Johnson, directed by West End veteran Phyllida Lloyd and produced by Judy Craymer. This distaff collaboration is unprecedented in commercial theatre at this financial level, and the creative team has commented that the success of a show has borne fruit in a number of ways, opening doors for more female producers and directors to mount large-scale productions in the future. While shows based on pre-existing music are nothing new—Yankee Doodle Dandy, based on the songs of George M. Cohen, was first produced in the thirties— Mamma Mia! started a new trend in popmusic based productions that continues to grow. Since the ABBA show’s premiere, London and New York have seen shows based on the music of Queen, the Beatles, John Lennon, the Beach Boys, Billy Joel and others, while new projects featuring the music of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash
Thai Garden 4410 S. 900 East, SLC, (801)266-7899 Monday–Friday 11:30am–3:00pm; 5:00–9:00pm Saturday 5:00–10:00pm
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When the server at Thai Garden brought the platter of spring rolls, I held my breath. At this point in my life, like awful men, I’ve had enough of awful spring rolls. Would these be the ubiquitously hot, greasy, cabbage-laced cigars of so many sub-standard Thai joints? Or alternatively, would fresh rice paper be disconcertingly reminiscent of a condom gorged with tasteless noodles, wantonly chopped veggies and the transparent sliver of shrimp? Oh, for once, just once, can a Thai restaurant actually get it right? If fate wasn’t going to drop a good man on my path, then it could surely present me with a good spring roll. I opened my eyes. On the plate were several generously filled fresh rolls. The rice paper was still soft, chewy, and wonderfully elastic. Taking a bite was like inhaling the cleanest air. Inside, the crisp of fresh bean sprouts played off the soft give of the cooked noodles. A handful of herbs connected these fresh (and otherwise dangerously bland) ingredients together. And lo and behold, there was shrimp. Chunks of sweet shrimp, cooked just right. Fate threw me a bone, and it’s called Thai Garden. In a few square feet of Murray strip mall sits one of the most remarkable Thai restaurants in town. Why so remarkable? In addition to its spring roll feats, the vast majority of the menu features clarity of flavor without the cumbersome glut of other Thai establishments. Take a basic curry. In Thai cuisine, it usually encompasses the addition of coconut milk and a variety of aromatics. Restaurateurs know that Americans love sweet things. Especially in the realm of Asian cuisine, the sweeter the better (how sour is sweet and sour chicken, really?). The result is a heavy-handed addition of a rich ingredient and in turn, an over-compensation of aromatics to make up for the excess. But at Thai Garden, flavors and textures are wonderfully balanced. For many, it will be a revelation. The vegetables in the green curry (something just about every Thai menu
carries) still retain their character. Sweet bell peppers and earthy mushrooms bathe in an elixir of judicious coconut milk, kaffir lime and onion. This isn’t mush. It’s harmony. The ambience too conveys calmer vibes and lower blood-pressure. Just off the traffic pulse of 900 East, the space features subdued lighting, an airy traditional Thai soundtrack and lots of natural elements. Bamboo accents and potted plants share wall space with white Christmas lights and Thai landscapes. Brother and sister Pawit and Vipada lead the service team. It’s extremely efficient and polite, good-natured even. When they ask if you liked the food, they really listen to your answer. The atmosphere makes the food all the more enjoyable. Deep-fried coral filets are showered with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and lime juice in the salmon larb. The crunchy morsels of fatty fish get an acid-kick from the texturally complementary vegetables. The hot noodle salad (yum woon sen) arrives heaped on a platter, steaming from a turn on the flame and freckled with peanuts. Not too sweet, gluten-y, and crunchy, it’s another testament to the balance-play that makes Thai cuisine so popular. Unfortunately, not all the seafood treatments are so successful. The appetizers of calamari and fish cakes were only average compared to other dishes. The latter was unremarkable, with an air of sweet krab—that’s with a ‘k,’ which is never good. But in the same meal, my companion and I discovered an unlikely gem in the menu: the ground pork with Thai eggplants is incredibly homey—and an unlikely pairing (Thailand has a significant Muslim community which means no pork in a good deal of the regional cuisine). Slender Thai eggplant is sliced on the diagonal and sautéed with lemon grass, garlic, and basil. The ground pork soaks up this aromatic blend during its turn on the stove. This dish is familiar, yet enticingly exotic. The menu at Thai Garden is worth exploring. New treasures, like the pork and eggplant should become part of your idea of Thai cuisine. And the familiar, like the spring rolls, will get due respect from the kitchen’s skilled hands. Either way, if you take a chance, I have a feeling fate will be kind.
Di ing Guide Dining de
Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza
Salt Lake Pizza & Pasta
4538 S, HIGHLAND DR./ 273-8282
1063 E. 2100 S. / 484-1804
nicknwillyspizza.com
saltlakepizzaandpasta.com
Bangkok Thai
Fiddler’s Elbow
1400 Foothill Dr. / 582-8424 HOURS: MO-TH 11:30-2, 5-9:30PM F 11:30AM-2PM, 5-10PM SA NOON-10PM, SU 5-9PM CUISINE: THAI PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V
1063 E. 2100 S. / 463-9393
SU-TH 11AM-10PM F-SA 11AM-12PM CUISINE: PIZZA PRICE: $ CARDS: AE D MC V
M-SA 11AM-11PM SU 11AM-10PM CUISINE: ITALIAN PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V
Rated “Best Thai” 1992–2005 by local and national press.
Café Med 420 E. 3300 S. / 493-0100 HOURS: SU-TH 11AM-9PM F-SA 11AM-10PM CUISINE: MEDITERRANEAN PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V
Persian, Greek, Italian, Turkish and Vegetarian in a warm, relaxing atmosphere.
Coffee Garden 898 S 900 E / 355-3425 HOURS: SU-TH 6AM-11PM F-SA 6AM-12AM CUISINE: COFFEEHOUSE PRICE: ¢ CARDS: AE D MC V
fiddlerselbowslc.com M-TH 11AM-11PM F-SA 11AM-12AM SU 9AM-10PM CUISINE: AMERICAN PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V HOURS:
32 beers, including Utah’s best selection of microbrews.
Michelangelo Ristorante 2156 S, HIGHLAND DR./ 466-0961
michelangeloristorante.com TU-SA 11:30AM-1:30PM 5:45-9PM CUISINE: ITALIAN PRICE: $$ CARDS: AE D MC V HOURS:
Begun by childhood friends
SLC’s buzzing java shop with a Paulo Celeste and Marco diverse crowd. Gabrielli of Tuscany.
HOURS:
Dine in or take-out. Call ahead and we’ll have it ready. Albertsons Shopping Ctr.
Orbit Cafe 540 W. 200 S. / 322-3808 orbitslc.com HOURS: SU-TH 11AM-10PM F-SA 11AM-3AM CUISINE: AMERICAN ECLECTIC PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V
Open late nights on Fridays and Saturdays with DJs and a special menu.
HOURS:
Voted as Utah’s Best Pizza two years in a row! Great beer selection. Sugarhouse.
The Original 1751 S 1100 EAST / 483-2971 HOURS: M-SA 11AM–7PM CUISINE: SANDWICHES PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D DC MC V
Now scoopin’ Spotted Dog Creamery Ice Cream. TC–TRAVELERS CHECKS, AE–AMERICAN EXPRESS, D–DISCOVER, DC–DINER’S CLUB, MC–MASTERCARD, V–VISA ¢=0-$10, $=$11-$20, $$=$2130, $$$=31-40.
Red,White Bubbly Fast/Slow Food & Wine by Beau Jarvis beau@slmetro.com
Like me, and millions of other Americans, you are probably intimately familiar with fast food. Be it cheese fries, delivery pizza, or burgers, we’ve all eaten our fair share of artery-clogging goodies. In response to the modern global sprawl of drive-thrus and grease soaked napkins, an Italian by the name of Carlo Petrini founded the Slow Food movement in 1986 (www. slowfood.com). This is a serious society of folks dedicated to the enjoyment of high quality food. The organization strongly believes in preserving local culinary traditions and making time for meals with friends and family. Many wine enthusiasts have borrowed the slow food ethos to tout the merits of traditional wine styles and warn against “fast wine.” Fast wine, also described as international or global-style wine, emphasizes bold fruity flavor, high alcohol content (14% and above), and a drink-me-now character. On the other hand, slow wine emphasizes subtlety, restrained flavor, and food affinity. I don’t look down at either style of wine. In fact, as a busy gen-X-er, I feel the need to avail myself of both fast wine and slow wine on a regular basis. Let me provide two examples from last week.
WEDNESDAY: SLOW FOOD, SLOW WINE The short term side effect of fast food dining is the day after regret. I awoke Wednesday morning to find a half eaten pizza sitting on my kitchen counter. The box was greasy and I felt a pang of guilt for eating so much artery-clogging cheese the previous evening. I also noticed the deep dark purple residue at the bottom of my wine glass. The scene was neither classy nor appetizing. I resolved to carve out the necessary amount of time to prepare a good meal paired to a more refined bottle of wine. I was going to go slow. I took the dog to doggy day care, skipped the gym and searched out some recipe ideas on the Internet. I drove home after work and set up slow food camp in the kitchen. I slow roasted garlic and potatoes. I seared buffalo sirloin and sautéed broccoli. I opened a wine of incredible style—a five year old Barolo (Silvio Grasso ‘Pi Vigne’ Barolo 2000, $54). Yes it’s a pricey wine. However, it’s also somewhat rare—only 250 cases were produced (that’s 3,000 bottles spread thin over the entire planet). As I prepared my slow food, I poured the wine into a decanter and let it breathe for a couple of hours. Then I sat down to enjoy the meal. I took a sniff of this slow wine. My brain came alive and I was compelled to grab a piece of paper and fill it up with scribbled descriptions and notes on the wine (some adjectives include leather, cola, dried rose petals, cedar, dried fruit, and orange peel). This wine was indeed slow. I enjoyed it with my meal. I enjoyed it after the meal, and throughout the rest of the evening. Best of all, I enjoy thinking about it today. Realistically, most of us can’t do slow food/slow wine every day—or even once per week. Modern life doesn’t permit us to slow down very often. Don’t fret over the fact that your food and wine must often be of the fast variety. In fact, tonight I’m craving Indian takeout paired to Renwood Viognier “Select Series” 2003 ($8). But then perhaps sometime this weekend, I’ll slow down once again and enjoy an evening of slow food and slow wine. Cheers.
Department of Corrections We have apparently gone zero happy. At a rally, local HIV/AIDS activists displayed 8,500 shoes to represent the daily global toll of AIDS. A Salt Lake Metro article [“85,000 Pairs of Shoes Displayed at Campaign to End AIDS Rally,” Oct. 27] stated 85,000. Also, Salt Lake County Mayor Corroon stated that over 1,600 Utahns are presently living with HIV/AIDS, not 16,000 as our article indicated.
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 19
TUESDAY: FAST FOOD, FAST WINE Last Tuesday, I had every intention of preparing a nice, home-cooked meal and enjoying a glass or two of wine. But then reality hit. I had to work, run errands, walk the dog, update my blog, read the news, go to the gym, and window shop at the wine store. By the time I got home, it was almost eight o’clock and I was just plain tired. On top of that, the cupboards and refrigerator were bare. Home cookin’ just wasn’t going to happen. So what did I do? I did what you would probably do yourself—I dialed the pizza joint and ordered a cheesy, veggie pizza. Then, like any other wine geek, I peeked in the wine cabinet and found the perfect wine to pair with my nutritionally delinquent, to-be-delivered meal. The mantra I repeated to myself as I inspected my bottles was, “Find something young & fruity.” And voila! I located the perfect pizza wine, an eight-dollar bottle of red wine from Argentina (High Altitude Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon 2004). My pizza arrived; I popped the synthetic cork, and poured a glass. The wine was indeed young and fruity—big, bold berry scents filled my nose. I didn’t pause to analyze the wine’s aroma as there really wasn’t anything terribly complex wafting from the glass. I gnawed on a pizza slice, sipped some wine and sat on the couch watching The Daily Show. The wine
wasn’t bad; nor was it terribly memorable. It did however add a dash of class to my meal-in-a-cardboard box. And more importantly, I was able to simply relax after a hectic day. Thank god for fast food & fast wine.
Night Planner FRIDAY, NOV. 11 GAY BINGO at The Center, 7pm. SUNDAY, NOV. 13 SUNDAY TEA DANCE at Club Try-Angles.* Food, fun and DJ Dennis. SATURDAY, NOV. 19 HOW GAY IS THAT?! at MoDiggity’s*, 9pm. Hosted by Patrick and Lucky Charms. Benefits charity. SCORPIO PARTY at The Trapp* at 4pm. SUNDAY, NOV. 20 SUNDAY TEA DANCE at Club Try-Angles.* Food, fun and DJ Dennis.
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Get your event listed. Email clubevents@magazinem.com
Community Resources Bisexual BI MEN of Utah groups.yahoo.com/ group/Bi-Gay-Men-Utah. Social and support group for bi/gay men of Utah.
Crisis Intervention SALT LAKE County Div. of Youth Svcs provides youth and families in crisis with immediate and safe intervention. Please call 269-7500.
Employee CONVERGYS EMPLOYEES Would you like to meet with some of your GLBT co-workers? Join at groups.yahoo.com/group/cvg-glbt.
Food/Wine GAY WINETASTINGS. qVinum.com is a fabulous group of wine lovers who hold winetastings at members’ homes and special events.
Fraternal ROYAL COURT of the Golden Spike Empire. rcgse.org Membership meetings held twice monthly. Help support your community!
Health GAY MENS HEALTH SUMMIT. Gay men’s health is more than just HIV. Visit us at utahgaymenshealth.com
HIV/AIDS CAMP PINECLIFF Weekend, annual retreat for people w/ HIV/AIDS and their care providers c/o Dick Dotson, PO Box 608, Magna UT 84044 or 518-8733
Men’s Social UTAH MALE NATURISTS meets for naked lunches, clothing optional outings and overnight camping trips in a sex-free environment. umen.org
Political AMERICAN CIVIL Liberties Union. Fighting for individual freedoms since 1958. www.acluutah.org
CODE PINK is women-initiated peace and social justice movement. Positive social change by creative protest and non-violent action. codepinkalert.com
Comics A COUPLE OF GUYS by Dave Brousseau
Religious GAY RMs Social group for return missionaries of the LDS Church. Regular parties and group activities more info at gayRMs.com AFFIRMATION: GAY and Lesbian Mormons. Sunday meetings 534-8693 members.aol.com/wasatchweb/
Resources UTAH QUEER Events. Submit your group event to groups.yahoo.com/ group/utahqueerevents. Join and see what’s happening in your community. LIST YOUR organization in the Resources Guide for just $99/year or $59/six months for up to 4 lines. That’s just $3.80 per issue!
Sports UTAH GAY Rodeo Association A social & Rodeo Sport Organization PO Box 511255 SLC, UT 84151 ugra.net WANT A HOT body? Queer Utah Aquatic Club (QUAC) invites swimmers and water polo players of ANY skill level. QuacQuac.org.
Transgender
BITTER GIRL by Joan Hilty
ENGENDERED SPECIES 801.320.0551. A social/support group resources for transgender people. www.engenderedspecies.com
Women’s Social SINGLE LESBIAN? Wondering how to meet other single lesbians for friendship and social events? Join yahoo.com/group/lesbian_singles/ SAME-GENDER MARRIAGE is a Feminist Issue: NOW’s mission is to promote equality for ALL women. Join us utahnow.org NEW IN TOWN? Interested in meeting new friends? sWerve Monthlies, 3rd Sat. of each month, GLBT Center. 539-8800 ext. 25 or swerveutah.com
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 21
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS believe and aspire to 7 principles, the first of which is “the inherent worth and dignity of every person”. This Autumn, our church is offering a class called The Welcoming Congregation which is designed specifically to reach out to GLBT people who often have been hurt by organized religion. We hope to provide a different experience. This workshop series is an introspective and interactive educational journey into the issues surrounding the lives of individuals of all sexual orientation in our congregation and among our friends. It begins October 4th and continues for 8 consecutive Tuesday evenings at the First Unitarian Church, 569 S. 1300 E. Please contact Richard Teerlink to register and obtain more information.
ADAM AND ANDY by James Asal
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Classifieds HELP WANTED ADVERTISING SALES. Salt Lake Metro, the leading gay and lesbian publication in Utah, is seeking an advertising account executive. You’ll be responsible for all phases of the sales process: qualifying; coldcalling; prospect development; conceptualizing, planning and delivering sales presentations; writing proposals, negotiating contracts & closing new business. One year of print or on-line advertising sales experience preferred, but not necessary. We offer a challenging and exciting opportunity in a fast-paced, goal-oriented (yet fun) environment. We offer competitive compensation; and specific training. If you have a proven track record in sales, are results-driven & want to help build a newspaper that has a positive impact on your community, we want to hear from you. Send cover letter & resume to: General Manager, Salt Lake Metro, 352 S. Denver St #350, Salt Lake City UT 84111. Fax: (801) 323-9986. or steven@slmetro.com PRIDE COUNSELING is looking for an MSM Outreach Worker on a part time basis. Please fax letter of intent and resume to 801-595-0669. Applicant must have professional boundaries and good writing skills.
IMMEDIATE NEED for cell phone sales people. Great for students or second job. Hours are 3pm–9pm and all day Saturday. $9/hr plus commision. Call Steve Whittaker, 463-4828
MALE ROOMMATE wanted to share house near Salt Lake Community College South Campus with two other guys. Animal friendly. Large front yard and porch. Garden in back. $375 per month includes utilities, broadband internet. Call 801-485-3247.
LOST AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOUND
$2,500 WEEKLY income. Easy work from home. Honest companies. Assembly work, arts & crafts, stuffing envelopes, send $4 and SASE to Heather at 826 E 2600 N North Ogden, UT 84414 or call 801-725-0136.
FOR SALE WANT A HOME of your Own? Buy our mobile home in a gay-friendly park. Only $6000! Can lease to own. Comes with wash/dryer/fridge/ stove/swamp. Lot payment only $210. Good condition, good area of town. Call 255-2007.
FOR RENT
FOUND MEN’S silver dress watch found during Gay Wendover Weekend. Would like to return the watch to its rightful owner. Please call the Metro office at 3239500.
TIRED OF THE BAR LIFE? Pride Counseling is offering a Gay Men’s Therapy/Support Group. Gay men often find that their options to socialize limited to clubs and bars. Most insurance companies billed, sliding fee scale. For information please call Jerry Buie LCSW at 595-0666.
SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS
Advertise in the Salt Lake Metro. Classified ads are as low MISC. as $15 on contract. ARE YOU HIV+? Save 40% off disPride Counseling has play ads on conrestarted a Therapy/Support Group for tract. Call our office men who are HIV inat 323-9500 tofected and seeking day to get an ad kit. support from others in The gay and lesbisimilar situations. For an market is loyal information please to those who marcall Jerry Buie LCSW ket to them. at 595-0666
Service Guide ADVERTISING SALT LAKE METRO is your way to reach Utah’s gay and lesbian market. Gay people eat out more often and travel more often and spend more each time they do. Call 323-9500 to place your classified or display ad today. Ask about our new classified rates! LITTLE LAVENDER Book is about to go to press with the WinterSpring 2006 issue. Call 323-0727 today to get your ad in.
AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES
JEWELERS
MEINEKE CAR Care Center. 2190 W. 3500 S. WVC 973-0860 EOE. Best service, Best price. 10% discount with this ad! Exhaust, brakes, a/c, CV joints, oil changes, shocks, etc.
CUSTOM DESIGN Jewelry. Relaxed atmosphere. All types of stone settings. Commitment rings, wedding rings, earrings, pendants. Repairs welcome. Charley Hafen Jewelers. 1411 S. 900 E. 521-7711
EMPLOYMENT
MASSAGE
APPLE ONE Employment is seeking qualified people in many skills. Apply and begin your qualification today. Employers, let us fill your staffing needs. Call Steven Whittaker at 801-463-4828.
YOUR MASSAGE KNEADS. Full body massage tailored to your “kneads.” Male therapist. Call Ran at 983-4906 or visit www.hourofknead.com LIC#6018477-4702
ATTORNEYS
ESTATE PLANNING
MARLIN G. CRIDDLE, P.C. Serving Utah’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender communities. Estate Planning, Probate, Criminal Law, Bankruptcy, Corporations/Business. 4742299. marlincriddle.com
JANE MARQUARDT & DOUG FADEL Attorneys at Law, providing comprehensive estate planning services, designed to your unique family situation. Trusts, wills, partnership agreements, estate admin. 294-7777
DENNIS MASSAGE Dennis is Utah’s only physique print model & massage therapist...see why he is so well liked at www.dennismassage. com, www.dennismodeling.com. (801) 598-8344 LMT#98212332470
STIMULATE YOUR SENSES or feel deep peace with a relaxing full body massage. Call Therron at 879-3583 for $5 off mention this ad. LMT #5608006
TRAVEL/ TOURS
UNBELIEVABLE MASSAGE Athletic Male Therapists, 440-5851 Contact 641-4009
HIGH COUNTRY Exploring • Custom Pack Trips • Horseback Rides • Snowmobile Trips • ATV Rides • Fishing Trips • Dutch Oven Dinners • Motorcycle Tours • More Call 801-547-2750.
BEST THERAPISTS, best price, best place, best hours, call 486-5500 Pride Massage 1800 S. West Temple # A224
SERVICE GUIDE rates aer as low as $1.50 per line and are available on our website at slmetro. com. Call 323-9500 today to get listed in teh guide!
HIGHLAND PARK. Charming 3+ bdrm, 2ba 1,500 sq ft. home. Hdwd floors, new windows and updates. Garage, w/ d hookups, nice yard. $1,250/mo. +dep. No Smoking! 755-5971
ROOMMATES WANTED LAYTON HOUSE to share close to Hwy 89. Two bedrooms available. Pet friendly, ideal for sm to med size dog. $385 & $285 per month + utilities. Call 430-4849.
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 23
METRO MARKET AD RATES 801-323-9500 BEST THERAPISTS, BEST PRICE, BEST PLACE, BEST HOURS, CALL 486-5500 Pride Massage 1800 S. West Temple # A224 Estate Planning • Probate Criminal Law • Bankruptcy Corporations/Business Serving Utah’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communites marlincriddle.com • 474-2299
FREE 19” LCD MONITOR
UNBELIEVABLE MASSAGE Athletic Male Therapists 440-5851. Contact 641-4009 BEST THERAPISTS, BEST PRICE, BEST PLACE, BEST HOURS. Pride Massage 486-5500 1800 S. West Temple # A224
DENNIS MASSAGE Dennis is Utah’s only physique print model & massage therapist. See why he is so well liked at www.dennismassage.com, www.dennismodeling.com. (801) 598-8344 LMT#98212332470
GIVE THE GIFT OF METRO Give a full year–26 issues–of Salt Lake Metro to your friends or family for just $26.95 or 6 months for $14.95 Go to slmetro.com/subscribe or call 323-9500 today!
YOUR AD HERE
LMT #5608006
BODY BARBER Personal shaving services, anything below the collarbone. Arms, pits, chests, shoulders, backs, butts, nuts, crack, and legs. Smooth shaves or trimming. In the privacy of your own home; I provide a drop cloth, new razor, trimmer, shaving cream and the TLC required for a quality shave. E-mail body_barber4u@yahoo.com
UTAHM4M.COM
IT’S FREE TO BE A MEMBER! It’s free to... Receive and reply to e-mail from other members, Signal other members you’re interested, Browse the vast TangoWire worldwide network. Upload up to 5 Photos (or we’ll scan them for FREE). Fast and Easy Registration. Be Online in Minutes! Join Utah M4M Now!
People With AIDS Coalition of Utah’s annual fundraiser. Order your 1519” tall 5-bloom plants and help an important organization. Call 484-2205 for details.
I LOVE MY MOMS I LOVE MY DADS
Get a free 17” or 19” flat panel monitor. As seen on CNN, MSNBC, Wired Magazine. www.freeLCDsite.com
Wear your pride of your gay parents. cafepress.com/gayparents cafepress.com/lesbianmoms
AUTO ACCIDENT?
GET A FREE LAPTOP
AUTO ACCIDENT MASSAGE— Insurance 100% paid. Chronic pain, hot/cold therapy, sports injury massage. Call Paul Honsvick 548-6688 LMT #367350 • M/F Therapists
JOBS JOBS JOBS Immediate Need for cell phone sales people. Great for students or second job. Hours are 3pm–9pm and all day Sat. $9/hr + comm. Call Steve Whittaker, 463-4828
POINSETTIAS FOR PWACU People With AIDS Coalition’s annual fundraiser. Order your 15-19” tall 5-bloom plants and help an important organization. Call 484-2205 for details.
or deskop PC. Totally Free! TotallyFreePC.com
YOUR MASSAGE KNEADS Full body massage tailored to your “kneads.” Male therapist. Call Ran at 983-4906 or visit www.hourofknead.com LIC#6018477-4702
METRO MARKET RATES MEDIUM HEADLINE $7.00 PER LINE 30 CHARACTERS MAX
LARGE HEADLINE $8.50 PER LINE 20 CHARACTERS MAX
EXTRA LARGE
$10.00 PER LINE 15 CHARACTERS MAX
HEADLINE COLORS: RED, BLUE, PURPLE, GREEN ADD $4.00 PER LINE
Call 323-9500 today. STIMULATE YOUR SENSES or feel deep peace with a relaxing full body massage. Call Therron at 879-3583. For $5 off mention this ad.
POINSETTIAS FOR PWACU
WINETASTING CLUB Join gay and lesbian winelovers for tastings at people’s homes. qVinum.com
STIMULATE YOUR SENSES or feel deep peace with a relaxing full body massage. Call Therron at 879-3583. LMT #5608006 For $5 off mention this ad.
METRO DELIVERED TO YOUR MAILBOX Get all 26 issues—one full year— of Salt Lake Metro delivered to your mailbox for just $26.95. Go to slmetro.com/subscribe or call 323-9500 today!
DENNIS MASSAGE Dennis is Utah’s only physique print model & massage therapist. See why he is so well liked at www.dennismassage.com, www.dennismodeling.com. (801) 598-8344 LMT#98212332470
BODY COPY Medium $4.00 per line 36 CHAR. Bold $6.00 per line 30 CHAR. Large $8.00 per line 23 CHAR.
Large Bold $12.00
19 CHAR
LOGOS ½” height $16.00 1” height $30.00 BACKGROUND Yellow background $30.00 DISCOUNTS 4 placements 15% 8 placements 20% 12 placements 25% CALL
355-9500 TO PLACE YOUR AD TODAY!
GIVE THE GIFT OF SALT LAKE METRO Give a full year–26 issues– of Salt Lake Metro to your friends or family for just $26.95 or 6 months for $14.95 Go to slmetro.com/subscribe or call 323-9500 today!